The FBI automatically reviews all instances where an agent discharges a weapon.

This is an update to a story posted at 10:46 p.m. Friday.

The Republican/Mark MurrayMark G. Mastroianni, Hampden County District Attorney

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Police here have identified the suspect who rammed police cars at the Riverdale Shops, led officers on a chase, and held a couple hostage as Edwin Santos, of Holyoke.

Santos, 23, is from 190 West St. Information about the charges he is facing in connection with the Friday incident was not available. More details are expected to be released at a press conference Saturday afternoon, police said.

An FBI agent fired his gun at Santos, a drug suspect, Friday afternoon in the Riverdale Shops parking lot as he rammed into several police cars that were attempting to block him, Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said.

Santos escaped the parking lot in his car and headed up Route 5 toward Holyoke, before he abandoned the vehicle in an apartment complex. He then forced his way into an apartment, holding two residents against their will, Mastroianni said.

Police were able to get him out and take him into custody without anyone being hurt, he said.

Mastroianni said on Friday that the list of charges will likely be lengthy and include assault and battery on a police officer. Drugs were recovered, but Mastroianni did not say what they were, or how much.

Among the agencies involved in the investigation were the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, the Hampden County Narcotics Task Force and the Holyoke and West Springfield police, he said.

The operation was in motion from Holyoke and then to West Springfield to the Riverdale Shops on Route 5 where police attempted to box the man's car in and take him into custody.

Instead, the man gunned his engine and began ramming the police vehicles, he said. Several of the officers were already out of their vehicles at this time, and the FBI agent fired at the car when the suspect drove directly at him, Mastroianni said.

No one was hit by the gunfire, he said. Santos also was not injured.

Staff writer Patrick Johnson contributed to this report.

Kent Faerber, who retired as president of the foundation in 2009, will step in on in interim basis to lead the organization while a search for a new leader is underway.

Republican File Photo11/16/11-Springfield-Staff Photo by Dave Roback-The Collaborator Award winner Ronald E. Ancrum speaks at the HAPHousing Envisioning a Resurgent Springfield Metro at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – Ronald E. Ancrum has resigned as president of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts after three years at the helm.

Kent W. Faerber, who retired as president of the foundation in 2009, will step in on in interim basis to lead the organization while a search for a new leader is underway.

Peter J. Daboul, chairman of the Community Foundation’s board of trustees, said Ancrum never moved his family to Springfield from the Boston area. The distance led to Ancrum’s decision to depart, Daboul said.

“He’s done some good things,” Daboul said. “Ron was really good in reaching out and becoming more engaged in the community.”

Chief among Ancrum’s successes, according to Daboul, is City2City Greater Springfield, a program that gathered community leaders from Greater Springfield and sent them on fact-finding trips to Grand Rapids, Mich., and to Winston-Salem and Greensboro, N.C.

Ancrum said, “These past three years have been professionally rewarding and stimulating. I believe that the work I did in collaboration with others in the community made a difference and raised the profile of the community foundation.” He added, “I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve and bring new ideas to the Foundation. I plan to return to the Boston area to be with my family. I believe the foundation’s future as a key player in the advancement of the region is very bright and I am happy to have made a contribution to its continued success.”

The community foundation was established in 1991, Daboul said. It has about $120 million in assets under management and awards about $8 million a year in scholarships and grants. Last year, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts put $250,000 toward regional relief efforts in the wake of the June 1 tornadoes, Daboul said.

The foundation, www.communityfoundation.org, serves Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties.

Daboul, who is a retired MassMutual executive now working as an executive-in-residence, teaching business classes at Western New England University, said the foundation has Faerber on board at least through the fall.

This time around, Daboul said, the foundation will look more closely at local applicants for the job before going to a national talent-search company for help; vice president Sanford Belden is to lead the search committee. “In the past we’ve found some great people with a national search but getting them to relocate has been an issue,” Daboul said.

Faerber retired in 2009 after being with the community foundation for 10 years and was credited with being a stabilizing force for the organization during challenging financial times. A St. Louis native and Amherst College graduate, Faerber went on to Harvard Law School and a career in corporate litigation. He also worked as a fund-raiser and manager at Amherst College.

Ancrum was born in Stamford, Conn., and currently lives in Canton. Prior to taking the Springfield job, he had spent the past eight years as president of Associated Grant Makers, a Boston-based association for foundation- and corporate-giving programs serving Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Ancrum also worked for nearly 20 years, mainly in admissions counseling, at Connecticut College, Colgate University and the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He is married to Pam Cross, a reporter and anchorwoman for WCVB-TV in the Boston area. The couple have a daughter, Erica Ancrum. 

A pleasant summer evening finishes off the month of June.

We're two-for-two in trying for another heat wave ... this our second day in a row of 90-degree temperatures (three in a row makes it official). This afternoon's highs hit the lower-90s, but the humidity is rather low, so it's not too oppressive out there. Mainly clear skies, mild temperatures, but low mugginess continue this evening.

On Sunday, the heat will be with us again, and will be primed to spark a few thunderstorms. A weak system coming through the region may provide enough of a spark for an isolated afternoon thunderstorm, but most of us will stay dry and enjoy partly cloudy skies for most of the day. High temperatures are expected to be close to 90 degrees again.

Heading toward the Fourth of July, we may be faced with some rain showers by Wednesday. The week will be back and forth ... chance of showers on Monday, partly cloudy and dry on Tuesday, then another chance of showers on Wednesday. Temperatures stay rather warm, as highs will be in the upper-80s through most of the week.

Tonight: Mainly clear skies, mild, low 60.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, an isolated pop-up thunderstorm, high 90.

Monday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, partly sunny, high 86.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy, warm and humid, high 86.

In the message to supporters, DeFranco said she was proud of running a positive campaign that was "focused on solutions."

6-2-12 -SPRINGFIELD- Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Marisa DeFranco gives her speech to the delegates at the state convention in Springfield. (Republican staff photo by Don Treeger)

Marisa DeFranco, the fiery Democrat who was ousted from the Massachusetts Senate race at the party's state convention on June 2, thanked supporters in an email this weekend, noting that although her Senate bid is over, "the fight for justice never ends."

DeFranco, who was aiming to appear on the Democratic Party's primary ballot against Elizabeth Warren in the effort to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, saw her candidacy ended when Warren received a record 95 percent support from the delegates at the convention.

DeFranco needed to get 15 percent of the delegate vote to appear on the ballot.

The North Shore immigration attorney was the remaining challenger to Warren, a Harvard Law School professor and fundraising juggernaut, from a once populated pool of notable Bay State Democrats.

In the message to supporters, DeFranco said she was proud of running a positive campaign that was "focused on solutions."

"Against long odds, you never wavered in your belief in and dedication to true democracy, to giving the choice to the one place where it belongs...with the people. Together we crossed the Commonwealth, we proudly supported Jobs and Single Payer, and we submitted 14,645 certified signatures from voters across the state," DeFranco wrote. "I am grateful to all of you for your dedication to our attempts to change the calculus of money and politics and our efforts to talk about solutions and substance and make politics about more than just talking points. You are all the real heroes and the real people who make a difference. You should be extremely proud of yourselves--we are."

DeFranco made no apologies for her liberal positions and openly supported a single-payer health care system, one in which there is a single insurance pool run by the government. She said that view was partially shaped by the fact that her father was a doctor and her mother was a pediatric surgeon.

"Don't fall for the myth that a single-payer system is going to ration care," DeFranco previously told MassLive.com. "If we had single-payer and people had good care for the first 40 or 50 years of their lives, when they hit 65 we would save so much money with Medicare because they would be healthier. That's how you save money in the long-run."

The debate over health care was reignited this week following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling affirming President Barack Obama's health care law, which is not a single-payer system.

While Brown has steadfastly opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Warren defended it, although her position on a single-payer system isn't clear.

When asked whether she supports the concept, Warren has said the focus needs to be on the current law. A report by MassLive.com on Friday noted that in a chapter of a 2008 book Warren penned with another professor, the authors said a single payer health care system was the most obvious solution for "maintaining the financial stability of families confronting illness or injury."

An FBI agent shot at Santos after he tried to ram him with his sport utility vehicle.

This is an update of a story posted at 12:40 p.m.

The Republican/Michael GordonWest Springfield Police Capt. Daniel M. Spaulding speaks to the media Saturday about a police chase Friday in a busy West Springfield shopping district.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Edwin Santos Jr., the Holyoke man who struck three police cruisers, led officers on a chase, held three people hostage and was shot at by an FBI agent, will be arraigned Monday in Springfield District Court.

Santos, 23, of 190 West St., faces charges including three counts of kidnapping, heroin and cocaine possession with intent to distribute, unarmed robbery, reckless operation, breaking and entering, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, four counts of assault and battery on a police officer, and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

At a press conference Saturday, Capt. Daniel M. Spaulding said the incident unfolded Friday at 3:30 p.m. as Holyoke police and members of the Hampden County Narcotics Task Force attempted to apprehend Santos, who was in a sport utility vehicle.

They tried to block in Santos, “a known drug offender,” in the Riverdale Shops parking lot at 935 Riverdale St., Spaulding said.

“In a desperate attempt to get away, the suspect vehicle began ramming and striking different vehicles - state and federal vehicles,” Spaulding said.

As a result, Spaulding said a federal agent fired at Santos.

Santos then fled the scene, driving onto Route 5, where he struck two more cars, then headed north toward Holyoke. At some point, he said, Santos’ vehicle was discovered outside an apartment complex off of Riverdale Street. Santos was later apprehended inside an apartment, where he held three people against their will, officials said.

“Luckily nobody, no police, the suspect, and no civilians, were injured at all in the incident,” Spaulding said.

“We’re satisfied that the incident’s concluded . . . The suspect was the only target of the investigation,” he added.

According to a press release issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, all FBI shooting incidents are reviewed in relation to agency policy.

The agent’s name was not released; the FBI did not release additional information on Saturday.

Spaulding said in addition to the FBI, the shooting is being probed by the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office.

Hampden Country District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said the FBI agent fired at the car when Santos drove directly at him.

According to a brief statement by special agent Greg Comcowich of the FBI office in Boston, the unnamed agent discharged his weapon while “assisting in a local police matter.”

State police are continuing to investigate, along with federal agencies. The charges were filed by West Springfield police.

“It was a drug investigation. Circumstances brought it here to West Springfield. Unfortunately, when people attempt to get away, and are desperate to get away, you don’t know what they’re going to do,” Spaulding said.

Staff writer Patrick Johnson contributed to this report.

Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed reforms that continue to push for permanent housing for homeless families but tighten criteria for applicants, with a goal of reducing the reliance on hotels for shelter.

The Republican/Dave RobackRon Teji, manager of the Quality Inn on Riverdale Road in West Springfield, sits in his office on Friday.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Ron Teji earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern New Hampshire, expecting to cater to a high- to mid-end crowd of hotel guests who had dietary concerns and preferences about extra towels.

Instead, for the past three years, Teji has achieved a de facto master’s degree in social work as the manager of the Quality Inn in West Springfield, where state officials have turned the former tourist stopover into a shelter - like dozens of motels and hotels across the state that have gone through a metamorphosis as homeless families have skyrocketed and the state’s well-meaning programs have failed.

A “No rooms available” sign pasted on the door of the Quality Inn recently is not precisely right.

Teji said there are 114 rooms in the building on Riverdale Street and they are at about 97 percent capacity. Of the remaining handful of rooms, Teji said he needs to keep them available for the inevitable new wave of families who apply for emergency housing through the state Department of Transitional Assistance when they lose apartments through unemployment or other woes.

“I cannot mix the two populations. They are too different,” Teji said, of the homeless and tourists.

He spends his days working with a state employee to get tenants employment, free lunches for their children through the local school system, job training and other services.

“Anytime someone leaves from here, I am happy. But I know there are many families who will come here to take their places,” Teji said, conceding that entering into a contract with the state offers slightly lower than market rates but consistently high occupancy. “It is a business.”

The latest state-issued figures indicate that the number of homeless families living in shelter hotels has risen over the past year, despite a public uproar and the death of a six-week-old living with his family in a hotel in 2010.

In West Springfield, for instance, the numbers of homeless families living in hotels rose from 81 earlier this year to 106, according to number provided by the state as of June 19. The numbers of children housed in hotels in that city jumped from 132 to 180. The total number of homeless families across the state has grown from 1,299 earlier this year to 1,597, according to a spokeswoman at the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

In western Massachusetts, Chicopee’s numbers went from 170 to 141; Holyoke’s crept up from 129 to 138; Greenfield’s went from 23 to 33.

A state official said Massachusetts is committed to assisting families because of its status as a “right to shelter” state, which is unique across the nation. The closest model is New York City, where homeless families also cannot be denied shelter.

“We’re obligated to place them. That’s where this all starts,” said associate director of housing stabilization for the state Department of Housing & Community Development, Robert I. Pulster. “There are no families in Massachusetts living under bridges or in cars,” as a result, he said, estimating there are approximately 3,600 hundred homeless families across the state.

Teji and tenants recently interviewed have said many families are moving on, but there are always families to take their places.

“I’d say 10 families moved out over the past couple of weeks, but it’s like a revolving door: there’s always someone else waiting,” said Juan Cruz, 38, an out-of-work restaurant chef, who has lived at the Quality Inn with his wife, Leslie, and two children, since May.

“This is my first experience in a shelter,” he said. “I’m hoping I’m not going to be one of those people who’s stuck here for more than a year, but at the same time I’m not going to criticize a system that’s trying to help me and my family.”

The state dumped $40 million into a so-called “Housing First” initiative called HomeBASE to much fanfare last year.

While advocates lauded the effort, it was something of a flop, since case workers had to all but shut the doors on a “household assistance” program that offered some families money for rent, rather than placing them in hotels. The program provided $4,000 annually to eligible families with existing, if unstable, living arrangements (often with family members), and rental assistance at a maximum of $700 per month, capped at $8,000 annually over three years.

The result: Thousands of families were stifled in one-room hotel living arrangements with no end in sight. Tenants at the Quality Inn and Teji said they are under the impression that July will bring sunnier skies for the homeless, in that reforms proposed by Gov. Deval L. Patrick will come to bear along with an infusion of $40 million proffered in the state budget for the new fiscal year, which begins Sunday.

Patrick has proposed reforms that continue to push for permanent housing for homeless families but tighten criteria for applicants, with a goal of reducing the reliance on hotels for shelter.

As opposed to opening the doors to all who had young children and dubious housing arrangements, as in the last round, the future assistance would prospectively focus on victims of domestic violence; victims of natural disasters; those experiencing a substantial safety risk; or who are evicted through no fault of the family.

West Springfield state Sen. James T. Welch also supports tighter residency requirements that current rules that he says invite people from other states to move to Massachusetts specifically for the shelter benefits.

“We don’t want the problems of New York, New Jersey, Maryland and other places,” Welch said.

While many members of the state legislature are in favor of compassionate treatment of the homeless, he said, there are a strident few who refuse to tighten the requirements. “If you’re here for something for nothing, how many people will get in line?”

For instance, a man who declined to give his name standing next to Cruz at the Quality Inn said he was awaiting the birth of a baby boy with his girlfriend in a rooming house in New York state, so they decided to move to Massachusetts a few months ago for better housing. He, too, did not complain about the cramped quarters, but said he hoped to move quickly up the list for more permanent housing.

“Everyone wants to be next,” he said with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Cruz was eating up precious minutes on his phone conducting an Internet search for a new job as a cook.

“I could do this!” he exclaimed to the group.

Pulster said it costs the state approximately $3,000 per family, per month, to house them in hotels.

Organizers expected more than 30,000 people to attend fireworks in Szot Park.

CHICOPEE – Members of the Tardy family claimed a prime fireworks-watching spot in Szot Park with folding chairs and a picnic blanket before 4 p.m. Saturday, nearly 6 hours before the first shell of the pyrotechnic display was due to explode.

“With the last name Tardy, we have to be early,” said Kelly Tardy of Palmer who attended the Chicopee Fest of All with husband Jerome; daughters Sydney, 14, Payton, 10, and Reagan, 8; and Jerome’s parents Roger and Mary of Chicopee.

Their shady spot was about 200 yards from where technicians set up the display. It was also just steps from their parking spot.

“The closer you are to your car, the less stuff you have to lug,” Kelly Tardy said.

Organizers expected more than 30,000 people to attend fireworks in Szot Park.

The Fest-ofAll continues Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with food and music. There is no admission charge.

“All the thanks really have to go to the sponsors and the volunteers,” said Daniel F. Woodill, chairman of Fest of All 2012 and recreation supervisor for the Chicopee Parks and Recreation Department. “All the volunteers are sticking with it and working hard. It’s going to be a long day.”

Knowing that temperatures would be in the 90s Saturday, afternoon organizers stocked up with four shipping pallets of bottled water.

Despite the heat, Woodill said 180 runners participated in the event’s road race Saturday morning, and that was more people than participated in the 2011 race.

The event boasted 20 food vendors, Woodill said. He expected their business to pick after the sun went down and it cooled off a little.

Kielbasa dogs and the Polish platter were big sellers at the Millie’s Pierogi booth, said employee Rose Eldridge. The famous Millie’s is located just two miles away from the park on Broadway.

“We have a wonderful time at all our fairs,” said Eldridge, a Chicopee resident. “But this one is special because it is so close to home.”

Melha Shriners were using the Fest-of-All as an opportunity to talk about Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield and to recruit new members for their organization, said David Duncan, a potentate’s aide in the organization.

“We have got some of our vehicles here and free dolls for the kids,” Duncan said. “We have had six or eight potential new members express interest. It has to start somewhere, doesn’t it.”



All the break-ins occurred overnight. In one case, a victim had $300 in rent money stolen.

LUDLOW – There have been nine reported car break-ins or attempted break-ins in the Downtown and West Side neighborhoods since Wednesday, Ludlow Police Sgt. Daniel J. Valadas said Saturday night.

All the break-ins occurred overnight. In one case, a victim had $300 in rent money stolen, Valadas said. Others had wallets, video game systems, coins, GPS units and power tools taken.

Many, but not all, the victims had left their car doors unlocked.

The break-ins occurred on the following streets: Prospect Street, Winsor Street, Motyka Street, Rogers Avenue, Loopley Street, Wedgwood Street, West Orchard Street, Atlantic Street and Guertin Street.

Police are asking anyone who sees or hears anything suspicious like the interior lights lit in a parked car to call them at (413) 583-8305. Police are also asking people not to leave things in their cars and to lock their cars.

The driver was out of the car when firefighters arrived at about 7 p.m. But his pickup truck was on its roof with a small fire in the engine compartment.

WESTHAMPTON – A young male driver was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton with minor injuries following a rollover crash in the area of 300 Southampton Road in Westhampton, town Fire Chief Christopher W. Norris said.

The driver was out of the car when firefighters arrived at about 7 p.m. But his pickup truck was on its roof with a small fire in the engine compartment.

Norris said Westhampton Police are looking for a second vehicle that might have caused the crash.

There are few details at this time, but Holyoke Police Sgt. Kevin Thomas says there were two victims, and that they both suffered wounds to their upper torso. A third individual, the suspect in the incident, also suffered a puncture wound to the upper torso.

HOLYOKE - Three people are being treated at area hospitals after a stabbing in the vicinity of 214 Pine Street around 9 p.m. Saturday.

There are few details at this time, but Holyoke Police Sgt. Kevin Thomas says there were two victims, and that they both suffered wounds to the upper torso.

A third individual, the suspect in the incident, also suffered a puncture wound to the upper torso, Thomas says.

Their identities have not been released and there's no word on their conditions.

The suspect will be charged with two counts of assault and battery with means of a dangerous weapon, Thomas says.

CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of The Republican and MassLive.com, reports the suspect was on the run for about 45 minutes before being apprehended by police.

Below is raw video of the scene shot by 22News.

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The 28-year-old Thomas was born in Spain and raised there and in Massachusetts.

AP photoAlec Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas

NEW YORK (AP) — Alec Baldwin and his yoga instructor fiancee tied the knot Saturday in a New York City church, with a guest list that included family and famous Hollywood pals.

Baldwin, 54, and Hilaria Thomas, 28, married at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in a Catholic ceremony performed by the Rev. George Deas. His "30 Rock" co-star Tina Fey, actress Mariska Hargitay, director Woody Allen, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Baldwin's actor-brother, Stephen, were among those in attendance.

Thomas wore a silk magnolia Amsale gown with cap sleeves and a keyhole back neckline accented with crystal buttons. Baldwin's suit was designed by Tom Ford.

The two began dating last year and became in engaged in April. Baldwin was previously married to actress Kim Basinger; they have a daughter, Ireland, who attended the wedding Saturday in a slate silk chiffon gown also designed by Amsale.

The reception was being held at New York University's Kimmel Center.

The "Rock of Ages" actor warmly received congratulations from well-wishing fans on his way in for the service, said his friend and publicist, Matthew Hiltzik.

Hours before the ceremony, Baldwin tweeted lines from an Emily Dickenson poem. One read: "Was bridal e'er like this? A paradise, the host, And cherubim and seraphim The most familiar guest."

The wedding came about a week after Baldwin and a news photographer got into a scuffle outside of a courthouse where the actor was believed to have been picking up a marriage license. Baldwin and the photographer traded barbs over who shoved whom; no arrests were made.

Emails show Penn State's former president Graham Spanier agreed not to take allegations of sex abuse against ex-assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky to authorities but worried university officials would be "vulnerable" for failing to report it, CNN reports.

In this photo combo, at left, in an Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Penn State president Graham Spanier walks on the field before an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa. At right, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse in custody after being found guilty of multiple charges of child sexual abuse in Bellefonte, Pa., Friday, June 22, 2012. CNN says it has seen emails showing Spanier agreed not to take allegations of sex abuse against Sandusky to authorities but worried they'd be "vulnerable" for failing to report it. CNN says the emails followed a graduate assistant's 2001 report of seeing Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a shower. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Emails show Penn State's former president Graham Spanier agreed not to take allegations of sex abuse against ex-assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky to authorities but worried university officials would be "vulnerable" for failing to report it, a news organization has reported.

The emails followed a graduate assistant's 2001 report he saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the team locker room shower, CNN reported. The existence of the emails was first reported earlier this month by NBC.

The emails show athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz intended to report the allegation, then reconsidered. Spanier responded that he was "supportive" of their plan, but he worried they might "become vulnerable for not having reported it."

Sandusky was convicted this month of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys. The scandal led to the ouster of Spanier and revered coach Joe Paterno and charges against Curley and Schultz, who are accused of perjury for their grand jury testimony and failing to properly report suspected child abuse. Spanier hasn't been charged.

The timing of their change in plans — coming after Curley's discussion with Paterno — raises questions about whether the coach was more involved than he said in the decision.

The CNN report cites an email from Schultz to Curley on Feb. 26, 2001, 16 days after graduate assistant Mike McQueary told veteran coach Joe Paterno about the shower assault. Schultz suggests bringing the allegation to the attention of Sandusky, Sandusky's charity and the Department of Welfare, which investigates suspected child abuse, according to the report.

But the next night, Curley sent an email to Spanier, saying that after thinking about it more and talking to Paterno, he was "uncomfortable" with that plan and wanted to work with Sandusky before contacting authorities, the report said.

If Sandusky is cooperative, Curley's email said, "we would work with him. .... If not, we do not have a choice and will inform the two groups," according to the report.

Spanier wrote back and agreed with that approach, calling it "humane and a reasonable way to proceed," according to the report. But he also worried about the consequences.

"The only downside for us is if message isn't 'heard' and acted upon and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it, but that can be assessed down the road," the email said, according to CNN.

Spanier's attorney didn't immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Saturday.

The timing of their change in plans — coming after Curley's discussion with Paterno — raises questions about whether the coach was more involved than he said in the decision.

Wick Sollers, the lawyer for the Paterno family, said in a statement Saturday that it would be inappropriate for the family to comment on the contents of the emails because the family didn't possess them.

"To be clear, the emails in question did not originate with Joe Paterno or go to him as he never personally utilized email," Sollers said.

Schultz and Curley's lawyers on Saturday echoed recent comments by Gov. Tom Corbett about the need for a solid case before charging Sandusky. Corbett began the investigation in 2009 when he was attorney general.

"For Curley, Schultz, Spanier and Paterno, the responsible and 'humane' thing to do was, like Governor Corbett, to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague, but troubling allegations," the lawyers said. "Faced with tough situations, good people try to do their best to make the right decisions."

Paterno, ousted by the school's board of trustees for what was called his "failure of leadership" surrounding allegations against Sandusky, died of lung cancer in January. After Sandusky's arrest, Paterno said through a spokesman that he reported the allegation to the head of his department and "that was the last time the matter was brought to my attention until this investigation and I assumed that the men I referred it to handled the matter appropriately."

Sollers, the Paterno family lawyer, said Saturday that Paterno testified truthfully and to the best of his recollection to the grand jury. He said Paterno believed the matter would be "thoroughly and professionally investigated" and that the coach "did not interfere with or attempt to compromise any investigation."

Schultz, 62, and Curley, 58, deny the allegations and have asked a judge to dismiss the charges. A status conference for their case is scheduled for July 11.

Spanier sued Penn State in May to try to get copies of his email traffic from 1998 to 2004, citing the pending investigation being conducted on the university by former FBI director Louis Freeh. Two weeks ago, lawyers for Penn State asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit and said the attorney general's office, which is prosecuting Curley and Schultz, had asked them not to provide Spanier with the emails.

In a statement released Saturday night, the school said the public and Penn State will receive the Freeh report at the same time, and that the Board of Trustees and administration will discuss the report when it is issued.

According to the Boston Herald, al-Saud's lawyers say in court papers filed Thursday that his 2006 departure from the U.S. relieved him of the responsibility to fulfill his probation.

BOSTON — A member of Saudi Arabia's royal family wants a federal judge in the U.S. to throw out an arrest warrant issued after he violated his probation.

Bader al-Saud pleaded guilty in Massachusetts in 2005 to misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide after admitting killing a man with his sport utility vehicle in Boston in 2002 while he was under the influence of alcohol.

Al-Saud served more than seven months in jail. Upon his release, he was escorted to Logan International Airport by federal officials and left the country.

According to the Boston Herald, al-Saud's lawyers say in court papers filed Thursday that his 2006 departure from the U.S. relieved him of the responsibility to fulfill his probation.

He left the country voluntarily rather than face deportation. It's unclear whether al-Saud intends to return to the U.S. Efforts by the newspaper to reach his lawyers were unsuccessful.

Despite an outstanding pitching performance by Josh Beckett, Boston lost 3-2 in the 11th inning on the road in Seattle.

APSeattle Mariners' Casper Wells, center, and Ichiro Suzuki, left, are greeted by Mariners' Justin Smoak as they score in the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Seattle.

SEATTLE — Chone Figgins' sacrifice fly in the 11th inning was deep enough for Dustin Ackley to beat Cody Ross' throw to the plate and the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Saturday night.

With the Red Sox's infield playing in and expecting a possible squeeze bunt from Figgins, Seattle manager Eric Wedge let his little-used utility player hit. Figgins came through with a line drive off Boston closer Alfredo Aceves (0-5) that Ross caught cleanly in right field. He made a strong throw, but the ball bounced before getting to the plate and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia could not pick it cleanly.

Ackley started the rally with a one-out single and advanced to third on Miguel Olivo's base hit.

Shawn Kelley (2-2) pitched the 11th for the victory, but the bigger performance was Seattle closer Tom Wilhelmsen working two scoreless innings.

John Jaso snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run double off Boston starter Josh Beckett in the sixth inning for Seattle. The Red Sox tied the game in the seventh thanks to an infield groundout from Ryan Kalish that scored Adrian Gonzalez from third and a passed ball by Olivo that rolled to the backstop and allowed Will Middlebrooks to score the tying run.

Olvio's mistake was forgotten when he dropped a two-strike single into right field that allowed Ackley to reach third base in the 11th. Boston pitched out initially to Figgins believing he could be dropping a bunt, but the second pitch from Aceves was lined deep enough for Ackley to tag and score. It was just the 10th RBI of the season for Figgins.

Boston had a chance in the 10th inning. Dustin Pedroia led off with a single after going hitless in his previous 15 at-bats. David Ortiz followed with sharp base-hit back up the middle and quickly the Red Sox were threatening. Wilhelmsen got ahead of Saltalamacchia 0-2 and finally struck him out on a 2-2 breaking ball. Gonzalez then hit a grounder that bounced off the backside of the mound and handcuffed Ackley and kept the Mariners from turning an inning-ending double play. But Wilhelmsen got a weak grounder from Middlebrooks and the go-ahead run was left at third base.

Wilhelmsen worked more than one inning for the eighth time this season, but the previous seven came before Wilhelmsen took over as Seattle's closer. Kelley struck out a pair during an easy 11th inning.

Wedge called a team meeting before Saturday's game after the Mariners' meek performance a night earlier when Boston right-hander Aaron Cook tossed a two-hitter and needed just 81 pitches for the complete game. Wedge's concern was specifically about the Mariners offense and for five innings against Beckett, his message wasn't being received.

Olivo got Seattle's first hit with two outs in the fifth, but it was the sixth when Seattle finally got its offense going. Ichiro Suzuki singled and followed by stealing second to get into scoring position. Casper Wells walked and Kyle Seager followed with a pop up down the left-field line that both left fielder Daniel Nava and shortstop Mike Aviles chased after. The pair miscommunicated making long runs and the ball fell just fair in between the pair.

Jaso then turned on a 1-0 pitch from Beckett and lined it off the right-field wall on the fly. It might have scored only one run had the ball not hit hard enough to bounce back toward home plate and past Ross, allowing Wells to score from second.

Boston's only offense came in the seventh with a single by Gonzalez and a broken-bat blooper from Middlebrooks that fell just on the outfield grass for a hit. Ross then bounced a single into center field to load the bases. Kalish's grounder to second was enough to score Gonzalez from third and hit slowly enough to avoid a double play. League didn't get any help from Olivo, who let an inside fastball hit off his glove and bounce to the backstop allowing Middlebrooks to score the tying run on the passed ball. League eventually got groundouts from Aviles and Pedroia to get out of the inning.

Seattle relied heavily on its bullpen after starter Erasmo Ramirez left in the third inning with an undisclosed injury after retiring the first eight batters. With two outs in the inning, Ramirez threw a first-pitch strike to Boston's No. 9 hitter Aviles. After throwing the pitch, Ramirez signaled for Olivo, who then signaled to the dugout for the trainer.

Notes: Boston designated OF Darnell McDonald for assignment Saturday, clearing the needed roster spot for Beckett to return from the disabled list. McDonald played in 38 games this season. ... Seattle entered the night hitting .197 at home this season, the worst home batting average in baseball.

A fire broke out a short time ago inside a one-story brick garage in the rear of the Outing Park Apartments complex at 65 Oswego Street.

SPRINGFIELD - A fire broke out a short time ago inside a one-story brick garage in the rear of the Outing Park Apartments at 65 Oswego Street.

The fire was quickly extinguished and it doesn't appear anyone was injured. Firefighters remain on scene at this time.

The blaze was reported shortly after 2:35 a.m.

The apartment complex is within the Outing Park Historic District.

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General Devens, who had been recently wounded at Fair Oaks, praised the 10th Massachusetts for the bravery of its troops whose actions at the battle"will live among the proudest feats of military daring."

Currier & Ives depiction of the July 1, 1862, Battle of Malvern Hill in which Western Mass. troops fought

War news that was confusing, inaccurate and eventually disastrous was daily fare for readers of The Republican in the first week of July 1862.

As the region made plans for a massive show of patriotism on the Fourth of July reports of “a great battle at Richmond” dominated the headlines. In fact, there wasn’t a single great battle, but a series of six individual battles in a week that would become known as the Seven Days Battles. They would end on July 1, at Malvern Hill and once again the 10th Massachusetts would fight valiantly. But it was several days before the fate of the local boys would be learned.

The month began with speculation that Gen. McClellan’s troops in Virginia would soon capture the Confederate capital of Richmond and that Vicksburg “is likely soon to be added to the list of conquered cities in the southwest.” That actually would happen on the Fourth of July, but it would be a year later in 1863. Richmond’s capture was much further away – April 1865. The union troops had been pushed by rebel Gen. Robert E. Lee clear to the end of the peninsula at a cost of a combined 36,000 casualties to both armies.

Springfield & The Civil War

We at The Republican are launching a four-year project to tell the story of how our community coped with 48 months of war, from April of 1861 to April of 1865.

On the first Sunday of each month we will run a report of what was happening here 150 years ago during that month.

by Wayne Phaneuf, Executive Editor

• Parts 1 - 9 -- April 1861 - December 1861

• Part 10 -- January 1862: Storm-ravaged Springfield troops live to fight another day

• Part 11 -- February 1862: 1st battle of the 27th Massachusetts a 'glorious victory'

• Part 12 -- March 1862: Lincoln inches toward Emancipation, Monitor battles Merrimac, Springfield regiments fight on as Civil War ends first year

• Part 13 -- April 1862: Springfield native unsung hero of Shiloh, slavery ends in Washington D.C.

• Part 14 -- May 1862: Land mines, Merrimac destroyed, Lincoln deals with slavery questions, Battle of Fair Oaks

• Part 15 -- Civil War June 1862: Springfield troop 'badly cut up' at Battle of Fair Oaks, where balloon corps debuts

• Introducing the project

When Charles C. Fulton, the editor of the Baltimore American and agent for the Associated Press, was arrested under orders of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton for alleged breach of censorship, The Republican editorialized about “struggling with only imperfect accounts.” A news blackout lasted nearly a week.

The advertising, which took up the entire front page of The Republican, also mirrored the pervasiveness of the war. There were numerous ads for lawyers claiming they could get pension, bounty, back pay and death benefits from the government for nominal fees. One ad, under “chances for business” touted a work-at-home kit that would supply everything needed to manufacture and sell up to 50 Wilcox’ Patent Artificial Legs. Along with these pitches in the July 1, 1862, paper was a recruiting ad noting that “this will probably be your last chance to enlist in a new regiment.”

A letter to the newspaper from Col. Horace C. Lee, commander of the Massachusetts 27th and former Springfield city clerk, added a dose of reality when he wrote:

“I notice in your paper an advertisement for recruits for the 27th offering as an inducement the regiment is to have ‘no long and tiresome marches or exposure in damp cold tents.’ ... I want no soldiers enlisted under my command who come expecting to live in comfortable barracks.”

Lee went on to spell out the trials and tribulations in great detail of fighting a war.

The very next day, July 2, The Republican reported President Lincoln, who was pretty familiar with the situation at the front, issued a call for 300,000 new troops. Every city and town in Massachusetts would be given a quota. Added to the fireworks and parades of the Glorious Fourth was a push for patriots to answer the call to duty. There would now be plenty of chances to join.

What had been planned as a traditional celebration of the nation’s birthday turned into a giant “patriotic meeting” to respond to the president’s call for troops. At sunrise, noon and sunset 34 guns were fired in salute of the Fourth. The festivities lasted 16 hours.

Around 9 a.m. the city fire company’s first new steam engine “Monitor,” acquired that week for the sum of $2,800 (about $63,000 in today’s dollars), put on an impressive show at the Union Block on Man Street. At 10 a.m. a group of 1,000 workers from the Springfield Armory marched to City Hall to join the scores of people already there to discuss efforts to enlist new soldiers.

Lincoln’s close friend George Ashmun called the crowd to order and was followed by patriotic speeches given by Mayor Stephen Bemis, Gen. Charles Devens, Dr. C.C. Chaffee, and Judge Reuben Atwater Chapman, who had been martyred abolitionist John Brown’s lawyer.

Devens was introduced as a participant in the fierce battles of Ball’s Bluff and Fair Oaks. The audience rose and welcomed him with three cheers. The general, who had been recently wounded at Fair Oaks, praised the 10th Massachusetts for the bravery of its troops whose actions at the battle “will live among the proudest feats of military daring.”

Several of the speakers, Devens included, warned against any foreign intervention in the war by either France or England.

After the speeches much of the crowd headed for Hampden Park to take in the trotting races during the afternoon and then headed for Federal Square at the Armory for more speeches, patriotic music and fireworks. Extra trains brought in participants from outlying towns and ran special late hours to bring them home.

The Republican put out an “EXTRA” edition on July 5, carrying more details of the battles, especially the Malvern Hill engagement. The rebels suffered horrendous losses as they assaulted the entrenched Union troops and were mowed down by artillery. Release of these details might be explained in the short item that stated:

“The editors of the country have been notified that the late restrictions on the publication of war news are removed and everything relating to the war may be published, except what pertains to movement of troops or other matters that would give information to the enemy. This is sensible – at last.”

It wasn’t until the July 9th edition of The Republican came out that the people of Western Massachusetts discovered what had happened to their friends and loved ones of the 10th Regiment on July 1. There were eight listed as killed, 58 wounded and seven missing. Lt. H.A. Keith, acting adjutant, added the following information to the list:

“We cleaned out, in the early part of the action, three regiments of the rebels, totally annihilating them. They made three attempts to rally, but failed in each. We next routed a brigade at long range, say 600 yards, cutting them to pieces with our rifles. Our fire throughout was terribly effective, and Gen. Palmer now calls us “his sharpshooters.”

Under the heading “The Union Must be Preserved” Gov. John A. Andrew issued a specific call to every town for its quota. It appeared in the July 9 newspaper. Of the 786 men sought in Hampden County, Springfield was responsible for 287, Chicopee, 81, Westfield, 75, and Holyoke, 53. Hampshire County had to provide 472, Franklin, 397 and Berkshire, 607.

fileMassachusetts Gov. John Andrew

fileCol. Henry Briggs of the 10th Mass. was promoted to brigadier general.

In what has become the Internet's latest viral video, the boys of teddiefilms.com communicate fans' gripes over George Lucas' tweaks in "The Star Wars That I Used to Know."

Are you a Star Wars fan who's angry at director George Lucas for revising parts of the original series - including creating new dialogue and changing scenes - in the process of putting out new releases of the classic sci-fi saga? If so, you've found your battle cry - that is if you're also a fan of the artist Gotye.

In what's become the Internet's latest viral video, the boys of teddiefilms.com communicate fans' gripes in "The Star Wars That I Used to Know."

The video has been viewed more than 1.78 million times on YouTube.

"Among the complaints voiced in the video: a lack of practical effects in the updated versions, an overuse of graphics and Anakin being portrayed by subpar actors in the prequels," The Hollywood Reporter writes.

Also, a line in the video makes reference to a scene involving Han Solo and alien bounty hunter Greedo that was altered for the release of the original 1977 film on Blu-ray.

As THR states: "A Star Wars: Episode IV scene was altered for the Blu-ray edition to show Han Solo (Harrison Ford) shooting the alien Greedo only after first being fired upon. (In the original, Han fired the first shot, which many fans said was important to establishing his roguish character.)"

The voice in the video is of Anakin Skywalker, followed by Darth Vader.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft would like to see a franchise relocate to London.

APNew England Patriots owner Robert Kraft would like to see a franchise in London on a permanent basis.

There are certain things that are fun to talk about but should always remain as lost items in an idea book.

Robots, movies starring Matthew McConaughey, and having an NFL team based out of London full-time are all things that immediately come to mind when pondering items of this nature. But, like the unfortunate existence of McConaughey, if New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has his way, London will become a reality and the NFL will have to start advertising its games as being at “1 p.m./noon central/7 p.m. greenwhich mean.”

Undeterred by that awkward mouthful, Kraft has been in London promoting the Patriots International Series game against the St. Louis Rams, scheduled to take place Week 8, and let local media know that he is in favor of a team setting up shop full-time across The Pond.

"I personally think we should have a franchise in London and that is something I am going to push for," Kraft said. "I think I said that the last time we were over here in 2009 and before this next decade is out, I hope we have a team here. I think that would be right for the NFL and this fan base has proven they deserve it."

It is true that the annual contest has averaged nearly 82,000 fans over the last five years, but you could put a game in Agency, Montana (population 348) once a year and sell it out. The game is currently a novelty. Would Wembley Stadium stay packed over the course of a season, or a decade down the road?

And what happens if the team is a loser without much talent? Would fans keep supporting it? Because the reality is that if a team does set up shop in England, Cleveland will end up looking like Waikiki Beach next to London.

Why would a player want to live across seas for six months of the year, especially if they have young children or any other people they want to see now and then.

And even if there are players willing to embark on that kind of adventure, would those same trailblazers continue to feel the same when they realize that taxes are higher and gas in America is a bargain compared to the prices in England ($10/gallon)?

All that and we haven't even broached the topic of travel. "Come to London, where every away game is like to flying to Seattle ... on a good week," isn't exactly a compelling sales pitch.

Assuming we haven't weeded out the pack, what happens when England starts denying players entry into the country for having legal problems? On the flip side, what would happen if a visiting player was arrested in England and wasn't allowed to return home?

Those issues are bound to come up at some point.

If those theoretical nightmares aren't a big enough nightmare, what about scheduling? Would every team forced to visit London receive a bye the next week?

Is that fair to the London team since it would be dealing with those issues throughout the year? Would they play eight home games and then become stationed in America for the second half of the season?

Too many questions, not enough answers. It’s a fun idea until you really start thinking about it.

Maybe the league will get creative enough for this to work. You never know, even McConaughey was good that one time in “The Lincoln Lawyer.”

Just as the federal government has picked individual companies to invest in, so has the Massachusetts government - under both Romney and Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick.

AP Photo | Mary AltafferIn this May 31, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility in Fremont, Calif. Mitt Romney slams President Barack Obama for using taxpayer dollars to pick "winner and losers" among green energy firms rather than allowing them to rise and fall in the free market. Yet as governor of Massachusetts, Romney backed a state program that targeted investments to individual green startup companies in hopes of boosting jobs and the state's revenues.

Coming from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, “Solyndra” is an epithet. Romney uses the solar energy company — which received $535 million in taxpayer loan guarantees before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and laying off all its employees in September 2011 — as an example of President Barack Obama’s misuse of taxpayer money.

The Obama campaign has shot back at Romney: “Konarka,” a solar energy company in Massachusetts where Romney, as governor, held a press conference touting a state government loan to the company. Konarka has since gone bankrupt.

The debate draws attention to an issue that resonates with Massachusetts taxpayers. Although alternative energies such as solar and wind comprise a tiny percentage of the energy generated in the state, the federal and state governments have made expanding the use of renewable energy a priority. Because these types of energies are not yet cost effective, the industries rely on government subsidies to develop alternative energy technology and encourage its use.

Just as the federal government has picked individual companies to invest in, so has the Massachusetts government – under both Romney and Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick. Under both governors, the results have been mixed. The failures, like Solyndra and Konarka, have reignited debate over government involvement in developing alternative energy technology. Some say the failures should serve as a warning to government not to pick winners and losers. Others warn against judging the entire industry.

“The renewable energy industry is still a developing industry,” said Stephan Wollenburg, green energy program director for the Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, which supports the development of renewable energy. “The federal government has a history of incentivizing developing industries that it knows could play a major role in its economy in the future. Solyndra was one bet where it didn’t pan out.”

New England Investments
On the federal level, the loan program that the Department of Energy used to fund Solyndra has funded 25 other projects, including three in New England.

The Department of Energy guaranteed a $150 million loan to 1366 Technologies in Lexington to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Massachusetts and build a second plant elsewhere. The company, which did not return calls, is working to improve the manufacturing process of solar technology and has said the technology should be operational by 2013.

The Department of Energy also funded two wind farms in rural areas. It gave a partial guarantee of a $168.9 million loan to the Granite Reliable Power Windpark, a 99 megawatt wind park in Coos County, N.H., and a $102 million loan guarantee to Record Hill Wind for a 50 megawatt wind power plant near Roxbury, Maine. Both started producing power in January.

According to the Department of Energy, information about loan repayment and the length of the loans is private because it is business sensitive. Rob Gardiner, president of Independence Wind, who built Record Hill Wind with independent Maine Senate candidate Angus King, said the plant is performing “a little bit above projections,” and has made its first quarterly loan repayment. The company has 18 to 20 years to repay the loan, Gardiner said.

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On a state level, most investments in specific companies go through the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. The fund, created in 1998, is paid for by a tax on electricity consumers and currently managed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Under Romney, the fund was managed by the quasi-public Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

According to a list of investments provided by the center dating back to late 2002, Massachusetts currently has $16.6 million invested in renewable energy companies. The state put $22 million into investments that it has since exited from. That money went to 34 companies – three before Romney took office, five under Romney and the rest under Patrick.

Of those, three companies have filed for bankruptcy: Konarka (which got $4 million from the trust), Beacon Power ($2.3 million) and Evergreen Solar ($10 million). At least two others have struggled. A123 Systems, which makes batteries for electric cars and received $5 million, is struggling after a recall of battery packs and a smaller-than-expected market for electric cars, according to news reports. The biofuels company Qteros (which got $450,000) replaced its CEO, laid off employees in 2011, and then closed its Chicopee plant, though the company continues to operate.

Other companies have been more successful. Acumentrics, which received $1.5 million from the state, has been deploying fuel cells to the U.S. military and recently installed a commercial fuel cell in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park. Lilliputian Systems, which received $1.6 million, will this year start marketing a fuel cell charger for smart phones. A $250,000 state grant helped entice TPI Composites to build a wind turbine manufacturing center in Fall River. FastCAP Systems, which received $300,000, was recognized by Patrick for developing a new energy storage device for hybrid vehicles.

So far, the fund has seen final returns from just five investments, including Beacon Power and one of two Konarka loans. Three of those investments resulted in a gain and two ended in a loss, with a bottom line loss of $1.9 million.

Patrick Cloney, CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for the past three years, said state funding fills a gap in the private financing market, which is hesitant to back early-stage research. The state backs technology development and provides incentives for companies ready to manufacture to remain in Massachusetts. Cloney said it is early to assess returns since most investments are long-term. But he pointed to national standards for venture capital funds. According to the National Venture Capital Association, 40 percent of investments fail, 40 percent produce moderate returns, and 20 percent produce high returns.

Cloney said the fund has achieved a strong reputation in the venture capital community. “The industry is actually looking to us because we’ve given them a high level of confidence in our ability to do due diligence on companies,” Cloney said. “They look to use as one of the experts in the room.”

The Renewable Energy Trust invested $2.17 million in five companies during Romney’s term: Nanoptek, Lilliputian, Premium Power, Ze-gen and Safe Hydrogen. The investments under Romney have drawn particular scrutiny because Romney has said he does not believe government should be picking winners and losers.

Romney’s campaign pointed out that the former governor actually diverted money from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. Romney nearly faced a lawsuit when he took $17 million from the Renewable Energy Trust to balance the state budget. Romney took another $15 million from the trust to create the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in renewable energy projects in Massachusetts – using the money for the same purpose, but moving control from the state to private investors.

“Governor Romney doesn’t believe that government should play venture capitalist,” said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. “During his term in office, he took the money away from government bureaucrats and gave it to private venture capitalists to manage.” The Romney campaign has pointed out that the money in the fund was earmarked for renewable energy investment and could not easily be diverted.

However, Romney at the time made statements supporting the use of state money to invest in specific renewable energy companies. At a January 2003 press conference announcing the private fund’s creation and touting several loans from the public trust fund, Romney said he believed the trust fund, by refocusing its assets, could “... become a major economic springboard for the Commonwealth by focusing on job creation in the renewable energy sector.”

Green Energy Fund general partner William Osborne said Romney supported that fund, and talked about its benefits to the state. “When it behooved him, he would sing its praises,” Osborne said. Osborne said Romney could have stopped the fund from going forward, but neither he nor his appointees on related boards did so.

The Massachusetts Green Energy Fund is private, as are its investments. Osborne said the fund invested in 14 companies since mid-2004 — six under Romney and eight under Patrick. So far, the fund has exited from four companies. While the fund lost money on those investments, it still owns stock in two.

It is too early to assess overall performance since most investments are for 10 years.

Osborne said the fund has met its goal of encouraging additional private money – 30 other venture capital funds – to invest in Massachusetts renewable energy companies.

More than any other company, Konarka shows the bipartisan nature of these investments. The Renewable Energy Trust approved a $1.5 million loan to Konarka on Dec. 31, 2002, in the final days of Republican Acting Governor Jane Swift’s term. In January 2003, Romney held a press conference at Konarka, where he touted the loan. Romney created the Green Energy Fund, which then invested in Konarka, buying stock in the company around 2004 or 2005, Osborne said. Under Patrick in 2008, the Renewable Energy Trust made another $2.5 million loan to Konarka.

Konarka went bankrupt in 2012.

The Debate

Government has historically subsidized all kinds of energy, through tax policy, regulatory policy, funding of research and development, and company investments. A 2011 study by Nancy Pfund, managing partner of the venture capital fund DBL Investors and Ben Healey, a Yale University graduate student, found that in the first 15 years of subsidies to each industry, average federal spending in inflation-adjusted dollars on nuclear power was $3.3 billion annually; on oil and gas, $1.8 billion; and on renewable energy, $0.4 billion.

However, the debate over the wisdom of these investments – particularly in specific companies - has raged nationally and locally.

Steve Poftak, research director of the Pioneer Institute, a free market research institute in Massachusetts, said the collapse of some high-profile government investments illustrates that government should not pick winners and losers.

“I question the government’s ability to understand these companies, pick out where best investment is,” Poftak said. “I don’t think the government is smarter than the market.”

Both the federal and state governments provide additional subsidies to the renewable energy industry through tax credits and programs like state rebates for solar energy systems. Poftak said he believes government should provide tax credits rather than specific investments. “When they go really deep into companies, you distort the market potential for big problems,” he said.

Poftak said he believes government often is not the best at assessing market forces. He argued that in the solar industry, for example, dramatic market changes – a drop in the price of polysilicon and ramped up production of solar panel components in Asia - led to the bankruptcy of Solyndra.

However, Erin Baker, director of the UMass IGERT Offshore Wind Energy Program, said investing in new technology is exactly where government should get involved. “These are sometimes long-term investments, and the private sector often is just not looking forward enough to make very long-term investments in research to develop new technology,” Baker said.

Baker said private investors are wary of the uncertainty of future government policies. In addition, technological investments are risky enough that sometimes the private sector is not interested. “(Government) should be more risk neutral, able to invest better than individual firms,” Baker said, noting that the cost is spread among a large base of taxpayers. “Sometimes it doesn’t pay off, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s why the government’s investing in the first place.”

In a recent speech, Patrick said he has “heard enough” about Solyndra and Evergreen, and argued that some failures are the cost of investment in potentially beneficial new technology.

“We are not always going to score,” Patrick said. “But we are never going to score if we don’t get in the game.”

Penny Palfrey , a 49-year-old grandmother and veteran endurance swimmer scuttled her quest early Sunday to become the first woman to swim unaided from Cuba to the Florida Keys, unable to close the gap on the last 26 miles of a more than 100-mile ocean odyssey.

• Con Ed dismisses 8,000 employees, managers take over system as talks with union break down [New York Daily News]
• 1st Japan reactor goes online since nuclear crisis [Associated Press]
• West Springfield home destroyed by fire [WWLP-22News]
• Meriden police seek person of interest in killing [Hartford Courant]
• Police and residents take to the streets in Forest Park [CBS 3 Springfield]







• For Brown, campaign an all-out family affair [Boston Globe]
• Oil wealth returning, Iraq sees malls rise [New York Times]
• In Syria, at least 85 killed by car bombing at funeral [Los Angeles Times]
• Palfrey ends Cuba-Florida swim amid strong current [Associated Press]
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