Arson investigators determined vandals broke in to steal copper pipes and flames from the candles they were using for light ignited the ceiling on fire.

View full sizeThe Republican | Patrick JohnsonTwo neighbors look across the street to the vacant house at 28 Spruce St., which caught fire Thursday. Firefighters found two fires in the basement and consider it to be suspicious.

This is an update to a story that was posted at 6:33 p.m. Thursday.

SPRINGFIELD - The city Arson and Bomb Squad has determined a Thursday afternoon fire in the cellar of an abandoned two-family house at 28 Spruce St. was caused by people stealing copper pipes, a fire official said.

The 4:45 p.m. fire was confined to the basement, and firefighters were able to extinguish it quickly before it could spread to the upper floors, said Fire Department spokesman Deputy Chief Glenn Guyer.

The fire was considered suspicious almost immediately. Guyer said that firefighters originally thought two separate fires had started in separate locations in the basement.

After arson investigators arrived on scene and were able to examine the basement, they determined the fire started with some candles that had been left burning on top of a refrigerator in the basement. The flames from the candles set the ceiling on fire, Guyer said.

Guyer said vandals who had broken into the house to steal copper pipes were using candles for light.

View full sizeThe Republican | Patrick JohnsonSpringfield firefighters emerge from 28 Spruce St., the scene of a suspicious fire Thursday. The house was damaged in the June 1, 2011 tornado is has not been habitable for more than a year.

The fire remains under investigation.

The house, at the corner of Spruce and Hawthorne Streets, is at the top of the hill off Central Street, and directly within the damage zone from the June 1, 2011 tornado. It was marked with a red X, and a tarp covered the roof. Other tornado-damaged buildings were next to it, and the neighborhood was dotted with vacant lots where houses had been destroyed.

According to the Springfield assessors, the 1901 two-family house is owned by Paul J. and Helen M. Croteau of Springfield.


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The two members would represent the city at executive board meetings.

EASTHAMPTON - Mayor Michael A. Tautznik is hoping to increase transparency on the Emily Williston Memorial Library Board of Corporators and is asking the city council to allow for the appointment of two representatives on the library executive board.

Concerns about the corporation were raised after interest refocused on former library Director Rebecca Plimpton who had told the board that former corporator Donald Cykowski had harassed her for years before she left the position in 2007. She said the board needed a clear sexual harassment policy and raised concerns that the association had not addressed the issue. Cykowski, a city councilor, resigned from the corporation in March and corporators have said they want a greater openness.

While the city contributes to the library budget, the library is supervised by the private Public Library Association of Easthampton. Because it’s a private corporation, it does not have to abide by the state’s open meeting laws.

The city currently has no representatives on the board. “We’re hoping to have a vote on the board, to have a seat at the table,” Tautznik said. If approved, the city would have two of the 10 member executive board seats.

The city council is being asked to adopt an administrative code to allow for the two members to be named. The positions are included in the city’s new contract signed with the library president Ronald Bednarz last month.

According to the proposal before the council, the mayor would appoint the two new members for staggered two-year terms.

The members would be asked to attend all meetings including the monthly meetings of the executive committee.

The representatives would provide information to the mayor, council and residents of the city about the library association, according to the proposed code.

While he is waiting for the proposal to be adopted, Tautznik is asking for anyone interested in serving as city representatives to apply to his office.

Even with the fee increase, summer school courses are "a good bang for the buck," School Committee member Jacob Oliveira said.

LUDLOW - The School Committee Tuesday voted to raise the fee for summer school classes from $150 to $160 per course.

Interim School Superintendent Donna Hogan said $160 is the average price per summer school course charged by school districts in the area.

Increasing the price will help make the summer school program become self supporting, Hogan said.

She said that last year the program had to be supplemented by the school district by $2,000.

With the fee increase, the school district will still have to supplement the summer school program by $1,000, Hogan said.

Last year 80 to 85 students participated in the summer school program, Hogan said.

She said most students take two courses.

Each course is offered in a two-hour class, five days per week. The classes are six weeks long.

In some other school districts the classes last only four weeks, but school officials said they do not want to make it too easy for students to get credit for a course they may have failed during the regular school year.

School officials said four weeks is a short period of time to make up a high school course.

Some of the courses are needed for a student to graduate.

“These courses are a good deal compared to some courses offered by other school districts,” School Committee member Jacob Oliveira said.

He said students are getting “a good bang for the buck” with the summer school courses.

The university’s board of trustees approved an operating budget of $87.5 million for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 5:16 this afternoon.

WESTFIELD – Tuition will remain the same but fees at Westfield State University will increase by $411, or 5.9 percent, for the 2012-2013 school year.

The university’s board of trustees approved the increase Thursday night along with a new operating budget of $87.5 million for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. The budget represents a $3.1 million increase over this year.

Officials said the fee increase is modest and needed to meet expenses and the loss of about $2 million in federal American Recovery Act funding from last year.

President Evan S. Dobelle said despite the increase “WSU continues to be the best value among its competition” in the state college system. “That is important,” he said. “Westfield State University has the lowest cost of any of the state universities,” he said.

Tuition remains steady at $970 and the total cost for tuition and fees for an in-state student will be $8,297. A student opting to live on campus or in university housing will pay an additional $9,237 or a total tuition, fees, room and board bill of $17,534. That $17,534 represents a maximum increase of $749 or 4.4 percent above the same bill for the school year that just ended.

Students here had faced a fee increase of $461 over last year as early as Wednesday. But Dobelle said a change in state calculations on employee benefits reduced the burden to $411. Dobelle said the $50 difference “had” to be returned to students, “who are our taxpayers.”

Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance Michelle Maggio said the 5.9 percent increase in fees is the “smallest increase in the last four years.”

Last year trustees increase fees by a total of $799.

University of Massachusetts trustees last week approved a 4.9 percent fee increase for students there. That increase adds about $580 on in-state undergraduates. Students at the Amherst campus will now pay, on average, $13,242 in fees. That does not include room and board.

Holyoke Community College recently raised its mandatory fees for in-state undergraduates by 3.5 percent and Springfield Technical Community College by 6.9 percent for the school year that begins in September, according to the state Department of Higher Education.

A student attending Holyoke Community College last year paid $1,320 in fees for 10 credit and $1,556 for 12 credits.

WSU trustee finance chairman John F. Flynn III said trustees “committed last year to capital improvements and the new nursing program. We need to continue that commitment. This represents great budgeting, a great plan.”

Several capital improvement projects are underway at WSU for a total of about $103 million. That includes the recently completed dining commons upgrade, construction of new student housing, new academic building and renovations at the Ely Campus Center and at other on-campus housing units.

New nursing students will pay an additional $1,000 to cover the cost of that program including additional teaching materials.

There will also be a $124 annual increase in the optional student health insurance for a total insurance package of $1,261.

Dobelle said the university must be “grateful to Gov. Deval L. Patrick for our state resources,” noting that the state appropriation for the new fiscal year is level funded at $20.1 million.

The fiscal 2013 budget only allows for one new staff position at WSU. That will be for an institutional research assistant that was recommended by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

The budget will be $2.9 million more than it is for this school year.

Republican file photo

CHICOPEE – A nearly $3 million increase in state assistance will allow the School Committee to hire two elementary vice principals, four special education teachers and two math teachers, more teacher assistants and upgrade classroom technology.

The School Committee voted 11-0 to adopt the $74.9 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It is an increase of $2.9 million over this year’s $72 million budget.

Committee members asked questions about homeless busing reimbursements, computer replacements and teacher training about the new common core proposal but had no complaints about the spending proposals. It will now go to the City Council for final approvals, but City Council cannot add to it or transfer money to different departments.

“We are doing good things with what we have,” said Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr.

With the additional money, the School Committee will be able to hire vice principals at Hugh Scott Streiber and Lambert-Lavoie schools. That will leave just Belcher, which has children in kindergarten through second grade, as the only elementary school without a vice principal.

With all schools required to update curriculum and train teachers to fit with the new federal Common Core initiative, vice principals are needed to help run the schools, Rege said.

The budget will also allow the schools to better serve special education students. About 17 percent of students in the schools have some type of learning disability, he said.

Chicopee Academy, the city’s alternative school, will get a Spanish teacher, so the school can offer a language elective for the first time. Students made the request for the added class, Rege said.

An in-school suspension teacher will also be added at Chicopee Academy to monitor middle school students who are being disciplined.

“I am concerned we have another new initiative, and we don’t have the resources we need,” Committee member Michael J. Pise said, referring to the work that has to be done on the Common Core.

But Assistant Superintendent Deborah A. Drugan said there is training money available for teachers through federal Race To The Top grants and there are not a lot of other resources needed.

The budget will also allow the school department to continue its efforts to replace aging computers at Chicopee High School and to purchase computer tablets for each elementary school that are to be used by students when they are divided into different study groups during class, Rege said.

The School Department is also hoping to put aside for emergencies $500,000 to $1 million that is expected to be left over from this year’s budget. The department has been making a practice to set aside an average of $1 million per year for unexpected expenses, said Stephen N. Nembirkow, the finance and human resources manager.

Merrick is certified in the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching children with dyslexia.

Isabelina Rodriguez

GRANBY – A month after the director of pupil services for the Granby schools indicated that she was resigning at the end of the school year, superintendent Isabelina Rodriguez has announced a replacement.

She is Kimberly Merrick, Ed.D, who has been director of special education in the Lawrence schools since 2010.

A director of pupil services supervises not only “special” education, which refers to handicapped students, but guidance and psychological services, programs in early education and programs for children not fluent in English, according to Rodriguez.

The person makes sure the district is adhering to laws on students’ rights in these areas. The job paid $84,000 in 2011.

Rodriguez said she is “very excited” that Merrick is coming to her school district.

In addition to losing its pupil services director, Granby was recently hit with the resignation of Louis Tirsch, principal of East Meadow Elementary School, after just one year.

Tirsch’s post will be filled Jonathan Cavallo, currently vice principal at Granby Junior-Senior High School.

Merrick was one of two “very strong candidates” for the pupil services position, said Rodriguez. The finalists visited Granby on Tuesday for parent and staff forums and a meeting with the School Committee. Merrick got the job offer at the end of the same day.

Before working in Lawrence, Merrick was director of special education for the Lowell Community Charter Public Schools. In 2007-2010 she was an education specialist in the Office of Program Quality Assurance in the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Malden.

Merrick earned her doctorate in education and a certificate of advanced graduate Study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. She also has a master’s degree from Salem State College.

She is certified in the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching children with dyslexia.

Shays, who represented the 4th Congressional District from 1987 to 2009, said McMahon's tenure running WWE, coupled with her lack of political experience, "does not qualify her for a second" to fill the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Connecticut Republican Senate candidates, former Rep. Christopher Shays and former wrestling executive Linda McMahon participant in their Senate debate, Thursday, June 14, 2012, on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, Conn. To see video from this debate, click here. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays took aim at former wrestling executive Linda McMahon and her Connecticut company on Thursday, likening his fellow Republican Senate rival to Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy Enterprises, and accusing her of overseeing the company while it conducted a war on women.

McMahon, the endorsed Republican candidate, fired back with criticisms of Shays being a career politician who shares the blame for the country's economic woes.

Shays, who is challenging McMahon in an Aug. 14 primary, had no apologies for bringing up WWE, formerly known as World Wrestling Entertainment, several times during an hour-long debate at the University of Connecticut. He said he originally wanted to mention it even more. While acknowledging he wasn't sure whether his criticisms would resonate with voters — a recent Quinnipiac University Poll shows him trailing McMahon by 29 percentage points among registered Republicans — he said he feels personally compelled to raise the issue.

"You can't talk about you're a job creator without talking about the jobs you created," he told reporters afterward, adding how McMahon has no answers to his criticisms, which touched on everything from the number of young wrestlers who've died over the years, to the content of WWE's programming.

At two points, Shays referred to a now infamous scene in the ring when McMahon's husband, Vince McMahon, made a female wrestler remove her clothing and bark like a dog as part of a skit.

"I think when you force a woman to take off all her clothes in an arena and get down on the ground and bark like a dog, I think that's assault on women," Shays said during the debate, when asked to respond about whether he believed there's a war against women and contraception issues.

Shays, who represented the 4th Congressional District from 1987 to 2009, said McMahon's tenure running WWE, coupled with her lack of political experience, "does not qualify her for a second" to fill the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman.

"I don't want Hugh Hefner being there, I don't want Linda McMahon being there," he said.

McMahon didn't directly address Shays' criticisms about the Stamford-based wrestling empire, only to say that she was proud of the company she helped build. She stuck to her message throughout the debate about being a job creator with a plan to cut middle-class taxes and grow the economy, telling reporters afterward that voters care more about those issues than the WWE and its programming.

"When I'm traveling around and meeting with people and having these coffees and 'Conversations with Linda,' they're not talking about the WWE, they're talking to me about how their families are going to be secure, how they're going to have jobs, what's the cost of health care going to be," she said.

Asked about being likened to Hefner, McMahon chuckled, and said, "Hey, I'm just going to continue talking and doing what I'm doing. I'm a respected CEO that has built a business from the ground up."

McMahon contended that someone like herself, with business experience, is needed to improve the nation's economy and help grow jobs. She criticized Shays for voting to raise the federal debt ceiling eight times while serving in the House, supporting certain pork barrel spending projects, and raising gas taxes.

"You have been part of the issue of killing jobs and not creating jobs," she said.

Shays, however, said he voted to raise the debt ceiling when the U.S. was at war, saying it wasn't fair to the soldiers to shut down the government. He said he voted more times against moves to raise the debt ceiling, and took credit for helping to balance the federal budget and cut taxes in the early 2000s. He also said he has not voted for a tax increase since 1991 and supported tax cuts in 1987, 2001 and 2003.

Several times throughout the debate, Shays questioned McMahon's Republican pedigree, criticizing her for making political contributions in the past to former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He also took issue with McMahon calling herself a fiscal conservative when she spent nearly $50 million of her own money on her failed 2010 U.S. Senate campaign. McMahon's level of spending in this year has slowed in comparison.

Shays also took issue with McMahon collecting signatures to appear twice on the ballot, as a Republican and as an endorsed candidate of the Independent Party, saying it will weaken the GOP. But McMahon said she was taking that step to combat the Democrats' endorsed candidate, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, who was also endorsed by the Working Families Party. Murphy faces a Democratic primary challenge from former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.

McMahon is the only Senate candidate currently running TV ads. Shays acknowledged Thursday he does not have enough money to run his own before the primary and urged voters, during his closing speech, to contribute to his campaign and not "let her buy this election." McMahon said she has the right to spend her own money on her campaign.

Thursday's debate was sponsored by the Hartford Courant and Fox CT. McMahon has agreed to only one more debate, on NBC Connecticut on July 18.

The Obama administration, facing strong resistance from congressional Republicans and industry officials, had sought to delay the politically fraught rule until after the election, but was forced to act by a court order.

File photo by Amy Sancetta / Associated PressA man wipes ash from his face after terrorists flew two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers, causing them to collapse, on Sept. 11, 2001. A federal health official is expected to announce in early June, whether people with cancer will be covered by an aid program for New Yorkers sickened by World Trade Center dust. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce Friday new regulations that reduce the amount of soot can be released into the air by industry.

By MATTHEW DALY

WASHINGTON – Responding to a lawsuit from 11 states, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new air quality standards to lower the amount of soot that can be released into the air.

The Obama administration, facing strong resistance from congressional Republicans and industry officials, had sought to delay the politically fraught rule until after the election, but was forced to act by a court order. Critics, including officials representing the oil and gas industry, refineries and manufacturers, complained that overly strict rules could hurt economic growth and lead to job losses.

Soot, made up of microscopic particles released from smokestacks, diesel trucks, wood-burning stoves and other sources, contributes to haze and can burrow into lungs. Breathing in soot can cause lung and heart problems.

Dr. Albert Rizzo, chairman of the board of the American Lung Association, said soot, also known as fine particle pollution, is a known killer. “The science is clear, and overwhelming evidence shows that particle pollution at levels currently labeled as officially ‘safe’ causes heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks,” he said.

The long-delayed rule, to be made public on Friday, responds to a federal court order requiring the Obama administration to update air quality standards under the Clean Air Act. Administration officials described the rule to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it has yet to be announced.

Eleven states, including New York and California, filed suit earlier this year to force a decision. The states and the American Lung Association say current standards jeopardize public health. Soot has been linked to thousands of premature deaths each year, as well as aggravation of respiratory illnesses, heart attacks and strokes.

An Obama administration official said the new rule was based on a rigorous scientific review. Virtually all counties in the United States would meet the proposed standard with no additional actions needed beyond compliance with current and proposed rules set by the EPA, the official said.

More than a dozen states, along with environmental groups, sued the EPA several years ago, contending that the Bush administration had ignored science and its own experts when it decided in 2006 not to lower the nearly decade-old annual standard for soot. The agency’s own analysis found a lower standard recommended by scientific advisers would have prevented almost 2,000 premature deaths each year.

The EPA initially promised it would review recent science and issue a decision in 2011. After months of inaction, states led by New York filed suit to force a decision. The lung association and the National Parks Conservation Association filed a similar suit. A federal court eventually ordered the EPA to propose a new rule by Thursday. A final rule is due in December after a public comment period.

The new rule would set the maximum allowable standard for soot at range of 12 to 13 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The current annual standard is 15 micrograms per cubic meter.

Administration officials said the proposed changes are consistent with advice from independent scientists and are based on extensive research showing negative health impacts from soot at lower levels than previously understood. The agency will solicit comments from the public, as well as industry, public health groups and other interested groups to help determine the final standard.

Besides California and New York, states joining in the lawsuit forcing an EPA decision were Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

The mayor has warned that failure to increase fees, such as trash fee, will result in more layoffs and cuts.

Springfield City Hall, with Campanile.

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council’s first hearing on the mayor’s proposed $551.8 million city budget on Thursday featured some of the smallest municipal departments and a few supervisors using the same phrase to describe their funding.

“Bare bones.”

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno unveiled his budget recommendation on Tuesday, saying it will cut spending by 1.8 percent effective July 1, and will result in 12 layoffs, the elimination of 96 vacant positions, the closure of three branch libraries, and the end of mowing and maintenance at 10 neighborhood parks, among other cuts.

Any additional cuts made by the council, or if the council refuses to raise the annual trash fee by $10 or the hotel/motel tax by 2 percent as proposed, will result in additional layoffs and cuts in services, Sarno said.

Councilors met Thursday with the representatives of the mayor’s and city clerk’s offices and Internal Audit and Law departments to discuss each of their budgets and to hunt for cuts. All department representatives said there is no fat in their budgets after repeated cuts in recent years.

Two of the councilors present, John A. Lysak and Zaida Luna, said they not do not favor the proposed $10 increase in the annual trash fee for residents, which the mayor is counting on for $400,000 in new revenue. Cuts will be sought instead, they said.

Lysak said he has already found nearly $500,000 in cuts, but is not ready to elaborate.

“We need to think outside the box,” Lysak said. “City government is going to shrink. We have to make do with what we have. We’re losing state funding and it’s not coming back.”

Luna, the Ward 1 councilor whose district includes the North End, said she represents poorer neighborhoods, and that even a $10 increase in the trash, bringing it to $85 a year, is a hardship on residents in her ward.

Councilor Melvin Edwards said he knows the departments struggle with cuts each year, and “at some point you are at the bone, and there is nothing left to cut.”

Denise Jordan, chief of staff in the mayor’s office, said current staffing is needed for office duties and community outreach.

City Clerk Wayman Lee said his staff has dropped from 15 people to 10 people since 2006. His non-personnel budget has dropped by 20 percent the past two years, he said. His office collects fees for documents ranging from birth certificates to licenses, and even reducing one more person from the staff will leave work undone and reduce revenues, he said.

Lee said the City Council budget is also “bare bones.” There are 2.5 staff positions, and councilor salaries of $14,000 each.

Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola said she and three staff members are hard-pressed with elections, census work and voter registration, and are trying to improve its work and outreach efforts with a new proposed part-time worker.

Councilors questioned if the election and city clerk’s office might be merged, but Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Lee C. Erdmann said both are “so bare bones,” he does not see real savings in a merger.

City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said the Law Department has been “bare bones for several years now,” and lucky to have great assistance from sources such as interns from the Western New England University School of Law.

The Internal Audit Department is funded for three positions, but has just one person, the internal auditor herself.

Top seats go for $2,500 while seats in the balcony are $250. To be an event co-host costs $10,000.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama speaks at West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek, N.C., on Oct. 17, 2011 during a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act.

BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a campaign fundraiser at Boston's Symphony Hall.

The event is scheduled for Monday, June 25, in the historic music venue. Top seats go for $2,500 while seats in the balcony are $250. To be an event co-host costs $10,000.

Massachusetts isn't considered a battleground state with Obama holding a hefty lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in recent polls. Still, both candidates have relied on fundraising support from the state.

Massachusetts is considered friendly territory for Obama for other reasons.

Gov. Deval Patrick is a co-chairman of Obama's reelection committee and has been visiting other states to help energize Democrats.

While he's not expected to win here, Romney has also raised money from backers in Massachusetts — a state he governed for four years.

The City Council has asked the state to audit authority finances.

File photo | The Republican

HOLYOKE – The chairwoman of the board that oversees the Holyoke Geriatric Authority gave a check for $89,000 to a Retirement Board member, marking what officials hope will be a continued chipping away at debt.

“We thank you guys very much for your patience,” board Chairwoman Patricia C. Devine said Thursday.

“We’re grateful for your efforts,” Retirement Board member Jorge L. Neves said. “We’d like to be here same time next year.”

The $89,000 covers the authority’s current pension bill. State law requires that entities such as the authority and the city make contributions according to a schedule to ensure retired employees’ pensions get funded.

The authority has stayed current on pension payments made from employee payroll deductions, but for years has had problems with its own pension contributions and other bills.

The authority is a nursing home that has 80 beds and 80 other slots for the daycare of senior citizens at 45 Lower Westfield Road. It is overseen by a board consisting of three appointed by the City Council and three appointed by the mayor, with those six choosing a seventh.

The $89,000 is part of $150,000 the authority has received from the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.

Mayor Alex B. Morse had to agree to release the money. Morse said he signed the release only because authority officials agreed to pay the current retirement costs and enter a payment plan for its other outstanding bills.

The authority owes money to various city agencies. That includes $465,000 that the city budget had to absorb in December to cover employee-retirement contributions that had gone unpaid dating back to 2008.

Morse said the $89,000 is a good first step but drastic changes will be needed if the authority is to generate revenue.

“Tough decisions may have to be made if we want to protect Holyoke taxpayers,” Morse said.

While authority officials have said financial problems are because federal reimbursements cover only 75 percent of costs, some city councilors say management also bears blame. The City Council has asked State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump to review authority finances.

Devine, a former councilor who took over as board chairwoman April 25, joined the call for an audit.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama made a rare joint fundraising appearance when they visited the home of actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

Photo by David Karp / Associated PressPresident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, center right, greet well-wishers at JFK International Airport Thursday on their way to New York.

By JULIE PACE and BEN FELLER

NEW YORK – President Barack Obama soaked in the support – and the campaign cash – of Manhattan’s elite entertainers Thursday as his re-election team sought to fill its fundraising coffers.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama made a rare joint fundraising appearance when they visited the home of actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. The intimate dinner banked about $2 million, with 50 people paying $40,000 each.

The dinner was the Obama campaign’s latest attempt to bank on celebrities for fundraising help in countering the growing donor enthusiasm from Republicans supporting Mitt Romney’s presidential bid.

Speaking in a dimly lighted, art-filled room, Obama told supporters they would play a critical role in an election that would determine a vision for the nation’s future.

“You’re the tie-breaker,” he said. “You’re the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes.”

Sarah Jessica Parker

Among the celebrities on hand to hear Obama’s remarks were Oscar winner Meryl Streep, fashion designer Michael Kors and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who moderated a private question-and-answer session between the president and the guests. Broderick, who was starring in a Broadway musical, was absent.

The president and Mrs. Obama were to appear at a second glitzy fundraiser in Manhattan Thursday night, headlined by a performance by singer Mariah Carey.

While Democrats have long held political and ideological ties to the TV and movie industry, the dynamic is different this time for Obama. His own celebrity has faded a bit after more than three years in the slog of governing, and some reliable donors have gotten so used to seeing him, they want more – like a real movie star.

What’s more, Obama’s team is getting outraised by Republicans in a new, freewheeling environment, one in which wealthy donors can give unlimited amounts of money to outside political groups, known as super PACs, that can have huge sway over the presidential race.

As one counter-response, Obama is borrowing on the power of entertainers to give big bucks themselves and to encourage others to give what they can.

The strategy holds the potential for peril. It allows opponents to paint Obama as hobnobbing for dollars with middle-class angst riding high. The Republican Party lampooned Obama as tone deaf when his campaign promoted the Parker/Wintour event on the same day news broke of climbing unemployment.

Pressed about Obama’s relationship with the stars, his spokesman, Jay Carney, fired back: “Two words. Donald Trump. Next question?” Romney has received fundraising help from Trump, the camera-finding real estate mogul whom Obama has dismissed as a carnival barker.

From Tinseltown to Broadway, Obama has surrounded himself with blockbuster names lately: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Spike Lee, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher and many others who make more in one year than most people do in a lifetime.

Obama played basketball with a Batman (Clooney) and a Spiderman (Tobey Maguire), all in one game. He held a private chat in Los Angeles with some of the town’s younger stars last week, including Jessica Alba and Jeremy Renner. He has had some of the most popular musicians in the business perform at his fundraisers, such as Alicia Keys, Cee Lo Green, Dave Matthews and the Foo Fighters. For his gig with Obama, Jon Bon Jovi even caught a ride on Air Force One.

In a tough economy, one way Obama tries to make it work is by raffling access for smaller donors, both to dinners with the president himself and to private affairs like the one at Parker’s house.

Robin Hunt of Baltimore won an online contest to attend Thursday’s dinner. She brought her mother, Elvita, a voter in North Carolina, a key election battleground state.

The contests typically ask donors to give $3 or whatever they can spare.

The Obama campaign calls it a way to lure donors who may not otherwise be involved in politics at all.

But implicit in the arrangement is that access to Obama, the president of the United States, is not enough of a draw. Obama’s campaign has gone so far as to make its next “Dinner With Barack” raffle more enticing by telling would-be donors that they can help pick Obama’s guest – naming Clooney and Parker as examples.

All the star wattage comes as Obama’s campaign is warning supporters that they need to give or Obama could lose. Central to Obama’s strategy is having a larger number of people giving small-to-medium donations. His campaign says 98 percent of donations received in May came in amounts of $250 or less.

“The other side has the money,” campaign manager Jim Messina said in one appeal to donors. “They know they can buy the election if they spend it.”

Saletnik said she was approached on Monday by someone claiming to be from Rockstar Subscription Agency. On Thursday, she discovered that the check amount had been changed and that $150 had been withdrawn from her bank account.

WESTFIELD - After first saying no to a subscription, Kim Saletnik wrote a check for $50 after being told the magazines would go to someone serving in the military oversees.

It was only later that she learned she'd been ripped off.

"They're very clean cut; they had their little notebook with them; they had a pamphlet with all the different magazines you could choose from; they had their receipts; they had quite the speech that they gave you and were very smooth with it," Saletnik told WWLP.

Saletnik said she was approached on Monday by someone claiming to be from Rockstar Subscription Agency. On Thursday, she discovered that the check amount had been changed and that $150 had been withdrawn from her bank account.

She has filed a fraud report with the bank, which will refund her $100, according to 22News. Where the check was cashed hasn't been determined.

An Internet search of Rockstar Subscription Agency turns up other fraud complaints.

Milagros Johnson, the city of Springfield's director of consumer information, told 22News that consumers should always ask for a copy of the city permit or call the authorities to confirm that the solicitor is in compliance with the municipality.

Seger, along with Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot, "Gambler" songwriter Don Schlitz, and Jim Steinman of "Bat Out of Hell" fame, were inducted. The writers of the long-running musical, "The Fantastick's" also were among this year's crop.

Inductee Bob Seger speaks at the 2012 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction and awards gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Thursday June 14, 2012 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision)

NEW YORK — Multi-platinum recording artist Bob Seeger led off this years' Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony with a rousing version of his 1973 classic, "Turn the Page."

The Detroit rocker called songwriting the hardest thing he does, and the most rewarding.

Seger, along with Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot, "Gambler" songwriter Don Schlitz, and Jim Steinman of "Bat Out of Hell" fame, were inducted. The writers of the long-running musical, "The Fantastick's" also were among this year's crop.

Special awards were presented to Bette Midler, Ben E. King and Lance Freed, son of the legendary disc jockey Alan Freed.

R&B singer Ne-Yo received the Hal David Starlight Award presented to young songwriters.

Founded in 1969 by Johnny Mercer, the Songwriters Hall of Fame shines a spotlight on the accomplishments of songwriters.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Morris Jones

Morris "Moe" Jones, 77, of Springfield, passed away Saturday. Jones was born, raised and raised his family in the "City of Homes." He served in the U.S. Army. He spent nine years on the Springfield City Council. Jones attained numerous awards and citations in support of the work he did for the Springfield community.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Balon, Cecilia C. (Zuchara)
  



• 
  Barber, Sylvia L. (George)
  



• 
  Butterfield, George J.
  



• 
  Cotter, Dorothy C. (Trant)
  



• 
  Crowther, Doris (Dame)
  



• 
  Dymon, Thaddeus S. (Ted)
  



• 
  Ellithorpe, Joyce J. (Ney)
  



• 
  Garrett, Regina F. (McMahon)
  



• 
  Goncalves, Janet E.
  



• 
  Grant, Gerald (Sonny)
  



• 
  Hart, Francis J.
  



• 
  Haynes, Pamela E.
  



• 
  Jones, Morris "Moe"
  



• 
  McGilpin, Marion Amy
  



• 
  Miller, Shirley L. Midwood
  



• 
  Phipps, Vernon W.
  



• 
  Rogerleski, Helen S.
  



• 
  Samsel, Stanley J.
  



• 
  Sferrazza, Vincent J.
  



• 
  Thans Jr., Charles F.
  



• 
  Winer, Carolyn "Carol"
  

The little girl required more than 400 stitches to close wounds on her arms and legs

The Republican | Dave Roback 06.13.2012 | SPRINGFIELD -- Ymanni Wright at home in Springfield recovering from injuries sustained in a pit bull attack last month.

SPRINGFIELD – Eight-year-old Ymanii Wright, badly mauled last month by a pit bull in the Old Hill neighborhood, returned to school last week for the first time since the horrific attack.

Bianca Rodriguez, the little girl’s mother, said her daughter required more than 400 stitches to close wounds on her arms and legs and endured hours of surgery at Baystate Medical Center following the May 23 attack

“It looked like she was attacked by a shark,” Rodriguez said.

Baystate surgeons have told the family that Ymanni suffered permanent damage to her right arm and will require additional surgeries and skin grafts in the years ahead.

Rodriguez, who lives on Chester Street, said she contacted The Republican because she was fearful the dog in question could attack again and she wanted people to beware of it.

“That pit bull came up out of nowhere and attacked her,” said Rodriguez. “I don’t want that to happen to another child. I don’t want anybody to ever have to go through what we have been through.”

Pam Peebles, executive director of the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, said the dog, a large black pit bull named Bobo, was surrendered after the attack and euthanized immediately after the mandatory ten-day holding period to ensure that it did not have rabies.

The dog was euthanized because it exhibited a high level of aggression, Peebles said. “It was pretty apparent that we would not be entertaining any idea of him returning to the community,” she said.

Bobo, Peebles said, was neglected and spent countless hours on a backyard chain. A second dog, an offspring of the first that was similarly treated, was also euthanized.

“The way they spent their lives led to a high-level of aggression,” Peebles said.

Both Peebles and Police Sgt. John M. Delaney said the attack occurred in the area of 221 Hancock St., where the two dogs lived.

Peebles said she believes the dog was chained and that Ymanni, playing with friends, was attacked when she wandered within the scope of that chain.

Police reports, however, indicate that the dog was not chained, according to Delaney. Rodriguez said she too believes the dog was not chained.

Delaney said that police officers, summoned to Hancock and Chester streets for a report of girl bitten by a dog, were flagged down by Ymanni herself as they approached the scene.

Delaney said the owner of the dogs placed them in the basement after the attack and that an animal control officer then took them to T.J. O’Connor. He declined to identify the owner and said no charges have been filed.

Rodriguez said she does not understand why people keep pit bulls.

“I just think it’s important that people learn about these dogs,” she said. “We hear (about pit bull attacks on people) over and over again and people keep buying them.”

Peebles stressed, however, that the issue is not about pit bulls per se. “This is about a lack of management of a large athletic dog,” Peebles said.

Pit bull attacks on people in Springfield are prominent because there is a high proportion of them in the city. But other dogs, especially those that are mistreated or mishandled, can attack as well.

Last week, for example, a woman from Chicopee suffered a bad bite from her 5-year-old golden retriever, newly-acquired from an acquaintance who could no longer care for it.

“She reached down for a paper that had fallen and the dog reacted violently,” Peebles said, adding that the bite, while nothing on the scale that Ymanni suffered, required an emergency room visit.

“There are a lot of great dogs of every breed and there are a lot of threatening dogs of every breed,” Peebles said, adding that the golden retriever is now in the midst of its ten-day quarantine at T.J. O’Connor.

Meanwhile, Ymanni, who came home from the hospital on June 2, has been enjoying some relative normalcy back at school. “She really wanted to see her friends,” Rodriguez said.

Such attacks have made the news a number of times this year in Western Massachusetts. Last Monday a 9-year-old Pittsfield boy suffered wounds to his head, arms and face and part of his scalp was torn off in an attack by his neighbor’s pit bull dogs.

Last February, two pit bulls attacked their owner on Porter Lake Drive in Springfield after she intervened when the dogs began fighting over a thrown stick. Both dogs were euthanized following the attack.

The month before, a pit bull attacked its owner, a 2-year-old girl and a Westfield police officer at a Maple Street residence.

“Dog went nuts," said Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe.

The policy change, announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation.

AP Photo/Nick UtStudents Maria Sofia, left, and Malendez Campos, protest at a "Right to Dream" rally Thursday May 17, 2012 in Los Angeles. The Demonstrators were protesting the deportation of illegal immigrants by the Obama Administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.

The policy change, announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.

The extraordinary step comes one week before President Barack Obama plans to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials' annual conference in Orlando, Fla. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to the group on Thursday.

Obama plans to discuss the new policy Friday afternoon from the White House Rose Garden.

Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED, or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed.

"Many of these young people have already contributed to our country in significant ways," Napolitano wrote in a memorandum describing the administration's action. "Prosecutorial discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here."

The policy will not lead toward citizenship but will remove the threat of deportation and grant the ability to work legally, leaving eligible immigrants able to remain in the United States for extended periods. It tracks closely to a proposal being drafted by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a potential vice presidential running mate for Romney, as an alternative to the DREAM Act.ial

Rubio did not criticize the administration's initiative Friday but said it would make it harder to achieve a permanent solution.

"Today's announcement will be welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer, but it is a short-term answer to a long-term problem," Rubio said in a statement. "And by once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short-term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long-term one."

The move comes in an election year in which the Hispanic vote could be critical in swing states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida. While Obama enjoys support from a majority of Hispanic voters, Latino enthusiasm for the president has been tempered by the slow economic recovery, his inability to win congressional support for a broad overhaul of immigration laws and by his administration's aggressive deportation policy. Activists opposing his deportation policies last week mounted a hunger strike at an Obama campaign office in Denver, and other protests were planned for this weekend.

The change swiftly drew an outcry from Republicans accusing Obama of circumventing Congress in an effort to boost his political standing. GOP lawmakers insist that previous uses of prosecutorial discretion in deportations amount to back-door amnesty by the administration.

"President Obama and his administration once again have put partisan politics and illegal immigrants ahead of the rule of law and the American people," Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, GOP chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

Republicans including Romney say they want tighter border security measures before they will consider changes in immigration law. Romney opposes offering legal status to illegal immigrants who attend college but has said he would do so for those who serve in the armed forces.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., said he is opposed to the policy and believes it is a one-sided approach to solving a complex problem.

"While I'd be open to allowing young people who have chosen military service to obtain citizenship in recognition of the extraordinary sacrifice involved, I'm afraid that the administration’s policy is too broad and would set off a new wave of illegal immigration, making the problem worse, not better," Brown said in a statement. "It's also unfair to the millions of immigrants who are playing by the rules and waiting patiently to enter the country legally. We are a nation of immigrants and of course we welcome those who seek a better life in America, but we are also a nation of laws that have to be respected and observed. Rather than sidestepping Congress on this major policy shift, the President should work with us toward a bipartisan, long-term solution.”

Praise for the new policy was also swift. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, called the decision "an historic humanitarian moment," and compared it to the decision decades ago to give political asylum to Cuban refugees fleeing the communist island. "This is at least a reflection of that moment in history."

In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the move. "Ending deportations of innocent young people who have the potential to drive tomorrow's economy is long overdue, as are many common-sense reforms needed to center our immigration policy around our economic needs," he said.

In announcing the change, Napolitano said Friday the decision "is well within the framework of our existing laws."

"We should not forget that we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants," she said. "With respect to these young people, deferred action, the decision I announced today, is simply the right thing to do."

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll last month found Obama leading Romney among Hispanic voters 61 percent to 27 percent. But his administration's deportation policies have come under fire, and Latino leaders have raised the subject in private meetings with the president. In 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 396,906 people and is expected to deport about 400,000 this year.

A December poll by the Pew Hispanic Center showed that 59 percent of Latinos disapproved of the president's handling of deportations.

The administration announcement comes ahead of an expected Supreme Court decision on Arizona's tough 2010 immigration law that, among other things, requires police to ask for immigration papers from anyone they stop or arrest and suspect is in the country illegally. The Obama administration has challenged the law.

The change also comes a year after the administration announced plans to focus on deporting serious criminals, immigrants who pose threats to public safety and national security, and serious immigration law violators.

Under the plan, immigrants whose deportation cases are pending in immigration court will have to prove their eligibility for a reprieve to ICE, which will begin dealing with such cases in 60 days. Any immigrant who already has a deportation order and those who never have been encountered by immigration authorities will deal with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The exact details of how the program will work, including how much immigrants will have to pay to apply and what proof they will need, still are being worked out.

The administration officials stopped short of calling the change an administrative DREAM Act — the name is an acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors — but the qualifications meet those laid out in a 2010 version that failed in the Senate after passing in the House. They said the DREAM Act, in some form, and comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system remained an administration priority.

Illegal immigrant children won't be eligible to apply for the deportation waiver until they turn 16, but the officials said younger children won't be deported, either.

Last year, Napolitano announced plans to review about 300,000 pending deportation cases and indefinitely suspend those that didn't meet department priorities.

A former Goldman Sachs director accused of feeding confidential information to a corrupt hedge fund manager has been convicted of conspiracy and three counts of securities fraud.

AP Photo/Seth WenigRajat Gupta arrives at Manhattan federal court in New York, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. The former Goldman Sachs board member is accused of helping Raj Rajaratnam make millions of dollars through inside tips about Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble Co. Gupta sat on the boards of both companies when prosecutors say he fed the information in 2007 and 2008. Defense lawyers say his comments were already widely discussed publicly by Goldman executives.

By TOM HAYS
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Goldman Sachs director accused of feeding confidential information to a corrupt hedge fund manager has been convicted of conspiracy and three counts of securities fraud.

A jury acquitted Rajat Gupta on two other securities fraud counts. Gupta's adult daughters hugged and wept as the verdict was read. He showed no visible reaction.

The 63-year-old Gupta — born in India, educated at Harvard and well-known in corporate America — has been the most prominent defendant prosecuted so far in a wide-ranging probe of alleged insider trading in the hedge fund industry by investigators armed with wiretaps. His trial and one last year for former billionaire Raj Rajaratnam pulled back the curtain on how the two longtime friends and Wall Street titans navigated the turbulent waters of the 2008 economic meltdown.

The pair had "public sides of success," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky said at closing arguments at the closely watched white-collar trial. "But concealed from the public was a different side — a side that committed crimes."

The prosecutor argued that secret recordings of phone calls between the two men showed that Gupta was so brazen about sharing Goldman board secrets it sounded like "he was talking about what happened at a Yankee game yesterday."

Defense attorney Gary P. Naftalis countered that the FBI wiretaps, phone records and other evidence presented by the government had only created the "illusion" that legitimate business dealings were somehow sinister.

"That is a gambit that can bamboozle people into thinking something was proven when it wasn't," Naftalis told the jury.

Naftalis said outside court that he was disappointed in the guilty verdicts.

"We believe the facts of this case demonstrate that Mr. Gupta is innocent," said Naftalis. "He always acted with honesty and integrity."

Rajaratnam, founder of the $7 billion Galleon hedge fund, was sentenced last October to an 11-year prison term on an insider-trading conviction. Less than a month later, Gupta was charged in a separate case built on the some of the same wiretap and other evidence.

Allegations that Gupta conspired with a convicted white-collar criminal represented a fall from grace: The defendant is a former chief of McKinsey & Co., a highly regarded global consulting firm that zealously guards its reputation for discretion and integrity. He also is a onetime director of the huge consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co.

During the trial that began on May 20, the government highlighted a Sept. 23, 2008, phone call it said was made from Gupta to Rajaratnam. The call came only minutes after Gupta had learned during a confidential conference call about how Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway planned to invest $5 billion in Goldman — a blockbuster deal that wouldn't be announced until the stock market closed at 4 p.m.

"That news was going to be very good news for Goldman Sachs," another prosecutor, Richard Tarlowe said in closing arguments. "The average ordinary investor had no way of knowing that. ... Until the announcement, it was confidential."

Records showed that moments after the phone call ended at 3:55 p.m., Rajaratnam purchased $40 million in Goldman stock — an 11th hour trade that ended up making him nearly $1 million.

The hedge fund manager's assistant, Caryn Eisenberg, testified at trial that it was the only call her boss received on his private line that day between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

"That evidence is devastating for the defendant. ... If you believe Ms. Eisenberg, it's over — the defendant is guilty," Tarlowe said.

Also played at trial was a wiretap of a July 2008 phone call during which Rajaratnam grilled Gupta about whether the Goldman Sachs board had discussed acquiring a struggling bank, like Wachovia, or an insurance company.

"Have you heard anything along that line?" Rajaratnam asked Gupta.

"Yeah," Gupta responded. "This was a big discussion at the board meeting."

In another recorded phone call in 2008, Rajaratnam told one of his traders that he had got a tip "from someone who's on the board of Goldman Sachs" that Goldman was facing an unexpected quarterly loss.

Prosecutors argued the sequence of events — the phone calls, the subsequent trades and Rajaratnam's boasting about his inside connection — could not be dismissed as mere coincidence. Gupta, they said, was motivated to help Rajaratnam because he had a financial stake in some of the hedge fund manager's business ventures.

"What was good for Raj Rajaratnam was good for Mr. Gupta," Brodsky said.

Naftalis countered that most the evidence was specific to the "secret world" of Rajaratnam and not about Gupta.

"I sometimes wondered whether Raj Rajaratnam was the man on trial," he said. His client, he added, was a victim of "pure guilt by association."

The "anti-prostitution/john detail," under the direction of Sgt. Steven Kent, was conducted in mid-afternoon in the area of Main Street and Palmer Avenue.

SPRINGFIELD — A prostitution sting conducted by members of the Springfield Police Department's Vice Unit resulted in the arrests of nine men in the South End on Thursday afternoon, police said.

The "anti-prostitution/john detail," under the direction of Sgt. Steven Kent, was conducted from 1 to 4 p.m. in the area of Main Street and Palmer Avenue, police said. Residents living in the neighborhood complained that prostitutes were "servicing" their customers on side streets in the area, according to a statement released by Sgt. John Delaney, executive aide to Commissioner William Fitchet.

"This type of undercover operation curtails this type of crime, making the neighborhood safer," Delaney said.

Police said the nine arrests were made in less than two hours. According to police, the following men were arrested after each of them propositioned an undercover female police officer for sex in exchange for money:

Edward Brown, 49, of New Britain, Conn.; Hector L. Colon, 46, of Springfield; Normand M. Evon, 48, of Monson; Soroush Fiezifamitafresh, 27, of Springfield; Kevin R. Lazzerin, 47, of East Hartford, Conn.; Franco Liquori, 37, of Springfield; Stephen M. Lunardini, 40, of Wilbraham; Miguel A. Sostre, 50, of Springfield; and Thomas Whyte, 65, of Springfield.

All of the men arrested were charged with sexual conduct for a fee. All were scheduled to be arraigned in Springfield District on Friday.

According to police, one of the men arrested offered to give an undercover female officer a tattoo worth $50 in exchange for sex; another was driving a FedEx delivery truck, pulled over to the corner of Main and Palmer and offered the undercover officer $30 in exchange for sex in the back of the truck; and a third got out of his van at the corner of Main and Palmer, left his wife in the vehicle, walked up to the undercover officer and offered her $30 in exchange for sex after he dropped off his wife.

Courtesy Springfield Police Dept.

The injured man was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Ludlow Fire Capt. John Moll. Watch video

LUDLOW — A two-car crash reported at about 11:20 a.m. Friday at the intersection of Letendre Avenue and Simonds Street sent a man to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Ludlow Fire Capt. John Moll said.

Firefighters had to use Jaws of Life extrication tools to free the injured man from the vehicle, Moll said. The victim, who wasn't publicly identified, was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment, Moll said. An update on his condition was not immediately available.

Ludlow police officials were unable to immediately provide details about the incident, including the vehicles' directions of travel and what may have caused the crash.
A dispatcher declined to release any details about the incident, including where and when it happened. He said supervising officers were unavailable for comment.

CBS3, media partner of The Republican and MassLive, reports that one of the vehicles involved in the crash was a pickup truck, which wound up on its side after apparently striking a utility pole.

More details will be posted on MassLive as they become available.

THE MAP BELOW shows the location of a two-car crash in Ludlow at the corner of Simonds Street and Letendre Avenue late Friday morning:

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