The suspect denied the charge in district court and was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.

Juan DeJesus

SPRINGFIELD – Police said they have charged a 45-year-old city man with kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, holding her against her will in his apartment for two weeks and repeatedly raping her.

The victim, a 53-year-old wheelchair-bound Holyoke resident, told investigators from the department’s Special Victims’ unit that the suspect forced his way into her apartment, forced her to leave with him and then drove her to his Chestnut Street apartment here in Springfield, Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

The suspect, Juan DeJesus, of 414 Chestnut St., kept the woman against her will for two weeks with the threat of harming her and her son. DeJesus took away her cell phone and her van keys and only let her see or speak to her son with him present, Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said.

On Monday, the woman convinced DeJesus to take her to her apartment in Holyoke to retrieve clothing. He began to argue with her about the time it was taking for her to pack and he began to wheel her back to her van.

Outside, the woman raised her voice to cause a disturbance in the hope that her neighbors would hear and call 911.

“Her plan worked,” Delaney said. “Mr. DeJesus left in a hurry and her neighbor assisted her in calling the police.”

The woman has also filed a report with Holyoke Police.

DeJesus was charged with aggravated rape, kidnapping and violation of an abuse prevention order. He denied the charges in district court and was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.

DeJesus was ordered to return to court on June 6 for a bindover hearing.

The state appeals court judge will be the first openly gay justice on Massachusetts' highest court.

File photoBarbara Lenk, Gov. Deval Patrick's latest choice for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is preparing for her Statehouse confirmation hearing.

BOSTON (AP) — A state appeals court judge who will be the first openly gay justice on Massachusetts' highest court has been confirmed.

The Governor's Council voted 5-3 on Wednesday to approve Barbara Lenk for the Supreme Judicial Court.

Councilors Charles Cipollini, Mary-Ellen Manning and Jennie Cassie voted against confirmation.

Lenk was a Superior Court judge before joining the appeals court in 1995.

She now joins the court that issued a landmark 2003 ruling making Massachusetts the first state to allow same-sex marriage. Lenk married her long-time partner after that vote.

Gov. Deval Patrick thanked the council for concluding that Lenk's intellect and experience will make her an outstanding justice.

Arlene Isaacson of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus said councilors rose above some of the prejudice and anti-gay sentiments they heard during the confirmation process.

The president made his decision after a spirited debate within government.

Associated Press photoMembers of hardline group Islam Defenders Front gather by portraits of Osama Bin Laden and U.S. President Barack Obama projected on a screen, during prayers for the al-Qaida leader who was killed by U.S. forces, at their headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday. There is Quran verse to the right that says "Don't think that people who die in the way of Allah are dead, they live on His side and prosper." President Obama announced Wednesday that he would not release U.S. photos of the slain terrorist.

WASHINGTON – President Barack H. Obama has decided not to release death photos of terrorist Osama bin Laden, he said in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,“ amid concerns that the gruesome image could prove inflammatory.

Obama revealed his decision in an interview taped for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” just a day after his CIA director, Leon Panetta, said the photos would be released.

The president decided against making the images public after a spirited debate within government over the potential impact of their release.

Ever since word of bin Laden’s death broke, the administration has tried to strike a balance between celebrating the success of the dramatic covert operation without unnecessarily offending sensitivities in the Muslim world. Officials stressed that Muslim traditions were followed before bin Laden’s body was buried at sea, for example.

There was support for releasing the photos from both ends of the spectrum: Some family members of those who died in the 9-11 terror attacks thought it important to document bin Laden’s death, as did some skeptics in the Arab world who doubted his demise in the absence of convincing evidence.

But the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said in advance of Obama’s decision that he was concerned that the photographic images could be seen as a “trophy” that would inflame U.S. critics and makes it harder for members of the American military deployed overseas to do their job.

Rogers said the picture could stir up anti-U.S. fervor around the world and hamper intelligence cooperation with the United States. He said conspiracy theorists wouldn’t have likely been convinced anyhow.

The photos have been described by several sources as gruesome. One shows part of the skull blown off, those sources say.

A U.S. official said one consideration is that the photo also shows exposed brain matter.

Sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the photo is still part of a classified investigation.

The president made his decision as the Navy SEALS involved in the daring raid in Pakistan arrived in the U.S. for debriefing, and U.S. officials began to comb through the intelligence trove of computer files, flash drives, DVDs and documents that the commandos hauled out of the terrorist’s hideaway.

Bin Laden had about 500 euros sewn into his clothes when he was killed and had phone numbers on him when he was killed, U.S. officials said, a possible indication that bin Laden was ready to flee the compound on short notice.

Obama prepared to visit New York City on Thursday to lay a wreath at Ground Zero and visit with 9/11 families and first responders.

Voters at the annual Town Meeting will be asked to make Falcon Crest, Pine Knoll, Deer Run and Lauren Lane official town roads.

Republican file photo

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SOUTHWICK – Voters will be asked to accept four private roads as public ways at the May 17 annual Town Meeting so that the town will be able to make $50,000 to $75,000 in repairs to the drainage system with state road maintenance funds.

The four roads – Falcon Crest, Pine Knoll, Deer Run and Lauren Lane – are located in the Pine Knoll 2 and 3 subdivisions constructed by Anthony Liquori.

Department of Public Works Director Jeffrey A. Neece said during a recent selectmen’s public hearing that storm run-off from Deer Run cascades onto the property at 21 Pine Knoll Road creating “big problems.”

“The only way to fix it is if we accept the roads and use Chapter 90 funds to do the work,” he said.

Planning Board Chairman Douglas A. Moglin also said during the same hearing that one of that board’s goals is to get the roads accepted because “the developer is not willing to fix (the problem) at this time.”

He added that the board met with Liquori, and both agreed that to take the case to court would further delay the much-needed repairs because the issue would then be tied-up in litigation, costing more money than what is needed to complete the work.

“We’re looking at this economically,” Moglin said. “It would be long and costly to litigate. The more we looked at it, the more it didn’t make sense to litigate.”

The Pine Knoll subdivision, he said, is “more than 15 years old, and it’s hard to go back and ask the developer to fix the problem.”

“One of my missions is to move these along, so later on the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen are not in the same position we’re in now,” Moglin said of road acceptances in general.

The original performance bond posted by Liquori, said Town Planner Marcus Phelps, was “several hundred thousand” that was returned in increments as work was completed.

“As roads get built and pipes get put in, the bond is reduced,” Phelp explained. “It should only take a couple of years to get a road accepted.”

A town bylaw, Phelps said, requires a new road to be in place for one year “to make sure it stands up to the elements. Then the developer can request that the road and other infrastructure by accepted.”

“As time goes by, things change,” he said. “Regular wear and tear, traffic and freezing and thawing (damage the roads).”

CIA director says agency ruled out working with Pakistan on bin Laden raid as it feared Islamabad "might alert targets".

J. Scott Applewhite | The Associated PressPresident Barack Obama meets with Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Friday, January 14, 2011.

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The public is left in the tough spot of deciding what to believe.

Associated PressA poster showing the Statue of Liberty holding the head of Osama bin Laden is taped to Francisco Miranda's clothes as he sells flags at ground zero in New York, Monday, May 2, 2011.

SAN FRANCISCO — The images are bloody, grotesque and convincing: Osama bin Laden lies dead, the left side of his head blasted away.

Unverified photos purporting to show bin Laden's corpse rocketed around the world on television and online almost as soon as his death was announced.

The pictures have spread without regard for their origin or whether the images are real.

Newsrooms and the public are left in the tough spot of deciding what to believe when software has made doctoring photographs easier than ever.

The hunger for visual evidence of bin Laden's death may only grow now that President Barack Obama has said the government's photos will remain classified.

The FBI warns that scammers may exploit that hunger by spiking digital bin Laden images with computer viruses.

When Judge Kinder asked O’Brien if she supported the recommended dispositions for Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, she paused for several seconds before nodding.

Pool photo by Gordon Daniels / Daily Hampshire GazettePhoebe Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, listens to the proceedings in Hampshire Superior Court Wednesday.

NORTHAMPTON – The courtroom held its collective breath as Anne O’Brien described the last time she embraced her daughter, Phoebe Prince, in the crematorium a few days after the 15-year-old hanged herself.

“I lifted the lid of the coffin and held her for the very last time,” O’Brien told Hampshire Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder. “My little girl, so very full of life, was now so cold.”

For those wondering why O’Brien has kept her silence throughout the 16 months following her daughter’s suicide, her halting, tension-packed statement during dispositions for two of the six students charged with bullying Prince suggests there are some things mothers just don’t want to talk about. O’Brien nonethless broke that silence Wednesday in Hampshire Superior Court, giving the world a glimpse into the pain and grief she’s been holding in her heart since Jan. 14, 2010, when Phoebe hanged herself with a scarf in their South Hadley home.

As the Phoebe Prince story grew to global proportions over the past year, O’Brien has been neither seen nor heard from. The suicides of Prince and 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield put the international spotlight on the subject of bullying. But while Sirdeaner L. Walker, Carl’s mother, has met with presidents and governors to help publicize the issue, O’Brien has kept to herself. On the rare occasion a family member has spoken publicly on Prince and the issues surrounding her, it has been O’Brien’s sister, Eileen Moore, who has usually done the talking. Jeremy Prince, O’Brien’s husband, has also spoken out several times from his home in Ireland.

While Moore mingled with reporters prior to the court appearances Wednesday of Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, O’Brien remained sequestered in the victim-witness room of the courthouse. When she emerged she was flanked by Elizabeth Dunphy Farris, who prosecuted the cases until she left the Northwestern office last year, and a victim-witness advocate. She looked visibly distraught when prosecutor Steven E. Gagne invited her to go before the bench and make her victim’s statement.

“It’s nearly impossible to measure the impact of Phoebe’s death on our lives,” O’Brien began.

Phoebe Prince

She described her daughter as “beautiful, gregarious and kind-hearted” and listed some of Phoebe’s joys in life. These included the letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, reading with her parents and discussing literature with her mother. Those joys have all vanished.

“My kitchen table is a very quiet place to be these days,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien described trips to France in which Phoebe would run excitedly around markets, returning with her arms full of fruits and vegetables, a big smile on her face. A trip to France would only bring sadness now, O’Brien said.

Although she consented to the deals that resulted in probation for Narey and Mulveyhill, O’Brien deplored their treatment of her daughter. Mulveyhill had been charged with statutory rape for sleeping with the under-age Prince. That count was dropped when he pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, but it was not forgotten by O’Brien.

“I was lied to about the nature of the relationship,” she said, calling Mulveyhill a predator. If she had know he’d been sleeping with Phoebe, O’Brien said, “he would have been forbidden to see her.”

O’Brien cited Phoebe’s final text message, in which she referred to the pain and humiliation she had suffered at the hands of Mulveyhill and her other tormentors on the day of her death.

“It was one final nail in my coffin,” O’Brien said, quoting the message. “I can’t take much more. It would be easier if he handed me a noose.”

O’Brien also referred to a meeting between her daughter and Narey in which Prince said she didn’t know Narey and Mulveyhill were dating and apologized for getting between them.

“Phoebe found the courage and compassion to seek out Kayla Narey and apologize,” O’Brien said. “(Narey) had the opportunity to be a true leader and put a stop (to the bullying). But she was too weak of character to match Phoebe’s courage.”

When Kinder asked O’Brien if she supported the recommended dispositions for Mulveyhill and Narey, she paused for several seconds before nodding. Afterwards, O’Brien disappeared again into the victim-witness room, rejecting requests for a copy of her statement. The swarm of media then went to a different part of the courthouse for a statement by Gagne. When he appeared 15 minutes later, Gagne had little to say except that he was unable to answer questions. By the time reporters made it back to the lobby outside the victim-witness room, O’Brien was gone.

Called the Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety, or DTACTS, the police deployment will be conducted periodically over the next three months.

Republican photo | Dave RobackSpringfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet and City Councilor Tom Ashe talk about a new patrol procedure to combat gangs, drugs and violence.

SPRINGFIELD - Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno announced plans Wednesday afternoon for a new program for preventing crime in neighborhoods by concentrating on traffic violations.

The program was announced at an afternoon press conference at police headquarters.

Called the Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety, or DTACTS, the deployment will be conducted periodically over the next three months, and is funded by federal stimulus funds, Fitchet said.

Officers will be deployed on overtime specifically to address traffic violations, such as speeding, running red lights, and reckless driving.

Fitchet said the tactic is a brand new approach to policing that has only been employed in a few locations including Fitchburg, but it is based on 20 years of study by national crime researchers.

Essentially, the finding is that areas of high crime in a community where there are high levels of crime are also those areas where there are high levels of traffic, Fitchet said. By flooding those areas with police to enforce traffic laws, they will prevent crime before it happens.

The first deployment was on Saturday, hours after a State Street shooting that killed one man, injured another and led to a gun battle between police and the suspect at Cambridge and Burr streets.

Fitchet said DTACTS was in the work for some weeks and the launch was coincidental to the Saturday violence.

Sarno called the deployments “place-based policing,” and said “There seems to be overlap. Where there are high traffic incidents, it coordinates to high crime areas.”

This story will be updated with more information

The survey asks residents what they think about the newest plan to replace a deteriorating school building in Granby.

Isabelina Rodriguez

GRANBY – Isabelina Rodriguez, superintendent of schools, means what she says when she says she wants to know what people in her town think of their schools.

Since she took office in February, the superintendent has met for that purpose with staff, faculty and with parents at an evening get-together at a private home.

Now she has launched an effort to reach an even wider segment of her community.

On Tuesday 1,131 Granby students took home a “District Plan Survey” for parents to share their ideas. In addition, the anonymous survey was emailed to more than 150 school staff members.

A copy of the survey will be offered to voters at the town election May 16, and everyone else in Granby can fill it out by going to the www.granbyschoolsma.org. No computer? Pick up a paper copy at the Superintendent’s office, Granby Junior-Senior High School, 385 East State St.

“I’m very excited about this survey,” said Rodriguez.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with folks to fine-tune it,” she said, adding that it was “tweaked” for each group of responders.

Rodriguez wants to know what grade the respondents would give the schools and how to raise that grade. She also wants to know if people have contacted her office and how the call was handled.

The survey asks more than 50 questions on topics ranging from cafeteria food to advanced placement courses, from how Granby residents get news about the schools to how school reputation and property values are related.

Along the way, the survey also educates readers about how the school system works.

Money is always a touchy subject, and Rodriguez wants to know if the school budget process is clear enough.

The survey reminds respondents of the three-step process: The superintendent proposes a draft of the budget to the School Committee, the committee then finalizes and approves it, and Town Meeting votes to accept or reject it.

Each step in the process is open to the public, and Rodriguez wants to know if people have been able to attend these meetings or if they need other avenues.

The survey asks for feedback on why efforts to fund a new junior-senior high school failed. Was information accessible? Was the tax increase requested to pay for it too great?

This part of the survey also asks respondents what they think about the newest plan to replace a deteriorating school building in Granby.

The plan is to close West Street School, which was built in 1941, and reconfigure East Meadow School to serve children from pre-K to grade 6. The schools are applying again to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for part of the cost, but they will need the support of the town to pay the rest.

Ties between America and Pakistan were already strained before the raid.

Associated PressPakistan army soldiers stand guard near the compound where it is believed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari denied suggestions his country's security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden before he was killed by American forces, and said their cooperation with the United States helped pinpoint the world's most wanted man.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's army on Thursday called for cuts in the number of U.S. military personnel inside the country to protest the American commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and threatened to cut cooperation with Washington if it stages more unilateral raids on its territory.

The statement, the first since Monday's raid, signaled the army's anger at the unilateral operation, but was also aimed at pacifying domestic critics who have accused it of failing to protect the country's sovereignty — potent charges in a country where anti-Americanism runs deep.

Ties between America and Pakistan were already strained before the raid because of American allegations that Islamabad was failing to crackdown on Afghan Taliban factions sheltering on its soil, and Pakistani anger over U.S. drone strikes on its soil.

It did not refer to international suspicions that the army, or elements within it, may have sheltered bin Laden, but admitted intelligence "shortcomings" in not spotting bin Laden, who was living in a large compound in Abbottabad, an army town just a two hours drive from the capital, Islamabad.

The statement was issued after a meeting of top generals. It said Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani told his colleagues that a decision had been made to reduce the number of U.S. military personnel to the "minimum essential" levels. The statement gave no details on the numbers, and a spokesman declined to elaborate.

The U.S. has around 275 declared U.S. military personnel in Pakistan at any one time, some of them helping train the Pakistan army. U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Pakistani army also warned that it would review its military and intelligence cooperation with Washington if the United States carries out any more similar raids. Earlier, the government had warned of "disastrous consequences" if the U.S. staged a similar attack on its territory.

It said the Inter-Services Intelligence agency had given initial information to the CIA about bin Laden, but claimed the "CIA did not share further development of intelligence on the case with the ISI, contrary to the existing practice between the two services."

The raid on bin Laden has sharpened tensions between the two countries. But while some U.S. lawmakers have been calling on Washington to cut its aid to the country, the Obama administration and British Prime Minister David Cameron have indicated they would continue with their policy of engaging with the country.

"It is not always an easy relationship," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday in Rome. "But on the other hand, it is a productive one for both of our countries and we are going to continue to cooperate between our governments, our militaries, our law enforcement agencies."

It's not clear when a suspect arrested in Brooklyn Saturday will be returned to Springfield for arraignment.

Trevin Smith

SPRINGFIELD – Gun violence has abated here in wake of the Saturday shootings which took the life of a 24-year-old Wilbraham man and saw the wounding of three others, including a city police officer and state trooper.

“I am telling the public they have no reason to batten down the hatches,” Police Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

Meanwhile, it’s not yet clear when a suspect arrested Wednesday in Brooklyn in connection with the Saturday shootings will be brought back for arraignment.

Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said Thursday morning he believes that Trevin Smith, 30, of 79 Penrose St., is still being held by authorities in New York City.

Two Springfield police officers, including one who escaped serious injury from a bullet thanks to his protective vest, remain on administrative leave.

A state trooper who also escaped serious injury thanks to his vest, also remains on administrative leave.

Delaney said the department plans to hold a debriefing session next week for the officers, EMTs and dispatchers involved in the Saturday shootings.

Smith surrendered peacefully to officers at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Mastroianni, at Chicopee High School for a safe driver program, said he did not know if Smith was going to waive extradition.

Police said Smith fled Springfield to family in Brooklyn after authorities there issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of being an accessory after the fact in the shooting death of Innocent.

Innocent was fatally shot while waiting to get a haircut inside Bill Brown’s House of Beauty and Barbershop on State Street and the unnamed barber was critically injured.

The suspected shooter, Tamik Kirkland, an escapee from the minimum security prison in Shirley, was himself critically injured a short time later in a shootout with police at Cambridge and Burr streets. .

That shootout began when police forced open a car trunk that they suspected Kirkland was hiding in. Kirkland opened fire on police, hitting the city police officer and trooper, while he was still prone in the trunk, Delaney said. The suspect was shot six times.

Kirkland, 25, remains in stable condition at Baystate Medical Center. Mastroianni’s office has said that Kirkland will be arraigned as soon as his condition permits.

Delaney said that Kirkland and Smith are affiliated with a city gang. He declined, however, to name which one.

“These guys change gang affiliations like most people change their socks,” Delaney said, adding that Kirkland himself is believed to have been a member of several gangs within the city at varying times.

Delaney described the wounded barber as an innocent victim and has declined to release his name. “He is a victim and that (would be) adding fuel to the fire,” he said.

The Associated Press on Monday quoted an anonymous police official close to the investigation as saying the target was the barber, not Innocent.

The official said the barber is related to a suspect involved in the April 23 shooting on Ringgold Street that injured Kirkland’s mother and another woman. No arrest has been made in that shooting.

Kirkland escaped from MCI-Shirley two days later.

As part of the ongoing investigation, police are seeking to determine whether Kirkland had been involved in a flurry of gun violence that occurred within the city after his escape from prison.

“We had the feeling that once Saturday was over it was going to subside and it did,” Delaney said.

In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, President Obama came to New York Thursday to lay a wreath at the 9/11 Memorial and meet with families of September 11 victims.

Charles Dharapak | The Associated PressPresident Barack Obama pauses after laying a wreath at the National Sept. 11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York, Thursday, May 5, 2011.

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Obama said of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, "We keep them in our hearts. We haven't forgotten."

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama embraces unidentified family members of victims after laying a wreath at the National Sept. 11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York, Thursday, May 5, 2011.

NEW YORK — Marking Osama bin Laden's death where the terrorist inflicted his greatest damage, President Barack Obama soberly laid a wreath Thursday at New York's ground zero and declared to the city and the world, "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."

The president closed his eyes and clasped his hands at the outdoor memorial where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once dominated the Manhattan skyline. He shook hands with 9/11 family members and others dressed in black at the site where the skyscrapers were brought down by planes commandeered by bin Laden's followers. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

The president met privately at the memorial site with about 60 family members from various 9/11 organizations.

Earlier, the president visited the firefighters and police officers whose response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, turned them into heroes and symbols of national resolve, but also cost them heavy casualties on that horrific day.

"This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day," the president said Thursday at Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9. The firehouse in New York's theater district lost 15 firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001.

At the First Precinct police station in lower Manhattan, the first on the scene on Sept. 11, Obama alluded to bin Laden's killing and said of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, "We keep them in our hearts. We haven't forgotten."

Months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and days after bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by U.S. commandos, Obama's visit was giving New York its own moment of justice. There was heavy security, but New Yorkers still turned out by the hundreds to gather just southeast of the World Trade Center site and line the roads to watch the president's motorcades.

There were happy faces and flags waved in the crowd though they were cordoned off blocks from where the president entered the ground zero site.

The president's visits with police and firefighters were upbeat, but overall the day did not have a celebratory feel despite the success of the mission to get bin Laden. The mood at ground zero was somber, even sad, as the president stood where the towers had been, seeing the faces of the children who lost parents and adults who lost spouses. As Obama bowed his head, a jetliner screamed by far overhead on a blue-sky day.

Obama never mentioned bin Laden's name in his brief remarks to firefighters and police.

"What happened on Sunday because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence sent a message around the world but also sent a message here back home," he said at the firehouse.

Obama said he hoped the outcome brought the firefighters "some comfort," thanked them for their daily work and said they had a president who has "got your back."

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city in dark days after the attacks, joined Obama during the day.

At the Pentagon, meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden led a similar wreath-laying ceremony at the site where another hijacked plane crashed into the nation's military headquarters.

Obama's visit to New York came as new details emerged of the daring raid on bin Laden's Pakistan compound. A senior defense official said Thursday that only one of the five people killed in the raid was armed and fired a shot — an account that differs from original administration portrayals of an intense firefight. The White House also now says bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot, after officials initially said the terrorist was holding a gun or even firing.

Such details perhaps mattered little to New Yorkers who suffered most grievously in the attacks and are now deeply gratified to see bin Laden's demise.

Ahead of Obama's arrival, Deanne McDonald stood at the northeast corner of the World Trade Center site waving an American flag in each hand and shouting "Obama got Osama! Obama got Osama!"

"God bless the Navy SEALS," said McDonald, 38, from Brooklyn. She took work off on Thursday to wait for the president, saying she was prouder than ever to be an American.

Obama's New York visit was intended to have a measured tone — not a bookend to President George W. Bush's visit after the attacks when Bush took a bullhorn and called out his defiance to the terrorists. Obama spokesman Jay Carney told reporters traveling with the president on Air Force One that the trip was intended in part "to perhaps help New Yorkers and Americans everywhere to achieve a sense of closure with the death of Osama bin Laden."

The bustling construction site that Obama visited bears little resemblance to the pit that remained after the rubble of the towers was removed. The emerging skyscraper informally known as Freedom Tower is more than 60 stories high now. Mammoth fountains and reflecting pools mark the footprints of the fallen twin towers.

Jim Riches, whose firefighter son was among the nearly 3,000 people killed at the World Trade Center, planned to meet with the president on Thursday.

"I just want to thank him, hug him and thank him and shake his hand," Riches said. "Father to father. Thank you for doing this for me."

Obama arrived in New York City Thursday after rejecting calls to release photos of a slain bin Laden so the world could see some proof of death. The president said he would not risk giving propaganda to extremists or gloat by publicizing grotesque photos of a terrorist leader shot in the head.

To those who keep on doubting, Obama said, "You will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again."

The president sought to handle the moment without being seen as overly celebrating bin Laden's death or aiming to boost his own standing.

Al-Qaida terrorists hijacked jets and flew two of them into the World Trade Center's towers. Both buildings collapsed, trapping thousands inside and also claiming the lives of firefighters and others who had rushed to help. A third plane slammed into the Pentagon. Officials have speculated that a fourth plane had been heading for the U.S. Capitol or perhaps even the White House when it crashed after passengers fought back in Pennsylvania.

A few days later, Bush stood amid the rubble and spoke through a bullhorn. When one worker yelled, "I can't hear you," the president responded: "I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!"

All these years later, Obama said this is no time for gloating.

Obama invited Bush to join him Thursday, but the former president declined.

Heightened security put in place in response to the killing of bin Laden remained for Obama's visit. Police officials said there were no specific threats against the city but also said they assumed bin Laden's "disciples" might try to avenge his death with a terror attack.

First Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne described Longe as Prince's primary tormenter on Jan. 14, 2010, the last day of her life. Watch video

The Republican | Don TreegerAshley Longe in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley on Thursday on charges in connection with the Phoebe Prince bullying case.

HADLEY - Speaking in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court Thursday afternoon, Phoebe Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, commended Ashley Longe for showing accountability and remorse in the wake of the South Hadley High School freshman's Jan. 2010 suicide.

Longe, 18, was the final teen to appear in a two-day flurry of resolutions to charges leveled in the months following Prince's death. She admitted to facts sufficient for a delinquency finding on a misdemeanor criminal harassment charge, which was continued without a finding until she turns 19 in April 2012.

Judge Daniel J. Swords sentenced Longe to a period of probation lasting until her nineteenth birthday, under the condition that she does not profit from her role in the case during that time. She must also complete 100 hours of community service, continue working toward her GED, and initiate no contact with the Prince family.

"Ashley asking to meet me for an awful long time now, and I think that shows a lot of courage," O'Brien said in a victim impact statement. Longe finally met O'Brien Wednesday afternoon. After meeting with her daughter's accused bully, O'Brien said she was "very satisfied" that Longe had offered the "accountability and remorse we have been asking for since January 14, 2010."

In support of the criminal harassment charge, First Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne described Longe as Prince's primary tormenter on Jan. 14, 2010, the last day of the Irish teen's life.

This is a developing story; it will be updated as we continue our reporting today.

Bump said the firings followed performance reviews and are part of a larger effort to improve efficiency.

Suzanne Bump

BOSTON – State Auditor Suzanne Bump is shaking up her office just months after being sworn in.

Bump announced Thursday that she’s firing 27 employees, including 20 from audit operations and seven from the Bureau of Special Investigations, which probes waste, fraud and abuse in public assistance programs like MassHealth and food stamps.

Bump said the firings followed performance reviews and are part of a larger effort to improve efficiency.

Bump said she’ll fill the 20 positions in audit operations, but not those in the Bureau of Special Investigations. She said she doesn’t expect the personnel decisions to reduce the quantity and quality of the office’s investigations.

Bump won election to the office last year after former Auditor Joseph DeNucci chose not to seek re-election after holding the office for 24 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Merritt told a jury that Patrick will be asked to testify that DiMasi personally lobbied him on several occasions to support a $15 million management software contract for the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 9:31 this morning.

File photo / The RepublicanFormer Massachusetts Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi is seen at a meeting of the editorial board of The Republican in 2008.

BOSTON – Prosecutors plan to call Gov. Deval L. Patrick to testify in the federal public corruption trial of former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who prosecutors said was driven by mounting personal debt to rig state contracts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Merritt told a jury Thursday that Patrick will be asked to testify that DiMasi personally lobbied him on several occasions to support a $15 million management software contract for the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

Merritt said the former Democratic speaker, who prosecutors said reaped about $65,000 from the alleged kickback schemes, faced $50,000 in monthly credit card debt. Prosecutors also said he had much less time to devote to his law practice after becoming speaker.

“The bad news for DiMasi was that the income from his law practice took a significant hit,” Merritt told the 12 jurors and four alternates, adding that DiMasi needed the money “to keep up with an extravagant lifestyle.”

DiMasi and two co-defendants, Joseph McDonough and Richard Vitale, have pleaded not guilty. A fourth man charged in the scheme, Joseph Lally, pleaded guilty in a deal that could see him testify against DiMasi and the others.

DiMasi attorney William Cintolo said jurors shouldn’t believe Lally.

“He’s a liar. He’s a cheat. He’s a manipulator and the quintessential name dropper,” said Cintolo. “Beware of what Joe Lally is trying to sell you.”

Merritt acknowledged Lally isn’t the most sympathetic witness, calling him a gambler and greedy salesman, but said he’ll testify truthfully.

“Keep your eyes on the ball, see how much evidence is collaborated,” Merritt said.

Merritt said while there’s nothing in writing directly implicating DiMasi, the evidence will show a “tacit, mutual” understanding among the alleged conspirators.

At issue is whether DiMasi helped orchestrate a scheme to direct contracts to Cognos, a Burlington, Mass.-based software company.

Prosecutors say the scheme was hatched in late 2004, when DiMasi, Lally and McDonough arranged to have payments funneled to DiMasi in exchange for his helping Cognos land the first contract – a $5.2 million sale of software to the Department of Education.

Cognos agreed to pay a monthly $5,000 “referral fee,” $4,000 of which would be sent to DiMasi. In return, according to an indictment, DiMasi asked his staff to press another state lawmaker to sponsor budget amendments setting aside the $5.2 million.

Cognos, which cooperated with investigators, then tried to win a $15 million contract selling management software to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

Merritt said DiMasi at several points made it known to Patrick that he was interested in the Cognos contract, including during a July 2007 breakfast meeting between the two. Merritt said Patrick passed on DiMasi’s wish to then-Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie Kirwan.

On Aug. 24, 2007, Kirwan signed the Cognos agreement. Days later, Cognos paid Lally’s firm $2.8 million. The firm, in turn, paid Vitale’s firm $500,000 and McDonough $200,000, according to the indictment.

The administration ultimately canceled the contract, and Cognos refunded the money.

Merritt said the $500,000 for Vitale was meant as “seed money” for a future business venture between Vitale and DiMasi once DiMasi left office.

“He wasn’t going to be speaker but for a few more years so they should make as much hay as possible,” Merritt said, quoting an alleged comment by DiMasi during an 2006 golf outing with others charged in the case.

“It was a perfect match of self-interest,” he added.

Merritt said there’s no evidence Patrick, Kirwan or any other public official was aware of the alleged scheme.

Kirwan and former state Education Commissioner David Driscoll also appear on lists of possible witnesses, and even celebrity chef Todd English is named as a potential witness in DiMasi’s defense.

Cintolo said it was administration officials, not DiMasi, who advocated for the contracts.

Cintolo said Driscoll had several chance meetings with DiMasi during which Driscoll pushed to get the money in the budget for the initial $5.2 million software contract, which Driscoll said was needed to help track teacher performance under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

Cintolo said it was Patrick who helped push for the second, $15.2 million software contract.

He also said the arrangement where DiMasi received a portion of what Cintolo called a “referral fee” was a standard business procedure, not a bribe.

If Patrick is called to testify, it would be the first time a sitting Massachusetts governor has testified in a criminal trial since 1995.

DiMasi resigned amid the burgeoning scandal in January 2009, before the release of the indictment.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

The DA will discuss today's developments in the trials of 5 of 6 teens charged in the Phoebe Prince bullying case. Watch video

NOTE: This event is now over. An excerpt from the press conference has replaced the live video feed.

Northwest District Attorney David Sullivan will speak to reporters today about recent developments in charges against six teens charged in connection to the bullying-related suicide of Phoebe Prince.

Follow ongoing coverage of the case from The Republican and MassLive.com here.

Due to the high-profile nature of the case, the press conference will be held at the Mullins Center on the University of Massachusetts campus. It is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m., at which time we'll provide live coverage.

We'll be doing our best to make sure the stream works with most Internet connections and modern browsers, but because video streaming requires a lot of bandwidth, in order to watch the stream you will need approximately 512kbps available (check your connection speed here) and should be using the latest version of your Internet browser.

If you are using Internet Explorer and the stream is not displaying, it's likely that you need to download Adobe Flash Player or verify that it is enabled on your browser. Follow updates in the live blog below:

Police are also looking for a car with Connecticut plates that may have been involved.

Photo courtesy of Chicopee policeSurveillance footage from Alden Credit Union shows a suspect in a Thursday bank robbery.

CHICOPEE - Police are investigating an 11:30 a.m. robbery at Alden Credit Union, 710 Grattan Street.

Chicopee Detective Lt. Mark Gilbert said detectives are still at the bank, processing the scene for evidence and interviewing witnesses.

The suspect remains at large, he said.

According to police, a man handed the teller a note demanding cash, and then fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

He was described as white, heavy, and with a thin, dark mustache and goatee. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a black knit cap and dark sunglasses.

He was last seen fleeing the scene on foot, but police said a car may also be involved. Police are looking for a silver sedan with a rear spoiler, possibly a Honda or Toyota, with Connecticut plates that was seen in the vicinity.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Chicopee Police Detective Bureau at (413) 594-1730.

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Prince left many of her writings on a computer hard drive, but O’Brien said she has not been able to bring herself to look at them. Watch video

The Republican | Don Treeger (Longe) and Michael S. Gordon (Mullins and Velazquez)Left to right, Phoebe Prince bullying case defendants Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins and Sharon Velazquez are seen in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley on Thursday.

HADLEY – The image of an impish, kind-hearted and meek Phoebe Prince terrified by the prospect of violence brought tears to the eyes of some of her aggressors Thursday as three more defendants in her bullying case came to resolution on the charges against them.

Sharon C. Velazquez, 17, Flannery Mullins, 18, and Ashley Longe, 18, all admitted to sufficient facts for a delinquency finding on various misdemeanor charges pertaining to their treatment of Prince, a freshman at South Hadley High School where they were all students. As a result, the charges against Mullins and Longe will be continued without a finding until they turn 19 and the case against Velazquez until her 18th birthday, at which time they will all be dismissed. A number of other charges against the three were dismissed as well Thursday as a result of their agreements. The maximum penalty for conviction on the delinquency charges would have been commitment to the Department of Youth Services.

As she did Wednesday, when defendants Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey reached similar agreements in Hampshire Superior Court, Anne O’Brien, Prince’s mother, read compelling statements that painted a vivid picture of her 15-year-old daughter and the O’Brien has endured over losing her. Prince hanged herself on Jan. 14, 2010, in her South Hadley home following a period of intense bullying at school. Her suicide helped spark an international campaign to address the issue of bullying and made Prince an icon to many who have suffered that humiliation. In all, six former South Hadley High School students were charged in connection with Prince. Austin Renaud, who is charged with statutory rape for allegedly sleeping with the underage Prince is scheduled for a pretrial conference on July 6.

Velazquez and Mullins harassed Prince in the classrooms and hallways of the high school because of rumors that Prince was romantically involved with Renaud, Mullins’ boyfriend, according to prosecutor Steven E. Gagne. Longe taunted Prince at the urging of Narey’s boyfriend Mulveyhill, who had also been involved with Prince, Gagne said. Their actions, along with those of Narey and Mulveyhill, made life at school intolerable for Prince in the weeks leading up to her suicide, according O’Brien.

A distraught O’Brien stood up in court three times Thursday, addressing each of the defendant’s cases separately. Of Velazquez, she said, “She terrified my daughter by her anger and physical aggression. Phoebe walked between people in the hallway in case she jumped her.”

O’Brien compared Mullins’ threat that she wanted to fight Prince to her daughter’s embrace of another student who was having difficulties in school and at home.

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” she said. “It was a challenge for her to make it through each day without coming to harm.”

Longe, who admitted to harassing Prince and was charged with throwing a soft drink can at her from a car, was the only one of the defendants who took responsibility for her actions, O’Brien said, telling the court that the two of them met Wednesday at Longe’s request.

“She had been asking to meet with me,” O’Brien told Judge Daniel J. Swords. “It showed a lot of courage. I’m very satisfied that the accountability and genuine remorse I’d been asking for was offered to me by Ashley Longe.”

Both Longe and her mother wept while O’Brien spoke. Velazquez also cried when O’Brien read her statement during her disposition. According to the evidence presented by Gagne at the three court sessions, Prince lived in almost constant terror at school during the last week of her life. Velazquez assailed her in class in front of other students and Mullins’ threats her shook her up so much that Prince skipped classes and went to the school nurse. Longe made disparaging remarks about Prince outside the school auditorium and threw a can at her while Prince was walking home on the day of her suicide, Gagne said. When Longe called Mulveyhill to tell him what she had done, he replied, “Good job,” Gagne said.

Attorney Alfred Chamberland, who represented Mullins, took issue with the prosecution following her disposition. Saying that the defendants in the Prince case had been “overcharged,” Chamberland called the plea agreements an acknowledgment by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office that felony indictments were not warranted. Chamberland also said his client has been “demonized” in the minds of the American public.

Former Northwester District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel, who brought the charges last year, also issued a statement saying that her intention has been to achieve some accountability for Prince’s treatment at school.

“At this time, a measure of justice has been achieved through the conduct of a full investigation, appropriate charging and use of the court system,” she said. “While this case will fade from the public’s mind, it will never fade for Phoebe’s family and friends.”

In contrast to the depiction of the defendants’ actions was O’Brien’s description of her daughter, newly arrived from her native Ireland, as a vivacious, mischievous and intellectually curious girl who blanched at the thought of violence. Prince, O’Brien said, had a lovely mezzo soprano voice and a love for languages. O’Brien, an English teacher, broke down when she described how she would pick out novels for her daughter to read. Prince, she said, would encourage her friends to derail O’Brien’s classes by interjection questions about Margaret Thatcher and the band U2.

Prince left many of her writings on a computer hard drive, but O’Brien said she has not been able to bring herself to look at them.

“To play them would bring unbearable memories,” she said.

Gone, too, are the summer excursions to French village that she enjoyed with her daughter.

“This summer I’ll be negotiating with a stone-cutter to design and cut a Celtic headstone for Phoebe’s grave,” she said.

O’Brien told the court that she had her daughter cremated but had not yet buried her remains because she is waiting for peace. O’Brien told the court she is waiting in vain.

“There will be no peace,” she said. “I’ll return home and bury my daughter.”

NWDA David E. Sullivan Statement on Phoebe Prince Cases

Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan said the charges were dismissed at the request of Anne O'Brien and Jeremy Prince.

View full sizeAustin Renaud.

At a press conference held at the University of Massachusetts Thursday, Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan announced that the charges against Austin Renaud in the Phoebe Prince case had been dismissed at the request of Prince's family.

Renaud, a 19-year-old South Hadley man, was charged with statutory rape in April 2010 and was one of six defendants in the Prince case.

"The criminal charge against the sixth defendant, Austin Renaud, has been dismissed this afternoon, upon the request of the O'Brien-Prince family and in the interest of justice," Sullivan said.

"If you look at the last couple of days, Anne and Jeremy Prince went though a lot of agony and so did the families," said Darby O'Brien, a South Hadley resident. "It gets down to if any of the administrators said 'Knock it off.'"

O'Brien claims that the adults involved in the case were not held accountable.

"They're kids. They didn't run the school. Dan Smith did. I don't think anyone wanted to see these kids go to jail," he said.

Dan Smith is retiring from South Hadley High School at the end of the school year after working in the school system for over 33 years. Sean McNiff, an assistant principal at Marblehead High School was selected from a group of three semifinalists to take over for Smith.

Sullivan also believed that while no charges were issued against member’s of the South Hadley High School administration, he felt former Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel’s description of the actions of the administration being ‘troublesome’ was an “understatement.”

“We fully reviewed this case and did not find criminal conduct. But I don't excuse their conduct,” Sullivan said.

While he believes that the South Hadley School system has made “incredible strides,” in the wake of the Prince tragedy, he disagreed with Gus Sayer, the superintendent of South Hadley Public Schools, who made comments Thursday that “did not fully reflect on the gravity of what happened in the school.”

O’Brien and a parent within the school system, Luke Galinas, are suing the Sayer administration, while speaking out adamantly about the administration’s failure to act during and in the wake of the Prince case. Galinas had no comment.

“Bullying isn’t just about one individual like Phoebe Prince being exposed to that type of harassment, it’s every single student in the school system,” Sullivan said.

The District Attorney would like Sayer and the administration to keep working on making their school community a safe one and reaffirmed that there would be no criminal charges being brought against the South Hadley school system.

“The O’Brien and Prince family were never looking for these individuals to go to jail. They were looking for accountability,” Sullivan said.

Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey both plead guilty to criminal harassment, a misdemeanor, and will be on probation for one year with 100 hours of community service. Sharon Velazquez also plead guilty to criminal harassment, and will be on probation until she turns 18 in July. Flannery Mullins plead guilty to civil rights violation and disturbing a school assembly, also misdemeanors, and will be on probation until she turns 19 in January.

David Brinch, Alex McKinnon and Rosie Walunas contributed to this report.

Related Links:

• A legal scorecard of plea agreements in the Phoebe Prince bullying cases

• Recollection of Phoebe Prince brings defendants to tears as bullying cases wind down

• VIDEO: Sharon Velazquez accepts plea deal

• VIDEO: Attorney Colin Keefe's statement on resolution of charges against Sharon Velazquez

• Complete coverage of the Phoebe Prince case