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Carmina Fernandes and Manuel Silva win Ludlow selectmen's race

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Jacob Oliveira kept his seat on the School Committee.


LUDLOW - The two winners in the selectmen’s race in Monday’s annual town election were Carmina D. Fernandes, an attorney in town, and Manuel D. Silva, an assessor in Wilbraham.

“The people have spoken,” Fermandes said Monday night from her victory party at the Montalegre Restaurant on State Street.

She said residents want their taxes lowered, and she plans to listen to them.

“We will look at new ideas for raising revenues and for more efficiencies,” Fernandes said. She said she will invite people in town to work with her.

She said she had many volunteers who worked with her Monday to get the vote out.

“It was a cold day,” she said.

Silva said he has 30 years experience setting tax rates in Wilbraham. He said he plans to help normalize the tax rate in Ludlow.

There were five candidates seeking the two selectmen seats. Fernandes received 1,743 votes and Silva received 1,156 votes.

The unsuccessful candidates for selectmen were Christine Peacey who received 656 votes, Walter Craven with 697 votes and Timothy Donnelly with 675 votes.

For a seat on the School Committee, incumbent Jacob Oliveira kept his seat, defeating challenger Deborah Stephenson. Oliveira received 1,625 votes to 1,128 votes for Stephenson.

Oliveira said he used social media to campaign for the first time this year.

The next big priority for the School Committee will be the fiscal 2013 budget, he said.

Oliveira said he plans to continue to work with all members of the School Committee in a professional manner.

The assessor’s race was an upset with Antonio Rosa, president of Appraisal Services in Ludlow, defeating incumbent Donald Lake. Rosa received 1,505 votes to 1,123 votes for Lake.

For Board of Public Works, incumbent Barry Linton defeated Richard Zucco. Linton received 1,671 votes to 1,002 votes for Zucco.

For a seat on the Board of Health, Timonthy Fontaine defeated Victor Field. Fontaine received 1,457 votes to 823 votes for Field.

Voter turnout Monday was 22 percent, with 2,912 voters casting ballots of 13,208 registered voters.




Springfield police on scene of stabbing in Boston Road mobile home park

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Police are responding to the scene of a stabbing on Pioneer Way, a street in the Boston Road Mobile Home Park.

pioneer4.jpgSpringfield detectives open the rear door of the department's forensic investigation van that just arrived at the scene of a serious stabbing on Pioneer Way off Boston Road.


SPRINGFIELD - Police are responding to the scene of a stabbing on Pioneer Way, a street in the Boston Road Mobile Home Park.

Police Lt. John Slepchuk confirmed a stabbing has taken place and the area is considered an active crime scene. No information was available on any victims.

Police were dispatched to the scene at about 10:15 p.m for a report of someone being found lying in what was described as a pool of blood.

The scene at Pioneer Way was cordoned off by police late Monday and on into Tuesday.

The police forensic investigation van arrived on scene at about 11:30 p.m.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.


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DA: Martha's Vineyard shooting was self-defense

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Prosecutors say a 63-year-old Martha's Vineyard woman who shot and killed her estranged husband will not face charges because she acted in self-defense.

WEST TISBURY, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say a 63-year-old Martha's Vineyard woman who shot and killed her estranged husband will not face charges because she acted in self-defense.

Authorities say Cynthia Bloomquist shot 64-year-old Kenneth Bloomquist after he broke into her West Tisbury home on Friday.

Police say Kenneth Bloomquist shot his wife first and she returned fire.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said in a statement Monday that the medical examiner found the cause of death for Kenneth Bloomquist was a gunshot wound to the chest. He says an investigation determined it was self-defense and his office will take no further action.

Cynthia Bloomquist underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the torso.

She had previously been denied a restraining order against her husband.

Fire danger remains high in Western Massachusetts

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A red flag warning will be in effect for most of New England from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

firetower.JPG3-23-12 - Pelham - Greg Whittier of Springfield, a firefighter with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, stares through binoculars at a puff of smoke seen on the horizon to the west as Massachusetts Chief Fire Warden David Celino looks on. The two men were working last week atop an 80-foot tall fire towner on Mount Lincoln in Pelham. As fire spotters, they spend the day looking for traces of smoke and alerting area fire departments of possible brush fires. The tower opened on last week because of the concerns for an early brush fire season.

SPRINGFIELD – Fire danger remains high today due to strong winds, extremely dry air and a lack of rain in recent weeks.

A red flag warning to be issued by the National Weather Service will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for all of Western Massachusetts. Such a warning means that critical fire conditions are expected and outdoor burning is not recommended.

“The conditions are very dangerous right now, as far as today goes, there is no burning,” said Westfield Deputy Fire Chief Andrew Hart.

Similar conditions on Monday led to rapidly-spreading brush fires at St. Patrick Cemetery in Chicopee and off T Peck Road in Monson.

According to the National Weather Service, relative humidity is as low as 13 percent and northwest winds will blow at 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.

CBS3 meteorologist Mike Skurko said temperatures, which sank into the 20s overnight, will moderate a the week progresses with highs in the mid- to upper 50s on the weekend.

Mitt Romney's fundraisers are quietly amassing millions

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A few weeks before the Republican primary in Florida in January, the billionaire owner of the NFL's Miami Dolphins hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney at his oceanfront home in Palm Beach.

Mitt RomneyRepublican 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)

RICHARD LARDNER and STEPHEN BRAUN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A few weeks before the Republican primary in Florida in January, the billionaire owner of the NFL's Miami Dolphins hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney at his oceanfront home in Palm Beach. The average voter wouldn't know about the event at the home of Stephen Ross because Romney's campaign doesn't follow the practice of other major presidential candidates who have willingly identified big-money fundraisers and the amounts they collect.

A review by The Associated Press of campaign records and other documents reveals hints about the vast national network of business leaders bringing in millions to elect Romney. The same month that Ross invited friends and colleagues to his home, for example, Romney's campaign received $317,000 from nearly 150 people who share Ross's exclusive ZIP code on Florida's east coast, according to Federal Election Commission records. That mysterious surge of donations outpaced all contributions to Romney during the previous year from the wealthy Palm Beach area, when the campaign collected $270,000 over nine months. Romney got $21,000 more from residents there in February.

Unlike President Barack Obama, Romney's campaign will not identify his major fundraisers, and federal law doesn't require him to. The AP identified several of Romney's "bundlers" through interviews, finance records, event invitations and other publicity about campaign events. The lack of transparency by the Romney campaign prevents voters from knowing who wields influence inside the GOP frontrunner's campaign and how their interests might benefit if he is elected. Romney is in California this week for at least five private fundraisers.

Bundlers are typically well-connected business and banking executives who tap their professional and social networks to steer individual contributions from others to the campaign in amounts that can range from $10,000 to well over $500,000. Experienced bundlers can reach these highest amounts quickly. Persuading 25 couples to attend a VIP reception with the candidate for $2,500 each — the maximum an individual can give a campaign — raises $125,000 in a single evening.

Even in the era of "super" political action committees, which can pull in millions of dollars in unlimited and effectively anonymous contributions to support candidates, bundlers are their own campaign forces. Unlike super PACs, which can't legally coordinate with candidates, bundlers raise large amounts deposited directly into a campaign's bank account — money that can be spent to pay for salaries, get-out-the-vote efforts and advertising.

This presidential election is expected to be among the costliest ever. Obama's re-election campaign has raised just over $151 million. His campaign released the names of its bundlers in late January, and the list illustrates how important these elite fundraisers have become. More than 440 bundlers collected at least $75 million to help Obama win a second term, including 61 people who each raised at least half-million dollars.

Fundraising has been a bright spot for Romney during the bruising GOP primary. Romney has built a potent organization that has pulled in nearly $75 million. Two-thirds of the total — nearly $49 million — came from people who gave the $2,500 maximum, which can be indicative of contributions pulled together by bundlers. Just $6.5 million, or 9 percent, came from supporters who gave $200 or less. The emphasis on top-tier donations indicates an active network of fundraisers who are targeting high-end contributors.

Barack ObamaU.S. President Barack Obama is photographed by U.S. soldiers before his departure for the United States at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Tuesday, March 27, 2012, after attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

"Romney is less focused on small donors than any other candidate at this stage of the campaign in recent memory," said Michael Malbin, director of the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute. "And that is parallel to a larger problem: He has not yet excited the passions of the kind of people who give small contributions or volunteer their time."

One prominent Romney supporter, Lewis M. Eisenberg, said that even with the rise of super PACs like Restore Our Future, which helped Romney pay for important advertising, the campaign is still dependent as ever on "hard money" that pays for salaries, state organizing, television ads, direct mailings and other expenses.

"It's fair to say we still haven't seen the clear impact of all the changes," said Eisenberg, co-chairman for Romney's campaign in Florida and John McCain's finance chairman in 2008. "What we do know is you still need the hard dollars that go to the campaign — to deliver the direct message of the candidate and the campaign."

Federal law requires only that candidates identify bundlers who also are registered lobbyists, which the Romney campaign has done. Sixteen lobbyists representing a wide range of interests raised nearly $2.2 million for him last year, according to FEC records. Andrea Saul, a Romney spokeswoman, said the campaign discloses all the information about its donors required by law.

The AP's review identified dozens of people who fit the profile of a bundler for Romney. Many are listed on invitations for Romney fundraising events, assigned to mine their business and personal networks for maximum campaign contributions.

Several were the same mega-donors who gave million-dollar contributions to Restore Our Future, the independently run super PAC supporting Romney. Seven of the 15 millionaires and billionaires who gave $1 million to the super PAC have either hosted Romney fundraising events or joined his finance committees. They include Tiger Management head Julian Robertson, hedge fund founders Paul Singer and John Paulson, and businessmen William Koch, Francis Rooney and Frank VanderSloot.

Former Bain Capital executive Edward Conard, whose anonymous $1 million donation to the super PAC in August spurred controversy until he came forward publicly, was one of the lead fundraisers for a December Romney event in New York. Conard declined to detail his fundraising role for the campaign but said he "wouldn't have a problem" if the campaign identified Romney's bundlers.

New York's financial institutions are the hub of Romney's fundraising, ties that were forged during Romney's rise in the 1980s as founder of Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity firm he directed until 1999. Over the past year, he has made regular stops at restaurants, hotels, law firms and private clubs in New York to collect donations. He is regularly joined by wealthy investment, hedge fund and banking executives who have signed on to run fundraisers.

One major Romney donor, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss fundraising practices behind the scenes, acknowledged that Romney financiers who serve as event hosts or are listed as members of campaign finance committees are likely Romney's bundlers and generally asked to raise a certain amount.

Romney's largest source of donations is employees at Goldman Sachs, the New York based investment and securities firm. More than $426,000 flowed into the Romney campaign in 2011 from individuals who identified themselves as Goldman Sachs managers or employees, and the Romney campaign has listed several senior or former Goldman Sachs executives as lead fundraisers of its campaign events, including John Whitehead, the firm's former chairman.

One top Goldman Sachs fundraiser is Muneer Satter of Chicago, a managing partner who heads the firm's Mezzanine Group. Satter was a co-chairman of Romney's national finance committee during his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid. Satter was a lead fundraiser for at least two events for Romney in 2011, one in New York in December and another in Chicago in May, and gave $195,000 to the super PAC supporting Romney. Satter did not return several telephone messages from the AP.

Eisenberg, a senior advisor to the Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts private equity fund, would not say whether he was a bundler. But his activities bear the hallmarks of a major fundraiser.

A former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and a $500,000-level bundler for McCain in 2008, Eisenberg was a lead fundraiser for Romney events in New York in October and December, and he hosted a reception at a New York law firm in late September. He also gave $25,000 to the super PAC supporting Romney, adding to a $100,000 donation to the group in February from KKR founder Henry Kravis. Donors listing KKR as their place of business gave $36,000 to Romney's campaign in 2011.

Two other major sources of Romney's campaign money are the New York investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse, the international bank based in Switzerland.

The former chairman of JPMorgan, William B. Harrison, was a lead fundraiser at a New York event for Romney in mid-December. Two executives of JPMorgan subsidiaries, Andy Sriubas and Reinier Prijten, were listed at events for Romney last fall. And four senior JPMorgan executives — among them the bank's vice chairman, James B. Lee and former Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, now the firm's director of Florida, Central American and Caribbean operations — hosted a separate December fundraiser for Romney.

In the two weeks before and after the December fundraisers, the Romney campaign received more than $60,000 in contributions from JPMorgan employees, according to federal election records.

The chairman of Credit Suisse in New York, Eric Varvel, was listed on invitations for two fundraisers for Romney in New York in October and December, as well as for a New York fundraiser earlier this month. The Romney campaign reportedly took in nearly $2 million from that event and another in New York that day.

Donors who listed their employer as JPMorgan accounted for $305,000 in contributions to Romney last year, according to campaign records. More than $283,000 came from individuals who identified Credit Suisse as their place of employment.

Bobbie Kilberg, chief executive officer of the Northern Virginia Technology Council in suburban Washington, helped collect more than $2.2 million and said she is "profoundly proud to be identified as a person who raises money for Mitt Romney."

Kilberg said she has worked with a team of Romney supporters who have held a series of fundraisers for him, including a June 29 event at the Ritz Carlton in Northern Virginia, which brought in nearly $350,000. An Oct. 25 gathering at her home in McLean, Va., raised $356,000. That was followed by another fundraiser that collected more than $1.5 million.

Daniel Dumezich, a partner with the Winston & Strawn law firm in Chicago, said he held fundraisers for Romney in Indiana. He also helped organize volunteers and supporters for the campaign. Dumezich said his goal was to inspire others to support Romney, encouraging them to write checks and to find others to give money. Dumezich said he doesn't mind being identified as supporting Romney. But he said he doesn't have an opinion about whether Romney's campaign should also disclose how much he and others are raising.

"I haven't thought about that," he said.
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Associated Press writers Jack Gillum, Brett J. Blackledge and Steve Peoples contributed to this report.

Chicopee Easter Egg hunt scheduled for children 10 and younger

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Families must register children who want to participate before the event.

egg.jpgDaniel Woodill, recreation supervisor for the Parks and Recreation Department, fills some of the 2,500 plastic Easter eggs with candy to prepare for the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Szot park scheduled for April 7.

CHICOPEE – Call it the running for the eggs.

The Parks and Recreation Department is preparing for it’s annual Easter Egg hunt and associated festivities by stuffing about 2,500 plastic eggs with candy and a few tickets that can be redeemed for prizes, such as stuffed animals and a filled Easter basket.

As is tradition, the event will be held the Saturday before Easter. This year it will start at 10 a.m. on April 7 and will be held in fields near the bocci courts at Szot Park, said Daniel Woodill, recreation supervisor.

Parents must register their children before the event. There is a $5 fee for residents and $7 for non-residents. Registration must be done in person at the Parks and Recreation Department at 687 Front St., he said.

The entry fee is used to defray the cost of purchasing the eggs, candy and prizes, Woodill said.

“It is an unbelievable atmosphere. It is something special for the kids and it brings the community together,” he said.

Although the hunt is limited to 275 children who are 10 years old or younger, as many as 1,000 people attend, including parents and grandparents, Woodill said.

The hunt has a long tradition. It takes the Parks Department more than two weeks to stuff the candy in the thousands of plastic eggs and tape them shut. The morning before the hunt, employees arrive hours earlier, rope off three fields and put out the eggs.

The egg hunt is more of a running for eggs because the majority are laid out in an open field. Staff does hide some, especially for the older children, Woodill said.

The eggs are split between three fields. The smallest children, who are 3-years-old and younger, go first picking up eggs in their field. The second group of children start about 15 minutes later in their field, and the oldest, who are 8 through 10 years old will search last, he said.

The hunts themselves are short, often lasting little more than five minutes. The Parks Department employees always set aside a small number of eggs for children who do not get to pick any up so no one goes home disappointed, Woodill said.

While the hunt is the highlight of the event, there are other activities as well. The morning will begin with the judging of the make-your-own bunny ears contest, with the best ears worn by a girl and a boy being given a prize, he said.

When parents register for the event, they can also pick up a picture for their children to color and enter in the coloring contest. Those winners will be announced after the hunts, Woodill said.

The Easter Bunny will make an appearance after the hunt, and parents are invited to take photographs of their children with the bunny. Balloons will also be handed out, he said.

Excerpts from Supreme Court health care arguments

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Here are some excerpts from Monday's Supreme Court arguments over whether legal challenges to President Barack Obama's health care law are premature under the Anti-Injunction Act, which bars lawsuits against a tax until after the tax is paid.

supreme court health care case drawingThis artist rendering shows Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. speaking in front of the Supreme Court Justice in Washington, Monday, March 26, 2012, as the court began three days of arguments on the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Justices seated, from left are, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)

Excerpts from Monday's Supreme Court arguments over whether legal challenges to President Barack Obama's health care law are premature under the Anti-Injunction Act, which bars lawsuits against a tax until after the tax is paid:

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli: This case presents issues of great moment and the Anti-Injunction Act does not bar the Court's consideration of those issues.

Robert A. Long: Somewhat to my surprise, "tax" is not defined anywhere in the Internal Revenue Code.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor: Assuming we find that this is not jurisdictional, what is the parade of horribles that you see occurring if we call this a mandatory claim processing rule? What kinds of cases do you imagine that courts will reach?

Justice Antonin Scalia: If it's not jurisdictional, what's going to happen is you are going to have an intelligent federal court deciding whether you are going to make an exception. And there will be no parade of horribles because all federal courts are intelligent.

Justice Stephen Breyer: What we want to do is get money from these people. Most of them get the money by buying the insurance and that will help pay. But if they don't, they are going to pay this penalty, and that will help, too.

Justice Samuel Alito: Today you are arguing that the penalty is not a tax. Tomorrow you are going to be back and you will be arguing that the penalty is a tax. Has the Court ever held that something that is a tax for purposes of the taxing power under the Constitution is not a tax under the Anti-Injunction Act?

Verrilli: No, Justice Alito, but the Court has held in the license tax cases that something can be a constitutional exercise of the taxing power whether or not it is called a tax. And that's because the nature of the inquiry that we will conduct tomorrow is different from the nature of the inquiry that we will conduct today. Tomorrow the question is whether Congress has the authority under the taxing power to enact it and the form of words doesn't have a dispositive effect on that analysis. Today we are construing statutory text where the precise choice of words does have a dispositive effect on the analysis.

Justice Elena Kagan: Suppose a person does not purchase insurance, a person who is obligated to do so under the statute doesn't do it, pays the penalty instead, and that person finds herself in a position where she is asked the question, have you ever violated any federal law, would that person have violated a federal law?

Verrilli: No. Our position is that person should give the answer "no."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: There's this category of people who are Medicaid eligible; Medicaid doesn't cost them anything. Why would they resist enrolling?

Gregory Katsas: I don't know, Justice Ginsburg. All I know is that the difference between current enrollees and people who could enroll but have not is, as I said, is a $600 million delta.

Roberts: Why would you have a requirement that is completely toothless? You know, buy insurance or else. Or else what? Or else nothing.

Katsas: Because Congress reasonably could think that at least some people will follow the law precisely because it is the law. And let me give you an example of one category of person that might be -- the very poor, who are exempt from the penalty but subject to the mandate.

Katsas: The purpose of this lawsuit is to challenge a requirement -- a federal requirement to buy health insurance. That requirement itself is not a tax. And for that reason alone, we think the Anti-Injunction Act doesn't apply ...

Chief Justice John Roberts: The whole point of the suit is to prevent the collection of penalties.

Katsas: Of taxes, Mr. Chief Justice.

Roberts: Well, prevent the collection of taxes. But the idea that the mandate is something separate from, whether you want to call it a penalty or tax, just doesn't seem to make much sense.

Katsas: It's entirely separate, and let me explain to you why.

Roberts: It's a command. A mandate is a command. Now, if there is nothing behind the command, it's sort of, well, what happens if you don't follow the mandate? And the answer is nothing. It seems very artificial to separate the punishment from the crime.

Katsas: I'm not sure the answer is nothing, but even assuming it were nothing, it seems to me there is a difference between what the law requires and what enforcement consequences happen to you.

Springfield unemployment rate drops to 11.7 percent in February

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In Chicopee, the unemployment rate fell from 9.3 percent in January to 9.0 percent in February.

unemploy0328.jpg

SPRINGFIELD - The city's unemployment rate dropped to 11.7 percent in February and municipalities around western Massachusetts saw slight job gains over January's numbers, according data released this morning by the state Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The office pegged Springfield's labor force at 66,245 in February, an increase of 609 over the January figure. The number of people employed increased by 889, while the number of people unemployed fell by 280.

Springfield's unemployment rate in January 2012 was 12.3, and the city's average unemployment rate for 2011 was 11.8 percent -- down from 12.5 percent for 2010 but up from 11.3 percent in 2009.

In Chicopee, Hampden County's second-largest city, the unemployment rate fell from 9.3 percent in January to 9.0 percent in February. Holyoke saw a similar decrease of .3 percent, with its unemployment rate falling from 11.3 to an even 11.0 percent.

Northampton, which posted a 5.4 percent unemployment rate in January, picked up 234 jobs to settle at a February rate of 5.1 percent. The rate in Greenfield fell from 7.8 percent in January to 7.5 percent in February.

The month's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates fell in sixteen labor areas across the state, according to a release from the Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Areas seeing job gains included Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Springfield, New Bedford, Peabody, Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, and Pittsfield.

Statewide unemployment numbers released last week showed a Massachusetts unemployment rate of 6.9 percent. It's the third consecutive month that the unemployment rate has been 6.9 percent, the lowest rate since December 2008. The National Average is 8.3 percent.



The map below shows the February 2012 unemployment rates for Massachusetts counties. After clicking the "click to interact" icon in the graphic below, mouse over a county to reveal the data.


Vermont police believe they've found body of missing teacher

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Melissa Jenkins taught science at St. Johnsbury Academy, a boarding school of about 970 students

Melissa Jenkins, vermont teacher missingVermont State Police search for clues Monday, March 26, 2012, in St. Johnsbury, Vt., where the vehicle of Melissa Jenkins was found Sunday night. Her 2-year-old son was found alone in her vehicle with the engine running, a short distance from her home. Jenkins, a high school teacher and basketball coach, is missing.

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — Vermont police found a body in a remote area Monday that they believe is that of a beloved teacher at a prestigious New England boarding school whose SUV was found running with her unharmed 2-year-old inside.

The discovery sent shudders of grief and anxiety through the town's few thousand residents, especially after authorities acknowledged they did not know whether the disappearance of 33-year-old single mother Melissa Jenkins was isolated.

Jenkins taught science at St. Johnsbury Academy, a boarding school of about 970 students that was established in the 1840s and whose alumni include former President Calvin Coolidge.

Throughout Monday, townsfolk converged at the restaurant where Jenkins worked part-time, seeking solace and updates. As they braved bone-chilling winds for an evening candlelight service, news about the discovery of the body began filtering through the crowd.

"She would do anything for anybody. She definitely will be greatly missed," said Ron Craig, of Peacham, who said he and his wife occasionally baby-sat Jenkins' son.

It's scary that police do not know if this is an isolated incident, he added. "We've been locking our doors all the time because you just don't know what's going to happen."

Vermont State Police Maj. Ed Ledo said at a news conference Monday night that the public should be vigilant as authorities continue to seek a suspect.

He would not give details on the condition of the body found in Barnet, a town not far St. Johnsbury, where Jenkins' vehicle was discovered Sunday evening near signs of a struggle. An autopsy was planned for Tuesday.

A friend who was looking for Jenkins called police Sunday night. Her vehicle was found not far from her home in a rural area at 11:30 p.m. She had no restraining orders out on anyone, police said.

St. Johnsbury Academy also serves as a public school for the town of St. Johnsbury, about 40 miles south of the Canadian border.

Jenkins was a girls freshman basketball coach and a dorm proctor until she had her son. She graduated from Lyndon State College with a degree in natural science and geology. She was working on her master's degree, headmaster Tom Lovett said.

"She's got a real gift with students who either haven't liked science before or learning science doesn't come easy to them," Lovett said Monday afternoon. "She's got a real gift with them."

She was also a waitress at night at The Creamery Restaurant in Danville, the eatery where co-workers, friends and the father of Jenkins' son gathered Monday afternoon along with others who were curious or concerned.

"We all know her. It's a tough thing right now," said Marion Cairns, the owner, who described Jenkins as bright, pretty, a good mother and fun to be around. "She'd cut her arms off before she'd let anybody touch that boy. I mean, that boy meant everything to her."

A family friend is caring for the boy. His father, B.J. Robertson, would not comment on Jenkins' disappearance.

Eric Berry, 44, of Lyndonville, a cousin by marriage whose daughter is Jenkins' goddaughter, described her as a beautiful, kind person whom he believes was coming to someone's aid when she disappeared.

"She left her house with the idea, I think, to try to help somebody, and that's as far as I'm going to go with that, because I don't want to damage any investigation," he said.

The academy will provide counseling to grieving students, Lovett said.

The disappearance recalled that of 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer of Portland, Maine, whose car was found idling with its hazard lights on her 14-month-old daughter unharmed a year ago about 50 miles away in New Hampshire. Dittmeyer's body was found in a pond. Three men were arrested on charges in her robbery and killing.

Authorities said Monday there is no indication the cases are related.

State police to run sobriety checkpoint somewhere in Hampden County this weekend

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The checkpoint will run Friday night into Saturday morning.

sob.jpgIn this file photo from Dec. 30, 2007, Mass. State Trooper Thomas Jensen conducts a series of tests to check the sobriety of a suspected drunk driver at a checkpoint in West Springfield. The man was later arrested for drunken driving. State police are planning a sobriety checkpoint for March 30-31 somewhere in Hampden County.

SPRINGFIELD – State police plan to run a sobriety checkpoint somewhere in Hampden County Friday night into Saturday morning.

State police, in a release, said their selection of vehicles during the checkpoint will be arbitrary and they will strive to minimize any inconveniences to motorists.

Last fall, such checkpoints yielded five drunken driving arrests apiece on State Street and on Route 5 in Holyoke.

The checkpoint will be funded through a grant from the Highway Safety Division of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Last month, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that an inaccurate press release about a sobriety checkpoint is not enough to dismiss charges against stopped drivers.

Two Connecticut drivers - Peter J. Cosumano, 34, and Holly A. Aviano, 27, - contended that evidence should be suppressed in their cases because a state police press release said the Aug. 29, 2010, road block on West Columbus Avenue would be on “a secondary state highway,“ according to court records. The avenue is actually a city street.

Both drivers were charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol after being stopped in the early morning at the checkpoint on West Columbus Avenue between Union and Broad streets.

State police are not required to give notice about a sobriety checkpoint, but if they do, they should be held to a strict standard of giving correct information, according to their lawyers. The press release went out to about 20 news outlets, court records said.

Last year, Springfield District Court James B. McElroy agreed to suppress the evidence because of the mistake in the press release, but the Appeals Court disagreed and reversed. The court denied the motions approved by the lower court judge.

Pet monkey seized from Lowell home

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The marmoset was reported by a neighbor when the owner took it outside recently to enjoy the weather.

marmoset.jpgFile photo: Marmoset

LOWELL — State environmental police have confiscated a small monkey that was being kept illegally in a Lowell home.

The marmoset, native to South America, was reported by a neighbor when the owner took it outside recently to enjoy the weather.

Stephen McAndrew, a state environmental police officer, said the 4-month-old monkey's owner bought it in a pet store in Florida. He says monkeys can be kept in Massachusetts only by properly licensed zoos.

He tells The Sun of Lowell that the marmoset's owner will likely receive only a warning, but added that the monkey will either have to leave the state or be moved to a location that is permitted to care for it.

He's says the owner was upset

He says monkeys can spread disease.

West Springfield police seek public's help in finding 25-year-old Michael Costello, suspect in Piper Road break-in

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Police arrested 21-year-old Nicole Seymour, of 387 Riverdale St.

costellocrop.jpgMichael Costello

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Police are seeking the public’s help in finding a 25-year-old city man, one of two suspects in a break-in to a Piper Road home Sunday.

Detective Matthew J. Mattina said the residents returned home Sunday afternoon to find a man and woman in their backyard. “They ran out of the house,” Mattina said of the suspects.

Police arrested the woman, 21-year-old Nicole Seymour, 387 Riverdale St., and charged her with breaking and entering into a building in the daytime for felony and larceny over $250. Seymour also had an outstanding warrant.

Police believe the male suspect, who got away, is Michael Costello. Those with information on his whereabouts are asked to call West Springfield police at (413) 263-3210.

Most of the stolen items, which include small electronics, have been recovered, Mattina said.

In deleted scene from Obama film, Elizabeth Warren says that election 2012 will determine country's future

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"We really have come to real choice and what our future looks like is going to be very different depending on who's governing," Elizabeth Warren said.

While reflecting on the financial crisis and the future of the United States in extra footage from the President's documentary “The Road We've Traveled,” U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren says the 2012 Presidential election will determine which direction the country will take.

Warren, along with Middleton immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco, is vying for the Democratic Party's nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., in November.

In the video clip, the consumer advocate and Harvard Law School professor says that some people wonder why no one "waved a magic wand" to fix the financial collapse. Answering her own statement bluntly, she said "Because that's not how the world works."

"This next election is about the direction our country takes. It's about whether or not we are going to be a people who say, 'I got mine; the rest of you are on your own,' or whether we're going to be a people who say, 'We can invest in our future,'" Warren says in the video clip released by the Obama campaign. "And we can build a real future for ourselves and for our kids, so that when the next kid comes up with a good idea, they got a shot to make it big, and so does the kid after that and the kid after that."

Warren, who had a leading role in the 17 minute film looking at Obama's presidency, goes on to warn Americans that the choice they make at the polls in November will reflect the country's future.

"This election is going to affect everyone," she said. "We really have come to real choice and what our future looks like is going to be very different depending on who's governing."

The full Obama film, "The Road We've Traveled," can be seen below.

Bradford Street in Northampton closed for construction work

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Bradford Street will be closed to all traffic for approximately two weeks, starting March 27.

NORTHAMPTON - The Department of Public Works has announced that Bradford Street will be closed to all traffic for approximately two weeks, starting March 27.

The street will be closed to accommodate construction connected with the Bradford Street pump station.

Bradford Street runs between Industrial Drive and Woodmont Road in a neighborhood east of King Street.

Judge orders Ryan Welch, charged in Easthampton murder of Jessica Pripstein, held without bail

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Welch's attorney, Paul Rudof, argued for a bail of $50,000.

jessica pripstein ryan welch.jpgJessica Pripstein, left, was found stabbed to death in her Easthampton apartment in the early hours of Feb. 20. Ryan Welch, right, has been charged with killing her.

NORTHAMPTON – Ryan D. Welch, charged in the February Easthampton murder of Jessica Ann Pripstein, was ordered held without a right to bail at an appearance in Northampton District Court this morning.

Judge Jacklyn M. Connly agreed with Jeremy Bucci, Chief Trial Counsel for the Northwestern District Attorney's Office, who argued that Welch should continue to be held without bail while the case is pending. Mary Carey, communications director for the office, said in a press release that Bucci cited the nature of the crime and the fact that Welch allegedly threatened the victim with a knife on a previous occasion.

Furthermore, Bucci said, Welch had told the victim that "the police would not take [him] alive."

Arguing for a bail of $50,000, Welch's attorney, Paul Rudof, said that Welch was not a threat to flee. Welch had lived in the community for over 10 years and had a documented history of mental illness, Rudof said. Judge Connly denied the request.

Welch, 36, is accused of killing Pripstein, his girlfriend, in her Ward Avenue apartment in the early hours of Feb. 20. Police arrived at the scene after she called them screaming that her boyfriend was trying to kill her. Pripstein, an licensed aesthetician who worked at Liora Gabrielle European Skin Care, died of neck wounds, according to authorities.

Police also found Welch in the apartment suffering from a self-inflicted wound to his neck. He was treated at Baystate Medical Center for his injuries and charged with Pripstein's murder two days later. He was eventually taken to the Hampshire County House of Correction.

Police say Welch and Pripstein were seen arguing at a nearby restaurant over the bill on the night she was killed. While executing a search warrant at Welch's Easthampton apartment, police found a number of prescription medications for depression.

Welch’s case was continued to April 27. If a grand jury indicts him, Welch’s case will be transferred to Hampshire Superior Court.


Obituaries today: Joseph Banas was Chicopee Falls Post Office supervisor

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Obituaries from The Republican.

03_27_12_Banas.jpgJoseph Banas

Joseph M. Banas, 86, of Chicopee passed away on Monday. He was a lifelong Chicopee resident. Banas was a graduate of Chicopee High School, Class of 1943, and a communicant of the Basilica of St. Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr, where he was a member of its Holy Name Society and served as a church usher. In 2003, he and his wife Helen were the recipients of the Father Lawrence Cyman Award, presented by St. Stanislaus School. A US Navy veteran of World War II, he served in both European and Asian theaters aboard the USS Plunkett and the USS Livermore. Banas was a retired supervisor for the Chicopee Falls Post Office. He was a member of the former Chicopee Colonels Club, and for several years was an umpire for the Chicopee Park & Recreation Department, earning the nickname "Honest Joe."

Obituaries from The Republican:

Girl Scouts break ground for new Holyoke Service Center

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The building sits on 2.8 acres of land which includes some wetlands that will be preserved.

Patricia L. Hallberg, C.E.O. of the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, stands with the company's logo in Leeds in a 2007 file photo. The Leeds office will close when the new one in Holyoke opens.

HOLYOKE – The Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts formally broke ground Tuesday on its 9,380 square-foot, $1.5 million service center at 301 Kelly Way in the Crossroads Business Park.

The ceremony comes as the national girl scouting movement celebrates its 100th anniversary, said Patricia L. Hallberg, CEO for the organization.

“This is about our next 100 years,” Hallberg said

The building will house offices for 25 paid staff as well as classrooms and meeting space for Girl Scout volunteers, she said. The building will be completed in November. It's being built by Wright Builders of Northampton.

It sits on 2.8 acres of land which includes some wetlands that will be preserved.

“So well have our scouts out there learning about that ecosystem and we’ll be the stewards of it,” Hallberg said.

Staffers have already spotted a bald eagle flying over the property, said chief operating officer Suzanne M. Smiley.

Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusettstarget=_blank> serves 14,000 girl scouts from kindergarten up through 12th grade and another 5,000 volunteers. Formed four years ago from a merger of the Girl Scouts of Pioneer Valley in East Longmeadow, the Girl Scouts of Western Massachusetts in Northampton and the Montachusset Girl Scouts in Worcester, the new council’s territory stretches from Route 495 west to the New York state line.

Holyoke is the perfect central location for that service territory, said Jenny A. Powers, a volunteer troop leader from Holyoke.

“We are in the country, but we are right off both highways,” she said. “I live here, so I’m biased. But the locations in East Longmeadow and Northampton are hard to get to.”

Her daughter, Esme L. Powers, is a Brownie and participated in the ceremony.

Junior Girl Scout Emma L. Norman, 9, of Easthampton, gave the welcoming remarks. She sold 1,750 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to help fund a trip to Washington in June.

Hallberg said the Girl Scouts will keep its center in Worcester, but will close and sell offices in East Longmeadow and in the Leeds section of Northampton when the Holyoke building opens. The Scouts are funding the new building through the sale of those two offices as well as the sale of property on the fringes of some camps in Central Massachusetts.


Westfield City Hall ready for $3.4 million restoration project

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The project may be followed by some interior renovations at City Hall.

feb 2011 westfield city hall.jpgWestfield City Hall is due for a $3.4 million restoration, including roofing and window replacement.

WESTFIELD – City officials are moving forward with a planned $3.4 million restoration of City Hall with general contractor bids due April 11.

Subcontractor bids for replacement of historic roofing, metal-framed windows and masonry repairs will be opened April 4.

“We are anxious to get this project underway,” Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said this week. “Everything on the exterior is targeted for historic restoration. We want the original look of the building as much as possible,” he said.

City Purchasing Agent Tammy B. Tefft will oversee the bid process.

The project is considered the first comprehensive repair project for the building, built in the 1800s, in the last 30 years. The project will be paid for through bonding and $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds.

Emergency repairs, at a cost of $193,000, recently were completed to secure the building from water damage. Also, in 2009, the city completed a $32,000 emergency repair to the City Council chambers to replace a ceiling support beam. Emergency repairs completed earlier this month secured leaks in two sections of the roof and brick repairs in those areas.

Knapik has indicated he plans to seek funding later for renovations to the interior of the building. That work will involve upgrades to several municipal offices.

The restoration project will involve replacement of the building’s slate roof, installation of new gutters and windows and repairs and repointing of the brick facade.

Work is expected to begin shortly after the award of contracts and be completed by fall.

City Hall served as the former State Normal School, Westfield State College, from 1839 to 1890.

Lack of maintenance to the building has prompted officials to consider creation of a new municipal buildings maintenance department. That proposal, supported by the mayor, is now under review by the City Council.

Fire destroys Easthampton's Lost Sock Laundromat

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A fire Tuesday afternoon destroyed the building that housed Lost Sock Laundromat on Parsons Street and displaced four residents of the three apartments in the building.

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This is an update of a story that was originally posted at 3:56 p.m. Tuesday


EASTHAMPTON - A fire Tuesday afternoon destroyed the building that housed the Lost Sock Laundromat on Parsons Street and displaced four residents of the three apartments in the building.

The fire, reported just after 3 p.m., spread through the upper floors and burned through the roof.

The Easthampton Fire Department put out a call for assistance under mutual aid from Holyoke, Northampton, Westhampton and Southampton.

No one was injured.

Two police officers who was first on the scene aided residents of the second floor out of the building, the Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton is reporting.

Sgt. Dominic Serino and Todd Joseph, aided by a contractor who was driving by, ran a ladder up to a second-floor window and were able to help the two residents and their cat get outside. The officers at first tried to go in through the front door but were pushed back by smoke, the newspaper reported.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. The Easthampton fire department and inspectors from the state Department of Fire Services are trying to determine the cause.

The property is owned by Autumn Properties, according to the Easthampton Assessor's Office. It had an assessed valued of $211,100.

The plume of smoke could be seen for miles, and the fire attracted dozens of spectators, many of whom shot photos of the scene that were then posted on the Internet.

Aprilethereal posted these photos on Webshots.com.

Sets were also posted on the Hamp Scanner and Fireground360 pages on Facebook.


Contractor credited with helping save Easthampton fire victims: wwlp.com


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John Thouin of Chicopee gets 2 1/2 years on indecent assault and battery, resisting arrest charges; cleared of rape

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The jury could not agree – even after the long period of deliberations – on a second charge of aggravated rape, which alleged the victim was raped with a bottle.

SPRINGFIELD – A Hampden Superior Court jury took 2½ days of deliberation before coming back with verdicts on most – but not all – of the charges against 34-year-old John Thouin of Chicopee.

The jury convicted Thouin of assault and battery and resisting arrest.

It acquitted Thouin, who was represented by Mickey E. Harris, of charges of aggravated rape, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

But the jury could not agree – even after the long period of deliberations – on a second charge of aggravated rape, which alleged the victim was raped with a bottle. So a mistrial was declared on that charge.

The charges related to the May 31, 2009, brutal beating and sexual assault of a Chicopee woman behind a store at a strip mall near her apartment.

The victim testified Thouin, who she knew slightly because he handed out food at a local soup kitchen, had asked her if he could store his belongings in the apartment in which she lived with her boyfriend.

She said when he led her to the back of a store to get his possessions, she was raped and beaten by Thouin and another man who has never been identified.

Judge Peter A. Velis on Monday sentenced Thouin to 2½ years in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow on the assault and battery conviction, followed by another 2½ years in that jail on the charge of resisting arrest.

That was the sentence recommended by Assistant District Attorney Patrick S. Sabbs.

People passing by in a car saw something happening and called police.

When Chicopee Police Officer Melissa Riel came on scene, she testified the woman’s lower body was on the ground, and Thouin was holding her upper body and shaking her.

The woman was unconscious, Riel said, and she was bleeding, disheveled, dirty and bruised.

Thouin ran and Riel chased him and tackled him to the ground, when he struck her arms.

In sentencing Thouin to the consecutive terms, Velis said Thouin – although convicted on only the assault and battery and resisting arrest – was part and parcel of an incident “shocking to my conscience.”

On Tuesday, the planned day to begin the retrial of Thouin for the aggravated rape charge on which the first jury could not reach a verdict, a plea agreement was reached which made a trial unecessary.

Thouin agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old and the aggravated rape charge was dropped.

Velis sentenced Thouin to another 2½ years in the Ludlow jail, with the term concurrent with the one given Thouin Monday.

But the indecent assault and battery charge means Thouin is now facing the ramifications of being convicted of a sexual crime, such as sex offender registration.

The facts Thouin admitted to were that he indecently touched the woman after she was struck by someone.

Sabbs said the decision not to go to trial on the aggravated rape charge was in large part because of the difficulty testifying at the first trial for the victim.

He said it was “phenomenally difficult” for the victim to testify at the first trial.

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