An aide to Cheney disclosed that the 71-year-old, who has had a long history of cardiovascular trouble including numerous heart attacks, had been waiting for a transplant for more than 20 months. He is recovering at a Virginia hospital, his office said.

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2011 file photo, former Vice President Dick Cheney is interviewed in New York. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is recovering after having a heart transplant. That's according to his office. It released a statement Saturday, March 24, 2012 disclosing the surgery, and saying that Cheney has been on the transplant list for more than 20 months. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

An aide to Cheney disclosed that the 71-year-old, who has had a long history of cardiovascular trouble including numerous heart attacks, had been waiting for a transplant for more than 20 months.

"Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift," aide Kara Ahern said in a written statement that was authenticated by several of the Republican politician's close associates.

Cheney was recovering Saturday night at the Intensive Care Unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., after surgery earlier in the day.

The former vice president suffered a heart attack in 2010, his fifth since the age of 37. That year, he had surgery to have a small pump installed to help his heart keep working. It was one of the few steps left, short of a transplant, to stay alive in the face of what he acknowledged was "increasing congestive heart failure."

The pump, called a left ventricular assist device, is mainly used for short periods to buy time for potential transplant candidates awaiting a donor organ. The fact that doctors resorted to it illustrated the perilous condition he was in.

In July 2007, he had had a minor surgical procedure to replace a device that monitored his heartbeat. Nearly 20 years earlier, in 1988, Cheney had had quadruple bypass surgery, and had two artery-clearing angioplasties and the operation to implant the device.

In 2005, Cheney had six hours of surgery on his legs to repair a kind of aneurysm, and in March 2007, doctors discovered deep venous thrombosis in his left lower leg. An ultrasound a month later showed the clot was getting smaller.

In January 2011, Cheney said he was getting by on a battery-powered heart pump, which made it "awkward to walk around." He also said he hasn't made a decision yet on a transplant, but that "the technology is getting better and better."

Cheney said then that he'd "have to make a decision at some point whether I want to go for a transplant."

Cheney served as former President George W. Bush's vice president for eight years, from 2001 until 2009. Cheney was a lightning rod for criticism during Bush's presidency, accused by opponents of often advocating a belligerent U.S. stance in world affairs during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Larsen said she has myriad safety concerns that coincide with a school of that size with what they believe will be woefully inadequate parking.

Staff photo by David RobackWestfield - Homeowers on Cross Street in Westfield parked on the street on Saturday to show how narrow the street can be when a new elementary school being constructed at the former Ashley Street School is built. Here a sign on a lawn on Cross St expresses one's sentiment on the matter.

WESTFIELD – A group of Cross Street residents took matters into their own hands, and their own cars, with an old-fashioned show of grassroots dissidence on Saturday.

About two dozen residents parked their cars on the narrow street off Route 20 to enact what they believe will be a traffic nightmare once the new proposed Westfield Elementary School is built at Cross and Ashley streets.

While traffic wasn’t exactly snarled, it was stop-and-go as cars were unable to travel simultaneously in both directions on the two-way street.

“If you think traffic sucks now, imagine 300-plus minivans and 10 school buses,” a hand-made sign read that was planted prominently on the lawn of Emily Larsen’s home at 36 ½ Cross St.

The so-called park-a-thon was the latest initiate of “Save Our Neighborhood,” comprised of a group of residents surrounding the site who oppose the scale of the proposed 600-pupil school.

“It’s massive. It’s like a hotel,” Larsen said, adding that many residents attended an informational session last year sponsored by the school committee but came away with the message that it was already a done deal.

The plans for the proposed model school are 90 percent complete, according to Kevin J. Sullivan, vice chairman of the Westfield School Committee and School Building Committee.

He said the site of the old Ashley Street School was chosen because of its central location near downtown, because the city already owns the land and other factors.

“Traffic concerns will have to be addressed, that is one of the priorities as we move forward with the school,” Sullivan said. “We’re excited about the project and we hope it moves forward quickly.”

He declined to discuss the merits of the residents’ concerns because the matter is the subject of litigation in Hampden Superior Court. A zoning board decision related to the site is in dispute.

Elizabeth and Ernest Simmons, who live just a few doors down from the Larsens, said they do not oppose a school but the size of the large building on a half a lot. Elizabeth Simmons noted that Westfield is 47 square miles, the second most geographically spread out town in the state, and there is no need to cram the school into a dense residential neighborhood.

Ernest Simmons, 88, said he attended the former school and noted that he and a group of fellow students planted what is now a huge oak tree at the corner of the lot to memorialize Miss Gold, a principal who died when they were youngsters.

“We all put some items, like a time capsule, in a jar and buried it with the tree when we planted it. It’s in the roots of that tree somewhere, and that will be one of the first things to go,” Ernest Gold said.

Larsen said she has myriad safety concerns that coincide with a school of that size with what they believe will be woefully inadequate parking.

Sullivan said the school department will have to address many concerns including relocating students from other schools.

Rick Santorum won the Louisiana Republican presidential primary Saturday, beating front-runner Mitt Romney in yet another conservative Southern state.

DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES PICAYUNEAt a rally Rick Santorum shook an Etch-a-Sketch to mock Mitt Romney's campaign at a stop at the Fleur De Lis meeting center in Mandeville, La., Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Santorum won the Louisiana Republican presidential primary Saturday, beating front-runner Mitt Romney in yet another conservative Southern state.

Although the victory gives Santorum bragging rights, it does not change the overall dynamics of the race; the former Pennsylvania senator still dramatically lags behind Romney in the hunt for delegates to the GOP's summertime nominating convention.

Even so, Santorum's win underscores a pattern in the drawn-out race.

The under-funded under-dog has tended to win in Bible Belt states that include Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Romney — a deep-pocketed, highly organized former Massachusetts governor — has persistently struggled in such heavily conservative regions.

Neither candidate was in the state as Louisiana Republicans weighed in. Nor was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was trailing in Louisiana.

Romney took a rare day off Saturday, with no public events. Santorum spent the day campaigning in Pennsylvania and next-up Wisconsin, which votes April 3 and represents one of his last chances to beat Romney in a Midwestern state.

"Stand for your principles. Don't compromise. Don't sell America short," Santorum implored voters in Milwaukee, telling them that he expected their state to be "the turning point in this race."

In an unmistakable jab at Romney, Santorum added: "Don't make the mistake that Republicans made in 1976. Don't nominate the moderate. When you do, we lose." It was a reference to Ronald Reagan losing the 1976 Republican nomination to incumbent President Gerald Ford, and Democrat Jimmy Carter winning the White House.

Early exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks showed that Santorum's win in Louisiana was one of his strongest performances to date among conservatives, working class voters and those calling the economy their top issue. And he continued his dominance among white evangelical voters and those looking for a candidate who shares their religious beliefs.

As in previous Southern states, Romney's best showing came among those voters with annual incomes above $100,000 and those who prioritized a candidate's ability to defeat President Barack Obama in November.

The bad economy was the top issue for Louisiana voters. Most were gloomy about prospects for a recovery, saying they felt the economy was getting worse instead of better. While some national surveys suggest Americans are feeling optimistic about economic improvement, just one in eight Republican primary voters said they thought a recovery was under way.

Santorum badly needed a rebound after a decisive Illinois loss to Romney earlier in the week that moved party stalwarts to rally around the front-runner. Many urged Santorum and Gingrich to drop out of the race.

Both refused, and campaigned aggressively in Louisiana in hopes that a victory there would justify them staying in despite Republican worries that the long nomination fight could hurt the party's chances against Obama. The Democratic incumbent faces no serious primary challenge and his re-election campaign already is well under way.

Romney barely campaigned in Louisiana, though his allies spent on TV ads there. Instead, Romney was looking past the results and toward the general election.

"I want the vote of the people of Louisiana so we can consolidate our lead," Romney said Friday while campaigning in Shreveport. He told supporters his campaign wants to focus on "raising the money and building the team to defeat someone that needs to be out of office in 2012, and that's Barack Obama."

Romney is far ahead in the delegate count and on pace to reach the necessary 1,144 delegates before the party's convention in August.

After the Illinois primary March 20, Romney had 563 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally. Santorum had 263, while Gingrich trailed with 135. Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 50.

The Louisiana exit poll found that in a hypothetical choice between just the two top contenders, Santorum's lead over Romney tops 20 percentage points, suggesting the former senator would pick up votes from Gingrich's and Paul's current supporters.

Earlier Saturday, Santorum said he wanted to debate Romney without their trailing competitors on stage.

"This race has clearly gotten down to two candidates that can win the nomination," Santorum told reporters in Milwaukee. "I'd love to have a one-on-one debate."

In the run-up to Louisiana's voting, Santorum found himself on the defensive after suggesting he'd prefer a second term for Obama over a Romney presidency. Santorum was all but forced to walk back those comments, saying less than 24 hours before Louisiana polls opened that "over my dead body would I vote for Barack Obama."

Romney also faced trouble last week when a top aide compared the switch from a primary to a general election campaign to an Etch A Sketch toy, suggesting earlier campaign positions could be easily wiped away.

But most Louisiana voters said they weren't concerned with the comment, with only about one in five in exit polls calling this week's Etch A Sketch controversy an important factor in their vote.

Louisiana has complicated delegate rules: Even though there were 20 delegates at stake Saturday, they are awarded proportionally to the candidates who receive more than 25 percent of the vote.

Most states divide all the available delegates among the candidates who meet the minimum threshold. Louisiana's system is strictly proportional, with any leftover delegates designated as uncommitted, meaning they will be fought for at the state convention.

The next key fight comes April 3 in Wisconsin. Romney's campaign is airing TV ads in the state, and his super PAC allies have plowed more than $2 million into TV advertising there.

Also voting April 3 are Maryland and the District of Columbia. There are 95 delegates combined at stake in the three contests.

The Bay State's lottery has been averaging about $4 billion in annual sales.

By BEVERLY FORD New England Center for Investigative Reporting

Massachusetts cities and towns are increasingly relying on a thinning pool of state lottery revenues to bridge their budget gaps, deepening the shaky financial footing of many poorer communities which depend heavily on state aid, an analysis of lottery and local aid data by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting found.

State data from the past three fiscal years show that many cities and towns are receiving dwindling amounts of “Unrestricted General Government Aid” – a pot of money largely made up of lottery revenues which community leaders use to shore up deficits in police, fire, education and other municipal budgets.

In Lynn, where 2010 U.S. Census data shows that nearly 20 percent of residents live in poverty, two years of reductions in the lottery aid funds, totaling more than $2 million, have delayed paving projects and municipal building repairs and required the careful scrutiny of all non-salary spending, according to Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy. The city was able, however, to emerge without any personnel layoffs, she said.

The town of Adams wasn't so lucky.

When it lost $225,682 in “unrestricted aid” between 2010 and 2012, the impact was the loss of 10 municipal jobs, including police officers and public works employees. Staff and programs were also cut at the regional school system to which Adams belongs.

“For communities like us that are more reliant on state aid, it’s made the budget very challenging,” said Jonathan Butler, the Adams town administrator.

Still, when it comes to state “unrestricted aid,” Bay State communities are betting the house on the Massachusetts Lottery. That’s because almost all unrestricted local aid now comes from Keno and lottery sales, an analysis has found.

“In terms of unrestricted aid, the lottery is it,” said Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, a nonpartisan organization that provides advocacy, training and other services to Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns.

The lottery aid, says Beckwith, has been “a lifeline” for communities, giving them money that can be used for any purpose, whether it be education, salaries or public works projects. Now, however, that lifeline is growing thin.

Bay State communities today receive about $400 million less from the state in unrestricted aid than they did in 2007, according to data provided by the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Five years of cutbacks now mean that almost all of that unrestricted aid is coming from lottery dollars.

Things were different just a few years ago.

Between fiscal 2007 and 2009, the state added more than $300 million to that fund when the lottery fell short of revenues projected by the Legislature. Between $343 million and $379 million was also doled out to 159 cities and towns those same years as “additional assistance” to fund municipal projects, according to figures provided by the Lottery, the state Department of Revenue and the Division of Administration and Finance. (The “additional assistance” was a legislative perk which gave some communities more money than others; it was merged with lottery money, creating the unrestricted state aid account. Many of those same communities still receive that “additional assistance” under the state’s current funding system.)

In 2010 when the lottery and additional assistance funds were merged into the unrestricted state aid fund, the state contributed about $122 million from the general fund to shore up the account, the figures show.

In 2011, that number was cut to $97 million. And, one year later, in 2012, the state is expecting to contribute no more than $32 million, with the remainder – about $802 million to come from the lottery, according to the figures.

Even as the state was reducing its contributions, lottery funds were slowly declining. In 2008, the lottery contributed $822 million to the fund, one of its largest contributions ever, the financial data provided by the state shows.

By 2011, the amount contributed by the lottery to that unrestricted state aid fund was $802 million, about $20 million less than the lottery contributed just three years earlier, the figures show.

“The problem with the lottery is that it is all communities have left,” said Beckwith, who advocates a better revenue-sharing process to more equitably distribute state aid funds.

A lingering recession, however, has made that difficult. With lottery sales languishing at around $4 billion since 2009 and unrestricted local aid dollars drying up, lottery administrators are looking for other ways to boost the bottom line.

In March, Massachusetts joined the five other New England states in launching a regional lottery. New $2 and $10 scratch tickets, the agency’s most successful offering, were also recently introduced. Late last year, state treasurer Steve Grossman, who oversees the lottery, announced plans to study Internet gaming, a concept designed to attract younger players.

Some of those new initiatives seem to be working.

Lottery sales have picked up substantially compared to 2011, according to lottery spokeswoman Beth Bresnahan. Sales are already $170 million ahead of the same time period last year, she said, and several “strategic initiatives,” such as new games, are in place to “increase revenue and improve the products being offered to customers.”

Yet even as lottery officials strain to bring more money into state coffers, only 21 percent of that money actually gets returned to Massachusetts cities and towns.

With projected sales of $4.4 billion in 2012, revenue returned to the state account for less than 3 percent of the state’s $30.6 billion budget. Of the remainder, about 72 percent of lottery sales goes back to players while 6 percent is returned as commission to more than 7,000 lottery sales agents across the state.

The lottery takes 2 cents out of every dollar for operating expenses. That means in fiscal 2012, out of $4.4 billion tickets sold in Massachusetts, $3.5 billion was returned to players, adding 20 new millionaires to the 200-plus other ticket buyers who have won at least $1 million since 2008, data supplied by the lottery shows.

That bountiful prize money has made Massachusetts second only to New York in terms of lottery sales, and one of the top states for lottery spending in the nation, that same study found. According to the Massachusetts Lottery, Bay Staters now spend about $700 per capita annually to chase their million-dollar dreams. Only about $1 million annually is earmarked to fight gambling addiction.

So much lottery money is returned to players in fact, that Massachusetts ranked 38th out of 41 state lotteries when it came to generating revenue for the state, a 2005 study by the Taxpayers Foundation, a Washington, D.C.,-based taxpayer education group.

By comparison, other state lotteries keep about 30 percent of their sales. New York, which topped the list in sales and profits, ranked ninth on the lottery list for generating state revenue, the study found. The Empire State’s lottery gives winners just over 67 percent of its sales, returning 32.9 percent in revenue to the state.

The Bay State’s higher payouts have made the Massachusetts lottery one of the most successful in the nation and a model for other lotteries worldwide, Bresnahan said.

“That’s what has fueled the lottery’s success over 40 years,” she said. “It’s the Massachusetts model that the industry admires.”

Players are also big fans.

When a plan to cut payouts and turn more money over to cities and towns surfaced several years ago, Bresnahan said, it provoked outrage from lottery buyers.

“The level of prize payout has a direct influence on sales,” she said. “Lottery players are savvy. They want to win a prize so, the more they win, the more they play.”

Yet many worry that despite the lottery’s efforts, the state’s new focus on casino gaming could reduce the pool of discretionary aid for cities and towns even further.

According to a 2008 state-funded analysis of the impact on gambling, the Lottery Commission expects to see a 3 percent to 8 percent drop in lottery sales when the first casino opens. And, it’s projected that lottery sales will decline even further as more casinos open. Within five years, however, lottery revenue could recover to pre-casino levels, the analysis found.

A 2006 study by the House Committee on Economic Development was even more dire in its predictions when it estimated a potential loss of 15 percent in lottery revenue during the first two years casinos are in operation. Language inserted in last year’s casino bill will bring some cash back to the cities and towns, but exactly how much money that will be remains unclear.

Yet it’s not just about the money, some critics say.

Efforts to increase gambling, whether through lottery sales or casino, is fueling the state’s financial burden in the form of gambling addictions, fraud and crime, they suggest.

Robert Goodman, former director of the U.S. Gambling Research Institute and a professor of economics at Hampshire College in Amherst, doesn’t see more gaming as the solution.

“The interesting thing, from a political point of view, is that politicians will say, ‘We brought in so many dollars’ and consider that a net benefit,” Goodman said. “What they don’t look at is the impact on other businesses and the impact on problem gamblers.”

“I don’t think there is any doubt that this is a failed public policy,” Goodman added, noting that the impact of bankruptcies, insurance and credit-card fraud along with the cost to the criminal justice system, can collectively add up to millions of dollars annually. That information should be part of the state’s equation when factoring in the impact on communities, Goodman said.

Municipal officials also often cite the inequitable distribution of lottery funds among communities as a source of concern.

The town of Milton, where Gov. Deval Patrick lives, for example, took in $2.52 million in unrestricted aid in 2012, about $500,000 more than Walpole and $200,000 more than Milford, even though both are similar sized municipalities with higher poverty rates and lower property tax bases than Milton.

Amherst, which is home to the sprawling, flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system, has about 10,000 more residents and collects about $21 million less in property taxes compared to Milton, yet received $6.6 million in unrestricted aid, or about $4 million more than each of the three suburban Boston communities. A poverty rate that tops 30 percent got Amherst more cash.

Such discrepancies between similar communities can often be largely due to the “additional assistance” which some receive, according to Daniel Burtron, spokesman for the Department of Revenue which is charged with distributing state aid. The merger of those funds with lottery aid will help the state come up with a more equitable distribution in the future, he said.

Until then, struggling communities across the state will just have to hope their luck holds up.

Where are the winners?
The map below shows locations, by town, where Massachusetts players of state lottery games and Powerball won amounts of $650,000 or more.

Click on a pie chart to zoom in, or use the "+" and "-" signs at left to control the zoom level. Keep zooming in to reveal individual markers that show the game, amount won, and date.

The markers are color-coded by amount won. Click on a marker at the bottom of the map to show only markers for that amount range.

View Massachusetts Lottery: Major winners Feb 2009-2012 in a full screen map

The New England Center for Investigative Reporting (www.necir-bu.org) is a nonprofit investigative reporting newsroom based at Boston University.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that employers added 45,200 new temporary jobs nationally last month.

Associated Press file

SPRINGFIELD – Massachusetts saw at least some job growth in seven out of 10 segments of the economy, suggesting that the statewide hiring picture really is improving.

“Clearly there are still better places to go but we are happy with where we are,” said Joanne F. Goldstein, state secretary of labor and work force developmenttarget=_blank>.

Statewide and across all categories, the state gained 9,100 jobs in February with 9,000 of those jobs being in the private sector. Year to date, the state has added 31,100 private sector jobs offset by losses in the public sector for a net total of 27,100.

The state’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.9 percent which is below the national average of 8.3 percent. Local numbers for February are not yet available.

The only category with a job loss for February was in “other services,” a catch-all category, according to statistics released last week by the state and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was down by 1,100 jobs, or about 0.9 percent. Manufacturing was even on the month, with durable-goods manufacturing gaining and non-durable goods, like food, falling.

Government added just 100 jobs over the month. State-related education was a big gainer, but jobs were lost in local and federal government.

The biggest gainers were leisure and hospitality with 4,800 new jobs on the month and 7,200 from a year ago. Trade transportation and utilities was up 2,600 jobs on the month and 8,800 from a year ago, mostly in retail trade but in transportation and wholesale trade as well.

Education and health services was up 1,700 and profes- 

sional and scientific services – which includes architects, lawyers and consultants – gained 900 on the month. Information industries added 500 jobs and construction added 300 on the month. Over the year construction is down 1,300.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statisticstarget=_blank> has recently changed the way jobs numbers are collected and tabulated, resulting in wide swings from month to month, Goldstein said. But she’s confident that these numbers reflect current conditions.

They are in line with state payroll tax receipts, she said. They also reflect a willingness to hire people reflected in an Associated Industries of Massachusetts poll.

Temporary staffing firm Robert Half International is also busier.

“To be honest we are seeing a pickup in all areas,” said Kelleigh Marquard, a Metro Market Manager for Robert Half Internationaltarget=_blank> who oversees the Springfield office.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that employers added 45,200 new temporary jobs nationally last month.

“What we are seeing is more of a pickup in those specialized skill sets which went away during the down market,” she said.

That includes office jobs, like executive assistants. Companies had been doing without people in those roles, she said.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Muriel Lambert

SPRINGFIELD - Muriel Lambert, 73, died Monday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Born in Springfield to the late John and Sarah (Waterman) Lambert, she had been employed as a certified nursing assistant at Mercy Medical Center. She also did private duty nursing in California and in Springfield.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Accorsi Sr., Paul M.
  



• 
  Ackermann-Agront, Denise N.
  



• 
  Cummings, Marjorie Jean (Kilpatrick)
  



• 
  Dunn, Louise E. (Winkler)
  



• 
  Finn, Dr. Joan A.
  



• 
  Golden, Bethenia
  



• 
  Kimball, F. Margaret "Peggy"
  



• 
  Lacerte, Jeannette Marie (Brodeur)
  



• 
  Lambert, Muriel
  



• 
  Maxellon, Irene T. (Sypek)
  



• 
  Pichette, Lorraine H. (Levy)
  



• 
  Sexton, Elizabeth (Burke)
  



• 
  Stevens, Elizabeth J. (Manning)
  



• 
  Wadach, Steven W.
  



• 
  Yelinek-Gibson, Brenda
  



• 
  Zeno, Emma (Daniele)
  

Obama's candid assessment of political reality was picked up by a microphone without either leader apparently knowing.

Associated PressU.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev chat during a bilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March, 26, 2012.

SEOUL, South Korea — President Barack Obama told Russia's leader Monday that he would have more flexibility after the November election to deal with the contentious issue of missile defense, a candid assessment of political reality that was picked up by a microphone without either leader apparently knowing.

"This is my last election," Obama is heard telling outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "After my election, I have more flexibility."

Medvedev replied in English, according to a tape by ABC News: "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir," an apparent reference to incoming President Vladmir Putin.

Obama and Medvedev did not intend for their comments, made during a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, to be made public.

Once they were, the White House said Obama's words reflected the reality that domestic political concerns in both the U.S. and Russia this year would make it difficult to fully address their long-standing differences over the contentious issue of missile defense.

Obama, should he win re-election, would not have to face voters again.

"Since 2012 is an election year in both countries, with an election and leadership transition in Russia and an election in the United States, it is clearly not a year in which we are going to achieve a breakthrough," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.

Tensions over missile defense have threatened to upend the overall thawing of relations between the U.S. and Russia in recent years.

Both leaders acknowledged as much in their public statements to reporters following their meeting. Obama said there was "more work to do" to bridge their differences; Medvedev said each country had its own position on missile defense but there was still time to find a solution.

Mitt Romney, the leading Republican contender to face Obama this fall, said in a statement the president's unguarded remarks "signaled that he's going to cave to Russia on missile defense, but the American people have a right to know where else he plans to be 'flexible' in a second term."

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who often faces charges of having been flexible on his own policies over the years, said Obama "needs to level with the American public about his real agenda."

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Romney "is undermining his credibility by distorting the president's words."

Congressional Republicans also seized on Obama's comments. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate and a fierce critic of the New START treaty with Russia to reduce the nuclear stockpile, criticized the president's level of support for missile defense.

"Perhaps the Russians, in whom President Obama recently confided, could shed some light on his missile defense plans for the American people, who otherwise have been left in the dark by this president," Kyl said in a statement.

Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, wrote to the president requesting an "urgent explanation of (his) comments to President Medvedev in Seoul this morning."

"Congress has made exquisitely clear to your administration and to other nations that it will block all attempts to weaken U.S. missile defenses," Turner said. "As the chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which authorizes U.S. missile defense and nuclear weapons policy, I want to make perfectly clear that my colleagues and I will not allow any attempts to trade missile defense of the United States to Russia or any other country."

Congress, as part of the fiscal 2012 defense authorization act, constrained Obama's ability to share classified U.S. missile defense information with Russia. Obama signed that legislation into law.

Russia has been strongly critical of plans for a U.S.-led NATO missile defense in Europe. Russian officials believe the planned missile shield would target Russia's nuclear deterrent and undermine global stability, while the U.S. insists the planned missile shield is intended to counter threats from Iran.

Putin said earlier this month that Washington's refusal to offer Moscow written guarantees that its missile defense system would not be aimed against Russia deepened its concerns.

Putin won elections held earlier this year and will return to the presidency later this spring. He is expected to name Medvedev prime minister.

The U.S. and Russia have also clashed recently over their approach to dealing with violence in Syria. The U.S. has sharply criticized Russia for opposing U.N. Security Council action calling on Syria's president to leave power.

Obama said Monday that despite past differences on Syria, he and Medvedev agreed they both support U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's efforts to end the violence in Syria and move the country toward a "legitimate" government.

The regional training center will serve the general training needs of fire departments in the four western counties.

Photo by Mark M. MurrayThe Norris J. Quinn Fire Training Center in Indian Orchard will be sold to the state under a $10 million plan to convert the site to a regional training facility. The administration building, shown, will be torn down and rebuilt.

SPRINGFIELD – The state is preparing to purchase the Norris J. Quinn Fire Training Center in Indian Orchard from the city for $2 million and convert the site into a regional fire training center.

The City Council approved the sale of the 6.6-acre training center and its buildings last week – a milestone for the long-planned, estimated $10 million project.

“It’s a culmination of many years of efforts to create a focal point for fire training for the western counties of the Commonwealth,” said Stephen D. Coan, state fire marshal.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the negotiated sale of the site is a “good deal” and made sense for the city and state.

“It’s a smart move, not only for the overall betterment of fire operations and training, but also a strong financial move for the city of Springfield,” Sarno said.

City Councilor Thomas M. Ashe, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said the city will benefit from the $2 million coming from the state, and will continue to use the site for its own training needs on a rent-free basis for 20 years, under the agreement with the state.

“It’s $2 million that goes into the city coffers,” Ashe said. “It’s a complete win-win. You hear time and time again the need to regionalize. This is a great example of how it should be.”

The project will ease the load at the state’s central training academy located in Stow, officials said. In addition, area firefighters will face less travel time and travel costs in their ongoing fire training needs, officials said. The project has an architect, but the potential construction timetable is not yet determined.

Photo by Mark M. MurrayThe burn building, left, and the tower, at right, located at the Springfield Fire Department Norris J. Quinn Fire Training Center, will remain when the state takes over the property.

At the Springfield training center, a three-story “burn building” will remain unchanged on the site. It is a three-story building that is used as a “live fire training structure.” In addition, a Ladder Tower building will remain unchanged. A separate administrative building will be demolished and rebuilt to meet state standards.

David A. LaFond, a retired fire chief in Holyoke who is executive director of the Western Massachusetts Fire Chief’s Association, joined Coan in praising the project. The association has strongly favored a regional training center serving Western Massachusetts fire departments.

The current training center will be modernized and expanded, serving the four western counties, including volunteer fire departments, Coan said. The discussion of having a training center in Western Massachusetts dates back as far as the late 1970s, but received a boost in support three years ago from Gov. Deval Patrick, Coan said.

The project’s goal is to provide a “training area with classrooms, offices, male and female lockers, staff and student turn out gear storage, facilities areas with a mini-crib room, maintenance shops, a fire house and storage areas, fire safety lab with offices and ground storage space, emergency equipment response storage and expanded parking,” according to the state Division of Capital Asset Construction.

Other sites were considered in Western Massachusetts but the Springfield site was deemed the best location, Coan said.

Palmer firefighters provided mutual aid.

Republican file photo

MONSON - Firefighters, fighting a brush fire off T Peck Road early Monday afternoon, summoned their counterparts in Palmer to provide mutual aid.

The blaze was reported shortly before 2 p.m. Additional information on the blaze was not immediately available.

About an hour later, Chicopee firefighters were summoned to a brush fire at St. Patrick Cemetery.

CBS3 meteorologist Mike Skurko said low relative humidities and gusty winds on Monday and Tuesday will bring enhanced risks for out-of-control brush fires.

Ellison was convicted of attacking corrections officer Joseph Giannetti, pictured.

The Republican | Dave Roback03.26.2012 | SPRINGFIELD - Correctional officer Joseph Giannetti, seated with tie, listens to the sentencing of Roland Ellison.

SPRINGFIELD - Roland Ellison was sentenced Monday to 9 1/2 to 10 years in state prison for the severe beating of corrections officer Joseph Giannetti at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.

That sentence will start after Ellison completes a 7 1/2 to 10 year state prison term for assault and battery and other charges in an unrelated case. Ellison was sentenced in that case in June 2011.

Judge Constance M. Sweeney called Ellison's attack "one of extreme brutality."

Assistant District Attorney Howard Safford had urged Sweeney to give Ellison that sentence, saying Ellison delivered 50 or 60 blows to Giannetti in the attack captured on security cameras at the jail.

Ellison had been found guilty by a Hampden Superior Court jury of assault and battery on a correctional officer for pummeling and kicked Giannetti, a correctional officer, repeatedly on Jan. 5, 2011, causing a severe concussion, a broken rib, fractured cheek and forehead lacerations.

Giannetti, in his victim impact statement to Sweeney, said he never believed something like this would happen to him.

“I relive this incident over and over in my head,” he said, saying the support of his friends and family helped him in his recovery from the injuries.

Giannetti said the 9½-10-year sentence will send a message that he hopes will prevent future attacks against his fellow correctional officers both in Hampden County and across the state.

Ellison, 32, refused to be brought into the courtroom from the court lockup when Sweeney sent jurors out for deliberation in the morning, and then refused to be brought into the courtroom when the jury had a question and for the verdict.

Sweeney said it was within Ellison's right not to appear for those matters, but he must appear for sentencing.

For the sentencing, court security put Ellison in a small conference room at the back of the courtroom. The door was kept open and Ellison could hear what was being said directly and with an audio backup.

Court officers kept people from passing by the door while Ellison was inside with the door open.

The Hampden Superior Court jury acquitted Ellison's co-defendant, Alex Gonzalez. The prosecution argued although Ellison was alone in the assault, Gonzalez planned it with him and was willing to assist.

Defense lawyer Elizabeth Rodriguez-Ross told jurors there was no evidence at all Gonzalez had anything to do with Ellison’s assault.

About 30 colleagues of Giannetti were on hand to see the verdict and for the sentencing.

Edward C. Bryant, Ellison's lawyer, had asked the court to order a mental health exam of Ellison by the court mental health staff before sentencing.

Sweeney denied the request, saying Ellison has shown deliberate, manipulative behavior and this is another attempt to delay what will happen to him.

On at least one day of the trial Ellison would not come into the courtroom in the morning for an hour, delaying the trial and keeping jurors and the court waiting.

Ellison was also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The jury found him guilty of a lesser offense, assault and battery.

Since the dangerous weapon portion was gone, both prosecution and defense agreed the charge became a duplication on the assault and battery on a correction officer charge

The dangerous weapon in the charge was a metal grate that was part of the shelving in the officers station where the beating took place. Safford argued Ellison beat Giannetti’s head into the grate.

Bryant asked Sweeney to give a sentence less than what the prosecution wanted, saying although the attack was violent, it was a quick incident and was not planned.

Judge Mary-Lou Rup took the request under advisement for a few days.

The Republican | Don TreegerAuthor Joe McGinniss sits in Hampshire Superior Court in January while researching his upcoming book.

NORTHAMPTON – Pelham writer Joe McGinniss will have to wait a few more days to know whether he can have access to records impounded in the rape trial of David Fried Oppenheim.

McGinniss has requested impounded police records, witness statements and instant messages in the case that concluded earlier this month. Oppenheim, the founder of the Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton, was sentenced to 5-7 years in state prison for child rape.

The author of such books as "Fatal Vision" and most recently "The Rogue", about Sarah Palin, is writing a book on the Hampshire Superior Court and argued before Judge Mary-Lou Rup Monday in his appeal to see the records. “The public has a right to know,” he said.

He said he did not want to use names, addresses or in any other way identify those who provided statements.

He said he is interested in police reports because the victim came forward May 8, 2010 “and made an accusation against David Fried Oppenheim” about events that occurred three years before. Police investigated, he said, and “less than a month later David Fried Oppenheim was arrested. What was the probable cause?”

Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Pepyne argued that the “there was a good cause for impoundment.”

The victim and witness statements “are personal statements. They’re private statements. They (witnesses) continue to request confidentiality.”

Oppenheim’s defense lawyer David P. Hoose did not appear for the hearing and told the court he had no position on the McGinniss motion.

Rup said she initially impounded the records because the “case had not been tried.” She also said that the witnesses in court testified to much of what they wrote about in their statements.

But she said she wanted to review case law, explaining, “I want to take it under advisement for a few days.”

McGinniss’ "15 Gothic Street" is being published in six installments on the website Byliner.com.

His deadline for the first piece, which focuses on the Oppenheim case, is due in the middle of April and he said needs to know if he can see the impounded material in time to include the details he’s looking for.

The "Comprehensive Reproductive Health Policy" is scheduled for a final School Committee vote on April 5.

File photo / Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanAntonette E. Pepe

SPRINGFIELD – A School Committee subcommittee is meeting Tuesday to gather additional information and hear from the public regarding a proposed policy that would allow students ages 12 and up to obtain free condoms at the city's middle and high schools.

The School Committee's Parent-Student Concerns Subcommittee is meeting at 5 p.m. in the library at the Frederick Harris Elementary School, 58 Hartford Terrace.

“I do want to hear what the parents have to say,” subcommittee chair Antonette E. Pepe said Monday. “I am definitely encouraging parents and others to attend.”

The “Comprehensive Reproductive Health Policy” is aimed at reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, according to proponents. Under the proposal, parents will have the right to deny permission for their child to receive condoms by signing an annual “opt out” form.

Some members of the Springfield Adolescent Sexual Health Advisory council plan to attend the subcommittee meeting and will respond to questions, Pepe said. The advisory group is recommending passage of the policy.

The School Committee gave first-step approval to the free condom policy on March 15, by a 5-1 vote. Committee member Peter Murphy cast the sole vote against the policy, saying a key concern was the young age of the students.

Final passage will be considered at the next full committee meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on April 5 at City Hall.

If approved, the policy will give students access to free condoms, provided by school nurses. Under the policy, the nurses would provide some counseling to the students including information on abstinence and instruction on proper storage and use of contraceptives.

Springfield had the fourth highest rate of teen pregnancy in the state in 2009, the most recent year of complete statistics, according to the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. In addition, Springfield had the second highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea among teens in the state in 2010, the alliance stated.

Some critics of the condom policy have said that talk of abstinence while giving condoms sends a mixed message to students or encourages them to have sex. In addition, some critics have stated that Holyoke has a condom access policy and yet has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the state.

Pepe said that while she still has questions and some concerns, she remains in favor of the policy. There are students having unprotected sex in the middle schools and high schools who are in danger of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, she said.

“This is happening,” Pepe said. “I’m not encouraging it to happen... nor am I encouraging a 12-year-old to have sex.”

Mitt Romney trumpeted a flurry of conservative endorsements along with backing Monday from a delegate who belonged to campaign dropout Jon Huntsman as he looks to wrap up the GOP presidential nomination.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at NuVasive, Inc., a medical device company, Monday, March 26, 2012, in San Diego, Calif. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

By KASIE HUNT, Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mitt Romney trumpeted a flurry of conservative endorsements along with backing Monday from a delegate who belonged to campaign dropout Jon Huntsman as he looks to wrap up the GOP presidential nomination.

The former Massachusetts governor highlighted the ongoing primary slog as the conservative chorus behind him grew, along with worry that the drawn-out nomination fight will damage their likely nominee against President Barack Obama.

Campaigning in California, Romney made an appeal to primary voters in a contest still two months away on June 5. "I need you guys to get ready, to organize your effort, to get your friends to vote, to collect some money, to get campaign contributions," Romney told employees at medical device maker NuVasive in southern California. "We've got a ways to go."

Romney announced support from Utah Sen. Mike Lee, an early tea party supporter who ousted a longtime incumbent Republican. The GOP presidential front-runner also earned backing from California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the third highest-ranking House Republican, and from Al Cardenas, head of the American Conservative Union.

Huntsman delegate Paul Collins, who ran the former Utah governor's campaign in New Hampshire, also signed on with Romney.

All four urged fellow Republicans to unite behind Romney and save the GOP from more months of a nasty, drawn-out primary. Together, their backing represents an increasing groundswell of conservative support for Romney after his Illinois victory last Tuesday. Lee, in particular, represented a coup for Romney. He was one of the first national tea party voices and Romney had spent nearly a year personally courting him. He visited Lee's Senate office last June to ask for his support.

While in California, Romney planned five separate fundraisers with deep-pocketed donors over the next two days, largely eschewing traditional campaign events to raise money to pay for the primary campaign against chief challenger Rick Santorum.

The Associated PressSouth Korean President Lee Myung-bak poses for a photo with President Barack Obama during a welcome ceremony for the Nuclear Security Summit at the Coex Center, in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Still, Romney on Monday went after President Barack Obama for telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more "flexibility" to deal with missile defense after his "last election" in November — remarks caught on tape when the president thought he was speaking privately.

"That is an alarming and troubling development. This is no time for our president to be pulling his punches with the American people," Romney said.

The Obama campaign accused Romney of distorting the president's remarks.

"Gov. Romney has been all over the map on the key foreign policy challenges facing our nation today," campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement, accusing Romney of "chest thumping" and "empty rhetoric" on foreign affairs.

As Romney and Obama looked past the primary to each other, however, Santorum showed up outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington to urge supporters to back him over the former Massachusetts governor.

Santorum has called Romney the "worst" conservative standard bearer because of his record on health care in Massachusetts, where Romney signed the law that became the blueprint for Obama's national health law. The high court was hearing arguments over whether the federal law is constitutional.

In California, Romney stood in front of a "Repeal & Replace ObamaCare" sign at the medical device company, which was founded with venture capital. He attacked the medical device tax included in the health care law — though he didn't, during a more than 20-minute speech and despite the sign, explicitly call for the law's repeal.

Still, he said, the law and other Obama politics are getting in the way of the American dream.

"These dreams are crushed. Tax by tax, regulator by regulator, regulation by regulation, Washington is crushing the dreams, and crushing the dreamers," Romney said.

Supporters of a New Hampshire gambling bill want to build four casinos across the state.

Associated PressState Rep. Stephen Stepanek talks about the benefits of casino gambling at a news conference Monday, March, 26, 2012, in Concord, N.H. The House will vote on a bill later this week to build four casinos across the state.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Warning of missed opportunities and a revenue drain to Massachusetts, supporters are urging the New Hampshire House to move ahead with gambling legislation days before a critical vote.

Supporters at a news conference Monday morning touted a bill to build four casinos across the state as an economic cure-all, using newly legalized gambling in Massachusetts as the impetus to push it through. If New Hampshire does nothing, they say, it stands to lose between $40 million and $50 million annually in lottery revenue and room and meals taxes to its neighbor to the South.

"That large sucking sound you hear is going be New Hampshire dollars going to Massachusetts," said Rep. David Campbell, D-Nashua.

Campbell and others argued Monday that the newly legalized casinos in Massachusetts would soon bring many of gambling's social ills to New Hampshire without any funding to treat them. While opponents agree with the problem, they reject expanded gambling as a solution.

"You don't improve a situation by making it four times worse," said Rep. David Hess, D-Hooksett.

However, supporters say the bill would improve the economic situation, too. To sweeten the deal, sponsors have included cuts to New Hampshire's high business taxes, a popular goal that legislators have yet been unable to accomplish.

Based on supporters' estimates of the revenue generated the first year, the business profits tax could be cut from 8.5 to 4.3 percent, and the business enterprise tax would be slashed by two-thirds, falling from 0.75 to 0.25 percent. Business owners at the press conference said a cut of that size would encourage businesses to grow and help bring in others from out of state.

The real effects of such cuts would be short-lived, argue opponents, because any future Legislature would be able to raise them again, if money became tight.

The House has never passed a gambling bill, but is closely split this year. Both sides are confident in imminent victory, although the opposition has a strong backup plan. Even if the bill passes the House and the Senate afterwards, Gov. John Lynch has vowed to veto any gambling bill that reaches him.

Gambling supporters say they are undeterred. Rep. Gary Azarian, R-Salem, listed and contested the governor's objections to gambling based on quality of life, social ills and proliferation.

"At the end of the day, we're hoping when he sees the job creation, the revenue loss to Massachusetts that he may reverse his decision," said Azarian.

With other funding, the program may eventual serve 125 employees just starting their careers by subsidizing their salary while they get more training

The Republican / Don Treeger3-26-12 - Holyoke - Republican staff photo by Don Treeger- The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County announced a $150,000 grant from Bank of America that will be directed towards the Healthcare Workforce Partnership of Western Ma. Here, Bob Gallery, Bank of America Massachusetts Market President, talks during a ceremony to announce the grant. Seated are Bill Ward (L), President and CEO, Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and Alex Morse, Holyoke Mayor. The event took place at the Holyoke Health Center on Maple St.

HOLYOKE – A $150,000 grant from Bank of America will allow 25 local health-care providers to further their educations through on-the-job training through a new program established by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County and its Healthcare Workforce Partnership of Western Massachusetts.

That training might focus on the newest in electronic medical records or ways to help chronically-ill patients change their lifestyles and get healthier, said Jay A. Breines, executive director of Holyoke Health Center.

He used the example of a young nurse who recently applied for a job at Holyoke Health Center. She has technical skills, but not the in-person experience required at a high-pressure environment like Holyoke Health Centertarget=_blank> working with a mostly poor and Spanish-speaking clientele.

“But with this grant we can train her up to be the nurse we need,” Breines said. “This will subsidize her salary, so we won’t need her to be 100 productive on the floor from day one. She won’t have to hit the ground running.”

The Health Center at 230 Maple St. has 340 employees and about 160 more people work for tenant organization sin the building. Workers eligible for the program will range from community health workers making $11 to $13 an hour to nurses earning $25 an hour or more.

“And we are always hiring,” Breines said.

About 16,000 people come to the Holyoke Health Center each year for medical and dental care, according to its Web site. It is a nonprofit.

The Regional Employment Board and Bank of America announced the program Monday afternoon at Holyoke Health Center with U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse and others in attendance.

The program, called Transitions to Practice or T2P, is meant to last as long as three years, said J. William Ward, president and CEO of the Regional Employment Boardtarget=_blank>. While the Bank of America money will cover about 25 workers, Ward said Monday he hopes to train as many as 125 workers by leveraging the Bank of America grant to get $250,000 from the federal Department of Labor and $100,00 from the employers in the Healthcare Workforce Partnership of Western Massachusetts.

That partnership includes Baystate Health, Sisters of Providence Health System, Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke Health Center and other health-care providers.;

Bank of America always hopes that recipients of its philanthropy use the money to leverage even more funding, said Robert E. Gallery, Massachusetts market president for Bank of America. Gallery said the bank got involved to address a need it saw in the community for well-trained health-care professionals.

“It’s economic development, plain and simple,” he said. “We think this is one of the pivotal developments for the greater Springfield area.”

Ward said this program is unique in that Bank of America largely came up with it itself and brought it to the Regional Employment Board . The Regional Employment Board usually comes up with a program then it solicits funding, he said.

All participants in the program will be residents of Hampden, Franklin or Hampshire counties . At least 60 percent will be either low-income or dislocated workers who lost jobs through no fault of their own. Each individual’s training period will last six months, Ward said. Many of the participants will be recent graduates of local schools, like Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College.

The agreement allows member towns to ask each other for such aid as emergency medical services, building inspectors, engineers, health agents, and more.

SOUTH HADLEY – The town has opted to join forces with other towns in Massachusetts to cope with disasters and other incidents involving public safety.

The South Hadley Selectboard approved unanimously the request by South Hadley Emergency Management Director Forrest Price Jr. to sign the Statewide Public Safety Mutual Aid Agreement.

“The tornado and subsequent storms emphasize why we need this,” said Price, referring to last June’s tornado.

Mutual aid agreements already exist among fire and police departments, but the new agreement is directed to town government offices “almost across the board,” said Price.

It allows member towns to ask each other for such aid as emergency medical services, building inspectors, engineers, health agents, water and sewer officials, transportation, highway, parks and cemetery workers and equipment.

“This is statewide, and it’s supported by Massachusetts general law,” said Price, “whereas a lot of agreements in the past have been local or regional.”

The key to the new law is that it provides liability protection to people who respond to emergencies in another town. In the past, town employees who crossed borders, even to do good deeds, were not typically covered by their own town’s insurance policy.

Towns that sign up for the Mutual Aid Agreement are not required to give aid whenever it’s requested, said Price. It depends entirely on a town’s ability to provide what it’s being asked for. The agreement is not mandatory.

For example, in a situation like that of the October snowstorm, said Price, towns were so overwhelmed by their own difficulties that they would not have been expected to serve other towns.

“It’s voluntary,” said Price.

If the incident is declared an emergency by the state, the member town that provides aid is entitled to reimbursement from the state.

Among the towns in Western Massachusetts that have signed the agreement are Agawam, Wilbraham, Easthampton, Monson, Gill, Belchertown, Ware and several towns in the Berkshires.

Price said a mutual aid agreement had been discussed for years, but the events of the past year stepped up the effort to get towns to join.

“The Commonwealth is not immune to disasters,” wrote Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Agency, to municipal officials across the state last August.

He reminded them that in the previous year and a half the state had suffered through floods, a threatened hurricane, a record-breaking snowstorm and a tornado.

The South Hadley Selectboard also signed a new Public Works Mutual Aid Agreement that encourages towns to share resources in everyday, non-emergency situations, for the sake of efficiency or saving money.

At risk are this season's harvests of wine grapes, apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches and possibly strawberries.

Tom Szulist, co-owner of Singer Farms Naturals, looks over an apricot tree in full bloom on the farm in Appleton, N.Y., Monday, March 26, 2012. Cold air overnight threatens to freeze plants that have budded or blossomed early amid record-setting warmth. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

GEORGE M. WALSH
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Anxious farmers in fruit-growing regions of the Great Lakes, Northeast and even parts of the South kept misters, smudge pots and helicopters in their arsenals as a cold front approached from Canada, threatening to freeze trees and vines overnight that had budded early amid record-setting warmth.

At risk are this season's harvests of wine grapes, apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches and possibly strawberries. If the freeze causes damage, consumers would likely notice it on a regional scale at farm stands, farmers' markets and other local outlets.

Cameron Hosmer was counting on a helicopter to mix warmer air with the cold at ground level Tuesday morning at his 60-acre vineyard in New York's Finger Lakes region. He worried most about his French-American hybrid grape De Chaunac, which are farthest along with half-inch buds, but noted he and other growers were at nature's mercy.

"We're not in charge," he said. "We're guests here. You're going to have to be prepared for disappointments."

The National Weather Service has issued hard freeze and frost warnings and watches in a swath from the central Great Lakes to the East Coast. Temperatures could drop as low as the mid-teens across a swath of states including Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia.

"This is absolutely the earliest we've seen," Cornell University horticulture professor Susan Brown said of the combination of freezing weather and plants that have come alive early. Most threatened overnight are apricots, which are already in full bloom.

"They're going to be toast," she said.

Seeds planted early in home gardens should be fine, experts said, but tender ornamentals and early-blooming flowers like tulips and daffodils can be covered with sheets or newspapers to give them a good chance of making it through the night. Containers should be brought indoors.

The experts say it's hard at this point to project the effect on fruit supplies or consumer prices. But two of the nation's largest fruit-growing states — California (apricots) and Washington (apples) — will avoid the cold snap.

In Michigan, where peach trees are flowering, blueberries are blooming and asparagus is poking through, farms and wineries in low spots along the Lake Michigan shore will be most at risk because the cold air will sink, said Keith Creagh, director of agriculture and rural development department.

Some farmers are using smudge pots — flaming kettles that throw off heat and move the cold air — but some damage is inevitable. Others are using overheard sprinklers to mist their plants with the hope of creating protective ice around tender buds and shoots.

In Methuen, Mass., apple grower Bill Fitzgerald said he'll probably worry himself to sleep tonight. He figures he'll be fine if the temperature stays around 27 degrees. But if it dips to the low end of the forecast in his area, about 21 degrees, his crop could be nearly wiped out.

"There's actually tremendous concern," Fitzgerald said. "If we come out of this OK tonight, we're going to have slid by the skin of our teeth, as they say."

___

Associated Press writers Jay Lindsay in Boston, Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., and Dave Gram in Montpelier, Vt., contributed to this report.

Both campaigns agreed to follow the pledge in an attempt to limit negative advertising and attacks from third parties in the wake of the Super Court's "Citizens United" ruling.

AP file photosU. S. Senator Scott P. Brown is seen with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

BOSTON - The Scott Brown campaign will write a check to charity, his second in a matter of weeks, after the Elizabeth Warren campaign protested that ads from a petrolium lobbying group supporting Brown violate the “People’s Pledge” that both candidates agreed to in February.

The ads by the American Petrolium Institute were being distributed this week in six states, including Massachusetts. The Massachusetts ads urged voters to contact Brown to urge him to vote against higher taxes on the oil industry.

A statement issued Monday afternoon by Mindy Myers, Warren’s campaign manager, said the campaign considers the ads a violation of the “People’s Pledge,” an agreement by both campaigns designed to limit third-party advertising during the race.

“It has come to our attention that the American Petroleum Institute has been running radio and print ads to support Senator Scott Brown’s position on tax breaks for big oil companies,” Myers wrote “Given Senator Brown’s past vote in support of these tax breaks, and the fact that these ads are funded by big oil and clearly support Brown’s position on this issue, this is a violation of the People’s Pledge.”

Myers also said “If Scott Brown allows these ads to continue, it could open the exact kind of loopholes for third parties that Elizabeth Warren was concerned about from the beginning. We urge Senator Brown to honor the pledge and demand that these ads be taken down.”

Brown spokesman Colin Reed issued a response evening. “While issue ads are not covered under the terms of the People’s Pledge, they do represent a loophole that needs to be closed,” he said.

“Scott Brown is committed to honoring this historic agreement and for that reason his campaign will donate to charity the sums called for in the pledge as a result of the American Petroleum Institute’s ad campaign,” he said. “The fact that we have now expanded the pledge to cover issue ads is a positive and welcome development.”

The amount of the donation and the recipient was not specified.

Both campaigns agreed to follow the pledge in an attempt to limit negative advertising and attacks from third parties in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. That 2010 ruling, based on a 5-4 court decision, said struck down campaign finance laws that limited how much corporations, nonprofits and unions could spend on political campaigns.

Under terms of the pledge, Brown and Warren each agreed to make a donation to the charity of the other candidate’s choosing equal to half the cost any political advertising purchased by third-party supporters.

Earlier this month, Brown made a donation of $1,000 to a charity of Warren’s choosing, the Autism Consortium, in response to a some ads by the Coalition of Americans for Political Equality,

According to the terms of the pledge, Brown was obligated to pay $336.99 — 50 percent of the amount the Coalition of Americans for Political Equality spent on the ads - but he donated the additional amount because he supports the consortium’s work.

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees on Monday voted to name Kumble R. Subbaswamy the new chancellor for the Amherst campus.

Republican file photoKumble Subbaswamy, seen here during a March 14 visit to the Amherst campus, has been named new chancellor for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

AMHERST - Kumble R. Subbaswamy, a physicist and provost at the University of Kentucky since 2006, will become the new chancellor at the University of Massachusetts after trustees Monday night voted to unanimously approve UMass President Robert L. Caret’s recommendation.

He was selected over Carlos E. Santiago, an economist and chief executive officer of the Hispanic College Fund in Washington, D.C.

Initially there were four finalists selected from 15 semi-finalists but two dropped out.

Sona Karentz Andrews on Friday was named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Portland State University in Oregon, and Susan D. Phillips, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Albany/State University of New York withdrew her name from consideration.

Caret, in a prepared statement said “Moments like this define who we are as a University, what our values are, and what our vision is for ourselves and for the people of the Commonwealth. With that thought in mind, I am proud to recommend Dr. Kumble Subbaswamy — a man who has devoted his life to pursuing excellence, to opening doors and to serving others.”

Subbaswamy reacted with energy and enthusiasm over being selected.
“I’m excited. It’ a wonderful campus a wonderful town, a wonderful community,” he said. “I look forward to working with the campus.”

He said he and Caret have not worked out the details of when he’ll begin but he expects it will be at the start of the new fiscal year July 1.

Subbaswamy said he plans to visit the campus sometime next week.

Subbaswamy, a native of Bangalore Karnataka, India, is known by the nickname “Swamy.“

During a recent visit to the campus, he stressed the importance of collaboration. “None of us is smarter than all of us,“ he said at the time.

That means collaborating in all ways, including with the other campuses in the system. He elaborated on that after his campus meeting, stressing the importance of working with those campuses, Caret and the Board of Trustees. “UMass-Boston is not a competitor,“ he said. He said if he wanted to implement something on campus and “I can’t persuade the president of the system, I haven’t done my job.“ Reactions from faculty were supportive of the selection.

“I think it’s a good choice,” said UMass professor Max Page. “There was an overall sense from across the campus he rose to the top. He seemed like a very genuine person, very honest.
There’s no doubt he’s very accomplished. He wears it very lightly.”

Computer Science professor Richard Adrion, a member of the search committee, said “I thought he was a great candidate He has a good sense of humor. He has a good track record.”

Adrion said he talked to colleagues on campuses where Subbaswamy has worked and all had good things to say. “I think he’ll be a good chancellor. I’m optimistic.”

He also praised the search, which he called “a good process. They turned up some really good candidates.”

Subbaswamy was Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami from 1997 to 2000, and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington from 2000 to 2006.

He will replace Chancellor Robert C. Holub who in a statement congratulated him and offered his support.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Holub said “I will be doing everything I can to cooperate with Chancellor Subbaswamy and to ensure that the transition in leadership is smooth and productive. UMass Amherst is a great public research institution, and it has made tremendous progress since I arrived in the summer of 2008. I am confident that under Chancellor Subbaswamy’s leadership the campus will attain even greater success.“

Civil Service Commission rules in favor of East Longmeadow police officer Daniel Bruno.

EAST LONGMEADOW – The state Civil Service Commission has challenged the Board of Selectmen’s decision to bypass patrolman Daniel Bruno for a sergeant’s position and ordered his name be placed at the top of the hiring list for the next open sergeant spot.

The ruling, issued Feb. 9, 2012, found in favor of Bruno. However, it said commission members found it “troubling” that he had Western New England University president Anthony S. Caprio make personal calls to selectmen in order to “tip the scales in his favor.” Two of the selectmen have ties to the university.

Selectman Paul L. Federici has a daughter who attends the university, and Selectman Enrico J. Villamaino’s family business, E.J. Villamaino Paving, has contracts with the university. Bruno is a graduate of the school and his mother is employed by Caprio’s office. Caprio could not be reached for comment.

The Civil Service Commission is a state judicial agency whose mission is to hear and decide appeals of public employees under the protection of civil service laws. As a result of the ruling, Bruno was promoted to sergeant in February and is expected to be sworn in next month.

The board initially voted to bypass Bruno on Feb. 8, 2011. Federici voted in favor of Bruno, while members Villamaino and James D. Driscoll voted to promote another officer, Steve Manning. The report questions the board’s reasons for bypassing Bruno, who was also passed over for the position in 2002 and 2006.

Manning and Bruno were hired on the same date in 1998, both have master’s degrees in criminal justice and very similar work experience. The 2011 application was the first time Manning had sought a promotion to sergeant.

Both candidates were interviewed on the same day and, the report states, both were asked questions from a prepared list. Federici said Bruno “hit (the interview) out of the park” and voted for him. Driscoll said both were outstanding individuals, but eventually voted for Manning.

After Manning was selected, Bruno appealed the decision and, initially, was given no explanation for why he was not selected. The Civil Service Commission said the lack of an explanation violated civil service law, so the board gave Bruno a letter outlining why he did not get the job.

The letter stated that during his interview, Bruno said the department needed more professionalism and that he would treat subordinate officers differently depending upon their experience with the police department. The board’s conclusion was that Bruno showed an “aggressive” leadership style and that his answers included negative and critical comments about the department.

But the commission report challenges the letter’s conclusions. It claims Bruno was not critical of the department, and that the letter “mischaracterized responses” from Bruno “and took words out of context to create a grossly unfair and inaccurate picture of a police officer.”

The report does concede that evaluating interview performances is an “inherently subjective process” and the commission may not “substitute its judgment for that of the appointing authority (the selectmen).”

Driscoll defended the letter and said it was not meant to be critical of Bruno.

The selectmen’s interviews, he said, “are public, and they are broadcast and rebroadcast. It is not our policy to make disparaging remarks about anyone who comes before us for an interview. We supplied the letter with our reasons for not hiring (Bruno) because the commission requested it.”

While the report says both officers have clean work histories, minutes from a Jan. 24, 2012, executive session meeting show Bruno had been involved in at least three pursuits that resulted in two car crashes, and that Police Chief Douglas Mellis issued a memo stating that the chases may have been in violation of the Police Department pursuit protocols. There was also a letter of reprimand placed in Bruno’s file.

Bruno’s lawyer, Thomas J. Rooke, said he appreciates the commission’s decision in Bruno’s favor, and said his client did not violate department protocols.

”I am confidant that those charges will be fully aired at a hearing in which Officer Bruno will be found in compliance with department rules and regulations,” Rooke said.

An officer must file a grievance within seven days of receiving a letter of reprimand. Selectmen Driscoll said the town has not received any grievances from the department on this matter or any other police matter in the last two weeks.

The report states that the board could not make an unbiased decision, since the same board members bypassed Bruno twice before. However, Selectmen Villamaino challenges that conclusion because he was not yet on the board when Bruno was passed over in 2006. None of the current members were on the board that declined to promote Bruno in 2002.

The commission report said the selectmen owe Bruno an apology, but Driscoll disagrees.

“We selected (Manning) because of his experience and I still feel we made the right decision,” Driscoll said. “I will not apologize for that.”