Barowsky beat Richard Foster who will be running for the board again the the annual town election next month.

Mark Barowsky

LONGMEADOW – Mark Barowsky is the newest member of the Select Board after beating opponent Richard Foster in a special election Tuesday by 214 votes to Foster’s 114.

“I’m thankful to everyone who came out on this rainy day to vote,” he said after the results of the special election were read Tuesday night.

Town Clerk Katherine Ingram said turnout was extremely low with only 328 of the town’s 11,869 registered voters visiting the polls, about 3 percent.

“I’m not surprised at all. I was expecting less than 5 percent, and the rain didn’t help,” she said.

Barowsky has seven years of experience on the Finance Committee, which he hopes to use when it comes to dealing with the fiscal 2013 budget. He will have to resign his seat on the committee in order to fill the one-year seat on the Select Board.

“I’m looking forward to getting started,” he said.

Although Foster lost this election, his name will be on the ballot again for a three-year seat on the board, which will be voted on during the annual election June 12.

“I will just keep working and preparing for the annual election,” Foster said. “It was a low turnout today, but I’m sure there will be more people for the annual election in June.”

Some voters may be confused when they see the ballot in June since Barowsky’s name is also on the ballot for that seat.

Ingram said the ballots were ordered before the special election and cannot be changed.

If he were voted for again Barowsky would have to resign from one seat and another special election would have to be held. Barowsky said he will stand outside the polls on June 12 to clear up any confusion.

“I plan to be out there and make sure we don’t end up with another special election,” he said.

The special election was approved after a resident presented a petition to the Select Board requesting the empty seat vacated by Christine Swanson in December be filled. Once a petition is presented the town is obligated to hold the election, officials said.

Workers with Western Massachusetts Electric Co. are responding to separate outages Tuesday night in parts of Springfield, Agawam and Easthampton.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD - Workers with Western Massachusetts Electric Co. are responding to separate outages reported Tuesday night in parts of Springfield, Agawam and Easthampton.

There were also scattered outages in Southampton and West Springfield.

The Springfield outage was the most serious, affecting more than 1,500 customers along Dickinson Street in the Forest Park neighborhood. As of 9:15 p.m., power to all but 568 had been restored, said WMECO spokesman Jeff Tilghman.

He said the outage was caused by a blown transformer on top of a pole on Dickinson Street. "Workers are trying to restore power as quickly and as a safely as they can," he said.

In Agawam, an unknown disruption on Cherry Lane caused 56 customers to lose power. Tilghman said power is expected back at around midnight.

Close to 450 customers were without power in Easthampton more than 3 hours after an outage was reported at 6:30 p.m. Tilghman said it was unclear was caused it. Power was expected to be restored sometime after 10 p.m., he said.

The hotel-motel tax in Holyoke increased to 6 percent from the previous 4 percent under a council vote of 8-5.

HOLYOKE — The only period of the year in which the City Council can cut spending began Tuesday with receipt of Mayor Alex B. Morse’s proposed budget of $124.4 million.

Also, the council voted 8-5 to increase the hotel-motel room tax to 6 percent from the current 4 percent. City Treasurer Jon D. Lumbra said the step would increase that yearly revenue to $375,000 from the current $250,000.

Under the city charter, the City Council has 45 days to review the budget. The council is authorized to cut, but not add to, the budget.

Alex Morse

Morse’s proposed budget is an increase of 3.5 percent above the $120 million approved for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“My proposed budget is both lean and fiscally conservative, as many departments will see no increases over ‘FY12,’ and most will see decreases,” Morse said.

The proposed budget funds no new positions, but avoids employee layoffs and furloughs on the city side of the budget, Morse said.

The city has more than 2,000 employees. That consists of 1,340 school employees and more than 700 full- and part-timers in the police, fire, public works and other departments.

A different picture could emerge on the school side of spending, as officials said expiration of grants and increased costs could prompt layoffs.

Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said he has invited Morse and finance officials to a meeting to get details on the budget’s expected revenue and expenses May 29 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

The council’s review this year also will include a meeting with school officials, Jourdain said.

The School Department accounts for most of the budget, consisting of a city allocation of more than $64.2 million.

Kevin Jourdain

“I think it would be good to get a sense from them and the leadership of where they’re going,” Jourdain said.

Additional hearings will be held on the police, fire and public works budgets, he said.

Nearly all increases in the proposed budget are because of fixed costs for items like contractual obligations to employees, Morse said.

Another $1.3 million of the increase is because city contributions to employee retirements is going to $11.3 million in the new budget from the current $10 million, he said.

Also, payments on long-term debt will increase by $1.2 million, to $4.1 million from the current $2.9 million.

Such payments are for projects like reconstruction of Community Field, building of a new senior center, reconstruction of the Holyoke Public Library and renovation of Holyoke High School, he said.

A budget increase now usually translates into higher taxes for home and business property owners in January after the City Council sets the new tax rate in December to fund the budget.

The proposal has an “anticipated budget deficit” of $700,000 to $1 million, said Morse, noting that he, like previous mayors, will work with the City Council in the fall to use free cash to balance the budget.

In a letter to the City Council, Morse said he was "relying on increasing revenues to balance" the proposed budget.That includes: $500,000 in the form of an annual payment in lieu of taxes Morse said he is negotiating to get from the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, a tax-exempt, $165 million research facility being built on Bigelow Street; and $250,000 for a one-year lease between the city and the Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School for use of the former Lynch School at Northampton and Dwight streets.

On the hotel-motel room tax, Finance Committee Chairman Todd A. McGee said it’s not a tax on residents but on people who come to stay here.

“It’s just trying to get more revenue in the city,” McGee said.

Ward 5 Councilor Linda L. Vacon said she was concerned that increasing the tax would be a discouragement to business.

But Ward 4 Councilor Jason P. Ferreira said the city doesn’t have as many hotel-motel rooms as other cities and increasing the tax wouldn’t be a reflection of the city’s attitude toward business.

Voting in favor of the increase were councilors Gordon P. Alexander, Rebecca Lisi, Joseph M. McGiverin, Gladys Lebron-Martinez, Daniel B. Bresnahan, Brenna M. McGee, Todd McGee and Ferreira.

Voting against the tax were councilors David K. Bartley, Aaron M. Vega, Anthony Soto, Jourdain and Vacon.

Absent at the time the vote was taken were councilors Peter R. Tallman and James M. Leahy, the latter of whom filed the order for the hotel-motel tax increase, Todd McGee said.

Holyoke Budget: Fiscal Year 2013

According to Kenneth Dorsey's father, Dorsey was on a morning jog when he was fatally struck by the SUV a 16-year-old girl was driving.

Associated PressIn this March 24, 2012, photo, Norwalk, Conn., police stand at the scene of an accident on New Canaan Avenue where Kenneth Dorsey, 43, of Norwalk was fatally struck by an SUV while he was jogging. A 16-year-old girl from New Canaan, Conn., who police say was driving the SUV, turned herself in May 12, 2012, after learning there was a warrant out for her arrest on charges of negligent homicide with a motor vehicle. (AP Photo/The Hour, Danielle Robinson)

By DAVE COLLINS

HARTFORD, Conn. — A teenage driver is under arrest after authorities said the distraction of a handheld cellphone caused her to fatally hit a jogger, whose father blames his death on her "stupidity."

The death of 44-year-old Kenneth Dorsey in Norwalk and the subsequent criminal charges against the 16-year-old driver come as other states are considering measures to force teenagers and adults to disconnect from cellphones and other electronic devices before getting behind the wheel.

Dorsey, an avid runner, was on a morning jog and training for a marathon on March 24 when he was fatally struck by the SUV the girl was driving, according to his father, Leo Dorsey.

The New Canaan girl, whom police are not naming because of her age, was charged Saturday with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, using a handheld telephone under age 18 while driving and failure to drive in the proper lane. Police declined to say what she was doing on the phone, only that they found evidence she was using the keypad before Kenneth Dorsey was hit on a busy street.

"There's no reason to use a phone while you're driving a car," Leo Dorsey told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "There is nothing out there that important. I totally, totally have to believe that these phones can be made to shut off if they're moving. I'm pushing for phones that don't work when they're moving."

It could not immediately be determined who was representing the girl.

The accident is prompting new calls for people to put down their phones and other electronic devices while driving, from police officials to victims' relatives to readers posting online responses to the Norwalk accident story.

"We tried to convey just how this incident illustrates how dangerous it is to be distracted while driving a 3,500-pound vehicle 35 to 40 mph," Norwalk police Chief Harry Rilling said. "You need to focus all your attention on what you're doing. It only takes a second to swerve a few feet. Everybody should look at this and learn from it."

Connecticut is among 31 states and Washington, D.C., that ban all cellphone use by novice drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Thirty-eight states ban texting while driving, with Ohio poised to become the 39th after a proposed ban that Gov. John Kasich has promised to sign received final legislative approval Tuesday.

Under Ohio's ban, texting while driving would be a primary offense for teen drivers, meaning they could be pulled over just for texting behind the wheel.

Nearly 5,500 people across the country were killed in crashes involving driver distraction in 2009 and another 448,000 people were injured, according to the latest figures analyzed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sixteen percent of all fatal accidents that year involved reports of distracted driving, and teen drivers were more likely than those in other age group to be involved in a fatal crash where distraction is reported, the agency says.

The girl accused of killing Kenneth Dorsey could face up to six months in jail on the negligent homicide charge if convicted, Rilling said. The charge of using a cellphone under age 18 while driving carries a 30-day license suspension and $175 in license restoration and court fees for a first offense, according to the state DMV.

Dorsey worked for more than 22 years at OEM Controls Inc. in Shelton and was an event chef for a Greenwich-based catering company.

Leo Dorsey, a 67-year-old retired credit union manager, said he hopes the girl receives a severe penalty, but there's something more important than the outcome of her case.

"I want her not to forget what she did through stupidity," he said. "I just don't want to see Kenneth forgotten. I hope that her punishment is that she doesn't forget. And maybe she passes that on to her friends and down the road to her own family."

Hollande immediately flew to Berlin to take steps toward bridging differences with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over how to reinvigorate Europe's economy and its global influence.

By GREG KELLER and SYLVIE CORBET

View full sizeAssociated PressNew French President Francois Hollande looks out of his car as he rides up the Champ-Elysses avenue after the presidential handover ceremony, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Paris. Hollande became president of France on Tuesday in a ceremony steeped in tradition, taking over a country with deep debts and worried about Europe's future and pledging to make it a fairer place. The Arc de Triomphe is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PARIS — Socialist Francois Hollande assumed France's presidency Tuesday, inheriting a country fearful for its financial future and jetting off immediately to Berlin to tackle his most pressing problem: Europe's debt crisis.

A flash of lightning nearly derailed Hollande's blitz diplomatic foray, striking his plane and sending him briefly back to a Paris area military airbase.

But Hollande quickly switched Falcon jets, flew to Berlin, and took steps toward bridging differences with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over how to reinvigorate Europe's economy and its global influence. Right before leaving for Berlin, Hollande named a moderate, German-friendly ally, Jean-Marc Ayrault, as his prime minister.

During a day packed with pomp-filled inaugural traditions, Hollande promised to be less flashy than his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy and bring a more human touch to the Elysee Palace. But he won't have much time to play Mr. Nice Guy as he faces a barrage of challenges, from creating jobs to getting thousands of French troops out of Afghanistan ahead of schedule.

Europe's financial troubles are Hollande's No. 1 priority. He and Merkel have opposing views on whether spending or saving is the best approach.

Hollande said Tuesday investment in growth is crucial to reduce debt and cut deficits, saying he envisions "a balanced and respectful relationship" with Germany.

Merkel, who has argued that indebted European countries need to clean up their budgets before launching new spending sprees, said that her differences with Hollande have been overplayed. And asked whether she was afraid of Hollande's campaign pledges, she replied: "I am seldom afraid."

The two stressed that they want to keep Greece in the 17-nation eurozone that shares the euro currency, and looked ahead to a European Union summit in Brussels next week for further decisions.

The lightning strike marked a startling beginning for Hollande, who promised to be a more "normal" president after five years under Sarkozy, ousted by voters after a single term for his handling of a stagnant economy.

Hollande took off in a Falcon 7X aircraft for Berlin after rain-drenched inaugural events. The plane was hit by lightning just minutes afterward, according to Hollande aides. Warning lights turned red, they said, but Hollande wanted to continue on.

Instead the pilot returned to the Villacoublay air base outside Paris as a precaution, Defense Ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet said. The president and his entourage were transferred to another aircraft, a Falcon 900, and left.

It's not unusual for planes to be struck by lightning when traveling through thunderstorms; often pilots will fly at higher altitudes to go "above the weather" and in most cases land without difficulty. In March, four planes were struck by lightning the same night during heavy storms near Houston, but all landed without incident.

View full sizeAssociated PressGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, talks to new French President Francois Hollande after a news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande say they have agreed to discuss ways to generate economic growth in Europe. Hollande said after his first meeting with Merkel on Tuesday that "everything must be put on the table by everyone" that could promote growth. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Hollande's trip was a postwar custom for new French leaders to reach out to German counterparts to solidify European unity. While new figures Tuesday showed the eurozone has avoided a new recession, thanks largely to Germany, political turmoil in Greece was reviving fears about the fate of the euro.

Hollande, elected May 6 as France's first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995, rode to the presidency on a wave of resurgent leftist sentiment amid Europe's debt woes and protests against capitalism around the world.

The 57-year-old displayed his populist touch in between Tuesday's ceremonies, stopping for handshakes — and even a kiss — with adoring fans.

Hollande was greeted by Sarkozy Tuesday on the red-carpeted steps of the 18th-century Elysee Palace, the traditional residence of French presidents. The two held a 40-minute private meeting when the outgoing president handed over the codes to France's nuclear arsenal.

The new president immediately acknowledged the challenges he inherits: "a massive debt, weak growth, high unemployment, degraded competitiveness, and a Europe that is struggling to come out of crisis."

Hollande promised to fight financial speculation and "open a new path" in Europe. He has pushed back against a European budget-cutting pact championed by Merkel and Sarkozy.

"To overcome the crisis that is hitting it, Europe needs plans. It needs solidarity. It needs growth. To our partners, I will propose a new pact that will tie the necessary reduction of public debt with the indispensable stimulus of the economy," he said.

Hollande also pledged to bring "dignity and simplicity" to the presidential role — something voters felt that Sarkozy did not always do.

The French mood is glum. Many voters looked to the inauguration as a rare moment of national pride and to Hollande's presidency as a new opportunity to make things better.

Earlier Tuesday, the state statistics agency released figures showing that the French economy had failed to grow in the first quarter. Some economists predict a contraction ahead, which would complicate Hollande's promises to rein in the deficit.

World markets and other European leaders will watch closely to see whether Hollande follows through on campaign promises, such as pulling French troops out of Afghanistan by year's end, freezing gasoline prices and hiking taxes on the rich.

Observers expect that once he settles into the presidency, he's likely to fall back into the moderate consensus-building that has characterized his career.

Hollande's relationship with Merkel, the German chancellor, will be crucial to his presidency and the appointment of Ayrault (ay-ROW) as prime minister may well prove an advantage for this relationship. Ayrault, who leads the Socialists in Parliament, is a German speaker and a former teacher of the language of Goethe.

Ayrault is expected to announce a government Wednesday or Thursday. But its future will depend on the outcome of parliamentary elections next month, and whether leftists take control of the National Assembly.

In Tuesday's ceremony, Hollande received the insignia of the Grand Croix of the Legion of Honor and the necklace of the Great Master of the Order of the Legion of Honor. Each linked medallion of the necklace bears the name of a president, with Hollande's name recently added.

Hollande shook hands with many of the hundreds at the ceremony then reviewed troops in the palace gardens. Following tradition, 21 shots were fired from cannons at the Invalides, a domed complex on the opposite side of the Seine that holds Napoleon's tomb.

Rain started pouring down on the famed Champs-Elysees avenue as Hollande rode up its center, standing in the sunroof of his hybrid Citroen DS5, trailed by dozens of Republican Guardsmen on horseback and motorcycle. His suit was visibly drenched within moments. He then headed for the Arc de Triomphe, and its monument to the unknown soldier.

His second presidential speech of the day focused on education, as he pledged to create 60,000 new teaching jobs in the aftermath of cuts Sarkozy had made.

Hollande, who has never been married, was joined for the ceremonies and in his motorcade Tuesday by his poised girlfriend, journalist Valerie Trierweiler. She wore a black dress with translucent sleeves and a white tunic jacket by French label Apostrophe.

Hollande's former partner and the mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, joined him later Tuesday in a ceremony at Paris City Hall. Royal, a prominent Socialist politician, was runner-up to Sarkozy in 2007; she is angling for a top political job under Hollande's presidency.

Hollande's first presidential meal reflected relative modesty, at least by French culinary standards: lobster and citrus terrine, cote de boeuf, and strawberry macaron cookies for dessert.

Sarkozy left the palace hand-in-hand with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, had a last handshake on the palace steps with Hollande, then was driven away. Former staff members gathered in the palace courtyard applauded loudly as Sarkozy left, and fans at the Elysee gates waved signs reading "Nicolas, merci!"

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Cecile Brisson, Jamey Keaten and Thomas Adamson in Paris and Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

The four subcommittees will focus on business technology, education, community cooperation and energy innovation.

State officials plan to argue that federal defense spending should not be cut in Massachusettts, by focusing on the abundance of high technology industries, well-respected schools and green technology it can offer the military.

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray announced that the state’s task force created to prevent proposed spending cuts to the bases, will expand to include four subcommittees which will study reasons the military can or does benefits from being in the state.

The subcommittees will focus on technology, education, community cooperation and energy innovation.

Murray created the Military Asset and Security Strategy Task Force after the U.S. Defense Department announced $259 billion in spending cuts proposed over five years that could impact the six military bases in the state.

In 2013 Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee is slated to lose 17 jobs. The 104th fighter wing at Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield stands to be cut by three posts. It could also lose its explosives unit and eventually Westover may lose half of its fleet of 16 C-5 Galaxy cargo jets.

Four other military installations in the commonwealth, Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, U.S. Army’s Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod and Fort Devans in Ayer also face cuts.

“We are clear-eyed that the Defense Department is going to be cut,” Murray said. “We want them to understand there are ways we can work with them to reduce costs.

Murray said he understands representatives from all states are lobbying to save bases from devastating cuts so Massachusetts has to show reasons to save local bases.

“Each of the six bases is distinct and unique. they are not redundant,” he said.

One of the focuses is on the work on research and development firms Massachusetts are closely tied with military innovations. The Defense Technology Initiative, created seven years ago when some bases were threatened with closure, will join the subcommittee and work with other companies which do military research, he said.

“We are trying to be proactive and show that it does matter to have a lieutenant colonel at a base working on military technology to be able to go down to MIT or UMass,” said Martin Romitti, director of economy and policy research for the Donahue Institute, a research think-tank tied to the University of Massachusetts.

A study by the Donahue Institute showed Massachusetts draws $14 to $15 billion a year in defense spending fueling the state economy.

But technology is not the only focus, Murray said one of the subcommittees will work with municipalities to will look at ways they can support the military by investing in things such as water, sewer and road infrastructure near bases.

In will also work to help cut other costs at bases, he said.

“One of the major costs of the defense department is energy,” he said. “Can we work with them on finding efficiencies and savings on those costs?”

A third group will study how vocational high schools and colleges can provide education and training for military.

The 21-year-old woman who was accidentally shot by an Agawam police officer responding to a reported domestic disturbance at her apartment suffered a shattered jaw and faces numerous additional surgeries, her lawyer said.

These were the most-read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall was the Palmer High Senior/Junior prom, seen at right.

1) 1 dead in Route 202 crash in Belchertown [Conor Berry]

2) Amherst fire chief Tim Nelson calls Hampshire College students 'idiots' after firefighters rescue trio from college roof [Conor Berry]

3) Britteney Miles, 21-year-old woman accidentally shot in jaw by Agawam Police Officer Danielle Petrangelo, faces numerous additional surgeries [George Graham]

4) Easthampton police: Man ends argument over parking space with shotgun [Conor Berry]

5) Holyoke police: Traffic stop leads to drug charges for 2 Chicopee teens [Conor Berry]

"We knew it was coming," Easthampton City Council Vice President Joseph McCoy (pictured) said, referring to cuts aimed at trimming the city's $17 million school budget.

EASTHAMPTON – Schools here are facing cuts and possible teacher layoffs in a tight budget season that's forcing many city departments to operate under the less-is-more model.

Mayor Michael A. Tautznik has submitted a $35.2 million citywide spending plan for fiscal 2013, including about $15 million for Easthampton schools. The overall budget is about $1.4 million less than what city department heads had requested for fiscal 2013, which begins July 1, but it still represents a $1.2 million increase (3.7 percent) over the fiscal 2012 budget.

The School Committee has asked the City Council to support a $1.38 million Proposition 2½ property tax override that could help restore funding and save jobs, according to an abc40 report. If Easthampton voters approve the override, teachers could be rehired and cuts could be restored halfway through the upcoming school year, the TV station reports.

The school department must trim more than $516,000 to balance the school district's roughly $17 million budget, according to press reports. To that end, school officials are recommending cutting one high school English teacher, three elementary school teachers, one elementary school reading teacher, and one middle school language teacher. The proposal also calls for turning a full-time school psychologist position into a half-time job.

Tautznik's $15 million school budget proposal, endorsed last week by a City Council subcommittee, is about $660,000 less than the amount school leaders say they need to maintain services, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reports.

"We knew it was coming," Easthampton City Council Vice President Joseph P. McCoy told abc40, adding that funding "still remains very tight" from the state. "Unfortunately, these cuts still have to be made," he said.

Only a handful of customers, in Longmeadow and Colrain, were still without power, according to Western Massachusetts Electric Co.'s online outage map.

SPRINGFIELD – Electricity has been restored to the more than 1,500 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. customers in Springfield who lost power Tuesday night after a transformer blew.

Customers elsewhere throughout the region also lost power — sections of Agawam, Easthampton, Southampton, West Springfield, Colrain and Longmeadow were temporarily in the dark — though it was unclear what caused those outages. As of Wednesday morning, however, power had been restored to all but 9 customers in Longmeadow and four in the Franklin County town of Colrain, according to WMECO's online outage map.

The outages kept utility workers busy through the night, with Springfield suffering the biggest blow. More than 1,500 customers in the city's Forest Park neighborhood lost power shortly before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Power had been restored to all but 568 Springfield customers less than an hour after the lights went out, according to WMECO spokesman Jeff Tilghman.

"Workers are trying to restore power as quickly and as a safely as they can," he said shortly after Tuesday's outage, which was caused by a blown transformer on Dickinson Street.

VIDEO from CBS3, media partner of The Republican/MassLive:

George W. Bush finally weighed on the presidential race — with four short words. "I'm for Mitt Romney," the former president said Tuesday as the doors of his elevator shut, perhaps his only statement of public opinion on the race before the Nov. 6 election.

AP Photo/Steven Senne, File In this Aug. 30, 2004 file photo, former President George W. Bush waves as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney applauds, in Nashua, N.H. Bush voiced his support for Romney Tuesday.

By PHILIP ELLIOTT
Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — George W. Bush finally weighed on the presidential race — with four short words.

"I'm for Mitt Romney," the former president said Tuesday as the doors of his elevator shut, perhaps his only statement of public opinion on the race before the Nov. 6 election.

Romney's campaign doesn't foresee the 43rd president playing a substantive role in the race. Aides are carefully weighing how much the former president should be involved in the GOP convention — and for good reason. The Bush fatigue that was a drag on GOP nominee John McCain four years ago, and on the country, still lingers, including among Republicans.

"The Iraq war? The economy? Let's not revisit President Bush's record," Richard Rinaldi, a 72-year-old Republican, said at a Romney rally last week in Charlotte. "There's no desire to see him campaigning."

Standing nearby, Roger Burba, a 73-year-old Republican from Pineville, N.C., put it this way: "He's back in Texas, where he should be."

While Bush's standing has improved since he left office in January 2009, he remains a polarizing political figure. Romney's aides fear Bush's status could hurt the new Republican standard-bearer in battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin even though Bush could energize the party faithful — and help raise money — in solid Republican parts of the country.

There's another risk: Romney linking himself too closely to the former president in any way would give Democrats ammunition to boost President Barack Obama's argument that his Republican rival would restore Bush-era policies.

Bush is said to be enjoying retirement at home in Dallas. He's largely stayed out of sight and out of politics since leaving office and is likely to sit much of the campaign, too. He spends his time raising money for and promoting his presidential library at Southern Methodist University — the reason he was in Washington on Tuesday when ABC News caught him and elicited the unscripted endorsement. He also gives speeches for charitable causes.

"He's been a very private person. I don't know why that would change," said Republican strategist Danny Diaz, a veteran of Bush's team.

Romney's aides won't speak for the record about the campaign's plans — if there are any — for Bush. Bush's office did not respond to a message seeking comment about the campaign or the convention.

Behind the scenes, Republicans close to Romney's campaign say there are no plans to use Bush in a significant way and that the signal from Romney's Boston headquarters — it's loaded with veterans of Bush's two successful campaigns — is that any role for Bush would be minimal at best. The Republicans, who insisted on anonymity to discuss strategy, said Romney's team will determine, if it hasn't already, how best to recognize Bush at the party's national convention in August in Florida, where Bush's brother, Jeb, was governor.

Romney's advisers are studying exit polls from the 2008 presidential election, when nearly three-fourths of voters, or 71 percent, said they disapproved of Bush's job performance. Twenty-seven percent approved. Voters were evenly split — 48 percent apiece — on whether McCain would continue Bush's policies or take the country in a different direction. Democrats' central criticism of McCain was that his presidency would have amounted to a third Bush term.

Of those who said McCain would continue Bush's policies, just 8 percent voted for McCain; 90 percent supported Obama. McCain carried a substantial majority of those who approved of Bush's performance. But of the 51 percent who strongly disapproved of Bush's performance, McCain won just 16 percent.

Bush's standing is not nearly as dreary any more, but the numbers still show little incentive for Romney to wrap himself in Bush.

A March poll by Bloomberg found that 45 percent of adults had a favorable opinion of Bush, to 50 percent unfavorable. That was better than a January 2009 Pew Research Center poll, taken as Bush was leaving office, that found that 37 percent had a favorable opinion of him, to 60 percent unfavorable.

That's not to say Romney completely ignores Bush, either. On the March day when he was endorsed by Jeb Bush, Romney credited the former president with averting another Depression in 2008. Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, endorsed Romney little more than a week later.

"I keep hearing the president say that he's responsible for keeping America from going into a Great Depression," Romney said of Obama. "No, no, no. That was President George W. Bush and (Treasury Secretary) Hank Paulson that stepped in and kept that from happening."

There are no rules for using former presidents in political campaigns, nor are potential successors bound to embrace them.

But Obama is keeping his Democratic predecessor closer this time around.

Democrat Bill Clinton had a muted role in the 2008 general election after the nasty primary fight between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Obama. But Obama has signaled this year that he intends to fully embrace the popular former president — and take advantage of his political strengths. A prolific fundraiser, Clinton recently appeared with Obama at a money event near Washington. He also has a prominent role in Obama campaign videos.

Clinton was sidelined while still in office in 2000 when Vice President Al Gore kept him at bay after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

History doesn't offer much precedent for handling former presidents at party conventions, either.

Clinton and Jimmy Carter gave speeches on the first day of the 2004 Democratic convention. In 2000, the elder Bush and Gerald Ford were present when George W. Bush was nominated, but neither man spoke. In 1996, both Ford and George H.W. Bush spoke.

Four years ago, McCain kept Bush at a distance after an awkward joint appearance in the White House Rose Garden. McCain had challenged Bush for the nomination in 2000 and didn't endorse him after Bush prevailed.

During his convention speech in 2008, McCain spoke the Bush name only once — in reference to Laura Bush.

__

Associated Press Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

Amherst Fire Chief Tim Nelson said it took firefighters about 48 minutes to retrieve three Hampshire College students from a campus building roof, but the rescue effort cost about $550 and tied up department resources.

AMHERST – It took Amherst firefighters less than an hour to rescue three Hampshire College students stranded on the roof of a Hampshire College building Monday night. But the cost of the operation was roughly $550 — plus the frustration of wasting the fire department's time and resources, according to Amherst Fire Chief W. Tim Nelson, who plans to bill the students.

On Tuesday, Nelson blasted the students, all of whom attend the prestigious liberal arts college, calling them "idiots" who consciously decided to scale a building and jump onto the roof of a neighboring building. After realizing that they couldn't get down from the 1-story building, and that their 20-foot perch was too high to jump from, one of the students phoned for help.

It took about 48 minutes to remove the students from the building's flat roof, but the price of mobilizing five firefighters, one engine and an ambulance shouldn't be absorbed by town taxpayers, said Nelson, who'd rather let the students swallow the bill.

"They are idiots — period! There was no excuse for it," Nelson said.

As some critics have pointed out, Amherst's fire services are already budgeted for the year and supported by property taxes, so the rescue comes at no extra cost to taxpayers. But Nelson's plan to bill the students jibes with a growing trend by public agencies to hold negligent hikers, errant skiers and other misguided people accountable for their rescues — a trend strongly opposed by some groups.

For example, the National Association for Search and Rescue strongly opposes the concept of billing for services rendered, saying it may deter people in danger from seeking help. "The public needs to understand that there's going to be someone there to help them, and you shouldn't worry about downstream consequences," Howard Paul, a spokesman for the association, told USA Today.

The issue has prompted some states to set caps on billing amounts, while others have enacted laws, such as New Hampshire's negligent hiker law, aimed at recouping rescue mission costs. Most cases that have gained national attention in recent years have involved mountaintop or other elaborate rescues that triggered large-scale public safety responses.

The Hampshire College case would hardly seem to fit the bill, but Nelson said he intends on sending bills to the students for wasting his department's time and money. "What if we had a call for someone who was having a heart attack," the fire chief said, noting that response times would have been delayed if there had been more pressing emergencies Monday night. "This took away from people who really need our help," he said.

A Hampshire College spokeswoman said a school investigation is under way. She characterized the incident as a "lapse in judgment."

Material from the Associated Press and USA Today was used in this report.

Staples Inc.'s first-quarter net income fell 6 percent, burdened by expenses related to job cuts and a contract settlement as revenue overseas weakened.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) — Staples Inc.'s first-quarter net income fell 6 percent, burdened by expenses related to job cuts and a contract settlement as revenue overseas weakened.

Its shares declined more than 2 percent in early premarket trading.

The biggest U.S. office supply retailer reported Wednesday that its net income fell to $187.1 million, or 27 cents per share, for the period ended April 13, down from $198.2 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier.

The current quarter included $28 million in expenses mostly related to job cuts in North America, Europe and Australia and the settlement of a contract dispute tied to the Corporate Express acquisition. The expenses reduced earnings by about 3 cents per share.

Taking out these items, earnings amounted to 30 cents per share. This was in line with the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue dipped 1 percent to $6.1 billion from $6.17 billion, missing Wall Street's estimate of $6.18 billion.

Staples' stock shed 39 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $14.36 ahead of the market open.

North American retail sales were basically flat at $2.3 billion, while revenue at stores open at least a year was flat as order size and traffic were unchanged.

Revenue for the North American delivery segment, which caters to businesses, rose 2 percent to $2.6 billion on better sales of facility and break room supplies and increased revenue from copy and print and promotional products.

International sales dropped 8 percent to $1.2 billion on softness in Australia and Europe.

Staples, which is based in Framingham, Mass., still expects full-year earnings to post a high single-digit percentage increase and revenue to climb in the low single-digits.

Analysts predict 2012 earnings of $1.50 on revenue of $25.43 billion.

Facebook's owners now plan to sell 25 percent more shares in the company as investors clamor for shares in the year's hottest stock offering.

The Associated PressNews about the Facebook IPO passes on a billboard outside of NASDAQ in Times Square, New York, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Facebook on Tuesday increased the price range at which it plans to sell stock to the public, as investor enthusiasm in the offering continued to mount and boost the potential value of the world's most popular social network. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's owners now plan to sell 25 percent more shares in the company as investors clamor for shares in the year's hottest stock offering.

Facebook says in a regulatory filing that it will now sell about 421 million shares. That's up from 337 million previously. That doesn't include more than 60 million additional shares that could be sold to cover excess demand.

If all the shares are sold at the high end of the expected price range, the offering could total more than $18 billion. That would make Facebook one of the largest IPOs ever.

The increased size signifies heavy investor demand for the shares. It comes a day after Facebook raised the price range it expects for the stock.

The offering is expected to set the final price Thursday evening. Shares would start trading Friday.

The Department of Environmental Protection announced its findings Tuesday after monitoring sound from five different locations near the turbine on four different March nights.

Associated PressWind turbines line the hillside at First Wind's project in Sheffield, Vt., Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. Vermont's first commercial wind farm in Sheffield is ready to make power. Developer First Wind hosted dignitaries, state and local officials and others beneath its turbines on Sheffield Heights where they celebrated the end of the eight-year process that it took to plan and build the project. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

FALMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — State environmental regulators have recommended the shutdown of a wind turbine in Falmouth because of unacceptable noise levels at nearby homes, lending fuel to those fighting the proliferation of wind energy.

The Department of Environmental Protection announced its findings Tuesday after monitoring sound from five different locations near the turbine on four different March nights.

In response, Falmouth's selectmen agreed to shut off the turbine for 30 days while DEP officials test daytime decibel levels. The town's other turbine is unaffected.

Complaints from neighbors prompted the state study.

DEP Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell warned against applying the findings in Falmouth to other wind turbine projects around the state that have drawn opposition.

The administration of Gov. Deval Patrick has made wind power development a central part of its energy policy.

By law, campaigns and the outside groups are forbidden from working with each other. But at times like this, the lines of separation seem blurred if not crossed.

The Associated PressIn this May 9, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the White House in Washington. Looks like President Barack Obama's allies got the hint. An independent group with deep ties to the Democrat's re-election campaign rolls out a TV ad assailing Mitt Romney over business practices at Bain Capital _ just 24 hours after Obama himself opened the same line of attack. It’s a sign of the new world of campaign finance, where super PACs have wide leeway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

By BETH FOUHY and KEN THOMAS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Looks like President Barack Obama's allies got the hint.

An independent group with deep ties to the president's re-election campaign launched a television ad Tuesday hitting Mitt Romney's business practices at Bain Capital, just 24 hours after Obama's team debuted its own ad attacking the Republican presidential candidate's work at the private equity firm.

By law, campaigns and the outside groups are forbidden from working with each other. But at times like this, the lines of separation seem blurred if not crossed.

"The idea that these groups are independent is a fiction in reality terms and, we believe, a fiction in legal terms," said Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, a campaign finance reform advocacy group.

The back-to-back Obama spots, to run in four of the same five general election swing states, are a sign of the new world of campaign finance, where so-called super political action committees have wide leeway to spend as much as they want to help or hurt candidates. And the ads also cast new light on the cozy relationship between campaigns and these groups, raising questions about how independent they are from each other.

The coziness isn't limited to Democrats. A Romney-aligned super PAC is keeping him competitive on TV as he regroups for the general election. And the relationship between that group — Restore Our Future — and the presumptive GOP nominee was on vivid display during the Republican primaries, when the group spent $36 million on ads assailing the former Massachusetts governor's rivals.

Super PACs, born of a 2010 Supreme Court decision easing political spending rules, can raise and spend unlimited donations as long as they don't coordinate directly with the campaigns they support. But the lines are often blurry: The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action is run by former Obama White House aides, while Restore Our Future is staffed by former Romney advisers.

Strategists for the super PACs insist they are operating independently and are not relying on signals from the presidential campaigns as to what advertising strategy to pursue. But campaign finance watchdogs are crying foul, arguing that super PACs have effectively become high-dollar shadow campaign operations for candidates otherwise constrained by much stricter federal campaign finance rules.

Said Wertheimer: "Candidate-specific super PACs are simply arms of the presidential campaigns and need to be treated as such and be subject to contribution limits."

Republicans have generally welcomed the emergence of super PACs, and several GOP-leaning groups spent millions to take control of the House and pick up six Senate seats in 2010. Obama sharply criticized the emergence of super PACs that year but ultimately green-lighted contributions to Priorities USA Action after it became clear that his campaign and other Democrats would be vastly outgunned otherwise.

The Associated PressIn this May 8, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Lansing, Mich. Looks like President Barack Obama's allies got the hint. An independent group with deep ties to the Democrat's re-election campaign rolls out a TV ad assailing Mitt Romney over business practices at Bain Capital _ just 24 hours after Obama himself opened the same line of attack. It’s a sign of the new world of campaign finance, where super PACs have wide leeway (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Tuesday's new ad launched by Priorities USA Action highlights the failure of GST Steel, a Kansas City, Mo.-based company purchased by Bain Capital that went bankrupt and laid off 750 workers in 2001. A day earlier, the Obama campaign announced it was targeting Bain's management of GST Steel in a two-minute ad.

Priorities USA Action is spending $4 million to air the new ad, while the Obama campaign committed just under $100,000 to run its commercial. But Bill Burton, a former Obama White House aide who now heads Priorities USA Action, said the timing of the two ads was a coincidence and his group had not waited for the Obama campaign go after Bain before making a similar attack.

"It wasn't a matter of waiting for anything, this was our strategy," Burton said, adding that the ad had been shot in February and the group has several more it plans to air related to Bain.

"There are four or five examples that are particularly telling of how Mitt Romney made decisions when he was in private business. We had planned on telling this story regardless," Burton said.

Priorities USA Action's might may be limited — the group has struggled to raise money, taking in about $10 million through its super PAC and affiliated nonprofit arm by the end of March. The group has spent $2.7 million on ads in May, compared to $28.6 million by the Obama campaign, according to data provided by ad buyers to The Associated Press.

Republican-leaning groups, by contrast, spent about $14 million on commercials in the same period. About $4.3 million was spent by Restore Our Future, which has raised at least $51 million since its inception to support Romney. The Romney campaign has spent no money on TV ads since Romney's Republican opponents dropped out, clearing his path to the nomination.

Obama's campaign opened the month of April with more than $100 million in the bank, a 10-to-1 fundraising advantage over Romney. But the president's edge is minimized by the campaign cash raised by Restore Our Future and other Republican-leaning super PACs, which have pledged to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help Romney.

Carl Forti, who heads Restore Our Future and served as political director for Romney's 2008 presidential bid, said the group does not need to coordinate with the Romney campaign to know how to make the best use of resources.

"We're politically experienced people, we know what Obama's vulnerabilities are and what we need to do to help Mitt win," Forti said. "Just because we can anticipate what they need and where they are going, it doesn't mean it's coordinated."

Forti also serves as a strategist for American Crossroads, a super PAC with ties to Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's longtime political director. Crossroads has announced plans to spend as much as $300 million to influence the presidential contest.

While the Republican groups may not coordinate directly with the Romney campaign, they do coordinate with each other. Leaders of some leading Republican super PACs attend a monthly meeting hosted by Crossroads to share information and devise strategy.

Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center, an advocacy group, said super PACs are operating under a fig leaf of independence that does not hold up under scrutiny.

"Super PACs have little or no true independence, that's why large contributions to super PACs pose just as great a threat of corruption as they would if given directly to the candidates," Ryan said. "To put it bluntly, there's no real need for them to coordinate as the law defines it in order to run an incredibly effective ad campaign using unlimited, potentially corrupting contributions."

The new Priorities USA Action ad is running on TV in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Super PAC also began a website with its version of Romney's record as CEO of Bain Capital. The Obama campaigns ad is to air in Iowa instead of Florida.

___

Thomas reported from Washington.

Browse the pictures that appeared in today's editions of The Republican.

From a kids taekwondo tournament, to a Great Gardens feature on Nasami Farm — and more — our photographers are documenting life in the Pioneer Valley from every angle.

Browse photos from Wednesday's editions of the newspaper in the gallery at right.

A DNA sample from sweat on a pair of sunglasses found near the scene of one of the robberies was recently matched to a sample of Bolden's DNA.

Kenneth Bolden

SPRINGFIELD - Police on Wednesday arrested and charged a 45-year-old city man in connection with two separate bank robberies in 2009 after a DNA sample linked him to the crimes, police said.

Kenneth G. Bolden of 50 Clifton Ave. was arrested shortly after 6 a.m. at his residence by detectives Robert Bohl and Michael Goggin of the police Warrant Apprehension Squad, said Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet..

He was charged with armed robbery while masked and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Springfield police had obtained a district court arrest warrant for Bolden after detective Timothy Kenney was able to link him to separate robberies of a TD Bank branch at 551 Sumner Ave. on April 29, 2009 and Sept. 26, 2009.

In each robbery, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dark glasses handed a teller a note demanding cash. No weapon was shown but each note said the man was armed.

In each robbery, the suspect wore rubber gloves to conceal his fingerprints.

Springfield police photoBank surveillance footage from the April 29, 2009 robbery at TD Bank, 551 Sumner Ave. Police on Wednesday arrested Kenneth Bolden charging him with this and another robbery. DNA obtained from sunglasses found near one of the banks helped identify Bolden as a suspect, according to police.

Delaney said that following one of the 2009 robberies, officers canvassing the neighborhood found a sweatshirt stashed in a basement stairwell that matched the color of the one worn by the suspect. Wrapped up inside the shirt was a pair of sunglasses.

Police were able to obtain a DNA sample from traces of sweat that were found on the glasses, Delaney said.

The sample recently came back to match the DNA sample for Bolden, he said.

That evidence along with witness statements allowed police to seek a warrant for Bolden’s arrest. Bolden was arrested June 23 and charged with breaking into houses in Six Corners that was damaged by the June 1 tornado.

Bolden was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on the charges in Springfield District Court but information on his court appearance was not available.

The majority of the 461 arrests were for disruptive but non-violent behavior, rather than weapons, drugs or assaults, according to the study, which called for a less aggressive approach to student discipline.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayRev. Talbert W. Swan II, president of the Springfield branch of the NAACP.

SPRINGFIELD – The local NAACP chapter has criticized the School Department’s response to a report showing public school students are arrested here at much higher rates than in Boston and Worcester.

Chapter president Rev. Talbert Swan II said the report’s findings and the response from Superintendent Alan J. Ingram and other officials were disturbing.

“To summarily dismiss the report and the facts and figures contained therein ... to save the already tarnished image of a school system that is struggling to educate our youth is no less than irresponsible,” Swan said in a statement on behalf of the Springfield-based chapter.

“A dismissive response at the highest levels of the School Department sends the message that the problems delineated in the report need not be discussed any further. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he added.

The study by the Massachusetts chapter of American Civil Liberties Union and the Boston-based Citizens for Juvenile Justice found school arrest rates in Springfield were three times higher than in Boston and five times higher than in Worcester during the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 academic years.

The majority of the 461 arrests were for disruptive but non-violent behavior, rather than weapons, drugs or assaults, according to the study, which called for a less aggressive approach to student discipline.

Ingram said students are arrested as a last resort, and denied that the school-based policing unit, also known as the Quebec Unit, arrests students for innocuous reasons.

He added that having officers assigned to schools does not lead to excessive arrests; overall arrest rates are declining in city schools, he said.

Swan said mitigating factors that lead to disruptive behavior — learning disabilities, histories of poverty, abuse or neglect — are too often overlooked by school staff and police, creating a system that criminalizes minor infractions of school rules, Swan said.

“We cannot afford to ignore this important report and must educate our educators and appropriately train school safety personnel to address minor problems that should not result in arresting our children,” he said.

Swan is one of 13 members of a volunteer committee reviewing candidates to replace Ingram, whose four-year contract expires on June 30.

Arrested Futures

Dunphy Farris was represented by a former colleague Renee L. Steese at the hearing.

File photo | The RepublicanCraig Barton pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide.

NORTHAMPTON — A lawyer representing one of the defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Frederick S. Kareta III against Craig A. Barton, the driver who killed him, is arguing that the police procedure in the case was so “fatally flawed,” it could reverse Barton’s conviction for motor vehicle homicide.

Barton’s Lexus was traveling an estimated 61 mph in a 35 mph zone on Aug. 28, 2010, when it struck Kareta as he was gathering his aunt’s mail on the lawn of her South Hadley home. Kareta, 22, was knocked out of his shoes and propelled 80 feet by the impact. He died of massive injuries.

Barton, a juvenile court lawyer from Westfield, had been drinking at The Orchards country club in South Hadley prior to the accident. According to prosecutors, he was speeding and en route to another bar in Holyoke when he ran off the road, hit Kareta and slammed into another car.

Barton pleaded guilty last year to motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to a five- to seven-year state prison term. However, a lawyer for The Orchards maintained in court this month that a civil lawsuit against her client could result in the reversal of that sentence.

Kareta’s parents and his estate filed the suit against Barton, the Orchards and Century Golf Partnership, the corporation that owns the club, seeking damages for his death.

On May 3, the parties in the case argued a motion by the Northwestern district attorney’s office to prevent the deposition of former deputy first assistant district attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris about conflicting police reports. Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder agreed in Hampshire Superior Court to quash the subpoena, ruling that Dunphy Farris has no personal knowledge of relevant information that is otherwise unavailable to the defense in the civil lawsuit.

Late last year, the defense also had its attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed refused by another judge; in that motion, it was argued that Barton exhibited no signs of intoxication when staff at the club served him alcohol. Prosecutors said Barton had at least four alcoholic drinks at the Orchards and that a waitress there cut him off.

In the latest defense action, Alexandra Power, who represents the Orchards, maintained that South Hadley police denied Barton his right to see a doctor after taking him into custody and subsequently altered the police report to cover up that action. According to Power, police Sgt. Mark Baran originally reported that Barton began asking to see a doctor and requested to go to an emergency room. Police told Barton they would grant those requests only after he took a Breathalyzer test, according to that report.

Jamie Magarian, a state police investigator assigned to the case, became “infuriated” after reading the report and told Baran he had committed a “fatal flaw,” according to Power. In a deposition for the case, Magarian testified that a suspect’s right to a doctor has nothing to do with submitting to a Breathalyzer, which tests for levels of alcohol in the blood. Although he said he was “infuriated” by the mistake, Magarian said he did not tell Baran to change the report.

In a separate deposition, another investigator assigned to the district attorney’s office, trooper David A. Strycharz, testified he observed Dunphy Farris become “loud and mad” about Baran’s original report. Baran subsequently wrote a different report in which he stated Barton had asked to “call” his doctor but never asked to go to an emergency room.

Power sought to subpoena Dunphy Farris, but the district attorney’s office filed a motion to prevent it from happening, saying the former prosecutor had no personal knowledge of the case and was not involved in the final prosecution.

Dunphy Farris moved to a new job with the Hampden district attorney’s office by the time of Barton’s guilty plea. Her former boss, then-Northwestern district attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel, left office in January 2011 and was succeeded by David E. Sullivan, whose office is now handling the matter.

Dunphy Farris was represented by a former colleague Renee L. Steese at the hearing. Steese was first assistant district attorney under Scheibel and now works in private practice at the South Hadley law firm of Ryan, Boudreau, Randall, Kirkpatrick & Baker at which Scheibel’s husband, Paul D. Boudreau, is a partner.

The board is looking for corporate donations to augment state and federal youth employment funding and for companies to volunteer to as job sites where they would train and supervise workers paid through the program.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanAt the Regional Employment Board summer bobs kick-off campaign press conference Tuesday, J. William Ward, president and CEO, Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, left, waits to speak along with H. Edgar Alejandro, senior analyst, economic and community development with Western Massachusetts Electric, center, and Peter Clark, WMECO president.

SPRINGFIELD – Without the youth employment programs offered by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, Maria L. Santiago of Springfield figures shed still be stuck hanging around the house.

“I didn’t have any kind of experience or training,” Santiago, 20, and the mother of a 3-year-old. “I didn’t know how to dress properly and present myself at an interview.”

Now she has a job in the fuel assistance offices of the New England Farm Workers Council, a GED and she’ll start classes at Springfield Technical Community College in the fall.

The Regional Employment Board kicked off its annual summer jobs push Wednesday morning with a news conference at the Western New England Electric Co. offices in the Springfield Technical Community College Technology Park.

The board is looking for corporate donations to augment state and federal youth employment funding and for companies to volunteer to as job sites where they would train and supervise workers paid through the program.

WMECO President and CEO Peter J. Clark announced a $5,000 donation to the program.

This year, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County will receive $780,00 in state Youthworks funding that is enough for 400 summer jobs, said Christine Abramowitz, director of planing for the REB. Last year, the agency received $1 million from the state.

The board will has also received $1.3 million in federal Workforce Investment funding which is used for year-round programs like the one Santiago attended as well as about 240 summer jobs. Last year it was $1.5 million.

The Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board has received $37,000 in state funding for 19 summer jobs in Northampton, said James E. Parcells director of planning and youth programs. The Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board received $70,000 in federal money, or enough for about 40 jobs. The is the first time the Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board has gotten state money in some time. It’s federal program 65 jobs with about $150,000 in federal money last year.

Participants make $8 to $9 an hour and work 20 to 30 hours a week over six weeks.

“Well the economy is still not good out here,” Parcells said. “But it is better than it was. There is more opportunity for people to be employed. That includes young people.”

Young people ages 16 to 19 had an unemployment rate of 15.5 percent statewide in 2011. That was more than twice the statewide average for all ages of 7.3 percent and higher than the unemployment rate of any other age group, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hampden employment board president J. William Ward, said that when teens have jobs they tend to do better in the working world later on in life.

Thomas M. Crochiere said, vice president of Collins-Crochiere Construction Services, said his full-time employees look forward to teaching the summer workers he hosts through the Regional Employment Board. The teen employees mow lawns, paint, sweep out warehouses and do other entry -level jobs at its facility in Chicopee.

“A day’s work is a great experience,” Crochiere said. “A week’s work is even better.”