The iPhone maker's stock climbed $50 after the company once again blew past Wall Street's profit forecasts.

File photo | Associated PressAn Associated Press reporter demonstrates the Garage Band application on the Apple iPad 2 in San Francisco. Apple stock shot up nearly 9 percent after the company reported its earnings doubled int he first three months of the year.

NEW YORK — The Nasdaq composite index shot 2 percent higher Wednesday, powered by a surge in Apple. The iPhone maker's stock climbed $50 after the company once again blew past Wall Street's profit forecasts.

With Apple's help, the technology-focused Nasdaq posted its best day this year.

Apple, the biggest component of the index by far, climbed 8.9 percent after reporting that its earnings doubled in the first three months of the year. The company sold 35 million iPhones, twice as many as in the same quarter a year ago.

The surge made back about half of what Apple's stock lost in the two weeks before its earnings announcement late Tuesday. One reason for the slump was an analyst's suggestion that Apple could not keep up the momentum in iPhone sales.

Stock in Apple, the most valuable public company in the world, hit $644 in intraday trading on April 10 and slid as low as $555 on Tuesday.

Apple jumped nearly $50 to $610 on Wednesday. The gain helped power the Nasdaq up 68.03 points to 3,029.63. Apple makes up 12 percent of the Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq rose more than other market indexes thanks to its heavy weighting of Apple shares. The Standard & Poor's 500 index includes Apple; the Dow Jones industrial average doesn't.

The Dow gained 89.16 points to close at 13,090.72, a 0.7 percent increase. The S&P 500 index rose 18.72 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,390.69. Apple accounts for 4 percent of the S&P 500.

The tech giant joined a growing list of companies that have reported surprisingly strong first-quarter earnings. Through last week, eight out of 10 companies that reported earnings had beat estimates, including Microsoft, IBM and Coca-Cola. Even so, the S&P 500 index is still down 1 percent for the month.

"Sure, earnings are a lot better than expected, but this looks like a quarter where the market doesn't react to that," said Brian Gendreau, market strategist at Cetera Financial. "I don't think that the positive earnings season we've had is enough to shake this market out of its trading range."

Technology stocks in the S&P 500 gained 3 percent as a group, the best-performing industry in the market. Material and consumer-discretionary companies also had a strong day.

Financial markets barely budged after the Federal Reserve said it would stick with its plan to keep a key short-term interest rate near zero. The Fed detailed no plans to extend its bond-buying program when the current iteration ends in June.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note increased slightly following the Fed's announcement. Gold prices fell and the dollar inched up against other currencies. Stock indexes stayed where they were.

Some European markets posted strong gains. Benchmark stock indexes rose 3 percent in Italy and 2 percent in France. Germany's market gained 1.7 percent. British shares rose just 0.2 percent following news that the British economy fell back into recession for the first time since 2009.

For Europe, Apple may not be an economic bellwether, but analysts said it's a valuable gauge of confidence in markets.

Among other stocks making moves:

• Boeing rose 5 percent, the best performer among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow. Its first-quarter profit soared 58 percent. Airlines around the world are updating their fleets with more fuel-efficient planes.

• Harley-Davidson jumped 6 percent. U.S. sales of the company's motorcycles soared 26 percent in the first three months of the year, the fourth straight increase. The company credited the gain to a better U.S. economy and a restructuring program the company put in place four years ago.

• Lorillard fell 4 percent after the cigarette maker reported a 10 percent drop in income for the first quarter. The company said higher prices couldn't make up for a fall in sales of its Newport and Maverick cigarettes.

School Committee member James Harrington bested colleague Jacob Oliveira in the competition.

Joshua Desforges

LUDLOW - Two School Committee members recently participated in the second annual Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges Fitness Challenge.

School Committee member James P. “Chip” Harrington, 44, said he bested School Committee member Jacob Oliveira, 25, in the physical fitness challenge.

“I beat him last year, but this year he beat me,” Oliveira said.

“Score one for the old guys,” Harrington said.

The physical fitness challenge is organized by Ludlow High School Attendance Officer Thomas Cote to raise money for a scholarship in memory of Marine Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in May 2010.

This year there were 43 participants in the challenge which was held in the Ludlow High School gymnasium.

The challenge, which lasts an hour, consists of military push-ups, pull-ups, squats and abdominal workouts, Oliveira said.

After two half hour rounds of competition, those who are left standing, which this year was 19 participants, compete in a final round of pull-ups.

“I did not make it,” Oliveira, who described himself as a sporadic athlete, said.

Harrington said he trains full-time ever since he had neck surgery in 2010.

The winner of this year’s contest was Ryan Wytas, a junior at Ludlow High School, and Jennifer Maurer, a second grade elementary teacher at East Street School.

“The contest was worthy of our Marine,” said Cote, a Marine veteran who was a mentor to Desforges at Ludlow High School.

At this year’s fitness challenge nearly $10,000 was raised for the Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges Memorial Fund which will award $500 to $1,000 scholarships to Ludlow High School graduates.

Harrington said the scholarships are not only available to those going on to college.

“You could be passionate about being a plumber, a member of the military, or an actor,” Harrington said, and apply for the scholarship.

He said the Desforges family will award the scholarships to Ludlow High School graduates..

Scholarship applications are due by April 30. The applications are available through the Guidance Department at Ludlow High School.

Mugs honoring Desforges also are being sold to benefit the scholarship fund. They cost $20 and are for sale at Our Town Variety, Ludlow High School and by calling Cote at 413-427-9079.

It was the first new case of the disease in the U.S. since 2006 and the fourth ever discovered in this country.

File photo | The Republican

Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are taking to the Internet to reassure the public there is little danger to the public despite the announcement this week that a dairy cow in California was found to be infected with mad cow disease.

FDA Deputy Commissioner of Foods Mike Taylor and USDA Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. John Clifford each issued videos on YouTube.com on Wednesday to profess that the county's meat and milk supplies remain safe.

It was announced on Tuesday that as a result of testing earlier this month on single dead dairy cow in Hanford, Ca., officials determined the animal was infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, which is also known as mad cow disease.

BSE is a disease that is fatal to cows and can cause a deadly human brain disease in people who eat tainted meat.

It was the first new case of the disease in the U.S. since 2006 and the fourth ever discovered in this country.

As the news traveled across the country, officials issued public announcements to reassure the public.

Taylor said there is nothing about the recent case that should cause any alarm.

"It’s a very rare event that any cow is infected," he said.

BSE, he said, affects a cow's central nervous system, and not the mamamary glands that produce milk.

"Scientists have looked at this, the World Health Organization has looked at this, and we’re confident that consumers needn’t be concerned about the safety of milk," he said.

Clifford, in a 3 1/2 minute video, goes over the practices used at beef and dairy facilities to screen for BSE since 1990.

"Our surveilance works. we found this case of BSE," he said. "It (the cow) was never presented for human consumption and at no time did it present a risk to our food supply."

FDA Deputy Commissioner of Foods Mike Taylor

USDA Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. John Clifford

Kravetz said the situation was a "circus" of "political maneuverings."

HOLYOKE — Upheaval struck the board that oversees the troubled Holyoke Geriatric Authority Wednesday, with two members quitting and former city councilor Patricia C. Devine voted in as seventh member and new chairwoman.

Steven J. Kravetz, who had been the seventh member, resigned midway into defending his nursing home qualifications versus those of Devine. He criticized the process as a “circus” dominated by “serious political maneuverings to remove me from this board.”

He walked out of the meeting room at the authority, an 80-bed nursing home at 45 Lower Westfield Road.

That came minutes after authority Executive Director Sheryl Y. Quinn said board member John P. Counter also had resigned.

Steven Kravetz

Patricia Devine

This was also the first meeting of James Brunault, whom the City Council appointed to the authority April 17.

The authority is overseen by a board consisting of three appointed by the City Council and three appointed by the mayor, with those six choosing a seventh.

Under the 1971 state act that established the authority, the council and mayor each must appoint one director representing the medical field, one representing the legal or financial field and a third with experience in geriatrics.

Kravetz, who owns the Center for Extended Care nursing home in Amherst, held a geriatric seat on the board.

With Devine seated a few feet behind him, Kravetz said whatever geriatrics background Devine had were incomparable to his.

“I would tell you that you’d have to be out of your mind to vote any other way,” Kravetz said.

Board members Raymond P. Murphy Jr., Charles F. Glidden, Jacqueline Watson and Brunault then voted Devine the seventh member followed by a vote to make her chairwoman. Joseph T. O’Neill, who had been chairman, voted no on those motions.

Devine was sworn in on the spot by Russell J. McNiff, the authority’s human resources director, who said he is a notary public.

O’Neill objected, saying his experience had been that only the city clerk swore in new members.

Glidden said City Clerk Susan M. Egan had given her OK for McNiff to swear in Devine at the meeting if she was voted in as seventh member. McNiff administered an oath to Devine.

“You’re in charge,” Glidden told Devine.

“Welcome,” O’Neill said, as Devine sat down, “it’s been a long and arduous journey.”

“I’m very happy to be sitting with you all here tonight and looking forward to moving forward,” said Devine.

Despite months of contentiousness, she said, she hoped everyone had the same goal of improving the authority.

Devine is employed as fixed asset inventory control specialist with the State Lottery. She was defeated in the November election after having an at-large councilor since 2005. She was Ward 6 councilor from 1990 to 2000.

Counter, who is executive director of the Greenfield Housing Authority, said later he resigned because of personal and professional commitments.

“I just cannot commit the time that the organization needs of me,” Counter said.

Counter praised Devine and said of Kravetz: “Losing Steve Kravetz is a huge loss to the Geriatric Authority of Holyoke.”

Overwhelmed by financial problems, the authority board had been split, with one side consisting of O’Neill, Kravetz and Counter and the other consisting of Murphy, Glidden and Watson.

The term of former board member Helen Arnold.exprired in January and she was replaced by Brunault.

The authority is under financial pressures that include a demand from the city that it repay $465,000. That’s the amount the City Council reluctantly agreed to cover in December regarding unpaid authority employee retirement costs dating back to 2008.

Authority officials have said federal reimbursements of only 75 percent of costs have handcuffed the facility.

Left to right, Steven Kravetz and Patricia Devine

The indictment describes DiNunzio as the brutal acting leader of the New England branch of La Cosa Nostra who vowed to use violence on anyone who balked at his commands.

Associated PressPeter Neronha, center, U.S. attorney for the district of Rhode Island, announces the arrest of alleged New England mafia boss Anthony DiNunzio, during a news conference, in Providence, R.I., Wednesday, April 25, 2012, as James Trusty, chief of the organized crime and gang section in the U.S. Justice Department Criminal Division, center, and Richard Deslauriers, FBI special agent in charge of the Boston Field Office, right, look on.The investigation into the alleged shakedown of Providence strip clubs left the New England mafia without a leader on Wednesday as authorities arrested the reputed boss in Boston on charges he oversaw the mob’s extortion of adult entertainment businesses and sought to broaden its influence. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

By LAURA CRIMALDI

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — An investigation into the alleged shakedown of Providence strip clubs left the New England mafia without its reputed leader Wednesday as authorities arrested Anthony L. DiNunzio on charges he oversaw the mob's extortion of adult entertainment businesses and sought to broaden the crime operation's influence.

DiNunzio, 53, was arrested by authorities at a social club in the North End section of Boston on a federal indictment Tuesday, officials said. The indictment describes DiNunzio as the brutal acting leader of the New England branch of La Cosa Nostra who vowed to use violence on anyone who balked at his commands.

"I get to watch you die in the ground ... and I'll dig you back up and make sure (you're) dead," DiNunzio is quoted as telling a senior made member of the Gambino crime family during a June 22 meeting last year at My Cousin Vinny's restaurant in Malden, Mass.

Authorities hailed DiNunzio's arrest as another "nail in the coffin" of organized crime, which has seen nine members and alleged associates face federal charges in Rhode Island since January 2011. Last year, authorities arrested 91 leaders, members and associates and 36 others in the largest law enforcement takedown of La Cosa Nostra in history, said James M. Trusty, chief of the Organized Crime and Gang Section in the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division.

DiNunzio's arrest is the second time a person who authorities allege controlled the New England mob has been charged in about 16 months. Former New England mob boss Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, 84, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and admitted to his role in the mob earlier this year.

At a news conference, Peter F. Neronha, U.S. attorney for Rhode Island, called the indictment part of a "step-by-step, block-by-block effort" to imprison organized crime leaders.

A husky DiNunzio appeared in U.S. District Court in Providence wearing a black track suit and glasses. His attorney Robert Sheketoff entered not guilty pleas on his behalf on charges including racketeering conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. He was ordered held without bail pending a hearing next month.

Sheketoff declined to comment outside court.

DiNunzio, who is the brother of former reputed New England mob underboss Carmen "The Cheeseman" DiNunzio, took over control of the mafia from Peter Limone about two years ago, said Rhode Island state police superintendent Col. Steven O'Donnell. He lives in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston and oversees operations in Boston and Rhode Island, authorities said.

Carmen DiNunzio is serving a six-year sentence for bribing an undercover FBI agent posing as a state official to try to win a $6 million contract on Boston's Big Dig highway project. Anthony DiNunzio's son is also with the New England mob but does not answer directly to his father, according to arguments filed by prosecutors in court seeking DiNunzio's detention while he awaits trial.

Limone, who authorities allege took over from Manocchio, stepped aside after taking a plea deal on charges in Massachusetts for extortion and illegal gaming, O'Donnell said. Prosecutors allege Anthony DiNunzio has been associated with the New England mob since the 1990s and became a made member between late 1998 and early 1999.

Aside from allegations that DiNunzio oversaw the extortion of strip clubs, the indictment claims he sent a member of the mob to New York to seek permission from the Gambino crime family to shake down an adult entertainment executive from Rhode Island.

The person, who is not named by prosecutors, previously made monthly extortion payments of $50,000 to the Gambino crime family to protect his businesses, authorities wrote in court papers.

In some meetings with Gambino crime family, DiNunzio fretted about being swept up in the strip club shakedown case, the indictment said. In the June 2011 meeting at My Cousin Vinny's, DiNunzio described the search of him a month earlier that resulted in the FBI seizing $5,000 from him after he met with Rhode Island mob captain Edward "Eddy" Lato. DiNunzio said the cash was "marked money" and predicted to Lato that they would be arrested.

"Come on, let's go have a steak for lunch because we are probably going to get pinched tomorrow," the indictment quotes DiNunzio as saying.

Lato has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and admitted to being in the mob.

Meeting with a Gambino crime family representative in December in Clifton, N.J., DiNunzio discussed who he would have step in for others in Rhode Island who had been charged in the strip club case, the indictment said.

He also said he would not be halted by an arrest.

"If I go to the can, I'm still the boss. ... no matter what," the indictment quotes DiNunzio as saying.

Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, said that people expected that casinos would open a year earlier than projected by the gaming commission.

Stephen Crosby, left, speaks as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, looks on during a news conference at the Statehouse in Boston in December. Patrick appointed Crosby as chair of a state gambling commission that will oversee the state’s new casino law.

BOSTON — The chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Wednesday told business leaders from Western Massachusetts that it will be three to four years before casino resorts open, but that he is confident the passage of time won't hurt the state's ability to capitalize on casinos.

Commission chairman Stephen P. Crosby, and a second state gaming commissioner, former Springfield City Councilor Bruce Stebbins, talked to members of several chambers of commerce in the Springfield area.

Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, the host of the event, said people expected that casinos would open a year earlier than projected by the gaming commission. Candaras said she is concerned that surrounding states, such as Maine, New York and Rhode Island, might open new or expanded casinos and achieve dominance in the market before casinos open in Massachusetts.

"People are just surprised that it will take longer than maybe we contemplated," Candaras said.

Sen. Gale D. Candaras

Legislators approved casinos to generate revenues for state and local governments and to create jobs.

The state's gaming law, passed in November, authorizes up to three casino resorts, including one for anywhere in the four counties of Western Massachusetts. The law also authorizes a slot facility that could be anywhere in the state.

Crosby said that a year's delay will not cause any problems in terms of market share.

Crosby said it would likely take the commission one to two years to issue requests for bids, review applications and award licenses. After that, it would probably take two years for a casino to be up and running, he said.

"A year won't make that much difference," Crosby said.

Crosby said mistakes occur if the process is rushed.

Crosby and Stebbins were among about 10 leading state officials who spoke to chamber members during their annual "Beacon Hill Summit" at the Statehouse.

The Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce were involved with the event.

The five-member commission's job is to select, license, oversee, and regulate all casinos and the slot facility.

Crosby told chamber members to begin considering ways to create benefits from casinos including guarantees for local businesses, tourism and employment.

"Think about how you can rope them in and get their assets to work for you," Crosby said.

Crosby said a host community can negotiate whatever it wants including payments for economic studies, improvements to infrastructure and job guarantees.

Stebbins said the commission would take into account a casino applicant's plans for doing business with local merchants.

Under the gaming law, communities that could host a casino need to negotiate agreements with a potential operator and put that agreement before voters. In order to submit an application for a license, casinos need voter approval in a community where they plan to locate. Here is a link to the gaming law.

The law says only a vote by a potential host ward is required in Boston, Springfield and Worcester.

The law says a city's "local governing body" can vote to opt out of the provision for only a ward vote in the three most populated cities and require a city-wide vote.

Two of the leading authors of the state's gaming law — Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, and Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst — also attended the event and weighed in on the implications of the law.

Wagner said there is speculation in Western Massachusetts that Springfield might receive a casino proposal for the downtown to compete with an existing proposal for a casino by Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas.

Ameristar paid $16 million in January for a 41-acre site on Page Boulevard and I-291 in Springfield, but has not released plans for a possible overhaul of roads to direct traffic to the site.

Crosby told legislators he was pleased with the gaming law. He said it provides multiple levels of law enforcement, ways to protect the state Lottery and communities that would be adjacent to a host community and powerful tools for the commission to license and oversee casinos.

"This is the best gaming legislation ever passed," in the country," Crosby said. "You folks did a tremendous job."

A local casino proponent who attended the event, Anthony L. Cignoli, a partner in Paper City Development, a development group teamed up with Hard Rock International in Florida for a possible casino, said Hard Rock is still looking in Western Massachusetts and probably will select a new site for a casino.

Hard Rock and Paper City wanted to build a gambling resort on the 100-acre Wyckoff Country Club off Interstate 91 in Holyoke, but it ran into opposition from Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse.

In Palmer, the Mohegan Sun is planning a casino near Exit 8 of the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Late last month, MGM Resorts International dropped out of a casino project planned for Brimfield. MGM has said it will seek an alternative site in Western Massachusetts.

The prospect of more restrictions comes as fishermen in the Gulf of Maine face a 22 percent cut in the catch of the key cod species in May.

File photo | Associated PressIn this July 2, 2010 photo, Yuliyan Bodurov unloads containers of conch from the Peggy B, in Wychmere Harbor in Harwich, Mass. Ground fishing has virtually disappeared in this small port, and new fishing rules enacted in May have fishermen at New England's major ports worried their historic fishing communities could fade away as well. (AP Photo/Julia Cumes)

By JAY LINDSAY

BOSTON — The health of the ancient Atlantic sturgeon has emerged as the latest problem for a New England fishing industry already facing serious threats to its future.

On Wednesday, regional fishery managers discussed protecting sturgeon, two months after federal officials listed the fish in the Gulf of Maine as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. Four other East Coast populations of the imposing, prehistoric fish were listed as the more serious "endangered" at that time.

Fishermen are forbidden from targeting sturgeon, but the listings could still lead to tough new fishing restrictions, such as closing new areas. That could happen if regulators determine so many sturgeon would be accidentally caught by fishermen chasing other species that it would jeopardize the sturgeon's existence.

The prospect of more restrictions comes as fishermen in the Gulf of Maine face a 22 percent cut in the catch of the key cod species in May, with potentially catastrophic cod cuts looming in 2013.

They're also getting shut out of a prime pollock area for two months, starting in October, to protect harbor porpoises.

On Wednesday, David Pierce of the New England Fishery Management Council predicted that new regulations would be needed to protect sturgeon and would cause "untold grief" for fishermen from New England down to the mid-Atlantic states.

He made a proposal, which the council approved, that requires a council committee to assess the federal science behind the listing itself and find out how researchers arrived at the low population estimates for sturgeon.

Council member Laura Ramsden said population estimates for Atlantic sturgeon were unreliable because the last comprehensive assessment was conducted more than a decade ago. She also questioned why onerous restrictions were needed, since only a minority of sturgeon that have contact with fishing gear end up dying from it.

"I'm not sure that's justified," she said.

But Kim Damon-Randall of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said regulators have more recent, solid estimates of the sturgeon population, and they show the population can't afford even a few deaths.

"We're talking about very low population sizes so even a small percentage being removed each year is a significant number of Atlantic sturgeon," she said.

The sturdy fish, found from Florida to Maine, can grow as large as 14 feet and 800 pounds and live for 60 years. They spawn in rivers in the spring and early summer, then head for open water. The once-abundant fish was depleted in the late 19th century by demand for their caviar.

Now, federal regulators estimate there are roughly 8,200 sturgeon vulnerable to fishing gear (not counting younger, smaller fish), including 664 in the Gulf of Maine.

Regulators say the sturgeon is most endangered by stationary nets that sink to the bottom, so-called sink gillnets. The gear is often used by fishermen targeting monkfish, but it's also used to catch other species such as cod and dogfish. Regulators estimate about 27 percent of the sturgeon that encounter sink gillnets end up dying.

Ron Smolowitz, of the Fisheries Survival Fund, a scallop industry group, warned the council that restrictions to protect the fish could affect many fishermen who don't use sink gillnets. Under the Endangered Species Act, certain areas can be designated as "critical habitat" if those areas are seen as essential to conserving the species.

Such critical habitat designations can come with restrictions that "could wipe out the entire fisheries of the East Coast of the United States," he said.

Brad Sewell, an attorney for the National Resources Defense Council, which petitioned to have the sturgeon listed under the Endangered Species Act, said in a phone interview said it's extremely unlikely new sturgeon restrictions will have such a broad effect.

Changes to sink gillnet fishing will be the focus, and there are affordable, sensible measures can make it less of a danger to sturgeon, such as pulling up the nets more often or raising them off the ocean floor to avoid sturgeon, he said.

"We're confident that there are cost-effective ways of saving this remarkable fish and also keeping fishermen on the water," Sewell said.

Many communities use assessment centers in searches to fill major municipalities, a tack some believe takes the politics out of the process.

File photo | The RepublicanRetired West Springfield Police Chief Thomas E. Burke

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The Public Safety Commission Wednesday took its first step in helping select a new police chief by looking through requests for proposals for consultants used by other communities in similar searches.

The commission also postponed until next week its review of whether the city should compensate retired Police Chief Thomas E. Burke for 11½ weeks of unused vacation time.

Burke retired in March after working for many years as the city’s police chief.

Commissioners delayed action on Burke’s request for payment because the chairman, William J. Fennel, was unable to attend Wednesday’s meeting. They agreed to take up the matter after commissioners work on a request for proposals for consultants to help them evaluate candidates for the police chief post when they meet in the municipal building at 5:15 p.m. next Wednesday.

Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger has asked the commission to send him a recommendation as to who commissioners believe should be the city’s next police chief. Neffinger has expressed desire to make an appointment sometime in June.

Many communities hire a so-called assessment center as a consultant when filling major positions like police and fire chief because they are thought to take the politics out of the process.

Holyoke recently used an assessment center to help it hire a new police chief and Westfield used an assessment center to aid it in filling a police captain’s position.

Human Resources Director Sandra A. MacFadyen told commissioners a rough range for the cost of hiring a consultant is $6,000 to $15,000.

Among the things assessment centers do is administer a written test and set up role-playing scenarios.

All five captains in the West Springfield Police Department are thought to be candidates for the job, according to officials. Those captains are provisional Chief Ronald P. Campurchiani, Daniel M. Spaulding, Thomas A. Wilkinson, John A. Ferrarini and Daniel M. O’Brien, who has been on paid administrative leave while being investigated regarding a woman taken into custody.

Burke has said he did not see a memo asking employees to take any vacation time for previous years by March 31 until just before he retired.

Neffinger has asked the Public Safety Commission to make a recommendation to him on how to handle the request by Burke for vacation pay.

Prosecutors wound down with government witnesses Frankie Roche and Felix Tranghese and are expected to rest their case early Thursday afternoon.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 2:30 this afternoon.

Four of the players connected to the Emilio Fusco mob murder case currently going on in New York include, clockwise from top, left, Emilio Fusco, Frankie Roche, Gary Westerman (deceased) and Felix Tranghese.

NEW YORK - The descent in the government's case against accused mob murderer Emilio Fusco began on Wednesday with two government informants that outlined the development of the 2003 contract hit on western Massachusetts crime boss Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno in 2003.

According to witnesses Frankie Roche, Bruno's admitted shooter, of Westfield, and aged wiseguy Felix Tranghese, of East Longmeadow, who delivered an order from New York bosses that Bruno should be killed, the slaying was the result of a sort of perfect storm that left Bruno vulnerable.

Both Roche, 39 and Tranghese, 60, entered the U.S. Witness Protection program after their arrests in the case in 2005 and 2010, respectively. Roche was a petty criminal drawn into the plot through prison friendships with Mafia strong-arm Fotios "Freddy" Geas; while Tranghese testified he was a fixture in the Greater Springfield, Mass., landscape since the 1970s.

Over two days of testimony, Roche told jurors he shot Bruno six or seven times on Nov. 23, 2003, in a dark parking lot in downtown Springfield for a $10,000 fee, recruited by Bruno's rivals who were looking to run the city. Coincidentally, Roche had independently drawn the ire of Bruno when Roche wrecked a bar owned by Bruno's friend shortly before the killing. So, Roche told jurors he blurted a greeting triggered by machismo just before he pumped the powerful crime boss full of bullets.

"I said: 'Hey, Al ... you looking for me? Then I shot him once, then another four or five times. Then he fell to the ground and I shot him again," Roche told jurors on Tuesday.

Fusco is accused in a racketeering conspiracy that includes the Bruno murder plus the brutal slaying of police informant Gary D. Westerman the same year, plus a string of strip bar shakedowns, drug deals and illegal gaming schemes. He is a so-called "made member" of the powerful New York-based Genovese organized crime family. Fusco is accused of circulating a court document in a prior loan-sharking case that confirmed Bruno had told an FBI agent that Fusco was a made guy, thus signing Bruno's death warrant.

Fusco's defense lawyer, however, has suggested Bruno was at odds with New York bosses over a $250,000 cigarette exporting swindle that Bruno found himself on the wrong end of - and that is what motivated higher-ups to sanction a contract on his life.

Tranghese testified on Wednesday that he brought the court document Fusco flagged to then-acting Genovese boss Arthur Nigro for his review in 2003.

"Artie gave me the order. Go back to Springfield and say Bruno had to be taken out; and it would be better if nothing was found," Tranghese told jurors, intimating the ideal plan would include Bruno's body disappearing.

Both Roche, Tranghese and Bruno successor Anthony J. Arillotta, who also turned government witness, testified in a trial against Nigro and West Springfield mob henchmen Fotios and Ty Geas last year on nearly parallel charges. All were convicted in the same Manhattan courtroom and are serving life sentences.

After six days of testimony, prosecutors are expected to rest their case early Thursday afternoon. Defense lawyer Richard B. Lind is expected to present a handful of witnesses including Fusco's former lawyer in a previous criminal case and onetime south Florida gangster Mitchell Weissman, another government informant, who will tell jurors about the ill-fated cigarette deal and the fallout in the Genovese family.

Martha Coakley's "HomeCorps" program is funded by Massachusetts' share of a nationwide settlement involving the five largest mortgage servicers and their connection with unlawful foreclosures and loan servicing.

Associated PressA foreclosure sign sits atop a for sale sign in front of a single-family home in Denver in this April 4, 2010, file photo.

BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has announced an initiative designed to prevent foreclosures by increasing the number of loan modification specialists available to distressed borrowers and offering a number of grant opportunities.

APMartha Coakley

Coakley’s “HomeCorps” program is funded by the state’s share of a nationwide settlement involving the five largest mortgage servicers and their connection with unlawful foreclosures and loan servicing.

The goal of the program is to ensure that all Massachusetts borrowers facing foreclosure receive an evaluation and assistance from a loan modification specialist.

As part of the program, Coakley’s office has established a new hotline to make mortgage experts available to assist borrowers facing foreclosure

Coakley said more than 45,000 people in Massachusetts have lost their homes to foreclosure as a result of the economic downturn and thousands more are facing foreclosure.

Catrice Tucker, of Palo Alto Road in Springfield, said she would love to work with specialists from the “HomeCorps” Program.

She and her husband, James, a 27-year Springfield firefighter, had their home foreclosed upon in March 2010 by Deutsche Bank National Trust.

Catrice Tucker said Wednesday that her family’s mortgage trouble started after she became ill in 2010 and was forced to leave her job. The mortgage was too much for the family on one salary, especially after the adjustable rate increased.

The Tuckers are working with Springfield No One Leaves, a group that advocates on behalf of homeowners in a mortgage crisis.

They have a hearing date on Friday in Western Housing Court in Springfield that could result in the Tuckers being removed from the property, said Malcolm Chu, an organizer with Springfield No One Leaves.

Chu said the group is prepared to demonstrate to prevent an eviction and is calling on the mortgage holder to accept rent payments from the Tuckers or have the mortgage company sell the home to the Tucker’s for its new, lower, market value.

The Tuckers agreed to publicize their case in exchange for getting help from No One Leaves Springfield.

To take advantage of the attorney general’s program, contact the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office at www.mass.gov/ago/homecorps or call (617) 573-5333.

The Republican business reporter Jim Kinney contributed to this report.

The announcement comes 3 weeks after Anna Maria College took back its invitation for Kennedy to speak at that school's commencement after the Worcester bishop objected.

Photo courtesy of Berkshire Community CollegeVictoria Kennedy

PITTSFIELD - Victoria Kennedy, the widow of the Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy, has been invited to deliver the main address at Berkshire Community College's commencement, planned for June 1 at Tanglewood, the college announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes three weeks after Anna Marie College, a catholic college in Paxton, withdraw her invitation to speak at that school's May 19 commencement because of Worcester Diocese Bishop Robert McManus expressed concerns about her selection.

Victoria Kennedy has publicly backed abortion rights and gay marriage, both of which are opposed by the Catholic church.

Kennedy, a Catholic, was quoted saying the decision by Anna Maria disappointed her. "This is a sad day for me and an even sadder one for the church I love," she said.

The announcement by Berkshire Community College mentioned nothing of the controversy.

Instead, it focused on Kennedy's career as a lawyer in the private sector, and her involvement with issues dealing with health, education and labor, in particular in relation to women and children. It cited her helping to found Common Sense about Kids and Guns, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to reduce gun deaths and injuries to children in the United States. Lastly it mentioned her work as an advocate for health care reform, which her late husband called the cause of his life.

Kennedy is the co-founder and a trustee of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston which is being built on the campus of UMass Boston, adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Library. The goal of the institute is to invigorate public discourse, encourage participatory democracy and inspire the next generation of citizens and leaders.

Interim Berkshire Community College President Ellen Kennedy said in a prepared statement "On behalf of the college I am so pleased that Victoria Kennedy accepted our invitation to be the featured speaker at our 52nd commencement."

" Mrs. Kennedy has spent a lifetime raising awareness of issues that affect the lives of women, children and families, including advocating for education and healthcare," Ellen Kennedy said.

Ellen Kennedy is not related to Victoria Kennedy or the late senator.

The encampment will illustrate a different aspect of the Amherst poet's life.

Members of the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry living history group participate in a drill. They will set up camp at the Emily Dickinson Museum April 28.

AMHERST – Up until recently, Emily Dickinson readers thought she didn’t take much note of the Civil War in her poetry, said the 
executive director

 of the Emily Dickinson Museum.

But now that perception is starting change, said Jane Wald. “She wrote more poems during the Civil War years than any other time.”

She was deeply affected by the death of Frazar Stearns, son of Amherst College president William Augustus Stearns, who died in the battle of New Bern, North Carolina in March1862.

To recognize the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the Emily Dickinson Museum his holding a living history encampment with the 22nd Massachusetts Regiment on Saturday.

The museum has never done anything like this before, Wald said. But it was another opportunity to show a different aspect of Dickinson.

“The idea is to help convey a sense of Dickinson’s awareness of and involvement in the life of her community apart from her poetry.

“She was becoming more a bit more reclusive at this time (but) it didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of what was going on.

The encampment “is one way to highlight the range of her experiences and observations that informed her creative mind.”

The Stearns family was extremely prominent, Wald said. “Frazer Stearns was very well known to her brother in particular,” she said referring to Emily’s brother Austin Dickinson. “He was really kind of shattered by it. His grief affected Emily.”

The original 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry fought in battles including Seven Days, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and the Wilderness. Only 125 of the 1,100 men to serve with the regiment returned.

Typically the living history group reflects on that infantry but this time there will be a talk on members of the 21st regimen because that is the group Amherst soldier’s would have joined, said Jennifer Eastman-Lawrence a member of the 22nd with her husband Jeff Lawrence of West Springfield.

As part of the encampment, Patrick Browne, captain of the regiment and executive director of the Duxbury Historical Society will talk about Stearns; William Smith Clark, president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, now the University of Massachusetts; and the 21st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Eastman-Lawrence said he has done his theses on the 21st regiment. Dickinson would have known some of those soldiers, she said.

While some women did enlist as men, Eastman-Lawrence doesn’t focus her research on them. She is more focused on other aspects of women’s lives and will sing some songs from that time and talk about how soldiers took popular melodies and rewrote the lyrics to suit them in war.

For she and her husband she said it’s nice to do an event close to home. Since the regimen was based in the eastern part of the state many of the group’s activities are there.

“It’s exciting because it’s Emily Dickinson’s house.” She wasn’t involved directly like Clara Barton. “She was poet she happened to live at the time. She was greatly affected by the war.”

The encampment complements “’Frazar is Killed’,” an exhibit of Civil War-related material on display at the Amherst College Frost Library until May 20.

The encampment will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no fee. Admission to the museum is $5.

“You’ve got these incredible falls. Think of all the concrete dams in the world – and yours is stone!”

Photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanSouth Hadley Town Hall's auditorium is packed by residents Wednesday night to hear a presentation by experts on steps that could revitalize South Hadley Falls.

SOUTH HADLEY –On-street bicycle lanes. A specialty hotel. Easy access to “strong” vistas of the Connecticut River every 500 feet. A pedestrian bridge over the confluence of Buttery Brook and the river. Steps and benches along walking trails.

Those were some of ideas for the revitalization of the Falls section of South Hadley, presented by a team of six architects, planners and designers from all parts of the country. Their presentation Wednesday night drew about 250 residents to Town Hall.

Two days earlier, in the same auditorium, the experts had drawn an equally large audience who peppered them with their own ideas.

The four-day visit by the experts was made possible by a $15,000 grant from the American Institute of Architects, which sends such teams all over the country as part of its Center for Communities by Design.

South Hadley has long talked about reviving the neglected Falls area, which was the site of the first commercially navigable canal in the nation and later a bustling industrial center and lively Main Street.

The Sustainability and Design Assessment Team in South Hadley, chaired by Helen Fantini, applied for the grant. They call their project “The Rise of the Falls.”

The team spent their visit on back-to-back tours and interviews. They were enthusiastic about the assets of the Falls, especially the Connecticut River.

“You’ve got these incredible falls,” said Carol Mayor Reed, a landscape architect from Portland, Ore. “Think of all the concrete dams in the world – and yours is stone!”

Wendy Weber Salvati, a land use planner from Buffalo, N.Y., Salvati noted that there are no impediments to the river, such as a highway, a railroad or big box stores.

The experts said not all their suggestions were short-term, but it was good to have long-range plans in mind as the neighborhood evolved. Progress should be “ambitious, but incremental,” said Salvati.

Cheryl Morgan, an architect and professor at Auburn University in Birmingham, said the Town Hall should have more of a “presence” as people drive over the bridge from Holyoke.

“A gateway is more than a sign and petunias,” she said. She suggested expanding the grounds of Town Hall to create a kind of plaza, with stores and offices next to it.

Morgan also suggested turning the South Hadley Electric Light Department building into a youth center.

She said all the team loved the plans for the new library as an anchor in the Falls, but said she would nudge the building just a little bit to the west, to make more room for a splendid view of the river.

She would like to see the existing library turned into a Bed and Breakfast, but with space for big receptions and teas.

Other members of the team were historic preservationist Todd Scott of Seattle, redevelopment specialist Nancy Fox of Washington D.C. and community planner Bonnie Crockett of Baltimore.

A 47-year-old Springfield woman stands accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the medical office in which she was employed.

Here are the most-read stories that appeared on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

The No. 1 most viewed item overall was "NFL Draft 2012: Nick Underhill's 1st Round Mock Draft," seen at right.

1) Lawmakers bracing for EBT showdown: Critics allege the ATM-style welfare cards are being used to purchase booze, lottery tickets and more [State House News Service]

2) '413' rap video by Agawam's Doc Westchesterson approaching 100,000 YouTube views [Conor Berry]

3) Cynthia Cintron of Springfield charged with stealing more than $100,000 from employer [Buffy Spencer]

4) 3 Interstate 91 crashes complicate morning commute, lead to long backups [Conor Berry]

5) Five Guys Burgers and Fries planned for former B'Shara's restaurant site in West Springfield [Sandra Constantine]

The bridge would remain open until the spring of 2013.

File photo / The RepublicanState officials slated to open bids in June for the replacement of the Route 10 bridge in Easthampton over the Manhan River.

EASTHAMPTON – State officials are slated to open bids for the long planned replacement of the Route 10 Bridge over the Manhan River June 5 but the bridge will remain open until the spring of 2013 to allow for preliminary work to be completed.

The $4.6 million project is slated to take about 16 months, according to an email from state officials to Mayor Michael A. Tautznik.

Before the bridge is closed, the contractor has to make intersection improvements including the installation of a permanent signal at O’Neil and Route 10, a temporary traffic signal at Ferry and Pleasant streets and traffic signal work at West and Mill streets. In addition, a temporary pedestrian bridge at the existing bridge must be installed.

Initially the project was to start in 2010 then in 2011.

Sara Lavoie, a spokesman for state Department of Transportation, 
 said it had been a federal aid bridge project then became part of the state Accelerated Bridge Program in 2009. “The work needed to be added and scheduled within an existing program of almost 300 bridge projects,” she wrote in an email.

As part of the project, the roadway will also be resurfaced 500 feet north and south of the bridge, according to Lavoie. Also an additional turning lane, north of the bridge will be added to turn on to West Street.

According to the contract, the new bridge must be finished and open within 180 days of the closure.

The contractor will have a payment incentive for finishing early or a penalty for finishing beyond the 180-day time frame, according to the memo sent to the mayor.

“We look forward to the bid award and hope that a contract for the complete project will be executed as soon as possible,” the mayor said in an email.

“We’re happy that the Mass DOT bridge design team is employing an advanced construction technique to reduce the closure time and that they recognize the need to get this work done as quickly as possible. Proactive replacement of this failing structure will have the least impact on our community.”

Michael Superson, who owns Big E’s on Union Street just off of Route 10, said he’s not too concerned about the project affecting his businesses. But he said there is concern that motorists might just avoid the downtown all together. The key is controlling the traffic at O’Neil and Route 10 where the signal will be installed.

If that happens, he doesn’t think there will be too much of a problem.

“I would say it’s a matter of people being informed,” said Patrick Brough, president of the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce. He said the chamber along with the city’s Economic Development and Industrial Corp. are working on a marketing campaign to let customers know that businesses will be open. “You can still get here from there. It’s going to take a little longer.”

A family member dialed 911 late Tuesday afternoon.

Republican file photo

WESTFIELD – Foul play is not suspected in the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was discovered in a bedroom of his Whittaker Road home late Tuesday afternoon.

Police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said a family member dialed 911 about 4:35 p.m. and responding fire department personnel pronounced the man dead at the scene.

The state Medical Examiner’s office, pending autopsy, has taken over the case Nunez. “At this time we don’t suspect (foul play),” he said.

Biden cast the former Massachusetts governor as an inexperienced foreign policy thinker who would delegate decisions to staff and advisers.

Associated PressIn this March 15, 2012, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a union hall in Toledo, Ohio.

NEW YORK — Vice President Joe Biden delivered a harsh attack Thursday on Mitt Romney's foreign policy views, arguing that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is rooted in a Cold War mentality and is uninformed about the current challenges facing the U.S. abroad.

In a campaign speech delivered at New York University Law School, Biden laid out a robust defense of President Barack Obama's foreign policy record while eviscerating Romney for lacking vision and for "distorting" Obama's record in a way that has been counterproductive to U.S. interests.

Biden cast the former Massachusetts governor as an inexperienced foreign policy thinker who would delegate decisions to staff and advisers. He also hit Romney on his reputation for flip-flopping on issues.

"We know when the governor does venture a position it's a safe bet that he previously took or will take an exactly opposite position," Biden said, noting that Romney had originally supported setting a time frame for pulling U.S. troops from Afghanistan only to later criticize Obama's plan to do so by the end of 2014.

Biden repeatedly used Romney's own words against him, such as when Romney downplayed the significance of capturing Osama bin Laden during Romney's 2008 presidential bid and, more recently, when Romney said Russia was the United States' gravest geopolitical foe.

"As my brother would say, 'Go figure,'" Biden said to laughs.

In response, Romney adviser John Leman accused the president of a "gross abdication of leadership" that could have practical and political consequences.

"Why is the United States under Obama abdicating its leadership for keeping stability in the world?" asked Lehman, Navy secretary in the Reagan administration, during a conference call Romney's campaign arranged with reporters before Biden spoke. "This is a serious crisis and perhaps could be the central issue in the campaign."

Lehman continued: "The Obama administration in a very studied and intentional way is withdrawing from leading the free world and maintaining stability around the world — what Obama calls leading from behind. But the reality is it's opening up huge new vulnerabilities."

Obama has not described his foreign policy as "leading from behind." Republicans used the phrase to chastise Obama for his handling of last year's uprising in Libya.

Biden recited Obama's foreign policy achievements, noting that he ordered the attack that killed bin Laden and fulfilled a campaign promise to end the Iraq war. Biden said Obama repaired alliances with other nations, particularly with geopolitical partners in Europe and Asia.

He also pushed back particularly hard on Romney's attacks on the Obama administration's handling of Iran and Israel, two areas where Republicans have been sharply critical of the president.

On Iran, Biden said Romney's call for crippling sanctions and a U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon simply mirrored Obama's approach.

"The only step we could take that we aren't already taking is to launch a war against Iran. If that's what Gov. Romney means by a 'very different policy,' he should tell the American people," Biden said.

On Israel, Biden said Obama has stood firm in support of the Jewish state — often alone and facing criticism from other allies. He noted that Romney had accused Obama of "throwing Israel under the bus."

"The governor is falling back on one of his party's favorite tricks of late — distort and mischaracterize your opponent's position. Keep repeating the distortions and mischaracterizations over and over again," Biden said.

Biden said Obama had adhered to President Teddy Roosevelt's admonition that, on foreign policy, a president should speak softly and carry a big stick.

"I promise you, the president has a big stick," Biden said.

Lamothe did not collect enough signatures from residents in his district.

Blake Lamothe

PALMER — District 3 Town Councilor Blake E. Lamothe did not collect enough signatures from residents in his district to appear on the June 12 election ballot, but he says he will wage a write-in or sticker campaign to retain his position.

Town Clerk Susan M. Coache said Lamothe fell eight short of the required 50 signatures. She said he had signatures from people outside his district on his nomination papers.

Contacted Thursday, Lamothe said he had 64 signatures, and said the error happened when he had somebody help him collect signatures for the papers.

“I got enough people behind me to get back in office anyways so I’m not too worried about it,” Lamothe, 49, said.

“I’m all about business in Palmer and bringing people into this town and making it a better place to live,” he added.

Lamothe is finishing his first term as a town councilor. He said he would like the town to build a recreation area featuring a water park where the Public Works Department on Bridge Street is now.

No other candidates took out papers for the district 3 position, which carries a three-year term.

The only race on the ballot is for at-large councilor, which has incumbent Karl S. Williams facing challenges from Michael Lees and Jason Polonsky, both of Bondsville.

Running unopposed are incumbents Barbara A. Barry for district 2 town council, Norman Czech for Planning Board and Gary A. Blanchette for School Committee. All positions are for three years.

Welch had a cousin, Joanne Welch, 18, the youngest of four, who was murdered in 1982 by her former boyfriend.

BOSTON — State Sen. James T. Welch says he knows firsthand that families of murder victims can face a long and costly ordeal during a trial.

Welch had a cousin, Joanne Welch , 18, the youngest of four, who was murdered in 1982 by her former boyfriend.

James Welch

Her killer was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence. Yet, the convicted killer still is appealing for a second time for a third trial.

"Looking back, I can kind of see how much it impacts every aspect of a family's life," said Welch, a West Springfield Democrat serving his first term in the Senate after three terms in the state House of Representatives.

If someone in a family is murdered, "their entire life is flipped upside down," Welch said. "The pain never goes away for victims' families."

With his late cousin and her immediate family in mind, Welch is sponsoring legislation that would create a "Murder Victims Families Assistance Fund" to provide financial aid to immediate families of murder victims.

Welch said the fund is a creative way for him to attempt to make something good out of a tragedy.

Welch, who was 7 when his cousin was murdered, said the money could be used for motel rooms, child care, compensation for missing work, transportation, relocation or other needs.

Welch said his proposed fund would add to an existing fund for victims of violent crime in the state attorney's general's office. Welch said his fund would provide more money to county prosecutors, who would have to request money from the proposed account to help families of murder victims..

Welch, who is up for re-election, said his proposed fund would be an extension of current services provided by advocates for crime victims who work under district attorneys. The advocates, who work out of courthouses, provide a range of services for crime victims including crisis intervention and support with navigating the courts.

Welch said his proposed fund would be different from the state attorney general's aid.

According to the attorney general's office, the state "Victim Compensation Fund" is a fund of last resort that helps victims of violent crimes and their families with expenses that are not covered by insurance or other sources.

The attorney general's fund, with awards capped at $25,000 per crime, helps with certain expenses such as medical and dental, counseling, funeral and burial, lost wages for victims only, cleanup of crime scenes and replacing locks or security devices for safety. The attorney general's fund is financed largely by fines against people who commit crimes.

"We are pleased that the Legislature is looking at different avenues to help ease some of the financial burdens caused by these crimes," said Emalie Gainey, deputy press secretary for Attorney General Martha Coakley, when asked for comment on Welch's bill.

The Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance also funds approximately 100 programs across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provide free counseling and advocacy services to victims of crime, according to its web page.

Welch's proposed fund would be financed with donations voluntarily contributed from a publisher, author, movie or television studio or company that creates a book, movie or television show based on a murder or murders committed in the Massachusetts.

Rep. Benjamin Swan, a Springfield Democrat, is a cosponsor of the bill, which is pending in the Judiciary Committee after a public hearing on March 6.

Under the bill, the Massachusetts Film Office would notify producers or publishers, for example, of the existence of the fund. The custodian of the proposed fund would be the state Victim and Witness Assistance Board, which governs the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, established in 1984 with the approval of the state's first Victim Bill of Rights.

As a member of the state House of Representatives in 2005, Welch talked about his cousin in a speech when he voted against former Gov. W. Mitt Romney's bill to reinstate the death penalty. Welch said that at least for himself, the death penalty — also defeated in 2007 — would not relieve any pain.

Welch said his cousin's family went through two murder trials and now is seeing the convicted murderer appeal again for a third trial.

Anthony Olszewski was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1983 for Joanne Welch 's death, but the state Supreme Judicial Court overturned that conviction. The high court said that the Hampden district attorney's office had lost or destroyed highly relevant evidence, including a belt that was allegedly used by Olszewski to strangle Welch .

He was tried and convicted a second time, and is serving a life sentence in state prison. In 1990, a judge denied his appeal for a third trial. Olszewski, now 52, has maintained his innocence.

According to prosecutors, Olszewski, 22 at the time, beat and strangled the woman in the Bear Hole section of West Springfield, then ran the victim over with her own car before dumping the body over a guardrail in Westfield.

In October, Olszewski was in Hampshire Superior Court for a second attempt at a third trial in the killing of Welch.

David J. Nathanson, a Boston lawyer who is representing Olszewski in his appeal, asked Judge Bertha D. Josephson for permission to perform DNA testing on Welch 's fingernails, which have been preserved. The Hampden district attorney's office did not oppose the request.

In a recent interview, Nathanson said a government lab returned a report that found "no results" from the testing of the fingernails. Nathanson said he now is asking the court to approve the release of backup documents that would include the underlying data from the DNA testing.

Nathanson said he is convinced that Olszewski is innocent of the murder.

In the expanded 1st Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Springfield collected 76 percent of his $833,400 in campaign contributions from PACs.

The Republican photo by Michael S. GordonU.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., smiles at his re-election victory party in 2010. In his 2012 re-election bid, Neal has raised 76 percent of his $833,400 in campaign contributions from political action committees or PACs as they are known. (Republican file photo)

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts congressional candidates are relying heavily on contributions from political action committees as they face campaigns in sometimes dramatically redrawn House districts.

In one of the state's most closely watched races in the 6th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat John Tierney of Salem has raised more than $383,000 from PACs in the current election cycle — or about 42 percent of his total contributions of nearly $904,000.

Tierney's Republican challenger, Richard Tisei, has collected just 5 percent of his contributions from PACs, according to an Associated Press review of federal campaign finance records.

The former state senator and GOP candidate for lieutenant governor collected $666,000 through the end of March.

In the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. William Keating of Quincy has collected $328,400 from PACs or about 53 percent of his total contributions through the end of the most recent fundraising quarter.

Keating is hoping to rebuff a challenge from Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter, a fellow Democrat.

Sutter, who just recently announced his candidacy, has raised more than $55,400, with just $450 coming from PACs. Republican Christopher Sheldon, who also recently announced his candidacy in the district, raised nearly $12,800, none from political committees.

In the state's newly drawn 3rd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Niki Tsongas of Lowell has pulled in nearly $860,000 through the end of March, about 19 percent of it coming from PACs, while her Republican challenger, Jon Golnik, raised more than $80,000, with just $750 from PACs.

And in the expanded 1st Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Springfield collected 76 percent of his $833,400 in campaign contributions from PACs.

One of Neal's fellow Democratic challengers, former state Sen. Andrea Nuciforo, raised nearly $171,000, none of it from political committees.

Bill Shein, a Democratic political activist and writer also aiming to represent the 1st Congressional District, raised $11,282 in contributions from individuals all of whom donated $99 or less, in accordance with his self-imposed campaign contribution limit.

Part of the drive for cash is being fueled by the state's new redistricting map that eliminated one of 10 existing House seats.

The map, which reflects population shifts measured by the 2010 federal census, means many incumbents are running in dramatically redrawn districts.

Another closely watched race is in the state's 4th Congressional District, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Barney Frank has decided not to seek re-election.

The campaign fundraising leader in the race is Democrat Joseph Kennedy III, who has taken in more than $1.3 million during the first three months of the year, about 7 percent of it from PACs.

Republican candidate Sean Bielat raised about $175,000 during the same period, about 6 percent from PACs.

Fellow GOP candidate, former state mental health commissioner Elizabeth Childs, raised about $91,000 through the end of March, with about 16 percent coming from political committees.

Some of the candidates have tried to make PAC contributions an election issue.

Tisei has challenged Tierney to limit the amount of donations that PACs can make to both candidates.

Tisei said he's willing to end all PAC donations, end all PAC donations from outside of Massachusetts or limit PAC donations to 20 percent of all contributions. Tisei said he'd also be willing to agree to limit all campaign donations to just those coming from inside Massachusetts.

A Tierney campaign spokesman has said Tisei is trying to distract attention from a proposed GOP budget that the Tierney campaign said targets the middle class.

Other incumbents have also relied on PAC contributions.

Rep. James McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, has collected 42 percent of the $800,599 he's raised through the end of March from PACs as he hopes to retain his 2nd District seat.

In the redrawn 8th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch from Boston collected 57 percent of the nearly $350,000 he's raised through March from PACs.

In the state's new 5th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Edward Markey from Malden relied on PACs for about 55 percent of his total contributions through the end of March.

And in the new 7th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Michael Capuano pulled in 47 percent of the nearly $556,000 he raised through the end of March from political action committees.