While Mayor Michael Bissonnette said he is hoping for no layoffs and no cuts in services, it may be more difficult than in previous years to balance the budget.

Republican file photo

CHICOPEE — The city is expected to face a fourth year of level funding and level services, but few or no layoffs are expected.

Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said he is beginning to meet with department directors to develop the budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which begins in July.

Michael Bissonnette

While Bissonnette said he is hoping for no layoffs and no cuts in services, it may be more difficult than in previous years to balance the budget.

“It depends on the local aid that comes from the state,” he said.

This year’s budget is about $154 million. Bissonnette expects spending to be close to that for fiscal year 2013.

Currently, the governor’s funding proposals will give the city about the same $9 million in state assistance that it received last year. But that amount is still $4 million less than the city saw four years ago and could be cut by the state House or Senate.

Police and firefighters have accepted a contract with no raises for next year, but the city still has to pay step increases for its most junior employees as well as inflationary increases on goods and services, Bissonnette said.

The city also needs to buy about $6 million in equipment to replace a dozen aging police cruisers, two ambulances, two fire trucks and a number of Department of Public Works vehicles. Not all of those purchases will be able to be done in one year, Bissonnette said.

One of the city’s struggles is with its waning savings. In the past, Bissonnette has avoided layoffs by balancing the budget with money from its reserve accounts. Every year he and the City Council have paid that money back later by using unspent funds from the previous year.

But this year all the leftover money was used to clean up damage left by the October snowstorm. That left the city surplus at $6 million.

Bissonnette said he is not sure if he will borrow from the city reserves again to balance the budget.

“We will look at what we have for resources,” he said.

The city spent about $5.8 million on storm cleanup and is applying for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 75 percent reimbursement of $5 million. Another about $800,000 of costs associated with the storm may be eligible for 100 percent reimbursement, he said.

But the city can’t file for reimbursement until every bill is paid and is expecting a long wait before the money is actually reimbursed, Bissonnette said.

“We are doing the final audit. Everyone is working on this, and it should be done by the end of April,” he said. “We are pushing to get it back in the coffers by the time comes to set the tax rate and to minimize the impact on the city budget.”

But, he cautioned it took Springfield nine months to see reimbursements from the June tornadoes.

Although the town attorney said the question is invalid, Town Council President Paul Burns said he felt it was necessary to ensure that the intent of the residents who signed Hale's petition is honored.

David Hale

PALMER — The Town Council, in a majority vote, opted to send David L. Hale's charter question to the attorney general for an opinion, even though the town attorney has said it is invalid because the wording is wrong.

Town Council President Paul E. Burns said he felt it was necessary to ensure that the intent of the approximately 1,700 residents who signed Hale's petition is honored.

Burns said he does not feel it is right to ignore Hale's efforts, and said it was clear to him that Hale was pursuing a review of the current form of government.

Burns cast the lone dissenting vote, however, not because he opposed getting the opinion, but because he also wanted to have the town clerk certify the signatures.

Town Attorney Charles F. Ksieniewicz told Town Clerk Susan Coache only to date stamp the petitions, and not to continue certifying the signatures.

Voting in favor of sending the question to the attorney general were Councilors Philip J. Hebert, Blake E. Lamothe, Donald Blais, Barbara A. Barry and Mary A. Salzmann. Karl S. Williams was absent.

Friday is the deadline to submit signatures to the town clerk to get a question on the annual election ballot in June.

Some of the councilors questioned taking the question to the attorney general.

"If the question is wrong, then it's wrong. I'm sorry," Blais said.

Lamothe said the town has a new town manager with a three-year commitment. Burns said it would take at least three years to implement any charter change. Burns added that he does not support a return to town meetings and selectmen, something for which Hale has long advocated.

"I admire his tenacity," Hebert said about Hale. "I feel bad for the man."

The question to initiate a charter review would have to be placed on a ballot, and if it passes, a Charter Commission would be elected at the same time to review the government. Candidates interested in running for Charter Commission would have to take out nomination papers to run. No advertisements for a Charter Commission have been made, and the deadline for candidates to turn in papers to appear on the June ballot is April 24.

Hale said there is not enough time now to get the question on the June ballot, which he said was what the people who signed the petition wanted. He blamed Burns, the town clerk and town attorney for stalling the process. He delivered his final batch of signatures to the town clerk's office last week.

Hale also said he was told by the former town clerk what question to use on his petition, and questioned why he wasn't told in November, when he started the petition drive, that the question was wrong. Hale was told last month.

Hale said the issue is not one for the attorney general's office.

"This is a local problem caused by local people," Hale said. "I'm really disappointed. Who knows how long this thing is going to drag out. It's business as usual in Palmer government. The will of the people is meaningless."

Hale also questioned why he wasn't invited to Monday's Town Council meeting, where the discussion and vote on his situation took place.

Burns said if the attorney general's office does not approve the question, he would ask the Town Council to support a request to submit a home rule petition to the state Legislature so the charter question can be on the November ballot.

Four years ago, Hale's efforts led to a Charter Commission being seated, and a charter review. Hale wasn't elected to the commission, and the changes that were brought to the voters – and ultimately approved #– only modified the current government.

Raymond Domey, who assisted Hale with the petition drive, said last week that they were motivated by the non-binding vote in June that showed a preference for town meetings and selectmen over the current town manager-town council form of government.

David Hale

Nothing suspicious was found inside the submerged SUV, discovered last Friday. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - A good-sized crowd gathered in Riverfront Park early Wednesday afternoon to watch as a stolen vehicle was hauled out of the Connecticut River.

Nothing unusual, with the exception perhaps of a baby eel, was found inside the 2005 Kia Sorento. It had been reported stolen from 128 Grover St. on Nov. 30.

Personnel from C.J.’s Towing released the eel back into the river before the dripping and muck-covered SUV was hauled back away on a flatbed truck.

The operation, which started with volunteer divers suiting up to attach a tow cable to the vehicle, took about an hour.

Springfield police divers determined Friday that there did not appear to be anything suspicious inside the Kia.

Craig Morel, president of C.J.’s, said the company used its newly-acquired 65-ton rotating wrecker to haul the vehicle out of the river and up the steep embankment to the park. “This is the first time we have use it, this was the maiden voyage,” he said.

The Kia, dimly visible from the shore, was located about 50 feet from the river’s edge.

Morel theorized that whoever dumped the Kia used a nearby set of concrete steps to get it into the water.

Morel described the recovery as routine and said it’s not unusual to find a catfish or two flopping around inside vehicles that have been recovered from the river or other nearby bodies of water.

There were no catfish this time around, just that wriggling eel, some 3 or 4 inches long. It appeared quite eager to get back into the water.

A California prison panel denied parole Wednesday to mass murderer Charles Manson in his 12th and possibly final bid for freedom.

The Associated PressThis file combo of photographs shows how Charles Manson has looked over the years from 1969 up to the most recently released photo in 2011. Manson is scheduled to have a parole hearing at Corcoran State Prison in Central Calif., on Weds., April 11, 2012. (AP Photo, File)

By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press

CORCORAN, Calif. (AP) — A California prison panel denied parole Wednesday to mass murderer Charles Manson in his 12th and possibly final bid for freedom.

Manson, now a gray-bearded, 77-year-old, did not attend the hearing.

He orchestrated a series of gruesome murders on consecutive nights in Los Angeles 40 years ago. His trial with three women acolytes was an international spectacle.

Manson and his followers were convicted in the 1969 slaying of actress Sharon Tate and four others.

"I'm done with him," Debra Tate, the sister of the actress, said after the hearing.

For four decades, Debra Tate has traveled to whatever rural California prison has held the notorious cult leader and his band of murderous followers for hearings she said are too numerous to count.

"I've tried to take this thing that I do, that has become my lot in life, and make it have purpose," the 59-year-old Tate said Tuesday. She was 17 in August 1969, when Manson sent his minions across LA on two nights of terror.

"I've been doing it for Sharon and the other victims of him for the last 40 years," she said.

The parole board ruled that Manson had shown no efforts to rehabilitate himself.

"This panel can find nothing good as far as suitability factors go," said John Peck, a member of the panel.

The hearing at Corcoran State Prison in Central California could be the last one for the aging mass murderer.

Under current law, inmates can be denied the chance to reapply for parole for up to 15 years. Another rejection could make Manson 92 before he would get another opportunity to make his case.

"At his age, I think he doesn't care," Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequeira has said. "He would be lost if he got out. He's completely institutionalized."

Manson has not appeared at a parole hearing since 1997. His most recent hearing was in 2007.

Manson, however, is anything but a recluse. He has a steady stream of visitors who submit requests to see him, including college students writing papers about him, said Theresa Cisneros, spokeswoman for Corcoran State Prison.

Manson must approve all requests.

"He has a large interested public," Cisneros said, adding that Manson receives more mail than most prisoners.

Manson has been cited twice for having smuggled cellphones. Authorities found he had been talking with people in California, New Jersey, Florida, British Columbia, Arkansas, Massachusetts and Indiana.

The phone numbers were traced, but Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said she could not disclose who received the calls.

Manson also was cited in October for having a homemade weapon in his cell.

Manson was depicted at trial as the evil master of murder, commanding a small army of young followers. He and the three women were sentenced to death. But their lives were spared when the California Supreme Court briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972.

One of them, Susan Atkins, died in prison. Two others, Lesl
ie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, remain incarcerated.

Manson also was convicted of two unrelated murders.
___

Associated Press reporter Linda Deutsch contributed from Los Angeles.

A law enforcement official says that charges are being filed in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

(AP File Photos)The late Trayvon Martin, left, is seen in this composite photo with the man who is accused of shooting him to death in Florida, George Zimmerman.

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON and KYLE HIGHTOWER, Associated Press

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida, will be charged in the 17-year-old's death, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Special prosecutor Angela Corey will announce charges against the 28-year-old Zimmerman at a 6 p.m. Wednesday news conference, the official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press. Corey confirmed that an announcement on the case would be made in Jacksonville but didn't elaborate. The person said Zimmerman's arrest is also expected soon.

The official didn't know the charge and spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Corey had said late Tuesday, after Zimmerman's attorneys announced they were withdrawing from the case, that she would have an announcement on charges within 72 hours.

The two attorneys said they no longer were representing Zimmerman because they haven't heard from him since Sunday.

"As of the last couple days, he has not returned phone calls, text messages or emails," attorney Craig Sonner said. "He's gone on his own. I'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to."

However, the person with knowledge of the case said law enforcement knows where Zimmerman is. His former attorneys have said he is in hiding and suffering from high levels of stress from the intense public scrutiny he is under.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder also said the Justice Department is conducting a thorough and independent review of the case after launching its own investigation three weeks ago.

Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense after following the teenager in a Sanford, Fla., a gated community outside Orlando on Feb. 26. He said he was returning to his truck when Martin attacked him and that he shot the unarmed teen during the fight. He wasn't arrested partly because of Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law, which gives people wide leeway to use deadly force.

The lack of an arrest has led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

Zimmerman's former lawyers, in quitting the case Tuesday, noted that their client had talked to Hannity more recently than with them.

AP file photoFox News Channel's Sean Hannity

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity has become the second cable news host whose involvement in the Trayvon Martin shooting case has gone beyond merely talking about it on the air.

Hannity acknowledged having a conversation with a man he believed to be George Zimmerman, who shot and killed the black Florida teenager Feb. 26 in a case that has ignited racial tensions. Zimmerman's former lawyers, in quitting the case Tuesday, noted that their client had talked to Hannity more recently than with them.

Hannity, who last week interviewed Zimmerman's father on Fox, said there has been a "rush to judgment" about the shooter.

Over on MSNBC, Al Sharpton has participated in marches and demonstrations in support of Martin while continuing to discuss the case on his evening talk show. There have been stark differences in the attention and focus on the case at the two networks.

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Wednesday that charges were being filed against Zimmerman and that his arrest was expected. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Hannity's involvement in the case came to light Tuesday at a news conference held by Zimmerman's former lawyers, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner. Hannity, who said on his show Tuesday night that he's been pursuing a Zimmerman interview for weeks, said he was contacted Monday by a man he believes was Zimmerman.

"He reached out to me, we spoke on the phone about his case and I agreed not to report on the contents of that conversation," Hannity said.

On his radio show Monday, Hannity said he had confirmed that Zimmerman was a mentor to minority children. "Now, if you were racist, I don't think you'd be a mentor to minority children," he said.

With Uhrig and Sonner present, Hannity last week on Fox interviewed Zimmerman's father, Robert. Robert Zimmerman's face was concealed during the interview.

During the interview, Hannity told Zimmerman that "I would argue there has been a rush to judgment." He cited statements made by political and civil rights leaders about the shooting being racially motivated — George Zimmerman's father is white and his mother Hispanic — and mentioned President Barack Obama's comment that if he had a son, he would likely look like Trayvon.

Zimmerman's father said he agreed. "I just believe it's very sad that so many people are not telling the truth for their own agenda," he said.

During the interview, Zimmerman's father said he had never heard his son utter a racial slur and, prompted by Hannity, recalled a time when his son helped a black homeless man.

Hannity also devoted a portion of his show Tuesday to discussing a report that the New Black Panther Party had put a bounty on George Zimmerman's head.

There was no progress to report Wednesday on Hannity's attempt to get a George Zimmerman interview, according to Fox.

Cable news networks had sharply different appetites for the case, according to research by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. From March 19 to 28, MSNBC — where the prime-time hosts are liberal — the network devoted 49 percent of its on-air time to the Martin story. During the same period at Fox, where the prime-time hosts are conservative, 15 percent of the news hole was spent on the case. It was 40 percent at CNN.

On March 26, for example, MSNBC carried 14 minutes of a mid-afternoon news conference by Martin's parents live and uninterrupted by commercials, the project said. CNN aired the news conference for a little more than five minutes. Fox didn't mention the story at all in that hour, the Excellence Project reported.

The topics that drew the most attention about the case on MSNBC concerned gun control and Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, the project said. On Fox, the most time spent was on Martin's background and statements in defense of Zimmerman.

Ross read a lot every day, including three daily newspapers.

Ernest J. Ross Jr.

HOLYOKE — A fund-raiser featuring the first of what supporters said will be an annual golf tournament is underway in honor of the late Ernest J. Ross Jr.

Golfing will begin at 1 p.m. May 19 at Wyckoff Country Club at 233 Easthampton Road followed by a dinner and silent auction to raise money for the newspaper and periodical room at the Holyoke Public Library.

“My brother was an avid reader, at least three newspapers a day, and we have pledged $60,000 over five years to the Holyoke Public Library’s periodical room,” Jacqueline Glasheen, Ross' sister, said Wednesday..

Ross was vice president of Ross Insurance Agency and active in politics for years. He died March 20, 2011 at the age of 60.

The cost is $500 for a golf foursome. All of those slots have been filled, but people interested in contributing can still attend only the dinner for $40 or sponsor a tee shot or a hole for the tournament, Glasheen said.

For information, email TeamErnie2012@gmail.com.

Ross was chief of staff for former state senator John P. Burke, a Democrat, who represented Holyoke’s senatorial district from 1979 to 1991.

Ross was a member of the St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, Holyoke Elks 902, Springfield Country Club, Holyoke Canoe Club, Holyoke Taxpayers Association, Valley Opportunity Council and Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, in Milford.

Team Ernie Sponsor Letter

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The Retirement Board voted 4-1 to revoke the annual $45,347 pension of Asher, who is serving an 18-month jail sentence for the beating of Melvin Jones III in 2009. Watch video

File photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanFormer Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher is seen in Chicopee District Court in February. He learned Wednesday that he will be stripped of his annual $45,347 pension.

SPRINGFIELD – Former city patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, who is serving an 18-month jail sentence for the beating of Melvin Jones III in 2009, was stripped of his $45,347 pension Wednesday.

The city’s Retirement Board voted 4-1 to revoke the disability pension during a meeting conducted at its Tapley Street offices.

Police Lt. Robert P. Moynihan, who serves as chairman of the Retirement Board, said the board acted in accordance with a state law that mandates forfeiture of a public pension in cases of “final conviction” of a criminal offense pertaining to the person’s job.

“It’s never easy taking someone’s pension from them,” Moynihan said. “We’re here to try to help people, not hurt them. But under the laws, we have to abide by the law.”

The action came after a jury found Asher, 40, guilty of single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a flashlight) and assault and battery. A 17-year veteran of the police force, Asher is serving his sentence at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction in Greenfield.

The Republican | Don TreegerThe Springfield Retirement Board holds a meeting where they decided to deny pension benefits to former police officer Jeffrey Asher. Talking is board attorney Alfredo Vivenzio. Sitting with his back to the camera is attorney Kevin Coyle, who represented Asher before the board.

Asher’s lawyer, Kevin B. Coyle, said the Retirement Board’s decision will be appealed either to Springfield District Court or to the state Contributory Retirement Appeal Board, or both. Coyle asked to speak on Asher’s behalf before the board voted on revocation, but was denied permission.

While Coyle said the denial for him to speak prior to the vote was a violation of Asher’s rights, board lawyer Alfredo Vivenzio said the state law is clear and Asher’s rights were not violated.

Asher’s application for a disability retirement was approved by the state in July 2010, one day before he was fired by Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

The board first took up the pension forfeiture issue on March 8, but voted to delay any decision then, deciding to wait until after Asher was sentenced on March 28, and the revocation was made effective that date.

Coyle had argued in March, and again after the Retirement Board’s meeting on Wednesday, that the decision on Asher’s pension should have waited until after his appeal of his criminal conviction. While Asher is convicted, Coyle said he would argue that a “final conviction” can be interpreted as occurring after the appeal process.

Asher testified during his trial at Chicopee District Court that he was protecting himself and other officers during a struggle with Jones and believed Jones was trying to take another officer’s gun after a traffic stop on Rifle Street and foot chase. Asher struck Jones repeatedly with the flashlight, which was caught on video by a resident in the neighborhood.

Thomas M. Scanlon was the only board member to vote against revocation. Scanlon is a city patrolman and is the former president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 364.

“In this particular case, Jeff Asher’s retirement is a disability pension and he still is disabled,” Scanlon said. “None of those circumstances have changed.”

In addition, Scanlon said the pension forfeiture law is a “bad law and is overly broad.”

Board members voting for revocation were Patrick Burns, Haskell O. Kennedy Jr., Philip J. Mantoni and Moynihan. Both Moynihan and Scanlon were elected to the board by members of the retirement system.

Asher has been receiving a gross monthly pension of $3,778 since November 2010, and is not required to return any of the funds collected, by law. He would be repaid any of own contributions not already allocated to his payments, but with no interest, officials said.

Under an accidental disability benefit, the retiree’s benefit is based on a maximum of 75 percent of the last 12 months of regular salary.

The event will include works from a variety of talented area artists, many of whom will be returning to the event after participating in previous years.

Margaret O'Donnell

SPRINGFIELD – Valley Radio Reading Service, a non-profit organization that provides reading services to the visually impaired, will host an art show fund-raiser to help it cover the costs of its operations.

The third annual art show and sale takes place on April 29 at Kimball Towers, 140 Chestnut St.

The event will include works from a variety of talented area artists, many of whom will be returning to the event after participating in previous years.

“We have a woodworker, watercolor painters, jewelry, a lady that does beautiful handbags and also scented oils,” said Valley Radio Reading Service director Margaret O’Donnell. “We have a lot of nice things.”

Other participants include a calligrapher and a florist.

“It’s quality work,” O’Donnell said. “You will find things at a reasonable price.”

The lobby of the Kimball Towers condominiums has been restored, providing a perfect setting for the fund-raiser, O’Donnell said. “It’s just beautiful,” she said. “It’s a great fund-raiser for us but it’s also a chance for people to see neat things like this lobby.”

There will be a raffle with prizes, and light refreshments. Donations of $5 are appreciated.

Valley Radio Reading Service serves over 1,500 people in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties. While most clients are visually impaired, anyone who has a physical disability which prevents them from reading the newspaper can receive the service.

The reading service provides a special radio receiver using a side band to broadcast its programming. Volunteers read local news, including The Republican and Daily Hampshire Gazette, each weekday. Regional publications are recorded for broadcast throughout the week.

Valley Radio Reading Service is on the air about 45 hours each week. It is part of the Massachusetts Reading Network, which is on the air day and night. The network broadcasts more regional news, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

O’Donnell said the obituaries, sadly, appear to be most popular among the materials which are read during the broadcast which airs each day at 10 a.m.

“I think it’s because if you can’t read the paper, there’s nowhere else to go (to access the obituaries),” she said. “Of course, we read the local news; that’s very popular, and we read things like ‘Dear Abby’ and the horoscopes at the end.”

The reading service doesn’t typically broadcast national news, because clients can access that through television.

The service has about 50 volunteers, who usually come in and read about an hour each week.

“A lot of people want to do more,” she said. “We really depend on our volunteers.”

The service receives a subsidy from the state Commission for the Blind, but it doesn’t cover all the organization’s expenses. There are costs to running the radio system, and the radios themselves cost $50 each. There are also general office expenses to cover. The reading service has been providing its services to listeners for over 30 years.

The art show and sale takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. Parking is available. The donation admission may be paid at the door. For more information about Valley Radio Reading Service, go online to www.valleyradioreading.org.

Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman has been arrested and faces a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON and GARY FINEOUT

FILE - This recent but undated file photo taken from the Orlando Sentinel's website shows George Zimmerman, according to the paper. Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida, will be charged in the 17-year-old's death, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, April 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, File)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Wednesday after weeks of mounting tensions and protests across the U.S.

George Zimmerman, 28, could get up to life in prison if convicted in the slaying of the unarmed black teenager.

Special prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charges but would not discuss how she arrived at them or disclose other details of her investigation, saying: "That's why we try cases in a courtroom."

Second-degree murder is typically brought in cases when there is a fight or other confrontation that results in death but involves no premeditation to kill. It carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years behind bars when a gun is used.

Martin's parents expressed relief over the decision to prosecute their son's killer.

"The question I would really like to ask him is, if he could look into Trayvon's eyes and see how innocent he was, would he have then pulled the trigger? Or would he have just let him go on home?" said his father, Tracy Martin.

Corey would not disclose Zimmerman's whereabouts for his safety but said that he will be in court within 24 hours, at which point he can request bail. He turned himself in in Florida.

Zimmerman's new attorney, Mark O'Mara, said Zimmerman will plead not guilty and will invoke Florida's "stand your ground" law, which gives people wide leeway to use deadly force without having to retreat in the face of danger. The lawyer asked that people not jump to conclusions about his client's guilt and said he is "hoping that the community will calm down" now that charges have been filed.

"I'm expecting a lot of work and hopefully justice in the end," O'Mara said.

On Tuesday, Zimmerman's former lawyers portrayed him as erratic and in precarious mental condition. But O'Mara said Zimmerman was OK: "I'm not concerned about his mental well-being."

Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, has asserted since the Feb. 26 killing in Sanford that he shot in self-defense after the teenager attacked him. Martin's family argued Zimmerman was the aggressor.

The shooting brought demands from black leaders for his arrest, touched off protests in which people wore hooded sweatshirts like the one the teenager had on, and set off a furious debate over race and self-defense that reached all the way to the White House, where President Barack Obama observed: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."

Separately, the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division is conducting its own investigation.

Corey said the decision to bring charges was based on the facts and the law, declaring: "We do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition."

One of the biggest hurdles to Zimmerman's arrest over the past month was Florida's "stand your ground" law, which affords strong protection to those who use deadly force.

Second-degree murder means a killing that was not premeditated but resulted instead from an "imminently dangerous act" that showed a "depraved" lack of regard for human life.

Some legal experts had predicted the prosecutor would instead bring a charge of manslaughter, which carries up to 15 years behind bars. It is defined as a death that results from a reckless but not a depraved act.

Corey repeatedly declined to answer questions about details in the case.

"So much information got released on this case that never should have been released. We have to protect this prosecution and this investigation for Trayvon, for George Zimmerman," she said.

Legal experts said Corey must have compelling evidence against Zimmerman if she chose to charge him with second-degree murder.

"That indicates they have evidence (Zimmerman) was chasing Trayvon because he was black," said Florida defense attorney Richard Hornsby. "It's difficult to think how one prosecutor didn't charge him at all and another thought there was enough evidence to justify a second-degree charge. It's a pretty drastic swing."

Tensions have risen in recent days in Sanford, a town of 50,000 outside Orlando. Someone shot up an unoccupied police car Tuesday as it sat outside the neighborhood where Martin was killed. And a demonstration by college students closed the town's police station Monday.

But as the hour of the prosecutor's announcement neared, the Martin family and their lawyer pleaded for calm.

Outside Sanford City Hall, Stacy Davis, a black woman, said she was glad to see arrested Zimmerman under arrest. "It's not a black or white thing for me. It's a right or wrong thing. He needed to be arrested," she said. "I'm happy because maybe that boy can get some rest."

Six weeks ago, Martin was returning to the home of his father's fiancee from a convenience store with Skittles candy and ice tea when Zimmerman, the neighborhood crime-watch captain in the gated townhouse community, started following him.

Zimmerman told police dispatchers: "This guy looks like he is up to no good — he is on drugs or something." The 911 dispatcher told him not to follow the young man.

At some point, the two got into a fight and Zimmerman used his gun.

Zimmerman told police Martin attacked him after he had given up chasing the teenager and was returning to his truck. He told detectives that Martin knocked him to the ground and began slamming his head on the sidewalk. Zimmerman's father said his son suffered a broken nose.

Amid the uproar of the failure to arrest Zimmerman, the local prosecutor disqualified himself from the case, and Gov. Rick Scott appointed Corey, the prosecutor for Jacksonville, to take it over.

Corey has tried hundreds of homicide cases and is known for hardball tactics and her passionate devotion to victims' rights. She said she met with Martin's "sweet parents" and prayed with them.

"We only know one category as prosecutors, and that's a 'V,'" she said at the news conference, referring to victims, and making a V with her fingers.

Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Fla.

The free event is sponsored by Mason Square Health Task Force, the American Heart Association, the YMCA of Greater Springfield and Baystate Health.

SPRINGFIELD - The Mason Square Health Task Force will hold The H.E.L.P. Expo on Saturday, April 14, from 10 am to 3 pm at the Dunbar Y Family and Community Center, 33 Oak St, with events that include free workshops, exercise sessions and dozens of health and wellness exhibitors on site. The theme for the expo is "health, education, lifestyle and prevention."

Sponsored by the Mason Square Health Task Force, the American Heart Association, the YMCA of Greater Springfield and Baystate Health, the expo is free and open to the public.

Visitors will have access to on-site health assessments, interactive activities for men, women and children, mini-workshops on topics that include prostate health, breast cancer and women's health, heart health and stroke prevention.

Participants can take part in free exercise sessions including Zumba, line dancing and jazzercise. Dozens of exhibitors from throughout Western Massachusetts will be on-hand for the day-long event. There will be giveaways and raffles.

For more information, contact Beatrice Dewberry, Mason Square Health Task Force communications and outreach coordinator, at 413-788-6143.

The business is listed for $195,000

File photo / The RepublicanThe co-owners of the Holy Smokes BBQ Delicatessen in Turners Falls seen in this 2008 photo are, from left, husband and wife Leslie J. and Lou "PapaLu" Ekus. They are shown with Leslie's son Seth N. Crawford in front of their mobile catering rig at their home in Montague.

MONTAGUE – The Holy Smokes BBQ Delicatessen, famous for dishing up slow-cooked beef short ribs so tender they fall apart at the mere touch of a fork, is for sale and will close June 16 if no buyer is found.

“We are selling the entire operation,” self-taught pit boss Lou “PapaLu” Ekus, who owns Holy Smokes with his wife Leslie J. Ekus, said. “That means all of the equipment which includes the large smoker separately mounted on a small trailer and the big trailer we built to do catering, all the deli equipment, the recipes we have developed, the rights to the Holy Smokes name, client list, Facebook fans, everything.”

That will include the recipe for those short ribs. Smoke it low and slow, Ekus said.

“It turns into a soft, sticky, moist pillow of beef candy,” he said.

Holy Smokes is currently listed for an asking price of $195,000 with Cohn & Co. Real Estate in Greenfield. That price doesn’t include its location, a former bank building at 52 Avenue A in the Turners Falls. But Ekus said the sales price does include the lease for the space.

Robert S. Cohn, owner of Cohn & Co., said the asking price was $250,000 when the business first went on the market in August. Cohn said he thought he had the place sold at one point, but the deal melted away.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” Cohn said Wednesday.

Ekus said even at $250,000, Holy Smokes was under priced in comparison to its earning potential.

Cohn said many chefs he talks to just aren’t interested in specializing in Southern-style barbecue the way Ekus has.

“The food business is tough,” he said. “Everybody thinks they can make a better sandwich. But when nine out of 10 of these places go out of business within two years, you need to realize that there is more to it.”

Ann L. Hamilton, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, said it can be tough to sell a restaurant where the owner’s personalities are so much a part of the eating experience.

“That’s the case with them, Both Lou and Leslie have worked so hard,” she said.

But Holy Smokes has a strong enough following that it will be successful, Hamilton said.

Lou and Leslie Ekus first opened Holy Smokes in 2003 as a restaurant in a former church in Hatfield. That church burned down in 2007. After settling with the insurance companies, they decided to have their large kitchen trailer built so they could bring catering to their customers. They opened the deli in 2010, but Ekus said the real money is found in the catering business and ideally the deli functions as much as a showroom and sales tool for catering jobs as anything else.

Ekus counts Holy Smokes as part of Turners Falls’ transformation into a funky downtown of unique restaurants, bars and shops.

“Its a different town than it was even two or three years ago,” he said. “It’s having its own little renaissance from being this tiny little depressed mill town.”

Some potential customers are having trouble detouring around a years-long bridge reconstruction project, though.

“We are seeing it affect the traffic in town, there is no doubt about it,” he said.

Lou Ekus, 56, said he and his wife are getting to ages where they don’t want to put the time into Holy Smokes. They have two other businesses: Airtime Corp., which does media training for chefs looking to go into television and online video, and Tropic Marin USA Inc., which imports saltwater aquarium equipment.

The utility is alerting residents of Western Massachusetts communities in advance in case they see a low-flying helicopter hovering overhead.

NORTHAMPTON - Western Massachusetts Electric Company will be using a helicopter on Thursday and Friday to conduct an aerial vegetation survey of various utility rights-of-way in parts of Western Massachusetts.

The company is advising area residents that a silver and blue helicopter with tail numbers N39MK will be flying slowly at an elevation of about 250 feet over areas around transmission lines.

The survey will be between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and helicopter will be flying out of Northampton Airport. All flights will be weather permitting. If the weather is bad, the survey will be rescheduled.

The survey will take place in Agawam, Amherst, Ashfield, Becket, Belchertown, Blandford, Cheshire, Chicopee, Conway, Dalton, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Erving, Granby, Granville, Greenfield, Hampden, Hancock, Hinsdale, Holyoke, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Leverett, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Montague, Northfield, Otis, Pelham, Peru, Pittsfield, Plainfield, Russell, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Southampton, Southwick, Springfield, Warwick, Wendell, West Springfield, Westfield, and Wilbraham.

Through April 17, a second helicopter will be used in trimming trees in the area of transmission line. That helicopter has black and maroon stripes and tail numbers of N765KV.

Final approval of the school budget will be at the May 14 annual Town Meeting.

LUDLOW - A public hearing on the proposed fiscal 2013 School Department budget will be help April 23 at 7 p.m. in the Baird Middle School auditorium.

Interim School Superintendent Donna Hogan said she will present a proposed fiscal 2013 school budget at the public hearing.

“We have been working hard to stay within the town’s parameters,” Hogan told School Committee members.

“We know this year will be a difficult year," School Committee member Michael Kelliher said.

He added that federal stimulus money is gone which leads to the need to make cuts.

“We’ll manage through as we always do,” Kelliher said. “We appreciate all the hard work by our administrative team.”

The school budget will be presented to the Finance Committee on April 25. Final approval of the fiscal 2013 school budget will be by the voters at the May 14 annual Town Meeting.

Hogan said she was instructed by town officials to try and “think outside the box” to live without increases to the school budget.

“What we are looking at is bringing out-of-district special education students back into the district,” Hogan said.

She said she has been “driving around town” looking at space which the school district leases out to see if it could be used for “top notch” special education programs which would be offered within the district.

“These are our children,” Hogan said, adding that they should be educated “at home in Ludlow.”

“We are talking about adding top notch programs,” she added.

Hogan said she hopes that some additional special education programs can be developed by next January, or at the latest, by June of 2013.

Hogan said the school district spends $9 million between transportation costs, utilities and out-of-district tuition placements.

She said those students who need to be placed out of district will continue to be placed out of district, but she added, “We are looking for savings.”

School Committee member Jacob Oliveira said he is sure the cost of out-of-district tuitions is “staggering.”

He thanked Hogan for looking for cost savings.

A car fire at about 5 p.m. Wednesday forced the closing of both lanes of Interstate 91 North near exit 19, police said.

Photo courtesy of Duane Meehan / FIREGROUND360n this photo from Fireground360, traffic on I-91 North is at a standstill as firefighters up ahead deal with a burning car.

NORTHAMPTON - A car fire at about 5 p.m. Wednesday forced the closing of both lanes of Interstate 91 North near exit 19, police said.

No one was injured in the fire. The car that caught fire was not involved in an accident but apparently developed mechanical problems, police said.

The driver told police the car burst into flames just after pulling into the breakdown lane, police said.

Both lanes of I-91 North were shut down to traffic for about 30 minutes, but returned to normal once the road was reopened.

The car caught fire near Exit 19, which is near the Coolidge Bridge.

There will be expanded services in Palmer District Court under the grants.

Mark G. Mastroianni

SPRINGFIELD – Two grants totalling $220,000 will improve the response of both prosecutors and service providers for victims of domestic violence, Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said Wednesday.

“I understand the widespread ramifications of domestic violence on families, children, and the community and in response I have dedicated attention and resources to this critical problem,” Mastroianni said at a press conference at his office.

He said his office’s newly created Domestic Violence Unit of specialized prosecutors and victim witness advocates will deal with the needs of victims of domestic violence.

The grants, from the state Executive Office of Public Safety, were won by Mastroianni’s office.

The District Attorney’s Office will share the funds with its partners in this initiative – the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, the YWCA of Western Massachusetts and Womanshelter/Companeras.

From July 2011 to now in Springfield alone there have been 1,855 restraining orders or harassment orders applied for, Mastroianni said.

There are also high numbers in other district courts, he said.

Mastroianni said the goals of the new partnership are:

To identify chronic and violent domestic offenders who will be aggressively prosecuted.

To provide enhanced services to victims, witnesses and families involved in domestic violence.

And to partner with the Sheriff’s Department to fund more counseling and programming for inmates with domestic violence incidents.

Mastroianni said the domestic violence task force will be expanded to include smaller urban and rural areas outside of Springfield and Holyoke.

The district attorney’s Stop Domestic Violence team will operate throughout the county, Mastroianni said.

Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe said there are 411 people at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow identified as requiring domestic violence counseling.

Now there are two eight-week programs with over 130 on the waiting list. The grant will fund a $45,000 counselor for domestic violence programming.

Mary Reardon Johnson, executive director of the YWCA of Western Massachusetts, said her agency logs over 8,000 hotline calls a year and shelters over 100 children and families a year.

They turn away six women for every one sheltered because of lack of space.

She said the YWCA’s portion of the grant will allow it to expand its work at the Palmer courts. Last year the YWCA was just there for three days a week and now will increase that resource which will affect all towns served by the Palmer courts.

Karen B. Cavanaugh, Womanshelter/Companeras executive director, said the grant will be used to hire an advocate to work specifically with the new partnership and effort.

Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet and Holyoke Police Chief James M. Neiswanger joined in the press conference, with Mastroianni saying they have been proactive in addressing domestic violence.

Twenty-six percent of registered voters participated in the annual town election.

The Republican file photo

HADLEY - Political newcomer Humera Fashiddin garnered the most votes in a three-way race for two seats on the School Committee in Tuesday’s town election.

Fashiddin received 725 votes, with incumbent Robie Grant finishing second with 700. Terri Earle finished third with 303 votes.

Voter turnout was 966, or 26 percent of those registered. This was the only race.

The event is designed to help celebrate Earth Month.

SPRINGFIELD - Viridian Energy, of Norwalk, Conn., is asking area residents to volunteer for a community service project on Saturday at the Zoo in Forest Park to assist with landscaping projects and help the zoo prepare for springtime visitors.

The event is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and helps celebrate Earth Month.

Mitchell Garabedian said he reached five- or six-figure settlements in all the cases over the past 15 months.

File photo | Associated PressMitchell Garabedian, an attorney for clergy sex abuse victims, released six new names of clerics accused of abuse, saying Wednesday that it shows that a crisis that began a decade ago is far from over.

By JAY LINDSAY

BOSTON — An attorney for clergy sex abuse victims released six new names of clerics accused of abuse, saying Wednesday that it shows that a crisis that began a decade ago is far from over.

Mitchell Garabedian said he reached five- or six-figure settlements in all the cases over the past 15 months.

One of the men served in New Jersey and is living. Five served in various Northeast states and are dead, including two who were priests in the Boston Archdiocese.

One of the Boston priests, the Rev. James Lane, reported the notorious abuser John Geoghan to church leaders during the 1980s.

At a news conference, Garabedian singled out the Boston Archdiocese for not disclosing its names first.

"We're doing their work for them by exposing these priests so children can be made safer and victims can heal," Garabedian said.

Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Lane and the Rev. Rickard O'Donovan will be added to its list of priests who've been accused of child sex abuse, which was posted online in August.

But Donilon said Wednesday that the archdiocese was unable to substantiate the accusations against Lane and O'Donovan because they died before the accusations surfaced.

"Every effort is made to fully investigate such claims, but without the ability to question the accused priest, the investigation is limited," he said.

He added the archdiocese will "continue to provide support to survivors and all people who have suffered as a result of clergy sexual abuse."

The clergy sex abuse crisis started in 2002 in Boston and eventually went global after The Boston Globe published stories showing church officials shifted pedophile priests between parishes while keeping quiet about their crimes. Garabedian said the cases keep coming.

"There's no end to this," he said. "It's reared its ugly head, and it's just beginning."

In Garabedian's updated list released Wednesday, the three other deceased clerics who worked in Massachusetts were:

• Brother Peter-Claver, of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart order, who worked at schools in Sharon and Andover, as well as schools in Rhode Island and New Hampshire;

• the Rev. James Nickell, a Sacred Heart priest who worked in Fairhaven and Cape Cod parishes in the Fall River diocese;

• the Rev. Leonard Walsh, a Franciscan who worked in Brookline after postings in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

The living cleric is the Rev. Augustus Scott. He was a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual working in the Camden, N.J., diocese during the time the abuse is alleged to have occurred between 1969 and 1970. Garabedian said Scott fondled his 16-year-old client several times in Scott's car. He said Scott now lives in North Carolina.

An attempt to reach Scott by searching phone listings was unsuccessful. A spokesman for the Camden diocese said Scott is not an active priest and he doesn't know where he is.

At a news conference Wednesday, Robert Perron said the Boston priest O'Donovan molested him more than 20 times starting at age 9 in the rectory of a church in Brockton. He said for years he battled unspecified "demons" related to the abuse before contacting Garabedian in 2010. He said he spoke out Wednesday to urge others who might have been abused by O'Donovan to disclose it, so they can get some peace.

"I was able to heal, after 48 years of torment," said Perron, 57.

Lane died in 2007. According to records and testimony, in 1984 he gave Boston church officials evidence Geoghan had abused children at the Boston parish where Lane was pastor.

Geoghan was immediately removed and later reassigned to another parish. He was convicted of sexual abuse in 2002 and was beaten and strangled in prison the next year.

Garabedian said the fact Lane was a whistleblower in Geoghan's case was irrelevant to what he said was the overwhelming proof Lane molested his client when he was 10 and again when he was 15.

Garabedian said his client told his brothers about the abuse but Lane remained in his client's life, even officiating at his wedding. Garabedian said his client, a 56-year-old from southern New Hampshire, decided to file suit after having heart bypass surgery.

"He came forward because he wanted to make peace with his Lord, as he stated," Garabedian said.

Associated Press writer Denise Lavoie contributed to this report.

Granby police on Wednesday arrested 25-year-old Christopher Berube of Westfield, charging him with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than age 14.

Republican file photo

GRANBY - Granby police on Wednesday arrested a 25-year-old Westfield man, charging him with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than age 14.

Christopher Berube of 267 Fallon Road, Westfield, was taken into custody just after 5 p.m. at the Granby police station where he had surrendered himself, police said.

Granby police had earlier obtained an arrest warrant for Berube in connection with an on-going investigation by Granby Detective Barbara Fenn, police said.

No information was made available about any alleged victims, or when or where the assault are said to have occurred.

Berube is being held overnight at the Granby police station and is due to be arraigned on the charges Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown.