The plea agreements all pertained to juvenile charges, conviction of which would have resulted in detention at a Massachusetts Department of Youth Services facility. 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 - Although the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office has now reached resolutions with all six defendants in the Phoebe Prince bullying case, the public might need a scorecard to sort out all the legal implications of three of the four deals struck Thursday.

Sharon Velazquez, 17, Ashley Longe, 18, and Flannery Mullins, 18, were all charged as juveniles in the case because they were under the age of 17 at the time of the alleged crimes. As such, their cases would ordinarily have been shielded from public view.

However, former District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel also charged the three as youthful offenders, a designation that opens the cases to public scrutiny. When the juvenile and youthful offender charges were joined, everything was thrown open.

All three were charged with criminal harassment, violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury and disturbing a school assembly. In addition, Velazquez and Mullins were charged with stalking and Longe with assault.

Velazquez and Longe admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding on the criminal harassment charges, Mullins to disturbing a school assembly and as much of the civil rights violation as constituted a misdemeanor, meaning absent the “bodily injury” portion. Civil rights violation resulting in bodily injury is a felony.

Admitting to sufficient facts for a guilty finding is not a guilty plea but an acknowledgment that the prosecution could secure a guilty verdict if the case went to trial. By the terms of the agreements, those charges will be continued without a finding for a period of time. In Velazquez’ case, that’s until she turns 18 on July 8. Because Mullins and Longe have already turned 18, their charges are continued until their 19th birthdays. Mullins’ is Jan. 17, 2012. Longe’s is April 28, 2012.

The charges will be dismissed with prejudice when each defendant reaches her birthday, meaning that they cannot be brought again by the prosecution.

The plea agreements all pertained to juvenile charges, conviction of which would have resulted in detention at a Massachusetts Department of Youth Services facility. In that case, the defendants would have been found “delinquent.” The juvenile charges were public because the youthful offender charges had not yet been resolved. Those were dropped only after the judge accepted the plea agreements.

As terms of their probation, the period during which their charges are being continued, each defendant must stay away from the Prince family unless the family consents otherwise, earn a GED or high school diploma and perform community service. Longe and Mullins must perform 100 hours of community service with at-risk or underprivileged youth. Because her birthday is only two months away, Velazquez was required to perform only 50 hours of community service. At the request of the Prince family, however, she is encouraged to voluntarily perform 50 additional hours.

As a final term of their probation, none of the defendants may profit from their involvement with Prince or the cases resulting from it.

Three of the defendants were charged as adults.

On Wednesday, Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, both 18, had their day in court. Because they were 17 at the time of the alleged crimes, they were charged as adults.

Narey admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding on the criminal harassment charge. That charge will be dropped after a year’s probation. Mulveyhill pleaded guilty to the same charge and will have it on his criminal record. He was also ordered to serve a year’s probation. Charges of civil rights violation resulting in bodily injury, disturbing a school assembly and statutory rape were dropped against Mulveyhill. The prosecution also dropped the civil rights and school assembly charges against Narey. The terms of their probation are similar to those of the youthful offenders.

Later Thursday, the state dropped its single charge against the sixth defendant, Austin Renaud, 18. He was not accused of bullying Prince but was charged with statutory rape for allegedly sleeping with her when she was under the legal age of consent.

Oil prices closed below $100 a barrel for the first time about six weeks.

File photo / Associated PressGeneral Motors workers cheer as the first Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan off the assembly line, at the GM factory in Lordstown, Ohio, in September. Chevrolet sold 150,652 Cruze sedans during the first quarter of 2011 â a 117-percent increase over the first quarter of 2010, GM reported Thursday.

NEW YORK — A free-fall in commodities and an unexpected jump in unemployment claims put financial markets on edge Thursday, dragging the stock market lower.

Oil prices fell nearly $10, or 9 percent, to close below $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-March. Silver lost 8 percent to settle at $34.41; the metal already had its biggest one-day drop in three decades on Tuesday and is nearly $16 off its high of $50 reached last week. And gold fell 2.3 percent to $1,474.90 an ounce.

Commodities like oil and cotton had risen by more than 25 percent over the past year. Some, like silver, remain up nearly 100 percent over this time last year, despite Thursday's decline. Thursday's pullback indicated that some speculators were locking in their gains and that other investors were protecting profits because of concerns that Friday's jobs reports may be worse than originally thought, say experts. That could lead to weaker demand from consumers.

"Speculators are unwinding their positions to take a profit," said Peter Fusaro, the chairman of Global Change Associates, an energy trading consultant in New York.

Stock indexes fell after the Labor Department said that first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to 474,000 last week, the highest level in eight months. Forecasters didn't see it coming. Economists had expected claims would drop to 410,000.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 139.41 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,584.17. The S&P 500 dropped 12.22, or 0.9 percent, to 1,335.10. The Nasdaq composite fell 13.51, or 0.5 percent, to 2,814.72.

Government bonds rose, pushing long-term interest rates to their lowest levels this year. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank to 3.16 percent.

Applications for unemployment benefits have increased in three of the previous four weeks. The jump in claims, along with other signs the economic recovery is losing strength, have raised concerns about what the government's monthly jobs report for April will reveal when it's released on Friday.

Economists forecast that employers added 185,000 workers in April. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 8.8 percent.

Meanwhile, gas is nearing $4 per gallon and major packaged goods companies have implemented price increases on every day purchases, leading some analysts to worry that consumers will cut back on spending.

Prior to Wednesday, rising earnings had been driving stocks up in recent weeks. But even strong results reported Thursday by several large companies did not outweigh concerns about the economic recovery.

General Motors Co. was among the companies reporting higher profits Thursday. GM said its earnings more than tripled on stronger sales in the U.S. and China. Despite the results, GM fell 3 percent.

Other companies that reported strong earnings rose. Whole Foods Market Inc. gained 0.4 percent after its quarterly report topped Wall Street's estimates. Estee Lauder Cos. gained 1.2 percent after it said earnings doubled on stronger sales.

Despite losses over the last two days, the broader markets are up — the S&P, for one, is up 15 percent, not including dividends — in the year since the "flash crash" led many investors to flee the market.

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the "flash crash" when the Dow sank nearly 1,000 points in less than a half hour. Some stocks lost a third of their value in four minutes.

The market regained most of its losses by the end of the day, but the wild ride left a mark. Fund managers say the "flash crash" made everyday investors, still wary after the financial crisis, more reluctant to trust their savings to the stock market. They began pulling cash out of mutual funds that invest in stocks and favoring bond funds instead.

A pair of economic reports pushed stocks lower Wednesday. Payroll processor ADP said companies added fewer jobs in April than economists had expected. In a separate report, the Institute for Supply Management said its service sector index rose at the slowest pace in 8 months in April.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday. Consolidated volume came to 4.8 billion shares.

Sullivan said that comments by the superintendent "did not fully reflect on the gravity of what happened in the school." Watch video

Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan said at a press conference today that no charges will be filed against South Hadley school officials in relation to the suicide of Phoebe Prince.

Thursday's press conference marked the end of court proceedings for six students at South Hadley High School, who were accused of charges including statutory rape and criminal harassment when Prince, then a 15-year-old freshman, committed suicide after being repeatedly bullied at school in January 2010.

Sullivan, who also announced that charges against Austin Renaud would be dropped after the remaining five received plea deals, said he agreed with his predesessor, Elizabeth Scheibel, finding "no criminal conduct on the part of the school system."

"But I don't excuse their conduct," he said, adding that he did not think the administration recognized the significance of Prince's suicide.

"I think the school system has made incredible strides, but the comments that were made today by Superintendent Gus Sayer did not fully reflect on the gravity of what happened in the school," Sullivan said. "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."

The new city budget represents an overall increase of $4.1 million over current spending.

File photo | The RepublicanWestfield City Hall.

WESTFIELD – The city’s proposed spending plan for fiscal 2012 totals $121.7 million and provides for no layoffs, furloughs or standard raises for municipal or school employees.

“The budget is lean but it is designed to move Westfield forward,” Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Thursday, just before submitting the budget package to the City Council for review. The council must act on the plan by June 30.

The mayor is asking for $108.8 million to finance operations of municipal departments, including the School Department, that rely on property taxes. That amount represents an increase of 3.5 percent, or about $3.7 million over current spending.

An additional $12.8 million is sought for operations within the Water Department, Waste Water Treatment, ambulance, Community Preservation and stormwater management. Those departments are financed through user fees.

Republican file photoDaniel Knapik

Knapik plans to use $1.4 million in reserves, about $600,000 more than this year, to offset spending in the year beginning July 1. That will leave the city an estimated $7.7 million in cash reserves.

Knapik presented his budget proposal to the City Council a full month earlier than in previous years.

Several council members, especially Finance Chairman Richard E. Onofrey Jr. and Councilor at-Large David A. Flaherty, complained last year they did not have sufficient time to review the financial needs of all municipal departments. Also, as a result of that lack of review, the council made a last-minute $862,000 cut in school spending, only to restore $744,000 at the 11th hour last June 30.

Council President Christopher Keefe said Thursday the early filing “comes as good news. It will give the council some flexibility in its review.”

Flaherty also welcomed the early filing, saying “this will give us more time to explore” the budget. “I offer no promises but my job is to be conservative. We need to look under the hood,” he said.

The FY12 budget formally recognizes the city’s new Technology Center located on Apremont Way as a municipal department, with a budget of $1.2 million and three additional employees.

The new budget will also add a parking enforcement officer, a post eliminated in 2008, and an estimated four additional part-time positions at different departments.

Last year, the mayor sought concessions from all municipal employees and laid off at least five city workers to balance spending. Concessions included furloughs of one to three days for various employee groups.

The budget includes $52.4 million for the School Department, an increase of $1.2 million from FY11; $6.8 million for the Police Department, a decrease of about $118,000; and just under $5.1 million for the Fire Department, a decrease of about $73,000 from current spending.

The budget also assumes the city will proceed with a consolidation of services among city and School Department efforts in personnel, law and purchasing.

Knapik said the budget does not include funds for either the city or school personnel director jobs. A decision on funding a single personnel manager for both will be made later, he indicated.

The mayor said property taxes must increase by the annual 2.5 percent to help finance the budget.

Also, he will bank on receipt of $32.5 million in state Chapter 70 education funds and another $4.9 million in state aid to the city to finance operations next year. Combined, state allocations represent a projected decrease of $200,000.

City financial officers anticipate Westfield’s new growth, building construction and expansion, will bring in $500,000 to help finance the budget.

As for moving the city forward, Knapik said he plans to repair or replace roofs at several schools, repair the roof on City Hall, move forward with design for a new elementary school and spend at least $2 million in road improvement projects during the new fiscal year.

Bin Laden's wife, identified as Yemeni-born Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah, said she never left the upper floors of the house the entire time she was there.

ISLAMABAD — One of three wives living with Osama bin Laden told Pakistani interrogators she had been staying in the al-Qaida chief's hideout for five years, and could be a key source of information about how he avoided capture for so long, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday.

In its first confirmation of bin Laden's death, al-Qaida warned of retaliation in an Internet statement, saying Americans' "happiness will turn to sadness."

Bin Laden's wife, identified as Yemeni-born Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah, said she never left the upper floors of the house the entire time she was there.

She and bin Laden's other two wives are being interrogated in Pakistan after they were taken into custody following Monday's American raid on bin Laden's compound in the town of Abbottabad. Pakistani authorities are also holding eight or nine children who were found there after the U.S. commandos left.

Given shifting and incomplete accounts from U.S. officials about what happened during the raid, testimony from bin Laden's wives may be significant in unveiling details about the operation.

Their accounts will also help show how bin Laden spent his time and managed to stay hidden, living in a large house close to a military academy in a garrison town, a two-and-a-half hours' drive from the capital, Islamabad.

A Pakistani official said CIA officers had not been given access to the women in custody. Already-tense military and intelligence relations between the United States and Pakistan have been further strained after the helicopter-borne raid, which many Pakistanis see as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

The proximity of bin Laden's hideout to the military garrison and the Pakistani capital also has raised suspicions in Washington that bin Laden may have been protected by Pakistani security forces while on the run.

Risking more tensions, missiles fired from a U.S. drone killed 15 people, including foreign militants, in North Waziristan, an al-Qaida and Taliban hotspot close to Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said. Such attacks were routine last year, but their frequency has dropped this year amid opposition by the Pakistan security establishment.

Pakistan's army — a key U.S. ally in the Afghanistan war — on Thursday threatened to review cooperation with Washington if it stages anymore attacks like the one that killed bin Laden.

The Pakistani intelligence official did not say Friday whether the Yemeni wife has said that bin Laden was also living there since 2006. "We are still getting information from them," he said.

Another security official said the wife was shot in the leg during the operation, and did not witness her husband being killed. He also said one of bin Laden's eldest daughters had said she witnessed the Americans killing her father.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give their names to the media.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's intelligence agency has concluded that bin Laden was "cash strapped" in his final days and al-Qaida had split into two factions, with the larger one controlled by the group's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, according to a briefing given by two senior military officers.

The officers spoke to a small group of Pakistani reporters late Thursday and their comments were confirmed for The Associated Press by another top military officer who was present at the briefing.

The officer, who asked that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the meeting, didn't provide details or elaborate how his agency made the conclusions about bin Laden's financial situation or the split with his deputy, al-Zawahri. The al-Qaida chief apparently had lived without any guards at the Abbottabad compound or loyalists nearby to take up arms in his defense.

The image of Pakistan's intelligence agency has been battered at home and abroad in the wake of the raid that killed bin Laden. Portraying him as isolated and weak could be aimed at trying to create an impression that a failure to spot him was not so important.

Documents taken from the house by American commandos showed that bin Laden was planning to hit America, however, including a plan for derailing an American train on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The confiscated materials reveal the rail attack was planned as of February 2010.

Late Thursday, two Pakistani officials cited bin Laden's wives and children as saying he and his associates had not offered any "significant resistance" when the American commandos entered the compound, in part because the assailants had thrown "stun bombs" that disorientated them.

One official said Pakistani authorities found an AK-47 and a pistol in the house belonging to those in the house, with evidence that one bullet had been fired from the rifle.

"That was the level of resistance" they put up, said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

His account is roughly consistent with the most recent one given by U.S. officials, who now say one of the five people, killed in the raid was armed and fired any shots, a striking departure from the intense and prolonged firefight described earlier by the White House and others in the administration.

U.S. officials say four men were killed alongside bin Laden, including one of his sons.

Reflecting the anger in Pakistan, hundreds of members of radical Islamic parties protested Friday in several Pakistan cities against the American raid and in favor of bin Laden. Many of the people chanted "Osama is alive" and blasted the U.S. for violating the country's sovereignty.

The largest rally took place in the town of Khuchlak in southwestern Baluchistan province, where about 500 people attended.

"America is celebrating Osama bin Laden's killing, but it will be a temporary celebration," said Abdullah Sittar Chishti, a member of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party who attended the rally in Khuchlak. "After the martyrdom of Osama, billions, trillions of Osamas will be born."

Watch video from the district attorney's press conference Thursday. Watch video

As part of our coverage of the court proceedings for six teens charged in connection to the bullying-related suicide of Phoebe Prince, The Republican asked for your input on what questions to put to Northwest District Attorney David Sullivan.

The Republican's Greg Saulmon ran a live blog of the press conference, archived here, and relayed user-submitted questions to the DA.

Watch video from the press conference to see what he had to say, and follow full coverage from The Republican and MassLive.com.

The new jobs were a result of the highest hiring spree in five years.

Associated Press photoJustin Miller, left, talks with Leah Chanthapanya, right, at a job fair, in Independence, Ohio, Tuesday. Employers added more than 200,000 jobs in April for the third straight month, the biggest hiring spree in five years. But the unemployment rate rose to 9 percent in part because some people resumed looking for work.

WASHINGTON – Employers added more than 200,000 jobs in April for the third straight month, the biggest hiring spree in five years.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 244,000 jobs last month. Private employers created 268,000 jobs – the most since February 2006.

The job gains were widespread. Retailers, factories, financial companies, education and health care and even construction companies all added jobs. Federal, state and local governments cut jobs.

But the unemployment rate ticked up to 9 percent from 8.8 percent in March, the first increase since November. The government uses a separate survey to calculate the unemployment rate. The survey sometimes diverges from a separate survey used to number of jobs employers added.

The latest employment figures suggest businesses are confident in the economy despite weak growth earlier this year and soaring gas prices. The government said job gains in March and February were even stronger than first reported.

Stocks rose after the employment report was released. The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 150 points in morning trading.

Companies are finally starting to spend the nearly $2 trillion in cash that they stockpiled after the recession ended in June 2009, economists say. Businesses are gaining confidence in their sales and the economy’s ability to grow, despite some obstacles.

“It is a sign of relief. Economic momentum has not been lost,“ said Sung won Sohn, economist at California State University. “Surprisingly, the rising energy prices have not made a significant dent in businesses’ willingness to hire, indicating that their optimism on the economy has not faded.“

The positive jobs report completes a strong week for President Barack H. Obama. At the start of the week, he announced that a team of Navy Seals tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Workers’ paychecks edged up in April. Average hourly earnings rose to $22.95, up from $22.93 in March.

All told there were 13.7 million people unemployed in April, still almost double since before the recession began in December 2007.

Including part-time workers who would rather be working full time, plus people who have given up looking altogether, the percentage of “underemployed“ people rose to 15.9 percent in April.

To calculate the unemployment rate, the government calls 60,000 households and asks people if they’re working or looking for a job. This survey includes the self-employed, farm workers and domestic help – people not counted in the payroll survey.

By contrast, the government surveys about 140,000 businesses and government agencies to determine the number of jobs added.

Most analysts agree the economy has strengthened enough to keep growing this year. And many say the factors that held back growth at the start of the year were most likely temporary. They predict growth will pick up over the rest of the year.

There have been some positive signs. Retailers reported strong April sales, helped by a late Easter. Auto companies reported brisk sales. And factories have expanded production this year at the fastest pace in a quarter-century.

Economists’ prediction for a pickup in overall growth is based, however, on gasoline prices stabilizing in the months ahead and then dropping to around $3.50 a gallon or lower near the end of the year.

Gas prices had risen for 44 straight days before holding steady Friday at a national average of roughly $3.99 a gallon.

“The U.S. labor market strengthened in April, damping concerns that rising energy costs are staunching the recovery, said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets Economics.

A statement posted on militant websites said that Americans’ “happiness will turn to sadness.“

Associated Press photoA man holds a photograph of Osama bin Laden, during a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, to denounce the U.S. commando raid that killed the al-Qaida leader. Al-Qaida on Friday confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden and warned of retaliation, saying Americans' "happiness will turn to sadness.

WASHINGTON – President Barack H. Obama was on his way to deliver in-person thanks Friday to service members involved in killing Osama bin Laden, as al-Qaida issued a threat of retaliation for its leader’s death.

A statement posted on militant websites gave al-Qaida’s confirmation of bin Laden’s killing, opening the way for a successor to be named, and said that Americans’ “happiness will turn to sadness.“ Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

It was the first statement from al-Qaida since bin Laden died in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan five days ago, and a reminder that despite his death, threats to America remain.

It came as the president headed to Fort Campbell, Ky., home to the Army unit involved in transporting Navy SEALs in and out of bin Laden’s compound.

White House officials said that Obama will express his gratitude to the raid participants privately. The president, joined by Vice President Joe Biden, also will address soldiers who have returned recently from Afghanistan, speaking in a public forum that highlights the military triumph over bin Laden.

At the same time, Obama was seeking to convey a return to the business of governing. Before arriving in Fort Campbell Friday afternoon the president was making a stop in Indianapolis to promote his energy policies.

In Indianapolis the president also planned to address monthly jobs numbers released Friday, which showed that the economy added 244,000 jobs in April, beating expectations. At the same time, though, the unemployment rate ticked up to 9 percent.

Obama has tried to avoid rejoicing publicly over bin Laden’s death. But he has maintained a steady stream of events that have kept the success of the remarkable commando operation at the forefront. On Thursday he visited New York to lay a wreath at ground zero and visit fire and police stations that responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack that was carried out by bin Laden’s al-Qaida operatives. The president met privately there with victims’ families, but in public Obama never mentioned bin Laden by name. He didn’t have to.

“When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say,” Obama told firefighters.

But the White House is wary of overplaying its hand. Obama decided not to release photographs of bin Laden’s corpse, saying, “We don’t need to spike the football.”

And the president also has hewed to his regular schedule, participating in policy sessions and routine ceremonial events.

Without bin Laden’s death to overshadow it, the trip to Indianapolis to showcase a transmission plant that produces systems for hybrid vehicles would have policy and political consequences. Obama has been promoting his energy policies as a long-term answer to rising oil prices and U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The skyrocketing cost of gasoline had caused Obama’s public approval numbers to dip until bin Laden’s death shoved them back up. What’s more, Indiana is a battleground state that Obama won narrowly in 2008 by less than 30,000 votes.

Still, the centerpiece of the day for the president will be the stop at Fort Campbell.

The fort is home to the 101st Airborne Division and many of its combat teams have returned recently from tours of duty in Afghanistan. But its main draw for Obama is the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the highly specialized Army unit that carried Navy SEALs to bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The unit, known as Night Stalkers, has fought in nearly every U.S. conflict, from Grenada to Afghanistan, and was memorialized in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down.“ Many of its missions are classified and among its primary duties are flying special forces commandos behind enemy lines.

They are equipped with Black Hawk, Chinook and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters. Aviation experts said a helicopter used in the bin Laden raid appeared to be a stealthier, top secret and never-before-seen version of a routinely used special ops helicopter. The helicopter made a hard landing and was destroyed by the military team at the site.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

The victim told police that he did not recognize his attacker.

Republican file photo

This updates story originally filed at 7:54 a.m.

HOLYOKE – A 43-year-old city man, who had some kind of caustic solution thrown into his face Thursday night while walking down High Street, was listed in critical condition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston on Friday.

Police Capt. Arthur R. Monfette identified the victim as Julio Acevedo. The attack occurred shortly before 10:15 p.m. as Acevedo walked near the Kennedy Fried Chicken at 333 High St.

Police said the suspect came up from behind the victim and threw liquid in his face. “At this point we don’t know if it was random or if there was any reason for this,” Monfette said.

Acevedo, who received second and third degree burns to his face, neck, chest and back, told police that he did not recognize his attacker.

The suspect is described as an Hispanic male wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. Although police initially reported the suspect had been on a bicycle, Monfette said that an updated version of the report did not contain that information.

Monfette said the attack is highly unusual. “I have never seen anything like this before,” he said.

The liquid has not yet been identified and hazard materials personnel were summoned to dispose of it, Monfette said.

Mother of bully victim being recognized for her legislative efforts to protect kids.

Republican file photoSirdeaner Walker, left, and Springfield Central High student Payton Shubrick at the recent awarding of scholarships in memory of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover by the Springfield-based foundation established in his name.

Springfield resident Sirdeaner Walker, who worked for the passage of antibully legislation in Massachusetts after her 11-year-old son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, a victim of repeated bullying, took his life in 2009, has been named one of the honorees at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s 23nd Annual Lifesavers Dinner on May 11 at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Legendary comedian Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa Rivers, stars of television “Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?,” will serve as the evening’s emcees. In 1987, Edgar Rosenberg, Rivers’ husband and Melissa Rivers’ father, took his own life.

According to the foundation’s website, www.afsp.org, Walker, along with Mike and Mary Gonzales, will receive the foundation’s Survivor Award given to individuals for “advocating for policies and legislation to protect kids after they lost their children to suicide."

"Their work," the New York-based foundation said, "has brought national attention to bullying, Internet predators and the risk they carry for suicide.”

Walker, who had a brief private meeting at the White House on March 10 with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during the president’s all-day conference on bullying prevention, was instrumental in Gov. Deval L. Patrick signing antibully legislation into law in the state last May that prohibits online harassment and requires schools to notify parents when bullying occurs.

She has appeared on talk shows and has done speaking engagements across the country to educate people in anti-prevention measure.

Walker is advocating for passage of federal legislation that would require schools that receive specific federal funds to adopt prevention programs and report related abuses to the U.S. Department of Education.

According to the site, The Gonzales lost their 19-year-old daughter, Suzy, to suicide, while she was attending college, in 2003. They have been advocates for the Suzanne Gonzales Suicide Prevention Act or “Suzy’s Law,” a bill introduced into Congress in 2009 that would make it a crime to use the Internet to promote or encourage suicide.

The foundation’s 2011 Research Award will be presented to Dr. Yeates Conwell, whose studies area said to have had a major impact on understanding of late-life suicidal behavior.

Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige will receive the Public Education Award for discussing his struggle with depression, thoughts of suicide and subsequent treatment and recovery.

The dinner, whose attendees include celebrities, politicians, and leaders in the world of business and medicine, is a fund-raiser for the foundation's research and education programs.

Even after a stern warning from the Attorney General and a stiff regulation from the city, one cyber café is still operating in Springfield.

Associated Press photoPolice in Manchester, N.H., are seen, Friday during a standoff with an armed gunman. Click on the link, at left, for a report from WBZ-TV and radio in Boston about the the standoff that began Thursday night when police were called to the area to do a welfare check on a 7-year-old child. When officers arrived they were met by a man waving a handgun.

• Massachusetts' first on-shore wind farm begins operating at Brodie Mountain in Hancock [BerkshireEagle.com]


• Flooding along Lake Champlain prompts Vermont to declare state of emergency (photo gallery) [BerkshireEagle.com]


• 1 cyber cafe continues to operate in Springfield despite warnings from city, state (video) [cbs3springfield.com]


• New Hampshire police evacuate Manchester neighborhood as standoff continues with armed man (video) [Boston.cbslocal.com]


• Sen. Scott Brown's Osama bin Laden photo goof has Democrats crowing [BostonHerald.com]


• Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court says legal immigrants entitled to state subsidized health care [Boston.com]


• Issues of discrimnation, injustice to be highlighted at Gay Pride parade in Northampton [Gazettenet.com]


• Russia emerges as Europe's most God-believing nation [CSMonitor.com]


• Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy to delay layoff notices [Courant.com]


• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


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Grew is expected to begin working in mid-June.

Prosecutor said Michael Nash was given credit for admitting crime right away.

MIchael A. Nash

SPRINGFIELD – Michael A. Nash immediately confessed to police when caught for breaking into an East Forest Park neighborhood convenience store in December.

In fact Nash even told police where they could find the cash register he had taken from Friendly Market at 158 Island Pond Road after kicking out a window on Dec. 16 at about 1:45 a.m., Assistant District Attorney Richard B. Morse said Thursday.

Morse told Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis that was one of the reasons he agreed to a four to five year state prison sentence for Nash, 34, even though Nash now has 10 convictions for breaking and entering.

Nash, of 16 Melrose St., pleaded guilty to breaking and entering in the nighttime for a felony and larceny from a building.

Morse said police looked at surveillance video from the store, which was closed at the time of the break, and put out a description of the man who broke into the store. Police found him near the CVS at 600 State St.

When questioned about why the sentence recommendation was not higher, Morse said the recommendation doubles the time Nash did last time he was convicted. Morse said many defendants only plead guilty on the eve of trial and there needs to be some acknowledgment of defendants who admit right away what they did.

Defense lawyer Susan Hamilton told Velis Nash got along for some time working and not getting into trouble, but then he fell back into the trap of drugs.

Velis said to Nash, “Sir, 10 times. Looking at 11?” Nash said no to that.

The explosion occurred in the city's Liberty Heights neighborhood.

Springfield Fire Department photo by Michael RichardFirefighters and emergency medical personnel attend to a man who lives at 40 Thornton St. Friday afternoon following an accident in which he tried to use a utility vacuum to siphon gasoline out of a snow blower. He received burns and smoke inhalation from the resulting fire and was taken to Baystate Medical Center.

SPRINGFIELD – A 65-year-old Liberty Heights man suffered third-degree burns to his legs early Friday afternoon when he attempted to use an electric shop vacuum to siphon gasoline out of a snowblower.

The incident was reported about 1:25 p.m. at 40 Thornton St., Fire Capt. Michael R. Richard said.

The homeowner’s girlfriend of 30 years put out the flames with a garden hose before firefighters arrived. Richard said the woman reported that “the fire was huge” and that she couldn’t believe that house and garage had not caught on fire.

The victim, whom Richard declined to identity, was taken to Baystate Medical Center.

George Graham / The RepublicanA 65-year-old man who lives at 40 Thornton St. in the Liberty Heights neighborhood of Springfield suffered 3rd degree burns to his legs early Friday afternoon when he attempted to siphon gasoline out of a snowblower with a shop vac.

Richard said he may be transferred to Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut.

The explosion occurred in the driveway in front of the garage and that the victim walked to the front of the house to meet responding firefighters.

Richard said that one should never use an electrical device around gasoline for any reason.

“Obviously the motor ignited the gasoline vapors which led to the explosion,” he said.

The store moved to the Stop & Shop Plaza in Hadley in 1983 after opening in Amherst 70 years ago.

HADLEY - Aubuchon Hardware, which has been a fixture first in Amherst and then in Hadley, since just before the start of World War II closed Monday because of declining sales.

The store moved to the Stop & Shop Plaza here in 1983 from Amherst, said Nikki Maselli, who works in the marketing department for the chain.

“With much regret, the Aubuchon Hardware Company announces the closing of their Hadley location. For the past 70 years, the company took pleasure in serving the hardware needs of the town of Hadley and its surrounding communities,” according to a press release.

In recent years, Home Depot and Lowe’s home improvement stores have opened in town.

“It absolutely had an effect on sales,” said Steve Gasco, director of home office and field personnel, of those openings.

The store had four employees, three now have jobs in other Aubuchon stores, the fourth is looking to do something different, Gasco said.

The chain has 121 stores in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut and Upstate New York including stores in Greenfield, Easthampton and Turners Fall.

Aubuchon Hardware was founded in 1908 by William E. Aubuchon, Sr.

Mayor Mary Clare Higgins will hold a series of budget hearings before her proposal comes back before the council for a vote in late June.

Mary Clare Higgins

NORTHAMPTON – Mayor Mary Clare Higgins delivered her 12th and final budget proposal to the City Council Thursday without any projected job cuts.

The $93.5 million spending plan for fiscal 2012 includes the $7.1 million Water Enterprise Fund, the $5.58 million Sewer Enterprise Fund and the $3.48 million Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. The General Fund portion totals $77.3 million.

In her budget message, Higgins told the council she was able to maintain the level of city services without job losses in part through the cooperation of city employees, who agreed to freeze their wages at 2011 levels. She also proposed an increase in parking ticket fines, a move she estimated would bring an additional $272,500 into the city coffers. She noted that she complied her budget in the face of continued cuts in state aid totally $2,787,220 over the last four years.

During her time as mayor, Higgins said, the cost of a gallon of gas has increased from $1.26 to $3.96.

“The economy went from the Dot-Com bubble to the post 9/11 recession and stock market decline, to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, corporate bailouts, and to the current stagnant economy,” she said.

Meanwhile, she added, the cost of healthcare has grown into a national crisis.

As she prepares to leave City Hall, Higgins said she is intent on stabilizing the city’s finances and has taken several measures to accomplish this. I the past, she has borrowed from the Free Cash and Stabilization accounts to help balance the budget, but this year there are such one-time revenues. Some departments regularly come before the council several times during the course of the year asking for transfers to certain funds, such as snow and ice, veterans services and overtime for firefighters. In fiscal 2012, Higgins said, she increased the funding for veterans benefits by $342,850 in an effort to stabilize that fund.

Her budget plan also supports the construction of a new Department of Public Works facility, half of which would be paid for out of the General Fund. The other half would be spilt between the water and sewer enterprise funds.

Higgins will hold a series of budget hearings before her proposal comes back before the council for a vote in late June. Ward 2 Councilor Paul D. Spector gave Higgins’ budgeting skills.

“Since 200, we’ve been looking at one hard year after another,” he said. “I think we’re doing remarkable well, and it’s a tribute to her and to the folks who run and work for the city. I’d give her an A plus.”

The Prince family withdrew the complaint before it was heard by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and settled out of court with lawyers for the town’s insurers, Argonaut Insurance.

View full sizeSuperintendent of Schools Gus Sayer, left, and high school principal Dan Smith are two of the South Hadley officials who said they were not informed of the terms of a settlement in a suit filed by the family of the late Phoebe Smith with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

SOUTH HADLEY – Half a year after the town settled a discrimination suit filed by the family of Phoebe Prince, no board has discussed or been advised of the amount of the settlement and, to the astonishment of some lawyers experienced in municipal law, no town official professes to even know the terms. More incredibly, most officials contacted for this story say they don’t know the same of the insurance company that covers South Hadley, and the few that do had to inquire about it.

Anne O’Brien and William Allan Jeremy Prince, Phoebe’s parents, filed the complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in July, six months after their daughter hanged herself in her South Hadley home. Investigators say Prince took her life after a period of intense harassment and bullying by some fellow students at South Hadley High School. Six teenagers charged in connection with their treatment of Prince resolved their cases this week. The Prince family maintains that school officials did not do enough to stop the bullying.

The complaint names Superintendent Gus Sayer, high school principal Dan Smith and vice principal William Evans individually, along with the South Hadley Public Schools. It alleges that Prince was subjected to hostile and abusive language and physical conduct, including epithets connected with her Irish nationality. Specifically, it cites incidents at school in the week leading up to her suicide, maintaining that school officials took insufficient action or no action to address them. As a result, the complaint says, Prince was subjected to a humiliating and sexually offensive environment that interfered with her education.

The Prince family withdrew the complaint before it was heard by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and settled out of court with lawyers for the town’s insurers, Argonaut Insurance. According to news reports, the parties agreed to an undisclosed settlement on Nov. 5 of 2010.

Phoebe Prince

Six months later, top school officials, members of the selectboard, the town clerk and the town administrator all say they have no idea how much the insurance company paid the Prince family and no records to that effect. In response to a Freedom of Information request, Town Counsel Edward J. Ryan said he does have such records but considers them protected by attorney/client privilege. Ryan notes that there were no public funds involved and that the agreement contains a confidentiality clause.

Although the settlement appears to have been paid by the insurance company and did not come out of town coffers, lawyers who represent other communities say it could cause a spike in insurance premiums that will affect taxpayers for years to come. Elaine Reall, Northampton’s City Solicitor, said insurance claims against a municipality are generally settled in one of two ways: Either the community gives up the right to control the process to the insurer or the policy holder retains the right to approve or decline a settlement. In the latter case, the insurance company can hold the city or town responsible for the difference between the settlement and what it believes a jury might reasonably have awarded.

Should a municipality involve itself in the process, the town manager, selectboard or some other body must approve the amount, Reall said. Because no one will release any information about the Prince settlement, it is not known which avenue it took. Even if Argonaut negotiated the settlement without input from South Hadley, however, Reall termed it “very, very odd” that no town official was even briefed no the matter.

“It’s inconceivable to me that nobody in town knows the amount,” she said.

In Northampton, Reall said, it has been Mayor Mary Clare Higgins’ practice to share the terms of such settlements with the City Council in executive session, even if the council has no say in the matter. One of the reasons for this is the inevitable spike in premiums.

“You can’t say it’s not public money,” Reall said. “Insurance policies are paid for with public money. There’s no free lunch.”

Alan Seewald, who served as town counsel for Amherst for 19 years, called the notion that no one in South Hadley is privy to the terms of the settlement “far-fetched.”

“Would I expect someone to know this information?” he asked. “Sure.”

Nonetheless, every town official contacted for this story has pleaded ignorance, including Sayer, who was a defendant in the claim.

“I don’t know the name of the insurance company, to be honest with you,” he said.

Frank DeToma, Marilyn Ishler, Bruce McCullagh and Robert Judge, four of the town’s five selectmen, all replied to e-mails on the subject saying they don’t know the amount of the settlement. John R. Hine, the fifth member, did not respond to the e-mail inquiry. Judge said he had been told that Argonaut is the town’s insurer. None of the others knew the name of the company, and DeToma said he assumed the School Department had a separate insurer.

Likewise, Town Administrator Paul Beecher said he is in the dark.

“I believe it’s Argonaut Insurance but we were never advised as to the amount,” Beecher wrote.

Ryan has confirmed that he never disclosed the terms of the settlement with anyone in town. Robert L. Leonard of Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury and Murphy, the Springfield law firm that represented the Prince family, declined any comment on the settlement. Carol Lynch of Morris, Mahoney and Miller, which reportedly represented Argonaut, did not return repeated phone calls on the matter.

More than a dozen plastic milk containers discovered last week contained a residue from the illegal production of methamphetamine.

Republican staff photo by John Suchocki Emergency workers last week responded to discovery on Route 5 of two jugs containing what was believed to be chemicals from illegal methamphetamine production.

HOLYOKE – Another plastic milk container was found containing an unknown liquid prompting authorities to close part of Lyman Street for 90 minutes Friday.

But Fire Department Lt. Thomas G. Paquin said tests so far are inconclusive as to whether the liquid is the same as the chemical that was found in more than a dozen containers around the city last week and prompted responses from hazardous-materials teams.

Authorities believe the liquid in the plastic milk jugs last week could be a byproduct from the illegal production of methamphetamine, a stimulant drug that can lead to addiction and brain damage.

That byproduct can be dangerous if someone touches or smells it, so officials urged that people who find unfamiliar containers on their property or on sidewalks to call police at (413) 322-6900.

The container found Friday was outside at 70 Lyman St. and the regional hazardous-materials team and other public safety personnel responded about noon, Paquin said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection took the container and is testing the liquid, he said.

Interim Police Chief Frederick J. Seklecki said the investigation is ongoing into the jugs and whether methamphetamine is being made here or nearby.

“There are some things that we’re looking into,” Seklecki said.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Wallace E. Huntington

Wallace E. Huntington, 87, formerly of Monson, passed away on Sunday. He was born in Springfield, grew up in Granville and lived most of his life in Western Massachusetts. He graduated from Westfield High School, Class of 1941. He was a Marine Corps veteran of World War II. As staff sergeant, he served as a military photographer in the South Pacific and participated in the occupation of China. Shortly after his return home, Huntington joined the Springfield Union as a staff photographer, and later established a business as a commercial photographer. His achievements throughout his long photographic career earned him many local and national awards for his photojournalism and artistic style. He became a dealer in antique cameras and photographic items and was known among the antique community as "The Camera Guy."

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Beatty, Emma Jean




• 
  Dudek, Emilia J. "Millie" (Sidur)
  



• 
  Hale, Roger N.
  




• Harrington, Irene (Martinelli)
  




• 
  Huntington, Wallace E. "Wally"
  



• 
  Katz, Dorothy




• 
  Kroll, Dr. Walter P.
  



• 
  Newman, Edward J.
  




• O'Meara, Deborah A. (Haas)
  




• 
  Urban, Adelle S.
  

The was shivering in the water wedged by tree limbs when Campbell- Langford climbed the fallen tree and scooped him from the water

Photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanLiberty School fifth grade teacher Virna Campbell-Langford is seen with an award she was given Friday for saving a dog that was stuck on a fallen tree on Porter Lake at Forest Park while she was there with her class on a field trip.

SPRINGFIELD – A Liberty School teacher truly went out on a limb this week to rescue a dog at a Forest Park pond, much to the delight of her students.

Virna L. Campbell-Langford of Springfield, who teaches 5th Grade at Liberty on Carew Street, rescued the dog named Hunter during a class field trip at Forest Park on Tuesday. The dog was shivering in the water of Porter Lake, wedged between the limbs of a fallen tree when he was seen by Campbell-Langford and her students.

Campbell-Langford climbed across the tree, tried coaxing and reaching the dog with a stick, and resorted to scooping the dog, a spaniel, out of the water when it could not free itself.

On Friday, the teacher was showered with cheers and applause during a student assembly in which she was honored for her dog-saving feat.

The rescue has occurred as Campbell-Langford and her class were at Forest Park hiking and bird-watching as part of the Environmental Center for our Schools program.

“That bird watch turned into a dog rescue,” Campbell-Langford said.

Mya Santana and Natalie Hanechak, both 11, and in Grade 5, praised their teacher.

“I knew she would do it,” Santana said of the rescue. “She is a really smart teacher.

The rescue was exciting, Santana said.

As Campbell-Langford watched the girls being interviewed, Santana turned to her and said: “You have a thing for really being caring.”

“She is a teacher outside of school and inside school for all of us,” Hanechak said.

Santana used Campbell-Langford’s cellular telephone to film the rescue, which was shown to students Friday.

When the dog reached safety, “the students were cheering,” Hanechak said.

The principal, Jennifer Montano, said that Campbell-Langford’s actions are an example of true citizenship, and was a learning experience for the students. She quipped that Campbell-Langford "literally went out on a limb" to get the dog to safety.

Both during and after the rescue, the teacher spoke to the children about safety.

Campbell-Langford explained during the assembly that she was very careful in going out to the dog, making sure the large tree was sturdy and checking the dog’s reactions before scooping it from the water.

She believed it was imperative to get the dog out of the water rather than wait for animal control officers to arrive.

“I could see the poor thing was shaking and knew it was in trouble,” Campbell-Langford said. “Instincts kicked in and I just had to do something. I think anyone would have tried to help.”

The dog was taken by animal control officers and reunited with its owners, aided by the animal having an implanted microchip in its neck, she said.

“Of course, we don’t encourage students to jump into a pond,” Montano said. “But the lesson here is that you do what you can do to help a fellow citizen who is in distress event if it is an animal.”