Sophomores, juniors and seniors were eligible to compete. Instructor Craig Sankey said a total of 92 students were brought to the competition, and 36 of them received medals - the most ever in the school's history of participating in SkillsUSA.

File photo | The RepublicanPathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School in Palmer.

PALMER — Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School students this year won the most SkillsUSA competition medals in the school’s 19-year history of participating in the program.

Craig Sankey, SkillsUSA advisor and an auto body instructor, said all of the school’s trade areas participated in the west district competition, which was held last month at McCann Technical School in North Adams. Sophomores, juniors and seniors were eligible to compete. Sankey said a total of 92 students were brought to the competition, and 36 of them received medals.

“That was the most we’ve ever taken,” Sankey said.

Now, the 26 gold and silver medalists will go on to the state SkillsUSA event April 26, 27 and 28 at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton. There, the students will compete for scholarships, tools and equipment. This time, the competition will be hands-on, and the students can showcase their skills, be it in the culinary arts, automotive or carpentry, just to name a few.

“It’s work day, a chance to show their skills,” Sankey said. “I’m really excited. I think we have a really good chance at placing well”

Sankey explained that during the district competition, the students competed against seven other schools. The students took two written tests, one on their trade and the other about employability and job etiquette. A 25-question test on OSHA rules was used as tie-breaker.

“The thing that really thrilled me, every shop that participated had a medalist,” Sankey said.

Those who place first in the state competition will go on to the national competition in June in Kansas City, Mo. Last year, Sankey said Jeff Nelson, of Oakham, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) student, won a gold medal at the nationals. Nelson, who graduated last year, now is a candidate for the world competition in Germany in 2013, Sankey said.

The following students received gold medals: Mike Berthiaume of Warren in industrial motor control, Kylie Brewer of Oakham in basic health care, Kyle Fish of Monson in robotics and automation, Aric Gaumond of Warren in CNC milling, Darrick Kustra of Palmer in HVAC, Colin Lynch of Monson in automotive, Alexis Malouin of Palmer in medical terminology, David Rouisse of Warren in collision repair, Ross Sbriscia of Monson in computer programming, Nicole Simulynas of North Brookfield in nail care, William Stebbins of Warren in robotics and automation, and Rache Yaeger of Ware in electronics.

Silver medals went to Mitchell Benedetti of Palmer in technical computer, Shawn Bresnahan of Belchertown in HVAC, Patrick Burbee of Palmer in web design, Jacob Carman of Monson in computer programming, Katherine Cyr of Warren in cosmetology, Corina Dembowski of Warren in medical terminology, Cory Gold of Belchertown in culinary arts, Breann Grenier of Ware in basic health care, Ryan Lavigne of Ludlow in web design, Michael Mastriani of Palmer in automotive, Brittany McLeod of Ware in web design, Jason Morin of Warren in CNC milling, McColl Rhodes of Monson in automotive refinishing, Gustavo Rodrigues of Amherst in electronics, and Jocelyn Simmons of Palmer in architectural drafting.

Receiving bronze medals were Matt Choquette of Warren in technical computer, Tom Cote of Warren in industrial motor control, Jamie Deland of Monson in basic health care, Brenda Klusman of Monson in medical terminology, Ryan Krasnecky of Ware in cabinet making, Ethan Mercier of Ludlow in CNC milling, Steve Owczarski of Belchertown in HVAC, Mary Smith of Monson in commercial baking, Ley Vuong of Palmer in office computer and Joseph Wyngowski of Belchertown in automotive refinishing.

Girls Inc. has after school programs like tutoring and sports, as well as lessons in math, technology and leadership.

HOLYOKE— Girls Inc. of Holyoke will get more than $70,000 thanks to a fund-raiser that drew nearly 500 people.

“It went really, really well,” Executive Director Suzanne L. Parker said Friday.

The April 12 event at the MassMutual Center, in Springfield, had the theme, “Girl Power: Energizing the Community.”

Speaking the day after the fund-raiser, Parker said the net amount was at least $70,000 to $75,000. She expected the total once donations arrive in the next few weeks to approach the event’s goal of $100,000, she said.

The money will be used to fund the Girls Inc. programs, she said.

Girls Inc. is a nonprofit organization that works to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold by providing them the opportunity to develop and achieve their full potential, said its website, girlsincholyoke.org

The organization works with girls and young women of ages 5 to 18.

Programs for girls of ages 5 to 12 include after-school activities like swimming, basketball, softball and double Dutch jump rope; Operation SMART: Science, Math and Related Technology; tutoring; creative arts; and health and life skills instruction.

Summer programs for girls of ages 5 to 12 include swimming, math, literacy and arts courses, counselor training, field trips and family events.

The after-school and summer programs are at 52 Nick Cosmos Way.

At 6 Open Square Way are programs for girls of ages 11 to 18. These include leadership training, health and sex education, diversity training, instruction in media literacy, field trips and college visits, conflict resolution, tutoring and violence prevention.

All girls also have access to mentors.

Sarno is considering fee increases and is lobbying for increased state aid in response to the threat of layoffs and reduced city services.

File photo | The RepublicanMayor Domenic J. Sarno has vowed to "fight tooth and nail" for a casino in Springfield, saying it will provide desperately needed jobs and revenues for a city facing severe financial and economic challenges.

SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has vowed to “fight tooth and nail” for a casino in Springfield, saying it will provide desperately needed jobs and revenues for a city facing severe financial and economic challenges.

In addition, Sarno, while meeting recently with the Editorial Board of The Republican, said he welcomes multiple proposals for a casino in Springfield to provide the best possible project and location.

“The more the merrier,” Sarno said. “The more competition, the better. I want a casino in Springfield.”

It marked Sarno’s strongest comments yet on the casino issue and follows a grim financial outlook for Springfield, including the threat of significant layoffs and cuts in city services. Sarno and his finance team have presented a package of revenue-boosting proposals ranging from a trash fee increase and other fee increases presented to the City Council, and a plea to Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders for increased state assistance.

A Springfield casino would bring “desperately needed” blue collar and white collar jobs, and would bring “millions and millions of dollars” to the city in tax revenues and a negotiated host fee, Sarno said.

Sarno initially spoke of liking the idea of a “casino in the woods,” in reference to a casino proposed in Palmer, and later said he supported the idea of a casino in Springfield if it would benefit the city.

“Let it be known now, there is no back tracking,” Sarno said. “I want this casino in the city of Springfield. I am going to fight tooth and nail for this casino.”

The casino law allows up to three resort casinos in the state, including one that would be in Western Massachusetts. Under the law, any developer chosen must invest, at minimum, $500 million into a resort casino project.

Under the law, voters in a host community would need to approve a casino before a license could be obtained. Sarno said he hopes a casino would open sooner than a gaming commission website estimate of three to five years.

The city thus far has received one proposal for a casino. Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas is proposing a resort on Page Boulevard in Springfield on 41 acres it purchased for $16 million in January.

A company that owns the Mohegan Sun of Connecticut is planning a casino for 152 acres in Palmer off Exit 8 of the Massachusetts Turnpike. A casino has also been proposed in Holyoke, but is opposed by Mayor Alex Morse.

MGM Resorts International of Las Vegas recently dropped plans for a casino in Brimfield, but said it is looking elsewhere in Western Massachusetts.

Many years ago, when a casino was proposed in Springfield, Sarno said he was “very fearful of a butler building or rinky dink (site) with one-arm bandits and not really drawing what you want to draw.” The new casino law was well-drafted to ensure a quality casino, he said.

Sarno said his job as mayor is to keep the city fiscally solvent in contrast to several years ago when it was placed under a state-imposed Financial Control Board for five years.

While the city has approximately $38 million in the stabilization “rainy day” reserve fund, Sarno said he will not “blow through” the reserves, as it would risk insolvency.

Sarno said the city’s severe financial constraints are due in part to: a reduction in unrestricted state aid from $45 million in 2008 to $28 million by 2012; a continuing drop in property values; a growing shift of funds to the School Department; and a levy ceiling that prevents the city from raising taxes by 2.5 percent, and from increasing taxes for new growth, resulting in more than $7 million in lost revenues.

The mayor, in a letter to the governor and legislative leaders, asked for state assistance including: increased local aid through aid reform; millions of dollars in state reimbursements for school bus transportation currently mandated but unfunded by the state; and permission to use $5 million from the Springfield Promise scholarship program, which was funded by a forgiven $8 million state loan.

The city has a $543 million annual budget, but two-thirds is earmarked for the School Department to meet state guidelines, Sarno said. The city departments’ share of funding has continued to decline over the years, he said.

Sarno said he has made tough decisions before on budget cuts and layoffs and can make them again. However, he said people who call for cuts in city expenses also call for protection of city services such as police and fire protection, public works, libraries and parks.

“When something goes wrong, it’s government that comes to the rescue,” Sarno said, citing the city’s response to disasters such as the tornado last June. “I want to be efficient and effective, yes. I need to be compassionate too. I made the cuts before. I will make them again. But that will redefine city government.”

The state aid formula causes Springfield to receive far less aid than it should for non-school expenses and also in comparison to many communities in the eastern part of the state, Sarno said.

The city had more than 3,000 municipal (non-school) employees in the past, but now has about 1,400 employees, he said.

The anti-climactic outcome was no surprise to anyone in a vote that designed more to win over voters and embarrass senators in close races than to push legislation into law.

File photo | Associated Press02.15.210 | WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama congratulates Warren Buffett after presenting him with a 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom in an East Room ceremony at the White House. Obama supports the "Buffett Rule," named after the billionaire investor who says he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Obama says the nation can't afford to keep giving tax cuts to the wealthiest, "who don't need them and didn't even ask for them." (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

By ALAN FRAM

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans derailed a Democratic "Buffett rule" bill Monday forcing the nation's top earners to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes, using the day before Americans' taxes are due to defy President Barack Obama on one of his signature election-year issues.

By a near party-line 51-45 tally, senators voted to keep the bill alive but fell nine votes short of the 60 needed to continue debating the measure. The anti-climactic outcome was no surprise to anyone in a vote that was designed more to win over voters and embarrass senators in close races than to push legislation into law.

At the White House, Obama denounced the vote, saying Republicans chose "once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class." In a statement issued after the vote, he said he would keep pressing Congress to help the middle class.

"It's just plain wrong that millions of middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires," he said.

Republicans called the measure a divisive Democratic distraction from the nation's real problems that would not address the economy's real woes.

"This legislation will do nothing with regard to job creation, with regard to gas prices, with regard to economic recovery," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader.

Democrats' goal, he said, was "to try to draw attention away from the issues that the American people are most concerned about."

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to keep the measure alive, arguing that it was a way to begin considering a badly needed, broad revamping of the entire tax code.

The lone defecting Democrat was Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, who said making the rich pay a fair share of taxes should occur as part of an overall tax overhaul, "not as a political ploy meant to score points."

Monday's vote was the first time a "Buffett rule" proposal has come to a Senate vote this election year, though Democrats have tried unsuccessfully in recent months to impose modest surcharges on the income of the wealthy.

With presidential and congressional elections approaching in November, it was also a microcosm of the broader battle the two parties are waging over an economy that is still having a tough time creating enough new jobs. And the fight isn't confined to the Senate floor.

On Thursday, the House plans to vote on a plan by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to provide 20 percent tax deductions to all businesses with fewer than 500 workers — a threshold that includes 99.9 percent of all U.S. companies.

Republicans say that plan would spur job creation, while Democrats call it a giveaway to business because firms would not have to hire employees to receive the reduction. That bill is expected to pass the GOP-run House but die in the Democratic-led Senate.

The Senate vote was on a measure by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., that would impose a minimum 30 percent income tax on people making over $2 million yearly and phase in higher taxes for those earning at least $1 million. The measure is nicknamed for billionaire Warren Buffett, who has called for higher taxes on the rich.

The fight has been politically irresistible for both sides.

It allows Democrats to take shots at Mitt Romney, the wealthy, all-but-certain GOP presidential nominee. He has released data showing he paid an effective tax rate of only around 14 percent in 2010 and about 15 percent last year, both years earning around $21 million.

For Republicans, it's a chance to accuse its Democratic backers of pressing for tax increases that will divert money employers could otherwise use to expand and hire more workers.

The Senate measure would raise $47 billion over the coming decade, barely enough to notice against the roughly $7 trillion in budget deficits expected over that period. Administration officials have conceded that by itself it would do little to trim those shortfalls, instead emphasizing its fairness.

"The administration believes that continuing to allow some of the wealthiest Americans to use special tax breaks to avoid paying their fair share simply cannot be justified," the White House said in a written statement.

Obama's tax return shows he earned nearly $790,000 last year and paid an effective tax rate of almost 21 percent.

Republicans said the bill underscored an effort by Obama and Democrats to scapegoat the wealthy with a gimmick that would accomplish nothing.

Campaigning in Philadelphia, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney ridiculed the Buffett rule, telling a tea party audience in Philadelphia the revenue it would produce would fund the government for only about 11 hours. Obama generally says the proposal is to make sure the very wealthy do to not pay an abnormally low tax bill, and doesn't advocate it as a source of significant federal revenue.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, called the measure a proposal "that no one can credibly argue will create a single job."

On average, the wealthy already pay higher income tax rates than those who make less.

People making $1 million or more annually paid an average effective rate of 25 percent last year in federal income and payroll taxes that finance Social Security and Medicare, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a Washington group that studies taxes. Those earning $50,000 to $75,000 paid an average effective rate of 12 percent, the group said.

The White House complaint was that even so, some millionaires end up paying lower rates than many of those earning less. That is largely because many wealthy people earn income from dividends that are taxed at just 15 percent, instead of the top 35 percent rate on salaries.

A report in October by the Congressional Research Service, an agency that conducts research for lawmakers, said about a quarter of those earning $1 million or more per year — 94,500 taxpayers — had a lower tax rate than 10.4 million moderate-income people.

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and David Espo contributed to this report.

Brown called the 'Buffett rule' 'a political stunt,' saying it neither creates jobs nor cuts the deficit.

File photo | The RepublicanU.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., sided with fellow Republicans in voting against the "Buffett rule" on Monday.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., sided with fellow Republicans on Monday in voting against the "Buffett rule", a proposal that would impose a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on the wealthiest Americans.

The bill was defeated 51-45 on an almost entirely party-line vote.

"On the heels of a very weak jobs report for the month of March, this is no time to be talking about raising taxes," Brown said in a statement after the vote. "It will hurt small businesses and make the economy worse."

The "Buffet rule" legislation – Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012, introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. – is derived from a statement made by billionaire Warren Buffett, who suggested that he shouldn't be taxed at a lower rate than his secretary.

"The 'Buffett rule' is a political stunt – it will raise in one year only enough revenue to pay for less than a day of federal spending. It doesn't create a single new job, or cut the national debt," Brown said in his statement.

President Barack Obama pushed hard in the past week for support of the legislation ahead of the vote. Fairness in tax rates is expected to become a major issue in the presidential election between Obama and the likely GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, who opposes increases in taxes on the wealth.

Brown's campaign has criticized his likely Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, for her support of the "Buffet rule."

"Among the tax increases supported by Professor Warren are an increase in the top individual rate (Buffett Rule) which will hurt small businesses, higher Social Security taxes on middle-class families and a job-killing medical device tax that will harm the medical technology industry in Massachusetts," Jim Barnett, Brown's campaign manager, said in a statement last week.

"Washington wastes enough money already. When politicians raise taxes it means there will be even more waste,” Brown said in his Monday statement on the "Buffet rule" vote.

Barnes Airport in Westfield recorded a high of 93 degrees, Northampton reached 91 degrees, and Springfield and Chicopee each saw a high of 90 degrees.

04/16/12-Westfield-Staff Photo by Dave Roback- Bri Lazour, back of Agawam skates with her nephew Jake Lanzour, age 4 of Feeding Hills on the cool ice of Amelia Park Ice Rink on Monday.

SPRINGFIELD – Record-setting temperatures spilled over the region Monday as many communities in Western Massachusetts recorded high temperatures of more than 90 degrees.

Barnes Airport in Westfield recorded a high of 93 degrees, Northampton reached 91 degrees, and Springfield and Chicopee each saw a high of 90 degrees. Palmer, Greenfield and Shelburne were all in the upper 80s.

Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks recorded a high of 92 degrees, edging past the previous record of 90 degrees for April 16, which was set in 2002.

“It was a fairly dry heat today,” said Nick Morganelli, meteorologist for CBS3, The Republican’s media partner. “It was not uncomfortable,” he said.

The dew point was around 50 degrees, meaning low humidity. If the dew point were in the mid-60s, it would have been much more uncomfortable.

“Typically when it's this hot, it’s hazy, hot and humid,” he said.

The remainder of the week is expected to be somewhat, he said.

Tuesday is projected to be between 75 to 80 degrees. On Wednesday, a mass of cold air will move into the area and push temperatures to the upper 60s.

That will clear out and Thursday and Friday should bounce back to the mid-70s.

All in all, it should be a good week, weather-wise, for area school children who are on vacation this week, he said.

“It’s an awesome week for the kids. It’s phenomenal,” he said.

There is a chance of showers on the weekend, beginning midday Saturday, he said. It should carry over to Sunday, Morganelli said.

“We need the rain,” he said.

January, February, and March all had below-normal precipitation totals, making for a combined 3.79 inches below average.

The heat, along with dry conditions and gusty winds, will put the region at an elevated risk for fire danger. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for most of the state on Monday because of an elevated risk of brush fires, due to dry conditions and winds of more than 25 mph.

The red flag warning ended Monday night at 8 p.m. but a fire weather watch will remain in place through Tuesday.

Opening arguments and testimony in the case will begin on Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

NEW YORK – They include a fashion house assistant, an accountant, a reporter, a genetics scientist and a hotel lounge employee.

Emilio Fusco

Those were among 16 anonymous jurors empaneled Monday for the trial of Emilio Fusco, a Longmeadow man accused in a racketeering conspiracy that spanned a decade and included the murder of onetime Greater Springfield Mafia boss Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, plus a string of extortions and drug deals, according to federal prosecutors.

Although jurors were subjected to an entire day of vetting about their philosophical leanings, views on law enforcement, potential connections to organized crime and even their favorite television shows, they were prevented from providing their names, addresses and specific places of employment. U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel had previously granted a prosecution request to seat an anonymous jury – fairly routine in this city for organized crime cases in federal court.

Fusco, 43, is charged with five criminal counts in connection with the violent maneuverings of a young, upstart faction of mobsters intent on wresting power from Bruno, the Greater Springfield head of the New York-based Genovese crime family around the time he was shot dead on Nov. 23, 2003.

Prosecutors say Fusco lobbied New York gangsters for permission to kill Bruno after Fusco discovered Bruno had outed Fusco as a “made man” in the Genovese crime family to an FBI agent in 2002. Investigators also contend Fusco helped kill police informant Gary D. Westerman just weeks before Bruno’s murder.

Fusco will stand trial one year after three co-defendants were tried on nearly identical charges in the same courtroom. Fotios “Freddy” Geas and his brother Ty Geas, former mob enforcers from West Springfield, and onetime Genovese acting boss, Arthur “Artie” Nigro, of Bronx, NY, were tried and convicted last year and are serving life sentences in federal prison.

Fusco’s trial was held up because he was in his native Italy when the charges came down in 2010. Prosecutors say he fled to Sorrento, a small village in southern Italy, to avoid the repercussions of the investigation while his lawyers have argued he was there to attend to family business and was delayed in returning by an Icelandic volcano eruption that year and other factors.

Fusco was captured in Italy last year by authorities dressed as garbagemen and utility workers, Italian police said. With dual citizenship, he fought extradition but was returned to the United States to stand trial.

He has denied any involvement in the murders, in addition to allegations he shook down Springfield bar owners and other businesses and made money off marijuana and cocaine deals before and after a 2003 conviction for loan-sharking and illegal gaming. The entire case has shone a spotlight on the ebb and flow of power in Springfield’s rackets since 2001.

Jurors were culled down from 70 candidates to 11 women and five men, including four alternates. They began getting weeded out for undue hardships, primarily related to work and health constraints, and were further reduced by their responses to a battery of questions. The final cut focused on profession, home ownership, family life, military and previous jury service, where they routinely get news on current events and favorite television shows.

Several jurors informed Castel they were followers of “Downton Abbey,” “Law and Order” and “Modern Family.” One woman told lawyers she is a huge fan of the former HBO New Jersey Mafia-focused series, “The Sopranos,” and got a spot on the panel.

Castel got into a brief skirmish with a juror, a court clerk from the Bronx, who tried to wiggle his way off the jury at the last second and after a long day.

“This is an obstruction and a thwarting of the process. Your application is denied,” Castel told the man acidly, leaving the man to walk away, muttering: “Jerk.”

Opening arguments and testimony will begin Tuesday morning.

The outreach program will run Wednesday 3 to 7 p.m. at the War Memorial, 310 Appleton St.

File photoThe War Memorial building will host a veterans outreach program.

HOLYOKE — Dozens of vendors and officials from government agencies will be available at a veterans’ outreach program Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. at the War Memorial, 310 Appleton St.

Veterans will have access to specialists in areas such as health care, employment, education, housing and federal and state veterans’ assistance programs.

For information, call (413) 322-5630 or email niejadlikt@ci.ma.holyoke.ma.us.

The upgrades should make electric service more reliable because there will be two redundant lines installed.

File photo | The RepublicanAn employee for Chicopee Electric Light works on lines in this past photograph.

CHICOPEE — Hoping to improve reliability, Chicopee Electric Light Company is beginning a project to replace a transformer station and upgrade transmission lines.

The company will replace a substation on Prospect Street, which is least 40 years old and leased from Holyoke Gas and Electric, said Jeffrey R. Cady, general manager of Chicopee Electric Light.

The company offered four different alternatives to replacing the substation. It had initially recommended building a new substation on piece of property between Ingham and Frink streets, but neighbors protested at the meeting.

“We considered it a compromise between rebuilding the one on Prospect Street and Memorial Drive. Our concern was people wouldn’t want the transmission lines on the easements,” Cady said.

But residents said they would prefer to have the substation built on Memorial Drive near the intersection of Vadnais Street and were not concerned about the easements.

That site on Memorial Drive was actually the preferred one by Chicopee Electric Light, in part because development is expected to happen in that area. It had recommended the location on Ingham and Frink Streets mainly because officials said they thought residents would prefer it, Cady said.

The lot is owned by Chicopee Electric Light and years ago housed a substation that was torn down after it became obsolete, Cady said.

The City Council approved the site after its subcommittee meeting.

Along with the transmission station, Chicopee Electric Light will also add new lines which will be much higher than the existing ones.

“This will improve reliability along these corridors,” Cady said. “They will be 70-feet high and there will be two redundant lines so if you lose one, the other is there and people won’t lose power.”

The transmission lines will not be on the large towers that Northeast Utilities are placing off Granby Road as part of the Greater Reliability Project. Instead they will be less noticeable and fewer poles will be needed than there are now, Cady said.

Construction on the new station is expected to begin at the end of 2013.

The project will cost a total of $9.5 million, but $3 million will be reimbursed through ISO New England. The rest will be paid for with the company’s reserves and some of the money will be borrowed, he said.

The Community Preservation Act enables the city to assess a 1 percent property tax surcharge to fund projects involving open space, historic preservation and affordable housing.

File photo | The RepublicanAgawam resident Billy J. Chester has launched another effort to put the city's adoption of the Community Preservation Act before the voters.

AGAWAM — Billy J. Chester, who ran unsuccessfully for the City Council last fall, has launched another effort to put the city’s adoption of the Community Preservation Act before the voters.

This marks the third time in recent years Chester has tried to get the issue placed on the local ballot. His two earlier attempts resulted in him getting enough signatures to force the City Council to vote on a resolution calling for a ballot question. However, the efforts failed because his petitions were rejected as not being in the proper legal form.

Chester said last week that City Councilor Cecilia P. Calabrese has agreed to put a resolution calling for a ballot question before the City Council and that he believes having her do that would be simpler than undertaking a third petition drive.

Putting a question on the ballot requires the authorization of the City Council. Calabrese could not be reached for comment.

“The people have the right to vote,” Chester said. “It is time it is put it to the people.”

The city adopted the state act as a local option in 2001. It enabled the city to assess a 1 percent property tax surcharge to fund projects involving open space, historic preservation and affordable housing.

Among the projects the city has used the money for are $1.7 million for the first phase of the School Street Park project, $210,000 for preservation of the historic Thomas Smith House and $248,000 for roof, door and window replacements for Agawam Housing Authority properties.

Since the city started its program, it has collected more than $3 million in surcharges and received more than $2 million in matching funds from the state.

Earlier this month, the City Council voted to approve using Community Preservation Act money to fund $125,000 for designs for the second phase of School Street Park project and $61,750 to pay for designs to restore and renovate School Street Barn.

Chester said he feels it is important for local residents to get a chance to weigh in on the program, which he said he will vote to suspend.

Although Chester said he favors historic preservation of such sites as School Street Barn, he does not like the fact that there is a proposal to modernize it by putting in heating, air conditioning and even, perhaps, a kitchen.

The activist said he would like the building to remain used as a barn rather than turned into an attraction to be rented out.

A similar resolution calling for ballot question was voted down by the City Council 2-9 in June of last year.

Town Clerk Richard M. Theroux said a question could go on the November 2013 local ballot at no extra cost to the city.

“It is time for the people to have a say as to whether they want to continue this program,” Theroux said.

John Williams' 18-year-old stepson, Devante Fernandes, faces charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to commit murder.

FALMOUTH — A Cape Cod man allegedly shot by his stepson in what authorities are calling a family dispute has died.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said Sunday that 40-year-old John Williams died at Tufts Medical Center in Boston on Saturday where he was taken after being shot with a .20-caliber rifle.

Williams' 18-year-old stepson, Devante Fernandes, faces charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to commit murder.

O'Keefe tells the Cape Cod Times the shooting Thursday in Falmouth remains under investigation and it has not been determined whether Fernandes will face additional charges.

Fernandes has pleaded not guilty and was ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing Wednesday.

His lawyer says Fernandes was protecting his mother from abuse.

The Small Business Administration doesn't make loans; it provides partial guarantees for loans made by banks, credit unions and other lenders.

SPRINGFIELD — Since October, the federal Small Business Administration has approved 50 loans totaling more than $14.1 million in the four western counties of Massachusetts, a 52 percent drop from the 104 loans totaling more than $19.1 million that were approved in the same time period last year.

Robert Nelson

The question is, why the drop, given that most bankers see demand for commercial loans increasing?

“That’s what I want to find out by talking to people,” said Robert H. Nelson, acting New England Regional Administrator for the Small Business Administration and a former head of the SBA office here in Springfield.

Nelson, current Springfield branch manager for the SBA Raymond E. Milano and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, met Monday with bankers and economic developers for an hour-long question-and-answer session at the federal courthouse on State Street.

Neal said the SBA can play an important part in the region’s economic recovery by giving companies access to money to get started or expand. The Small Business Administration doesn’t make loans. But it does provide partial guarantees for loans made by banks, credit unions and other lenders.

Gary W. Besser, vice president of Small Business Administration lending for First Niagara Bank, said some bankers avoid Small Business Administration paperwork by just making the business loans conventionally. That can hurt the business owner. For example, most banks will only make a 5-year loan for working capital. With an SBA guarantee, those loans can be 7 to 10 years long.

“That can give that business a lower payment,” he said.

Besser also said he’s seeing a number of potential business owners who need more coaching before they can realistically start their ventures. Loan applicants are missing the basics, like cleaning up their own personal credit histories, before they come in.

“The time to learn is before you get the loan,” Besser said. “By saying no, I’m doing them a favor. Whey should I put someone’s life savings at risk?”

He refers people to the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center and others who provide coaching.

But overall, Besser said, he’s seeing more commercial loan demand and the applicants are more credit-worthy.

“It gets back to all of the things we are seeing in the economy. Fewer people are looking for work. Home prices aren’t falling like they were. All that helps the mood in the community.”

Nationally, retail sales rose by 0.8 percent in the first quarter, the Associated Press said Monday. Excluding cars, gas and food, sales rose 8.2 percent in the first quarter, the most in two years.

At The Patriot-News, Sara Ganim, a police and courts reporter, won for "courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal," the Pulitzer judges wrote.

Associated PressPatriot News reporter Sara Ganim, 24, center, and the staff of the Patriot-News react to winning The 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting , Monday, April 16, 2012 at the paper's offices in Harrisburg, Pa. Ganim broke the news of the grand jury investigation into allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, and she also was first to report his indictment on charges of molesting several boys involved in a charity he ran. Sandusky has denied the allegations. (AP Photo/The Patriot-News, Christine Baker)

By DEEPTI HAJELA

NEW YORK — The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism Monday for revealing the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., and a 24-year-old reporter captured the award for local reporting for breaking the Penn State scandal that ultimately brought down Joe Paterno.

In a reflection of the forces reshaping the media world, the turmoil-ridden Philadelphia Inquirer won in the public service category for exposing pervasive violence in the city's schools, while David Wood earned a Pulitzer in national reporting for a relative newcomer, The Huffington Post, for stories about the suffering endured by American troops severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was only the second Pulitzer ever awarded for reporting that appeared online only.

Another Pulitzer for investigative reporting was awarded to The Seattle Times for a series about accidental methadone overdoses among patients with chronic pain.

The New York Times won two prizes. David Kocieniewski was honored in the explanatory reporting category for a series on how wealthy people and corporations use loopholes to avoid taxes. And Jeffrey Gettleman received the award for international reporting for his coverage of famine and conflict in East Africa.

Sig Gissler, administrator of the prizes, said the winners in this year's 96th annual competition show that journalism is still a "vibrant force" as a watchdog for the public.

The AP's series of stories — available online at http://apne.ws/IrNyPk — showed how New York police, with the help of a CIA official, created an aggressive surveillance program to gather intelligence on Muslim neighborhoods, businesses and houses of worship. It was the 50th Pulitzer won by the news organization.

The articles showed that police systematically listened in on sermons, hung out at cafes and other public places, infiltrated colleges and photographed people as part of a broad effort to prevent terrorist attacks. Individuals and groups were monitored even when there was no evidence they were linked to terrorism.

The series, which began in August, was by Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley. The stories prompted protests, a demand from 34 members of Congress for a federal investigation, and an internal inquiry by the CIA's inspector general. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have defended the program as a thoroughly legal tool for keeping the city safe.

The four reporters were toasted by scores of colleagues gathered in the newsroom of AP world headquarters in New York.

"We kept reporting things that no one in the city of New York knew about," said AP's executive editor, Kathleen Carroll. "That's what I'm most proud of."

The AP reporters praised their editors for sticking by them and pushing to extend the investigation, even in the face of some high-level criticism in New York City.

"We came under relentless attack," Goldman said. "Some people thought they could intimidate us and the AP — and they were wrong."

A year after the Pulitzer judges found no entry worthy of the prize for breaking news, The Tuscaloosa News of Alabama won the award for coverage of a deadly tornado. By blending traditional reporting with the use of social media, the newspaper provided real-time updates and helped locate missing people, while producing in-depth print coverage despite a power outage that forced the paper to publish at a plant 50 miles away.

The twister hit just after the news staff had had a session on how to use social media to cover the news, city editor Katherine Lee recalled.

"I think we won because the tornado hit where we live, and we all felt a responsibility to do this well, to tell our story well — about how people came together to help total strangers," Lee said.

The judges declined to award a prize for editorial writing.

At The Patriot-News, Sara Ganim, a police and courts reporter, won for "courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal," the Pulitzer judges wrote. At 24, she is one of the youngest journalists ever to win a Pulitzer; at least one prior winner, Jackie Crosby of the Macon Telegraph and News of Georgia, was 23.

Ganim broke the news of the grand jury investigation into allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. She was also the first to report his indictment on charges of molesting several boys involved in a charity he ran. Sandusky has denied the allegations.

The scandal ended Paterno's lustrous coaching career, prompted the ouster of Penn State President Graham Spanier and led to a nationwide discussion over the place of big-time sports on college campuses.

"Better than any award, the most rewarding thing through this whole process has been people telling me that this story and our coverage has changed their minds about local reporting, and we all know that there are a lot of minds yet to change," Ganim said.

The Philadelphia Inquirer — which has recently gone through bankruptcy and repeated rounds of cutbacks and has changed hands five times in the past six years — showed how school violence went underreported. In response, the school system established a new way of keeping track of serious incidents.

One of the winning reporters, John Sullivan, who has since left the paper for Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, was back Monday to celebrate with colleagues.

"This just gives us so much joy ... because we've seen what you guys have gone through the past 10 years, all that we've endured and seeing our friends walk out of the building," he told the newsroom, yet "everybody here just continues to do great journalism."

Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times looked at the consequences when patients with state-subsidized health care were moved from safer pain-control drugs to methadone, which is cheaper but carries more risks. "Not only is this wrong, but this is incredibly tragic," Berens said.

At The Huffington Post, Wood, a veteran military correspondent, looked at catastrophically wounded soldiers' physical and emotional struggles, as well as how their families, communities, comrades and doctors responded.

The Stranger, a Seattle alternative weekly, won the feature writing award for a story about a woman who survived an attack that killed her partner.

Some newspapers that have traditionally been Pulitzer powerhouses, including The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, came up empty-handed this year.

Tim McGuire, a professor at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said the variety among this year's winners is noteworthy: "The entire news ecosystem is being fragmented, and great journalism is being done by all parts of that ecosystem."

Mary Schmich, a longtime Chicago Tribune columnist, was recognized with the commentary award for pieces that "reflect the character and capture the culture of her famed city," the judges said. Film critic Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe won the criticism award, for work the judges called "distinguished by pinpoint prose and an easy traverse between the art house and the big-screen box office."

In photography, Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse won the breaking news award for his picture of a girl weeping after a suicide bomber attacked a crowded shrine in Afghanistan.

Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post won the feature photography award — his second — for his work on an Iraq war veteran's struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Politico's Matt Wuerker won the editorial cartooning prize for work that poked fun at partisan fighting in Washington.

The Pulitzer Prizes are given out annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of journalists and others. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.

Associated Press writers David Crary, Verena Dobnik and Jennifer Peltz in New York; Chris Grygiel in Seattle; JoAnn Loviglio in Philadelphia; and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa., contributed to this report.

Of 5 possible options, the School Building Committee favors three that involve building a new school.

View full sizeThe Republican | John SuchockiPlains Elementary School students in Lorilee Hebert's 1st grade class were role playing to learn compassion for each other and others earlier this month. Teacher Lorilee Hebert and student Summer Schark show it's OK to give a hug to make someone feel better.

SOUTH HADLEY – The School Building Committee has come up with five options for the rebuilding or renovation of Plains Elementary School, which serves children in pre-school, kindergarten and first grade.

The committee plans to make a decision at a meeting on April 18.

At a public hearing last week, residents heard from committee members and others who have been working on the project.

After reiterating many reasons why the 85-year-year old Plains building does not meet current standards, the committee came up with these five options:

1. Stay on the same five-and-a-half parcel of land at the corner of Route 202 and Lyman Street, but demolish the existing building and build a new one-story school in a nearby forested area.

2. Same as option (1), but make it a two-story building and leave more room for outdoor play. Both of these options would allow for classes to continue uninterrupted in the existing school while a new school is built.

3. Build a new two-story school next to the Mosier School on what are now the two playing fields at Mosier.

4. Build a new school on the Toth property off Lyman Street, adjacent to the Mosier School property.

5. Demolish the oldest part of the current Plains School building on Route 202, save the part that was added onto most recently, and add to that.

Parking and traffic issues played a big role in the discussion, because children this young can’t be “dropped off” like older kids. Parents usually have to park and walk them in.

Wetlands have to be avoided because of government regulations, and the permitting process can be costly. Some soils are unfavorable to building. One of the sites had a steep hill.

Margo Jones Architects, Arcadis Program and Project Management and Fuss and O’Neill environmental engineers have been working on the project with the building committee.

The builders estimated the first three options would each cost $22-$26 million, while the Toth option would run to about $30 million and the Plains renovation and addition to $24-$28 million.

For these and other reasons, the building committee favors the first three options.

After making a decision, the committee will submit a building design to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for review and approval. They will also apply for grants to help fund the construction.

Residents can send comments before Wednesday to schoolbuilding@shschools.com or the School Building Committee, South Hadley School Department, 116 Main St.

School Building Committee Public Hearing 4/4/12:

Removal of debris from the October snowstorm was part of a group effort that encompassed town workers from Southwick and Tolland.

Manon Mirabelli photoJoseph Mliardo of Derosia and Sons Tree Removal cuts back tree limbs handing over the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail in Southwick. The trail was littered with debris by the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

SOUTHWICK — The Columbia Greenway Rail Trail is officially open five months after it was closed in the wake of the October snowstorm that left the trail strewn with debris and dangerous overhanging tree limbs.

Public Works Director Jeffrey A. Neece said the task of removing the debris from the rail trail, as well as the townwide cleanup of all Southwick facilities, was accomplished as a group effort that encompassed Southwick and Tolland public works crews, police and fire department personnel, emergency management workers and Town Hall employees.

"Everyone had a part in what we did here in five months," he said. "There were a lot of people working behind the scenes."

The opening of the 2.6-mile trail and the completion of the cleanup effort was celebrated Friday at the new public works facility on College Highway where two contractors prepared a massive feast of smoked beef, grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, vegetables, salads and cake for all town employees.

William Derosia Jr., owner of Great Brook Lumber in Southwick, and his brother, Donald Derosia, owner of Derosia and Sons Tree Removal, of Chicopee, put out a picnic buffet they prepared themselves to show their appreciation to all town workers who aided them in completing the work.

"This is a family community, and everyone is so nice," he said. "This is just our thanks to the town."

The $99,000 job was part of a total $2 million town facilities storm cleanup cost that is being federally reimbursed through the Federal Emergency Management Administration at a 75 percent rate, said Chief Administrative Officer Karl J. Stinehart.

"These funds are part of an emergency authorization from the Department of Revenue," he said.

Voters authorized at the January Town Meeting $2.3 million in short-term borrowing to cover the cost of the townwide cleanup of municipal facilities, including the rail trail, town beach, the old town beach on Berkshire Avenue and the public library grounds, as well as roadways including Tannery, Powder Mill, North Longyard and Feeding Hills roads.

"Ground debris and all dangerous trees and hanging limbs were removed," Neece said.

Stinehart said more concrete figures on the final cost of the job are not yet available and may come in closer to $2.5 million or $2.6 million, a short-term borrowing expenditure which will again have to be approved by voters at the May 8 special Town Meeting.

Short-term borrowing, Stinehart added, allows the town to retain its reserve funds.

"We have until June 30 to get the money back into the account," he explained. "We pay the cost up front then submit a reimbursement request to FEMA."

The work is being done by vendors contracted by the state, Stinehart said.

The town's 25 percent share of the cost, he said, will be paid through the free cash account.

"We will seek a supplemental appropriation from voters to pay down the storm costs," Stinehart said.

It is most often donations from individuals which fund groups that work to protect the land, air and water; for many groups, those gifts declined during the recession.

File photo | The Republican

Unfortunately, as the economy goes, so goes environmentalism.

It is most often donations from individuals which fund groups that work to protect the land, air and water. And, for many groups, those gifts declined during the recession.

That’s why, as Earth Day 2012 approaches, signs that the economy may be recovering have heartened environmentalists.

“We’re starting to see some real brightness ahead, as more people engage with us and the natural world,” said Nora Frank, vice president for philanthropy for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. “One important measurement is the critical giving month of December, and we saw a 4 percent increase (year to year).”

Earth Day, which was founded in 1970, will be celebrated on Sunday in more than 175 countries.

Here in Western Massachusetts, Earth Day fairs and festivals, as well as river and park cleanups, will be held in the coming weeks, including an Earth Day fair in West Springfield on Saturday and an Earth Day festival in Easthampton on April 30.

At the Springfield Science Museum on Sunday, the region’s largest and oldest Earth Day festival will take place, with live music and a birds-of-prey display as well as free ice cream and tree seedlings while supplies last.

The Giving USA Foundation, which tracks charitable giving of all kinds in the United States, estimates that in 2007, prior to the recession, total giving, measured in inflation-adjusted dollars, was $326.57 billion. In 2009, with the economy struggling, giving fell to $280.3 billion, a decline of 14.2 percent.

Environmental groups were not spared. For instance, donations to the Ocean Conservancy fell from $16.1 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2009 to $11.2 million the next fiscal year.

Anticipating that the recession would affect giving, some groups increased their fund-raising efforts.

George Bachrach, the president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, said donations did not drop off for them during the recession.

“We installed a new leadership team in late 2007 and early 2008 which aggressively connected with old donors and pursued new donors. The result was an increase in donations,” he said.

Environmentalism and the economy are tied in more ways than donations, though, Bachrach said.

“Earth Day is about more than protecting our environment. It’s also about our economic future. In Massachusetts, tourism is a $14 billion industry and farming is a $2.6 billion industry,” he said.

And in the state, the renewable energy sector “has created 60,000 jobs in the past few years, making it the fastest growing segment of our economy,” Bachrach said.

In addition to protesting the Buffett Rule's defeat, the group is speaking against the fact that several large corporations pay little or nothing in taxes while reaping profits.

View full sizeOne day before Tax Day 2012, the "Tax Dodgers" were at Fenway Park in Boston to "greet" former Mass. Gov. and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to press him to release his tax returns. (Photo courtesy of Paul E. Talbot via Americans United for Change)

As Tax Day rallies and protests take place across the country today, the Springfield MoveOn.org members will gather outside Sen. Scott Brown's Springfield office at 4:30 p.m.

In addition to protesting Brown's vote against ending taxpayer subsidies for the oil industry, the group said it is demonstrating the "collective outrage that the rich and corporations aren't paying their fair share of taxes to help rebuild the economy."

"Participants will demand that corporations and the richest 1% be required to pay their fair share in taxes to help rebuild the economy so that it works for the 99%," the group said in a press release, alluding to the Buffett Rule which was derailed by Republicans in a Senate vote Monday, primarily along party lines.

The Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012, introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is derived from a statement by billionaire Warren Buffett, who suggested that he shouldn't be taxed at a lower rate than his secretary.

The bill would rewrite the tax code to require Americans earning $1 million or more annually to pay a significantly higher portion of individual taxes with the money slated to go toward paying down the national deficit.

In addition to Monday's setback on the Buffett Rule bill, the group is protesting the fact that several large corporations pay little or nothing in taxes while reaping profits.

"We're here today to express our outrage that the rich and corporations like Exxon Mobil have been allowed to play by a different set of rules than the rest of us and aren't paying their fair share to help rebuild the economy,” said Pat Fiero, a local MoveOn.org member. "Taxing the 1% is the quickest way to rebuild our economy so that it works for everyone. We pay our fair share of taxes. Exxon should too."

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the MassUniting Coalition will take to the streets of Boston's financial district in a similar protest. A coalition of 30 groups from across the Bay State will take part in the protest which also calls on the wealthy to pay more in taxes.

"Tuesday’s march and rally come on the heels of a new report by the non-partisan Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy and Citizens for Tax Justice, which reveals that local corporations such as General Electric, State Street, Bank of America and Verizon are amongst the worst tax dodgers in America," MassUniting said in a statement. "General Electric alone managed to draw in a federal tax refund of $3.7 billion over the last three years, despite posting profits of more than $19.6 billion. The tax dodging policies of companies like GE have drained millions from the Massachusetts economy – forcing mass layoffs, slashing vital services, and closing schools and community centers."

A loyal Labrador retriever named Maggie was videotaped as she guarded the body of a yellow Lab hit and killed by a car in Southern California.

Associated PressThis April 11, 2012 photo released by the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control shows a female black Labrador retriever after she had stood next to a yellow Lab that was struck and killed in traffic in La Puente, Calif. A motorist who saw the dogs on a La Puente street put down traffic cones to alert other drivers and shot video of the dogs. The video released Saturday showed the black Lab lying next to the motionless, yellow Lab as vehicles pass dangerously close to them. Officials say the 2-year-old dog, which animal shelter staff and volunteers have named Grace, appears to have been well cared for. (AP Photo/L.A. County Dept. of Animal Care and Control)

LOS ANGELES — A loyal Labrador retriever named Maggie, who was videotaped as she guarded the body of a yellow Lab hit and killed by a car in Southern California, was reunited with her family Monday.

A good Samaritan saw what was happening on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puente last Wednesday, called officers, put traffic cones around the dogs and took the video that touched hearts across the country as it made its way around the Internet.

Before Maggie's family claimed her Monday, the dog was spayed and microchipped. The name of the family was not released.

Dozens of people called or visited the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control shelter in Baldwin Park offering to adopt the sweet-natured dog. The good Samaritan was the first to fill out paperwork.

Officers were getting the dogs out of the street at the same time Maggie's family was at the shelter looking for her, said Capt. Aaron Reyes, deputy director of the department.

Maggie is expected to go home Tuesday after shelter workers inspect her home, Reyes said.

No one knows who the yellow Lab belonged to or where Maggie met him, Reyes said. He had no license or microchip.

Maggie's loyalty to the dead dog was so poignant and so risky that shelter workers nicknamed her Grace, as in "Amazing Grace." The video shows traffic speeding by just a few feet from the dogs.

Maggie is about 2 years old and the family's only dog, Reyes said. The family includes children.

Maggie's family wasn't the first to show up at the shelter Monday claiming the dog belonged to them. But it was the first family to have papers to prove it and to call the dog Maggie. Shelter workers remembered the family.

Even though she was groggy from surgery, the dog responded immediately to her name and the family, Reyes said.

The family will be issued citations for having an unregistered dog and allowing it to run loose and will have to pay nominal room and board costs, Reyes said, but the shelter did the surgery and implanted the microchip for free.

The good Samaritan who had hoped to adopt Grace was notified, Reyes said, and his reaction was "understandably bittersweet."

"He had a lot of the same questions we did. How could they not have a license? Had Maggie had an ID tag or microchip, she could have been spayed and been back home last week," Reyes said.

Meanwhile, adoptions are all about foot traffic, he said, so he's hoping some of those drawn in by Maggie might consider leaving with another dog, cat or rabbit.

Baldwin Park is 18 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

There were no injuries in the fire, which was reported around 10:55 a.m.

The Republican | Don Treeger04.17.2012 | LUDLOW - Firefighters mop up at the scene of a house fire at 805 Chapin St.

LUDLOW - The office of the State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of a Tuesday morning fire at a home on Chapin Street.

Fire chief Mark H. Babineau said the owner of the home at 805 Chapin St. reported the fire around 10:55 a.m. Tuesday.

The fire broke out in the basement, where it caused extensive damage. The fire caused heat and smoke damage to the home's first floor.

There were no injuries.

The home is owned by William R. and Maria Falconer and was most recently assessed at $175,800, according to the town's board of assessors.

The list from Smithsonian Magazine focuses on towns with a population under 25,000.

Associated PressThe autumn leaves begin to turn colors along Main Street in Great Barrington, Mass, in this Nov. 2, 2010 photo.

Smithsonian Magazine's annual list of the best small towns in America features some glamorous names like Key West, Florida and Laguna Beach, California, but makes room for two comparatively quiet towns in Western New England.

Ranking No. 1 on the list, which focuses on towns with a population under 25,000, is Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The Berkshire County town draws praise for its devotion to local food, the Berkshire International Film Festival, and the town's experiment with a local-goods-only currency called BerkShares bills.

Brattleboro, Vermont checked in at No. 11 on the list. Writers Susan Spano and Aviva Shen say:

Once you’ve strolled through the downtown historic district, lined with galleries, antiques shops, theaters and dance studios, it might be hard to get back in the car.

Other towns in Smithsonian's Top 20 include Taos, New Mexico, Marfa, Texas, and Naples, Florida. Click here to read the full list from Smithsonian Magazine.

Do you agree with Smithsonian Magazine's assessment of Great Barrington and Brattleboro? Share your opinion in the comments.