Construction of the plant is now planned for next spring.

WESTFIELD – Pioneer Valley Energy Center has completed its federal and state environmental permitting and will now focus on finance construction of its a proposed $400 million gas-fired electric generating plant.

The final air quality permit needed for the project, originally proposed in late 2007, was received Thursday from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, project manager Matthew A. Palmer said.

“With all permits in hand, the way is not clear to financing and contracting the project. We hope to begin construction in the spring of 2013,” Palmer said.

The state’s Department of Environmental Protection issued a similar permit last year and PVEC received a Natural Heritage permit, because of turtle habitat at the Servistar Industrial Way site, on March 9.

PVEC had hoped to have the plant operational by now but delays in the permitting process, appeals by Westfield Concerned Citizens to earlier permits and a national economic downtown has impacted construction plans.

“Much of the delay has been due to the permitting process,” said Palmer, noting the latest permit was applied for more than three years ago.

The project has already secured local government support including Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, former Mayor Michael R. Boulanger, the City Council and Municipal Light Board.

Palmer has secured agreements with Holyoke’s Water Department for the purchase of an estimated two million gallons of water a day from that city’s Tighe-Carmody Reservoir located in Southampton.

Palmer also has a property tax agreement with Westfield that will pay the city more than $40 million over the first 20 years of operation.

Electricity generated by the 400 megawatt plant will be sold to local communities, and PVEC will purchase natural gas needed to power the plant from Westfield’s Gas and Electric Department.

Columbia Gas said it wants to increase the base rate to increase its total annual revenues by $29.2 million, or 6.4 percent.

SPRINGFIELD – The gas bill for a typical residential heating customer of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts could go up $6.10 per month, or 5.8 percent in November if the state Department of Public Utilities approves a rate increase request the gas utility filed Friday.

A news release from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts didn’t include the total amount of an average gas bill and the company’s offices were closed by the time the release went out. The state Department of Public Utilities will now schedule a series of public hearings. An answer is expected in October.

Columbia Gas, formerly Bay State Gas, pointed out that the price increase will be softened by falling prices for the gas itself. Columbia Gas said in its release that the rate increase applies only to the “base rate” portion of a customer’s bill. That’s the money Columbia Gas charges customers for delivery, distribution and customer services. Base rates typically represent approximately 36 percent of a customer’s total bill.

The separate charge for the gas itself is based on commodity prices, the utility said. commodity prices for natural gas have been falling. Proposed gas commodity costs for customers for the summer season effective May 1, 2012 are 31 percent lower than last year. As a result, when the commodity reduction is applied to a typical residential customer’s total monthly bill during the summer season, it is reduced by 13.3 percent, or $5.61.

Columbia Gas of said it wants to increase the base rate to increase its total annual revenues by $29.2 million, or 6.4 percent. The money will be used on an ongoing infrastructure replacement program.

No one was injured and the vehicle was being driven by one of Brown's Senate aides.

AP file photoIn this Jan. 19, 2010 file photo Massachusetts State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, celebrates in Boston with wife Gail, right, after winning a special election held to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy. The senator and his wife were involved in a minor car accident Friday night in Dedham.

DEDHAM - U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass, and his wife Gail Huff were involved in an accident Friday night but walked away uninjured, according to Marcie Kinzel, a staffer in Brown's Senate office.

“Scott Brown and his wife Gail were passengers in a 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee involved in a two-car accident tonight in Dedham," Kinzel said in a statement. "The accident happened as the couple was headed to a Best Buddies charity fundraiser. Neither the Browns nor the driver of the car, Senate aide Chris Burgoyne, were injured."

The Boston Globe reported that the driver of the other vehicle was also uninjured and that police are continuing to investigate but no charges have been filed.

The news organization reported that Dedham police Sergeant Mike Feeley said that a pizza delivery driver pulled out from a side street but they had yet to determine which car hit the other.

Feeley said that alcohol was not considered a factor in the collision.

A state police trooper was shot and his suspected shooter is dead after an early morning shoot-out and standoff in Chicopee that saw a quiet neighborhood riddled with gunfire. Watch video

CHICOPEE — A state police trooper was shot and his suspected shooter is dead after an early morning shoot-out and standoff on West Street that saw a quiet neighborhood riddled with gunfire.

By the time it was over, officials and bystanders expressed gratitude that the incident, as bad as it was, was not a good deal worse.

“But for the grace of God, the outcome could have been much worse,” said state police communications director David A. Procopio.

Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette said he was grateful that none of the bystanders in the area, children walking to school or patrons at a nearby convenience store were injured in the cross fire, and that the woman and her son who were inside the apartment at 102 West St. where the shooter took refuge escaped unharmed.

It could have been “a disaster of major proportions,” he said, and “just short of Armageddon.”

Neighborhood residents spoke afterward of bullets whizzing over their heads, or ducking for cover behind their cars, and being close enough to the police to see the muzzle flashes from their guns as they returned fire.

“It was like Iraq,” said resident Joseph Kaczynski, who unknowingly walked into a gun battle on his way back home from the store.

“It was pretty crazy. I am pretty scared and I’m lucky to be alive,” he said.

Also lucky is trooper John Vasquez, 44, a 20-year veteran assigned to the Springfield barracks, who was shot in the lower left leg and right hand and struck with some shrapnel in the right leg. After surgery Friday afternoon, Vasquez was in good condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Procopio said.

The suspected shooter, Carlos Laguer, age 41, of Springfield, was found dead of multiple gunshots after a state police tactical team entered the first floor apartment at 102 West St.

Procopio said investigators are trying to determine how Laguer died. It is not clear Friday night if Laguer died in the exchange of gunfire with police or if he took his own life. Procopio said it is also possible death was a result of a combination of police fire and self-inflicted wounds.

Procopio said it is not yet clear how the incident began, and it may have originated with a case of domestic violence.

Procopio said it appears Laguer had a connection to the woman and the boy who live in the apartment where he was firing. He declined to elaborate on the connection or to give their names.

Bissonnette, in an interview Friday night with WWLP TV22, said the woman and her son had recently moved to the apartment, and that she had obtained a restraining order against Laguer.

But neighbors told The Republican that Laguar had been around the neighborhood since moving in about three months. He stood out because he drove a pink Lexus sedan, and would frequently sit on the front steps, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, they said.

Bissonnette said Laguer appeared at the apartment building early Friday and asked the landlord to be let inside the woman’s apartment. When the landlord refused, Laguer is said to have kicked in the door and confronted the woman, Bissonnette said.

Police were called at about 7:45 a.m. for a report of gun shots.

Vasquez was first on the scene and Laguer immediately opened fire from the apartment, police said. The trooper was hit, and other police returned fire.

Police immediately blocked off West Street, portions of Center Street, and shut down the exit to Interstate 391.

Dozens of police stationed themselves outside the apartment, while a state police tactical team responded.

The standoff ended a little more than two hours after it began when members of the tactical team stormed the apartment and found Laguer dead inside.

With him were a handgun and an assault rifle, police said.

West Street remained closed throughout the day as state and Chicopee police collected ballistic, forensic, and physical evidence from the scene.

Detectives were also processing evidence from the state police and Chicopee cruisers that were each struck multiple times by gunfire.

The investigation is being handled by state police detectives assigned to the office of Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni.

In the hours after the shooting, officials and residents reflected on the outbreak of violence, the heroism displayed by those involved and the potential for even greater tragedy.

Bissonnette, at a press briefing afterward, noted how the Chicopee shooting occurred less than a day after one police officer was killed and four others were injured during a shoot-out in Greenland, N.H., on Thursday.

Both incidents were mentioned Friday afternoon during the pre-game ceremonies at Fenway Park, when the crowd was asked to observe a moment of silence.

Bissonnette cited two people with special recognition for their actions during the shooting: Chicopee police officer David Benoit and school crossing guard Deborah Paquette.

Benoit loaded Vasquez into his cruiser while under fire and drove him to the hospital.

Paquette was stationed as the crossing guard at Center, Hampden and West streets when the shooting began. She warned two students to get away and alerted nearby Bowe School, which went into lock down mode.

Paquette said she was incorrectly credited with getting a school bus driver, student and monitor safely off a special needs bus. The credit goes to police, she said. The bus ended up next to the trooper’s bullet-riddled cruiser.

Another bystander, Ward Hamilton, had just started work at Central Oil nearby when he heard about the shooting. Hamilton, of Enfield, a former New Haven, Conn., police officer, said he went into “cop mode,” running towards the sound of gunshots.

When he arrived on West Street, he spotted the injured Vasquez on the ground. He helped Benoit and a trooper load Vasquez into a cruiser as bullets whizzed by.

Vasquez’s car “was just strafed by bullets,” he said. The scene, he said, was “right out of Hollywood.” He said he could tell Vasquez had been hit in the legs and in the hand.

“We kept telling him he’s OK, he’s OK,” Hamilton said. “He hadn’t lost any color in his face and that is usually a good indicator, he was alert and focused. He was able to talk and that for me was a relief.”

Meanwhile, he could see the shooter barricaded behind an open door and shooting.

He described him as an older man with long silver hair.

“He had the front door propped open ... it was OK Corral time.”

As he spoke, his hands were still crimson colored from Vasquez’s blood.

After Vasquez was taken to the hospital Hamilton took cover. As he did, he could see people sitting in their cars in the parking lot of a nearby Dunkin Donuts, talking on their cell phones and unaware of what was happening.

“One woman was just talking away. I banged on the car, I said ‘Listen, get out! get out!’ She got out her passenger side door,” he said.

Kaczynski was walking home from the CVS store where he had just purchased a couple of bottles of soda Friday morning. When he got near 102 West St., he saw a man run out the front door yelling, “Get away from me! Get away from me!” he said.

“The next thing I know I heard gunshots out the window shooting at the guy. I was walking by at the same time and the bullets were flying over my head,” Kaczynski said.

Kaczynski said he was still on scene when Vasquez was shot, and watched as he fell.

“I saw him take the bullet and go down.”

Laura Goodroe, another neighborhood resident, said she was taking her little girl to school down West Street when she stopped her car because she saw several police cars in the street.

“The next thing I know they are hiding in back of their cars, and they are shooting 5 feet away from my car, the bullets were coming from the building, going back and forth,” Goodroe said.

She said she was so close that she could see the muzzle flash from the officers’ guns.

“I just had to get out of there, I had my daughter in the car,” Goodroe said. She turned around and headed back down West Street alerting people on the sidewalk as she drove.

“I was screaming at people walking up the street, telling them that it’s a shoot-out and it’s bad.”

Both Kaczynski and Goodroe estimated they heard up to 200 gunshots, although police did not disclose the number fired.

Another neighbor, Brian Newton, was home when his 8-year-old son, Joe, who had set out for Bowe Elementary came back home because police told him to go home.

He said the boy told his father he thought there had been a car accident, and Newton, who has experience as an EMT, went to offer help.

Newton said he got about halfway up the street when he heard five shots.

“It was like ‘pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,’” he said.

“That’s when I saw cops break off and take cover and I heard one cop say ‘Where the (expletive) is he shooting from?’ Then I took cover.”

Newton said he took cover in the doorway of an apartment building and heard nothing for several minutes.

“And then there was maybe another series of eight shoots, and then there was a lot of confusion and then there was nothing but a lot of cops showing up,” Newton said.

Anatoliy Ionkia, whose brother lives in the neighborhood, said he used to muse aloud to his wife as they drove by the pink Lexus, speculating on what kind of person might drive such car.

Ionkia said his wife said, “Well, I wouldn’t mess with him.”

Staff reporters Jack Flynn, George Graham and Ted LaBorde and Assistant Online Editor Greg Saulmon reported from the scene for this article.

The election of Mitt Romney as president would set back women's and birth-control rights, the longtime activist says.

Photo by Elise Amendola / Associated PressBirth control advocate Bill Baird, 79, speaks in Boston April 5 about a board he created showing items women used to self-abort before it became legal. Forty-five years ago, Baird's arrest for giving spermicidal foam to an unmarried 19-year-old woman set up a constitutional challenge that sent his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bill Baird plans to spend his 80th birthday June 20 at his usual spot, at the annual Right to Life convention in Washington, D.C. He will carry an 8-foot wooden cross that bears the message: "Free women from the cross of religious oppression. Keep abortion legal."

Baird attends the convention each year to find out the opposition's strategy.

"Some sing, 'Happy Birthday,' to me. Others pray for me. They say I'm the devil," Baird says.

Known as the "father" of the birth-control and abortion movement, Baird contends the fight for women's rights is still on, even 40 years after his landmark case, Eisenstadt vs. Baird, legalized birth control for all American citizens and paved the way for 1973's even more well-known U.S. Supreme Court case, Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion.

Baird fears the rights for which he fought so hard and for which he did jail time as a younger man, could now be taken away, or, at a minimum eroded.

Birth control and abortion have become major discussion points during this campaign year, both among presidential contenders and in the battle for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

GOP front-runner Mitt Romney is pro-life and wants Roe vs. Wade overturned so that states can determine their own abortion laws. Republican Rick Santorum, who suspended his presidential campaign on Tuesday, is opposed to legalized abortion.

Both Santorum, a devout Catholic, and Romney, a Mormon, supported the Blunt Amendment, which was defeated in the U.S. Senate, but would have allowed employers to deny insurance coverage for any procedure or prescription, such as contraception, if it conflicted with their moral or religious beliefs. Santorum said he personally believes birth control is morally wrong, but should be available.

U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., supported the failed Blunt Amendment. Brown touted his stance as one upholding religious liberty, while his likely Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, called the amendment dangerous and supported President Barack Obama's decision to shift the mandated coverage from employers and institutions, including religious entities, to insurance companies.

Baird is not surprised that an issue which was contentious in the late 1960s and early 1970s is back in the forefront today. He says the fight has never stopped, and women's rights have always been under attack.

Baird, himself, was at least once involved in the politics of the fight, running as an independent candidate in 1970 for U.S. Senate against the late Edward M. Kennedy; then 37, Baird picketed the Democratic State Convention held in Amherst, protesting “the alleged exclusiveness of the conclave,” according to a Springfield Daily News account of the event.

March 22 marked the 40th anniversary of the ruling in Eisenstadt vs. Baird, and Baird was recognized on the occasion with proclamations from Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick and New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for "Right to Privacy Day."

Regarding the Baird case, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote, "If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child."

It was six years ago when Romney, then-governor of Massachusetts, refused to issue a proclamation recognizing "Right to Privacy Day," despite having done so the year before. At the time, Baird accused Romney of flip-flopping on women's rights due to presidential ambitions. Baird said the proclamation had been issued every year since 1996.

"Had I not challenged Massachusetts' archaic birth-control laws (something that the state Legislature at that time would not do), it would still be a felony in this state. I was sentenced to prison for three months for giving a speech to 2,500 Boston University students in a deliberate challenge of that law," Baird wrote in a March 28, 2006 letter to Romney.

Baird was at Harlem Hospital in 1963 when he witnessed something that changed his life. He was there to talk to doctors about a birth control method – he was the clinical director for a birth-control manufacturer at the time #– when a young woman came in, bleeding. He ran to her, and she died in his arms. She had tried to give herself an abortion with a coat hanger.

The woman's death outraged Baird and ignited his activism.

Back-alley abortion methods, such as coat hangers, soap and wires, were used by desperate, pregnant women who wanted to give themselves abortions at a time when they were illegal, he said.

A year later, Baird opened his own abortion clinic in New York, the first of its kind in the nation. At one point, he operated three clinics, which he supported through lecturing. Years ago, Baird said, he received up to $3,000 for a speech. He put the money he earned from the lectures back into the clinics, and towards his cause. He closed the clinics in the early 1990s because he could no longer afford to keep them open. One of the former clinics was even firebombed.

Fighting for women's rights has been Baird's life mission, something for which he believes he has not been properly recognized by women's groups. He thinks it's because he's a man, and some don't want to acknowledge a man's role in the women's movement.

"He doesn't fit the profile of what a feminist is, and that's a woman," says Baird's wife, Joni Baird. "If women don't have the right to control their reproduction, they cannot be on an equal economic footing as men."

The Bairds run the non-profit Pro-Choice League. According to its website, the league's mission is to educate the public about the history of the struggle for reproductive freedom and privacy rights, as well as about current issues and the future of these laws. Two other Baird cases, Baird vs. Bellotti I in 1976, and Baird vs. Bellotti II, 1979, gave minors the right to abortion without parental veto.

A bout with prostate cancer has not slowed Baird down. He still speaks all over the country, up to 100 times a year, but the talks are mostly unpaid.

He moved to Western Massachusetts seven years ago to be closer to his family.

Because he receives death threats and has been shot at, he does not want the community where he lives to be publicized. His friend, Dr. George Tiller, who performed late-term abortions, was murdered in 2009, and both men have been named on Internet "hit lists" of abortion supporters.

Baird is upset with the movement to limit birth control and to restrict abortions. If that occurs, it will be like it was before, with women resorting to dangerous methods to give themselves abortions, he believes.

"I'll go to hell and back to fight for this cause," Baird said.

He is upset with the recent remarks which conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh made to a female Georgetown University law student. Limbaugh called the student a "slut" and a "prostitute" for advocating that employers cover the costs of birth control pills in their health-insurance plans.

Limbaugh, says Baird, is "a sick, degenerate man who dares say to a young lady she's a slut. What does it say about our country?"

Baird is worried that if Romney is elected president in November, it means a GOP administration will support selection of justices for the Supreme Court who share their views regarding women's rights.

If that happens, Baird said, the pro-choice community "will be given a hell of a run for their money." Baird said Romney would "sell his soul for a vote."

"We can kiss women's rights good-bye as we know it," he added.

He spoke recently at Skidmore College in New York, where he urged the students to register to vote, and those who are Catholic and attend church, to write on the collection envelopes, "no more money until my sisters are free." (He believes the fight for birth-control rights has "been a holy war since day one," Baird said.)

"We are losing the movement. Our side is fast asleep," Baird said. "I live, breathe and sleep this movement. Freedom doesn't let you take a day off."

Obituaries from The Republican.

Vilma Ortiz

Vilma O "Tolly" (Rivera) Ortiz, 45, of Chicopee, died Thursday. Born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, she was a 1984 graduate of Technical High School in Springfield and attended Springfield Technical Community College. She was employed as an individual coordinator at Multicultural Community Services in Holyoke for 12 years. Ortiz enjoyed the outdoors and traveling. She collected Egyptian items and dreamed of going there someday.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Aykanian, Suran
  



• 
  Caulton, Garian Robinson
  



• 
  Chester, Percy O. "Bulla"
  



• 
  Church, Kathryn M. "Teddy"
  



• 
  Coutu, Erson F. "Ernie"
  



• 
  Dasilva, Arminda "Mimi"
  



• 
  Desforges, Sylvia M. (Stejna)
  



• 
  Dooley, Teresa
  



• 
  Elovirta, Jarrod L.
  



• 
  Gosselin, Gemma M. "Mm" (Cot)
  



• 
  Gouzounis, Linda (Roya)
  



• 
  Lathrop, John Edward "Jack"
  



• 
  Makol, Alex G.
  



• 
  Mathisen, Norman R.
  



• 
  Moynihan, William
  



• 
  Naylor, Gladys M.
  



• 
  Ortiz, Vilma O. "Tolly" (Rivera)
  



• 
  Russo, Louis J.
  



• 
  Scagliarini, Annette (Caplette)
  



• 
  Scordilis, Fanny
  



• 
  Yetter, Dorothy B. "Dot" (Blanchard)
  

The 2012 Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference drew 270 people to Western New England University Friday

File photo by Carl Juste / Miami HeraldArleen Poitier wears a hoodie and holds a protest sign as thousands gathered in downtown Miami April 1 demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. A panel at Western New England University Friday discussed racial profiling in wake of the case.

SPRINGFIELD – More than a year ago, before most people had ever heard of Trayvon Martin, Miniard Culpepper didn’t want his son going around with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head.

“I told him that people need to be able to see who you are,” Culpepper, regional counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, said Friday during a panel discussion of racial profiling conducted during the 2012 Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference at Western New England University.

Culpepper, who is also an ordained minister and part-time pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Dorchester, said young black males have to make their way in a society where they are often unfairly perceived as a threat. Gang members sometimes wear hoodie sweatshirts to disguise their identities, Culpepper said.

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center in Holyoke and HAP Housing in Springfield have been organizing the annual Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference for six years. HAP housing is a nonprofit that facilitates access to housing and home ownership. This year’s even drew 270 people Friday.

Meris L. Bergquist, executive director of the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center, said organizers put together a panel on racial profiling in response to the Trayvon Martin case because the case prompts questions of who is perceived to belong, or not belong, in a neighborhood.

Martin, who was 17-years old black and unarmed, was shot and killed Feb. 26 in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Fla., by 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was initially not charged in the case. But a huge public outcry lead to an investigation and he’s since been charged with second-degree murder in the case.

Florida prosecutors have alleged that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin, who was wearing a “hoodie” sweatshirt, as a threat then failed to head a police dispatcher’s instructions not to follow the teen.

Zimmerman’s lawyers said he shot Martin in self defense after Martin attacked him.

Bergquist said racial profiling and stereotyping can make it hard for minorities to get decent housing, and not just blacks. It happens to the Cambodian community in Amherst, Bergquist said.

“They face eviction and denial of housing,” Bergquist said. “They find themselves blamed for any problem created by any Asian.”

Culpepper said the same level of outrage engendered by the Martin case should well up in cases of black-on-black violence. “It doesn’t matter who takes the lives of our young black males,” Culpepper said. “It’s a life that’s gone . Enough is enough.”

Burton, a doctor with Enfield Medical Associates, was blind-sided with a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia.

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanDr. Jay Burton chats with a patient recently in his Springfield office. Burton, who underwent a stem cell transplant in his battle with acute myeloid leukemia, has added a cancer survivor specialty to his practice.

SPRINGFIELD - When Dr. Jay Burton visited a blood mobile at a town fair in Longmeadow in 2010, it was a good deed he had put off for a long time and one his wife chided him into, he admits now.

After all the procrastinating, his sample was rejected for signs of pleurisy – an indicator of inflammation of the lining of the lungs. Burton gave it little thought. The longtime general practitioner had diagnosed scores of his own patients with the same condition without dire results.

But, dire results were precisely what awaited him.

“The following week, I found out pleurisy was the least of my problems,” recalled Burton, a member of Enfield Medical Associates, an arm of Springfield Medical Associates on Main Street.

Burton was blind-sided with a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. While not exactly rare, Burton had suffered no signs of illness, and the diagnosis came amid his daughter’s graduation from Johns Hopkins University and in the face of a scheduled family vacation to San Diego that summer.

Instead, the ensuing months brought trips to oncologists, cancer specialists in Boston, rounds of chemotherapy and dismal side effects. And, that wasn’t the worst part. Burton ultimately opted for a stem cell transplant.

“Without it, I had a 5 to 10 percent change of living for three years, and that wasn’t even factoring in quality of life. There’s living, and there’s living,” Burton said recently during an interview at the practice’s Main Street offices.

His wife, Susan Burton, director of internal communications for Baystate Health, said the choice invited incredible risks, including infections and the possibility that his body could reject the cells altogether.

“It was a very brave choice. It turned out to be the right one, but it was very brave,” Susan Burton said. “If it were up to me, I’m not sure I could have made it.”

Jay Burton found a donor in a 23-year-old man from the West Coast. After the requisite year wait-time which the national registry requires, Burton looked up the donor and sent him an email. Burton wanted to thank him for saving his life.

“For him, it had really been an intellectual exercise before that,” Burton said.

Burton’s recovery has been hard-fought, however.

After the transplant of the body’s most ubiquitous cells, Burton was relegated to a year of almost total isolation. No dinners out. No trips to the grocery stores. No walks in the park. Those things were replaced with hours of computer research, reading and frequently wearing a surgical mask.

The ordeal sort of up-ended Burton’s perspective on medical care. As a physician, his lens was a unique one.

“It humbles you. My patients are scared about what they don’t know. I was scared of what I did know,” Burton said.

The months of mandatory alone time led him to consider the rest of his life – however long that may be. He considered returning to school to study for a master’s degree in business administration. He considered twilight careers. But at 51, he concluded that starting over and working for someone else wasn’t for him.

Instead, Burton, who returned to work part-time in February, decided to add a cancer-survivor component to his practice. He believes it will probably be the only one of its kind in this region, since even most post-cancer general health care is provided by oncologists.

And, little if any of that care is provided by a primary-care doctor who also is a cancer survivor himself.

“It’s not regular primary care, and it’s not cancer care. It’s a hybrid. I want people to know there’s a program out there offered by a primary-care doctor who has gone though cancer care. It’s a novel type of concept,” Burton said.

For his part, once his doctors cleared him to get out in the world again last year, he savored the mundane. He went to the hardware store. The following day, Burton rose early and got a haircut.

Ultimately, he took a trip to Hawaii with his wife.

“We had a back porch that overlooked the horizon in Maui. Most days, I took a long time to just stand there and watch it,” he said.

City Council President Justin Cobb said he has no plans to call for an executive session.

Donald Cykowsk

EASTHAMPTON – The city’s lawyer disagrees with an attorney for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and believes the City Council can go into executive session to discuss concerns about Councilor Donald L. Cykowski.

The City Council decided not to go into executive session April 4 after receiving a letter from lawyer Robert A. Bertsche urging the council to cancel the executive session and instead hold the discussion in open session.

City Council President Justin P. Cobb had scheduled the session last month for the council to address the controversy surrounding Cykowski.

Two issues were of concern.

Former library Director Rebecca Plimpton had told the Emily Williston library board that Cykowski, a library corporator, harassed her for years before she left the position in 2007. 


As a councilor, Cykowski was criticized in December for an incident at a public meeting in which he said, "Where's a Puerto Rican when we need one?" when a colleague could not open a locked door.

After receiving Bertsche’s letter, Cobb asked for the written response from City Attorney John H. Fitz-Gibbon. In his reply, Fitz-Gibbon wrote that the council can enter executive session “to discuss the reputation, character, physical condition, or mental health, rather than professional competence” of an individual. The purpose, he wrote, “is designed to protect the rights and reputation of individuals.”

Bertsche, he wrote argued that the session involved “professional competence” rather than “reputation or “character.”

Fitz-Gibbon also wrote “I offer no opinion, however, on the advisability of such a session and whether political or other considerations would make such a session inadvisable.”

Cobb said Wednesday night said he has no plans at this point to call for an executive session and wanted to review all the material. He had just received Fitz-Gibbon's letter.

Cykowski has resigned from the library board, but has not resigned from the council although there is a move to recall him.

But under the charter, he cannot be recalled until six months after the beginning of his term, which would mean July 3.

To recall an at-large elected official, an affidavit signed by at least 400 voters must be filed with the board of registrars stating the name of the elected official and a statement of the grounds for recall.

Then, a recall petition must be signed by 20 percent of the total voters in the last city election and filed within 21 days of the date the petition was issued. With 11,177 voters on the rolls in November, that means 2,034 must sign the recall petition.

If the recall effort meets that signature threshold, the subject in question has five days to resign. If he or she declines to resign, a special election must be scheduled.

Suzanne F. O'Donnell, who has taken out papers to begin the process, said there is a small group that will be meeting next week to review logistics and there will likely be a larger meeting later in the month. “There’s a lot of interest, a lot of people responded to that email account,” she said. She created easthamptonrecall@gmail.com and anyone interested can email her there.

Talbert W. Swan II, the head of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP, has repeatedly called for Cykowski to resign and for residents of Easthampton to demand his ouster.
Cykowski could not be reached for comment.

Some people favor expanding size of the board.

Kathleen A. Bourque

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Town Council has scheduled a public hearing for Monday on a proposal to increase the size of the Zoning Board of Appeals from three members to five.

The proposal, which has been endorsed 4-1 by the Planning Board, will be taken up as the first item on the agenda for the Town Council’s 7 p.m. meeting. Planning Board member Katie Harrington cast the sole nay vote.

Town Council President Kathleen A. Bourque has proposed the change because under three members all votes must be unanimous to take any action. If the size of the board is increased to five members there will be the opportunity for one dissenting vote, while still allowing the board to approve a measure.

Planning Board members endorsed the proposal during a recent public hearing of that body during which Planning Administrator Richard A. Werbiskis warned that the city may not be able to get five people to serve as on the volunteer board. He noted that the city has historically had problems keeping even just a three-member board staffed. Currently, the board has three members and three alternates.

“It is a difficult board to sit on,” Werbiskis said, describing it as quasi-judicial.

The board acts on requests for zoning variances as well as requests for special permits.

Harrington commented that a dissenting vote on the record could end up being the subject of litigation.

“The dissenting opinion could be devastating,” Harrington said. “That system is not broken.”

Town Councilor John R. Sweeney said three unanimous votes would probably be less likely to be challenged in court, but added that other communities are also considering moving to five-member boards of appeals.

Planning Board member Aldo M. Bertera said he liked the idea of having five members on the Zoning Board of Appeals because it would allow passage with one negative vote.

“My biggest concern is filling the board,” Planning Board Chairman Frank V. Palange said.

More than 100 rounds were discharged between the suspect and police on a busy Friday morning. Mayor Bissonnette said he is thankful because the scene could have been much, much worse. Watch video

CHICOPEE – A day after a shoot-out and standoff that featured more than 100 rounds of gunfire on West Street that left a state trooper wounded and the suspect dead, residents and witnesses were still in shock.

Donna Dube, the owner of the building at 102 West St. where the incident took place, was not home at the time, but her husband was, and he nearly lost his life.

The first floor apartment, where the shoot-out took place, is riddled with bullet holes. Broken glass covers the steps. Markers where shell casings were found litter the sidewalk.

She said the suspected shooter, Carlos Laguer, age 41, of Springfield, demanded to be let inside the building on Friday morning, but her husband refused. She said Laguer pointed a gun to her husband’s chest and said, “Well that’s too bad.”

She said he pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.

Laguer, according to state police, had a connection to the woman and young boy who lived in the first floor apartment.

After Dube’s husband refused to let Laguer inside, he apparently kicked in the door and confronted the woman. Dube said the woman ran out of the apartment and he “started spraying bullets.” Dube said the woman hadn’t seen Laguer in a year - until this happened.

Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said on Saturday that the woman and her son had recently moved into the first floor apartment, and that she had obtained a restraining order against Laguer. Bissonnette said that the restraining order was from Springfield District Court, and until court reopens Tuesday, he will not be able to see the contents of the order. Bissonnette said he was particularly concerned how the shooter had weapons.

“I was at the scene this morning. You can see the evidence of how much damage there is to the apartment,” Bissonnette said.

Bissonnette said Laguer was firing an AK-47 assault rifle.

“How did he get his hands on an AK-47 and a handgun?” Bissonnette said.

More than 100 rounds were discharged between the suspect and police on a busy Friday morning. Bissonnette said he is thankful because the scene could have been much, much worse.

For example, a gas tanker was parked at the gas station, and there is an oil company next door to the gas station.

“We were pretty close to a real traumatic event in downtown Chicopee as you could possibly have,” Bissonnette said. “I’m still in shock no one else was shot.”

“At a quarter of 8, we have little kids walking to school, lots of commuters. It’s just horrific to know all the activity that was going on while this guy is just letting loose with a fusillade of automatic weapon fire,” Bissonnette said.

Bissonnette said he heard “conflicting stories” about Laguer’s involvement with the apartment before the shooting and whether he was actually the owner of a pink Lexus mentioned earlier by neighbors.

“The best news of the day is that everybody got home safe,” Bissonnette said, adding he also is thankful Trooper John Vasquez is OK. Vasquez, 44, a 20-year veteran assigned to the Springfield barracks, has undergone surgery at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. He suffered gunshot wounds to his lower left leg and his right hand, and took shrapnel to his right leg. He was in good condition on Friday.

Bissonnette said Vasquez’s cruiser’s back window was blown out from gunfire and there were bullets in the headrest.

It was the boy who emerged from the apartment and told police that Laguer had shot himself in the chest, Bissonnette said.

However, state police said investigators are still trying to determine how Laguer died - if he killed himself, or was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police. State police communications director David A. Procopio said it’s also possible that the death was due to a combination of police fire and self-inflicted wounds. He was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds.

State Trooper Sean Lewis said he does not expect any additional information about the incident to be released this weekend, adding it is still an active investigation.

At Dunkin’ Donuts, which shares space with the Shell station across the street, workers recounted the terrifying morning.

“It was crazy,” Dunkin’ Donuts employee Edrike Roman, 20, said.

He said it was 8 a.m., there was a line in the drive-through, and they heard three loud bangs. At first, they didn’t know where it was coming from, but one of the customers pointed across the street.

“He was right in the doorway, just pointing the gun right outside. He was just shooting at the floor and at random people walking by,” Roman said.

“Everyone was terrified. Everyone was on the ground, crying and screaming for their life,” Roman said.

Roman said he could see the weapon - a black assault rifle with a long scope. He said he called his mother to come get him. When they were on the phone, a bullet blasted through the window of the store and hit the ceiling.

Dunkin’ Donuts manager Shanelle M. Trepanier said she was at a loss for words to even describe what happened.

“It was terrifying,” Trepanier said.

Trepanier said when she saw the man shooting, she said, “All right, this guy’s not kidding.” She said she left and got a ride home with a customer. She said she just wanted to be with her children.

Keith Alessandroni, of Springfield, said he was concerned because his daughter and ex-wife live near West Street. He was with his daughter Saturday morning, and they were viewing the shooting scene from the Shell station parking lot.

“I don’t know where these people get their weapons. There’s got to be something done about gun control,” Alessandroni said.

School Superintendent Richard W. Rege said school officials on Friday identified four students who were directly affected by the shooting. Two of them lived in the house where the shooting took place. He said some of them were able to receive counseling that day, and parents also were notified about other counseling services, as it is now school vacation week.

During the standoff, a school bus was driving on West Street and the driver had to swerve to the side of the road, Rege said. In addition to the driver, a student and bus monitor were on the bus. They all got out safely, and were able to use the bus as a shield, Rege said.

Rege said another student was walking by the apartment at the time of the shooting.

“There was really no trauma to the general population,” Rege said. “If it were 15 minutes earlier . . . it could have been much more of a problem. We are very, very fortunate.”

Because the district has a breakfast program, many students arrive at school early to participate in it, Rege explained. Nearby Bowe School went into lockdown mode to protect the students.

The standoff began just before 8 a.m. and Vasquez was the first on scene. Laguer immediately opened fire from the apartment. Police immediately blocked off West Street, portions of Center Street, and shut down the exit to Interstate 391. The standoff ended a little more than two hours after it began when a state police tactical team stormed the apartment and found Laguer dead inside.

The building where School Department offices are currently located has structural problems.

File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanThis is the former Chicopee Public Library at Market Square.

CHICOPEE – Interested in the possibility of moving offices into the former library on Market Square, the School Committee is asking for more information about the building and the proposal.

The committee recently voted 9-0 to discuss the re-use of the library and the future of a variety of other closed schools in a future subcommittee meeting.

“I personally think it is a great proposal,” said Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello, a committee member.

The School Department has been concerned about the condition of its offices at the Helen O’Connell Administration building at 180 Broadway for a number of years. Structural issues have forced it to clean everything out of the attic and eventually officials know the offices must be moved or the 100-year-old building has to be repaired.

There have been several proposals, including moving the administration to the Szetela Early Childhood School. That plan is part of a multi-school shifting to begin when the former Chicopee High School is converted to a middle school.

A second plan is to renovate the former library, and turn the current mezzanine into a full second floor to create enough space for the School Department. It would be connected to City Hall next door and an elevator would be added to improve handicap accessibility for both buildings.

Recently, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, who is the School Committee chairman, asked the City Council to approve spending $160,000 from the sale of real estate account to remove asbestos and partly gut the former library so a structural engineer can examine the building to see if it could support the addition of a second floor.

The City Council has put that on hold until it can find out more about other spending priorities in the city.

The other concern is parking since there is no dedicated parking lot with the former library.

“Hopefully we can have some kind of information regarding parking. There are not a lot of parking spaces there,” said Marjorie A. Wojcik, vice chairwoman of the School Committee.

There should be enough space for the 60 or so employees who now work at the O’Connell building, she said.

The group should also discuss the condition of the O’Connell building and make plans if the move has to happen before the library can be examined or the renovation of Chicopee High School is finished, Committee member Michael J. Pise said.

The accident was reported at 2:20 a.m. and closed Route 116 northbound for approximately four hours. Two other drivers also were injured.

HADLEY – A 24-year-old man from Amherst was killed early Saturday morning while driving his motorcycle north on Route 116, police said.

Two other vehicles were involved. Police said the names of the operators are not being released. The accident was reported at 2:20 a.m. and closed Route 116 northbound for approximately four hours. The accident happened a quarter mile from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst exit.

A 23-year-old woman from Sunderland who was operating the second vehicle had to be taken by helicopter to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for her injuries. A 57-year-old man from Leyden, operating the third vehicle, also was hurt. He was taken by ambulance to Baystate, police said.

In addition to Hadley police and fire, Amherst fire, the University of Massachusetts police and state police accident reconstruction team responded. Seat belt use is not known at this time.

The fire burned a hole through the roof and caught insulation on fire between the roof and ceiling. Firefighters were on scene about an hour.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD – A rooftop fire at building 17 at Springfield Technical Community College, 1 Armory St., is believed to be caused by the careless disposal of smoking materials, said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph A. Conant.

Leger said the fire, which caused “a couple thousand dollars damage,” was reported just after 1 a.m. on Saturday by a security guard, who could smell something burning.

Leger said people have been going on the roof to smoke, and cigarettes caused the fire. There were numerous cigarette butts on the rooftop. He said the fire burned a hole through the roof and caught insulation on fire between the roof and ceiling. Firefighters were on scene about an hour, he said.

Dwight said the resolution does not detract in any way from city business and noted that he has received 70 hits on Facebook, all in support of the resolution.

NORTHAMPTON – Venturing into the national political theater, the City Council will take up a resolution at its next meeting that calls on Congress to pass a Constitutional amendment reversing the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

The 2010 ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission overturned a lower court ruling that banned corporations from broadcasting or publishing negative material on political candidates within a certain time period of an election. By declaring that corporations had the same First Amendment rights as individuals, the Supreme Court’s split decision cleared a path for large corporations to pour money into influencing campaigns.

A resolution sponsored by councilors William H. Dwight, Jesse M. Adams, Pamela C. Schwartz, Marianne L. LaBarge and Maureen T. Carney decries the Supreme Court ruling, saying that it “unleashes a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in United States history,” and that it “presents a serious and direct threat to our republican democracy.”

Noting that Article V of the Constitution obligates citizens to use the amendment process to correct “egregiously wrong decisions” by the Supreme Court, the resolution calls on Congress to pass such an amendment. It specifically endorses an amendment proposed by U.S. Rep. James McGovern stating that references to people and citizens in the U.S. Constitution should not be construed to include corporations.

The resolution directs Mayor David J. Narkewicz to send copies of the resolution to President Barack Obama, U.S. senators John Kerrry and Scott Brown and other members of the Massachusetts legislative delegation.

Dwight Thursday called the ruling a political move by the right-leaning members of the Supreme Court.

“Some would say the Supreme Court went out of its way to put it on its docket and render this decision,” he said. “We can’t get equal rights for women woven in the Constitution but the Supreme Court gets rights for corporations.”

Dwight also noted that while the ruling guarantees corporations the same free speech rights as people, it fails to impose upon them the same responsibilities.

“It’s a grotesque disparity,” he said.

Adams, a lawyer, called Citizens United a “poor decision.”

“We’ll look back on it as a major mistake,” he said. “It jeopardizes our electoral process and our democracy.”

While some maintain that the City Council has not business opining on national and international issues, both Dwight and Adams feel it is appropriate to take up the matter in Council Chambers.

“Every time we make a stance that’s not limited to local issues, some people ask why,” Adams said. “It’s really because they’re in opposition.”

Dwight said the resolution does not detract in any way from city business and noted that he has received 70 hits on Facebook, all in support of the resolution.

“It isn’t supplanting discussion of another issue we should be talking about,” he said. “I’ve always thought this was a legitimate thing. It’s part of our responsibility.”

The matter is scheduled to come up at the council’s April 19 meeting.

The Titanic Historical Society preserves the memory of the ill-fated White Star liner a century after the disaster.

Karen and Edward Kamuda of the Titanic Historical Society,

Devoured by the deep waters of the North Atlantic 100 years ago today, the luxury ocean liner RMS Titanic will never sink into the abyss of time.

All Hollywood tributes aside, it is largely thanks to the efforts of the Springfield-based Titanic Historical Society and the couple who oversee its small museum that the history of the great ship is preserved for generations to come.

Memorialized in a new song by the Irish Rovers as the “pride of the White Star Line...roll(ing) on in the mists of time,” the Titanic struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank early the next morning in the North Atlantic during its maiden voyage from England; 1,517 people perished.

For nearly a half the century since one of the world’s greatest maritime disasters occurred, the Titanic Historical Society, led by Edward S. and Karen B. Kamuda, has been preserving the liner’s memory and educating people about its history through annual conventions and with its quarterly journal, “The Titanic Commutator.”

Movie director James Cameron tapped into the resources of the society when he filmed his blockbuster “Titanic” in 1997.

Explorer Robert D. Ballard, the famed oceanographer who discovered the Titanic’s watery grave in 1985, has described the Kamudas as “the soul of the Titanic ... (and) the Commutator is where you find the truth.”

In fact, you won’t find any glitz and glamour in this museum. It is, says Edward S. Kamuda, president and co-founder of the society and curator of the museum, “overloaded with substance but little glitz.”

The Titanic Historical Society, established in 1963, is considered the premier source for Titanic and White Star Line information. It is also the original and largest Titanic society in the world.

APIn this April 10, 1912 photo, the liner Titanic leaves Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City. Five days into her journey, the ship struck an iceberg and sank, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 people.

Paramount PicturesEdward and Karen Kamuda on the set of the 1997 James Cameron epic film "Titanic."

Edward Kamuda and Karen Kamuda, who serves as vice president of the society and assistant editor of the quarterly journal, had cameo appearances in the movie, portraying first-class passengers.

“We had given a lot of information to the Cameron people, and my wife joked that wouldn’t it be nice to have her husband in the movie,” Edward Kamuda said. Both got the cameo parts instead, enduring 90-degree heat in Mexico for filming while wearing heavy costumes.

Edward Kamuda’s appearance in the film is fitting. The seeds of the Titanic Historical Society were planted in the darkened Grand Theater in Indian Orchard, where Kamuda watched the 1953 film “Titanic” with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck.

There are a variety of individuals from all walks of life who belong to the historical society. There are long-time members, some who are not computer literate and who love “The Titanic Commutator,” looking forward to reading the variety of stories in print.

“Younger members, it seems, are not as knowledgeable nor have a background in history as the older members and appreciate the shared knowledge,” said Karen Kamuda. “The biggest change has been the Internet; it brings people around the world closer.”

The source of endless fascination, the Titanic remains a great story, Edward Kamuda said.

“The chronicle of life and death of the prominent with immigrants seeking a new beginning, of courage and sacrifice, the characteristics and virtues we admire and associate with seems to affect people more than other sinking ship accounts and, rather than forgotten over time, has been fixed in people’s minds,” Kamuda said.

He contends that it is important to understand what was happening at the turn of the 20th century, an exciting time of significant advances in engineering, commerce, medicine and travel.

“With such titanic developments and incredible inventions (like the automobile and airplane and the building of the Panama Canal), “how could it not be a time of optimism,” Kamuda commented. “Ocean liners reflected the cutting edge of progress – engineering, electricity, refrigeration, telephone, wireless telegraphy and even fashion to name some, all were new. Within a few decades, travel in relative safety, comfort and the ability to communicate long distances was available for many instead of a few.”

The interest that lives on today began with the worldwide coverage recorded in newspapers, which played a big part in why people remember the Titanic story. Through the telegraph, newspapers were becoming syndicated. Instead of news limited to a city or town, it went coast to coast to newspaper offices in the United States and news services around the world.

Karen B. KamudaThe Titanic Centennial Memorial at Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield.

Having a memorial here is another step to help ensure the history of the ship and the lives lost aboard it is preserved, in part, Kamuda said, “because of the Springfield connection to it.”

Brown said members and employees of the U.S. Senate alone owed over $2 million in back taxes.

View full sizeAt a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Boston this week, Sen. Scott Brown announced new legislation aimed at collecting a combined $1 billion in back taxes from nearly 100,000 federal employees. (Republican file photo)

BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is pushing a new bill that he said would make it easier to collect back taxes from federal workers and members of Congress.

The Massachusetts Republican said that a recent report by the Internal Revenue Service showed that in 2010, 98,000 federal employees owed a combined $1 billion in back taxes.

Brown said members and employees of the U.S. Senate alone owed over $2 million.

The bill would require members and employees of Congress and federal employees who file financial disclosures forms to report any delinquent tax liability to the appropriate ethics office and come up with a plan to pay off the taxes.

Those who fail to arrange a payment plan with the IRS within a year could have those back taxes taken directly out of their wages.

The Hadley Fire Department received mutual aid from several area departments.

Fire Departments in Hadley and Agawam extinguished brush fires on Saturday, with no injuries reported and causes remaining under investigation.

The Hadley Fire Department received mutual aid from several area departments to extinguish a blaze on the M and M trail, that burned an estimated 1.5 to two acres of woods and brush.

The fire spread from South Hadley into Hadley. Hadley was assisted by fire departments from South Hadley, Granby, Windsor, Worthington and Chesterfield, and with Hatfield on standby at one station. Approximately 50 firefighters were on the scene.

The fire was reported at 4:30 p.m., and the department returned to the station at 8:20.

In Agawam, a brush fire spread for about a quarter acre in a heavily wooded, swampy area between School Street and Leonard Street.

It was under control within an hour.

The motorcyclist crashed into a guardrail in Westminster.

WESTMINSTER – A Malden man was killed Saturday afternoon in a motorcycle crash on Route 2 East, state police said.

Killed in the accident, reported 3:44 p.m., was Paul Famiglietti, 54, of Malden, police said.

The crash occurred just prior to Exit 26 in Westminster. Famiglietti was riding a 2012 Harley-Davidson FLSTC in the right lane, entered the breakdown lane and crashed into a guardrail, police said.

Further details remained under investigation.

Troopers responded from the state police barracks in Athol, and were assisted by the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and State Police Crime Scene Services Section.

The right lane and breakdown lanes were closed for approximately three hours.

The victim was being treated at Baystate Medical Center

SPRINGFIELD – Police were investigating a shooting on Cambridge Street in the Bay Neighborhood on Saturday night, with details not immediately available.

The victim had left the scene when police arrived, and was being treated at Baystate Medical Center following the 9:30 p.m. shooting, police said. The extent of the injury was undetermined.