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Springfield teen charged with damaging tires on 8 different vehicles in Sixteen Acres apartment complex

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Deveron Best, 17, of 130 Allen Park Road, was charged with eight separate counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle

Deveron BestDeveron Best


SPRINGFIELD - A city teen was arrested early Monday and charged with puncturing tires on eight different vehicles parked in the same apartment complex where he lives, police said.

Deveron Best, 17, of 130 Allen Park Road, was charged with eight separate counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle.

Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet, said the total amount of damages was more than $1,000.

Police were called to Allen Park Apartments, off Allen Street in Sixteen Acres, shortly after midnight for a report of vandalism. Several witnesses told police they spotted a young man puncturing car tires. Police were also shown security footage from a surveillance camera that showed the vandalism occurring, Delaney said.

Officers Hector Morales and Edwin Hernandez checked an area of woods near the apartment complex and spotted Best running, Delaney said. They gave chase and apprehended him, he said.

At his arraignment Monday in Springfield District Court, Best denied the charges. He was ordered held on a $1,000 personal surety and is due back in court on Aug. 28.

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Andrea Nuciforo challenges U.S. Rep. Richard Neal to 4 debates

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Democrats Neal, Nuciforo and Bill Shein have all said they will debate, but the logistics of when and where are still being worked out.

jan2012 andrea nuciforo vs richard neal.jpgAndrea Nuciforo Jr., left, is challenging U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, right, for the Democratic nomination for the new Massachusetts 1st Congressional District.

The three Democratic congressional candidates in Massachusetts' 1st District have agreed to debate – in theory. But they have not agreed on when and where.

Former state senator and Berkshire Middle District register of deeds Andrea Nuciforo sent a certified letter to incumbent U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Springfield on Friday, challenging him to four debates across the 1st District. Nuciforo did not send the letter to Berkshire County writer and activist Bill Shein, but Nuciforo spokesman Patrick Tool said all three candidates would be included in any debate.

In his letter, Nuciforo proposed four regional debates – one each in Berkshire, Hampden and Worcester counties and one in the hill towns of Hampshire and Franklin counties.

“Democratic voters in this district deserve to know where the candidates stand on issues such as the economy, campaign finance, financial regulation and women’s health,” Nuciforo wrote. “By debating these and other issues in locations throughout the district, we will better inform voters and provide an opportunity for public interaction.”

Nuciforo sent a copy of the letter to the media on Monday, before Neal had received it. Neal has not committed to the regional debates, but said it will be up to representatives of all three campaigns to work out debate logistics. "It is a well known fact that Congressman Neal has always debated his political opponents during election years,” said Neal spokesman Matthew Fenlon. “He strongly believes the voters of Western and Central Massachusetts deserve to know his views on the issues they care most about.”

Fenlon said Neal was the first candidate to accept a debate invitation – from Jim Madigan, host of “The State We’re In,” a public affairs program on the Springfield-based public television station WGBY. “(Neal) looks forward to participating in similar forums across the new congressional district,” Fenlon said.

Tool, of Nuciforo’s campaign, said the dates have not yet been worked out for most of the debates. Several media outlets have expressed interest in sponsoring and the logistics are still under consideration. Tool said Nuciforo is considering an invitation from WWLP-22News for a debate on Aug. 27.

Shein said he has accepted the debates by WGBY and 22News, as well as debates or joint forums proposed by the Pittsfield Gazette at Berkshire Community College, by the Westfield News and by New England Public Radio. Shein said the WGBY debate was proposed for Aug. 20, and the others will also likely be in August. “I’ve agreed to all of them,” Shein said.

The primary will be held Sept. 6.

Springfield man charged with robbing two people with pellet gun

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The two victims told police they were robbed of $60 at gun point while they were trying to buy crack cocaine.


79joelfernandez20.jpgJoel Fernandez

SPRINGFIELD - A 20-year-old city man was arrested on armed robbery and assault charges early Sunday on Oak Grove Avenue after he allegedly used a pellet gun to rob two people who were looking to buy drugs, police said.

Joel Fernandez, 20, of 85 Silver St., was charged with armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon. Police recovered a pellet gun that looked like an actual firearm, said Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet.

Delaney said officers were on patrol near Bay Street and Oak Grove Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. when they were waved down by two pedestrians who said they had just been robbed moments earlier.

The two pedestrians, a 47-year-old man from Springfield and a 24-year-old man from Agawam, told police they approached a stranger on Oak Grove Avenue and asked if he could sell them some crack cocaine. The man agreed to sell to them, but instead he pulled a gun and robbed them of $60, Delaney said.

Officers Daniel Billingsley and William LaPorte returned to the area on Oak Grove Avenue where the two people said they had first met the man who robbed them. They spotted Fernandez and stopped him for questioning.

The two people who flagged down police were not arrested because they did not have any drugs in their possession, Delaney said.

At his arraignment Monday in Springfield District Court, Fernandez denied the charges. He was originally ordered held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, but bail was revoked when it was learned he was in violation of his probation on another matter.

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Belchertown police investigating construction accident on Rockrimmon Road

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The man was seriously injured when he jumped off construction equipment as it was flipping over and got struck in the head.

070912 belchertown accident.JPGA man was seriously injured Monday at 94 Rockrimmon Road in Belchertown in a construction accident.

BELCHERTOWN — Police are investigating a construction accident at 94 Rockrimmon Road on Monday that sent a man to Baystate Medical Center with serious injuries.

Police Chief Francis R. Fox said the man was doing work on the house and was on construction equipment, possibly a forklift, when it began to flip over. Fox said the man then jumped off and got struck in the head by the equipment.

The man was bringing materials to the home's second or third floor when the accident happened, around 4:15 p.m., police said.

The man's name was not released.

Lance Armstrong stumbles in court suit 

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Armstrong’s lawsuit was thrown out as it aimed to preventing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from moving ahead with charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

7-9-12-lance.JPG In this July 25, 2010 file photo, Lance Armstrong looks back on the podium after the 20th and last stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Paris, France. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says its review board has made a unanimous recommendation to file formal doping charges against Armstrong.[


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AUSTIN, Texas – A federal judge handed Lance Armstrong a quick setback Monday as he went to court to save his seven Tour de France titles and his reputation as one of the greatest cyclists ever.

Armstrong filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from moving ahead with charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs throughout much of his long career.

But within hours, U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the 80-page complaint. He said it seemed more intended to whip up public opinion in Armstrong’s favor that focus on the legal argument.

Sparks, however, did not rule on the merits of Armstrong’s claims and will let him refile the lawsuit. Armstrong attorney Tim Herman said he could do that as early as Tuesday.

The suit claimed USADA rules violate athletes’ constitutional right to a fair trial, and that the agency doesn’t have jurisdiction in Armstrong’s case. It also accuses USADA’s chief executive, Travis Tygart, of waging a personal vendetta against the cancer survivor who won the Tour de France every year from 1999 to 2005.

The judge was not impressed.

“This Court is not inclined to indulge Armstrong’s desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement or vilification of Defendants, by sifting through eighty mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims,” Sparks wrote.

Herman said he got the message.

“When (Sparks) speaks, I listen,” he said. “It doesn’t change the legal issues involved or any of the relief that we seek. I certainly heard what Judge Sparks said. I intend to conform my conduct precisely.”

The lawsuit was an aggressive, and expected, move as Armstrong seeks to preserve his racing legacy and his place as an advocate for cancer survivors and research. He wants Sparks to bar USADA from pursuing its case or issuing any sanctions against him.

Armstrong asked the court to issue an injunction by Saturday, his deadline to formally challenge the case against him in USADA’s arbitration process or accept the agency’s sanctions. He could receive a lifetime ban from cycling and be stripped of his Tour de France victories if found guilty. He originally faced a Monday deadline but USADA allows athletes to request an automatic five-day extension.

Armstrong insists he is innocent.

“The process (USADA) seek to force upon Lance Armstrong is not a fair process and truth is not its goal,” his lawsuit said, calling the USADA process a corrupt “kangaroo court.”

Tygart said Armstrong’s lawsuit is “aimed at concealing the truth” and predicted Sparks will rule in the agency’s favor.

USADA, created in 2000 and recognized by Congress as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic sports in the United States, formally charged Armstrong in June with taking performance-enhancing drugs and participating in a vast doping conspiracy on his Tour de France winning teams, some of which were sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service.

The charges came after a two-year federal criminal investigation of Armstrong ended in February with no charges filed. The anti-doping agency, however, says up to 10 former teammates and associates are willing to testify against him and that it has blood samples from 2009-2010 that are “fully consistent” with doping.

Armstrong, who retired in 2011, says he has passed more than 500 drug tests in his career and was never flagged for a positive test.

Palmer police investigating robbery at Dunkin' Donuts on North Main Street

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The employee said she was assaulted when she left the restaurant to make a bank deposit.

PALMER — Police are investigating a robbery at Dunkin' Donuts on North Main Street that was reported on Sunday afternoon.

Police said an employee left the restaurant at approximately 3 p.m. to deposit a large sum of money at the bank when she said she was punched in the face and a man took the bag of cash from her.

Police are not releasing a description of her assailant at this time.

Massachusetts budget includes increase in funds for Springfield and Westfield homeless shelters

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The state budget will raise the reimbursement rate for beds at the Friends of The Homeless and Samaritan Inn shelters, setting the minimum at $25 per bed per night.

112911 william miller deval patrick.JPG11.29.11 | SPRINGFIELD — William J. Miller, left, executive director of Friends of the Homeless, gives Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick a tour of a dorm room in the new Friends of the Homeless Resource Center.

SPRINGFIELD – Executive directors of the Friends of the Homeless shelter on Worthington Street and the Samaritan Inn in Westfield said Monday they are relieved to receive a new increase in state funds for shelter beds, saying it was critically needed.

A line item in the new state budget, sponsored by state Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, raises the minimum state reimbursement for shelter beds from last year’s reimbursement of $20 per day, per bed, to a new minimum rate of $25.

Seventeen shelter programs in Massachusetts including the Friends of the Homeless Shelter and Resource Center and the Samaritan Inn, had reimbursement rates below $25, and will see an increase under the state budget signed Sunday by Gov. Deval L. Patrick.

“It really saves our daytime programming,” said William J. Miller, executive director of Friends of the Homeless. “We see sheltering as a 24-hour (per day) operation. They are homeless all day long. This allows us to continue to see it in that fashion.”

Friends of the Homeless is contracted with the state to provide 85 beds for homeless men, and 48 beds for women. The rate increase approved by the state will expand funding by approximately $243,000 a year for the Springfield men and women shelters.

Peter C. Gillis, executive director of the Samaritan Inn, joined in praising the state reimbursement increase.

“We are more than pleased,” Gillis said. “We were at the point where we were barely getting by. This will give us some relief.”

The Samaritan Inn is contracted for 30 beds, and the rate increase will expand funding by approximately $43,365 a year.

Candaras said the minimum rate for beds went to $20 last year, and then to $25 this year, targeting those shelters who were chronically underfunded. Many other shelters in central and eastern Massachusetts have higher rates, but the new minimum is aimed at fairness and reducing the gap, she said.

The $5 increase in the bed rate will cost approximately $2.3 million statewide, according to the state.

“We worked very hard to secure it (the increase) in a very difficult year,” Candaras said. “We knew folks from the Friends of the Homeless were very concerned. For them, a lot turned on it. To meet the needs of the homeless was seriously jeopardized by the very low rate.”

Miller said that without the rate increase, Friends was going to have to curtail daytime services such as the use of computers and guidance for improving their lives. Many of the homeless who would typically seek such services would be left “wandering the streets,” he said.

The loss of day programs would have hurt the homeless and the city, Candaras said.

Candaras praised state Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, for agreeing to the rate increase after extended negotiations with her.

“We were pretty confident the governor would not veto the shelter work we had done, but held our breath,” Candaras said. “Even in the worst of years, we were able to make the argument (for funding).”

Springfield Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick appoints 8 new principals

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No salary has been established for the new principals; negotiations will be completed in the next few weeks, Warwick said.

SPRINGFIELD – In a personnel shift involving nearly one-quarter of the city’s public schools, new Superintendent of Schools Daniel J. Warwick has appointed eight new principals and reassigned six others.

The changes, announced Monday, come 2½ weeks after Warwick took over as superintendent of the region’s largest school district. His predecessor, Alan J. Ingram, was hired as deputy commissioner of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The new appointments include four principals from outside the district, along with four assistant principals promoted to new posts.

Warwick said the personnel moves resulted from “natural openings” involving retirements or resignations to accept new jobs, not a search for new leadership.

“There’s no massive shakeup,” he said, adding that some choices were made before Ingram’s departure on June 30. “We’ve been working on these for the last two months,” he said.

No salary has been established for the new principals; negotiations will be completed in the next few weeks, Warwick said.

School Committee Chairman Christopher Collins said the number of vacancies was not especially high, given the district’s 45 schools.

“Principals do come and go,” Collins said, adding that the more experienced educators are usually tapped to fill vacancies at underperforming schools such as Chestnut Accelerated or M. Marcus Kiley middle schools.

The new appointments include Daniel W. Rossi, who ran New Leadership Charter School since 2010, for Chestnut Accelerated Middle School. Rossi, who replaces principal Anthony Davila, has also served as principal of the Harvey Milk High School and director of the Satellite Academy High School, both in New York City.

Wedad Saada, former principal at Lawrence High School, will take over at the High School of Science and Technology. Saada also served as assistant principal at the Dr. Paul Nettle Middle School in Haverhill and Chelsea High School.

Michael Calvanese, academic coordinator at the Sabis International Charter School since 2004, was named principal at the STEM Middle Academy. Lynda Bianchi, former principal of William Elementary School in Pittsfield from 2008 to 2010, was also named principal at Walsh Elementary School.

The promotions include Rhonda Y. Jacobs, assistant principal at Springfield Public Day Middle School since 2007, to principal of the Springfield Alternative Schools. Duggan Middle School assistant principal Marisa Mendonsa was also named principal at Duggan while another Duggan assistant principal, Christopher Sutton, was chosen to lead Kiley Middle School.

Robin Bailey-Sanchez, former assistant principal at Brunton Elementary School, will take over Liberty Elementary School. Bailey-Sanchez also served as principal and assistant principal of Brookings School.

Other principal re-assignments for the fall include: Deborah Beglane, principal of Indian Orchard School, to Beal Elementary School; John Doty, principal of Walsh Elementary School, to Brightwood Elementary School. Brightwood’s principal, Shalimar Colon, will become a principal on special assignment.

Also, Jennifer Montano, principal of Liberty Elementary School, to Indian Orchard Elementary School; Alyson Lingsch, principal of Kiley Middle School, to Milton Bradley Elementary School.


Massachusetts human services leaders ask for override of Deval Patrick's veto of pay raises

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Patrick cut half the $20 million approved for small raises for workers at agenices that contract with the state for human services.

062812 deval patrick.JPGMassachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick cut half the $20 million approved for small raises for workers at agenices that contract with the state for human services.

BOSTON — Leaders in the human services industry are dismayed at Gov. Deval L. Patrick's veto of $10 million in salary increases for low-paid workers in the field, calling it difficult to understand.

James Goodwin, president of the Center for Human Development in Springfield, which has more than 1,200 employees, said he was surprised by the veto of money set aside for the small raises for care workers across the state.

Goodwin said employees were incredibly optimistic and believed the Democratic governor would approve the money. "They are very disappointed," Goodwin said.

Patrick on Sunday signed the $32.5 billion state budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 and also issued $32.1 million in vetoes .

As part of those vetoes, Patrick cut half the $20 million approved by legislators for raises for 31,500 workers of private, nonprofit agencies that contract with the state for care of the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled and other human services.

The $20 million would have provided a pay hike between 1.5 and 2 percent, or an average of $635, that would be permanent for the workers. The workers earn less than $40,000 a year.

With only $10 million, the care workers now are set to receive a one-time payment of up to about $300 for the year, the same as last year.

Patrick filed an amendment to ensure the $10 million is not built into the salaries of the workers and not made permanent.

As for the $10 million he vetoed, Patrick is seeking legislative approval to use that money to complete a comprehensive overhaul of state rates paid for the services of the private human-service agencies.

During a press conference on Sunday, Jay Gonzalez, the state's secretary of administration and finance, said workers will receive the $20 million if the changes are completed for rate setting.

"If we don't move the $10 million, we may not be able to proceed with paying them more through the process that we've all agreed is the right process," Gonzalez told reporters.

Gonzalez said the rates need to be revised and standardized to assure the agencies are properly reimbursed for their costs. He said the industry supports the move to improve rate setting, an effort that was approved in 2008 and still is being put into effect.

Michael Weekes of Longmeadow, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, said it is unfair for workers to give up half their salary increase to help repair the broken system for setting rates for providers. The council is urging an override of the veto.

"We found it striking that out of the $30 million in vetoes, a third came out of the pockets of some of the lowest paid workers in the commonwealth," Weekes said.

Robert A. DeLeo, speaker of the state House of Representatives, said he would "take a look" at a possible override of the $10 million veto by Patrick.

Jacques Pépin talks squab and peas, Julia Child and more in Northampton

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Pepin delighted in sharing the stage with his daughter Claudine, who is also a chef, and Claudine's 8-year-old daughter Shorey.

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Updates a story posted Monday at 2:41 p.m.


NORTHAMPTON — As legend has it, Jacques Pepin once told an interviewer that his perfect final meal would be roast squab and fresh peas. Coming from a celebrity chef known for his emphasis on elegance and simplicity, it seemed the perfect answer.

During a whirlwind day in Northampton on Monday that served as a fundraiser for public television station WGBY, Pepin confessed it was merely his final try at answering a mind-boggling question.

“I said I would need a very, very, very, very long meal, to start with,” he said as he sat down to autograph his 27th and latest cookbook, “Essential Pepin,” at The Hotel Northampton. “Then I said the greatest bread and butter are hard to beat.”

Before settling on the squab and peas, Pepin said he’d like a little of everything. A little of everything is what he gave his adoring fans in a marathon 12-hour day that started with a special farmers market behind Thornes Marketplace and ended with a $175-a-ticket gala at the hotel.

Pepin, who along with his friend Julia Child helped bring French cooking to America, drew a hundred people at an afternoon talk behind Thornes and hundred more for the gala. Proceeds from “The French Connection II” benefit WGBY, which has been trying to get Pepin for several years.

Chef to three French presidents, including Charles De Gaulle, the 76-year-old Pepin emigrated to the U.S. in 1959 and became a media star through his appearances on shows such as “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home” with the late Child. He has written a food column for The New York Times, teaches an online course at Boston University and advocates the use of fresh, local food.

Although the name Pepin is synonymous with the educated palate, the chef also provided his fans food for the soul. Ami-Jo Curtis of Granby, who was among the crowd at Thornes, rated Pepin “right up on top” of her list of favorite chefs.

“I love him and Julia Child both,” she said.

Dorothy Dean hung on Pepi’s every word as she listened to him answer questions from an interviewer. Although she enjoys watching him on TV, Dean said she has not tried to follow any of Pepin’s written recipes.

“I look at him and try to remember,” she said.

Liz Greene, who like Dean is from Northampton, parked a fresh copy of “Essential Pepin” in the seat next to her and devoured Pepin’s appearance.

“He’s the source of a cuisine that’s divine and close to the earth at the same time,” Greene said. “He’s a pillar of fine food and accessible food.”

Pepin told the crowd he prefers to cook on instinct with whatever is available at the market and wrestles with pinning down recipes. Pepin’s mother, now 97, ran a restaurant in his native France and he cannot recall a time he wasn’t drawn to the kitchen.

The guests at the Hotel Northampton gala came from throughout the area for a close-up view of Pepin. Peter and Morgan Grasso of Bernardston called him an excellent teacher as well as an excellent chef. Morgan Grasso said her favorite Pepin recipe is a simple-sounding casserole of squash and tomatoes.

Mary Ellen Scott of Wilbraham, whose husband Roy served as the Master of Ceremonies at the hotel, owns 15 of the chef’s cookbooks.

“We love to eat,” she said.

Chefs from a dozen local restaurants took a crack at recipes from “Essential Pepin” at the gala, serving up everything from Catalan-style octopus to “My Mother’s Chicken Ragout.” Jake Perkins, head chef at Eastside Grill, cooked up Cornish game hen with peaches and basil and a side of Yukon gold potatoes.

Taking questions from the audience, Pepin reminisced about his friend Child, who would have turned 100 this year. Although they sometimes argued, the two had lots of fun on their television show, he said.

Pepin delighted in sharing the stage with his daughter Claudine, who is also a chef, and Claudine’s 8-year-old daughter Shorey. Relaying a question from the audience, he asked his granddaughter if she wanted to be a chef too.

“A pastry chef,” said the chocolate lover.

Easthampton Zoning Board of Appeals needs members

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Having few members puts stress on the existing Zoning Board members.

EASTHAMPTON — The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals needs help now.

The board is down to just four members – there should be five – and there are no alternates. Not having a full board “could potentially slow down the permitting process,” said City Planner Jessica Jo Allan.

The board needs five full-time and two alternate members.

Without that, all four members have to be present for zoning permits or appeal hearings, Allan said. The reduction in size also means greater stress on the existing board members, she said.

The Zoning Board of Appeals is among many city boards and committees that need members.

Because of the ZBA's importance in the permitting process, full membership is crucial, Allan said.

Serving on the board, “is a great opportunity to participate in the community, to help serve the city government,” she said.

While the board has been meeting twice a month – once for regular business and once to review the proposed Parsons Street affordable housing project – the board typically meets monthly, she said, and will resume that schedule once a decision is reached in the Parsons Street project later this year.

Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said having a full board “is really crucial to the business of the city.”

The board hears appeals as well as issues some special permits. Tautznik said in some instances, business could be delayed and or in other cases an applicant could receive a permit or variance by default. “It depends on the situation,” he said.

Sam Charron, the previous board chairman, resigned in February after Allan, his wife, was named City Planner. The board hasn’t had five members since then.

autznik said that Charron was concerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest.

A listing of all city board and committee vacancies can be found at the city’s website. Application forms are available there as well. Applications can be dropped off at City Hall at the mayor’s office or sent to him at 50 Payson Ave., Easthampton, MA 01027-2263.

2nd explosion of leftover fireworks rocks Ware

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Officials believe faulty material is to blame, but are continuing their investigation.

WARE – Residents are being urged to avoid Grenville Park after the second explosion in four days Monday – from leftover fireworks – rocked the area.

The blast was heard Monday afternoon for at least a mile.

Massachusetts State Police and the state fire marshal’s office spent several hours at the park combing the area again Monday, along with the town’s fire department and police, searching for the explosive material. The state police will be at the park at 10 a.m. Tuesday to see if the park is safe for visitors.

Officials believe faulty material is to blame but are continuing their investigation.

The nearly 100-acre park was the scene of the town’s annual July 4 fireworks celebration that took place June 30.

According to Ware Fire Chief Thomas Coulombe, the company in charge of setting off the fireworks combed the area July 1 and found an unexploded shell.

Unexpectedly, another shell was discovered last Friday when a park worker, Denis Ouimette, was mowing the lawn that morning and ran over the “Salute” brand fireworks, which exploded.

A bomb squad assigned to the state fire marshal’s office along with a pair of dogs was called in. The town’s fire department discovered three unexploded shells on Friday when authorities closed the popular recreation area.

When Ouimette was mowing Monday afternoon, another shell exploded, and the bomb squad was called in once more. The Ware fire department found two more unexploded shells Monday. Two of the objects were discovered on a private residence on Church St.

According to Coulombe, each shell contains 12 to 14 ounces of gunpowder – “enough to do serious injury and possibly death.”

They can explode if stepped on, he said.

“The 2.5-inch shell is filled with gunpowder, it is dangerous ... it is not something you want take home and try to shoot off in your backyard,” the chief said. The Salute fireworks resemble a large lollipop.

“If you come across one, leave it alone, mark the area and call 911,” Coulombe said. The town distributed leaflets Monday to Church Street residents, warning of the danger.

In addition to Ware, the chief said the state has confirmed at least 15 instances in other communities where the same problem has occurred.

Candidate sought for associate Wilbraham Planning Board vacancy

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The vacancy was created by the appointment of David Crevier to a full position on the Planning Board.

WILBRAHAM — The Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board are seeking a candidate to fill a vacant associate Planning Board member seat.

The vacancy was created by the appointment of David Crevier to a full position on the Planning Board on June 18. Crevier was appointed following the recent resignation of John Boudreau.

The person who is appointed to the Associate Planning Board seat will serve as an alternate voting member of the Planning Board on special permit applications. The Associate Planning Board member fully participates in Planning Board discussions and may be appointed to fill a vacancy on the board when there is an opening.

All candidates will be reviewed by the boards before an appointment is made.

The vacancy will be filled by an appointment to be made jointly by the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board. The term of the appointment expires in May 2014.

Selectmen welcome letters of interest in the position, along with a resume. Interested candidates should send materials to the Board of Selectmen, 240 Springfield Street, Wilbraham, MA 01095, by Aug. 1.

Photographer of controversial photo shoot at Holyoke fire headquarters never anticipated it would cost Deputy Chief Timothy Moran his job

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Amanda Jastrzebski of Holyoke told CBS3 Springfield that she got permission from Moran to have models pose in front of fire trucks.

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HOLYOKE — The photographer at the center of a racy photo shoot last month in front of Fire Department headquarters said Monday night she never realized it would cause the end of Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Moran’s career.

Amanda Jastrzebski of Holyoke told CBS3 Springfield, the media partner of The Republican and MassLive.com, that she got permission from Moran to have models pose in front of fire trucks on June 11 after a chance encounter with the deputy chief.

“I don’t think on that day he thought it was going to turn into anything,“ Jastrzebski said. “It was so innocent.”

Jastrzebski said she was taking photos of a group of fitness models at different locations in the city when they bumped into Moran.

“He came up to me and was like, ’do you want to come shoot at the fire station?’ And we said OK, that’s fine,“ Jastrzebski told CBS 3 Springfield. “I don’t think any of us would have done it if we thought it was going to turn into what it did,“ Jastrzebski said.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said that week that prior to his sudden retirement, Moran, a 20-year-veteran, had been suspended for five days without pay by Fire Chief John A. Pond as a result of the photo shoot.

Morse said he supported the chief’s actions, saying Moran’s involvement in the photo shoot showed poor judgment.

“This incident should not taint the hardworking men and women of the Holyoke Fire Department. Such behavior is inappropriate and unacceptable, and such actions will be met with consequences, no matter who you are,” Morse said.

Jastrzebski said the photos were not necessarily intended for publication but were being done to build the portfolios of the models.

They spent 25 minutes in front of the High Street headquarters, using fire equipment as props and posing in front of fire trucks.

Timothy Moran 2007.jpgTimothy Moran

“If there was a call that came in we could have been off them in a second, we weren’t inhibiting them in any way from doing their job,“ she said in the CBS 3 Springfield interview.

The only inkling she had of the trouble to come was after a while people she assumed to be fire officials told her and the models to leave. The following day she said she heard from the office of the Holyoke City Solicitor demanding that she surrender all the photos taken on fire department property – and Jastrzebski apparently complied with the demand.

She said she was told in the phone call that “I needed to come down and sign a paper, give them a copy of my photos and I was asked to destroy my copies.”

The photos of the shoot that did survive and that were published last week in The Republican and MassLive.com were not taken by Jastrzebski but by various bystanders and passersby who came upon the photo shoot, she said.

Easthampton City Council to hold public hearing on school override request

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School officials hope the city council will agree to place the question on the ballot.

EASTHAMPTON — The City Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday night about whether to put a Proposition 2½ property tax override question on the November ballot on behalf of the School Committee.

The City Council Finance Subcommittee voted to recommend that the question be placed on the ballot at its meeting last month.

HAG.JPGEasthampton City Councilor Daniel Hagan

Committee chairman Daniel Hagan said he has submitted the wording of the question to the city’s lawyer for review. He has also asked for advice about what would happen if the council moved to offer more than one override question or if the council amended the amount. He said he hopes to hear back from City Attorney John H. Fitz-Gibbon by the start of the meeting. The hearing along with two other public hearings is slated for 6:15 p.m.

The School Committee is requesting an override amount of $1,407,456 to close the approximate $660,000 budget gap in fiscal 2013 as well as restore programs that have been cut over the last several years and to improve education into the future.

Six teaching positions are slated to be eliminated in the Easthampton schools in the fall to help close the budget deficit.

Even if voters support the override in November if offered, the cuts would still need to be made this fall.

School Committee member Nancy Sykes said she will be attending Wednesday’s meeting as both a committee member and citizen. “I certainly hope the city councilmen will give the people the chance to vote.”

Easthampton voters have approved two debt exclusion overrides – one for the Public Safety complex and another for the new high school under construction – in recent years. But the cost of those projects will be removed from the tax bills once paid off. A Proposition 2½ tax override, however, would become a permanent hike in taxes.

Finance Director Melissa Zawadzki has said that the amount requested would add about $1.07 per $1,000 to the tax rate. With a home valued at the average of $228,000, that means about a $244 increase in taxes per year. 
But residents will also be paying another 83 cents per $1,000 for the new high school.

That will add about $189 to the homeowner's tax bill. The current rate is $13.27 per $1,000 or about $3,002. 


Councilor Daniel Rist pointed out that Easthampton ranks 260th lowest in the state when it comes to the tax rate out of 328 communities.


Mark Carlson emerges as new candidate in UMass hockey coaching search

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Carlson currently coaches the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

Multiple reports surfaced Monday night, including one from U.S. Hockey Report (link is here, but you have to be a subscriber to read), naming Mark Carlson as a new contender in the search for UMass' next hockey coach.

Carlson is currently the coach, general manager, and as the Daily Hampshire Gazette's Matt Vautour aptly pointed out, part owner of the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

Carlson has coached the RoughRiders since 2000-01, and was USHL coach of the year in both 2004-05 and 2010-11.

Northwestern DA uses new section of witness intimidation law

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Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Stephen Gagne maintains that both misleading an investigator and the traditional witness intimidation are forms of obstruction of justice.

623MORSE1_10768487.JPG06.22.2012 | The Republican file photo by Don Treeger | NORTHAMPTON — Steven Morse was sentenced to 2½ years in jail for misleading investigators.

NORTHAMPTON — Breathe a word of this to the cops, and you’ll regret the day you were born.

It’s not hard to figure out what the crime is when a suspect is charged with intimidating a witness. Or at least it wasn’t until 2006.

That was the year in which the charge of witness intimidation was expanded in the state’s General Laws to include “misleading an investigator.”

In the Northwestern district attorney’s office, that interpretation of the law has been invoked a number of times in the last few years. Anthony P. Baye, who is awaiting trial on numerous arson charges and two counts of murder, faces six counts of intimidating a witness for allegedly lying to police about the night of the fires.

Most recently, Steven Morse, a Westfield man, was sentenced to 2½ years in jail last month after a jury decided he lied to police about his marijuana use on the day he drove his power boat over the kayak in which Augustus Adamopoulos was fishing. The 10-year-old Ludlow boy died from his injuries.

The jury acquitted Morse of the more serious charges of manslaughter, felony boat homicide and operating a boat under the influence of alcohol, finding instead that he operated the boat negligently, a misdemeanor. The witness intimidation charge was the only felony conviction.

In his sentencing argument, defense lawyer Michael O. Jennings complained that the prosecution, which was seeking a three- to five-year prison term on the two convictions, was trying to circumvent the jury’s verdicts by asking for a manslaughter-level sentence. Judge Daniel Ford gave Morse a 2½-year sentence for each conviction, for a total of five years.

The expansion of the witness intimidation law has defense lawyers fuming. In that same sentencing argument, Jennings told the court that he was addressing the issue with the Sentencing Commission. The commission sets the guidelines for sentencing, and Jennings said he asked if it intended that people convinced of misleading police be punished as severely as those who threaten witnesses to a crime.

Although he was told the law applies equally in both cases, Jennings said this was described as “a fault within the system” and that the law would be “layered” in the future to distinguish between the two acts.

“It’s different to threaten someone than to mislead someone,” Jennings told Ford.

David P. Hoose, who represents Baye, declined to talk about the law, noting that his client has yet to have his day in court.

Jennings is clear, however, that he believes the clause about “misleading investigators” amounts to a violation of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Jennings said he is considering an appeal on Morse’s behalf.

“The prosecution can’t use the denial of a wrongdoing against you at trial,” Jennings said. “You kind of have a right to say, ‘I didn’t do it.’”

In fact, the state Supreme Judicial Court is hearing arguments on the law in the fall. Specifically, the court wants to know what the word “misleading” is intended to mean.

Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne maintains that both misleading an investigator and the traditional witness intimidation are forms of obstruction of justice. Suspects lie all the time when they are arrested, notably about the amount of alcohol they have consumed, Gagne said.

Prosecutors generally do not apply the witness intimidation charge unless the lie leads investigators on a false trial and wastes time and resources.

“What we focus on is when there’s false and misleading information given to law enforcement by an individual,” Gagne said.

In Morse’s case, Gagne said, he failed to tell police that he had smoked marijuana on the day of the crash when asked if he had ingested anything that might impair his ability to operate the boat. As a result, police did not test Morse for marijuana in his blood or confiscate the marijuana he used.

“We could have taken investigative steps with Morse,” Gagne said.

Gagne, who was a prosecutor with the Bristol County district attorney’s office before coming to work for Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan last year, had used the “misleading investigators” portion of the law in his previous job. It had not been commonly used here. In 2011, there were 257 cases involving the witness intimidation law in Hampshire and Franklin counties, an increase from 223 in 2010.

Jason Polonsky's campaign spending of $330.75 pays off in Palmer election

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Former Councilor Blake Lamothe said he was upset that people wrote his name in for at-large councilor, and not the district 3 councilor.

PALMER — Spending $330.75 on the election paid off for new Town Councilor At-large Jason R. Polonsky.

Polonsky trounced his two opponents in the at-large race on June 12, garnering 760 votes to Karl S. Williams’ 340 and Michael Lees’ 213.

jason polonsky.JPGJason Polonsky

According to the town clerk’s office, Polonsky spent the money on postage, signs and office supplies. Polonsky had by the far the most eye-catching sign. He placed two 3 x 5 signs onto a plywood A frame and put them in the bed of his pickup truck to advertise his candidacy.

“I wanted to get the biggest outcome with limited funds,” Polonsky said. “When I was starting to look at things, lawn signs, magnets, it led me to start thinking about the banner.”

Polonsky said he got a good response from it. People would wave and beep at him as he drove by with his sign in tow.

In comparison, Williams, who was ousted by Polonsky, spent $216.75 on signs and Lees spent $263.75 on signs.

In the write-in race for the district 3 town councilor position, Blake E. Lamothe outspent opponent Matthew J. Lovell, but lost his position. Lamothe spent $451.26 on signs and Lovell spent $366.03 on office supplies and postage.

Lovell did a mailing before the election featuring a photograph of him and his family; he said he saturated three postal routes in his district with it. Lovell said former councilor Michael R. Magiera also made an in-kind contribution of $68 that was used to create 15 Lovell signs.

Lovell, a former town councilor, beat Lamothe 102-76.

Lamothe said numerous votes for him did not count because they were written in for the councilor-at-large seat. Town Clerk Susan M. Coache said Lamothe received 21 at-large votes, and Lovell received 9 at-large votes. Even if those votes were in the right spot, the outcome would have been the same.

Lamothe said he heard on the day of the election that a poll worker was telling voters to write in his name in the at-large slot instead of the district 3 position. When he tested this by asking himself, he was given the wrong information, he said.

“I don’t think it was fair what happened there,” Lamothe said.

Lamothe could have asked for a recount, but did not do so, Coache said. She said no poll workers were instructing voters where to place candidates’ names, and said Lamothe’s claim doesn’t make sense. She said it’s the voter’s responsibility to know where to write a name in.

Lamothe said he plans to run again, under a regular campaign. He wants to continue to advocate for passenger rail service in Palmer and a casino here.

Lamothe was not on the regular ballot because he failed to get enough signatures for his nomination papers by the deadline.

Springfield teenager shot, injured in drive-by shooting

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The victim, a 15-year-old boy, sustained a minor wound to the hip after someone opened fire from a passing vehicle.

westernview shooting scene.jpgA teenage boy was shot and injured in a drive-by shooting late Monday night outside 14 Westernview St. in Springfield's Forest Park section. Police continue to investigate the circumstances leading up to the shooting.

SPRINGFIELD — Police are hunting for a gunman in a white car who opened fire on a teenage boy in a drive-by shooting in the city's Forest Park neighborhood Monday evening.

Police were alerted to the shooting outside 14 Westernview St. at about 10:50 p.m. The address is a multi-unit building near the corner of Forest Park Avenue.

The victim, a 15-year-old male, was driven to a local hospital by a family member and was unhelpful to investigators. "He was very uncooperative," police Lt. James Rosso said, adding that the victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Rosso said the victim was shot in the hip, describing the wound as minor. Police believe at least four shots were fired from the vehicle, whose make and model were not immediately known.

Detectives from the Springfield Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau are probing the incident. No arrests had been made as of 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Fourteen Westernview St. is a multi-unit residence near the corner

More information will be posted on MassLive as it becomes available.

MAP of shooting scene area:


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1-car crash in Palmer shuts down West Ware Street

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A car crashed into a utility pole on West Ware Street, sending the driver to the hospital with unknown injuries.

PALMER — A motor vehicle crash early Tuesday led to the closure of West Ware Street near the Ware town line as public safety and utility crews cleared the scene.

That section of roadway remained shut as of 6:10 a.m. today, according to a Palmer Police Department spokesman, urging drivers to stay away from that area and to find alternate routes this morning.

A preliminary police investigation indicated that a car struck a utility pole and rolled over at about 2 a.m. The motorist was taken to Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware, but the extent of the driver's injuries were not immediately known.

More information will be posted on MassLive as it becomes available.

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