Investigators said the man suffered a non-life-threatening stab wound, but he isn't cooperating with police.

SPRINGFIELD -- As is often the case, city police are trying to solve a crime involving a tight-lipped crime victim.

Police received a call from Mercy Medical Center around 11:05 p.m. Friday after a city resident showed up seeking treatment for a stab wound.

"He's being uncooperative," Springfield Police Lt. John K. Slepchuk said of the victim, whose age and address were unavailable early Saturday morning.

"We know it happened in Springfield, [but] we just don't have an exact place," the lieutenant said, adding that the victim's injury appears to be relatively minor.

Slepchuk said no other information was available.

A male victim suffered an apparently non-life-threatening gunshot wound during a predawn incident Saturday.

Republican file photo

Republican file photoA man showed up at Holyoke Hospital shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday. The injury is not believed to be life threatening, according to Holyoke police.

HOLYOKE -- City police are investigating a predawn Saturday shooting that sent a Holyoke man to the hospital with a gunshot wound.

Investigators did not release the victim's age or the location of his wound, though he is expected to be OK, according to police.

"It doesn't appear to be life-threatening," Holyoke Police Sgt. John Hart said around 6:40 a.m. Saturday.

According to preliminary police reports, the shooting was reported just minutes before 5 a.m. by a party on the second floor of 152 High St. At least two individuals told police they heard a single shot ring out as people left a large gathering on High Street.

Police did not indicate how, if at all, 152 High St. is related to the shooting. Early dispatch reports indicated "a bunch of people [were] leaving" the party, but "nobody's claiming anything."

"We did have a victim report to Holyoke Hospital," Hart said. "It's under investigation now by detectives."

Officers were dispatched to the city hospital once they were contacted about an apparent gunshot victim. The man later was transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, police said.

No further information was available.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of 152 High St., Holyoke, the possible site of a shooting reported around 4:57 a.m. Saturday:

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Authorities say a Berkshire arson case that displaced 15 tenants is akin to attempted murder, the SJC gives a boost to legal immigrants, and more of this morning's headlines.

AP Photo/Ivan SekretarevRussian soldiers march on Red Square Saturday during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade scheduled for Monday in downtown Moscow.

• Drug-dealing with a twist: Dealers are soliciting prescription pills from buttoned-up business types ” [NYTimes.com]


• Speculation swirls that Apple might ditch Intel for ARM-based chips [ComputerWorld.com]


• Scott Brown praises Obama for 'calmly' giving order to hit bin Laden [WashingtonPost.com]


• An arson in the Berkshires that displaced more than a dozen people is being viewed as an attempted murder case [BerkshireEagle.com]


• A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy is charged with having sex acts with a teenage relative [LATimes.com]


• Massachusetts high-court ruling is a boost to immigrant health care [Boston.com]


• A Scattering of Protests Honoring Bin Laden [NYTimes.com]






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


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The Massachusetts State Police have closed the Exit 16 on and off-ramps on Interstate 91 at the request of the Holyoke Police Department for an unspecified "public safety" issue.

HOLYOKE - The Massachusetts State Police have closed the Exit 16 Interstate 91 on and off-ramps at the request of the Holyoke Police Department Saturday morning.

Neither state police nor Holyoke police would describe what exactly is happening, but a local officer said it was a "public safety" issue.

MassLive.com is investigating and more information will be published as it becomes available.

Members of Daniel Trant’s family will gather in Westfield on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Trant Family photoSept. 11, 2001, victim Daniel P. Trant, of Westfield, is shown here with his father, the late William T. Trant, who died in 2002.

As news of Osama bin Laden’s death unfolded a week ago tonight, Sally Trant remembers being “in and out of sleep” in her Tampa, Fla., home when she was deluged with text messages from family and online posts from friends on her Facebook page.

“Are you watching the news? Bin Laden is dead,” wrote her friend Jean Fallon Pescitelli from back in their hometown of Westfield. “It took a little bit for it to sink in, to realize this is real,” Trant said.

She made just one telephone call for a human connection as the news set in about the fate of her brother’s killer. It was to her mother, Mary Trant.

Cleaning up at her Florida home from her regular Sunday night card game with friends, Mary Trant had yet to hear the news. “Oh my God,” is what Sally Trant remembers being her mom’s first words. Mother and daughter reflected together.

Trant Family photoMary Trant, mother of the late Daniel P. Trant, is shown here with her daughters, Sally Trant, left, and Sheila Inserra, right, and grandsons Daniel and Alex at the 25th anniversary of the 1983-84 Clark University men's basketball team's NCAA Final Four in New York.

By the time two jetliners were catapulted by terrorists into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, Mary Trant had already buried her eldest son and a grandson. She knew the greatest depths of a mother’s loss.

That day, another son, Daniel P. Trant, would be among the nearly 3,000 who died in the attacks on America which had been masterminded by bin Laden.

By the following April, her husband, William T. Trant, a holder of the Purple Heart who had gone ashore at Utah Beach during World War II’s D-Day invasion of France and survived the Battle of the Bulge, would also be gone. Fighting prostate cancer, it can only be surmised if William Trant’s death was hastened by the traumatic loss dealt his family that September morning.

This Mother’s Day, it is Mary Trant’s lessons of love and the importance of family, as well as her Catholic faith, that help her children and grandchildren carry on, says Sally Trant.

File photo / The RepublicanWestfield High School boys varsity basketball coach William T. Daley unveils Daniel P. Trant's jersey during the dedication ceremony in his memory after he died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Over 600 people attended the event held at Westfield High School, where Trant was a 1979 graduate.

Mary Trant is a vibrant 82, always on the go and still spreading attention to all her surviving children and grandchildren.

“When I’m with my mother, I get strength from her,” says Sally Trant. “It’s been real, real hard. What several of us have gotten from our parents is their faith, all of our lives. Watching my mom, especially the dignity and grace with which she handles this stuff, how can you not follow in those footsteps. It’s bad enough (for us) losing siblings.”

The seventh of nine children in a tight-knit Irish clan, Dan Trant, who was working as a bond trader with the World Trade Center-based Cantor Fitzgerald, had made his hometown and his family proud.

“There’s not supposed to be a ‘favorite child,’ but he was a prodigy, if you will. Danny was living the life,” recalls Sally Trant. She’ll even admit that she spoiled her little brother rotten; they were four years apart. “He could just about do no wrong.”

Dan Trant was an accomplished athlete, loving husband, doting father, devoted coach and mentor to scores of young people. As a child, he had an “angelic voice” that was put to good use when he accompanied his mother’s singing group on rounds to perform to gatherings of the elderly.

A graduate of Westfield High School, Suffield Academy and Clark University, where he was a two-time All-American in basketball and had taken his Cougars to the Final Four of the NCAA men’s tournament, Trant was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1984, the same draft that included would-be hall-of-famers named Jordan and Barkley.

Trant Family photoDaniel P. Trant is shown here in a 2001 photo with his two nieces, Mary Grace, left, and Katherine. Daniel Trant was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

He went on to play professional basketball in Ireland, then returned home to Western Massachusetts, first as a member of the U.S. Basketball League’s Springfield Fame in their debut season and then to a job as a victim-witness advocate for the Hampden district attorney’s office before heading off with his wife, Kathy, to live on Long Island and begin a career on Wall Street.

A week from Sunday, Dan Trant would have celebrated his 50th birthday. Online tribute pages at legacy.com and voicesofseptember11.org keep precious family photos and written recollections of his life for all to see.

Though she has no children of her own, Sally Trant says she’s learned a lot about “mothering” from her mom, lessons she practices as she tracks the lives of Dan Trant’s three children, Jessica, who’s now 28, Daniel, who is 22, and Alex, 20, and her other nieces and nephews. Her email address is “auntiesally.”

Young Daniel Trant, now a student at Indiana University, spent his fall semester living with his aunt in Florida, where she moved in November 2002 to be close to her mother. Alex is a student at Loyola University, and Jessica lives near Boston.

Sally Trant was among a cadre of the Trant siblings who were living in the Washington, D.C., area when the terrorist attacks occurred. Her brother Timothy, who is legislative advisor to the chief of naval operations for the Navy Department, was working in the Navy Annex, and his building felt the reverberations that morning when a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon nearby.

Another brother, Matthew, and two other family members were working in offices within a three-block radius of the White House, which had been the suspected target of a fourth airliner that crashed in Shanksville, Pa., when passengers overtook the terrorists.

Trant Family photoSally Trant, right, sister of Daniel P. Trant, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, shown with Jeff Cox, an Eagle Scout from Windermere, Fla., who built a memorial to 9/11. They are shown at the memorial's dedication in 2010

Sally Trant followed her father, who served as Westfield’s postmaster, into a career with the U.S. Postal Service and is soon to retire. She fills her time with community volunteer work, some of it, like that with the American Red Cross, is tied to the loss of her brother and remembrances of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to ensure memories of him and the other victims live on.

Other work involves support of the military, past and present, like Honor Flight (www.honorflight.org), a non-profit group that works to ensure World War II veterans get to see the national memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Patriot Guard Riders .

“It’s my passion; it’s where I spend my time when I’m not at work,” Sally Trant said. As her May 31 retirement approaches, she added, “I can’t wait to do more of this. (Dan’s) what made me aware that this is what I need to be doing. I’ve met so many people (through the years since 9/11), and we all have this same feeling that God put us in the right place at the right time to be doing what we are doing.”

Last Sunday, Sally Trant had spent her day attending a Florida state crew meet for a 16-year-old Eagle Scout, Jeff Cox, who earned Boy Scouting’s highest award by building a 9/11 memorial in the small town of Windemere, Fla.

“He’s just an amazing kid,” Sally Trant said of the young man she’s befriended. “He has kind of what I remember of Dan at that age, just a great kid.” The memorial he created, she said, “made a difference for me and a huge number of (9/11) families who live (in Florida) now. It’s a place for the families to go.”

Trant Family photoIn a photograph from before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, members of the Trant family gathered at the Foster House in Westfield for an anniversary party for Mary C. and William T. Trant. Mary Trant is standing third from left, and William Trant is third from right. At upper left is Daniel P. Trant, standing next to his wife Kathy. His brother Timothy, standing second to right, was working at the Navy Annex when the Pentagon was struck by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, and Matthew, kneeling with toddler, is one of three other family members who were working in Washington, D.C., that day.

---

Here is the text of the statement given by the family of Daniel P. Trant about the May 1 death of Osama bin Laden:

“We are relieved and gratified that the United States has brought Osama bin Laden to justice.

The fact that this has taken nearly 10 years is actually testament to the resolve and focus of the U.S. government, military and intelligence community, which has never wavered in their pursuit of the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that took the life of a member of our family.

Despite a change in administration, locating bin Laden has clearly remained a top priority of our government, and as American citizens we are very proud of our government and our troops for bringing about a very just resolution. The universal pledge of the American people and our government to ‘Never Forget’ was not a hollow one.

This will not bring Dan back nor heal the very deep scars that our family has suffered. But, the fact that the person ultimately responsible for his murder has been brought to justice is certainly something for which we are thankful.”

She returned to the Windermere memorial on Monday with three motorcycling friends and called the mother of another 9/11 victim; she said a prayer and left a photo of Dan and balloons with American flags for what she now calls “Osama bin Laden is Dead Day.”

This Sept. 11 will find the Trant family gathered back home in Westfield, a place they find solace among friends and where a memorial to Dan and two other Westfield natives, Brian Murphy and Tara Shea Creamer, who died at the trade center, stands tribute at the Sons of Erin Irish club.

On Sept. 10, the annual Dan Trant memorial golf tournament will be held, raising money for two scholarships to help a new generation of young people continue their education.

Mary Trant and her daughters traveled to Ground Zero in New York City in March 2007. Although it was a “very emotional” experience, Sally Trant recalled, her mother found no comfort there, she says.

So, there are no current plans to be in New York for the 10th anniversary. That feeling could change once a permanent memorial is erected in remembrance of the victims, Sally Trant said.

In the meantime, this anniversary will be marked back in Westfield where there are friends, family and memories of happier times. “That’s where we go to find comfort,” Sally Trant said.

Finance Committee Chairman Michael Fenton believes most homeowners accept the fee's extension; Councilor James Ferrera suggested residents call councilors before the vote.

The Republican | Michael BeswickWhile Springfield City Councilor James Ferrera, left, wants residents to call councilors and tell them how they feel about the an extension of the annual trash fee, City Councilor Michael Fenton believes most homeowners accept it.

SPRINGFIELD – City Council Finance Committee Chairman Michael A. Fenton said Friday he believes homeowners, for the most part, have to come to accept the annual trash fee and have tired of the debate on if it should be extended past June 30.

A colleague, Councilor James J. Ferrera III, however, said Friday he encourages residents to call their councilors in coming days and let them know how they feel.

The councilors gave their thoughts in the aftermath of a trash fee hearing Thursday night at Central High School when just nine residents showed up.

The council will consider a final vote to extend the trash fee at its next meeting May 16. On April 25, the council voted 8-5 to give first-step approval to the extension.

“No one likes paying the fee, but I think they understand,” Fenton said. “People are sick of talking about the trash fee and they like the system they have.”

Just two people at the hearing said they flatly oppose paying any fee, Fenton said.

Fenton is among councilors saying the fee and its estimated revenue of more than $3 million are critically needed for a city facing increased expenses and reduced state aid.

He expects the council’s support of the fee last month will not change on May 16.

Ferrera said he has opposed the fee from the beginning, believing it is an unfair burden on homeowners.

“The city is overtaxed, residents are overtaxed,” Ferrera said. “You can’t keep going into our residents’ pockets to run government. We have to tighten our belts and find ways to cut spending.”

Both Fenton and Ferrera said the residents at Thursday’s meeting all opposed a proposal to replace the trash fee with a different system in which residents would buy city-issued plastic bags for trash.

The residents generally said they believe the bag system would increase their out-of-pocket costs, beyond an annual fee of $75, Ferrera said.

WasteZero, proposing the bag system, said the city would save money through increased recycling, and many homeowners would save money by paying only for the amount of trash they generate rather than a flat fee.

Councilor Timothy C. Allen also attended the hearing.

The trash fee was initially created in Springfield by the former, state-imposed Finance Control Board in 2007, at a rate of $90, drawing criticism from many homeowners.

The fee, at its current rate of $75, was scheduled to expire June 30.

The new ordinance, now proposed, includes a $25 discount for qualifying senior citizens, veterans, blind and indigent homeowners, and allows the city to attach liens on properties in cases of prolonged nonpayment.

One man has been taken into custody as Holyoke police investigate a potential break in the case involving milk jugs associated with the production of Meth being left around the city.

(Republican Photo by Robert Rizzuto)Holyoke police and fire officials along with state police and HazMat crews investigate the contents of a milk jug found in a PT Cruiser at the corner of Cherry Street and Community field Road Saturday morning.

UPDATE: 12:10 p.m. - Holyoke police have identified a house associated with the driver of the PT Cruiser and are reportedly waiting for a search warrant. The detective bureau is currently working the case and HazMat crews are still working to determine what the substance inside the suspicious containers is. The driver of the PT Cruiser was charged with illegal dumping in addition to disorderly conduct, according to Sgt. Joseph Garcia of the Holyoke Police Dept.

UPDATE: 9:40 a.m.- Police have reopened Route 202 and Exit 16 to traffic as the investigation continues at Community Field. The PT Cruiser has been towed from the scene.

This updates a story posted at 8:16 a.m.

Holyoke- One man has been taken into custody as Holyoke police investigate a potential break in the case involving milk jugs associated with the production of Methamphetamine being left around the city.

An observant citizen called Holyoke police Saturday morning to report seeing a suspicious man in a dark-colored PT Cruiser in Community Field, according to Lt. Michael Higgins.

Minutes later, an officer in the area pulled the car over and found a milk jug with an unspecified material in the vehicle, leading police to shut down Route 202 and the Interstate 91 on and off ramps for Exit 16.

"We found a suspicious jug in that car and several around Community Field," Higgins told MassLive.com. "HazMat working to determine what is inside them now. It could be harmless for all we know but when it comes to potentially explosive materials, we err on the side of caution."

Police have arrested the driver, whose name has not been released, on a disorderly conduct charge, Higgins said. More charges are likely pending the results of the overall investigation.

"He was acting evasive when the officer was speaking with him," Higgins said.

This situation is the latest in a slew of recent incidents in the city where police have found milk jugs containing the byproducts of Methamphetamine production being left out in the open.

Traffic is being redirected around the scene in the city and the Massachusetts State Police are blocking the I-91 off ramp.

More information on this developing story will be posted as it becomes available.

SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Police Relief Association is planning a poker run on May 15 to raise money for the 118-year-old charity that aids the families of former officers. Officer Rachel Thomas, president of the association, said the poker run begins at Zuber's Ice Cream and Deli and ends at American Legion Post 338, 49 Powder Mill Road, Southwick....

Republican file photoThe Springfield Police Relief Association will conduct a poker run on May 15. Riders such as those shown here in this file photo will meet up in Westfield, ride through the Berkshires and then meet up in Southwick.

SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Police Relief Association is planning a poker run on May 15 to raise money for the 118-year-old charity that aids the families of former officers.

Officer Rachel Thomas, president of the association, said the poker run begins at Zuber's Ice Cream and Deli and ends at American Legion Post 338, 49 Powder Mill Road, Southwick.

Registration is from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., and a lunch will be served following the ride.

The run will take riders on a trip through the Berkshires before heading back to Southwick, she said.

The entry fee is $25 for each rider, and $5 per passenger. An extra poker hand is $5.

There will also be a classic car and bike show as part of the event. Entry for that is $10.

For more information, call Thomas at (413) 787-6392.

Thomas said organizers hope to raise between $2,000 and $3,000, and all proceeds will go to the Springfield Police Relief Association.

The association was formed as a private benevolent organization by city police officers in 1893, she said. Initially, the association would provide a stipend of up to $1 per day for any dues-paying officer who was injured and could not work, and $200 to the family of any officer upon his death, she said.

At that time, police had no union, no labor contract, and no benefits such as sick leave, health insurance and retirement pensions. Over the years the $1 stipend for injury pay was eliminated as officers gained benefits, and the death benefit was increased to $1,000, she said.

Thomas said the association membership has been declining for years, as younger officers with the department did not join. A recruitment effort over the last year has nearly doubled membership, she said.

Anyone seeking more information about the event can call her at the office of the police Special Victims Unit at police headquarters, (413) 787-6392.

Teaching positions slated for cuts include a music teacher, a middle school special education teacher and 2 elementary school positions.

MONSON – The meals tax and stretch energy building code, along with budget cuts, including 4.5 teaching positions, and a town government study review, will face voters at the annual Town Meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. at Granite Valley Middle School on Thompson Street.

There are 30 articles on the warrant, which also will feature requests to videotape all future Town Meetings and Finance Committee meetings.

The .75 percent meals tax, which was defeated at a special Town Meeting in 2009, is on the warrant again because it would generate revenue for the cash-strapped town, approximately $29,000 a year, according to Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers.

"We desperately need revenue," Neggers said. "Other communities have adopted it with no visible impact."

Gretchen E. Neggers

Opponents two years ago had expressed concern about businesses losing customers, or closing, because of the impact of the meals tax.

"We need to keep asking because we have real serious needs here. But it is the people's choice," Neggers said.

The stretch code, an appendix to the state building energy code, requires stricter energy efficiency requirements in new residential and many new commercial buildings, as well as residential additions. And while it could add an additional $3,000 in building expenses for the average single-family home, and 1 to 3 percent in additional costs for commercial structures, homeowners and building owners should save on energy costs in the long run as energy efficiency is expected to improve by 20 percent.

Neggers said details about the stretch code are on the town's website, www.monson-ma.gov. A Pioneer Valley Planning Commission representative also will attend the Town Meeting to explain it, she said.

School Superintendent Patrice L. Dardenne said budget cuts are forcing the reduction of a music teacher, which recently was restored in January thanks to federal funds, along with a special education teacher at the middle school, and two teachers at Quarry Hill Community School, likely in the third and fourth grades. A full-time gifted and talented teacher at Quarry Hill will be reduced to part-time. The cuts total $230,000. The school budget for fiscal 2012 is $9.9 million, a reduction from last year's $10 million.

Dardenne said the budget is being balanced with approximately $500,000 in federal and state grants.

The total budget for fiscal 2012 is $22 million, compared to fiscal 2011's $23 million. A large part of the reduction is due to the debt ending for the elementary school construction project, Neggers said.

The town is proposing to fund its portion of the Pathfinder Regional School District budget at $897,797, which is $10,000 less than what Pathfinder wanted. Neggers said they want to remove the capital expenditures from the school's budget request.

"Usually Monson does that as a statement. We don't have a single dollar in our budget for capital improvements," Neggers said.

If the other member towns in the Pathfinder district approve their assessments, Monson will have to pony up the extra $10,000. Pathfinder Superintendent Gerald L. Paist said the fiscal 2012 Pathfinder budget is $12.5 million, a 1.8 percent increase over last year. The capital items include a new milling machine, refrigeration equipment for culinary arts and workbenches for electronics.

"I'm sorry that they're doing that," Paist said about Monson. "At a vocational school, capital equipment is like textbooks in a regular high school."

Neggers said fuel costs and healthcare drove budget increases. Healthcare expenses alone increased 16.5 percent, or $323,000, over fiscal 2011.

The budget also includes 2 percent raises for 15-20 non-union employees, who agreed to pay a higher portion of their health insurance costs. They all will contribute 30 percent toward their plan, whether it is for an individual or family.

"These are hard times and I think we are doing the best we can. Services are being sustained," Neggers said about the budget.

Devine has been a councilor for 16 years.

Holyoke City Councilor Patricia C. Devine

HOLYOKE – Councilor at Large Patricia C. Devine said she is running for another term to continue efforts like opposing a chicken ordinance and working with the new police and fire chiefs.

“I enjoy the homework, I do the research, and I speak out on those issues that are important to the people of Holyoke,” Devine, 60, wrote in an email Wednesday.

Devine has been an at-large councilor since 2005 and was Ward 6 councilor from 1990 to 2000.

She was perhaps the most vocal foe of a proposal to permit the keeping of backyard chickens, arguing it was the wrong fit for a city with such densely populated areas and would be hard to enforce. The proposal was withdrawn in June.

Devine is chairwoman of the council Public Safety Committee and is on Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s police chief candidate screening committee. Pluta said she expects to choose a new chief by late June.

The Fire Commission is establishing an assessment center to review fire chief candidates.

Devine wrote the nuisance ordinance that lets police ticket people hindering the quality of life of others by doing things like playing loud music, littering or doing major car repairs on the street.

“I am prepared for the issues that face us and based on the research I do, I am not afraid to speak up for what is right, such as the chicken ordinance issue. I knew the consituency was against this and I fought hard for them,” Devine said.

Still, she said, in seeking another two-year term, “I hope I bring a little political wisdom, humor and insight to the issues in Holyoke.”

Devine is employed as fixed asset inventory control specialist with the State Lottery.

Election day is Nov. 8.

More than 500 Marine recruits from across New England got a glimpse of what boot camp will be like as they gathered at the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee Saturday to participate in the Annual Field Meet.

(Republican Photo by Robert Rizzuto)More than 500 Marine poolies begin their 1.5 mile run at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee after the pull-up and crunches competition Saturday.

CHICOPEE - More than 500 Marine recruits from across New England got a glimpse of what boot camp will be like as they gathered at the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee Saturday to participate in the annual Field Meet.

"This event is all about giving the recruits a taste of what boot camp will be like and allow their families to see what it is we do," said Capt. Andrew Hamilton, an executive officer with the Springfield recruiting station. "Not all the poolies, as we call them, that are here today have signed yet. This event also allows those people to see if the Marines are the right fit for them and for the recruits, it's a good introduction to what we do."

For more than two hours on Saturday morning, the poolies screamed, sweated and pushed themselves as they participated in a pull-up challenge, a crunches challenge and a 1.5 mile run.

Drill Instructors were on hand to "encourage" the participants, along with commanding officers from recruitment stations across the region.

(Republican Photo by Robert Rizzuto)US Marine Poolies, Luis Castro, right, and Pimpesan Supple encourage each other as they perform as many crunches in the time allowed at the annual Field Meet Saturday.

Luis Castro, a 20-year-old recruit from Springfield, said the physical activity Saturday was challenging, but "nothing new."

"I signed up for the delayed deployment program about nine months ago and I've been training every week," Castro said. "I joined because for me, this was the best way to go. The Marines are the best at what they do and I wanted to be a part of the brotherhood."

Castro is deploying on Monday and he said the Annual Field Meet was a good means of preparation, both physically and mentally.

Sgt. Jarod Fox, a drill instructor from Lexington, Ky., was one of several on hand to work with the poolies, pushing them to be their best.

"This event is a good chance to get them mentally comfortable with the idea of boot camp," Fox said, with a soft voice strained from the customary yelling associated with his position. "Once they get there, it is my job to give them every training opportunity possible and to make sure they are all successful."

(Republican Photo by Robert Rizzuto)Sgt. Jarod Fox, a drill instructor with the US Marines, said he makes sure every Marine he works with gets every training opportunity possible so when they graduate, they are at their best and ready for combat training. Fox is from Lexington, Ky. and has been a Marine for five years.

Some recruits, such as Castro, were first-generation Marines while others were following in family footsteps.

Steven Wood, a 24-year-old Springfield native living in Feeding Hills, will deploy to Paris Island, S.C. on May 16. His grandfather Arthur Wood is a former Marine who said he is extremely proud of Steven's decision to join.

"Steven has a background in law enforcement and worked as an officer until times got tough and he was laid off," Arthur said. "Whether he stays in for a few years or makes a career out of it, I know it is a good fit for him. He has the calling."

Pimpesan Supple, a 17-year-old Taconic High School student from Pittsfield, said he decided to join the Marines after he saw the positive effects it had on a sibling.

"My older brother is a lance corporal on his second tour of duty overseas," Supple said. "The Marines have done a lot of good for my brother, and I think the experience will be good for me too."

Overall, the poolies did a good job on Saturday and the officers on hand were impressed with their hard work and determination, according to Major Lee Rush, the commanding officer of the Springfield recruiting station.

"My goal from the time they sign to deployment is to do everything in my power to help build them up and show them that they can achieve success," said Rush, who has been a Marine for 18 years. "I take a lot of personal pride in their success. I've made a great career out of the Marines but even if these recruits only serve for a few years, I know they will become better citizens for it. I believe in that transformation."

“Occasions like this where we get to recognize the work of the common trooper, people come out because, who are they?” said Doug Tierney of the Deerfield Memorial Committee. “They’re us.”

View full sizeBrian Steele / The RepublicanDennis Picard, left, director of Storrowton Village Museum at the Big E, and others dressed in the post-Civil War uniforms of the 7th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry. They unveiled Smith's new veteran marker, covered by the flag, after a memorial service Saturday in South Deerfield.

DEERFIELD – Almost 100 years after his death, an area man was finally honored Saturday with a bronze grave marker acknowledging his service beside Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer during the 19th-century Indian Wars.

A memorial service was held at Brookside Cemetery for Pvt. William E. Smith, who lived in Shrewsbury before enlisting with Company D of the 7th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry in 1875. He died in South Deerfield in 1918 at the age of 64.

Smith fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, also known as Custer’s Last Stand.

“Custer and his immediate command may have been all killed, but not all men with Custer died at the Little Bighorn on that day,” said C. Lee Noyes, editor of the Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association’s newsletter, before the marker’s unveiling.

“Over half the 7th Cavalry who participated in the battle lived to fight another day,” perhaps because Custer divided his regiment into several units, he said.

Smith fought in another unit, avoiding the utter defeat of Custer’s men by the Sioux Indians of modern-day North Dakota.

View full sizeBrian Steele / The RepublicanC. Lee Noyes, left, a leading historian and Custer scholar, and Douglas B. Tierney, right, chair of the Deerfield Memorial Day Committee.

After leaving the service, Smith married, raised four daughters and worked as a shoemaker in Maine and Massachusetts before finally settling in South Deerfield as a farmer, Noyes said.

Douglas B. Tierney, chair of the Deerfield Memorial Day Committee, said, “We recognize service and we’re so happy that we had that opportunity today.”

But that “long, long overdue recognition” was hard-won, said Dennis Picard, director of Storrowton Village Museum at the Big E. He spearheaded the efforts to get Smith a veteran marker, rather than the simple civilian stone he has next to his wife’s.

“Over the past three years, I have been periodically delving into the apparent quagmire of trying to appropriately mark the last resting place of William E. Smith,” Picard said.

Government officials told him that since Smith’s grave was technically marked, they would not provide a veteran marker; he then spoke to local veterans groups, who all denied it was their responsibility, he said.

View full sizeBrian Steele / The RepublicanThe Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association purchased this plaque for Smith from a private source. Picard had been trying to obtain one for several years.

On Memorial Day in 2009, he personally placed a flag and other military regalia on Smith’s grave, he said.

After bringing his request to military and veterans affairs officials all over the east coast, including to Fort Drum in New York and Washington, D.C., “not one of them was able, within the area of their power, to help me. Many seemed frustrated themselves, especially the executive officer at Fort Drum.”

The Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association then stepped up and bought Smith a plaque from a private source.

Noyes said that regardless of one’s opinion of the Indian Wars, it’s important to pay tribute to those who died serving their country.

Ralph Healy, the cemetery’s superintendent, said he and his staff have updated records to identify any veterans who may not have the proper markers. They have made that information available to local veterans groups, he said.

“Occasions like this where we get to recognize the work of the common trooper, people come out because, who are they?” said Tierney. “They’re us.”

The homes are expected to be sold to a developer who will renovate them.

The Republican | Don TreegerMayor Michael D. Bissonnette speaks during a ceremony marking the City of Chicopee's acquisition of 5 homes abutting Westover Air Reserve Base on Fredette St. that used to be Navy housing. On the left is Congressman Richard E. Neal and in the center is Colonel Robert R. Swain Jr., the commander of the Air Force Reserve's 439th Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, Westover Air Reserve Base.

CHICOPEE – Standing in front of five homes newly acquired from the U.S. Navy, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette invited residents and possible developers to walk through and take a look.

“Welcome to our new neighborhood,” he said.

About two weeks ago the city acquired nearly 30 acres of land and 133 units of housing next to Westover Air Reserve Base, after 13 years of working out the deal.

Plans for the majority of the property – 128 units of housing that is mostly duplexes on 25 acres off Kelly Road – will not be decided until neighbors and Westover officials have a chance to talk about what is best for the city, the neighborhood and the base.

But the five colonials that sit on four acres on Fredette Street will be sold to the developer with the proposal that is best for the city, and likely will be renovated and sold as single-family homes, he said.

“It really is a great day for the City of Chicopee and our continuing great relations with Westover,” Bissonnette said, standing beside U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and Col. Robert R. Swain Jr., commander of the 439th Airlift Wing at Westover Air Reserve Base.

The five houses, built in the early 1940’s when Westover was converted to a Strategic Air Command Base, were occupied by the families of top-ranking officers. The home at the end of the street was reserved for the three-star general, the remainder were for the base commander, the wing commander and colonels, said Master Sgt. Andrew S. Biscoe, public relations specialist.

The homes have been empty since the early 1990s but have been kept heated and are in good shape but need some work. Each measures about 2,800 square feet, has four bedrooms and a finished basement.

Swain offered a few unique details of the property. The back wall of the basement in one house is covered with a full-sized map showing aviation routes. On it Russia and other countries are labeled Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Each had a tunnel that led to the operation center at Westover, designed for emergencies, but were used often by the commanders. The tunnels, which have been blocked, also connected the five houses.

“One of my goals when I got here three years ago was to be a good neighbor,” he said. “If Chicopee is doing well so is Westover.”

Discussions about giving up the property began at a time when the military started selling off a lot of housing across the country.

The property was given to the city, but the city had to fund $209,000 in environmental studies the Department of the Defense required.

Swain said he had asked if Westover could keep and reoccupy some of the units for families of airmen who were having a difficult time finding affordable housing, but was told the military was trying to operate as little housing as possible.

He said he is hoping some of the duplexes will serve as homes for families of those who work at the base.

The date has been set so that people can plan for the solar project discussion.

AMHERST – The discussion on whether to allow the town to enter into a long term lease with BlueWave Capital Inc. for a solar project on a closed landfill is now set to begin at the Town Meeting session slated for May 16.

The idea for the scheduling allows people to plan for the discussion. The town needs meeting approval for any long-term lease. Officials need to be able to enter into that agreement before they can apply for permits for the project. Some neighbors are speaking out against the project because they say the landfill is not a safe site.

As of Saturday afternoon, 58 people favor the project while 11 oppose it, according to the Amherst Localocracy website asking whether residents support it. Amherst Localocracy was created as a place where people using their real names could engage in discussions about local issues, according to one of its founders, Conor White-Sullivan.

Town Meeting resumes for the third session Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Amherst Regional Middle School with more budget discussions – with the general government, library and school budgets slated to be taken up.

On Wednesday, the meeting at the second session was able to review and pass only three budgets. The meeting unanimously approved the $8.4 million public safety budget, which includes the police and fire department budgets, and the $1.9 public works budgets.

The meeting also approved the conservation and development budget of $885,862, a budget that includes conservation, planning and inspection services.

Resident Cherie Phillips brought a petition to councilor Daniel Rist last year because she said the animal control officer has no official way to prevent or mitigate abusive tethering.

EASTHAMPTON – A City Council public hearing on a proposed dog tethering ordinance has been continued to allow more time for resident feedback.

Resident Cherie Phillips brought a petition to councilor Daniel Rist last year because she said the animal control officer has no official way to prevent or mitigate abusive tethering.

The ordinance would limit the amount of time a dog could be confined outdoors to eight consecutive hours a day. It also would require a tethered dog have ready access to food and water and the tether would “be long enough to allow the dog ample movement.”

There are two exceptions to the outdoor confinement section: “sporting or working dogs.” It was this language, which councilor Daniel Hagan said was vague, that inspired him to ask for a continuation of the hearing.

“We have 1,700 licensed dogs in this town and I’ve got to believe a lot of them are probably well-cared for dogs that are going to violate this ordinance ... especially under the confinement section,” Hagan said. He wants more time to talk to his constituents, he said.

As a dog lover and former owner, though, Hagan said he is not opposed to tethering regulations.

Phillips said she sees the ordinance as a good way to care for dogs, but also as an educational tool.

“We have a lot of good dog owners in Easthampton and maybe they don’t know what a dog needs,” she said.

The ordinance has the support of Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said Rist.

Penalties for violating the ordinance would be a written warning for the first offense, a $50 fine for a second and a $200 fine and impoundment of the dog for a third. There would be an appeal process for impoundment.

Animal control officer Robert Jackman said impounded dogs “definitely won’t go to be euthanized. That’s something I won’t do.”

Dogs would also not be allowed to be “chained, tethered, or confined outside between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.,” according to the ordinance, and Hagan said that could pose a problem for overnight workers.

Council president Joseph McCoy said enforcement would be “complaint-driven” and Rist said Jackman can interpret the ordinance based on the situation.

The next public hearing will be held Wednesday, May 18, at 6:15 p.m. in the music room at White Brook Middle School.

The man was taken to Baystate Medical Center after the incident, and is expected to survive, officials said.

SPRINGFIELD - A man who jumped from the railroad trestle near the Memorial Bridge over the Connecticut River was saved on Saturday by emergency personnel and two fishermen.

Agawam Fire Lt. B.J. Calvi said the incident happened at about 12:15 p.m.

Calvi said the fishermen pulled the man out of the river and into their boat, and Agawam rescue personnel then transferred him into their boat. The man, who was taken to Baystate Medical Center, is expected to survive, Calvi said.

Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said the man jumped from the trestle with the rope around his neck, but did not tie the other end to anything. Once the man hit the water, he began yelling for help. Leger said police used a "rescue gun" to shoot a rope to him in the water.

The Queer Insurgency Collective held signs criticizing the Pride March. The group said the event has become too commercial, and has lost its roots as a social justice march. Watch video

NORTHAMPTON - The theme of the annual Pride March should have been “Born this Way.”

Celebrating its 30th year on Saturday, the march featured more than 102 contingents, with several featuring the Lady Gaga anthem as they passed by the crowd lining Northampton’s Main Street.

“No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I’m on the right track baby, I was born to survive,” Gaga’s voice boomed over the crowd.

A group of students from the Gay Straight Alliance at Springfield’s Central High School cheered the marchers on, and a few sang along. They said they’ve been attending the Pride March for the past three years.

“No one’s judgmental. You can be who you are and express yourself . . . It’s a safe environment,” sophomore Xavier Cotto, 17, said.

“It’s more like a safe haven than anything else,” senior Kyle A. Rusin, 17, added.

The atmosphere was a jubilant one – with hula-hoopers, a group doing intricate formations with shopping carts, drag queens, Rocky Horror Picture Show actors, the Raging Grannies, and countless school groups, some chanting “five, six, seven, eight, don’t assume your kids are straight.”

A smiling woman wearing a “free hugs” sign offered them as she marched down the street.

The event was not without criticism, and it came from within the gay community.

“Queer Insurgency Collective,” a multi-racial group, made signs to hold along the parade route to protest the commercialization of the event.

“We are inserting all the left out issues, the left out people today from Northampton Pride. We are aiming to put the political issues back into pride,” said Bet Power, who described himself as a community activist who has marched in every Pride March since 1982.

“We feel it’s become an apolitical and commercialized event. That isn’t the roots of this march. It’s always been a social justice march for equality,” Power added.

“It’s run to make money around social events . . . It’s become a tourism event,” Power said.

Power said they are also protesting “the whiteness of the event,” as all four parade marshals are white. This is the first time the group has protested, but Power said he believes they are getting their message across.

Amy L. Proietti and Jessica L. Osit, of Greenfield, brought their five-year-old daughter, Marina Osit, and friends Missy L. Eich and Kara L. Richardson, who moved to Amherst last year from North Carolina.

“We come every year,” Proietti said. “It’s an event we look forward to.”
Proietti said the march is important.

“It’s about reminding folks that we need to keep fighting for our rights,” she said.

Eich said the Pride March was much different than ones they’ve attended in North Carolina. Eich said she was amazed by the number of families, friends and supporters who turned out. Richardson said at moments she became teary-eyed watching it.

Suzanne Garrow, of Northampton, a member of the Board of Directors for the AIDS Foundation of Western Mass., said she has been attending the march since its inception.

“We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go,” Garrow said.

May is National Bicycle Month, and May 14 kicks off Bike Commute Week.

The Republican / Mark M. MurrayJonathan Moss arrives at work Baystate Health at 280 Chestnut St.

When Jonathan Moss was a kid, he rode his bike to school. Now, as director of the Physicians’ Billing Department at Baystate Health in Springfield, he bikes to work from his home in Longmeadow.

“It’s about six miles,” said Moss, who is in his early 40s. “I go right through the heart of the city. I take the bike path along the river and Columbus Ave. It’s a great way to avoid car traffic.”

Bike commuters like Moss are in the spotlight these days, as May is National Bicycle Month and May 14 will kick off Bike Commute Week.

Celebrations all over the Valley will include group bike tours, free breakfasts, raffles – even free showers for bicyclists at the Springfield Y – as well as efforts to enlighten the public on the advantages of traveling by bicycle.

“It’s fun, it’s refreshing, it doesn’t threaten anybody else,” said James Lowenthal, of Northampton, who commutes to Smith College, where he is an astronomy professor.

“It doesn’t cause pollution or global warming, and it’s cheap,” said Lowenthal, 46.

Lowenthal was 15 and living in New York City when a subway strike made him aware of the benefits of bicycling.

When he came to the Pioneer Valley, he commuted by bike from Northampton to a teaching job at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Today his commute is much shorter, but “I actually miss the longer ride,” he said.

Lissa Greenough, of Gill, bikes eight miles to her job in Greenfield.

“I find it immensely satisfying,” said Greenough, 50. “It’s a great way to decompress after you leave work.”

Greenough’s husband, Alden Booth, is also an avid cyclist. The couple own the People’s Pint, a restaurant and brewery in Greenfield.

They have bicycled on vacations as far as Nova Scotia. Their three children bike, too.

The couple are impassioned promoters of biking, and even offer a discount program to reward their customers who bike. Customers who record 100 miles on their bicycles can get a $25 gift certificate at the People’s Pint. Since the program began, said Greenough, 47,260 miles have been recorded and $4,000 in gift certificates have been handed out.

Jim Scheffler, of Springfield, also makes bicycling a conscious ethical choice. He has been biking to his job at the Department of Environmental Protection in downtown Springfield for 12 years from his home in East Forest Park.

“My wife and I have cars,” he said, “but we have arranged our lives so we don’t drive a lot. We chose to live where we do because it’s right on the bus line.”

Scheffler, 41, appreciates the other benefits of bicycling, too. “I enjoy the exercise, and it’s practical and inexpensive,” he said.

Commuting by bike will probably become more popular as the price of gas goes up, said Elizabeth Sturgen, of Easthampton, president of a local bicycling group, the Cyclonauts.

“It’s a lovely way to start the day,” said Moss.

“I get to stop and talk to neighbors and talk to friends,” said Lowenthal, who heads the Pioneer Valley chapter of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition.

Greenough stresses that a person doesn’t have to be “incredibly fit” to start biking to work.

“Just be sure to educate yourself about how to ride safely in traffic,” said Scheffler.

A Met Life Center representative will speak about special needs planning.

ENFIELD – Allied Rehabilitation Centers will sponsor a family information session on Tuesday.

The session is designed to address a variety of topics of interest for families of individuals with developmental disabilities.

The event will feature a talk from Anthony Recck, of the Met Life Center for Special Needs Planning. Edward LaMontagne, of Allied Rehab, said Recck will talk about guardianship and conservatorship, and setting up trusts.

“He will talk about protecting government benefit eligibility,” LaMontagne said. “When individuals become clients of private provider agencies through the state Department of Development Services, where we get our funding, they can only have so many dollars in assets.”

Families will learn about setting up trusts for their sons or daughters so they are not denied services by the state, Lamontagne said.

“A lot of times families leave money in wills to their sons or daughters, or they set up a savings account for them, with all good intentions, to make sure they’re cared for in the future,” he said. “They don’t necessarily understand the concept that if they go to adult services, they can only have so much in assets.”

The event will also include an update on the state budget, an introduction of Allied Rehab’s new chief operating officer, Joan Danziger, and information about Allied’s various programs and services.

Allied Rehab offers both day and residential services. For day services, Allied offers vocational training, leisure services, therapeutic programs, activities of daily living skills and community experiences.

The organization also has its own businesses that Allied operates, which include a thrift store, a vending service and a jewelry business.

Allied also provides work-related services to individuals in the community, through partnerships with businesses such as Big Y, Stop & Shop and Price Rite.

“They work independently, and we offer job coaching services,” LaMontagne said.

Allied’s residential program includes five group homes, and support for individuals who live in their own apartments.

LaMontagne said the information session is intended for families of its clients, but it is also open to families looking for information, especially those with children who are nearing high school graduation.

“We provide services upon graduation,” he said. “Once they graduate and they go to the Department of Developmental Services for eligibility, they need to know some of the things (Recck) will be talking about.”

The information session begins at 6 p.m. at Allied Rehabilitation Centers, 3 Pearson Way, which is located across from the Department of Motor Vehicles. It is free and open to the public.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Saundra V. Bryant

Saundra "Sandy" (Vigneault) Bryant, of Feeding Hills, passed away on Wednesday. Born in Dover, N.H., she lived in Torrance, Calif., and Springfield before settling in Feeding Hills for the last 44 years. She graduated Commerce High School in 1964, and later graduated from the St. John's School of Business. She was employed by the Hu Ke Lau restaurants for 18 years, and by Dr. Richard Leaderman in West Springfield for over 20 years. Bryant joined the singing group The Velveteens in 1960. In the summer of 1961, the song "Teen Prayer" went to the top of the music charts in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as scoring on the national charts. After her stint with The Velveteens, she later sang in the group Sandy & The Invictas. Later in life, she also took up local theater, and was a member of the Encore Players Theater Group of Springfield.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Bolden, Vivian
• Bryant, Saundra V. "Sandy" (Vigneault)
• Cymes, Sr. Mary Fabian
• Fountain, George E.
• Gildersleeve, Raymond E.
• Innocent, Sheldon
• Jackson, Ruby L.
• Joyce, Ian R.
• Kroll, Dr. Walter P.
• Loud, Christopher R.
• Odabashian, Barbara L. (Tkacz)
• Petracone, Clara A. (Teczar)
• Rinaldi, James Victor
• Talley, Anthony "Tonnie"
• Urban, Adelle S.