Jieming Liu was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Associated PressJieming Liu, 79, appears for arraignment in Westborough, Mass., District Court Friday, April 6, 2012, where he faced a murder charge in the death of his wife, Yuee Zhou, in their of Shrewsbury home Thursday. (AP Photo/MetroWest Daily News, Allan Jung)

WESTBOROUGH — Prosecutors say a 79-year-old Shrewsbury man accused of killing his wife ate some of her flesh and was found sitting in a rocking chair, covered in blood.

Jieming Liu was charged at his arraignment Friday with the murder of 73-year-old Yuee Zhou.

Liu was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. His attorney described Liu as befuddled and in "pathetic" mental condition.

A Worcester County prosecutor said the couple's son called police, who found Liu in a rocking chair with blood on his mouth, hands and face. His wife was found with flesh missing from her left arm.

The son said his parents arrived from China in November. He said his mother was recently worried about the health of his father, whom he thought may have Alzheimer's disease.

The incident occurred about 5:20 p.m. in the picnic area of the park.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD – Police are searching for four males suspected of robbing a male and female at gunpoint Thursday night as they walked in the picnic area at Forest Park.

The incident occurred about 5:20 p.m. when one of the four, wearing a black and yellow hoodie, pulled out a black handgun and held up the couple, Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

One of the suspects wore a blue hoodie, another wore a black hoodie and the fourth was on a bicycle, Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet said.

The suspects made off with an HTC Radar cell phone, an Apple head phones set and a gray pocketknife.

As a candidate in 2008, Barack Obama vowed to squelch the role of special interests in financing the party conventions. But as Democrats tout the three-day event in September as a populist gathering, organizers have found ways to skirt the rules and give corporations and lobbyists a presence at this year's convention.

File pool photo by CJ Gunther / Associated PressCourt officers escort Neil Entwistle into the courtroom during his murder trial at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn in 2008. Click on the link, above right for a report from radio station WBZ-AM in Boston about Entwistle's appeal for a new trial in the January 2006 death of his wife, Rachel, and infant daughter, Lillian, in their Hopkinton home.

• Convicted Hopkinton murderer Neil Entwistle seeks new trial [CBS Boston.com]


• U.S. Marine Gary Stein faces dismissal for criticizing President Obama on Facebook [GlobalPost.com]


• Democratic National Committee skirts President Obama's rule on special interest money [Los Angeles Times]


• Massachusetts Attorney General Coakley seeks to regulate health care costs [Boston.com]


• Americans blame oil companies, Wall Street for rising gas prices [Christian Science Monitor]


• Mitt Romney's choice of running mate could make or break him [Boston Herald]


• Shrewsbury murder suspect may have cannibalized wife, prosecutor says [Telegram & Gazette]


• Stuart Zimbrowski of Chicopee charged with setting series of fires across Berkshire County [WGGB-TV, abc40, Springfield]


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


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Cavallo, currently assistant principal at Granby Junior-Senior High School, succeeds Pamela McCauley, who is retiring at the end of this school year.

GRANBY – Superintendent Isabelina Rodriguez announced Friday that she has appointed Jonathan Cavallo, currently assistant principal at Granby Junior-Senior High School, to serve as principal of West Street Elementary School next year.

Jonathan Cavallo (2003)

Pamela McCauley, who has been principal of West Street School for nine years, is retiring at the end of this school year. West Street serves children from preschool to third grade.

Rodriguez said she decided to suspend the search for a new principal because of “all that’s going on” concerning the future status of West Street.

The School Committee is studying such options as rebuilding the school or merging it with East Meadow School because it needs so many repairs. Cavallo will have a one-year contract.

“I felt we needed a strong leader,” said Rodriguez, “and Jon is known as a leader by the community. He will be able to walk into the role as principal.”

Cavallo, who has been assistant principal for nine years, is a 1995 graduate of Brandeis University. He has a master’s degree from American International College in Springfield and did further graduate study at Westfield State University.

He taught high school in Ludlow for eight years and is a certified elementary school principal.

Cavallo has two daughters, one in third grade and the other 3 months old. “I love kids,” he said.

He is on the executive board of the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Association and is involved in district-wide curricular work.

Rodriguez said Cavallo would not only provide leadership, but will save the school system about $50,000 by enabling her to suspend the search.

She is not replacing Cavallo at the Junior-Senior High School, but will “rearrange” staff duties to fill the gap he leaves next year, she said.

The public is invited to meet Cavallo Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. at the West Street School library.

The countersuit comes one day after the ousted TV personality sued his former employer for more than $50 million.

Associated PressFILE - In this May 3, 2007 file photo, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC poses at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Olbermann was fired by the network last week. On Thursday he filed suit against Current TV, claiming breech of contract. On Friday, the network countersued.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Current TV offered its rebuttal to a scathing lawsuit filed by Keith Olbermann by filing a countersuit Friday detailing alleged bad behavior by its former talk show host and seeking a judge's ruling that he is not entitled to any more money from the network.

The network's filing accuses Olbermann of breaching his contract by disclosing terms of the lucrative deal, refusing to cooperate in promoting the show and taking days off without permission.

The countersuit comes one day after Olbermann sued his former employer, claiming it violated his agreement, engaged in shoddy production values and owed him more than $50 million.

"Current seeks a determination that it is no longer obligated to pay a dime to Mr. Olbermann who, having already been paid handsomely for showing up sporadically and utterly failing to keep his end of the bargain, now seeks to be paid tens of millions more for not working at all," the filing states.

The network and Olbermann have been at odds for months, and the dispute has escalated in the days since the former "Countdown" host was fired last week.

Olbermann's attorney Patricia Glaser said of Current's countersuit: "No merit. No defense. And in our view, no problem."

Current's suit claims Olbermann has damaged the network and will continue to do so. It seeks unspecified damages.

The networks' filing paints Olbermann as a petulant figure after he was hired to be Current's signature host, rejecting seven limousine companies, refusing to cooperate in promotional discussions and taking vacations with little notice. The complaint claims Olbermann wrote to Current co-founder Joel Hyatt to complain about a problem with a guest, "Give me a name so I know which of them to kill with my bare hands," and threw a glass mug on the set, which prompted a complaint from the set's landlord.

After two days of court filings, it was clear neither side was pulling punches in its description of the other.

Olbermann's lawsuit repeatedly attacked the network and described Hyatt and co-founder Al Gore as "dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives."

"Olbermann deeply regrets his decision to put his trust in Hyatt and Gore," the lawsuit claims. "Current had neither the desire nor the ability to produce a first rate news commentary show. Olbermann did not join Current to ruin his hard-won reputation and appear on a show that was an embarrassment."

His lawsuit described a litany of technical issues, including shoddy equipment that wouldn't work if it rained, "terrible sound and filming" of the show, segments that abruptly dropped off the air, busted teleprompters and an earpiece that repeatedly malfunctioned.

Current's filing Friday claims Olbermann refused to cooperate in discussions about improving the set, and in general refused to promote the network.

Olbermann's lawsuit denied several of the claims, including that he leaked information about his contract and that his absences were unauthorized.

The former host, who claims he may be owed $70 million or more when the case is over, took to Twitter after reading Current's countersuit.

"After reading the Current filing my attorneys and I think it should be subtitled `How To Try To Pound The Table ... And Miss,'" Olbermann posted.

MassLive.com catches up with some animals at Springfield's Forest Park Zoo. Watch video

Springfield's Forest Park Zoo opened for the 2012 season on April 1, and MassLive.com caught up with zoo directors and some of its animals Friday.

You can watch video or see photos of the animals in their habitats at the right or at one of the links below.

Weather permitting, the Forest Park Zoo is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and you can find out more about the zoo and its programs at forestparkzoo.org.

• Video: Forest Park Zoo open for 2012 season

• Photos: Forest Park Zoo open for 2012 season

McGinniss called Rup’s ruling “a clear statement of the public’s right to know.”

File photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanAuthorJoe McGinnis, of Pelham, listens to court proceedings in Hampshire Superior Court in December while researching his next book.

NORTHAMPTON – Ruling that the public has a First Amendment right to the information, a judge has released 71 pages of previously impounded documents on the David Fried Oppenheim case to writer Joe McGinniss.

McGinniss, who is including the trial in his book “15 Gothic Street,” said the information will let him add texture to his narrative.

The documents consist mostly of statements made to police by the victim in the case and other women who said Fried Oppenheim used his position of trust at the Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton to get them to have sex with him. Fried Oppenheim, the director of the center, was convicted of five counts of child rape, each count representing a different kind of sex act with the victim, who was 14 and 15 at the time.

Although Judge Mary-Lou Rup heavily redacted the documents, the witnesses testified to much of the information in them while on the stand. Rup excluded testimony by some of those witnesses that they had a sexual relationship with Fried Oppenheim, but that evidence is included in their statements to the police. The Republican did not identify any of the witnesses by name during the trial.

When read as a group, the statements offer a vivid picture of young girls reluctantly submitting to Fried Oppenheim’s unwanted advances in the belief that he would not betray the trust they had in him as their acting coach and father figure. Although they kept their relationships secret, two of the witnesses told police they feared Fried Oppenheim enough that they warned him to stay away from their younger sisters.

Two of the witnesses also told of Fried Oppenheim surreptitiously touching them sexually while his wife was present. One said that Fried Oppenheim later crowed that he couldn’t believe he had gotten away with it with his wife sitting three feet away.

Fried Oppenheim is currently serving a 5-7 year state prison term.

McGinniss called Rup’s ruling “a clear statement of the public’s right to know.” He said he does not plan to use names, addresses or other identifying information regarding the documents.

“It allows me to write a more coherent, detailed narrative,” he said. “It filled in a lot of blanks.”

McGinniss is the best-selling author of “Fatal Vision,” “The Selling of the President” and other non-fiction books. “15 Gothic Street,” his current project, will take a look at what goes on inside Hampshire Superior Court over the span of a year. McGinniss plans to follow some of those stories outside the building as well.

McGinniss plans to serialize the book on the online site Byliner.com. The first installment, which will contain material from the Fried Oppenheim case, is scheduled to go on line next month.

Ken Furst said all 62 Afghans he spoke with during his recent trip to Afghanistan warned against a precipitous withdrawal of U.S. troops from their country.

View full sizeSubmitted photoFrom left: U. S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, General John Allen, commander, International Security Assistance Force, Ken Furst, Massachusetts delegate, and Mimi Gregory, Florida delegate meet at ISAF command headquarters in Kabul during the U.S. State Department-sponsored World Affairs Councils mission to Afghanistan.

EAST LONGMEADOW – Despite the United States having had a military presence in Afghanistan for more than 10 years, a local man just returning from a State Department-sponsored trip to the war-torn country warned against withdrawing U.S. troops before that country’s security forces are up to speed.

The man, Ken R. Furst, was one of six World Affairs Council members from around the country who visited Afghanistan at the invitation of U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. The visit even included a 40-minute visit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“It seems too long, but how do you get out of there?” Furst said during an interview Friday at his marketing and sales consulting company, The Momentum Group. He sits on the board of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts.

All of the 62 Afghans with whom the group spoke stressed it is important to not leave before Afghanistan’s security forces can keep peace, according to Furst. Otherwise, he said, the U.S. risks the Taliban coming back into power. That could lead to the country once again becoming a staging ground for terrorist operations by groups such as al-Qaida, creating a threat to the U.S., he said.

As proof that the approximately 320,000 members of the Afghanistan National Security Forces are becoming capable, Furst pointed to the fact that they dealt with the unrest that followed the recent U.S. debacles of the burning of Korans and the killing of 17 civilians.

“The skeptics will say ‘Can they really do it?' They can do an adequate job, but it won’t be Switzerland,” Furst said, explaining that that was a saying about the peace-loving European country and Afghanistan that he heard a lot on his trip.

View full sizeKen Furst

Furst said 23,000 troops are expected to depart from Afghanistan by Oct. 1, which will leave 68,000 American troops and 40,000 international troops. The current timetable for leaving the country calls for all U.S. troops with the exception of those acting as trainers and advisors to leave by the end of 2014.

Furst and World Affairs Council members from Dallas, Salt Lake City, Virginia Beach, Va., Charlotte, N.C. and Naples, Fla., visited Afghanistan for a week. They stayed in the U.S. embassy compound in Kabul, the nation’s capital. The World Affairs Council has 92 chapters around the country and is recognized nationally as a grassroots, citizen diplomacy organization for informing Americans on world affairs at the community level.

Crocker invited the nonpartisan group to send a delegation to Afghanistan so it could observe the country and report about the situation to people in this country, according to Furst.

The delegation was surrounded by U.S. security and traveled in armor-plated SUVs wherever it went.

“We were in a security bubble,” Furst said. “All the pictures I took were through my bullet-proof window. ... I did not feel I was in jeopardy, but it is a war zone.”

The delegation met with government ministers, members of Parliament, a Mujahedeen leader, an opposition leader, and cultural, educational and business organizations as well as a spectrum of Afghan citizens.

Even the opposition leader warned against the U.S. leaving the country too soon and was appreciative of the economic and social gains it has helped the country make, Furst said. Among those achievements that Furst mentioned is the fact that in 2001 there were only 900,000 students in the country, a number than has grown to more than 4 million, 40 percent of which is female.

“We met with Parliamentarians who certainly were not hand-picked without minders. We were encouraged by the ambassador to ask any questions we wanted,” Furst said.

Karzai was complimentary about the social and economic progress the U.S. has helped his country make, but criticized how the U.S. has handled security, according to Furst. The Afghan leader also criticized the U.S. for giving its neighbor Pakistan, where the Taliban is headquartered, $2 billion a year in aid, Furst said.

Monarch Enterprises also holds a state lease for Holyoke Juvenile Court.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 11:40 this morning.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanWestfield District Court Judge Philip A. Contant, left, along with state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, center, and Paul C. Picknelly, appear at a press conference at which it was announced Westfield District Court will remain open. Picknelly is president of Monarch Enterprises, owners of the building which the court is located.

WESTFIELD – State and court officials announced Friday a new five-year lease, at a savings of $710,000 over the life of the agreement, that will keep Westfield District Court open.

State Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield, Westfield Chief Justice Philip A. Contant and Paul C. Picknelly, owner of the court building on Elm Street, made the announcement inside the main courtroom.

The previous lease, at $710,500 annually expired in December 2011. Based on the reported savings in the new lease agreement with Picknelly, owner Monarch Enterprises and Springfield’s Monarch Place, the new annual lease payments will be about $568,000 annually. Picknelly also has an active lease with the state for Holyoke Juvenile Court.

Officials would not discuss specific terms of the new lease Friday, other than to say it presents significant concessions.

Westfield was one of 11 trial courts targeted for closing last year by the state Trial Court system because of financial constraints. But, the Legislature put a hold on any action until the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, Knapik said.

“This is Good Friday for Westfield and provisions for justice,” Knapik said. He credited “efforts” of legislators, Contant, Picknelly and the Hampden County Bar Association for the successful lease negotiations.

“Paul Picknelly stepped up to the plate and became a good partner in maintain access to the court system here in Westfield,” said Knapik.

Contant said he could “not be happier with the results. We are grateful and Paul Picknelly is a great landlord. There have been significant concessions made and we now have the security for the foreseeable future.”

Contant also noted what he called a “tremendous outpouring” of support from the people of Western Massachusetts and law enforcement including the Hampden County Bar Association that resulted from the Trial Court’s announcement last July that 11 courthouses would close due to lack of adequate state funding.

Westfield District Court serves 83,000 people annually and is the only District Court between Springfield and the Berkshires.

Picknelly noted “this court represents many communities and we treat the building as our own. We also consider this building as part of and the start of Westfield’s downtown revitalization.”

The court building opened in 2002. Westfield District Court previously operated out of the former Westfield Normal School building on Washington Street. That building is now owned by University Housing LLC, a Peter Pan Bus Lines company. Opal Real Estate Group of Springfield, also a Peter A. Picknelly company, is spending $5 million to rehabilitate the building and create market-rate housing in hopes of attracting Westfield State University students.

Also joining Friday’s announcement were state Reps. Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield and Nicholas A. Boldyga, R-Southwick and Hampden Bar Association president Thomas A. Kenefick, III.

“There is a broad territory for this court to cover and its closing would present unimaginable hardship on the residents of this region,” Kenefick said.

Mitchell is a firefighter and EMT and is the mechanic for the Fire Department.

Russell Mitchell

WILBRAHAM - The Democratic Town Committee Thursday night endorsed Russell Mitchell for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen.

Mitchell will face Republican Robert W. Russell in the May 19 town election.

Mitchell is a town firefighter and EMT and is the mechanic for the Fire Department. He is a former Recreation Commissioner.

Mitchell said he has experience doing budgeting for the repair division of the Fire Department.

He said he is currently serving as the potentate or CEO of the Melha Shriners.

Mitchell said he led a critical incident stress debriefing team of firefighters which went to New York City following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. He also did stress debriefing after the Worcester warehouse fire which killed six people.

Mitchell said he knows there are some issues he could not vote on as a selectman, such as budgetary matters affecting his salary as a firefighter, but he said he could have input into budgetary issues as a selectman, according to the state Ethics Commission.

Robert Russell is a member of the Republican Finance Committee and has served on the town’s Capital Planning Committee.

Russell told the Republican Town Committee he likes to think about problems deliberately.

Also on Thursday the Democratic Town Committee endorsed incumbent Gilles Turcotte to run for reelection to the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee.

Turcotte will be running against Republican endorsed candidates Marc E. Ducey, a member of the Finance Committee, and Michelle Emirzian, a Springfield teacher, for two seats on the School Committee.

James Wilkinson also will be on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for School Committee. Emirzian beat out Wilkinson for the endorsement of the Republican Town Committee for the School Committee seat at the March 2 Republican Caucus.

A defense lawyer said the owners were cowed by the gang presence in the neighborhood, and unprepared to run a business that was not viable without bowing to the pervasive practice of trading food stamps for cash.

File photo | The Republican

SPRINGFIELD - Two former owners of a Holyoke market were sentenced Friday to one year and one day in federal prison for a $1 million food stamps scam.

However, lawyers for Kathleen Lamson, 57, of Enfield, Conn., and Jorge Martinez, 41, of Springfield, said their clients made little money off a scheme that is sadly pervasive among low-income people reliant on government assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Dineen Jerrett told U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor that the scam was driven by greed and continued even after the couple received a warning by government regulators, however.

Defense lawyers for the two asked Ponsor for community confinement or probation while the government argued the defendants should receive four years behind bars. Ponsor’s sentence will allow the defendants to be released from prison in 10 months, with good behavior.

David P. Hoose, a lawyer for Martinez, said his client and Lamson took early retirements from a greeting card company and poured virtually their life savings into purchasing a tiny market on High Street in 2005.

L&M Market contained two aisles of sundries and sold primarily candy, beverages, cigarettes and other convenience items. Hoose said the two were woefully unprepared to run a business, were frightened of the gang presence in the neighborhood and felt pressured to give clients cash instead of groceries for food stamp credits.

In Massachusetts, actual food stamps have gone the way of the CD player and were replaced with electronic EBT cards that essentially serve as debit cards. But, food stamp recipients are restricted in terms of items they’re allowed to buy with the cards.

Hoose said many craved cash rather than groceries and the defendants would - for example - log $100 in purchases on a given card, give the customer $75 in cash and pocket the rest.

“The bottom line is. These people have nothing. They don’t have a red cent. They were wildly unprepared to own a business and did what they thought was expected of them. And unfortunately, it wasn’t a viable business without it,” Hoose said.

The appropriation was presented to the City Council during an executive session because it involved litigation, but it was exposed to the public by two councilors during the public comment portion of the regular Council meeting.

Daniel M. Knapik

WESTFIELD – A request to use $40,000 in city funds to finance legal expenses for Mayor Daniel M. Knapik who is being sued by three people for alleged First Amendment violations drew mixed reaction from the City Council.

Debate on the issue Thursday by councilors was so confusing that two who first voted against immediate consideration of the request later opted to abstain on a motion to refer it to the Finance Committee for a recommendation. Councilor David A. Flaherty cited his position as one of the plaintiffs in the suit. John J. Beltrandi III announced he expects to be called as a witness in the court proceedings.

The appropriation was presented to the City Council during an executive session because it involved litigation, but it was exposed to the public by Councilors Mary L. O’Connell and Agma Sweeney during the public comment portion of the regular City Council meeting.

Both O’Connell and Sweeney questioned the appropriateness of spending taxpayer funds on legal expenses of a civil suit. But, city ordinance provides indemnification of legal expenses for city officials.

The lawsuit, alleging Knapik ordered the removal of political lawn signs on property along East Silver Street on Nov. 7, was filed in U.S. District Court by the Western Regional Office of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU represents Flaherty, Municipal Light Board Commissioner Jane Wensley and property owner, David Costa, of Russell.

Knapik has refused to comment on the lawsuit, but he has acknowledged he instructed city workers to remove lawn signs that allegedly obstructed views of motorists traveling on East Silver Street between Cross and Lindbergh streets. The signs, with one possible exception, were placed on city owned tree belt, the mayor said.

The signs belonged to Flaherty, Wensley and Beltrandi, and were placed on Costa’s land with his permission, according to the suit, which said Knapik has a “contentious” relationship with Flaherty. Beltrandi did not join in the civil suit.

O’Connell and Sweeney argued the city is not obligated to fund the mayor’s defense because the city is not named as a defendant in the suit. O’Connell suggested that the council consider providing financial assistance to Flaherty, Wensley and Costa.

“This is political and personal and not taxpayer responsibility,” Sweeney said,

But, Councilor Richard E. Onofrey Jr., chairman of the finance committee, said city ordinance provides for legal services for the mayor being sued in his capacity as mayor.

During debate it was revealed that Knapik has 60 days in which to hire legal counsel and provide written response to the suit to the court.

Onofrey said the issue will be discussed in committee April 17 at 6:30 p.m. The next regular meeting of the full City Council is April 19.

The council dismissed six similar requests by other property owners, granted one request to seek an abatement and postponed action on a third.

AGAWAM – The City Council has postponed action on requests by local businessman Ralph DePalma for abatements of the sewer betterment assessments totalling close to $1 million on land he owns on South Westfield Street and on Westfield Street.

The council took that action when it met Monday. At the same time, it dismissed six similar requests by other property owners, granted one request to seek an abatement and postponed action on another request.

Ralph DePalma has gotten a bill of $423,721 for about 50 acres he owns to the rear of 683 South Westfield St. and another bill for $496,292 for another large tract of land at 497 South Westfield St. that he owns with Giuseppe Tirone.

City Councilor Robert E. Rossi, who chairs the council’s Administrative Subcommittee, said the council delayed action on the requests by DePalma until he can get more information about whether or not the undeveloped parcels, which have A-3 zoning, should have agricultural exemptions. The Administrative Subcommittee has been charged with dealing with the issue.

A-3 zoning allows for building up to eight housing units per acre. It may also turn out that DePalma should not have to pay betterment assessments until he develops his land, Rossi said.

The betterment assessments are to cover the $1.7 million it cost the city to do the first phase of the Southwest Sewer Project. That phase involved installing sewer lines along Route 57 starting at Shoemaker Lane near the Route 67 Bridge to South Westfield Street and along South Westfield Street to the neighborhood of the former state police academy. That work was completed last fall.

The assessments were figured at the rate of $2,341 per housing unit, which can be paid off over as long as 20 years. Another fee of $3,200 would be charged at the time of hookup to the sewer line.

DePalma has argued that there should not be any assessments for potential housing units. DePalma has contended that his land is subject to agricultural preservation and conservation restrictions.

DePalma could not be reached for comment.

To highlight the potential of downtown Holyoke, Morse invited the press to tour his home, an apartment in a vast former mill on Open Square Way in the inner-city. Watch video

HOLYOKE – To highlight the potential of downtown Holyoke, Mayor Alex Morse invited the press to tour his home, an apartment in a vast former mill on Open Square Way in inner-city Holyoke.

“It has the feeling of a big city,” the Ivy League wunderkind said Friday of his new home, which he had moved into only four weeks earlier, “and I can walk to work.”

In fact, his apartment used to be an engine room for the mills, and was later divided into offices, said John Aubin, architect and owner of Open Square Properties.

The property includes retail shops – a bridal shop, a hair salon, a cafe – as well as apartments, in the “mixed use” style that builders are trying to bring back.

The mayor’s apartment has great expanses of brick wall, 20-foot ceilings with exposed beams and huge arched windows.

Its vast space is divided up by a few walls painted dark red, dark brown and dark, almost black, purple, but mostly it’s open, with the “rooms” flowing into each other.

“My mom says it’s like something out of HGTV,” said Morse, 23, who was elected as one of the nation's youngest mayors last November. “My parents love it.”

The guest bathroom has walls the color of eggplant, with a dark wood cabinet under the sink and a mirror over it, framed in the same dark wood.

The mayor’s bedroom is set off by a huge three-fold opaque partition with a rustic pale-green frame that looks like it might have been rescued from some great old Victorian house in Holyoke. Over the bed hangs a modernistic portrait of Morse, painted by a friend.

Other art on the walls also has a modern look, sometimes blending word and image. Morse said he looks forward to including more works by Holyoke artists in the place.

On the other side of the apartment, a slightly shaggy rug outlines the living room area, all in shades of beige and gray, with flat-screen TV and big sectional sofas.

There’s no partition between that and the dining room, with its blond wood table and sideboard and, beyond that, a sleek modern kitchen area.

The decor is almost severely simple, were it not for the ornate reminders of 19th century craftsmanship. The entrance to the apartment has six panels of beautiful leaded glass, and the arched windows are framed by several rows of radiating bricks.

The office area consists of two long tables and two file cabinets on wheels. Again the emphasis is on neutral colors, blond wood and clean lines.

The bookcase holds vintage photographs of Holyoke and a metal sculpture of a musician playing a saxophone. Morse hasn’t moved in his sound system yet.

The concrete floor is painted black, with sparkles. Aubin, the architect, calls it a “modern industrial look.” Lighting consists of boxy white Japanese-style lamps, lots of them, hanging overhead.

Everything is neat and uncluttered – though Morse admits that, after all, it’s only been a month. He was preparing to host his whole family for Easter dinner.

In answer to a question about safety, Aubin, the architect, said Open Square is a safe place to live. He walked to the window and pointed to artists’ studios across the street, and another set of living and studio spaces next to them. The businesses on Open Square Way are open late, he said, and that increases safety, too.

“It’s a walkable urban center,” said Aubin, “and that’s the key to Holyoke’s future prosperity.”

Union reprsentatives say the frequent threat of layoffs takes a toll on municipal employees.

Springfield City Hall, with Campanile.

SPRINGFIELD – The city sent warnings to 13 municipal unions this week, giving notice that layoffs are possible in June due to severe budget constraints.

The unions receiving the layoff notices represent approximately 1,300 municipal employees, ranging from police and firefighters to public works and park employees.

Domenic Sarno

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said Friday that the threat of layoffs is unfortunate but necessary due to budget hardships that include five consecutive years of reductions in state funding assistance known as unrestricted local aid.

“I take it to heart,” Sarno said regarding layoffs. “I want to keep people working. I want to keep services going. I want to keep the city moving forward.”

The layoff notices do not affect the School Department.

Lee C. Erdmann, the city’s chief administrative and financial officer, said there is a “strong probability that layoffs will be necessary although we are doing all we can to minimize or avoid layoffs including asking the commonwealth for additional assistance.”

Erdmann and Sarno said it is too early to speculate on the number of potential layoffs.

Union representatives, reached for comment, said the layoff notices are difficult and stressful for the employees and their families, and has been a frequent practice over the years. Some unions require 60 days notice if there could be layoffs which leads to the notices being sent in April.

The notices have “a chilling effect,” said Richard H. Brown, a union representative with the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1459, representing many public works and parks employees.

“It’s an extremely anxiety-provoking situation,” Brown said. “We are always disappointed when these types of notices go out. It’s not like they are overstaffed. They are certainly doing more with less year after year.”

There were also layoff notices sent last year, and 21 city employees were laid off in June and July, Human Resources Director William Mahoney said. Some were hired back during the year.

Sarno said he and his finance team will be lobbying for increases in state aid for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, working with local legislators, state House and Senate leaders, and city councilors to urge reforms in the local aid formula.

When he became mayor five years ago, unrestricted local aid was about $45 million, but is now down to $28 million while the city has faced increased costs, Sarno said.

The city at one time had approximately 3,000 municipal employees, while the number now is fewer than 1,500, Sarno said.

Sarno said he is taking a cautious approach seeking transfers from the city’s reserve funds because “I am not going to make the moves that were done in the past the put the city on the brink of bankruptcy.”

The city was placed under a state-imposed Finance Control Board for five years due to major deficits.

In looking for budget cuts, Sarno said that two-thirds of the city budget is earmarked for School Department expenses that cannot be cut by the mayor and used to aid municipal costs such as police and fire services, trash pickup, parks and libraries.

Kevin B. Coyle, lawyer for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 364, and other municipal labor groups, said the layoff notices are “very, very trying.”

“It seems every year we are told there is a shortfall and every year the budget has to be tightened and every year there is a threat of layoffs,” Coyle said. “It’s just a difficult situation to have to endure year after year.”

Springfield police were scheduled to begin conducting spot checks and citing violators beginning 1 a.m. Saturday.

The Republican | David MolnarPatrons enter Theodore's Booze, Blues and BBQ on Worthington Street. The establishment was one of two in the city granted the new late night entertainment special permit

SPRINGFIELD - The city on late Friday afternoon rejected applications of 39 of the 41 establishments applying for the city’s new “Special Late Night Entertainment Permit” just a few hours before the enforcement was to begin, prompting a lawyer for several downtown bars to cry foul.

“We feel as though the entire process was a sham,” said lawyer Daniel D. Kelly. “This was a pre-determined outcome from the beginning. Obviously, there will be some litigation in the immediate future.”

Thomas Walsh, communications director for Mayor Domenic Sarno, said all city bars and clubs were being notified of the change Friday night, and city police were scheduled to begin conducting spot checks and issue citations to those in violation beginning 1 a.m. Saturday. All found in violation would be reported to the city License Commission.

Without the special permit, bars and other establishments that serve alcohol may remain open until 2 a.m., but all forms of entertainment - television, music, video games and pool tables - are required to cease each day at 1 a.m. Patrons can still drink until last call but that is about all they can do.

Of the 41 establishments that applied, just two - Theodore’s Booze, Blues & BBQ on Worthington Street and Mattie’s Cafe on Boston Road - were issued special permits, Walsh said.

Theodore’s and Mattie’s provided documentation showing that their food receipts provided 40 percent or more of their gross receipts, he said.

Walsh said there were several applicants who had their applications denied without prejudice, meaning they can reapply if they provide additional documentation to the hearing officer. The exact number of these cases was not clear.

Although the decisions were not announced until Friday, the date of the new permit going into effect has been known for a month.

Mayor Domenic Sarno pushed for the special permit as a type of curfew intended to reduce early morning violence and trouble, particularly in the downtown Entertainment District.

The degree of trouble at 2 a.m. when the bars let out is both a public safety hazard and a drain on limited police resources, Sarno has said previously.

The Republican | David MolnarThe 5th Alarm on Worthington Street, as seen Friday night. The strip bar was one of 39 bars and clubs in the city that had its application for the special late-night entertainment special permit rejected.

Kelly said he plans to file legal action contesting the mayor’s decision. 
Among his bar clients in Springfield are four strip bars in the downtown area.

“It’s disappointing,” Kelly said. “We understand the need to crack down on crime. This is a misguided attempt to look like you are doing something when in fact you are not.”

The same trouble occurring at 2 a.m., could occur at 1 a.m. or midnight, Kelly said.

Associate City Solicitor Alesia Days served as Sarno’s hearing officer on the permit requests, and provided recommendations to him. Hearings were conducted in March.

Small businesses are struggling in Springfield, particularly in current economic times, Kelly said. A shutdown of the entertainment at 1 a.m., could have a “significant impact” on revenues, and will result in layoffs in come occasions, he said.

“We engaged in the process in good faith,” Kelly said. “We feel as though perhaps the city did not.”

Springfield detectives were working to evict two men charged Wednesday with selling cocaine out of a Woodmont Street apartment.

Here are the most-read stories that appeared on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed photo gallery, seen at right, was David Molnar's "STCC Foundation's 3rd annual 'Not Just Business as Usual' event."

1) Mayor Michael Bissonnette seeks city probe of case involving Chicopee police lieutenant's off-duty weapon discharge in garage [Patrick Johnson]

2) Prosecutors: Massachusetts man accused of killing wife ate her flesh [Associated Press]

3) Springfield police seeking to evict suspected drug dealers from Liberty Heights neighborhood apartment [George Graham]

4) Springfield police search for 4 males suspected of robbing couple at gunpoint in Forest Park [George Graham]

5) Condom access for students gets 4-3 Springfield School Committee approval [Peter Goonan]

One candidate, Angela Thorpe, is seeking spots on both the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.

East Longmeadow selectman, Paul Federici, top left, will be running against Angela Thorpe, top right, for a seat on the Board of Selectmen in East Longmeadow's annual town election Tuesday. Thorpe, who is also seeking a post on the School Committee will be running against Deidre Mailloux, bottom left, and write in candidate, incumbent Joseph Cabrera, for that post.

EAST LONGMEADOW – Incumbent Paul L. Federici and former School Committee member Angela Thorpe will vie for a seat on the Board of Selectmen during the annual town election Tuesday.

Thorpe will also run against school volunteer Deirdre Mailloux and write-in candidate Joseph Cabrera for a seat on the School Committee. Cabrera is the incumbent but he lost a spot on Tuesday’s ballot when he finished third in the preliminary election on March 13.

Federici, a long-time resident, said his skills as an accountant have helped him look at the town budgets with more attention to detail.

During a recent debate, Federici said he feels he has brought a steady influence to the board, saying with him the meetings can be boring compared to years past, but they get they get things done and that’s a good thing.

Federici said he had an important part in regionalizing the position of veterans service officer which will save the town thousands of dollars and opens the door for more collaborations with other communities.

Thorpe will run against Federici as well as for a seat on the School Committee. If elected for both, Thorpe said she plans on serving on both boards.

“I have no intention of resigning one seat,” she said.

Thorpe said she believes the Board of Selectmen needs to be more proactive in helping senior citizens who are struggling financially with things such as federal programs for tax relief.

As for the School Committee, Thorpe said her previous six years on the committee give her the experience necessary to jump right in and work.

Mailloux said having never served on a board she brings a new perspective and ideas.

She said because she is only running for one seat she believes she can dedicate the necessary time to it and will be able to serve on subcommittees and be fully invested.

During a recent debate, Mailloux said she would look at ways to keep technology relevant for students and look at cost-saving measures that would not affect teacher salaries.

Mailloux, a newcomer, received the most votes in the preliminary race for a three-year School Committee seat on March 13. Thorpe received 367 votes followed by Carrera with 355, just a 12 vote difference.

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

Cabrera served on the committee for one term and has said he is willing to be a voice for parents and students. He will conduct a sticker campaign on Tuesday.

The officer, whose name has not been released, was taken to Baystate Medical Center and treated for his injury.

The building at 128 Elm Street in downtown Westfield, where a man was shot by police after he had stabbed one of the officers while they tryed to arrest him after he broke into Apartment 11, which is on the top floor, where a woman said to be his ex- wife lived.

WESTFIELD - City police, responding to a report of a domestic disturbance early Saturday, shot and killed a man who stabbed an officer.

The officer, whose name has not been released, was taken to Baystate Medical Center and treated for a wound that was not life-threatening.

According to a published report by WWLP-22 News, a press release from Westfield Police Captain Michael McCabe said officers were summoned to apartment 11 at 128 Elm St. around 2 a.m. by a woman who said her ex-husband, Douglas Musto, was trying to break down her door.

When arriving officers confronted Musto, he brandished a knife. The officers first attempted to subdue him with a stun gun but Musto attacked and stabbed one officer. At that point, another officer at the scene shot Musto, who later died of his injuries.

The Hampden District Attorney's Office and the Massachusetts State Police will investigate the shooting.

SCENE OF THE SHOOTING
The map below shows the location police responded to early Saturday.

This is a developing story. Details will be added as they become available.

Republican file photo

Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challengers Elizabeth Warren and Marisa DeFranco hold varying views on immigration and immigration reform.

Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challengers Elizabeth Warren and Marisa DeFranco hold varying views on immigration and immigration reform. (AP & Republican file photos)

Immigration reform is always a contentious issue, but during an election year the discussion ramps up along with the rhetoric as candidates spar on the particulars of a complicated issue.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., spent time this week touting the federal Secure Communities program, which many Bay State lawmakers have resisted.

The program, which will be implemented nationwide in 2013, requires that fingerprints taken by local police during booking be shared with federal authorities to identify anyone in the country illegally, teeing them up for deportation.

Amid public outcry, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said the state wouldn't participate in the program but President Barack Obama said it will be implemented regardless of a state's agreement.

Brown has been pushing for Massachusetts to embrace the program since last year, citing several violent crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants.

During his tour this week of county jails in Worcester and Bristol counties, where the respective sheriffs have been outspoken supporters of Secure Communities, the Massachusetts Republican Party took aim at Elizabeth Warren, Brown's chief Democratic rival in his re-election bid.

“We already knew that Professor Warren opposed the Secure Communities Act. Now we learn that she also opposes the border fence and supports in-state tuition for illegal immigrants," said Alleigh Marre, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Republican Party. "Warren's ideas on illegal immigration are unfair to millions of legal immigrants who play by the rules as they wait patiently to come into the country."

The statement was accompanied by a new web video which paints Warren as "out of touch" with Bay State voters on the issue of immigration.

Warren's campaign struck back, telling The Republican that she isn't opposed to the program entirely, but believes it needs tweaking to address concerns that it promotes racial profiling and creates a chilling effect on immigrants in relation to working with and reporting crime to local police agencies.

“Elizabeth believes that the FBI and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) should share information to ensure that we can get dangerous and violent offenders off our streets," said Alethea Harney, Warren's press secretary. "She also understands that law enforcement officials in Massachusetts and across the country believe that the current program is creating barriers between police and communities and making it harder for them to work together to keep our neighborhoods safe. She thinks that a program that targets violent and dangerous offenders while taking the legitimate concerns of law enforcement into account can be implemented effectively."

On the topic of a border fence, which Brown supports, Warren believes it is time to move past a fence and work toward implementing other solutions.

"We've doubled our border patrol forces over the last decade and there is 650 miles of fencing along the border," Harney said. "Elizabeth believes the next step needs to be common sense, comprehensive immigration reform that is fair to taxpayers and legal immigrants."

Warren and Brown both agree that enforcing existing laws against hiring illegal immigrants are key to any immigration policy moving forward, but the similarities basically stop there.

On the topic of the DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who complete high school and obtain a higher education degree or join the military, Brown is adamantly against it, calling the process a form of amnesty.

Warren, on the other hand, supports the idea, calling it the "right" thing to do.

The bill was first proposed in 2011 and came up again last year as part of a defense spending bill, which Brown specifically took issue with.

Marisa DeFranco, a Middleton immigration lawyer and Warren's competition for the Democratic nod to take on Brown in the general election, has built a career out of learning the intricacies of the immigration system in the U.S.

She feels that the pending Secure Communities program will destroy decades of progress made through community policing.

In DeFranco's view, the immigration process as it stands today is daunting and expensive, making legal immigration near impossible for many.

"A lot of people will say to me that their grandparents came legally, and why can't immigrants do that today?" DeFranco previously said. "But what they don't realize is that back then there was an open border policy. Now you can only come through an immediate relative or through business. There are asylum cases, but those are much more complicated. It is not easy or cheap to become a U.S. citizen, although the process does have its fair points such as a citizenship option following five years with a green card."

DeFranco supports creating a path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here by requiring them to pay a fine of $4,000 as well as any back taxes and pass English language and government tests before getting in the back of the line and wait seven years rather than the five years people currently wait.

Warren's proposed path to citizenship for those already here illegally is similar, as she cites payment of back taxes and moving to the back of the line behind current applicants as part of the process.