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Gina Campanini of West Springfield sentenced for defrauding MassHealth of $140,000

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Campanini was given a 2-year suspended sentence, 12 years probation and ordered to repay the money.

SPRINGFIELD - A 52-year-old West Springfield woman was sentenced to two years at the Hampden County House of Correction after she pleaded guilty to defrauding MassHealth out of nearly $140,000, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

Gina Campanini admitted to billing the Massachusetts Medicaid Program for a personal care attendant services that she did not receive. Campanini was eligible to receive assistance under MassHealth as a result of a long-term disability, but an investigation showed that between 2006 and 2009 submitted time slips identifying her deceased mother as her personal care attendant. The payments to her mother were directly into Campanini’s personal bank account.

She pleaded guilty to eight counts each of Medicaid fraud and larceny of more than $250.

Judge Peter Velis suspended the jail sentence and instead placed her on probation for 12 years. She was also ordered to make full restitution.


Afghanistan Journal: Helping Afghans defeat their 'Grinch'

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For many Afghans, it is not always as simple as choosing one side over the other, choosing the "good guys" over the "bad guys."

050411_afghan_journal_shembowut_bazaar.JPGThe Shembowut Bazaar is the site of frequent gunbattles between U.S. soldiers and Afghan insurgents.

Editor's Note: This column is part of a series by Lt. Col. Mark E. Borowski, a native of South Hadley, called “Afghanistan Journal: A Soldier’s Stories.” See below for more about the series.

By Lt. Col. MARK E. BOROWSKI

I remember vividly the widespread frustration of our soldiers in Iraq in 2005. It was generally expressed along the lines of: “Why don’t these people stand up to the insurgents or tell us where they are?” “Why do they just let them plant (improvised explosive devices) near where their kids play?” “Why don’t they appreciate what we’re trying to do for them?”

Here in Afghanistan in 2011, I find that in many ways it is “déjà vu all over again.”

Soldiers patrol day after day in areas rife with observed or reported insurgent activity, and the people tell them “No bad guys around here,” or “All the bad guys are from Pakistan.”

IEDs go off in places where it is highly unlikely that someone did not see them being emplaced. A school gets built somewhere, and someone comes and blows it up, and no one sees anything or does anything.

I have walked through bazaars and shook hands and drunk tea with smiling, friendly shopkeepers, only to have my soldiers shot at in the same bazaar the next day.

Why does this happen? Why does it often appear we haven’t “won their hearts and minds” and turned them against the insurgents?

Afghanistan-journal-logo.jpg

It is understandable how frustrating the situation can be not only for our soldiers, but also for the American people, who have been footing the bill for our efforts here in blood and treasure for nearly 10 years. I can understand how some people might be quick to say that we will never be successful, and that we should just leave Afghanistan to the Afghans.

My aim here is not to address the many and varied reasons why we are still fighting in Afghanistan, or to explore all of the reasons why some Afghans might oppose us and our efforts. It is to try to help people understand the predicament of the Afghan people, many of whom do stand up to the insurgents and fight for what they hope will be a better future for their country. For many, however, it is not always as simple as choosing one side over the other, choosing the “good guys” over the “bad guys.”

Oftentimes, people associate counterinsurgency with the phrase I used earlier, “winning hearts and minds,” but that trite expression is a gross oversimplification of what must occur for a counterinsurgency to be successful.

According to counterinsurgency theorist David Kilcullen, “Counterinsurgency is a competition with the insurgent for the right to win the hearts, minds and acquiescence of the population. For your side to win, the people don’t have to like you but they must respect you, accept that your actions benefit them, and trust your integrity and ability to deliver on promises, particularly regarding their security.”

What I believe he means, and what my experience has taught me, is that it is not really about peoples’ hearts at all, but about their minds, and getting them to make a rational choice in your favor. If it were about their hearts, one could argue everyone ought to adore us by this point, after all of the money we’ve spent in this country.

The Afghan people are some of the friendliest, most generous, hospitable people I have ever met. It can be truly humbling to be around them, knowing what they have suffered, and I personally believe that the overwhelming majority of them do not want anything to do with the Taliban or what they have to offer.

The Afghan people are also incredibly hard, and they are survivors.

Much of the rural population lives in what we would consider indescribable poverty and austerity: illiterate, with no electricity, no running water, and little to no access to the most basic of services. They have survived 30 years of war and civil war, and they still do not know how this one is going to turn out.

Many of them are still hedging their bets. They know that someday we are leaving. The other guys are staying.

And those other guys are not always just the “bad guys” who come over from Pakistan. More often than not, those other guys can be neighbors or even family members.

The insurgency and the insurgents are usually not some foreign body that can be isolated and eliminated from an area. They are often a part of the fabric of society.

In our area of operations, the Haqqani militant network roots grow deep. Many elders fought the Soviets under Jalaluddin Haqqani, and they remain loyal to the family to this day. Many are just afraid. Think of it like a stereotypical mafia neighborhood in certain parts of the U.S.

My boss, Col. Chris Toner, a veteran of a previous Afghanistan tour in this very same area, likes to use the analogy of “The Grinch.” We all remember “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” eyeing the happy villagers through his telescope from up on the mountain.

When we are in a village talking with the people, the “Grinch” is watching. He is watching to see who talks with us; who might be telling us things or cooperating. When we leave, the “Grinch” comes down from the mountain. In this case, though, he doesn’t steal the tree or the presents, he kills you, or he kills your family.

Before we arrived here, people in one of our districts were starting to participate in the local government. There were signs of progress.

Then, men came to the village in the middle of the night and abducted several elders who had been attending “shuras,” or traditional Afghan council meetings, at the district center. Seven of them were beheaded, and the rest were released to warn the people not to support the government. That can be the cost of attending a town hall meeting in Afghanistan. The effects of those killings still loom large, and probably will for quite some time.

afghan journal mountain village.JPGA mountain village in the area of operations for Borowski's unit, Army 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

So how do we get them to make that rational choice in the favor of their government? How do we get them to do what, to us, seems so obviously to be the “right thing”?

I do not pretend to have the answer to that question, but I do know that our efforts here are all about working hard to help create the conditions to make that choice easier.

They won’t make it just because they like us. They won’t make it just because we tell them they have to because we’re leaving someday.

They must see that it’s worth the risk. They must be convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs.

They must be convinced that the threat will be defeated, and that a better alternative lies with their government and with their security forces than with the Taliban, or Haqqani, or the other insurgents.

Admittedly, we’ve been at this for a long time, and there is still a lot of convincing to do, and a lot of minds to win.

Holyoke Mayor Elaine Pluta pledges budget without job cuts and a focus on problems at Geriatric Authority

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The City Council has 45 days to discuss and cut, but not add to, the mayor's proposed $120 million budget.

This updates a story posted at 5:32 p.m.

holyoke city hall.jpgHolyoke City Hall.

HOLYOKE – Mayor Elaine A. Pluta delivered a state-of-the-city address to the City Council Tuesday that included presentation of a $120 million budget for the next fiscal year and a swipe at the Holyoke Geriatric Authority.

Pluta said the spending plan for the fiscal year begins July 1 avoids job cuts.

“For the second year in a row I am pleased to submit a budget that avoids layoffs or furloughs,” Pluta said.

The $120,278,417 budget is $3 million, or 2.5 percent, higher than the $117 million approved for the current fiscal year.

Presentation of the budget will open a 45-day window in which the City Council is authorized to hold hearings on accounts in the budget and can cut, but not add to, the budget.

More than half the budget consists of funding from the state with the rest covered mostly by revenue from property taxes, excise taxes and other fees.

State aid to Holyoke is projected to be $77.4 million in the next fiscal year compared to the current $76 milion, the Department of Revenue said.

A cost that Pluta said she will focus on is the unpaid bills to city agencies owed by the Holyoke Geriatric Authority, which Pluta said has “poor financial controls.”

The authority’s debt to the city is an ongoing dispute. Pluta, Treasurer Jon D. Lumbra and city councilors put the debt at $2.84 million while authority officials say the total is $877,000.

The authority owes money going back to 2008 for gas and electric, health insurance, retirement and other services, officials said.

Pluta said she will be meeting with the three mayoral appointees to the authority’s board of directors to discuss the financial problems and she urged the council to meet with its appointees, as well.

The authority is a quasi-official municipal agency. The council appoints three members of the board of directors, the mayor appoints three and those six then vote on a seventh member.

Executive Director Sheryl Y. Quinn said later the authority is handcuffed by the federal Medicaid reimbursement formula that nets the facility at 45 Lower Westfield Road only 75 cents on the dollar.

“We certainly are a lean and mean operation. There’s not much extra up there. In fact, there’s no extra. And, you know, we continue to provide high-quality care and will keep doing that,” Quinn said.

Quinn said she would like to know what financial controls Pluta thinks the authority should establish.

The authority is an 80-bed nursing home that also provides day-care services to another 80 senior citizens. It has 177 full- and part-time employees and a payroll of $4 million, officials said.

Pluta said that among the increases in her proposed budget is $500,000 in city contributions to employee pensions, a cost that will rise to $10 million from the current $9.5 million.

The largest share of the city budget, $62.9 million, goes toward the public schools. The total school budget for the next fiscal year hasn’t been determined, but the current one is $75.7 million, according to the School Department website.

Pluta’s Police Department budget is $11.3 million, down from the current year’s $11.5 million.

Her Fire Department budget is $8.69 million, down from the current $8.7 million.

Councilor Todd A. McGee, chairman of the Finance Committee, said that when he begins reviewing the budget one area he will study is Pluta’s plan for the tax collector’s office. In terms of staff, the office is down to only Tax Collector David Guzman and another employee. A third employee is out with an illness, he said.

New York City taxis to get suburban look, Japanese nameplate as Nissan NV200 wins competition

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The van, which beat out proposals from Ford Motor Co. and Turkey's Karsan, will be phased in beginning in 2013.

050311 new york city taxi nissan taxi.jpgThis photo provided by Nissan, Tuesday May 3, 2011, shows a Nissan NV200 that was selected by New York City to supply the taxi fleet for the next 10 years. The Japanese automaker beat out Ford Motor Co. and Karsan USA in a contest for the rights to anchor the fleet. The anchor of the city's current fleet of more than 13,200 taxis is Ford's Crown Victoria, which was recently discontinued. (AP Photo/Nissan)

By SAMANTHA GROSS

NEW YORK — It looks like something you'd see on a suburban cul-de-sac, not inching through Times Square.

A boxy minivan made by Nissan will be the next iconic yellow cab in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday.

The model, selected from among three finalists in a city competition, is designed so that it could eventually be updated with an electric engine. The city is exploring the possibility of ultimately replacing the city's entire fleet of more than 13,000 taxis with vehicles powered by electricity.

Bloomberg conceded at a City Hall news conference that the minivan — which offers extra passenger legroom and enough trunk space for the luggage of four people — might make some think of suburbia, but he said the distinctive yellow paint job will make them New York icons.

The minivan features a panoramic overhead window that will give tourists a view of the city's skyscrapers and onboard outlets and charging stations that will allow professionals to treat the cabs as mobile offices. With such amenities, city Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky said he believed the vehicles could become as beloved as the Checker cabs of yesteryear.

"Not a week goes by when somebody doesn't say to me, 'Why can't you bring back the Checker?'" he said. "The cars that are on the road today just have not generated the same type of affection and passenger loyalty."

The anchor of the city's current fleet of more than 13,200 taxis is Ford's Crown Victoria, which was recently discontinued.

The Nissan van, which beat out proposals from Ford Motor Co. and Turkey's Karsan, will be phased in beginning in 2013 as older taxis age out of service. All current taxis, including the city's hybrid cabs, will be off the streets by 2018.

Although the city was not legally allowed to make its decision based on fuel efficiency, Nissan's vehicles would double efficiency to 25 miles per gallon from the Crown Victoria's 12 to 13 miles per gallon, the mayor said. The Nissan was the most fuel efficient and the cheapest of the three finalists, and is expected to cost about $29,000 — with an anticipated $1 billion in total sales.

The new models will be the first city taxicabs to offer passenger airbags and to go through crash testing with equipment such as the driver's partition already installed. Doors will slide open sideways, eliminating the possibility of opening a door into an oncoming bicyclist or automobile.

And passengers will no longer have to cope with drivers who say they don't know how to get to out-of-the-way destinations, because every car will be equipped with a GPS system, the mayor said.

Some local officials said they were unhappy with the final selection and questioned why the Karsan model wasn't chosen after the automaker pledged to build the vehicles in Brooklyn. Bloomberg said that getting approval for an automotive plant in the city and building such a facility within the two-year limit wasn't feasible, and he said Karsan didn't have enough U.S. experience to satisfy the city that it could follow through on its plans.

Ford had planned to build its vehicles overseas, while Nissan plans to build them in Mexico then put final touches on them at a New York City-area facility. About 70 percent of Nissan vehicles sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S., according to the automaker.

Picking the Karsan model would have made all the city's taxis wheelchair accessible, and advocates for the disabled protested in front of City Hall on Tuesday. Bloomberg said that a new program would allow riders in wheelchairs to call for properly equipped taxicabs, and taxi owners could opt to pay extra to buy a wheelchair-accessible version of the Nissan vehicle.

City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called for an investigation into the selection process, saying that a consultant hired by the city to help evaluate automakers' proposals had previously worked for Nissan and for Ford. The mayor denied there was any conflict of interest.

A Ford spokesman said the company would continue to work with New York. Karsan said it would work to bring its proposal to other cities.

Massachusetts Department of Corrections did not learn Tamik Kirkland's mother had been shot until after Kirkland escaped from prison

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Kirkland escaped from MCI-Shirley roughly 30 hours after his mother was shot in Springfield's North End. Officials believe he escaped to seek revenge.

tamikkirkland24.jpgTamik Kirkland

SPRINGFIELD - Department of Corrections officials did not learn that Tamik Kirkland’s mother had been shot in Springfield until days after the 24-year old city resident had already escaped from the state minimum-security prison in Shirley, a DOC spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Diane Wiffin said if prison security had been told by either Springfield police or by Kirkland’s family that his mother had been shot April 23 on Ringgold Street, prison staff could have increased security and prevented his escape some 30 hours later.

Kirkland was discovered missing at about 7:30 a.m. April 25.

Six days later, he was accused of killing one man and critically injuring another at a State Street barbershop, and then getting in a shootout with police moments later at Cambridge and Burr Streets. Officials have said the indications are Kirkland, who has ties to the Maynard Street Posse street gang, escaped to seek revenge for the shooting of his mother.

Two officers were shot but escaped serious injury due to their protective vests. Kirkland was shot multiple times and seriously injured. He is in stable condition at Baystate Medical Center where he is under heavy guard, officials said.

Wiffin said she is not faulting Springfield police for not notifying them prior to the escape.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

Typically DOC staff will hear about family emergencies affecting an inmate from the inmate’s relatives, not from the police, she said.

In this case, none of Kirkland’s relatives alerted prison staff, she said. If they had been notified, the prison staff could have put Kirkland under a close watch.

Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said Springfield police did not contact DOC because they did not make an immediate connection that one of the women shot was related to Kirkland.

Police have not disclosed the woman’s identity, but Delaney said she had a different last name from Kirkland.

“She did not have a sign around her neck that said Tamik Kirkland is my son,” he said.

If police had made the connection, it is difficult to say if they would have contacted DOC, he said. Police encounter a lot of people each day who have incarcerated relatives, he said.

Detectives will alert the DOC if they feel the inmate could become suicidal or be at risk from the prison population, he said.

The responsibility for keeping inmates from escaping rests solely with the corrections staff, Delaney said.

Wiffin said DOC officials are reviewing security procedures following Kirkland’s escape. The preliminary investigation shows he made a dummy that he put in his bed to evade a head count, and then managed to walk out of the facility.

One staff member has been suspended with pay so far, she said.

Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said Kirkland’s medical condition is putting on hold his legal status.

He is due to be arraigned in district court on a murder charge, three counts of attempted murder, and a slew of other armed assault and weapons charges, but Mastroianni said the arraignment date is still “very much up in the air.”

He said Kirkland needs to recover his health to the degree it will satisfy legal standards for a defendant to be aware of court proceedings.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick proposes tough biomass plant rules

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A state-commissioned study indicated biomass produces more carbon emissions than other renewable sources.

2biomass1017.jpgThis conveyor belt, front right, conveys wood chips into the McNeil Generating Station biomass plant in Burlington, Vt.

BOSTON — The Patrick Administration has proposed tough new rules aimed at discouraging large-scale wood-burning power plants in Massachusetts.

Under the proposals announced Tuesday, plants must burn at 40 percent overall efficiency to earn half a renewable energy credit from the state and 60 percent efficiency for a full credit. The credits are vital to making the plants economically feasible.

Officials say none of several biomass plants proposed for Western Massachusetts would qualify for the credits.

Wood-burning plants have been proposed in Greenfield, Pittsfield, Russell and Springfield.

A state-commissioned study indicated biomass produces more carbon emissions than other renewable sources. The state said it's trying to direct the industry toward building combined heat and power units — unusually smaller facilities used at places such as industrial parks.

Wood power advocates said the efficiency standards were arbitrary and unscientific when they were released last year in draft regulations.

West Brookfield voters pass, Warren voters reject debt exclusions for Quaboag Regional School District

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The questions also will appear on the warrants at the towns' annual Town Meetings, but what happens next is unclear

Voters in West Brookfield passed the two debt exclusion questions for the schools in the Quaboag Regional School District, but voters in Warren shot them down.

Because the towns are part of the Quaboag Regional School District, voters in each community weighed in on the debt exclusion questions to fund technology and infrastructure improvements at the schools.

“The no vote in Warren does create a conundrum if you will,” Warren Selectman Robert Souza said after the results came in Tuesday night.

The questions also will appear on the warrants at the annual Town Meetings in Warren and West Brookfield on May 10. But what happens next is unclear, and Souza said selectmen will consult with the town’s attorney.

“If the town meetings go the same way, I think the decision becomes the School Committee’s,” said Souza, who blamed the failure of the questions on “voter confusion.”

The attorney also will attend the annual Town Meeting next week in Warren, he said.

Voters in West Brookfield were asked to approve debt exclusions to fund technology and infrastructure improvements at its elementary school, along with the Quaboag Regional Middle-High School, while Warren voters weighed in on the same improvements at its elementary school, as well as the middle-high school.

In West Brookfield, Town Clerk Sarah J. Allen said 160 voters supported the question for the elementary school, while 127 voted against it.

On the middle-high school question, Allen said the vote was 152 to 132. She said only 300 residents, or 13 percent, cast ballots, out of 2,284 registered voters.

In Warren, Town Clerk Nancy J. Lowell said 287 voted no on the elementary school question, while 184 voted yes. On the middle-high school question, the vote was 292 against it, with 179 in support. Of the 3,053 registered voters in Warren, 550, or 18 percent, cast ballots, Lowell said.

School Superintendent Brett M. Kustigian had said that after the Massachusetts School Building Authority gave the district an unexpected payout of $15 million last year, eliminating the final 10 years of payments on the middle-high school project, officials began looking into other potential projects to improve the schools. The school district has 1,500 students.

The debt exclusions totaled $2 million, or $1 million for each town. In a debt exclusion, taxes are raised beyond the limitations of Proposition 2 ½ only for the life of the project. Officials had said that if the questions pass at Town Meeting, they would be funded from the operating budget, and could affect services.

In Warren, the only race on the ballot was a five-year position for Planning Board; Melissa L. Sepanek of 542 Reed St. ousted Marc W. Richard of 88 Reynolds Road, 371 to 157.

Latest fiscal 2012 budget changes outlined in Monson

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The budget will come before voters at the annual Town Meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. at Granite Valley Middle School.

monson town building.JPGMonson Town Office building

MONSON – Three hours a week have been restored for the assistant town clerk and Board of Health clerk, Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday.

As a result, the assistant town clerk will continue to work 33 hours a week, and the Board of Health clerk 34 hours, Neggers said.

Neggers briefed selectmen on the latest changes to the fiscal 2012 budget of $22 million, as well as the Finance Committee’s recommendations. A total of $124,000 in cuts had to be made to balance the level-funded budget.

The budget will come before voters at the annual Town Meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. at Granite Valley Middle School.

A change regarding the number of new school buses to be purchased next year freed up some money in the budget. The selectmen wanted to purchase three; the Finance Committee changed the number to two, saving about $25,000.

Another boost is coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as Hampden County has been included for federal disaster relief funds in connection with the Jan. 11 and 12 snowstorm.

The development was announced on Tuesday by state Sen. Stephen M. Brewer. That means that all cities, towns and state agencies that spent money on snow removal are eligible for 75 percent reimbursement. Hampden County originally was excluded from the disaster declaration.

Neggers said the Parks and Recreation Commission has the final say on where a $10,000 cut in salaries will be made.

The budget proposal outlined by Neggers and Finance Director Deborah A. Mahar proposed cutting the parks and recreation director’s hours to 35 a week from 40. The department does have $20,000 budgeted for seasonal employees, she said.

The reduction to the library went from $7,000 to $4,000, and the director will determine where that cut will take place.

Neggers said the budget is balanced, but there are still concerns over the price of petroleum products.

“These are very dire times,” Neggers said, adding that the budget is “fair and reasonable” given the circumstances.

She said the passage of the Fire Department override to fund additional emergency medical technician hours also “made a real difference in putting this together.”


Public invited to meeting on Springfield trash fee extension

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Two Springfield City Council committees will discuss a proposed extension of the $75 trash fee.

SPRINGFIELD – Two City Council committees are inviting the public to attend a meeting on Thursday to discuss a proposed extension of the $75 city trash fee beyond June 30.

The meeting is at 7 p.m., at Central High School in the choral room at 1840 Roosevelt Ave., conducted by the Council General Government and Finance committees.

Car crash on Route 5 sends Springfield man to hospital, closes road for more than an hour Tuesday night

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A Springfield man was seriously injured when he was ejected from his car in a single-vehicle accident on Route 5 Tuesday evening.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - A Springfield man was seriously injured when he was ejected from his car in a single-vehicle accident on Route 5 Tuesday evening.

Although no names have been released, police did say that just before 9:30 p.m., the vehicle, driven by a Springfield man with a male passenger, was traveling south on Route 5. The driver apparently lost control of the car, struck a guardrail, and was ejected from the car.

He was taken to the Baystate Medical Center with serious injuries and his passenger was treated for less serious injuries, according to police.

The southbound lanes of Route 5 were closed for more than an hour as officers investigated the crash that damaged almost 40 feet of guardrail on the shoulder of the road.

No further information was available and as of early Wednesday morning, the crash was still under investigation.

Caroline Kennedy to open new JFK library wing

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A Boston library and museum dedicated to the memory of President John F. Kennedy is expanding with the opening of a new wing.

Jean Kennedy Smith, Caroline KennedyJean Kennedy Smith, left, former Ambassador to Ireland and sister of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, shares a light moment with Caroline Kennedy, right, daughter of late President John F. Kennedy, before groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Friday, April 8, 2010 in Boston. Friday's ceremony was held on a site next to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston library and museum dedicated to the memory of President John F. Kennedy is expanding with the opening of a new wing.

Caroline Kennedy, the president's only surviving child, is scheduled to inaugurate a new wing of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday.

The wing includes 15,000 square feet of archival storage, a staging area for exhibits and curatorial work, and a new temporary exhibit gallery.

It comes after the National Archives in 2001 conducted a program review of the Kennedy Presidential Library and concluded that it had storage problems.

Due to the need to update its archival storage areas, the library will restrict access to its textual archival collections from Aug. 12 through Nov. 15. During this time, only a select number of collections will be physically available to researchers as well as staff members.

The ceremony will also be witnessed by fourth and fifth grade students from the Winship School, a Boston Public School in Brighton.

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The Kennedy Library Foundation is not a grant-making foundation.

For more information, click here.

Elderly California women charged with illegally growing marijuana

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Two women described by a prosecutor as "marijuana grannies" were jailed on allegations that they were growing hundreds of pot plants in their San Bruno home, authorities said Tuesday.

Lam__Aleen250x312.JPGAleen Lam, 72, charged with growing hundreds of marijuana plants in her San Bruno home.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — Two women described by a prosecutor as "marijuana grannies" were jailed on allegations that they were growing hundreds of pot plants in their San Bruno home, authorities said Tuesday.

Aleen Lam, 72, and Virginia Chan Pon, 65, were arrested Friday after neighbors called police to report a burglary, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

When officers arrived, they found the door had been kicked in and nobody was home.

Through the broken door, police could see marijuana growing inside the house, Wagstaffe said.

Police obtained a search warrant and found 800 marijuana plants, $3,000 in cash and an electrical bypass that allowed the women to tap into a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power line to steal electricity, Wagstaffe said.

"This has not happened in the 34 years that I've been here," he said in describing the operation and the suspects' ages.

Pon__Virginia250x312.JPGVirginia Pon, 65, charged with growing hundreds of marijuana plants in her San Bruno home.

During an arraignment Monday, Lam and Pon pleaded not guilty to cultivation of marijuana, maintaining a house for the sale of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful theft of electricity from a utility, Wagstaffe said.

Both were ordered to return to court May 13 for a preliminary hearing. Neither woman had retained a lawyer, but they would be provided with court-appointed attorneys, Wagstaffe said.

With bail set at $100,000 each, Lam and Pon were still in custody late Tuesday, Wagstaffe said.

As for the two men accused of breaking into the home, they were arrested nearby. When officers pulled over a car that fit a description neighbors provided, they found Kitae Chae, 38, and Kenny Kong, 34, with thousands of dollars in cash and marijuana growing equipment, Wagstaffe said.

Both men pleaded not guilty to burglary and drug charges Monday. They remained jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail, Wagstaffe said.

Chae and Kong were also expected to be provided with court-appointed attorneys.

South Korean man found crucified, wearing crown of thorns

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The body of a man with his hands and feet nailed to a wooden cross and a crown of thorns on his head has been found in an abandoned stone quarry, South Korean police said Wednesday.

Warning: Image contains graphic content. Click to viewIn this Monday, May 2, 2011 photo released by Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency Wednesday, May 4, 2011, police officers stand near the body of a man found crucified in Mungyong, south of Seoul, South Korea. The body of a South Korean man with his hands and feet nailed to a wooden cross and a crown of thorns on his head has been found in an abandoned stone quarry, South Korean police said Wednesday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The body of a man with his hands and feet nailed to a wooden cross and a crown of thorns on his head has been found in an abandoned stone quarry, South Korean police said Wednesday.

A man wearing only underwear, with a wound on the side of his torso and nylon strings tied around his neck, arms and stomach, was found crucified Sunday in Mungyong, about 115 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Seoul, said Chung Ji-chun, chief of the violent crime section at Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.

Two smaller crosses were erected on each side of the cross he was nailed to, Chung said.

Police also found nails, a hammer, an electric drill, pieces of wood and instructions on how to build crosses inside a tent near the scene, Chung said. An SUV belonging to the dead man was found nearby.

Police are waiting for a forensic report to determine the exact time and cause of the man's death and whether it was a homicide or suicide.

Chung identified the man as a 58-year old surnamed Kim.

Popular representations of the death of Jesus Christ depict him crucified between the crosses of two thieves, wearing a crown of thorns, a white cloth over his loins, with a wound on his side from a Roman soldier's spear

PC rental company accused of spying on users via spyware and webcam

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You didn't pay your bill. We need our computer back. And here's a picture of you typing away on it, the computer rental company told a client as it tried to repossess the machine.

Rental Computer-SpywareBrian and Crystal Byrd pose in front of their lawyers office on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 in Casper, Wyo. The Byrds are suing Aaron's Inc. for allegedly installing software that allowed the company to monitor all activity on a computer they rented, including taking photographs. (AP Photo/The Casper Star-Tribune, Dan Cepeda)

By JOE MANDAK, Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — You didn't pay your bill. We need our computer back. And here's a picture of you typing away on it, the computer rental company told a client as it tried to repossess the machine.

Those allegations appear in a federal lawsuit alleging that the firm, Atlanta-based Aaron's Inc., loaded computers with spyware to track renters' keystrokes, make screenshots and even take webcam images of them using the devices at home. The suit filed by a Wyoming couple Tuesday raises anew questions of how invasive custodians of technology should be in protecting their equipment.

Computer privacy experts said Aaron's, a major furniture rental chain, has the right to equip its computers with software it can use to shut off the devices remotely if customers stop paying their bills, but they must be told if they're being monitored.

"If I'm renting a computer ... then I have a right to know what the limitations are and I have a right to know if they're going to be collecting data from my computer," said Annie Anton, a professor and computer privacy expert with North Carolina State University.

But the couple who sued Aaron's said they had no clue the computer they rented last year was equipped with a device that could spy on them. Brian Byrd, 26, and his wife, Crystal, 24, said they didn't even realize that was possible until a store manager in Casper came to their home Dec. 22.

The manager tried to repossess the computer because he mistakenly believed the Byrds hadn't paid off their rent-to-own agreement. When Brian Byrd showed the manager a signed receipt, the manager showed Byrd a picture of Byrd using the computer — taken by the computer's webcam.

Byrd demanded to know where the picture came from, and the manager "responded that he was not supposed to disclose that Aaron's had the photograph," the lawsuit said.

Aaron's, which bills itself as the nation's leader in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances, said the lawsuit was meritless. It said it respects its customers' privacy and hasn't authorized any of its corporate stores to install the software described in the lawsuit.

The Byrds contacted police, who, their attorney said, have determined the image was shot with the help of spying software, which the lawsuit contends is made by North East, Pa.-based Designerware LLC and is installed on all Aaron's rental computers. Designerware is also being sued in U.S. District Court in Erie.

Aaron's, with more than 1,800 company-operated and franchised stores in the United States and Canada, said the Byrds leased their computer from an independently owned and operated franchisee. Aaron's, which also manufactures furniture and bedding, said it believes that none of its more than 1,140 company-operated stores had used Designerware's product or had done any business with it.

Tim Kelly, who said he's one of the owners of Designerware, said he wasn't aware of the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Two attorneys who are experts on the relevant computer privacy laws, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, said it's difficult to tell if either was broken, though both said the company went too far.

Peter Swire, an Ohio State professor, said using a software "kill switch" is legal because companies can protect themselves from fraud and other crimes.

"But this action sounds like it's stretching the self-defense exception pretty far," Swire said, because the software "was gathering lots of data that isn't needed for self-protection."

Further, Swire said the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act "prohibits unauthorized access to my computer over the Internet. The renter here didn't authorize this kind of access."

Fred Cate, an information law professor at Indiana University agrees that consent is required but said the real question might be: "Whose consent?"

Courts have allowed employers to record employee phone calls because the employers own the phones. Similar questions arise as digital technology becomes more omnipresent, Cate said.

"Should Google let you know they store your search terms? Should Apple let you know they store your location? Should your employer let you know 'We store your e-mail'?" Cate said.

Last year, a Philadelphia-area school district agreed to pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops, admitting it captured thousands of webcam photographs and screen shots from student laptops in a misguided effort to locate missing computers.

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins, then 15, charged in an explosive civil-rights lawsuit that the Lower Merion School District used its remote tracking technology to spy on him inside his home. Evidence unearthed in the case showed that he was photographed 400 times in a two-week period, sometimes as he slept, according to his lawyer, Mark Haltzman.

The FBI investigated whether the district broke any criminal wiretap laws, but prosecutors declined to bring any charges. The district no longer uses the tracking program.

The Byrds want the court to declare their case a class action and are seeking unspecified damages and attorneys' fees. The privacy act allows for a penalty of $10,000 or $100 per day per violation, plus punitive damages and other costs, the lawsuit said.

"It feels like we were pretty much invaded, like somebody else was in our house," Byrd said. "It's a weird feeling, I can't really describe it. I had to sit down for a minute after he showed me that picture."

Suspicious packages reported across U.S. in wake of Osama bin Laden's death

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The threat of terrorism in the U.S. lives beyond Osama bin Laden as almost a dozen suspicious packages were reported across the nation since Sunday.

Bin Laden-Skittish NYCIn this May 2, 2011, file photo, New York City police officers with Operation Hercules arrive at the Armed Forces recruitment center in New York's Times Square. The NYPD has seen a jump in reports of suspicious packages since the president announced the killing of Osama bin Laden, including 62 on Monday, up from 18 a week earlier. All were false alarms, which police officials say have become a frequent but necessary annoyance for authorities laboring to protect a nervous city in the post-9/11 world. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. - Following the death of Osama bin Laden in a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan, President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials warned that even if al Qaeda was not poised to launch a major retaliatory attack, an increased threat from "homegrown extremists" exists.

That threat seems to have caught the public's attention with almost a dozen suspicious packages reported across the nation since the news of bin Laden's death was announced late Sunday.

In Massachusetts on Tuesday, there were at least four incidents involving suspicious packages.

An unknown white powder was found in envelopes addressed to Attorney General Martha Coakley and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown in downtown Boston, as well as in an envelope addressed to the court clerk at Greenfield District Court. A similar substance was reportedly found in the John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building in Boston.

Preliminary reports all indicated the substances weren't dangerous, but further tests are being conducted at state labs.

The Greenfield incident prompted officials to evacuate and close the Franklin County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon. The courthouse later reopened and it was business as usual on Wednesday, according to court personnel.

In New York City, perhaps the most vigilant municipality in the country, a suspicious package report from Times Square came in just as officials at a news conference held at Ground Zero urged the public to remain calm and vigilant in the face of new threats from terrorist groups across the globe.

911 ap.jpgWith the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 still fresh in the minds of many, Americans are increasingly vigilant about reporting suspicious activity to authorities.

The New York Police Department moved in quickly and determined the package was only a bag of garbage. But despite the high volume of such reports since Sunday, officials are playing it safe, carefully investigating each incident and hoping for the best.

According to the Associated Press, there were 62 suspicious package reports in the city on Monday, compared to just 18 a week prior when bin Laden was unknowingly living out his last days in a suburb of Parkistan's capitol city.

More reports mean more running for the police, but NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly urged the public to report anything and everything that looks out of the norm.

"We anticipate that with increased public vigilance comes an increase in false alarms for suspicious packages," Kelly said at the Monday news conference. "This typically happens at times of heightened awareness. But we don't want to discourage the public. If you see something, say something."

Faisal Shahzad.jpgA bomb squad officer works on an SUV in New York's Times Square early Sunday morning, May, 2, 2010, after an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb was found inside it. The bomb plotter, Faisal Shahzad, is currently serving a life sentence for the incident.

Almost a year ago, on May 1, 2010, a street vendor in Times Square notified police when he saw an SUV parked and suspiciously smoking. The SUV turned out to be a failed car bomb made by Pakistani-born Faisal Shahzad, who later was identified and captured and now is serving a life sentence.

In downtown Augusta, Georgia, on Tuesday, a United Parcel Service driver alerted authorities after discovering a suspicious package addressed to the president in a mailing drop box. Augusta police secured the scene and the package and turned over the investigation and all evidence to the Secret Service a short time later.

There has been no word as of this report about what was inside that package or what was "suspiciously" written on the return address label.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to at least two suspicious package reports on Tuesday, including one that shut down a major train line for three hours. Both incidents turned out to be harmless, but served as a reminder that just because bin Laden is dead, the movement he fathered lives on.

ap_osama_bin_laden_dm_compound_3_110502_ssh.jpgPakistani officials have reportedly arrested the builder of the compound that Osama bin Laden was living in, presumably the first of many arrests to be associated with the past decade of the deceased al Qaeda leader's life.

In other parts of the country, suspicious package reports closed a road in Nashville, created panic in the heart of Philadelphia and caused the evacuation of a busy neighborhood in San Francisco.

A suspicious package report that cleared out an Orlando hotel on Tuesday turned out to be a box of promotional basketballs.

President Obama preached that message in his speech Monday morning, hours after the covert operation left bin Laden's Abbottabad compound in smoldering ruins.

"The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's efforts to defeat al Qaeda," Obama said. "We must and will remain vigilant at home and abroad."

The head of the CIA echoed Obama's sentiments, reminding Americans that the threat is far from over.

"Though bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda is not," said CIA Director Leon Panetta on Monday. "The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must -- and will -- remain vigilant and resolute."


West Springfield Town Council approves $3.8 million bond for energy improvements guaranteed to save money

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Trane Inc. has guaranteed the city will save money with the improvements or it will pay the city the difference.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Now that the Town Council has unanimously approved bonding $3.8 million to fund energy-saving projects for various municipal buildings, work could begin as early as June, according to Mayor Edward J. Gibson.

That is because most of the work will be done in the city’s schools, and contractors need to wait until classes have ended for the summer, he said Tuesday.

Gibson said he is “thrilled” that the project will move forward. Trane Inc., an energy service company in Woburn, has guaranteed the improvements it has recommended will generate savings or it will pay the city the difference.

The mayor said this type of performance contract allows the city to make infrastructure improvements to its heating, ventilation and energy systems it might not ordinarily be able to afford.

“I’m thrilled we are able to do this type of thing and become more energy efficient,” Gibson said.

Work in such areas as boiler replacement is planned for Coburn Elementary School, John Ashley Elementary School, Fausey Elementary School, the middle school and the Senior Center.

The Town Council voted 9-0 Monday to approve the mayor’s bonding for money to do the work.

Early morning blaze in West Springfield under investigation

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Investigators are working to determine what sparked a blaze at a two-family home in West Springfield Wednesday morning that displaced several people.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Investigators are working to determine what sparked a blaze at a two-family home in West Springfield Wednesday morning that displaced several people.

At 3:24 a.m., a 911 call brought fire crews to 491/493 Kings Highway, which sits on the corner of Cass Avenue.

Everyone was out of the house before firefighters arrived, according to a report by ABC40, and firefighters knocked down the fire relatively quickly.

A dispatcher with the West Springfield Fire Department said that no mutual aid was requested and local crews remained on the scene as of daybreak Wednesday.

According to the West Springfield assessor's database, the home was built in 1920 and valued at $185,700 with a replacement cost of $161,599. The damage done to the house was extensive, but fire officials said the building likely wasn't a total loss.

No injuries were reported and further details will be published as they become available.

The map below shows the location of 491/493 Kings Highway in West Springfield which was damaged in a fire Wednesday morning.


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Sunrise report: Forecast, poll and more for Wednesday May 4

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Today's poll: Is Scott Brown planning to run for a higher office?

hawk-city-hall_5114.jpg05.03.2011 | HOLYOKE - A hawk circles the tower of Holyoke's city hall Tuesday evening.

The Forecast

It's still hawk migration time.

Even in downtown Holyoke, the birds are a common site. Tuesday evening a pair soared over Heritage State Park and circled the tower at city hall. Two more hung out over the canal behind Front Street, worrying the pigeons roosting in the eves and other nooks at Open Square.

Keep an eye out for them as the spring migration winds down in the coming days.

Wednesday is looking much cooler than yesterday, with a high near 55. Showers are likely and a thunderstorm is possible.

From my own roost in the Paper City both Mt. Tom and Mt. Holyoke are hidden by fog and clouds this morning.

Find the full forecast here.




Today's Poll

On Monday, Sen. Scott Brown announced he will meet his National Guard service requirement this year by serving for two weeks in Afghanistan.

Brown is a lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. This will mark the first time he has served in a combat zone.

MassLive.com reader Dexter77 responded: "It's a political stunt, but I respect it. Better than not going like so many others do. I think he's gearing up for a bigger office someday."

What do you think -- does this move set the stage for a run for higher office? Vote in our poll, and check back tomorrow for the results.

Tuesday's results: Yesterday, we asked, "Should the photos of Osama bin Laden's body be released?" 19 people voted. 73.68% said, "yes," and 26.32% said, "no."




Tuesday's Top 5

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on May 2 were:
  1. 2011 Agawam High School Prom [photo gallery]
  2. Cathedral High Jr. Prom [photo gallery]
  3. Hopkins Academy Prom [photo gallery]
  4. Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan [photo gallery]
  5. Woman stabbed in Springfield after refusing to give up her pocketbook



Quote of the Day

“She did not have a sign around her neck that said 'Tamik Kirkland is my son'.”

— Sgt. John M. Delaney, explaining why the Springfield Police did not notify the Massachusetts Department of Corrections that inmate Tamik Kirkland's mother had been shot. Upon hearing of the shooting, Kirkland escaped from prison and went on a shooting spree in Springfield that killed one and injured several, including a city police officer and a state trooper. Read Patrick Johnson's story here.

Climate activists use children to target states with lawsuits

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A group of attorneys using children and young adults as plaintiffs plans to file legal actions in every state and the District of Columbia on Wednesday in an effort to force government intervention on climate change.

195724_186475038061809_3932545_n.jpg

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A group of attorneys using children and young adults as plaintiffs plans to file legal actions in every state and the District of Columbia on Wednesday in an effort to force government intervention on climate change.

The courtroom ploy is backed by high-profile activists looking for a legal soft spot to advance a cause that has stumbled in the face of stiff congressional opposition and a skeptical U.S. Supreme Court.

The goal is to have the atmosphere declared for the first time as a "public trust" deserving special protection. That's a concept previously used to clean up polluted rivers and coastlines, although legal experts said they were uncertain it could be applied successfully to climate change.

Wednesday's spate of lawsuits, led by an Oregon-based nonprofit called Our Children's Trust, are based on "common law" theories, not statutes adopted by state or federal lawmakers. Documents in the cases were provided in advance to The Associated Press.

Conservative opponents warned the effort could overload the judicial system and paralyze the economy with over-regulation.

Attorneys involved in the lawsuits said a victory in even one or two cases would give environmentalists new leverage, leading to new regulations to rein in greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are driving global temperatures higher.

State-level lawsuits were planned in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, organizers said. A federal lawsuit was to be filed in California, while regulatory petitions filed elsewhere would ask state environmental agencies to tighten restrictions on vehicle and industrial plant emissions.

"It's not just a political issue; it's a legal issue. All three branches of government have an obligation to protect that public trust," said Amy Eddy, a trial attorney from Kalispell, Mont., who helped draft litigation to be filed with the Montana Supreme Court. "You have just as much control over emissions into the atmosphere as you do pollution into water."

Getting the courts to agree could be an uphill battle, legal experts said.

Another case that relied on unconventional legal tactics to address climate change got a tepid reception during arguments last month before the U.S. Supreme Court. That matter involved several states that sought to rein in power plant emissions by declaring them a public nuisance.

A ruling is pending, but Harvard Law School professor Jody Freeman said justices had questioned whether courts were the appropriate forum for the issue.

"I am generally skeptical the plaintiffs will succeed in the courts pressing for common law remedies from judges," Freeman said.

Columbia University law professor Michael Gerrard described the public trust suits as a "bold move" by activists looking to use all available options to impose greenhouse gas restrictions. Still, he joined Freeman in saying the pending decision in the public nuisance case would heavily influence the outcome of the state-level lawsuits.

A more optimistic view came from Gus Speth, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President Jimmy Carter.

Speth, now at the Vermont Law School, said public trust litigation over climate change could work if its backers can find a judge willing to innovate a new area of law.

Yet that outcome could only result if a judge is willing to buy into what conservative analyst Hans von Spakovsky called "a creative, made-up legal theory."

"This is a complete violation of our whole constitutional system. These kinds of public policy issues are up to either the state legislatures or Congress to determine, not judges," said von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Eddy and others involved in Wednesday's lawsuits credited University of Oregon law professor Mary Christina Wood as laying the legal groundwork for their litigation.

Wood said in an interview with The Associated Press that mainstream environmental groups had approached climate change with the same tactics used to combat industrial developments or protect endangered species. But she said lawsuits based on existing environmental laws had come up short.

What is needed, Wood said, is a sweeping challenge to the government's failure to address climate change. And having young people as plaintiffs in the cases gives added moral authority, she added. The plaintiffs include college students, high school activists, and children of conservationists and attorneys, along with environmental groups.

"We should be getting youths in front of the courts, not polar bears," Wood said, referring to widely publicized attempt to have courts declare polar bears endangered as rising temperatures melt Arctic ice.

Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik unveils $33.9 million FY12 budget

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The proposed budget does not call for layoffs of municipal employees, but the school department could be facing cuts.

michael tautznik easthampton mayor.JPGView full sizeEasthampton Mayor Michael A. Tautznik in a file photo.

EASTHAMPTON – Mayor Michael A. Tautznik’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget is 2.1 percent higher than this year’s and does not call for layoffs of municipal employees, but the school department could be facing cuts.

The $33.9 million proposal is $684,000 more than fiscal 2011’s budget. The additional funds would come from non-recurring sources like the stabilization fund and the debt exclusion override approved for the new high school.

Property taxes would rise by 2.5 percent, the highest rate allowed by state law.

General government appropriations would rise by $77,844, allowing for step increases in the pay of employees, funding for the city’s elections and a 2012 Bear Fest, the annual city-wide display of painted statues of bears. It would also fund new equipment and upgrades to the Municipal Building and the Public Safety Complex, among other projects.

The public safety budget would rise by $109,817. A new police cruiser and an upgrade to the fire department’s radio equipment are planned, but two vacant positions, a police captain and a fire department deputy, would remain unfilled.

Other areas set for appropriation increases are public works, culture and recreation and employee benefits.

Public schools, however, will take a cut.

Fiscal 2011’s direct appropriation was about $14.8 million and the proposed 2012 figure is about $14.7 million. The School Committee had sought an increase of just under $1.2 million.

“We’ve made a list of potential cuts and we’re in the process now of rectifying the budget we received from the mayor with the expense side of our budget,” said superintendent of schools Nancy Follansbee. She said that staff cuts are unlikely, but positions vacated by retirements would not be filled.

The quality of education in the city, she said, would not suffer.

“We’re doing everything possible to keep the cuts as far away from the instructional core as possible,” she said.

Tautznik said the $14.7 million figure does not include more than $2.75 million in school employee benefits, about $1.7 million in school choice spending or a wide range of other expenses that the school department does not cover itself.

“School choice is a problem we have to absorb,” he said. “The money going in goes directly to the schools, the money going out comes from the general fund.”

School choice brings in only $339,000. The city receives another $151,502 in charter school reimbursements from the state, he said.

“Even though the direct appropriation (to the school department) is down, the total spending is up a little,” he said.

The final education-related expense figure is about $19.79 million, up from fiscal 2011’s $19.77 million.

The proposed budget maintains the four-day work week for most of the city’s administrative personnel and does not provide a cost-of-living wage increase.

There is $310,000 in the stabilization fund, which Tautznik said the city will have to use.

“That’s the rainy day fund. And it’s raining,” he said.

The City Council finance subcommittee will hold hearings about the proposed budget on May 11, 12 and 16, all at 6 p.m. in Conference Room 1 at the Municipal Building. If need be, another hearing will be held May 17 at the same time and place, said city council member-at-large Ronald D. Chateauneuf.

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