Mayor David Narkewicz will review the information with the finance director, city auditor and human resources head.

Northampton City Hall

NORTHAMPTON — With questions about spending and efficiency in several city departments still lingering in the air, Northampton is joining a select group of Massachusetts municipalities in a program designed to maximize their resources.

Northampton was one of 15 communities in the state selected recently to take part in StatNet, a system first developed in New York City that uses a wide range of data to drive down overtime costs and use city workers more efficiently. The StatNet system will look at everything from duplication of services to how many workers it takes to fix a pothole.

In its application to the program, which is run out of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, the city projected using StatNet to deploy workers more effectively, track and improve employee attendance, cross-train staff and better compare operations here with those in other communities.

Mayor David J. Narkewicz will review the information with the finance director, city auditor and human resources head. That team will then work with department heads to implement more efficient and cost-effective measures.

Since Narkewicz has taken office, the former Parking Commissioner has resigned amid dissatisfaction at City Hall about how effectively that department was run. There have also been questions about overtime in the Fire Department and the practice of borrowing city equipment in the Department of Public Works. Several city councilors also complained publicly about the director of the Council on Aging running up more than $20,000 in comp time.

Under the StatNet program, a staff person provided by the state will work with Northampton to implement a system of reviewing staff deployment, overtime and other areas.

“A lot of work we do is customer service driven,” Narkewicz said. “As mayor, I’m trying to get information on how work is done and how we spend our resources.”

The five state staffers will divide their time among the 15 communities. The program is scheduled to last five months. Once the new system is in place, City Hall and department heads will continue using it on their own.

“The bottom line for me is making sure we’re spending the taxpayers’ money as effectively and efficiently as possible,” Narkewicz said.

The dissatisfied slugger says he won't be talking anymore.

Associated PressBoston Red Sox's David Ortiz has made no secret of his unhappiness over the way his contract situation has been handled.

BOSTON - Having lit the fuse to the latest controversy over his unhappiness in Boston, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz made a pledge on Friday.

"No more talking,'' Big Papi before the series against the Yankees at Fenway Park.

Is that a promise or a threat?

Ortiz sounded more weary than angry Friday, two days after he told a Spanish-language reporter from USA Today that he felt "embarrassed'' and "humiliated'' by the way the Red Sox have treated him over his contract.

Ortiz, 36, was signed for one year at $14.575 million, a raise of more than $2 million from 2011, when he hit 29 home runs with 96 RBIs.

He has 22 homers and 55 RBIs this season. Ortiz is hitting .302 as Boston's only All-Star selection.

He has frequently made issue of his unhappiness that the club was not willing to commit to a multi-year deal. Ortiz will be a free agent after this season, and his frequently stated gripes over the contract situation make it harder and harder to think he would want to return.

Ortiz also complained that reports of clubhouse turmoil, which he considered false and contrived, had taken the fun out of playing in Boston.

Manager Bobby Valentine seemed unfazed by Ortiz' latest comments, which came on the same day he hit his 400th career home run at Oakland Wednesday.

"David has been a model citizen, as far as I'm concerned,'' said Valentine, noting the adulation of fans in Boston toward the last holdover from the 2004 world champions.

Ortiz continues to produce. Asked if his DH's complaints could cause a distraction, Valentine said that "if he was distracted in the first half of the year, maybe I'll do something to keep him distracted for the second half.''

A combination of 12 new “gas wells” and permanent capping should offer “significant improvement&#8221, according to Harlacker, vice president of environmental management at Interstate Waste/

File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanThis is a view of the South Hadley landfill, as seen in December.

SOUTH HADLEY – The selectboard has asked Director of Public Works Jim Reidy to come up with a mission statement for a new landfill advisory group on July 17, and Reidy said he is also looking into the possibility of converting gas from the landfill for energy use.

Residents of the Old Lyman Street area of town, near the landfill, have increased their complaints about odors, dust and noise since expansion of the landfill was approved in 2009.

The expansion project is not only horizontal, but vertical, with mountains of trash called “berms” visible from nearby homes.

At the most recent meeting of the selectboard, representatives from Interstate Waste, the company that runs the landfill, responded to some of the criticism and described what they were doing about it.

For the odor problem, a combination of 12 new “gas wells” and permanent capping should offer “significant improvement” by August, according to Harlacker, vice president of environmental management at Interstate Waste.

“Capping” refers to a high-density plastic that covers the landfill.

The 12 gas extraction wells were drilled down into the debris for 10 or 20 feet in April and May, said South Hadley’s Town Engineer, Dan Murphy.

Each hole is lined with a pipe eight inches in diameter and perforated toward the bottom, according to Murphy. The pipes come through the plastic capping and are topped with “header” valves.

By August, the headers should all be tied together by a network of pipes, said Murphy, and the gas will be sucked into an enclosed silo called a flare. “It’s a vacuum effect,” said Reidy.

The Interstate Waste team also addressed a complaint that on a weekend last March, the landfill did not get the six-inch “cover” of soils that it is supposed to get every day. According to the company, it was a one-time failure of equipment and communication.

A frequent complaint of neighbors is the early-morning noise of the trucks, including their back-up alarms (“beep-beep-beep”).

The town’s contract with Interstate Waste indicates that work at the landfill can begin at 6:30 a.m., though the Interstate representatives admitted that they start making preparations before that.

Selectboard member Frank DeToma asked what nobody has asked before, which is: Why can’t the work start later, around the time everyone else is going to work?

No one had a satisfactory answer, except to refer to the contract.

The fire appeared to be coming from the rear of the 2nd floor of the 2-story home in the Brightwood neighborhood.

SPRINGFIELD — Firefighters were working to put out a smoky blaze at 28 Moore St. in the city's Brightwood neighborhood early Friday night.

Just before 6:30 p.m., firefighters extinguished flames coming out of the side of the two-story house. The fire appeared to be coming from the rear of the second floor. Firefighters later were working on the roof in an effort to vent out the smoke.

The scene remained a working fire shortly after 6:30.

There was no information about injuries, the cause or the number of people living in the house.

This is a developing story and will be updated as our reporting continues.

The map below shows the approximate location of 28 Moore St., Springfield:

View 28 Moore St., Springfield in a larger map

Council President Kevin Jourdain questioned how municipal workers could have time for such an incident.

HOLYOKE — City councilors said Friday Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Moran’s premature retirement because of giving unauthorized permission for female models in sportswear to pose with department equipment at a fire station was sad and unfairly tarnished firefighters.

They also questioned how firefighters could have time for such a venture.

“That certainly is an embarrassment to the city and the department, that apparently people have that kind of free time on their hands" to misuse city resources, council President Kevin A. Jourdain said.

“The Holyoke Fire Department has a very good reputation, then something like this happens. It’s a very unfortunate slap to the whole department,” he said.

Moran retired Wednesday as deputy chief after 20 years and one month with the department. He has declined to comment.

Mayor Alex B. Morse said Thursday Moran’s retirement was related to his unauthorized permission for sportswear-clad models to pose for photographs with fire trucks, department-issued coats and boots and other equipment at department headquarters, 600 High St.

Such actions exploit women, said Councilor Rebecca Lisi, chairwoman of the council Ordinance Committee.

“It’s inappropriate, in the first place, that women were being used in that way with city property,” Lisi said.

Fire Chief John A. Pond suspended Moran for five days without pay after the June 11 incident, and the Fire Commission upheld the suspension.

Timothy Moran

It was a good sign that supervisors answered such bad judgment with appropriate discipline, Councilor at Large Brenna M. McGee said.

“The great work that our men and women of the Fire Department do on a daily basis for the city of Holyoke should not be out-shined by one individual’s actions,” McGee said.

Jourdain said he wants answers about whether other department employees bear responsibility in the incident because it was hard to believe only Moran was to blame.

The view was echoed by Anthony Soto, chairman of the council Public Safety Committee.

“It was poor judgment on (Moran’s) part. He was the supervisor, so he’s responsible for what happens on his watch. Furthermore, I don’t think he should be the only firefighter who is held responsible,” Soto said.

Morse said Moran’s retirement also was prompted by the Fire Commission’s investigation into Moran’s involvement in an incident a year ago that resulted in criminal charges brought against his brother and former acting chief, William P. Moran, Morse said.

In that case, William Moran, who was then acting fire chief, while having lunch with Timothy Moran sent a fire truck to a fake call on June 15, 2011. A clerk magistrate said that put the public in danger.

William Moran admitted on April 5 there were sufficient facts to warrant a guilty finding on a charge of making a false fire call, and he agreed to pay $500 in restitution.

A lawyer representing Timothy Moran said earlier that his client warned two firefighters at the time to ignore the call his brother made.

Upstairs resident Barbara Rosario feared her family lost everything but she was relieved her children and 3 pets got out of the house OK.

This is an update of a story originally posted at 6:41 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - A fire in a second-floor apartment on Moore Street in the city’s North End Friday night caused an estimated $80,000 damage to the two-family home and displaced a total of 12 residents, a fire official said.

The fire, reported just after 6 p.m., caused heavy fire damage to the second floor, said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant. 

The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross was called to the scene to aid the residents in finding temporary shelter.

One firefighter, Lt. Richard Martin, was taken to Baystate Medical Center as a precaution after he was overcome by the heat, Leger said.

Leger said firefighters had to battle the elements as they worked to put out the fire.

“When it gets this hot and humid, it slows them down,” Leger said. “They need to really re-hydrate themselves.”

A cooling fan was set up by one of the fire trucks and coolers of water were made available for the firefighters. A call was also put out for the department’s rehabilitation bus to help firefighters cool down at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Leger said.

Upstairs resident Barbara Rosario said she feared her family lost everything they owned in
the fire.

“We’re starting all over again from ground zero,” she said. “Everything is gone.”

The house is owned by Cruz Rosario Sr., her father-in-law, and the family has lived there for two years, she said.

She was not home at the time but her two teenage children, Felix, 18 and Mimi, 17, were. They were alerted by someone pounding on the door and were able to get out safely.

Rosario said she was relieved that their three dogs, Mufasa, Roxy and Nala, escaped safely, but the family had doubts about an aquarium of fish making it through unharmed.

Springfield police officer Gail Gethins was credited with rescuing Mufasa from the house and handing it to Rosario.

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Deputy Fire Chief David O’Connor said it was evident that someone had been living in the section of the one-story mill where the fire occurred.

File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanHolyoke Fire Department personnel head up the Mount Tom access road in July to help with the rescue of stranded hikers.

HOLYOKE - Firefighters Friday night extinguished a fire in a vacant section of a mill on Water Street.

Deputy Fire Chief David O’Connor said it was evident that someone had been living in the section of the one-story mill where the fire occurred, but there was nobody inside when firefighters responded, and nobody got hurt.

The arson squad is investigating, O’Connor said.

Firefighters reported no injuries.

The four-game set will bring the teams to the All-Star break.

Associated PressDavid Ortiz takes a bow before Friday's Yankees-Red Sox game. The slugging DH was honored for hitting his 400th career home run at Oakland Wednesday. Ortiz had three hits in Friday's 10-8 loss.

BOSTON - Take away a terrible start to the season, and the Red Sox bullpen has been one of the best in baseball.

So where where those guys Friday night?

Just when Boston looked poised to turn an apparent blowout loss into a victory, the previously reliable relief crew gave it back to the New York Yankees, who won 10-8 at Fenway Park.

Mark Teixeira's two-run triple in the seventh swung this game back to the Yankees, who squandered an early five-run lead but went ahead 8-7 on Teixeira's one-drive to right-center.

It came off Vicente Padilla, who had allowed only one of 19 inherited runners to score until two scurried home on this hit.

There has been bad blood over the years between Teixeira and Padilla. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said he did not care about that.

"I knew (Teixeira) was 2-for-10 against him with a couple of homers, but that wasn't this year,'' Valentine said.

"Padilla has been getting a lot more guys out than giving up hits. I thought we could squeak by.''

With two out, Raul Ibanez' double scored Teixeira. That was it for Padilla, who had been a security blanket for Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine as a setup man.

New York's four-run seventh was the result of collectively ineffective work by Andrew Miller, Padilla and Scott Atchison. All had been rock-solid for most of the year, but not in this game.

Miller allowed two of the three batters he faced to reach base. That caused Valentine to call for Padilla one batter earlier than he preferred.

That batter was Teixeira, who gave New York the lead. Unlike the early innings, the Yankees did not squander it this time.

For Boston, it was too bad. Rediscovering an offense that had gone silent on a 2-5 West Coast road tip, the Red Sox took a 7-6 lead on Mauro Gomez' RBI single in the fifth.

It was Boston's first lead, and the first major league RBI for Gomez, 27, who spent nine years in the minors before making it to Boston earlier this year.

With Pedro Ciriaco and Brent Lillibridge available, manager Bobby Valentine is using Gomez at third base until Will Middlebrooks' tender hamstring heals.

He thinks Gomez, who did his minor league time with the Texas and Atlanta organizations until this year, can provide a bit more offense.

Gomez switched from third to first base in 2009. He was among this year's International League leaders in home runs (19), RBIs (55) and batting average (.311) when the Red Sox called him up from Pawtucket for the second time this season Tuesday.

New York's bullpen flirted with trouble, but it got the big outs when needed. Rafael Soriano closed it with a four-out save.

"They scored five in the first off us and one in the second, and we still had their closer in at the end of the game,'' said Valentine, searching for a bright side.

Soriano is 20-for-21 in save opportunities, allowing the Yankees to lose injured Mariano Rivera and not miss a beat.

The Yankees lead Boston by 8 1/2 games and are disappearing from view. The Red Sox are a lackluster 42-41.

"We've let a lot of games slip away,'' Valentine said, spurning the excuse of a mountain of injuries.

This was one of them.

Josh Beckett made it through five innings, allowing six runs and eight hits in a strange 90-pitch outing. It wasn't good, but when Beckett left, he was in line for the win.

That was remarkable in itself after he had slogged through a five-run Yankees' first, giving up four hits and throwing only 15 of his 33 pitches for strikes.

"The strike zone that inning was hard for him to find. I had never seen him that way,'' Valentine said.

"It had us climbing uphill, but we wound up playing a close game when it started out like a blowout.''

Fortunately for Boston, Hiroki Kuroda was equally bad. It took him only six batters to cough up the five-run lead.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia's three-run homer tied it at 5-5 in the bottom of the first.

The Sox scored only 14 runs on the road trip, but Kuroda was a cure for the hitting woes that ailed them. David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez had three hits each, with Gonzalez extending his hitting streak to 16 games.

A bogus rumor became fact within 24 hours - Allen is gone.

AP fileRay Allen, the NBA's all-time leader in three-pointers, is leaving Boston for Miami.

On Thursday, a Miami television station erroneously reported that Boston Celtic free agent Ray Allen had agreed to a deal to join the NBA champion Miami Heat. That report, however, was based on a fake Twitter account.

On Friday, the news apparently came true.

Multiple sources reported that Allen, indeed, is taking his talents to South Beach. The most prominent report came via the Twitter feed of Miami Heat owner Mickey Arison:

Its 2:30am in London and I was just woken up with great news. Welcome to the family #20!!

Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press later summed it up by saying "Ray Allen will take less money for a chance at another NBA championship." Reynolds wrote that Allen's agent, James Tanner, confirmed the decision to The Associated Press not long after Arison's tweet.

No terms were announced. Allen cannot officially sign until Wednesday because of the league's moratorium.

Reaction was immediate - it is Twitter, after all:

Celtics announcer Sean Grande already was writing about Allen in the past tense:

Ray Allen was a great Celtic. He's earned the right to finish his career where he wants...as Johnny Damon-ish as it may feel right now.

Wrote Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

Allen believes the capital he's built up playing for UConn and the Celtics would supercede signing with Miami. He's probably misjudged that.

What might possibly prompt Allen to leave the Celtics for less money with the Heat also has been the source of much speculation, as noted by Dale Arnold of WEEI:

So, it would appear the #Allen/#Rondo relationship was even worse than we believed. Had to play a factor in Ray going to Heat for half.

The news was not greeted warmly in Western Massachusetts, either. Wrote Jay King of CelticsTown, who also has written about the Celtics for The Republican and MassLive:

Ray Allen just wanted out of Boston. That's all it was. Not even double the money could keep him around. The bad part? Pietrus backup plan.

Republican sports writer Pam McCray got right to the point, probably speaking for many diehard Celtics fans:

Ray Allen is signing with the #Heat I'm going to cry #sodisappointed

Not everyone was devastated, though. Paul Flannery of WEEI.com tried to look at the bright side:

The Celtics wanted Ray Allen back, but the addition of Jason Terry makes this much easier to deal with.

A fire on Pynchon Road Friday evening destroyed the garage and caused enough damage to the attached house to leave the residence uninhabitable, a fire official said.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – The South Hadley Fire Department's patch.

SOUTH HADLEY - A fire on Pynchon Road Friday evening destroyed the garage and caused enough damage to the attached house to leave the residence uninhabitable, a fire official said.

The fire was reported at 5:30 p.m. and when the first firefighters arrived at 45 Pynchon Road, they found the garage engulfed in flames, said Fire Department District 1 spokesman Jason Houle.

Fire had just begun to spread in the attic of the home, but firefighters were able to knock it down before it caused serious damage to the house, he said.

The building however is uninhabitable until repairs can be made, he said. The two residents indicated they would be staying with family and friends, he said.

The residents were not home at the time. There were no injuries.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to get the blaze under control, he said.

The department was assisted under mutual aid by firefighters with South Hadley District 2, and firefighters from Holyoke provided station coverage.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but it is not considered suspicious, he said.

Arson investigators with the state Department of Fire Services were called to the scene to aid the town in the investigation, Houle said.

The remains of the garage will have to be shored up before inspectors will be able to go into the structure, he said.

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A 17-year-old boy was sent to the hospital Friday night after he was attacked outside the Eastfield Mall on Boston Road, hit over the head with his own skateboard and robbed, police said.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD - A 17-year-old boy was sent to the hospital Friday night after he was attacked outside the Eastfield Mall on Boston Road, hit over the head with his own skateboard and robbed, police said.

The boy, whose name was not released, was taken to Mercy Medical Center for treatment of a head injury, said Sgt. Christopher Hitas. He said the injuries are serious but not life-threatening.

After the teen was beaten, his four assailants took his skateboard and cellphone and ran off, Hitas said.

The teen with the skateboard and his assailants apparently got into an altercation in the parking lot in the rear of the Sears store. The teen tried to leave by going through Sears, but the group apparently followed him and attacked him in the parking lot in front of the store.

The assault happened shortly after 8:15 p.m., he said.

Police are looking for four suspects but as of Friday night there were no arrests, he said.

Allen took far less money to play for the NBA champions.

AP fileRay Allen is trading in his Celtic green for the colors of the Miami Heat.

By TIM REYNOLDS
MIAMI — Ray Allen will take less money for a chance at another NBA championship.

Allen told the Miami Heat on Friday night that he intends to accept their contract offer and leave Boston after five seasons, even though the Celtics could pay him about twice as much as the reigning NBA champions will be able to next season. Miami could only offer Allen the mini mid-level, worth about $3 million a year.

Heat owner Micky Arison tweeted the news just after 9:30 p.m., or about 2:30 a.m. Saturday in Europe, where Arison has been for several days.

"I was just woken up with great news," Arison wrote. "Welcome to the family." Arison ended the tweet by making mention of Allen's jersey No. 20, and didn't mention the NBA's leading 3-point shooter by name.

A person briefed on details of the decision told The Associated Press that Arison got the word from Heat President Pat Riley, who made Allen the team's top free-agent priority — especially in recent days. Allen, who will be 37 this month, arrived in Miami on Thursday for a visit, went to dinner with Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra, team executive Alonzo Mourning and others Thursday night, then left Friday to presumably decide his future.

Hours later, the choice was made. Allen's agent, James Tanner, confirmed the decision to the AP not long after Arison's tweet.

Allen, who made a career-best 45 percent of his 3-point attempts this past season cannot officially sign until Wednesday because of the league's moratorium.

Allen becomes the latest player to be sold by Riley on the notion of sacrifice since the blockbuster summer of 2010. The Heat convinced LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all to take less money than they could have made elsewhere in that off-season, so there would be enough room left to add players like Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers and Mike Miller. Then last summer, Shane Battier accepted a deal that will pay him $3 million annually.,

The approach clearly worked. Next fall, the Heat will raise a championship banner, and Allen will be with them for the title defense.

"HeatNation continues to grow," Wade wrote on Twitter late Friday night. And James added, "please welcome our newest teammate Ray Allen" with the added hashtag of "Wow."

Wade and James both were involved on some level in the recruitment of Allen. James took to Twitter and Facebook in recent days to let his millions of followers know how much he wanted to see Allen in a Heat uniform, and Wade tweeted on Wednesday that the next day — the one where Allen was visiting — would be a big one for the franchise.

In the end, it appeared that the biggest push — again — came from Riley, who said before free agency started that Miami had identified "five or six" clear targets to add to the roster.

He never specifically said Allen, and given how James was letting the secret out on Twitter anyway, Riley didn't have to say anything else.

New Orleans Hornets guard Jarrett Jack asked his followers in a tweet about an hour after the Allen story broke if he was "wrong for thinking ray allen is a traitor" for signing with Miami. Even NFL stars were reacting Friday night. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick used the following hashtags on Twitter to describe his reaction to Allen's decision: "loaded," ''finalpiece" and "notfair."

There's probably more than a few people in Boston who would agree.

Miami is still hoping to add at least one more piece through free agency, and is expected to meet this weekend with Marcus Camby and Rashard Lewis.

Allen was mentioned in some trade possibilities this past season, and eventually lost his starting job to Avery Bradley. Allen needed surgery earlier this offseason to remove bone spurs from his right ankle, though said when the Celtics were ousted from the playoffs by the Heat for the second straight year that his playing days were not over.

"There's still a lot of basketball left in my legs," Allen said in Miami not long after the Celtics dropped Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Heat. "I know that for sure. So it's hard to say what can happen, what may happen."

Not even a month later, Allen — who helped the Celtics win the 2008 NBA title — decided to join Miami.

Earlier this week, the Celtics reportedly agreed on a $15 million, three-year deal with shooting guard Jason Terry. But Boston also wanted to keep Allen, with general manager Danny Ainge quoted in recent days saying "we really want Ray to come back. Time will tell."

Miami wanted Allen because of its ongoing quest to keep surrounding James, Wade and Bosh with shooters who extend defenses and therefore create room around the basket for the "Big Three" to attack. That approach worked perfectly for Miami in the playoffs — the Heat were 9-1 when making at least eight 3-pointers in playoff games (7-6 otherwise), and they hit 14 in the finals-clincher over Oklahoma City.

Allen has made an NBA-record 2,718 3-pointers.

Kathy Bush said she will put her new gnomes in the backyard so no one will steal them.

A collection of 40 garden gnomes were recently stolen from the Sixteen Acres home of Kathy Bush, a U.S. Air Force reserves veteran.

6-25-12 - SPRINGFIELD-Republican staff photo by Don Treeger- Kathy Bush of Sixteen Acres sits on her front porch with her gardens behind her. 40 lawn gnomes used to decorate the gardens were recently stolen, causing her to take down all of her other garden decorations.

SPRINGFIELD - A collection was held Friday to benefit Kathy Bush, a U.S. Air Force Reserves veteran, who last month had some 40 garden gnomes stolen from her property in the city's Sixteen Acres neighborhood.

“I think the important thing for Karen and I, when we heard the story, was that we knew that Kathy Bush was a veteran – five oversees deployments – and this kind of became a symbol for us of, just to show people, how we feel veterans should be treated when they came home,” Chris Zito, morning host at MIX 93.1, which teamed up with Sixteen Acres Garden Center to put on the event, told abc 40/Fox 6.

Bush said she will put the new gnomes in her backyard so they won't be stolen.

Below is video shot by abc 40/Fox 6.

The woman, whose name has not been released, suffered leg and hip injuries, although they were not life-threatening.

SOUTHWICK - A woman was hit by an SUV just before 9 p.m. Friday on state Route 57, also known as Feeding Hills Road, as she was walking to watch the nearby fireworks display.

Southwick Police Sgt. Richard Cross told WWLP-22News the woman was struck when she ran into the street near 22 Feeding Hills Road.

Police were unavailable for comment this morning.

The woman, whose name has not been released, suffered leg and hip injuries, although they were not life-threatening, abc 40/Fox 6 reported. She was taken to Baystate Medical Center.

22News identified the driver as being from Westfield.

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Dennis Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, says the fire started in the front exterior of the house and caused about $10,000 in damages.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Leger The fire began in the front exterior of the house.

SPRINGFIELD - A fire around midnight at a single-family home at 97 Ellsworth Ave. in the city's East Forest Park neighborhood is being ruled suspicious and under investigation by the fire department.

Dennis Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, says the fire started in the front exterior of the house and caused about $10,000 in damages.

Leger said four adults and one child live at the home and were inside when the fire started. All escaped unharmed.

The fire was reported at 12:03 a.m.

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The incident reportedly happened around 12:45 this morning, in the area of Silver Lake Boulevard, near the William Stanley Business Park.

PITTSFIELD - A man is in the hospital with open skull fractures and amputations, but is conscious, after being struck by a 19-car freight train and pinned underneath, WNYT in Albany, N.Y. reports.

The incident reportedly happened around 12:45 this morning, in the area of Silver Lake Boulevard, near the William Stanley Business Park.

The man's condition is unknown.

He was taken to Berkshire Medical Center.

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The ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal backed U.S. District Court Judge William Young's decision last year in the case of bomber Dolours Price, who spoke to Boston College researchers as part of an oral history project. The material will now be handed over to police by next month.

BOSTON — Boston College must give police recorded interviews its researchers conducted with a convicted Irish Republican Army car bomber after an appeals court on Friday rejected an effort to stop their release.

The ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal backed U.S. District Court Judge William Young's decision last year in the case of bomber Dolours Price, who spoke to Boston College researchers as part of an oral history project. The material will now be handed over to police by next month.

Price was one of several former IRA members who gave interviews as part of The Belfast Project between 2001 and 2006. Participants said the interviews were supposed to be secret until their deaths. But Northern Ireland police probing the IRA's 1972 killing of a Belfast woman want the recordings.

Young ordered Boston College to turn over interviews with Price and seven other former IRA members. Boston College didn't appeal Young's ruling on Price, but it's fighting his order on the seven other interviewees in an appeal separate from the one ruled on Friday.

Friday's decision came after a lawsuit by project director Ed Moloney and ex-IRA gunman Anthony McIntyre, who conducted the interviews, that challenged the decision by U.S. authorities to subpoena the records.

Their attorney argued that McIntyre and others who were part of The Belfast Project would be branded informants and faced "the real risk of physical harm" if the interviews were turned over. He also said it could have a chilling effect on other academic research projects.

The court on Friday ruled that the men had no right to interfere with the police request, under terms of a treaty between the United States and United Kingdom that requires the two aid each other's criminal investigations. And it said criminal investigations take precedence over academic study.

"The choice to investigate criminal activity belongs to the government and is not subject to veto by academic researchers," the court wrote.

The attorney for Moloney and McIntyre couldn't be immediately reached for comment on Friday, and it was unclear if they would pursue an appeal of Friday's decision.

Attorney Jon Albano, who filed a brief on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union in support of Moloney and McIntyre, said the ruling is "not a good sign" for Boston College's pending appeal against Young's order. He said he was disappointed in the ruling.

"We were not saying that there was some kind of automatic absolute protection for academics, any more than for reporters," he said. "We were saying that if you look at the facts of this case, this is a case were Moloney and McIntyre actually deserve to be protected."

A spokesman for Boston College didn't respond to requests for comment.

The Belfast Project was intended to be a resource for journalists, scholars and historians studying the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles.

But Northern Ireland police probing the IRA's 1972 killing of Jean McConville, a mother of 10 who had been branded as a British Army spy by the IRA, want access to the interviews.

McConville's killing has received widespread media attention in Ireland because of allegations that Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams commanded the IRA unit responsible for ordering her execution and secret burial. Adams has denied that.

At least a half-dozen U.S. politicians, including Sens. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, and Charles Schumer, of New York, have written letters to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urging them to persuade British authorities to withdraw their request for the recordings. Kerry said in his letter that he's concerned that release of the recordings could undermine peace in Northern Ireland.

Maloney has said he believes the recordings are explosive enough to damage Northern Ireland's unity government, in which Sinn Fein represents the Irish Catholic minority. Its stable coalition with the British Protestant majority is the central achievement of the 1998 U.S.-brokered peace accord.

___

Associated Press writer Denise Lavoie contributed to this report.

The singer of "Boyfriend" and "Baby" was cited for driving in excess of 65 mph at about 10:45 a.m. Friday, after calls came in complaining of a freeway chase on southbound U.S. Highway 101 near Studio City, said Officer Ming Hsu of the California Highway Patrol.

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2012 file photo, Canadian singer Justin Bieber arrives at the Cannes festival palace to attend the NRJ Music awards ceremony, in Cannes, southeastern France. Authorities say heartthrob singer Bieber has been ticketed for speeding on a Los Angeles freeway after being chased by at least one other vehicle, according to reports Friday, July 6, 2012. Bieber said he was being chased by paparazzi, according to the California Highway Patrol. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

LOS ANGELES — Justin Bieber is used to attracting crowds. But he had at least one follower too many when somebody tailed him on a Los Angeles freeway, and it led to a speeding ticket for the teen idol.

The singer of "Boyfriend" and "Baby" was cited for driving in excess of 65 mph at about 10:45 a.m. Friday, after calls came in complaining of a freeway chase on southbound U.S. Highway 101 near Studio City, said Officer Ming Hsu of the California Highway Patrol.

The 18-year-old crooner told officers he was being chased by paparazzi, and investigators confirmed he was being followed by at least one vehicle, Hsu said.

"The second vehicle left the area and there's a search to find that driver," Hsu said.

Hsu did not have a description of the other vehicle.

A call and an email to Bieber's publicist weren't immediately returned.

The claim of a chase is backed by an unlikely eyewitness, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, who called authorities after seeing Bieber's distinctive chrome Fisker Karma being chased by five or six other cars.

On his morning commute to City Hall, Zine, who spent 33 years as a police officer, said he saw Bieber's sports car drive up behind him and zoom around him, weaving wildly in and out of traffic while five or six other cars gave chase.

Zine estimated the chase exceeded 100 mph as paparazzi engaged in wild maneuvers to keep up with Bieber, including driving on the shoulder and cutting off other vehicles.

Zine said Bieber was breaking the law by driving recklessly and speeding, and the paparazzi were breaking the law by hounding him.

"This was very bizarre, very outrageous and showed a total disregard for life and property," Zine said.

Zine, a witness to countless crashes and fatalities during his time as an officer, said he was surprised no one crashed.

"The way (Bieber) was driving was totally reckless, I would have arrested him if I had pulled him over," said Zine. "I wouldn't have given him a ticket and let him go."

Friday's incident isn't the only time the floppy-haired singer has had conflict with paparazzi. In May, a photographer called authorities, complaining he was roughed up by the pop star in a shopping center, The Commons at Calabasas.

Authorities said the scuffle happened when a photographer tried to snap photos of Bieber and his girlfriend, teen actress Selena Gomez.

In April 2011, Bieber called off a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, saying he cancelled, in part, because he didn't want to face the country's notoriously aggressive paparazzi.

Josephine "Ann" Harris, 70, was taken to Akron General Medical Center after complaining of "fatigue and a tingling feeling" shortly after Obama left her family diner. The president had stopped by unannounced for breakfast.

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This makes it at least the fifth fire in western Massachusetts in less than 24 hours.

Photo by Doron Tyler Antrim/The Republican.Springfield firefighters employ a ladder truck to knock down flames shooting from a home on Harvard Street Saturday morning.

SPRINGFIELD - Yet another fire has occurred in western Massachusetts in less than 24 hours.

The latest was reported at 4:52 a.m. at a home at 107 Harvard Street in Springfield.

Police patrolling the area called in the fire.

The fire appeared heaviest in the rear, but quickly spread through the entire structure.

Police were blocking off part of St. James Avenue. Ambulance crews were on the scene, but it doesn't appear anyone was injured.

Dennis Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said it's believed the house is vacant and that the owner is deceased, according to neighbors.

Property records show the owner to be Cox Cornelia. The house was built in 1901.

Leger said the structure appears to be a total loss.

Friday saw three fires, one in South Hadley, Holyoke, and Springfield. And just after midnight, a small fire damaged the front of a home in Springfield's East Forest Park neighborhood.

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