The will of Irene Kuzontkoski designated the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield as the recipient of the money, but specified that it be used solely for St. Mary of the Assumption Church.

File photo | The RepublicanThe former St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church on Elm Street in Northampton.

NORTHAMPTON – Some parishioners of the former St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church who are asking the Vatican to reverse its closing have now gone to court to make sure the church receives a widow’s $750,000 bequest.

An ongoing lawsuit in Hampshire Probate Court shows that is more or less the amount of the bequest in the will of Irene S. Kuzontkoski, a longtime parishioner who died in 2009.

The will designated the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield as the recipient of the money, but specified that it be used solely for St. Mary of the Assumption Church.

The problem is that St. Mary’s was among several Northampton churches closed by the diocese in 2009 in the wake of declining congregations and a rash of priest sex scandals, some of which resulted in hefty settlements. St. John Cantius on Hawley Street and Blessed Sacrament on Elm Street were also closed, their consolidated parishes directed to worship at St. Ann Elizabeth Seton Church on King Street.

Kuzontkoski was a telephone company operator who walked to services at St. Mary’s from her home on Cherry Street. She died widowed and childless at the age of 83. Although she left bequests in the amount of $1,000 each to several people, Kuzontkoski willed the bulk of her personal estate, estimated at $780,000, to the diocese on behalf of her beloved St. Mary’s. At the time of her death, the diocese was still considering St. Mary of the Assumption as the home for the discontinued parishes. By the time Hadley attorney William E. Dwyer was named executor of the will, however, it had settled on St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and closed St. Mary’s. Unsure where the money should go, Dwyer appealed to Probate Court for guidance.

“It was a restrictive gift, and St. Mary’s had ceased to exist,” Dwyer said this week. “I can’t just give the money away.”

The matter became further complicated when the Finance Council of St. Mary’s filed a motion to intervene and become a party in the matter. The council had been appointed by a priest at the former parish and consists of about a half dozen parishioners, some of whom are also members of the Committee to Preserve St. Mary of the Assumption Church, which filed a lawsuit against the city of Northampton this month seeking to overturn a city ordinance that would allow commercial reuse of the church.

The committee is also contesting the closing of St. Mary’s to the Vatican. Although that request has been denied, the committee has hired lawyers in Rome to appeal the matter at the next level.

The diocese has opposed the motion by the Finance Council to intervene, saying it has no standing because there is no longer a St. Mary’s church and because the council has no financial stake in the property.

Judge Linda Fidnick has delayed further rulings in the case pending the result of the appeal at the Vatican.

The case is also complicated because it involves church law, which the diocese says should take precedence in certain matters. Dwyer said there is canon law that could allow the diocese to redirect the money to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the successor parish. Attorney Paula C. Trudeau, who represents the diocese, said that is exactly where Kuzontkoski’s bequest will go if the money is released to the diocese.

“They will take the gift,” she said.

The Rev. John Connors, the pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, said his parish is responsible for everything about St. Mary of the Assumption, including the church building, which his parish has spent $150,000 maintaining.

“The territory, the building, the people are now part of this parish,” he said. “St. Mary’s is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.”

Despite the vocal few who continue to contest the closing of St. Mary’s, Connors said, the majority of the parishioners at the former church now worship at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Some are part of the parish council that will determine how Kuzontkoski’s bequest will be spent, he said. The Finance Council from St. Mary’s believes the money should be spent only on St. Mary’s.

“It should go to the church (Kuzontkoski) intended it to go to,” said Northampton attorney Edward J. McMahon, who filed an appearance on behalf of the Finance Council and is one of its members.

State police said there's no evidence foul play or neglect played a role in Caleigh Harrison's disappearance.

Associated PressRockport and State Police dig near the outflow of a tidal estuary at low tide on Long Beach in connection to the disappearance of Caleigh Harrison, Friday, May 4, 2012 in Rockport, Mass. Caleigh Anne Harrison of Gloucester disappeared April 12 while playing with her mother and 4-year-old sister. Her mother says she turned away briefly to retrieve a ball, and Caleigh was gone. (AP Photo/The Boston Globe, Josh Reynolds, Pool)

BOSTON — Police investigating the disappearance of a 2-year-old girl from a Rockport beach have filed a report with Massachusetts child welfare authorities of potential neglect of her 4-year-old sister.

State police spokesman David Procopio said Thursday night there's no evidence foul play or neglect played a role in Caleigh Harrison's April 19 disappearance. He said the Department of Children and Families will decide whether to investigate her sister's welfare.

Caleigh's mother says she turned away from the girls briefly to retrieve a ball when Caleigh disappeared. Caleigh's father said on HLN's "Nancy Grace" show that Caleigh's sister mentioned a man that took her sister. Police say they have no evidence of that, and ocean current tests have shown Caleigh could have been swept out to sea.

Telephone listings for the parents could not be found Thursday night.

The bill would require auto manufacturers to provide access to their diagnostic repair system through either a tool or a computer system contained in the vehicle.

File photo | Associated PressThe Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON — The Senate on Thursday night passed a controversial auto repair bill after weeks of negotiations between manufacturers and independent auto repairers in an attempt to settle the issue before it goes before voters in the form a ballot question in November.

The bill was approved quickly with little debate Thursday night as senators took a brief break from their discussion of a health care cost containment bill to pass the bill on a voice vote. Only after the vote did the bill’s author, Sen. Thomas Kennedy, and Sen. Jack Hart discuss the substance of the proposal.

“This is a consumer bill, because now they’ll have a choice,” said Hart, a Boston Democrat.

The bill now moves to the House where there has been less buzz about reaching a legislative compromise to head off the ballot question. When a joint House and Senate committee handling a similar bill failed to reach a compromise by the reporting deadline, the Senate Ways and Means Committee drafted its own version.

After the bill’s passage was delayed several weeks in the Senate to allow stakeholders to continue negotiations, Kennedy offered a substitute draft on Thursday night, crediting “the fact that the clock was ticking and the ballot hanging over head” with helping to reach a compromise, though not all parties were pleased with the result.

While supporters contend that the bill would protect consumers by giving independent repairers access to the same information as dealerships to repair vehicles, opponents claim repair shops can already access the data they need and have branded the bill a power grab by after-market parts manufacturers to seize proprietary information.

Kennedy, a Brockton Democrat and co-chairman of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, said, “I think this is the best scenario we could envision.”

Starting on Jan. 1, 2016, the bill would require manufacturers to provide access to their diagnostic repair system through either a tool or a computer system contained in the vehicle. Hart and Kennedy said the bill would give dealers and independent repairers the same ability to purchase the information at a “fair market value.”

“We shouldn’t call them cars anymore, really. We should call them computers with wheels,” Hart said by way of explanation of the need for local repair shops in neighborhoods like the ones he represents in South Boston.

When Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) raised a concern that truck and motorcycle repair shops ought to have the same access, Kennedy explained that trucks under 10,000 pounds are included in the bill, while heavier vehicles lack the same computer interface.

Kennedy said the bill also guards against dealerships having to release “precious trade secrets to leak out to China and undermine our workers in America.”

The so-called Right-to-Repair bill has been one of the most heavily lobbied pieces on legislation on Beacon Hill, and Massachusetts would be the first state in the country to adopt a version of the bill that has been pushed across the country and in Congress.

“The light is at the end of the tunnel for consumers,” said Art Kinsman, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition.

With the bill facing an uncertain future in the House, Kinsman said the coalition will continue to collect the required signatures required by July 3 to put a question on the ballot in November.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufactures blasted the development in the Senate. “Passing legislation that damages one business to benefit another is bad public policy,” the Alliance said in a statement.

“Innovation is at the heart of the Massachusetts economy, and it's shocking that the Senate would pass legislation that freezes innovation and threatens intellectual property. Even more, it fails to save consumers any money as confirmed by the bill's own proponents at a State House hearing on the matter,” the statement continued.

According to the Secretary of State's office, at least 22 individuals, lobbying firms and interest groups are involved in lobbying on the issue, including unions, car manufacturers, and business organizations. Former House Speaker Thomas Finneran is lobbying for the bill on behalf of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and former Senate President Robert Travaglini is pressing the plan on behalf of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association.

Officials at the private school give the city biannual $5,000 donations as compensation for the city allowing their sports teams to use different playing fields in the city.

File photo | The Republican04.08.2010 | A Holyoke Catholic High School softball game at Dana Park in Chicopee.

CHICOPEE — The City council accepted a $5,000 donation from Holyoke Catholic High School in a unanimous vote this week.

Officials at the private school give the city biannual $5,000 donations as compensation for the city allowing their sports teams to use different playing fields in the city. Holyoke Catholic, located on Springfield Street, has no playing fields or gymnasium of its own.

The money is used to help upkeep fields, City Councilor Charles M. Swider said. 

It was short but sweet at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods with Maroon 5 giving fans a 14-song set

Maroon 5

MASHANTUCKET _ In an effort to drum up business for their upcoming release “Overexposed” the members of rock / pop band Maroon 5 performed a set in the Grand Theater at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods on Thursday night.

Along with the new recording, the band is scheduled to release the 10th Anniversary edition of “Songs About Jane,” the breakthrough record from 2002 that gained Maroon 5 three hit singles and a Grammy award as Best New Artist.

Add to all of that the success of front man Adam Levine’s stewardship of the NBC hit “The Voice” and you’ve got a lot of buzz surrounding the Los Angeles-based music group.

Overexposed, indeed.

Perhaps as a way to counter all this exposure, Levine and his charges spent relatively little time on the stage on Thursday night, offering a set that came in just under an hour. The group managed to pull together just 14 songs for the sold out house and had to stretch out the encore of “She Will Be Loved,” to make it all seem worthwhile.

In their defense, the Maroon 5 recognizable catalog is only three deep at this point. However, their string of hits and the material from the upcoming release is more than enough to give the industry standard 90-minute presentation.

The band opened with a snippet of the Gym Class Heroes (featuring Levine) hit “Stereo Hearts,” which morphed into the band’s own “This Love.”

From “Harder to Breathe,” to “Sunday Morning” the group rode a line somewhere between Matchbox Twenty and Train but moved right into band-boy fluff with “Misery.”

One could argue the merits of re-mastering and re-releasing an album that came out in 2002 (“Songs About Jane”) but Levine said the band would be celebrating that release on the tour and offered up “Tangled” as an example.

It was on to the new with current single “Payphone” and then the set closing “Sweetest Goodbye.” With the crowd begging for more (and why not, it was only five minutes past nine), the band returned to encore with “Moves Like Jagger,” “Hands All Over,” and “She Will Be Loved.”

Javier Colon, winner of the inaugural season of “The Voice” served as the opening act and began his 20 minute set by channeling Adele and her hit single “Someone Like You.” The Connecticut native and Hartt School grad also offered up his current single “A Drop in the Ocean.”

Holyoke DJ and video producer Steve Porter made Fast Company's 2012 list of "100 Most Creative People in Business."

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

1) Feds: Jury foreman stole soft drinks belonging to aide of Congressman Richard Neal from U.S. District Court parking lot [By Stephanie Barry]

2) Man's arm, hand crushed in Chicopee machine accident at Parisi Incorporated [By Conor Berry]

3) Police ponder potted plant found in front of gymnasium at Westfield Vocational Technical High School [By George Graham]

4) Michigan boy finds finger piece in Arby's sandwich [By The Associated Press]

5) Holyoke DJ, video producer Steve Porter makes Fast Company's 2012 list of "100 Most Creative People in Business" [By Greg Saulmon]

To view local photos from Thursday's editions of The Republican, click on the photo gallery above at right.

Here are the average energy prices in the Pioneer Valley for the week ending today.

The Memorial Day Parade will begin at Dana Park on Newbury Street, head down Springfield Street to Fairview Avenue to Bonneville Avenue.

File photo | The Republican05.31.2010 | Marchers make their way down Bonneville Avenue during the Chicopee Memorial Day parade.

CHICOPEE — The Department of Veterans’ Services has announced the city’s schedule of events for Memorial Day.

Ceremonies will begin at 9 a.m. May 24 at City Hall when the Charles H. Tracy Award recipient will be announced. The honor is given to a veteran volunteer who has helped fellow veterans.

On May 25, beginning at 8:30 a.m., numerous veteran organizations will visit a dozen schools in Chicopee to give a brief history of the day and hold services.

The Vietnam Veterans of America Western Massachusetts Chapter will hold a 7 p.m. vigil on May 27 at the Vietnam Plaza on Chicopee Street, next to Mt. Carmel Avenue, to honor the 15 men from Chicopee who were killed in the war as well as all prisoners of war and those missing in action.

The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. May 28 at Dana Park on Newbury Street, head down Springfield Street to Fairview Avenue to Bonneville Avenue.

A ceremony will be held at 11:15 a.m. at the Veterans’ Plaza on Front Street.

The event provides financial assistance while strengthening diversity at the high school.

File photo

WESTFIELD — The Westfield High School community will step out Saturday in an effort to increase awareness and support for its homeless and poverty level students.

“A Mile in Your Shoes: A Walk for Change” was introduced last year to raise funds for the school’s Kinship Fund.

“Each year we see more and more agencies that help these kids get their budgets cut which means less and less to our students,” said organizer Alison E. Kelly.

Kelly, a guidance counselor, with assistance from Margaret Toomey, consumer science teacher, and the WHS Bridges project have mapped out two courses. Participants can choose either a two- or five-mile walk through the Montgomery Road area to help improve the quality of life for several students.

“The Kinship Funds helps to safeguard dreams,” Kelly said, noting the project was born two years ago by school counselor Catherine Tansey.

“We have students who have been abandoned by their caretakers and find themselves homeless. School is home for them since they are determined to complete their high school education here,” said Kelly. “This fund also helps students with intact families who are living within or below the poverty line,” she explained.

Walk participants are asked to donate $5 and/or solicit and collect pledges on their participation in the event. The walk will begin at Westfield High School on Montgomery Street at 9:30 a.m. Rain date will be Sunday.

The project is also seeking donations for its scheduled cookout, raffle prizes and cost of event supplies in addition to the Kinship Fund.

Kelly said the event last year drew 150 people and raised about $4,000. “This year we would like to increase that to 200 walkers and raise $5,000,.” she said.

Principal Raymond K. Broderick said, “The walk helps to financially support our Kinship Fund, but it is also a community activity that builds awareness of this type of need. It also helps to strengthen the diversity climate at Westfield High School.”

Donations in the form of checks should be made out to the WHS Kinship Fund and can be sent directly to the high school.

Kelly can be reached at the school by telephone at 572-6462 or 572-6463 or by email at a.kelly@schoolsofwestfield.org.

In addition to Monson, submissions came from East Longmeadow and Palmer.

The Republican | Lori StabileBianca Roncarati, 7, of Monson, stands with her creation for ArtBeat, a children's art show. The show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday at the House of Art on Main Street in Monson. She made a high-heel shoe out of paper.

MONSON — A high-heeled shoe made of paper. Paintings of tulips, shoes and faces. A collage declaring “Spring has Sprung.” A plane made out of a Canada Dry soda can.

These are some of the 58 submissions for the Monson Arts Council’s art show for kids, ArtBeat, which will be on display Saturday and Sunday at the House of Art at 200 Main St.

The idea for the children’s art show came from Arts Council member Jeannie R. Guertin.

Open to students ages 6 to 18, she said 35 young artists participated. No prizes will be awarded, but there will be a peer choice award, where each artist will vote for the submission that he or she likes best.

“No pressure,” Guertin said. “It’s just a fun thing.”

In addition to Monson, submissions came from East Longmeadow and Palmer. Guertin said she was pleased with such a strong turnout for the show’s first year.

“When I saw the quality of the work, I just thought it was really exciting,” Guertin said.

The young artists also will work as docents for the weekend show.

Sisters Bianca and Gabrielle Roncarati will have their creations on display.

The Republican | Lori StabileA plane made out of a Canada Dry soda can by Brendan Lloyd, 15, of Monson, is one of the submissions for ArtBeat, a children's art show. The show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday at the House of Art on Main Street in Monson.

Bianca, 7, made the high-heeled shoe using white paper and tape, along with an actual egg delicately painted in the Ukrainian pysanky style and a rock that she transformed into a hamster by drawing on it.

Gabrielle, 11, also used several media. A leaf bowl that she made in a pottery class with Guertin is her favorite submission.

“They’ve always been busy little artists at home,” said their mother, Rebecca. “This is nice for them to have an opportunity to show something that they like to do.”

Said Gabrielle, “I’ve always wanted my stuff in shows ... I’m excited about it.”

Her art supplies were destroyed in the tornado last June as her room was demolished. One of her submissions references the tornado. It’s a sketch of a new home that was constructed. The picture is a way to welcome the family to their new home, she explained.

Six-year-old Allyssa Grinnell used oil on paper to create “Snow Adventure.” Brendan Lloyd, 15, of Monson, made the plane out of the soda can. Guertin’s favorite, a painting of tulips, was done by Isaac Metcalf, 13. Olivia LaRose, 18, of Monson, did a self-portrait using pointillism, a way of painting in which small dots are used to create an image. Olivia Colling, 9, created the collage, “Spring has Sprung,” which has a 3-D effect as a bird, flowers and butterflies seemed to jump off the picture.

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The public is welcome, admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Many of the pertinent questions remain unclear: What was in Zimmerman's mind when he began to follow Martin in the gated community where he lived?

The Associated PressThis composite photo shows George Zimmerman, left, in an April 11 booking photo provided by the Sanford Police Department in Florida and an undated family photo of Trayvon Martin provided by his family. Zimmerman, 28, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder April 11 weeks after he shot Martin.

By KYLE HIGHTOWER and MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Trayvon Martin was shot through the heart at close range. George Zimmerman had a broken nose, bruises and bloody cuts on the back of his head.

The lead investigator in the case wanted to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter in the weeks after the shooting but was overruled.

These are among the details revealed in nearly 200 pages of documents, photos and audio recordings released Thursday in a case that's riveted the nation. Yet it's still unclear what exactly happened and whether it was racially motivated.

The evidence supports Zimmerman's contention that he was being beat up when he fired the fatal shot. At the same time, it bolsters the argument of Martin's parents that Zimmerman was profiling Martin and that the whole confrontation could have been avoided if not for Zimmerman's actions.

Many of the pertinent questions remain unclear: What was in Zimmerman's mind when he began to follow Martin in the gated community where he lived? How did the confrontation between the two begin? Whose screams for help were captured on 911 calls? And why did Zimmerman feel that deadly force was warranted?

Another opportunity for answers isn't likely to come until a hearing later this year in which Zimmerman is expected to claim the shooting was justified under Florida's "stand your ground" law. Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, didn't return a phone call seeking comment Thursday.

Martin's autopsy indicated that medical examiners found THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, when they tested Martin's blood and urine. The amount described in the autopsy report is such a low level that it would have played no role in Martin's behavior, said Larry Kobilinsky, a professor of forensic science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

"This kind of level can be seen days after somebody smokes," Kobilinsky said. "If it comes up in the case, I would be surprised. It wouldn't benefit the defense, it wouldn't benefit the prosecution, and if the defense tried to bring it up, the judge would keep it out."

A police report shows the 17-year-old had been shot once in the chest and had been pronounced dead at the scene. The autopsy says the fatal shot was fired from no more than 18 inches away.

The evidence supporting Zimmerman's defense includes a photo showing the neighborhood watch volunteer with a bloody nose on the night of the fight. A paramedic report says Zimmerman had a 1-inch laceration on his head and forehead abrasion.

The Associated PressThis Feb. 27, 2012 photo released by the State Attorney's Office shows George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin, with blood on the back of his head. The photo and reports were among evidence released by prosecutors that also includes calls to police, video and numerous other documents. The package was received by defense lawyers earlier this week and released to the media on Thursday, May 17, 2012. (AP Photo/State Attorney's Office)

"Bleeding tenderness to his nose, and a small laceration to the back of his head. All injuries have minor bleeding," paramedic Michael Brandy wrote about Zimmerman's injuries in the report.

Whether Zimmerman was injured in the Feb. 26 altercation with Martin has been a key question. The 28-year-old has claimed self-defense and said he only fired because the unarmed teenager attacked him.

Zimmerman was not arrested for weeks because he invoked Florida's "stand your ground" law, which does not require a person to retreat in the face of a serious threat. He was released on bail and is in hiding while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge. He has pleaded not guilty.

Other evidence supports the contention of Martin's parents that Zimmerman was the aggressor.

The investigator who called for Zimmerman's arrest, Christopher Serino, told prosecutors that the fight could have been avoided if Zimmerman had remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement. He said Zimmerman, after leaving his vehicle, could have identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and talked to him instead of confronting him. The report was written on March 13, nearly a month before Zimmerman's eventual arrest.

He said there is no evidence Martin was involved in any criminal activity as he walked from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee in the same gated community where Zimmerman lived.

The lawyer for Martin's parents seized on the investigator's recommendation.

"The police concluded that none of this would have happened if George Zimmerman hadn't gotten out of his car," said attorney Ben Crump. "If George Zimmerman hadn't gotten out of his car, they say it was completely avoidable. That is the headline."

The release of evidence did little to clear up whose voice is screaming for help in the background of several 911 calls made during the fight.

Since first hearing the calls in early March, Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, has been unequivocal in saying that it was her son's voice on the tapes.

But Serino wrote in a report that he played a 911 call for Martin's father, Tracy, in which the screams are heard multiple times.

"I asked Mr. Martin if the voice calling for help was that of his son," the officer wrote. "Mr. Martin, clearly emotionally impacted by the recording, quietly responded 'no.'"

Zimmerman's father also told investigators that it was his son yelling for help on March 19.

"That is absolutely positively George Zimmerman," Robert Zimmerman said. "He was not just yelling, he sounded like he was screaming for his life."

Investigators sent all the recordings to the FBI for analysis. They were asked to determine who was screaming, and also if Zimmerman might have used an expletive in describing Martin. Prosecutors said in their charging documents that Zimmerman said "(expletive) punks" in describing Martin as he walked in the neighborhood.

But the analyst who examined the recordings determined the sound quality is too poor to decipher what Zimmerman uttered. In regards to the screams during the altercation, there also wasn't enough clarity to determine who it is "due to extreme stress and unsuitable audio quality."

The trajectory of the bullet — straight through Martin's body — doesn't shed light on whether Zimmerman and Martin were standing or on the ground, Kobilinsky said.

Kobilinsky added he thought the evidence diminished prosecutors' case for second-degree murder.

The case has become a national racial flashpoint because the Martin family and supporters contend Zimmerman singled Martin out because he was black. Zimmerman has a Peruvian mother and a white father.

Two acquaintances painted an unflattering picture of Zimmerman in police interviews.

A distraught woman told an investigator that she stays away from Zimmerman because he's racist and because of things he's done to her in the past, but she didn't elaborate on what happened between them.

"I don't at all know who this kid was or anything else. But I know George, and I know that he does not like black people. He would start something. He's very confrontational. It's in his blood. We'll just say that," the unidentified woman says in an audio recording.

A man whose name was deleted from the audio told investigators said he worked with Zimmerman in 2008 for a few months. It wasn't clear which company it was.

The man, who described his heritage as "Middle Eastern," said that when he first started, many employees didn't like him. Zimmerman seized on this, the employee said, and bullied him.

Zimmerman wanted to "get in" with the clique at work so he exaggerated a Middle Eastern accent when talking about the employee, the man said. The employee told investigators that Zimmerman made reference to terrorists and bombings when talking about him.

"It was so immature," said the employee, who ended up writing a letter to management about Zimmerman.

Zimmerman's parents say he wasn't racist. They say he had mentored black students and had a black relative.

In a police interview, Zimmerman's father, Robert, described the toll the case had taken on family members who also are in hiding because of safety concerns.

"It just seems like it's an avalanche and I'm standing at the bottom of it," Robert Zimmerman said.

___

Associated Press writers Tamara Lush and Mitch Stacy in Tampa, Matt Sedensky in West Palm Beach, Curt Anderson, Kelli Kennedy and Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.

Her death, at age 52, came as a shock to some friends and family, even though the past two years had been undeniably tough ones.

The Associated PressIn this photo of April 6, 2010, Mary Richardson Kennedy stands outside her home in Bedford, N.Y. The estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. was found dead at the family property, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, adding to the list of Kennedy family tragedies. She was an architect and designer and had overseen the renovation of the couple's home into an environmentally advanced showpiece. (AP Photo/Mark Vergari, The Journal News)

By DAVID B. CARUSO and JIM FITZGERALD, Associated Press

BEDFORD, N.Y. (AP) — As someone who lived at the edge of the spotlight that shines on the Kennedys, Mary Richardson Kennedy had been there long enough to become a partner in their rituals of grief — she was there when the clan buried Michael Kennedy, killed in a New Year's Eve skiing accident in 1997, and John F. Kennedy Jr., who died in a plane crash in 1999.

And now, the gathering will be for her, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr., who hanged herself Wednesday at the family's 10-acre estate in a New York City suburb.

A wake was planned for Friday at the family's mansion in Bedford, according to Ken Sunshine, a publicist working with the Kennedy family. Funeral services were planned for Saturday morning at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Bedford, with burial to follow in Hyannisport, Mass., where the Kennedy family has a compound.

The Richardson side of the family said in its statement that it was planning a private memorial service in Manhattan.

Her death, at age 52, came as a shock to some friends and family, even though the past two years had been undeniably tough ones. The couple was going through a divorce, and Mary had been charged twice with driving while intoxicated in 2010.

"A lot of times I don't know how she made it through the day," Robert Kennedy Jr. told The New York Times. "She was in a lot of agony for a lot of her life."

But Victoria Michaelis, a friend since Mary's college days, said she hadn't seemed suicidal, or crippled by the alcohol problems that briefly landed her in the headlines two springs ago.

"She was definitely suffering, but she was very, very spiritual and a resolute Catholic," Michaelis said. "I'd say she was depressed the last two years since the divorce. But she would put that aside and ask you how you were. I saw her a couple of weeks ago, and she was fine."

Her death resonated, too, with a public that has watched tragedy march through the ranks of the Kennedy clan again and again.

"I think every family has its tragedies. But this is too much," said Kim O'Connell, who dropped off a bouquet of Calla lilies at the family's home in Bedford on Thursday morning. She had met Robert and Mary only a few times, while working at their health club, but felt a connection anyway. "I just thought she was just a lady. I woke up this morning, and I wanted to do something."

An architectural designer with New Jersey roots, Mary Kennedy met her estranged husband's sister, Kerry, in boarding school when they were still teenagers and had stayed close to the clan through the decades before marrying Robert in 1994.

Robert is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, the former U.S. attorney general who was slain in 1968 while running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and the nephew of assassinated President John F. Kennedy and the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Mary was RFK Jr.'s second wife, and she entered the family in less-than-storybook circumstances.

When they married, she was already pregnant with their first child, and Kennedy was only weeks removed from the divorce of his first wife.

Yet the wedding had the usual Kennedy touch of romance and politics. The ceremony was held aboard an environmental research vessel on the Hudson River, which Robert had been fighting to protect as an attorney with the environmental group Riverkeeper.

The couple's fourth child — Robert's sixth overall — was born while he was serving a 30-day jail sentence for trespassing on U.S. Navy property to protest bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island Vieques.

"Mary married into the family. But, believe me, the Kennedys don't marry into your family, you marry into their family. So you're transformed when you marry into their family," said Laurence Leamer, author of the book "The Kennedy Women."

"And she was truly a Kennedy," he added. "She was a Kennedy in her interests. Her husband is one of America's leading environmentalists. So was she."

In recent years, police in Bedford had been called several times to the family's home. Twice in 2007, Robert told police that he was afraid his wife would try to hurt herself, according to records obtained by The Journal News for a 2010 report about the series of disturbances.

Police have said almost nothing about the circumstances of the death, but the Westchester County medical examiner's office said after an autopsy Thursday that she died of asphyxiation due to hanging.

A person familiar with the investigation into her death says authorities have concluded that her death was a suicide. The person was not authorized to release the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Robert Kennedy Jr. told the Times that no note was found at the scene.

Neither side of her family has discussed her manner of death publicly, but released statements noting her "gentle soul and generous spirit," her work advocating environmentally responsible building designs, and her deep love for her children.

"It's a terrible and tragic time for Mary, her family, and, perhaps most importantly, for Bobby and Mary's children, Conor, Finny, Kyra, and Aidan, and for all of us who loved her," said a brother-in-law, former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II. "We appreciate the expressions of condolence and ask for privacy during this difficult time."

In a statement released late Thursday afternoon, Mary Kennedy's siblings expressed dismay at the way she was being described in some news reports, saying it was "wholly inconsistent with the sister we knew and the life she, in fact, lived."

"She was generous, thoughtful, with a refined aesthetic, genius organizational abilities, boundless energy, physical stamina, and natural elegance," the statement said. "She laughed a lot. Her enthusiasms were deep. She loved to connect people, with no self-interest, and with great intelligence."

Political historian Thomas J. Whalen said he thinks the whole notion of the Kennedys being cursed is largely created by the media, but said that is the perception many Americans have of the family.

"There's no curse. It's just foiled family ambition, risk taking and bad luck," he said. "It's a large family. Things happen in large families, both good and bad."

Mary Kennedy grew up in Hoboken, N.J., the daughter of a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology. She had two brothers and four sisters.

She was active for years with the Boys & Girls Club in Mount Kisco, volunteering for the club's annual fundraising dinner and hosting its Youth of the Year awards at her home.

With one of her children battling severe allergies, she co-founded the Food Allergy Initiative, billed as the world's largest private source of funding for food allergy research, and appeared with her family at its annual ball at Manhattan's Waldorf Astoria.

___

Caruso reported from New York City. Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik in New York City, Matt Sedensky in Palm Beach, Fla., Denise Lavoie in Boston and Andrew Miga in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

The crash occurred Thursday shortly after 7:30 p.m.

Republican file photo

WEST STOCKBRIDGE – No serious injuries were reported Thursday night after a tractor trailer truck crashed at a toll plaza here and caught fire.

State police Sgt. David Douthwright told abc40 / Fox 6 that the tractor trailer went through the toll plaza, rolled over onto its side and caught fire. The flames were quickly put out by emergency personnel.

Witnesses said the trucker went through the toll plaza at a high rate of speed, according to abc40. The crash occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m.

The male driver, who is from Canada, suffered some scrapes and refused medical treatment.

State police said Friday morning that the scene has long been cleared.

"It's open season," says Eric Dezenhall, an expert on crisis management. "This is going to be very rough."

The Associated PressIn this May 14, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at a fundraiser hosted by singer Ricky Martin and the LGBT Leadership Council at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York. The early border skirmishes of Campaign 2012 are reviving questions about one candidate's former pastor and shining a spotlight on the other's high school hijinks. Can a fresh round of questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate be far behind? (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The early border skirmishes of Campaign 2012 are reviving questions about one candidate's former pastor and shining a spotlight on the other's high school hijinks. Can a fresh round of questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate be far behind?

In a campaign year when voters have declared the economy their top concern, Obama and Mitt Romney are on notice that there's no statute of limitations on the issues or conduct that might be used against them. And there's sure to be somebody with money or other means to insert even low-threshold matters into the political dialogue.

"It's open season," says Eric Dezenhall, an expert on crisis management. "This is going to be very rough."

Thursday's disclosure that a Republican-leaning super PAC was considering a $10 million ad campaign highlighting Obama's past links to inflammatory preacher Jeremiah Wright was just the latest evidence that if there ever were limits on what was fair game in a campaign, they're largely history.

That's thanks to a flood of new money into politics, the ease of spreading political attacks via the Internet and changing attitudes about what's an appropriate topic for discussion. Long gone are the days when candidates' extramarital escapades were off-limits, photographers avoided taking pictures of Franklin D. Roosevelt in a wheelchair and a few newspapers and TV stations acted as gatekeepers.

The New York Times quoted backers of this year's Wright ad proposal as aiming to "do exactly what John McCain would not let us do" in the 2008 campaign.

Romney repudiated the Wright plan, as did the super PAC financier weighing it. Nonetheless, Obama's campaign accused Romney of refusing to "stand up to the most extreme voices in the Republican Party" and the president's supporters were happy to associate Romney with what campaign strategist David Axelrod called the "purveyors of slime."

McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee, spoke out forcefully during the campaign four years ago against efforts to use Wright's provocative speeches against Obama, and the issue largely subsided. But since then, a series of court cases has cleared the way for an onslaught of campaign ads from outside groups seeking to influence elections.

Such so-called super PACs can be a megaphone for matters that would have gotten less attention in the past, and still allow candidates to deny they're involved.

The Associated PressIn this May 11, 2012, file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop at Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company in Charlotte, N.C. The early border skirmishes of Campaign 2012 are reviving questions about one candidate's former pastor and shining a spotlight on the other's high school hijinks. Can a fresh round of questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate be far behind? (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

But outside messengers who do the dirty work in campaigns are nothing new in presidential politics. Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988 was the target of an infamous outside ad about a furloughed rapist named Willie Horton. Democrat John Kerry in 2004 saw his record as a Vietnam War hero mischaracterized and used against him by the outside group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Political historian Evan Cornog, author of "The Power and the Story," said the staying power of a particular issue or charge usually depends on whether it jibes with the public's understanding of a candidate.

"We are addicted to narratives, and if something fits with the story, it's going to get some traction," says Cornog. "A good political operative will have a fairly good sense of what will work and what will not work."

Both sides are experiencing this in real time:

—Questions about Romney's bad behavior toward classmates during his high school years, revealed in a recent Washington Post article, are being used to reinforce the profile that Romney's critics have tried to create of the GOP candidate as a corporate bully. The Democratic National Committee circulated the Post article and highlighted just one sentence about Romney's behavior: "It was vicious."

—Questions about Obama's ties to his former preacher's incendiary rhetoric about America and about whether the president was truly born in Hawaii and is a Christian fit with broader efforts to paint Obama as radically different from most Americans. Romney earlier this year told an interviewer, "I'm not sure which is worse, him listening to Reverend Wright or him saying that we must be a less Christian nation." That was a reference to remarks in which Obama actually did not promote a less Christian nation but observed growing religious diversity in the U.S.

When something nicely fits with the profile that one side or the other is trying to build, it may endure long after a question has been duly asked and answered.

Questions about the validity of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate, for example, have been widely discredited, they but keep popping up. Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Rick Perry both toyed with it during the presidential primaries. A poll last May, after Obama had released his detailed Hawaii birth certificate, found that a third of Americans still thought he might have been born elsewhere or said they didn't know.

Cornog points to plenty of positive aspects to the free-wheeling exchange of ideas and information allowed by a broad variety of news sources and the Internet but also has a warning: "If you enter an age in which you have elective belief systems independent of fact, you have a problem for your political world."

___

AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius in Washington contributed this report.

Jurors were set to begin deliberating the fate of John Edwards on Friday, weighing nearly four weeks of testimony and evidence from the former presidential candidate's corruption trial.

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards arrives at a federal courthouse in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, May 17, 2012. Edwards has pleaded not guilty to six counts related to campaign finance violations over nearly $1 million from two wealthy donors used to help hide the Democrat's pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER
Associated Press

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Jurors were set to begin deliberating the fate of John Edwards on Friday, weighing nearly four weeks of testimony and evidence from the former presidential candidate's corruption trial.

Edwards is charged with six criminal counts including conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, accepting contributions that exceeded campaign finance limits, and causing his campaign to file a false financial disclosure report. He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges.

At issue is a scheme to use about $1 million from two wealthy campaign donors to hide the Democrat's pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter as he ran for the White House in 2008.

Jurors will have to weigh whether to believe Edwards, who argued that he didn't knowingly break the law, or his aide, Andrew Young, who said Edwards recruited him to solicit secret donations in excess of the legal limit for campaign contributions, then $2,300.

The choice before them comes down to choosing which liar to believe.

Young, the prosecution's star witness, falsely claimed paternity of his boss's baby in December 2007, after tabloid reporters tracked a visibly pregnant Hunter to a doctor's appointment.

Edwards repeatedly denied having a relationship with Hunter, only to go on national television in August 2008 to admit having a brief affair with Hunter but that it was physically impossible he was the father of her baby girl. In fact, his relationship with Hunter had lasted more than a year. A recording of that interview was played for the jury last week as the prosecution rested its case.

The bulk of the alleged illegal campaign contributions flowed to Young, including $725,000 in checks from heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, who is now 101 years old. Young spent some of the money to care for Hunter, but financial records introduced at the trial showed the aide siphoned off most of the money to help build his family's $1.6 million dream home near Chapel Hill, N.C.

Another $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets rides and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif., were also provided to help cover up the affair by wealthy Texas lawyer Fred Baron, who served as Edwards' campaign finance chairman.

Prosecutors say Edwards knew about the money and directed the cover-up, showing the jury phone records indicating he was in constant contact with Hunter and Young while they were in hiding.

The defense countered that it is Young who should be on trial, not Edwards, accusing the aide of using Edwards' name without his knowledge to bamboozle Mellon out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for his personal use.

During closing arguments in the case Thursday, lead Defense lawyer Abbe Lowell admitted that Edwards had lied to his wife and the American people. But his client didn't violate federal campaign finance regulations, Lowell said.

"This is a case that should define the difference between a wrong and a crime ... between a sin and a felony," Lowell told the jury. "John Edwards has confessed his sins. He will serve a life sentence for those. But he has pleaded not guilty to violating the law."

Meanwhile, prosecutor Bobby Higdon used Edwards' old stump speech against him, saying the presidential candidate violated laws meant to protect "the two Americas" in an attempt to avoid a sex scandal.

"Campaign finance laws are designed to bring the two Americas together at election time," Higdon said. "John Edwards forgot his own rhetoric."

___

Cautionary points to weigh if the Facebook frenzy is tempting you to buy stock on Day 1.

AP Photo/Mark LennihanElectronic screens inside the Nasdaq stock market announce the listing of Facebook shares before the start of trading, Friday, May 18, 2012 in New York. The world's definitive online social network raised $16 billion in an initial public offering that values the company at $104 billion.

By DAVE CARPENTER
AP Personal Finance Writer

Even the hottest initial public stock offerings can lose steam after their first day of trading.

Sure, company insiders will make money selling at the opening price. And investors who used connections or big bucks to score shares at the IPO price will profit if they sell after a first-day "pop."

For everyone else, the wildly mixed record of other ballyhooed IPOs beyond their first trading session offers a lesson. It's one that should remind us that buying Facebook stock Friday provides a chance to lose money.

It's understandable that everyone wants to get in early on what could be the next Google. Shares of the Internet search leader had an initial offering price of $85 in 2004, started on the stock market at $100 and climbed above $700 by 2007. Even after moving sideways for more than four years, they're still above $600.

But odds are against hitting a grand slam like that in the current market.

Cautionary points to weigh if the Facebook frenzy is tempting you to buy stock on Day 1:

YOU'LL PAY MORE FOR YOUR STOCK THAN THE SMART MONEY DID.

The vast majority of average investors couldn't get in at the $38-per-share offer price. Those shares went largely to company insiders, the deal's underwriters or their fat-walleted clients. The price almost always shoots quickly higher by the time orders to buy at the market price kick in.

SEVERAL OF LAST YEAR'S "MUST-HAVE" IPOS AREN'T ANY MORE.

— Pandora, an Internet radio company, went public June 15 at $20 a share. You could have bought the stock during the day for $26. It's now trading under $11.

— Groupon, the online daily deal company, priced its stock at $20 a share in its Nov. 4 IPO. The stock traded above $31 the first day. Now it's under $13.

— Zynga, the developer of "FarmVille" and other Facebook games, went public at $10 a share on Dec.16. The stock traded as high as $11.50 on its opening day. Lately it's around $8.

— Even one of last year's IPO stars isn't a huge winner when you factor in the risk. LinkedIn more than doubled from its $45 offer price within minutes of hitting the market last May 19 and reached $122.70 before closing the first day at $94.25. It's back to around $105 after a turbulent year, with a modest overall gain of 11 percent since the first day.

Buy-and-hold investors who want to make money off Facebook should hold off on the first day of trading. Maybe later they can think about buying.

The case involves $120 in cash that disappeared after the March 3, 2011bust.

SUFFIELD – A veteran police officer, arrested last week on larceny and evidence tampering charges, has been fired, Police Chief Michael Manzi said Thursday.

Manzi told the Hartford Courant that Jeremy C. DePietro was arrested last Friday by Suffield police following a lengthy investigation.

The case involves $120 in cash that disappeared after a March 3, 2011 drug arrest at a Mountain Road apartment..

DePietro was charged with sixth-degree larceny and tampering with evidence,

DePietro posted a $24,000 bond and is due to be arraigned in Superior Court in Enfield on Tuesday. The Hartford State’s Attorney’s office also involved in the investigation, according to the Courant.

Police, responding to a medical call at the Mountain Road apartment, seized illegal drugs and $332 in cash. DiPietro arrested a suspect.

The investigation began after the case was adjudicated last November and the court ordered that the drugs be destroyed and the money that was seized go into the court’s general fund, the Courant reported,

A detective then determined that $120 was missing from the total.

DePietro was with the Suffield Police Department for more than six years, according to the Courant. Before that he was a police officer in Bridgeport.

Administrative action has been taken against the English teacher, Superintendent Gordon Smith said, declining to elaborate.

EAST LONGMEADOW – A Birchland Park Middle School English teacher will be arraigned Tuesday in Palmer District Court on charges of assault and battery and intimidation of a witness for allegedly pushing one of her students during an incident in which she called him “a piece of crap.”

The charges against Barbara J. Galanek, 59, were filed by East Longmeadow police. The incident involving the 13-year-old student, who has not been identified due to his age, happened on Feb. 22.

Reached at her Wilbraham home on Friday, Galanek said, “no comment.”

In Detective Joseph Barone’s statement of facts included in Galanek’s court file, the student’s parent called police on Feb. 23 to report that his son was pushed by Galanek.

It stated that Galanek called the child in front of her class and began to verbally reprimand him “for what she apparently felt was the child laughing at her in the hallway the day before.”

The child told his father that he was in the school hallway when his cousin jokingly pushed him when Galanek was present. The child told Galanek she should yell at the cousin for pushing him; Galanek then reprimanded the cousin.

“He then started to laugh at the situation and his cousin while Mrs. Galanek’s back was turned,” Barone’s statement said.

Another teacher, Nancy Donofrio, saw the child laughing and told Galanek.

The next day, Galanek called the student a “piece of crap” as he stood in front of his entire class and said that she is the “person of authority.” She then walked up to him and pushed him, according to the complaint.

“This action resulted in the child being pushed backwards slightly into a desk occupied by a female student. While the child was still standing in front of the class, Ms. Galanek threw the child’s classroom paperwork on the floor then told him to ‘pick it up,’” the complaint stated. “Ms. Galanek later told the child that she will not call his parents about his actions and if he told his parents it would only get him in more trouble.”

At some point during the day, another teacher, Valerie O’Connor, told the child that she heard what happened in Galanek’s room. O’Connor told him that what happened was unacceptable and that he needed to tell his parents. O’Connor also reported the incident to the assistant principal, Paul Plummer.

The complaint stated that the child told his parents about the incident and that he was embarrassed and humiliated by her actions, and no longer wants to be in her class because he is afraid he will be singled out again.

The complaint stated that Superintendent Gordon Smith initiated an internal investigation. Principal Kathleen Hill told police at the end of February that “administrative action” had been taken against Galanek.

Hill referred questions to Smith, who said he could not comment because this is a personnel matter. He could not say how long Galanek has been teaching in the district, but referred to her as a “veteran” teacher.

Four students and a paraprofessional, Rachel Soumakis, who were in the room when the incident happened confirmed to Plummer that the teacher called the student “a piece of crap,” pushed him and threw his classwork on the floor.

Based on the investigation, Barone filed a 51A report to the state Division of Children and Family Services reporting the abuse by Galanek.

In 2006, Birchland Park received the New England League of Middle School’s “Spotlight School Award.”

Galanek was interviewed by The Republican about the award, and discussed her hands-on method of teaching in which she places stickers denoting parts of speech – nouns and verbs – on her students’ foreheads to teach them the rules of grammar.

Principal Hill said at the time that Galanek’s creative teaching style is the norm, not the exception, at Birchland Park.

Obituaries from The Republican

Sarita Jackson-Miller

Sarita Jackson-Miller of Springfield died on Sunday. She was the youngest of five children and graduated from Springfield Technical Community College with a degree in Radiation Technology. Jackson-Miller was employed at BayState Medical Center, Johnson Memorial Hospital and the MRI Center in Springfield. She was also a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Adriance, Harris E.
  




• 
  Anton, Elena (Contardi)
  



• 
  Bailey, Barbara J.




• 
  Baldwin, Elizabeth A. (Cronin)
  



• 
  Bishop, Merlin W.
  




• Cayo, Helen I. (Barcomb)
  




• 
  Charwick, Mary S. (Golas)
  



• 
  Drake, Patricia Ann (Lamoureaux)




• 
  Ferrara, Dominica (Gubala)
  



• 
  Fogg, Gifford W. "Giff"
  




• Foisy, Jeffrey T.
  




• 
  Garton, Jo-Ann (Goodman)
  



• 
  Goncalves, Corinne A. "Cookie" (Storozuk)




• 
  Haupt, Richard G.
  



• 
  Hoff, Rosemary Agnes Loughrey
  




• Jackson-Miller, Sarita
  




• 
  Jemiolo, Mary L. (Andrews)
  



• 
  Lepine, Donald E.




• 
  Lewis, Walter R.
  



• 
  MacKay, Henry L.
  




• Napier Jr., Lloyd M.
  




• 
  Ritter, John Hawkes
  



• 
  Rodgers, Joseph E.




• 
  Stephens, Russell Lee
  



• 
  Urbinati, Julian A. (Jules)
  




• Zielinski, Casimir A.
  

A witness said Martin was calling the victim a “faggot” and trying to get him to fight, spitting in his face, the prosecutor said.

The Republican / File photo

SPRINGFIELD – A 22-year-old Ludlow man was sentenced Friday after admitting to punching a 57-year-old man causing a serious head injury requiring surgery and an 11-day hospitalization.

Steven Martin was sentenced to 18 months in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow on a charge of assault and battery.

That will be followed by three years probation on a charge of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury.

As a condition of his probation, Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page said Martin must have no contact with the victim or any member of his immediate family.

Assistant District Attorney Richard B. Morse said Ludlow police got a call May 9, 2011, at about 5 p.m. that a young man was attacking an older man. The victim was unconscious for over five minutes, Morse said.

He said the victim was walking his dog on State Street in Ludlow when he encountered Martin. A witness said Martin was calling the victim a “faggot” and trying to get him to fight, spitting in his face.

Martin ultimately punched the victim in his face and he fell to the ground hitting his head, Morse said.

There was a one inch laceration in the head and a closed skull fracture. On May 17 surgery was performed to remove part of the skull and part of the brain.

Another surgery was performed in May to reattach the skull piece.

Morse read an impact statement from the victim, who was in the courtroom with his ex-wife, who has been caring for him since the surgery along with their children.

The man said he lost his job because of his injury, but more than that, he almost died.

“I was beaten up for no reason,” the man wrote. He said he needed to learn to walk, talk and feed himself again. He has nightmares all the time, forgets things, has dizzy spells, is nervous and anxious and “scared as hell” something like this will happen to me again.

Morse, who said the victim doesn’t remember the events leading up to the punch, said he senses the man was outspoken about the activity of some youths in the neighborhood. He said witnesses said Martin, who is much larger than the victim, was pursuing the victim.

Defense lawyer James J. Bregianes told Page that Martin is seriously sorry for the damage he has done to the victim and his family.