A K-9 unit was searching sections of Avon Place for a suspect who's possibly armed, according to police reports.

Staff photo by Conor BerryPolice cruisers lined Temple Street in Springfield's Metro Center early Tuesday morning after officers arrested at least one young male in connection with a car reported stolen in West Springfield. Initial police reports indicated at least two suspects were in custody and third was at large. A K-9 manhunt for the third was launched at about 6:30 a.m., but it was not immediately clear if authorities found that individual. All three suspects fled the scene when the car was stopped, according to police reports.

SPRINGFIELD — Officers had two men in custody early Tuesday morning and were searching for a third who may be armed with a gun, according to Springfield police reports.

The nature of the incident was not immediately known, but a pair of suspects were apprehended near the Quadrangle museum area between Chestnut and Elliot Streets. In the meantime, a police K-9 unit began tracking the third suspect from Temple Street and were still checking sections near Avon Place as of 6:30 this morning.

A police report indicated that padding inside a car involved in the incident was cut in the shape of a gun, leading an officer to speculate the at-large suspect may be armed with a handgun. Officers were advised to use caution if they locate the man.

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

Higher menu prices, fewer jobs, lower profits, and closed restaurants are just a few of the dire consequences predicted by trade groups.

AP

Last month's Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly referred to as Obamacare, unleashed a firestorm of reaction from groups on both sides of the issue.

Restaurant industry lobbyists were particularly hostile to the decision; organizations like the National Restaurant Association and the National Council of Chain Restaurants have long opposed the kind of health care initiatives the Act promotes. According to these groups, the reforms, and the mandates involved, will cripple the restaurant industry, which they like to remind us is one of the nation's largest employers.

Higher menu prices, fewer jobs (with a concomitant reduction in the quality of customer service), lower profits, and closed restaurants are just a few of the dire consequences that these trade groups are predicting now that the Affordable Care Act's implementation has been given a green light by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Of course, no one will really be able to assess the true impact of health care reform until program regulations are drafted and the law is in operation. The restaurant industry's early reaction, however, seems to be of a "the-sky-is-falling" sort.

The central provision of the law that industry spokespeople have been so quick to vilify is the mandate that requires employers offer affordable health insurance to full-time employees.

Under the new law, failure to do so will trigger a $2000 per employee penalty. Businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees will not, however, be required to offer the insurance.

While many who work in the restaurant industry don't have health insurance, it's quite likely some hourly employees, especially those under age 26, might already be covered by a parent's or a spouse's policy. That reality alone may well substantially reduce the new insurance costs for any given restaurant company.

Moreover, the 50-employee minimum means it's going to be the chain restaurants and multi-unit franchisees, not the individual restaurant owner, who will be most impacted by new health insurance costs.

A sort of contrarian logic even suggests the law may end up being of benefit to the independent restaurateur. Higher health insurance expenses for chains, which otherwise enjoy a cost advantage over independents, may serve to level the competitive playing field to the single unit operator's advantage.

Beyond the dollars-and-cents impact of the Affordable Care Act should be consideration of the moral question involved. Slightly higher menu prices, it can be argued, are an acceptable consequence of ensuring that all Americans, including restaurant workers, enjoy access to affordable health care.

A Taunton school teacher charged with having sex with two 14-year-old students has been granted $150,000 bail despite objections from prosecutors.

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A Taunton school teacher charged with having sex with two 14-year-old students has been granted $150,000 bail despite objections from prosecutors.

The Taunton Daily Gazette reports that a judge on Monday set bail for 33-year-old Patrick Doyle at a dangerousness hearing even though the prosecutors called him "inherently dangerous" to children and argued for no bail.

Doyle is charged with aggravated statutory rape, enticing a child under 16, distributing obscene material and reckless endangerment of a child.

He is accused having sex with a 14-year-old student at his house on three occasions. He's also charged with having sexual contact with another student on school ground.

Doyle has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer has said evidence in the case is weak and his accusers are trying to sabotage his career.

U.S. stock futures are rising as leaders in Europe act swiftly to shore up Spain and its troubled banks.

AP Photo/David Karp, file-In this Friday, June 29, 2012, file photo, specialists Frank Masello, left, and John T. O'Hara, right, work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York shortly before the closing bell. Stock markets in Asia declined Tuesday July 10, 2012, after China said the growth rate for its imports fell in June.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures are rising as leaders in Europe act swiftly to shore up Spain and its troubled banks.

Finance ministers agreed early Tuesday on the terms of a bailout, saying that the first $36.88 billion in aid for Spain can be ready by the end of the month. Unemployment in Spain is nearing 25 percent.

Markets have been selling off on the uncertainty surrounding the largest European country to date to seek assistance in the debt crisis.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 50 points to 12,735. Standard & Poor's 500 futures have tacked on 4.4 points to 1,353.60 and Nasdaq futures are up 9.5 points at 2,615.50.

Shares of Alcoa Inc. are up in premarket trading after posting a smaller-than-expected loss, kicking off the second-quarter U.S. earnings season.

Massachusetts authorities say they have broken up a violent drug distribution ring that brought cocaine from Mexico to Boston and was run by a man already serving time at a state prison.

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts authorities say they have broken up a violent drug distribution ring that brought cocaine from Mexico to Boston and was run by a man already serving time at a state prison.

Police on Monday arrested 14 people in raids in Boston, Milton and Canton and seized about $500,000, four vehicles, nine bank accounts, and an amount of cocaine that is still being tallied.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley described the drug bust as a "corporate takedown."

Authorities say the drug ring was run by 33-year-old Juan Guzman, who is currently serving a 2½-year sentence at the state prison in Concord after a 2011 conviction on gun and drug charges. Some of those arrested were his relatives, including a sister.

Conley says the gang has been linked to several homicides.

Police say a Lawrence teenager driving a stolen vehicle has died after striking a utility pole and a tree in Methuen.

File photo

METHUEN, Mass. (AP) — Police say a Lawrence teenager driving a stolen vehicle has died after striking a utility pole and a tree in Methuen.

Capt. Randy Haggar says 17-year-old Ijady Oguendo died at the scene of the crash at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Haggar tells The Eagle-Tribune (http://bit.ly/NmJuni ) the car was reported stolen out of Lowell and was headed to Lawrence when the teen lost control, skidded into a utility pole and then slammed into a tree.

Police Chief Joseph Solomon says witnesses reported seeing two cars going about 100 miles per hour on Riverside Drive. Soon after, one crashed. The second car fled and has not been found.

Haggar said drugs or alcohol were not a factor. He said the car was not being pursued by police.

___

Information from: Eagle Tribune (North Andover, Mass.), http://www.eagletribune.com

O'Toole, who turns 80 on Aug. 2, said he will focus on the third volume of his memoirs.

AP file photoPeter O'Toole

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter O'Toole is retiring from show business, saying he no longer has the heart for it and that it's time to "chuck in the sponge."

O'Toole, who turns 80 on Aug. 2, said in a statement Tuesday that his career on stage and screen fulfilled him emotionally and financially, bringing "me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits."

"However, it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay," he said. "So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."

In retirement, O'Toole said he will focus on the third volume of his memoirs.

An eight-time Academy Award nominee who never won Hollywood's top acting honor, O'Toole shot to screen stardom 50 years ago in the title role of "Lawrence of Arabia," which earned seven Oscars, including best picture and director for David Lean.

O'Toole's grand performance as British adventurer T.E. Lawrence brought him his first best-actor nomination but set him on an unenviable path of Oscar futility. His eight losses without a win is a record among actors.

The honors stacked up quickly as O'Toole received Oscar nominations for 1964's "Becket," 1968's "The Lion in Winter," 1969's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," 1972's "The Ruling Class," 1980's "The Stunt Man" and 1982's "My Favorite Year."

In the latter film, O'Toole played a dissolute actor preoccupied with drink and debauchery, seemingly a tailor-made role for a star known in his early years for epic carousing with such fellow partiers as Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Peter Finch.

O'Toole went into acting after serving in the Royal Navy, studying at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His early stage successes included the lead in "Hamlet" and Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice."

He was among a wily new breed of young British stage actors who soon would rise to Hollywood stardom.

"There was a group of us working-class actors, Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney, everybody, and we changed the way things were," Michael Caine said last weekend in an interview for his latest film, "The Dark Knight Rises."

Caine recalled being O'Toole's understudy in playwright Willis Hall's "The Long and the Short and the Tall," which opened in London in 1959.

"He did an incredible performance and he got `Lawrence of Arabia,' and then I took it on tour," said two-time Oscar winner Caine.

In 2003, at age 70, O'Toole received an honorary Oscar, often given as a consolation prize for acclaimed actors and filmmakers who never managed to win Hollywood's top award.

The honorary Oscar came 20 years after his seventh nomination, for "My Favorite Year." By then it seemed a safe bet that O'Toole's prospects for another nomination were slim. He was still working regularly, but in smaller roles unlikely to earn awards attention.

O'Toole graciously accepted the honorary award, quipping, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot," as he clutched his Oscar statuette.

O'Toole nearly turned down the award, sending a letter asking that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hold off on the honorary Oscar until he turned 80.

Hoping another Oscar-worthy role would come his way, O'Toole wrote: "I am still in the game and might win the bugger outright."

O'Toole was still in the game. He earned his eighth best-actor nomination for 2006's "Venus," in which he played a lecherous old actor consigned to roles as feeble-minded royals or aged men on their death beds.

"If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again," O'Toole said in a statement on nominations day.

Unfortunately for O'Toole, he failed again. The best-actor prize went to Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."

Still, O'Toole had the esteem of Hollywood from that honorary prize a few years earlier.

"I have my very own Oscar now to be with me until death us do part," O'Toole told the academy crowd that night.

Town police, responding to a report of a burglary in the area of South Amherst Monday afternooon, arrested a 43-year-old Amherst man for breaking into a house on Whippletree Lane

John L. Kydd

AMHERST - Town police, responding to a report of a burglary in the area of South Amherst on Monday afternoon, arrested a 43-year-old Amherst man for breaking into a house on Whippletree Lane, police said.

Lt. Ronald Young said police arrested John L. Kydd of 170 Village Park Apartments. He was charged with possession of heroin and breaking and entering in the daytime.

Neighbors told police they saw Kydd breaking into a house, he said.

In addition to the charges, a records check showed an outstanding warrant had been issued against him by Holyoke police, Young said.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court but information on his arraignment was not available.


View Larger Map

The body of the man was discovered Tuesday afternoon off Clinton Street, which runs between the Connecticut River and West Columbus at Liberty Street. Police said there is no indication of foul play.

SPRINGFIELD - Police are investigating the apparently overdose death of a homeless man in a wooded area off West Columbus Street in downtown Springfield.

Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet, said the body of the man was discovered Tuesday afternoon off Clinton Street, which runs between the Connecticut River and West Columbus at Liberty Street.

Delaney said there is nothing to indicate any foul play was involved. The state Medical Examiner has been called to the scene. The cause of death will have to be determined at an autopsy, but it appears to have been a drug overdose.

The man’s identity was not disclosed as police attempt to notify his family.

View Larger Map

The chairman of the Indian tribe that runs Foxwoods Resort Casino said that the weak economy and sharply rising competition in the Northeast are hindering efforts to renegotiate $2.3 billion in debt.

Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket Ct

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The chairman of the Indian tribe that runs Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut said Tuesday that the weak economy and sharply rising competition in the Northeast are hindering efforts to renegotiate $2.3 billion in debt.

Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said in an interview on WNPR radio that casinos expected to open in Massachusetts in the next few years and table games that he believes will be approved by voters in Rhode Island in November will sharply cut into revenue for Foxwoods and its competitors.

Competition also is coming from New York City's first legalized gambling "racino" at Aqueduct Racetrack and slot machine casinos in Pennsylvania.

"What we're doing at Mashantucket is working with our lenders and we're talking about, 'Here's the reality of today and the economy, here's where it may be in the future but don't get your hopes up,'" he said.

"The near term outlook isn't that bright from a revenue outlook," Butler said. "Let's all accept that and work on it. It's simple math: Here's how much we earn, here's how much debt we can support and let's come to an agreement and work it out."

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which operates the neighboring Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut and another in Wilkes Barre, Pa., also has renegotiated debt. The two casinos and others borrowed to finance expansion and were caught short at the start of the recession in late 2007.

"It's a big growth story," Butler said. "We have one of the world's largest casinos and you can't build those for free so you have to take on incremental debt to do that and that's what the tribe chose to do over the years."

Butler also said more limits on smoking in the casino are not likely as Foxwoods seeks to cater to patrons who enjoy smoking while gambling.

In 2003, the Connecticut legislature banned smoking in bars and restaurants, but exempted private clubs and the two tribal casinos. The state Supreme Court upheld the law in 2007.

Smoking is banned at Foxwoods restaurants and other areas, but not at most gambling areas, Butler said.

"The politicians decided very quickly, those are our values," he said. "But the patrons are the ones who are spending the money. They want to smoke."

Butler said he's not a smoker and can't persuade his wife to visit the casino "because she says it smells like smoke."

"We do still have $2.3 billion in debt that we have to pay off. We have to provide a service to the patrons," he said.

Carlson is has coached the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders since 2000.

Has UMass found a new coach or is it "Here we go again?"

College Hockey News' Joe Meloni is reporting that Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) coach Mark Carlson has been offered the UMass hockey coaching job.

According to a source, Mark Carlson, head coach of the Cedar Rapids Roughriders, has been offered head coaching position at UMass.

— Joe Meloni (@CHNJoeMeloni) July 10, 2012

Calls to Carlson and UMass from The Republican, both before and after Meloni's report, were not returned.

Mark Meyer, who works in the front office for the RoughRiders, said Carlson was not in the office Tuesday, but was expected back Wednesday, and as of Tuesday evening was still the coach in Cedar Rapids.

Carlson emerged last night as the latest candidate for the job.

A report for The Gazette, out of Cedar Rapids, said Carlson had confirmed he had already interviewed for the job, but hadn't been offered as of Tuesday morning.

Stay tuned right here at MassLive for more on this story as it develops.

The batch of cards had some 700 in all and most in mint condition. "Every future find will be compared to this," said one card authenticator.

AP Photo/John SeewerKarl Kissner poses in front of the door to an attic in his grandfather's old home in Defiance, Ohio, where he and a cousin found a collection of century-old baseball cards. The cards are from an extremely rare series issued around 1910 and the best of the bunch — 37 cards — are expected to bring a total of $500,000 when they are sold at auction in August during the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore. There are about 700 cards in all that could be worth up to $3 million, experts say.

DEFIANCE, Ohio (AP) — Karl Kissner picked up a soot-covered cardboard box that had been under a wooden dollhouse in his grandfather's attic. Taking a look inside, he saw hundreds of baseball cards bundled with twine. They were smaller than the ones he was used to seeing.

But some of the names were familiar: Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Cy Young and Honus Wagner.

Then he put the box on a dresser and went back to digging through the attic.

It wasn't until two weeks later that he learned that his family had come across what experts say is one of the biggest, most exciting finds in the history of sports card collecting, a discovery worth perhaps millions.

The cards are from an extremely rare series issued around 1910. Up to now, the few known to exist were in so-so condition at best, with faded images and worn edges. But the ones from the attic in the town of Defiance are nearly pristine, untouched for more than a century. The colors are vibrant, the borders crisp and white.

"It's like finding the Mona Lisa in the attic," Kissner said.

Sports card experts who authenticated the find say they may never again see something this impressive.

View full sizeAP photoThese undated photos provided by Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Texas shows a 1910 Ty Cobb baseball card, left, and a 1910 Honus Wagner baseball card. The two cards were among a batch of 700 vintage cards that have total estimated worth of $3 million

The best of the bunch — 37 cards — are expected to bring a total of $500,000 when they are sold at auction in August during the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore. There are about 700 cards in all that could be worth up to $3 million, experts say. They include such legends as Christy Mathewson and Connie Mack.

Kissner and his family say the cards belonged to their grandfather, Carl Hench, who died in the 1940s. Hench ran a meat market in Defiance, and the family suspects he got them as a promotional item from a candy company that distributed them with caramels. They think he gave some away and kept others.

"We guess he stuck them in the attic and forgot about them," Kissner said. "They remained there frozen in time."

After Hench and his wife died, two of his daughters lived in the house. Jean Hench kept the house until she died last October, leaving everything inside to her 20 nieces and nephews. Kissner, 51, is the youngest and was put in charge of the estate. His aunt was a pack rat, and the house was filled with three generations of stuff.

They found calendars from the meat market, turn-of-the-century dresses, a steamer trunk from Germany and a dresser with Grandma's clothes neatly folded in the drawers.

Months went by before they even got to the attic. On Feb. 29, Kissner's cousin Karla Hench pulled out the dirty green box with metal clips at the corners and lifted the lid.

Not knowing whether the cards were valuable, the two cousins put the box aside. But Kissner decided to do a little research. The cards were at his office in the restaurant he owns when he realized they might have something. He immediately took them across the street and put them in a bank vault.

Still not knowing whether the cards were real, they sent eight to expert Peter Calderon at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, which recently sold the baseball that rolled through the legs of Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series for $418,000.

Calderon said his first words were "Oh, my God."

"I was in complete awe," he said. "You just don't see them this nice."

The cards are from what is known as the E98 series. It is not clear who manufactured them or how many were produced, but the series consists of 30 players, half of them Hall of Famers.

The experts at Heritage Auctions checked out the family's background, the age of the home and the history of the meat market. They looked at the cards and how they were printed.

"Everything lines up," said Chris Ivy, the company's director of sports auctions.

They then sent all the cards to Professional Sports Authenticator, which had previously authenticated fewer than 700 E98s. The Ohio cards were the finest examples from the E98 series the company had ever seen.

The company grades cards on a 1-to-10 scale based of their condition. Up to now, the highest grade it had ever given a Ty Cobb card from the E98 series was a 7. Sixteen Cobbs found in the Ohio attic were graded a 9 — almost perfect. A Honus Wagner was judged a 10, a first for the series.

Retired sports card auctioneer Barry Sloate of New York City said: "This is probably the most interesting find I've heard of."

The highest price ever paid for a baseball card is $2.8 million, handed over in 2007 for a 1909 Honus Wagner that was produced by the American Tobacco Co. and included in packs of cigarettes. Another similar Wagner card brought $1.2 million in April. (Wagner's tobacco cards were pulled from circulation, either because the ballplayer didn't want to encourage smoking among children or because he wanted more money.)

Heritage Auctions plans to sell most of the Ohio cards over the next two of three years through auctions and private sales so that it doesn't flood the market. In all, they could bring $2 million or $3 million, Ivy said.

The Hench family is evenly dividing the cards and the money among the 20 cousins named in their aunt's will. All but a few have decided to sell their share.

"These cards need to be with those people who appreciate and enjoy them," Kissner said.

The antiques show along a mile stretch of Route 20 features thousands of antique dealers.

BRIMFIELD — Theresa B. Case has been searching for a bee skep for five years, and she found one on Tuesday, the first day of the Brimfield Outdoor Antiques Show.

Case, and her husband, Luther M. Case, of East Granby, Conn., started out at 9 a.m. on their treasure hunt. They are Brimfield regulars.

"We get our exercise and stay hours," Theresa Case said.

She said the bee skep – also known as a bee skip – is made of woven straw and wrapped in a coil. She said bees will make a hive inside it. The one she found dated back to the 1800s. She talked the dealer down from $300 and bought it for $200.

"We feel we got a good deal," her husband said. "That's the fun of coming here, thinking you got a good deal."

The antiques show runs through Sunday on a mile stretch of Route 20 and features thousands of antique dealers.

Over at the Quaker Acres field, Patricia L. and Gary Keenan of Keenan Antiques in Dover, Penn., featured items they bought in England. There were Victorian pipes, glass medicine bottles, crocks and more.

Nearby, James B. Nardone, of Worcester County, sold goods he described as "man things" – tools, belt buckles, locks, knives, signs. Nardone said he buys things he likes at auctions, yard sales and estate sales and resells them at Brimfield.

He goes to all three of the Brimfield Antiques Shows, which also are held in May and September. He even showcased old telephones in his booth. One rotary phone from the 1970s was advertised for $78. Another retro stick phone was going for $178.

Mary E. Michaud, of Portsmouth, N.H., was enjoying her first time at Brimfield. She bought a Walt Disney Epcot pennant flag, and some scarves, but she said her best purchase was a black hat with feathers. Advertised for $50, she got it for $10.

Michaud said she will "absolutely" come back for another trip.

Elaine Lucier, who runs Green Mannequin vintage costume jewelry (her booth has the bright green mannequin outside it), said many customers will buy the jewelry she sells for $1 so they can take it apart and make their own creations with it. Lucier said they will return to her booth with their creations, to show her what they made.

"People are amazingly clever," said Lucier, who hails from Woodstock, Conn.

So far, she said the show seemed slow, a sentiment that was echoed by other dealers, but she said those who were there were buying.

Cynthia A. Berrier, owner of Queenie's Junktique in Lewistown, Penn., had the bottom half of a mannequin sticking out of a tub filled with glass mason jars.

She said the eye-catching display was attracting a lot of attention. A lot of people were taking photographs of it, she said. The half-mannequin was being sold for $55, the mason jars for $5 a piece and the tub, $325.

"I buy what I like and I hope someone else likes it," Berrier said.

Jeff Croft, of Venice, Fla., brought his 9-year-old twins, JJ and Aniika, to the show. JJ had a toy plane that his father bought for him, and Aniika, a toy Winnebago.

"They love it. It's a cool thing for the kids to do," said Croft, as JJ raced around a booth looking at toys.

Croft said his parents live in Montague, so they come to Brimfield regularly.

Prudy G. Buckley bought a large wooden flower made out of reclaimed wood for $35 from a dealer from Lancaster County, Penn. at the Central Park field.

Buckley, who runs an ice cream shop on Block Island, R.I., said she's been coming to Brimfield for 20 years and loves it. She plans to put the wooden flower outside her business. Artist

Amy L. Cloud, of North Bennington, Vt., was going to paint "please do not pick flowers" on it because Buckley's patrons often pick her hydrangeas outside the shop. Cloud sells paintings of chickens at her booth in Central Park.

"People call me the chicken lady," Cloud said. "Everyone loves chickens. They sell."

Defense lawyer David Rountree said the case against Texidor hinged on an identification by a witness who admitted to smoking crack before the shooting.

Springfield Police Dept.Manuel Lora and Priscilla Texidor

SPRINGFIELD — A young city couple pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges in the fatal shooting of a nursing assistant in the Forest Park neighborhood last summer.

Manuel Lora and Priscilla Texidor, both 22 with a listed address of 19 Gordon St., denied murder and related charges at their arraignment in Hampden Superior Court.

  Lora, who is also facing federal firearms charges, was ordered held without bail by Judge Jeffrey Kinder; bail for Texidor, who was 8½ months pregnant at the time of the killing, was set at $20,000 cash. Her brother, James Texidor of Springfield, was arrested in New York City last month by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in connection with the Aug. 23, 2011 shooting.

  The victim, Jonathan Tallaj, 25, was shot outside a building his father owned at 86 Wilmont St.

  In addition to a first degree murder charge, Lora also pleaded not guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm without an identification card; Texidor also denied one count of being an accessory after the fact and two counts of misleading a grand jury, prosecutor or judge.

  Defense lawyer David Rountree said the case against Priscilla Texidor hinged on an identification by a witness who admitted to smoking crack before the shooting.
  

He said Texidor has three children, including one born shortly after her arrest last August, and no previous criminal record.

  Both defendants were born in the Bronx, according to court records, which also state that Lora has a bullet wound on one knee and Texidor has knife scars on her arm and back.

  Among several tattoos, Lora has one on his right arm that reads: “I Shall Not Fear No Man.’

City councilors pondering a final vote on an ordinance that would prohibit the feeding of wildlife will take into account the cautionary tale about the paramedic, the bear and the cocoa butter.

APBetter hide the cocoa butter when you see a black bear.

NORTHAMPTON — City councilors pondering a final vote on an ordinance that would prohibit the feeding of wildlife will take into account the cautionary tale about the paramedic, the bear and the cocoa butter.

According to an email sent to the city by Environmental Police Officer John Pajak and forwarded to each councilor, the incident in question took place on June 23, the night of the fireworks display at Look Park. A female paramedic had gone out into the parking lot of the ambulance station near the Northampton Bike Path to get a look at the fireworks when she felt something lick her arm.

“Apparently the paramedic wears a cocoa butter moisturizer with coconut oil in it,” Pajak wrote. “After she screamed, the bear must have figured out that she was not ‘food’ because it ran off.”

Pajak said he subsequently spoke to the paramedic in person and that the incident was the subject of a 911 call. Police have not confirmed the call, however, and it is not known if the woman was an employee of the Northampton Fire Department or Pioneer Valley Ambulance, both of which operate ambulances out of the Florence site.

To Pajak, who favors the ordinance, the incident was a good example why people should not feed wild animals.

“Yet another negative result of the bears becoming habituated to people feeding them,” he wrote. “I’m just glad it wasn’t some 9-year-old kid with an ice cream cone because it could have been bad.”

The ordinance would prohibit the deliberate feeding of any undomesticated wildlife, including bears, coyotes, foxes and raccoons. According to Council President William H. Dwight, it was driven largely by residents of the Marion Street neighborhood, who have complained that Thomas C. Wooster of 33 Stonewall Drive has been deliberately attracting bears with food.

The Republican | John SuchockiThomas Wooster in his Northampton backyard, where he has bird feeders.

Wooster, who has lived in his house for 33 years, said Tuesday that he simply has two bird-feeders in his enclosed yard that bears sometimes raid.

“If you feed the birds, you’re going to end up feeding the bears,” he said.

The ordinance exempts bird-feeders as long as they do not become a habitual bear attraction, but Wooster said he has already been threatened with fines. He maintains that the ordinance violates his Fourth Amendment right against illegal search by allowing law enforcement authorities to search his property without a warrant.

Although he has retained a lawyer, Wooster believes the ordinance is “a done deal” and plans to challenge it in court if it becomes law. He laughed at the notion that he is somehow responsible for the cocoa butter incident, noting that there has not been a recorded bear attack on a human in Northampton in memory.

The council passed the measure unanimously upon first reading and will take a final vote on Thursday.

Although the ordinance originally included “feral cats” in its list of wildlife, the cats were exempted by vote of the council. Those who violate the ordinance would be subject to a fine, although the fine would be waived if the violator addresses the issue within 14 days. Dwight described the ordinance as a way to let the public and law enforcement anticipate problems rather than as punishment.

Also weighing on the market: worries about a slew of upcoming corporate earnings reports.

By BERNARD CONDON | AP Business Writer

Associated PressIn this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange Euronext, Jeffrey M. Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods, rings the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Spam family of products, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/New York Stock Exchange, Valerie Caviness)

NEW YORK — Stocks fell for the fourth straight day Tuesday following a profit slump at technology companies and a steep decline in oil prices, which sent energy stocks sharply lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 83.17 points to close at 12,653.12. Aluminum maker Alcoa was the biggest loser in the Dow, giving up 4 percent after reporting a slump in revenue late Monday.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 lost 10.99 points to 1,341.47. The index is in its longest slump since May 18.

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices fell sharply after reporting that a slowdown in China and Europe led to an 11 percent drop in second-quarter revenue. The company had previously forecast a gain of 3 percent.

That news sent other technology stocks down hard. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 1 percent, the most of the three major indexes. It closed 29.44 points lower at 2,902.33.

The bad news outweighed hopeful developments in Europe earlier in the day. Before U.S. markets opened, European finance ministers announced they had agreed on the terms of a bailout for Spain's banks. The first installment of $37 billion in aid can be ready by the end of the month.

Investors were concerned that some details seemed to be missing from the plan.

Also weighing on the market: worries about a slew of upcoming corporate earnings reports. Financial analysts expect that earnings at companies in the S&P 500 fell 2 percent in the April-through-June period compared with a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ. That would be the first drop in nearly three years.

"The past quarter was great, but going forward many companies may have problems," said Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade, a brokerage. "People are confused about what to think."

A resolution to a labor dispute in Norway early Friday weighed on oil prices, which pushed energy stocks lower. Early Tuesday, the Norwegian government intervened to end a strike that threatened North Sea oil production.

Benchmark crude oil fell $2.08 to $83.91 a barrel in New York. Major energy companies dropped as a result, including Occidental Petroleum, down $1.95 at $83.24, and ConocoPhillips, down 90 cents at $53.43.

Natural gas producers took a hit from a sharp drop in the price of natural gas, which was down 5 percent at $2.74 per 1,000 cubic feet. Cabot Oil & Gas slumped $1.20 to $39.07 and Chesapeake Energy gave up $1.29 cents to $18.69.

Also weighing on commodities was a report from China that import growth fell in half in June from May, a signal its economy may be slowing more than expected. The Chinese economy, the world's second biggest, is growing at its slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis.

Copper fell 1 percent to $3.40 per pound. China is a big importer of the metal.

In stocks, the selling was broad. Eight of the ten industry groups in the S&P 500 fell. Industrial companies led the declines with a slump of 1.6 percent. Utilities and consumer staples, industries that fare better than others when the economy is struggling, rose slightly.

In Europe, the deal to aid Spain helped push the yield on its benchmark 10-year government bond down to 6.8 percent. On Monday, that country's key borrowing rate surged to 7 percent, a dangerously high level. The lower yield means investors are less fearful about the country having trouble paying its debts.

Portugal, Ireland and Greece all had to ask for help from international lenders after spikes in their own borrowing rates made it unaffordable for them to raise money from selling bonds on the open market. Spain is the largest European country to date to seek international assistance.

In corporate news, Applied Materials, which makes equipment for chipmakers, cut its fiscal year profit and sales estimates because of weak demand. The stock fell 30 cents to $10.71. AMD, the chip maker hurt by slumping sales in China, plunged 63 cents to $4.99.

Embattled BlackBerry maker Research in Motion fell 38 cents to $7.29. The company's CEO, Thorsten Heins, told a shareholders meeting that he isn't satisfied with the company's performance. Two weeks ago the company announced disappointing earnings, plans to cut 30 percent of its workforce and the latest delay in BlackBerry 10.

Alcoa lost 36 cents to $8.40 after a financial analyst cut his estimate for the company's 2012 earnings. Alcoa reported Monday that it beat analyst estimate for earnings in the second quarter but that revenue dropped due to slowing world demand for aluminum.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was lighter than average at 3.4 billion shares.

The mayor has said that Doup's experience in real estate appraising will help in the city's effort to pay site visits to all the property in the community.

The Republican | Sandra E. ConstantineHans Doup, West Springfield's new principal assessor, during a press conference in the mayor's office.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger has named real estate broker and appraiser Hans A. Doup the city’s new principal assessor.

Neffinger made the announcement during a press conference Tuesday during which he said that Doup started the job and took the oath of office Monday morning.

A city resident and member of the Board of Assessors, Doup will be paid $64,745 a year.

“I believe in the mayor’s philosophy that we are a service organization first and enforcement agency second,” Doup, 55, said in a prepared statement issued during the press conference.

He replaces Lauren Elliott, who left the city’s employ in June to take a higher paying position in Greenwich, Conn. Elliott was named principal assessor following Neffinger’s firing of longtime principal assessor Christopher Keefe on Feb. 8. The dismissal came after a disagreement with Neffinger on taxing social clubs.

Doup has owned HD Appraisals-Realty in West Springfield for the last 26 years. While in the city’s employ, he will not do any private appraising and will not sell real estate in West Springfield.

Doup, who was born in Holland, grew up in Springfield and is a graduate of American International College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration-economics, is a member of the National Association of Realtors and is a certified residential real estate appraiser.

Doup has lived in West Springfield for the last 26 years and has been on the Board of Assessors since March.

Neffinger said he was very favorably impressed by the fact that Elliott recommended Doup to be her successor.

The mayor also said Doup’s background in appraising will come in handy now that the city is going to make site visits to every property in the community in setting values, something that has not been done for many years.

Neffinger has set aside $40,000 for the site visits, and the city has already hired three part-time data collectors to help out.

Doup said in setting values, his office will be sure to take into account the condition of properties as well as check if proper permits were pulled for such things as additions and plumbing and electrical work.

Neffinger said candidates have come forward to fill the position on the Board of Assessors that Doup has held. He will continue to serve on the board in his capacity as principal assessor.

The nonprofit focuses on improving housing in Springfield with rehabilitation projects, foreclosure prevention, credit counseling, financial fitness classes and classes for 1st-time home buyers.

SPRINGFIELD – State lawmakers from Springfield plan to push Wednesday for an override of Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s veto of a $100,000 earmarked state appropriation to Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services.

Patrick signed the budget, along with a list of vetoes, Sunday. An override would require a two-thirds vote of the state legislature. State Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, put the language in the legislature's budget and said Tuesday that he is looking to get it restored.

“The governor wants his staff people to make decisions as to where the money will be allocated,” Swan said.

When it comes to earmark expenditures, Swan said it's been his experience that letting state agencies make those decisions means that most of the money will go to Boston-area agencies that have better connections to the state. It can leave Western Massachusetts out in the cold.

State Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera echoed the sentiment.

“It’s like pulling teeth for agencies out here,” she said . “This is our way to get money for Western Massachusetts.”

Officials at Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services couldn’t be reached for comment this week.

The nonprofit focuses on improving housing in the city with rehabilitation projects, foreclosure prevention, credit counseling, financial fitness classes and classes for first-time home buyers. The recession and mortgage crisis have made Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services even more needed, Swan said.

“I send constituents there for help when they come to my office with problems,” he said. “It is all vital work.”

Swan said Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services uses state money as a match for other funding sources, multiplying its impact in the community.

Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services had $1.6 million in income from grants, contributions and other revenues in 2010, according to an IRS document on file with the state Attorney General’s Office. That is the most recent document available.

Other Patrick veto overrides under consideration include $10 million in salary increases for low-paid workers in human services and a law that would have banned the use of EBT cards things like guns, tattoos, gambling and pornography.

Authorities said the public was never in danger from the explosives, which they said were always under the control of federal officials during the sting operation.

AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's OfficeThis section of an undated photo released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, which had been presented as a government exhibit at a 2011 hearing, shows Rezwan Ferdaus, of Ashland, Mass. Court documents filed Tuesday, July 10, 2012 said Ferdaus, who is charged with plotting to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, plans to plead guilty to two charges on July 20, 2012 in federal court in Boston.

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man charged with plotting to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol agreed to plead guilty to two charges, his lawyers and prosecutors said in a plea agreement filed in federal court Tuesday.

Rezwan Ferdaus, a Muslim-American from Ashland with a physics degree from Boston's Northeastern University, was arrested in September after federal employees posing as al-Qaida members delivered materials he had allegedly requested, including grenades, machine guns and what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4, a plastic explosive.

Prosecutors and Ferdaus' lawyers say Ferdaus will plead guilty to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings by means of an explosive.

The two charges carry a combined maximum of 35 years in prison, but under the plea agreement, prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed to request a 17-year sentence.

A change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled for July 20.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss four other charges.

Authorities said the public was never in danger from the explosives, which they said were always under the control of federal officials during the sting operation.

Counter-terrorism experts and model-aircraft enthusiasts said it would be nearly impossible to inflict large-scale damage of the kind Ferdaus allegedly envisioned using model plane because the aircraft are too small, can't carry enough explosives and are too difficult to fly.

Authorities say Ferdaus, 27, became convinced that America was evil. He allegedly contacted a federal informant and later began meeting to discuss the plot with undercover agents he believed were members of al-Qaida.

He was charged with planning to use three remote-controlled airplanes, each packed with five pounds of explosives, to blow up the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

At one point, Ferdaus allegedly told undercover agents that his desire to attack the United States was so strong, "I just can't stop. There is no other choice for me," according to a recorded conversation detailed in an affidavit filed in court.

Ferdaus' lawyers have suggested that the FBI ignored signs of mental illness in Ferdaus while investigating him.

During a bail hearing in November, an FBI agent acknowledged that the FBI had received reports about bizarre behavior by Ferdaus, including a report to Hopkinton police about one incident in which Ferdaus allegedly stood in the road not moving and appeared to have wet his pants.

Ferdaus' lead attorney, Miriam Conrad, declined to comment on the plea agreement, as did a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns can either accept or reject the plea agreement, including the 17-year sentence recommended by both the defense and prosecution. If Stearns rejects the agreement, then he must give Ferdaus an opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea.

The recommended sentence for Ferdaus is shorter than some of the sentences imposed in similar terrorism-related cases involving FBI sting operations.

In May 2011, a part-time fry cook from Decatur, Ill., was sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for plotting to blow up a federal courthouse.

In October 2010, a Jordanian man was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper. Hosam Smadi pleaded guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction after an FBI sting caught him trying to blow up a 60-story office tower. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life. He had faced up to 30 years under the terms of his plea agreement.

.Terrorism Plea Agreement between U.S Department of Justice and Rezwan Ferdaus

The 104th Fighter Wing spent 3 months in Jordan with coalition forces from 19 countries.

WESTFIELD — For Tech. Sgt. Christopher Pinney, coming home was the best part of a three-month mission overseas.

“It was a very big success. We did an outstanding job,” Pinney said. “Coming home is best, it always is.”

Pinney, of Westfield, a member to the 104th Fighter Wing, was one of about 250 Air National Guard members who arrived at Barnes National Guard Base on Tuesday. They were greeted with hugs from family and friends, who chanted “Welcome Home,” while they walked into a hangar.

This was the third deployment for Pinney, but it was harder because this is the first since his 2½-year-old daughter was born.

The maintenance and operations squadrons for the 104th with eight of its F-15C/D Eagle fighter planes were involved in a massive military security training operation. In May The Republican reported the group was in Jordan working with 19 countries.

The operation was designed to strengthen the relationship between Jordan, the United States and other allied countries. It was designed to help military from different countries share and practice tactics and uses of equipment so they can work together better in war zones, Maj. Matthew Mutti, spokesman for the 104th, said in May.

For Lt. Col. Joseph Keenan, of Holyoke, the deployment was his first since he joined the National Guard two years ago at the age of 61. Keenan, a physician, served as the flight surgeon for this mission.

“The older I get I realized how lucky I was to be an American and there is a great need for flight surgeons,” he said.

Along with spending time in Jordan, Keenan, who is an ear, nose and throat specialist, said he took a side trip to Afghanistan to serve as a medical consultant.

“It was a great way to build partnerships and know people,” he said. “It was a real coalition builder.”

The biggest problem was the heat and humidity. The temperature indexes soared above 100. To prevent heat stroke, he had to make sure crews drank a lot and those working outside took breaks in the air conditioning.

“The humidity was so bad it was like swimming in the air,” said Airman 1st Class Andrew Karrasch of Belchertown. “I was happy to see trees and feel fresh air.”

Instead of blue sky there was a constant haze in the air.

This was Karrasch’s first deployment since he joined the National Guard three years ago. An electronics technician, he said he was constantly working. Most worked 12-hour shifts, six days a week.

“It was a good deployment, a good learning experience,” he said. “I learned a lot more about the jet itself.”

This was the fifth deployment for Tech. Sgt. Matt Chapman, of Russell, who worked on the ground support equipment for the jets.

“It was very well run,” he said. “The squadron did a good job.”