Voters also said they prefer to keep the road commissioner position an elected one.

WALES - Voters on Tuesday reelected Jeffrey P. Vannais to the Board of Selectmen, and elected a new road commissioner, Bruce Cadieux in the annual town election.

Town Clerk Leis A. Phinney said 387 of the town's 1,255 registered voters turned out to cast ballots at the Senior Center.

Vannais is entering his third, three-year term as a selectman. He beat out former selectman Richard Learned and David Worth, who each received 94 votes. Worth's name was not on the ballot, and his write-in campaign was launched by supporters.

Charles Smith III was reelected as constable with 228 votes. His opponent, Lynne M. Serrenho, received 123 votes. The position is for three years.

Bruce Cadieux was elected to the three-year road commissioner post with 145 votes. He edged Thomas L. Brown, who received 108 votes; Smith, who received 95 votes and Stephen J. Machnik, who got 34 votes. Road Commissioner Michael Wasiluk did not run for reelection.

Michael J. Valanzola was reelected as the Tantasqua school district representative with 223 votes, to Serrenho's 72 votes.

Serrenho was elected as a write-in candidate to the two-year Tantasqua School Committee position.

Voters said they prefer keeping the road commissioner elected. They were asked if they would rather have the position appointed by selectmen, and that was defeated 183 to 118, according to Phinney.

Romney reached the nomination milestone with a steady message of concern about the U.S. economy, a campaign organization that dwarfed those of his GOP opponents, and a fundraising operation second only to that of his Democratic opponent in the general election, President Obama.

Photo by Mary Altaffer / Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks during a campaign event at the Somers Furniture warehouse in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday with a win in the Texas primary, a triumph of endurance for a candidate who came up short four years ago and had to fight hard this year as voters flirted with a carousel of GOP rivals.

According to the Associated Press count, Romney surpassed the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination by winning at least 88 delegates in the Texas primary.

The former Massachusetts governor has reached the nomination milestone with a steady message of concern about the U.S. economy, a campaign organization that dwarfed those of his GOP foes and a fundraising operation second only to that of his Democratic opponent in the general election, President Barack Obama.

“I am honored that Americans across the country have given their support to my candidacy and I am humbled to have won enough delegates to become the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nominee,” Romney said in a statement.

“Our party has come together with the goal of putting the failures of the last three and a half years behind us,” Romney said. “I have no illusions about the difficulties of the task before us. But whatever challenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than getting America back on the path to full employment and prosperity.”

Romney must now fire up conservatives who still doubt him while persuading swing voters that he can do a better job fixing the nation’s struggling economy than Obama. In Obama, he faces a well-funded candidate with a proven campaign team in an election that will be heavily influenced by the economy.

“It’s these economic indicators that will more or less trump any good or bad that Romney potentially got out of primary season,” said Josh Putnam, an assistant political science professor at Davidson College who writes the political blog Frontloading HQ.

Romney spent Tuesday evening at a Las Vegas fundraiser with Donald Trump, who has been renewing discredited suggestions that Obama wasn’t born in the United States. Romney says he believes Obama was born in America but has yet to condemn Trump’s repeated insinuations to the contrary.

“If Mitt Romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like Donald Trump because he’s so concerned about lining his campaign’s pockets, what does that say about the kind of president he would be?” Obama’s deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, said in a statement.

Asked Monday about Trump’s contentions, Romney said: “I don’t agree with all the people who support me. And my guess is they don’t all agree with everything I believe in.” He added: “But I need to get 50.1 percent or more. And I’m appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people.”

Trump told CNN in an interview Tuesday that he and Romney talk about other issues – jobs, China, oil and more – and not about the place of Obama’s birth or the validity of his birth certificate. Asked how he viewed Romney’s position that the president was indeed born in the U.S., Trump said: “He’s entitled to his opinion, and I think that’s wonderful. I don’t happen to share that opinion and that’s wonderful also.”

Republicans won’t officially nominate Romney until late August at the GOP national convention in Tampa, Fla. Romney has 1,174 convention delegates.

He won at least 88 delegates in Texas with 64 left to be decided, according to early returns. The 152 delegates in Texas are awarded in proportion to the statewide vote.

Texas Republicans also voted in a Senate primary to choose a candidate to run for the seat being vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst led state Solicitor General Ted Cruz and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert in early returns.

If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will go to a runoff in July. The nominee will be strongly favored to win in November in heavily Republican Texas.

Romney, 65, is clinching the presidential nomination later in the calendar than any recent Republican candidate – but not quite as late as Obama in 2008. Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3, 2008, at the end of an epic primary battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Four years ago, John McCain reached the threshold on March 4, after Romney had dropped out of the race about a month earlier.

This year’s primary fight was extended by a back-loaded primary calendar, new GOP rules that generally awarded fewer delegates for winning a state and a Republican electorate that built up several other candidates before settling on Romney.

Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Trump – all of them sat atop the Republican field at some point. Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann peaked for a short time, too. But Romney outlasted them all, even as some GOP voters and tea party backers questioned his conservative credentials.

The primary race started in January with Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, narrowly edging Romney in the Iowa caucuses. Romney rebounded with a big win in New Hampshire before Gingrich, the former House speaker, won South Carolina.

Romney responded with a barrage of negative ads against Gingrich in Florida and got a much-needed 14-point win. Romney’s opponents fought back: Gingrich called him a liar, and Santorum said Romney was “the worst Republican in the country” to run against Obama.

Gingrich and Santorum assailed Romney’s work at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded, saying the firm sometimes made millions at the expense of workers and jobs. It is a line of attack that Obama has promised to carry all the way to November.

On Feb. 7 Santorum swept all three contests in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota, raising questions about Romney’s status as the front-runner. After a 17-day break in the voting, Romney responded with wins in Arizona, Michigan and Washington state before essentially locking up the nomination on March 6, this year’s version of Super Tuesday.

Romney has been in general-election mode for weeks, raising money and focusing on Obama, largely ignoring the primaries since his competitors dropped out or stopped campaigning. Santorum suspended his campaign April 10, and Gingrich left the race a few weeks later.

Both initially offered tepid endorsements of Romney, but on Sunday Gingrich gave a full-throated defense of Romney’s campaign, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was “totally committed to Romney’s election.”

Texas Rep. Ron Paul said on May 14 he would no longer compete in primaries, though his supporters are still working to gain national delegates at state conventions.

Rich Galen, a Republican strategist who has been unaligned in the 2012 race, said the long, sometimes nasty primary fight should help Romney fine-tune his campaign organization so it can operate effectively in the general election. Galen doesn’t, however, think it was relevant in toughening up Romney for the battle against Obama.

“Romney’s been running for president for six years. He is as good a candidate as he’s ever going to be,” Galen said. “Whatever you say about him, he was better than everybody else in the race.”

Associated Press writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.

Firefighters are on the scene of a structure fire at Main and Central Street in downtown Palmer.

PALMER - A building block at Main and Central streets burned to the ground Tuesday evening.

Firefighters remained on the scene last night, and portions of the three-story building had collapsed.

Palmer has put out a call for mutual aid to surrounding cities and towns.

The fire was reported shortly after 9 p.m.

The building was part of the block that housed the former Gales Newsstand. The first floor has been vacant for some time.

There were reports from the scene that the building had been struck by lightening just before the fire.

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City department heads defended the take home cars, saying they allow a more efficient response, and less costly overall.

John A, Lysak

SPRINGFIELD – City councilors resurrected a thorny issue on Tuesday – questioning if there is justification for more than 100 municipal supervisors and employees to have take-home vehicles.

The discussion occurred during a Finance Committee meeting at City Hall, as the council braces for a budget proposal from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno that could include major layoffs and cuts in services.

At Tuesday’s meeting, some department officials told councilors that the policy for take-home cars and trucks is intended for quicker responses to emergencies, greater efficiency, reduced vandalism of city vehicles, and overall cost savings.

Some councilors, however, said they are unconvinced. They will seek additional details from the departments that might justify the number of vehicles brought home and detail the extent of after-hour emergencies.

City Councilor John A. Lysak said he is betting the justification will not be there.

“Maybe if 10 guys in their department have take-home cars, maybe one or two of them get called in a handful of times a year,” Lysak said. “It’s a waste of money even if it’s a few gallons (of gasoline) a week going back and forth. That’s money coming out of taxpayers’ wallets.”

Councilor Clodovaldo Concepcion said he knows there are abuses of the take-home car policy.

“It should be cut down,” Concepcion said. “It’s becoming a country club.”

There was criticism three years ago when the city counted 113 take-home cars. Numbers provided in recent days by city departments now sets an estimate of 107 vehicls.

Councilor Kenneth E. Shea said he wants to see an analysis of the criteria for taking home cars, and a cost analysis.

Patrick J. Sullivan, the city’s director of parks, buildings and recreation management, said that 29 of his managers and employees were allowed to take their vehicles home, but the number was reduced by four on May 21. On that date, any employee living outside Springfield had to stop taking the vehicle home, expected to save nearly $12,000 a year, Sullivan said, adding that the union has filed an objection.

However, Sullivan defended the practice of take-home cars, saying his foremen respond to emergencies from home, such as building alarms, or might be checking on a nighttime recreational program. The department would spend more on overtime and waste valuable time, if the employees first went to a city lot to get cars, and then respond to emergencies, he said.

Sullivan said his department has maintained a policy that only critical employees who respond to the public for emergencies will take a vehicle home. The department, however, oversees 3,000 acres of open space and 5 million square feet of building space, including schools, and thus has many people on call, divided into districts, he said.

Mario Mazza, a Department of Public Works supervisor, said employees are on call to respond to emergencies that could range from a road washout to a blocked catch basin.

A few people have been caught abusing the policy for take-home cars and are no longer working for the city, Mazza said. Taking away a vehicle from someone on call, takes away part of their compensation, and means the city might not get the best people for those jobs, he said.

Lysak said he objected to the idea that employees would be losing compensation. He said many are paid overtime, at a minimum of four hours.

“Well, you know what, they are paid better than a lot of other people right now in this current economy, who would love to have a vehicle, love to have free insurance, love to have free gas,” Lysak said.

Richard J. Allen, chairman of the Board of Assessors, said that three office employees who inspect properties have take-home cars, allowing them to go straight to their first inspection from home, and then straight home after their last inspection, rather than driving to City Hall first.

Springfield City Employees Take-home Vehicles List

Members of the commission said it is too early to determine what it would mean for Western Massachusetts if the commission decides to approve less than three casinos.

Photo by Alex Brandon / Associated PressPatrons play the slot machines at Harrah's Casino Thursday in Chester, Pa.

BOSTON - Members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission plan to review whether they might approve less than three casino resorts for the state.

Stephen P. Crosby, chairman of the commission, said the state's gaming law gives the commission the authority to determine how many casinos the state could support. The law authorizes the commission to approve "up to" three casino resorts, including one for Western Massachusetts, and "up to" one slots parlor, Crosby said. The law, signed in November by Gov. Deval Patrick, gives the commission the flexibility to not necessarily license all four of those facilities, Crosby said.

"First of all, the presumption is there will be three, plus one," Crosby said after Tuesday's meeting of the five-member commission. "Everybody has operated under that presumption and that presumption stands for the time being."

Stephen P. Crosby

"We are going to go back and look at all the economic projections, all the financial analysis and see whether or not the financial analysis that underpin that presumption still holds," Crosby said. "If it doesn't for some reason or another, if the data suggests maybe they should come in some sequence or if there should be fewer, then that is something we'll have to think about."

The commission is planning a forum on June 14 at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester partly to examine the findings of two state-funded studies, including one in 2010 by the Innovation Group of Littleton, Colo., and one in 2008 by Spectrum Gaming Group, of New Jersey, as well as a study funded by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in 2008, Crosby said.

"We are going to try to base it on real data," Crosby said of the commission's decision on the number of casinos. "The legislation came up with three plus one based on a series of economic analyses of what the market could bear. If that still holds, that's what we will do. But it is part of our job to double check that."

Bruce W. Stebbins of Springfield, a member of the commission, said it is way too early to tell what it would mean for Western Massachusetts if the commission decides to approve less than three casinos.

Bruce W. Stebbins

"That's so hypothetical at this point," Stebbins said.

The Boston Globe reported last week that Sheldon G. Adelson, chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., has decided against applying for a license for a casino in Massachusetts. A spokesman for the company said the state's plan to approve up to three casinos and a slot parlor could saturate the market in the region.

Stebbins said the state still has interest from other operators.

"They are all smart business people," Stebbins said. "They need to decide where they feel their business plan fits best to go and make a dollar."

Crosby said he was not concerned with the decision by Las Vegas Sands to bypass Massachusetts. "Sands likes to go very big, but we have already something like five to 10 operators who seem to think the market looks good," Crosby said.

In the lone proposal to date for Springfield, Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas is proposing a resort with 4,000 slot machines and a 600-room hotel on Page Boulevard in Springfield on 41 acres it purchased for $16 million in January.

In another possible casino effort for Western Massachusetts, Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik has said that Penn National Gaming is eyeing a 280-acre plot of land near the Massachusetts Turnpike for a casino resort.

The Mohegan Sun of Connecticut is planning a casino for 152 acres in Palmer off Exit 8 of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Hard Rock International of Florida offered a casino for Holyoke, but was opposed by Mayor Alex Morse.

MGM Resorts International of Las Vegas recently nixed plans for a casino in Brimfield, but said it is looking elsewhere in Western Massachusetts.

Stephen A. Wynn, chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd. in Las Vegas, canceled plans to build a casino in Foxboro near Gillette Stadium after local opposition.

A lightning strike was suspected of causing a devastating fire to a three-story building at Central and Main streets in downtown Palmer around 9 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD – Thunderstorms with heavy winds and rain rolled across Western Massachusetts Tuesday, and while concerns about a tornado were not realized, the weather may have been responsible for a major fire in downtown Palmer.

A lightning strike was suspected of causing a devastating fire to a three-story building at Central and Main streets around 9 p.m. Officials were fighting the fire late last night and couldn’t be reached for comment.

The storm also brought large amounts of rain and even some hail to the region.
Downed tree limbs and power lines contributed to close to 5,000 people losing power.

The area was on high alert for much of the afternoon after the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., issued a tornado watch for parts of New York, Vermont and Berkshire County, meaning conditions were ripe for the development of a tornado. The watch came nearly one year after the June 1 tornadoes cut a path of destruction through Western Massachusetts.

Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties were listed under a severe thunderstorm warning Tuesday.

The storm rolled across the region hitting Franklin and Hampshire counties and then Hampden, bringing rain in Springfield about 8:15 p.m.

Rainfall amounts varied, said Nick Morganelli, meteorologist for CBS3 Springfield. “There was not a uniform inch amount. There was a quarter in here, an inch here, an a half an inch there,” he said.

Hard-hit communities include Lee in Berkshire County, Russell in Hampden County, and Montague and Shelburne in Franklin County. 

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported nearly 5,000 people lost power in the storm, primarily in Western Massachusetts.

Communities hardest hit were Lee, New Marlboro and Tyringham in Berkshire County, Russell in Hampden County, and Montague and Shelburne in Franklin County.

Russell at one point, according to the Western Massachusetts Electric Co., had 343 of its 362 customers, or 94 percent, without power.

The forecast for Wednesday calls for a more comfortable day with temperatures in the 80s, while Thursday and Friday are predicted to be in the mid-70s and sunny, he said.

The mayor said he shared the desire to save on police funding, but warned a cut in incentives could prompt a lawsuit.

Holyoke City Hall.

Joseph M. McGiverin

HOLYOKE – Nearly 70 school employees could be laid off and cutting extra pay to police who have college degrees also was discussed Tuesday at a City Council budget hearing with Mayor Alex B. Morse.

“I think it’s become clear that layoffs are going to be necessary on the School Department side, but not on the city side,” Morse told the council.

Council President Kevin Jourdain and other councilors expressed support for heeding a court ruling and saving $500,000 in educational incentive pay to police, though Morse and others said such a cut could prompt a lawsuit.

Morse presented a budget to run the city in the fiscal year that begins July 1 of $124.4 million.

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

The City Council is authorized to cut, but not add to, the mayor’s budget.

The council is scheduled to vote on, and possibly make cuts in, the mayor’s budget June 19, Jourdain 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.

“Generally, I’m pleased to report that the city is in good financial shape,” 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.

The budget roughly is $64 million for the schools and $60 million for other municipal services, Morse said.

School officials compiled charts to present to the City Council outlining problems there. Expiration of grants and increased costs such as those for busing homeless students mean school jobs will be lost, officials have said.

Funding amounts could change, depending on which version of the proposed state budget and how much in education funding is approved. But 69 positions are set to be cut, School Committee Vice Chairman http://topics.masslive.com/tag/devin-sheehan/index.html" target=_blanksaid, as school officials waited to address the City Council.

The job cuts are as of May 18 and consist of teachers, assistant principals, custodians, paralegals and others, he said.

Federal stimulus money that consisted of three years at $3.2 million a year expires after June 30. The schools had used that money, not to hire new people, but to pay salaries for existing custodians, clerks, paraprofessionals and assistant principals, officials said.

Also, with a quarter of the student enrollment of 5,900 in special education, such costs account for $15 million. But the main source of funding to the schools, state aid known as Chapter 70 money, stipulates a formula that allows the city just $6 million for special education, leaving officials to cover the $9 million elsewhere in the budget.

State law requires that the city pay to transport students in homeless families that the state has placed in hotels here to attend school in their home communities. In the current fiscal year, the city will spend $450,000 on that, $170,000 more than budgeted.

The statement about layoffs from Morse, who is School Committee chairman, came on a question from Councilor at Large Joseph M. McGiverin.

In March, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that municipalities aren’t responsible for 100 percent funding of police education benefits, known as the Quinn Bill. That means that with the state having ended its paying of 50 percent of such costs, cities and towns don’t have to pay the state’s share, the court said.

Holyoke pays police officers about $1 million a year for the Quinn Bill. That means the state’s unfunded share is $500,000.

“We just can’t afford this anymore,” Jourdain said.

Morse said he shared the desire to save money. But chopping money for an incentive police have received for decades could make the city vulnerable to a lawsuit that could consume whatever money is saved. The Quinn Bill issue could be part of upcoming contract negotiations with police unions, he said.

Ward 4 Councilor Jason P. Ferreira said negotiating with the unions instead of cutting the money would be the right step.

Also during the hearing:

• Morse briefly discussed $750,000 in revenue he said was uncertain. It consists of: $500,000 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 lease between the city and the Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School for use of the former Lynch School at Northampton and Dwight streets. “None of these two things are sure things,” Morse said.

• In answering councilors’ questions about police and fire overtime costs, Morse said he wants the city to commission a study of its current public safety needs in relation to similar-sized communities.

• The city won’t know until the next fiscal year, meaning after June 30, whether the federal government will reimburse cleanup costs related to the Oct. 29 storm, City Auditor Brian G. Smith said. The city spent nearly $4.3 million and officials are hoping to get back about $3 million.

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

Another $1.3 million of the increase is because city contributions to employee retirements is rising 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 such as 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 17-year-old city girl was shot in the arm Tuesday evening while standing on her front porch after an unknown man fired as many as four shots at her Dickinson Street residence, police said.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD - A 17-year-old city girl was shot in the arm Tuesday evening while standing on her front porch by an unknown man fired as many as four shots at her Dickinson Street residence, police said.

Capt. William Collins said the girl suffered non-life threatening injuries to her left arm. She was being treated at Baystate Medical Center.

Collins said the girl, whose name was not disclosed, was on her front porch at 149 Dickinson St. when an unknown man stopped in front of her residence, got out of his car and fired at the house. He then drove away.

Police recovered slugs from the interior and exterior of the house, he said.

The shooter was described as a light-skinned man, possibly Hispanic, approximately 6 feet tall with curly hair.

The car was described as a gray Infiniti with Florida plates, he said.

Police are investigating but have not yet determined a motive for the shooting, he said.

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U.S. Sen. Scott Brown has made 48 trips to Western Massachusetts since November 2010, while Warren has made at least 31 trips since August 2011.

(Associated Press file photos)Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren and Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.

In March, The Republican ran an editorial about the Massachusetts Senate race between Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Scott Brown. The paper wrote, “It appears to us that Brown’s campaign is heading for a home run with fans cheering in the stands while Warren’s campaign still doesn’t seem to know how to swing the bat.” In Western Massachusetts, the editors wrote, “her appearances are rare.”

This month, in the Springfield-based African American newspaper Point of View, that paper’s publisher Frederick Hurst responded to the editorial with one word: “Amen!”

In an interview, Hurst – an influential leader in the African American community and former commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination – said he is “not impressed” with Warren’s Western Massachusetts campaign.

“She comes to Western Massachusetts, but not the way she ought to come,” Hurst said. “She meets with a narrow group of folks. Most people don’t know her.”

Hurst said he believes Warren needs to meet with “everyday folks” rather than committed political activists. He added, “I don’t know the lady, and I run a newspaper. That amazes me.”

The view that Warren is absent from Western Massachusetts illustrates a conundrum for candidates, particularly Democrats, who need votes in Western Massachusetts but must spend more time in denser cities. Western Massachusetts is one of the most liberal parts of the state and the least populous. Voters are already sensitive about perceptions of their region.

“We always feel like we’re the poor relations,” said Tim Vercellotti, associate professor of political science at Western New England University. “The perception in Western Mass. is we’re overlooked, resources and attention get concentrated in and around Boston.”

Both the Brown and Warren campaigns provided The Republican and MassLive.com with a list of their events in Western Massachusetts.

Brown listed 55 events in the western part of the state since November 2010 (48 if one combines visits to multiple locations in one town on one day). Warren listed 49 events since August 2011 (at least 31 of which were visits to different towns or on different days). Warren visited 19 different towns; Brown visited 16. Brown has a district office in Springfield; Warren recently started working out of U.S. Rep. Richard Neal’s campaign offices in Springfield and Pittsfield.

More than half of Warren’s events were at places where she would meet everyday voters: downtown business walks in Springfield, Northampton and Palmer; visits to diners and cafes; visits to fire stations; to a Job Corps site in Chicopee; to the Northampton LGBT Parade and Pride Event; and to the Springfield pancake breakfast.

Other events were more likely to attract political activists: organizing meetings; house parties; city hall visits; Democratic committee breakfasts; and visits to caucus sites.

Warren campaign spokeswoman Alethea Harney said the campaign has received contributions from 4,000 people in Western Massachusetts, from every town but one, and has nearly 6,000 volunteers, “demonstrating the strong grassroots enthusiasm for the campaign throughout Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires.”

As a senator, a number of Brown’s visits were meetings with officials – he met the mayors of Springfield, North Adams, Greenfield, Pittsfield and Westfield. After tornadoes struck Western Massachusetts, Brown spent two days visiting the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker, a relief center and a shelter, and touring the area by helicopter with Governor Deval Patrick and Senator John Kerry.

Like Warren, more than half of Brown’s events were opportunities to meet everyday voters: business visits, lunches at restaurants, tours of neighborhoods and visits to senior centers. Brown hiked in Amherst with the Appalachian Mountain Club, attended the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, visited the Air National Guard base in Westfield and visited Springfield’s Shriners Hospital for Children.

Both candidates’ supporters say their candidate has a strong presence. Nicole LaChapelle, director of a special needs school in Holyoke and an executive member of the Democratic State Committee, met Warren when Warren walked into a Springfield restaurant where LaChapelle was eating with her family. “My stepfather…put the question right to her-are you going know where Western Massachusetts is? She said yes,” LaChapelle recalled. LaChapelle, who now volunteers for Warren, said she is impressed with Warren’s “coming out to Western Mass. and making the effort to not only do big events or specific events to uber-Dems and elected officials, but walking in and out of everyday places.”

Westfield State Representative Don Humason, a Republican and Brown supporter, said Brown “has been around quite a bit.” “We’re always a little sensitive in Western Mass. that our politicians don’t spend enough time with us. I don’t have that criticism of Brown,” Humason said.

Demographically, Vercellotti said, Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties contain 13 percent of the voting population, and are strongly Democratic. In 2008, President Obama beat Republican nominee John McCain by 26 points statewide but 36 points in Western Massachusetts. Voters have different concerns than in Boston – for example, Humason said western areas are trying to attract manufacturing facilities from companies that have research plants in Boston but do manufacturing out of state.

Vercellotti said in a close race like the Senate contest, candidates “can’t write off any part of the state,” and Warren especially will need a strong get out the vote operation to turn out Democratic voters.

But so far, Warren is not getting significantly more support in Western Massachusetts than throughout the state. A Suffolk University poll conducted May 20-22 found Warren’s supporters in Western Massachusetts were more passionate than elsewhere. They were more likely to believe that Warren would be an independent senator, that she has run a better a campaign than Brown, that she was telling the truth about having Native American heritage and that she did not benefit by listing herself as a minority in law directories.

But Warren has not gotten a much larger share of the votes. Warren led by two points in Western Massachusetts while Brown led by one point statewide – both leads within the poll’s margin of error.

Hurst said part of Warren’s problem is Brown already has name recognition from winning his seat. Hurst said the controversy over whether Warren gained a career advantage from her alleged Native American background could be a “game changer” for voters who do not know much about her.

“If that’s how people come to know her, she has a problem,” Hurst said.

Massachusetts is expected to get its own ferry service to Block Island, from Fall River.

AP Photo/Victoria ArochoVisitors to the Southeast Lighthouse walk about its grounds on New Shoreham, R.I.

NEW SHOREHAM, R.I. (AP) — Massachusetts is expected to get its own ferry service to Block Island.

Fall River Mayor William Flanagan has scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m Wednesday to announce the start of a ferry that will run from that city's State Pier to the island.

Residents currently have to make an hour-long drive to Point Judith in Rhode Island before taking an hour-long ferry ride to the island.

Flanagan, who proposed the idea in March, has said he anticipates a high demand for the service from residents in the Greater Fall River area, Taunton, Boston and Providence.

State police said the scene should be cleared shortly.

The Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD - No injuries were reported Wednesday morning when a PVTA bus caught fire on the ramp from Interstate 291 west to Interstate 91 north.

State police said motorists reported the burning bus and troopers extinguished the flames with fire extinguishers. Springfield firefighters responded to the scene.

The bus was unoccupied save for the driver.

State police, speaking shortly after 8 a.m., said the scene should soon be cleared. The incident has caused westbound traffic on Interstate 291 to back up.

Sgt. Alan Joubert, who is attached to the Springfield barracks, said the bus’s engine threw a rod through its block, causing engine oil to leak out onto the roadway.

Workers with the state Department of Transportation brought sand to the scene.


The referendum Tuesday received 954 "no" votes and 308 "yes" votes according to the unofficial results. About 22 percent of the town's registered voters cast a ballot.

The Associated PressBeverly Wright, chairperson of the Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council of Gay Head Aquinnah announces the results of a statewide survey of 500 residents on the subject of allowing a single Native American casino to be constructed in southeastern Massachusetts at a news conference in Boston, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002. Sixty percent of those surveyed support the construction of the casino, Wright said. (AP Photo/Olivia Hanley)

FREETOWN, Mass. (AP) — Freetown residents have sent a resounding "no" to the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah's proposal to build a casino in town.

The referendum Tuesday received 954 "no" votes and 308 "yes" votes according to the unofficial results. About 22 percent of the town's registered voters cast a ballot.

Selectmen Chairwoman Jean Fox said she was not surprised by the vote because there were too many unanswered questions about the proposal.

The Martha's Vineyard-based tribe has proposed a $167 million casino, hotel and retail facility along Route 140 in Freetown and Lakeville on land the tribe has an option to buy.

Lakeville residents are scheduled to vote on the project on Saturday.

Tribal spokesman Jim McManus said the vote is nonbinding and does not kill the project.

First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne (pictured) said investigators believe a man found dead inside a Hockanom Road residence died of natural causes.

NORTHAMPTON — A man whose body was found inside a Hockanom Road residence on Tuesday evening appears to have died of natural causes, Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne said Wednesday morning.

The precise street address of the home was unavailable, but authorities do not suspect any foul play, Gagne said.

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign collided with Donald Trump's "birther" rhetoric on Tuesday as the reality television star hosted a fundraiser for the Republican while claiming again that President Barack Obama is foreign-born.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks past Donald Trump's airplane as he arrives in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

By STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign collided with Donald Trump's "birther" rhetoric on Tuesday as the reality television star hosted a fundraiser for the Republican while claiming again that President Barack Obama is foreign-born.

The debunked conspiracy theory among conservative activists dubbed "birthers" charges that Obama is not constitutionally qualified to serve in the White House. Romney has said he believes Obama was born in America, but he has not condemned Trump's comments.

Democrats contend it's the latest example of Romney's reluctance to confront the more extreme elements in his party.

"A lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate," Trump told CNN of Obama's birth certificate, just hours before he was set to host Romney's finance event at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Such allegations have been repeatedly proven false. The state of Hawaii recently re-affirmed that Obama was born there.

Trump's comments, repeated in several media interviews Tuesday, overshadowed Romney's visit to Nevada, one of a handful of swing states expected to decide the presidential contest in November. Trump also upstaged news from Texas that Romney had collected enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

Romney did not address the issue directly at separate events in Colorado and Nevada, but on Monday night he told reporters aboard his campaign plane that Trump is entitled to his opinion. Even as Trump-related criticism from Democrats and Republicans intensified in recent days, Romney showed no sign of distancing himself from the polarizing figure.

"I don't agree with all the people who support me. And my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney said. "But I need to get 50.1 percent or more. And I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people."

The birth question wasn't brought up at the Las Vegas fundraiser, and Romney spoke highly of Trump's efforts on his behalf.

"Mr. Trump, thank you for letting us come to this beautiful hotel and being with so many friends," Romney said. "Thank you for twisting the arms that it takes to bring a fundraiser together. I appreciate your help."

Trump remains popular among the conservative base and boasts ties to deep-pocketed donors. The Las Vegas event was expected to raise $2 million, but Romney's ties to Trump extend beyond that single fundraiser. He has recorded automated phone calls for Romney, hosted a fundraiser for his wife, Ann, in New York, and pressed the candidate's case as a television surrogate.

When Romney's campaign plan arrived at the Las Vegas airport Tuesday, it parked within sight of Trump's plane — the businessman's name emblazoned on the side in large gold letters.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, once a rival for the GOP nomination and now a Romney supporter, suggested that the Trump issue will not derail Romney's campaign.

"Gov. Romney's not distracted. The Republican Party's not distracted," said Gingrich, who attended the Trump fundraiser. "We believe that this is an American-born job-killing president. Other people may believe that he was born somewhere else and still kills jobs."

The Obama campaign released a video Tuesday criticizing what it considers Romney's unwillingness to stand up to Trump and the more extreme elements in his party. There have been other examples in recent weeks that underscore Romney's delicate push to win over skeptical conservatives while appealing to moderates and independents who generally deliver general election victories.

"Mitt Romney's continued embrace of Donald Trump and refusal to condemn his disgraceful conspiracy theories demonstrates his complete lack of moral leadership," Obama's deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, said in a statement. "If Mitt Romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like Donald Trump because he's so concerned about lining his campaign's pockets, what does that say about the kind of president he would be?"

While Trump asserts that the matter of Obama's birth is a "good issue" for Romney, conservative commentator George Will questioned the "cost benefit" of Romney appearing with Trump.

"The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me," Will said Sunday. "Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics. ... Again, I don't understand the benefit. What is Romney seeking?"

Trump revived the false claims about Obama's birthplace late last week, citing a story about a literary agency that mistakenly listed that Obama was born in Kenya.

While Romney briefly addressed the issue Monday, senior aide Eric Fehrnstrom declined to condemn Trump's remarks in a recent interview.

"I can't speak for Donald Trump ... but I can tell you that Mitt Romney accepts that President Obama was born in the United States," Fehrnstrom said. "He doesn't view the place of his birth as an issue in this campaign."

The Main Street building that formerly housed Gales Newsstand was in the process of being renovated when flames broke out, Palmer Fire Capt. David Pranaitis said.

05/29/12-Palmer-Staff Photo by Dave Roback-Structure fire at Main and Central Street in Palmer.

Updates a story posted at 9:41 p.m. Tuesday, May 29.

PALMER — Fire ripped through a vacant Main Street building that was home to the former Gales Newsstand on Tuesday night, leveling the structure and threatening the building next door. Its cause remains under investigation.

Palmer Fire Department Capt. David Pranaitis said the state fire marshal's office and Palmer Police Department are investigating.

The fire was reported just after 9 p.m., and firefighters were on scene until close to 3 a.m. Wednesday. No one was injured, Pranaitis said.

"It was already fully involved when we got there. ... Fire was already going through the roof," he said, adding it was threatening the building next door, which houses several apartments.

All three families next door were evacuated, as the building was filled with smoke and had water damage. The Red Cross also responded to the scene to help the displaced families, he said.

The 2½-story building that formerly housed Gales was built in 1870 and is owned by James R. Carvalho of Ludlow, who bought it in 2009, the year the newsstand closed. Gales was reportedly the longest-running business in town. A deli mart replaced it, but that business did not last long.

Pranaitis said the vacant building at 1359-1369 Main St. was in the midst of being renovated, possibly for a pizza shop. Because the interior had been gutted, the fire spread quickly, he said. There were no fire stops.

Part of Main Street was closed Tuesday night, he said, because the front of the building was threatening to collapse. Pranaitis said the majority of the thunderstorm had passed, leaving firefighters to battle the blaze in heavy rain.

Power lines were coming off the burning building, making it a dangerous situation, he said.

He said firefighters focused on saving the apartment building next door at 1371 Main St., which also housed a barber shop. That building, known as the Davis block, was the original police station in town.

In addition to Palmer fire, the response included departments from Three Rivers, Bondsville, Ware, Warren, Wilbraham, Ludlow and Monson. An incident rehabilitation unit from the state Department of Fire Services also responded.

The building was valued at $164,100, according to information from the assessor's office.

The storms also brought large amounts of rain and even some hail to the region.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Nearly 1,500 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. customers here were without power Wednesday morning in wake of a series of thunderstorms that rumbled through the region Tuesday night.

All told, some 1,600 WMECO customers, including nearly 350 in Springfield, were without power as of about 9 a.m., according to the utility’s website.

National Grid reported a handful of customers remained without power in Berkshire County.

The storms also brought large amounts of rain and even some hail to the region. Downed tree limbs and power lines contributed to close to 5,000 people losing power.

The area was on high alert for much of Tuesday afternoon after the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., issued a tornado watch for parts of New York, Vermont and Berkshire County, meaning conditions were ripe for the development of a tornado. The watch came nearly one year after the June 1 tornadoes cut a path of destruction through Western Massachusetts.

The forecast for Wednesday calls for a more comfortable day with temperatures in the 80s, while Thursday and Friday are predicted to be in the mid-70s and sunny, CBS3 meteorologist Nick Morganelli said,

A scientist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society says animals with such abnormalities rarely survive birth, making the find all the more unusual.

NORTHAMPTON — A Northampton woman made an unusual discovery in her yard — a deformed baby cardinal with two heads and three beaks.

April Britt says she found the bird near the base of a tree Monday and returned it to its nest.

The 67-year-old Britt tells the Daily Hampshire Gazette the bird apparently couldn't eat without assistance from the adult birds. The middle beak didn't work well and the other two didn't appear to be connected to the bird's throat.

A scientist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society says animals with such abnormalities rarely survive birth, making the find all the more unusual.

He says the deformities could have been caused by genetic or environmental factors.

The baby and adults were gone by Tuesday, but not before Britt took pictures.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., is retooling an aspect of his 2010 campaign on Wednesday by launching the "Veterans for Brown" group in South Boston on the heels of endorsements from two Medal of Honor recipients on Memorial Day.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., is retooling an aspect of his 2010 campaign by launching the "Veterans for Brown" group in South Boston on the heels of recent endorsements from two Medal of Honor recipients.

Brown, who is facing Democratic competition from Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren and Middleton immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco, is relaunching the Veterans for Brown Brigade as Vietnam War veteran Capt. Tom Kelley is expected to speak on his behalf at the Thomas J Fitzgerald VFW Post 56 on Wednesday morning.

Kelley, who received the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary bravery following an attack on a convoy he was leading in South Vietnam," according to the Brown campaign, was one of the vets who endorsed Brown in a web video ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

"I got to know Scott about a dozen years ago in my role as Commissioner of Veteran Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Scott was a member of the legislature. In that role, I could always count on him to do the right thing for veterans," Kelley said in the ad. "As a veteran and as a Massachusetts resident I am particularly happy that Scott Brown is member of the Senate Armed Services committee because this puts him in a position to not only recognize the issues facing returning veterans and their families, but also to take some solid action on their behalf."

Brown serves in the Maryland National Guard and frequently holds roundtable discussions with veteran groups across the state.

This week at a stop at the American Legion Post 294 in Quincy, Brown told veterans that he would continue working to find ways to prevent the $500 billion in automatic cuts the Defense Department is slated to endure as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down.

09.01.2011 | FILE -- Boston, MA - Scott Brown returns to Logan where he was met by his wife Gail Huff after a 10 day stint in Afghanistan. Boston Herald staff photo by John Wilcox.

The White House said the president misspoke when he referred to "Polish death camps" during a ceremony honoring a World War II hero

AP Photo/Charles DharapakPresident Barack Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to former Polish Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld who is accepting for Jan Karski, a resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor. It's presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the national interests of the United States, to world peace or to other significant endeavors.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's prime minister said Wednesday he wasn't completely satisfied with a White House explanation that President Barack Obama misspoke when he referred to "Polish death camps" during a ceremony honoring a World War II hero, saying he wants a "stronger, more pointed" response.

The phrasing is considered hugely offensive in Poland, where Nazi Germany murdered Poles, Jews and others in death camps it built during World War II on Polish and German territory. Poles have responded with outrage, maintaining Obama should have called it a "German death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland," to distinguish the perpetrators from the location.

Donald Tusk said he was accepting a White House explanation that Obama misspoke but was still waiting for a "stronger, more pointed reaction" that could eliminate the phrasing "once and for all." Tusk said it was a "matter of the U.S.'s reputation." He hinted it should include facts about Nazi Germany's brutal occupation of Poland.

Former President and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa said the phrase confused henchmen with their victims but that Obama's mistake might prevent similar statements by others.

The White House said the president misspoke Tuesday in bestowing the Medal of Freedom posthumously on Jan Kozielewski, alias Karski, a Polish emissary who in 1943 alerted Allied leaders to mass killing of Jews. In order to gather first-hand evidence he risked his life and was secretly smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto and a death camp.

Anxious to quell the controversy, the White House also noted that the president had visited the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial while in Poland and that he has repeatedly discussed the bravery of Poles during World War II.

The Polish Embassy in Washington, on its website, has a "how-to guide" on concentration camps that states that references to Polish death camps are "factually incorrect slurs" that should be corrected.

Paul Bottom, 22, of Belmont was charged with indecent exposure and with assaulting officers who tried to remove him from the road.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – An Amherst Police Department cruiser.

AMHERST — Depending on one's perspective, police made a not-so-pleasant discovery on North Pleasant street early Memorial Day morning when they arrested a naked man from eastern Massachusetts.

Paul Bottom, 22, of Belmont was charged with indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and other alleged offenses after he was found lying in the middle of North Pleasant Street near Phillips Street at about 12:20 a.m. Monday. Amherst Police Detective Janet Lopez confirmed the arrest, which apparently stemmed from Bottom's consumption of an intoxicating substance.

Bottom told police officers that he may have used LSD prior to the incident, according to a report by the Daily Hampshire Gazette. When officers tried to remove him from the street, he allegedly grabbed one by the chin, triggering additional charges of assault and battery on a cop.

Additional details, including arraignment information for Bottom, were unavailable this morning.