Communities throughout the Pioneer Valley, including Springfield, Holyoke, Greenfield and Westfield, opened cooling centers where people could go to seek shelter from the heat.

View full sizeThe Republican | Dave RobackThe sun sets behind Chicopee City Hall as seen from Grape Street in Chicopee on Tuesday as the warm spell hangs on in the Pioneer Valley.

SPRINGFIELD - The oppressive heat and humidity that engulfed much of the region are expected to continue Wednesday, although an afternoon cold front is expected to bring much sought-after relief.

Temperatures in the Springfield area are forecast to reach as high as 92 degrees before mid-afternoon, said meteorologist Nick Morganelli of CBS 3 Springfield, the media partner of The Republican and Masslive.com. But once temperatures start dropping, they will drop quickly, he said.

“It will be 75 degrees by 4 p.m.,” he said.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms with heavy winds and rain in Hampden County by the afternoon.

Morganelli said there is a chance that the worst of the storm will stay to the south. If it does, it is doubtful any community in the Springfield area will see more than a quarter inch of rain.

Any relief is likely to be welcome as the region grapples a band of high heat and humidity that has enveloped much of the Northeast.

Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks climbed as high as 96 degrees, one degree less than the record for the date set in 1999. Barnes Municipal Airport recorded a high of 98 degrees, while Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee saw 97 degrees, and Orange Municipal Airport in Orange reached 95 degrees.

The Republican weather station in downtown Springfield measured a high temperature of 96 degrees at 2:30 p.m.

The National Weather Service in Taunton issued a heat advisory for much of Tuesday into Tuesday night. With temperatures reaching 95 degrees and dewpoints near 70, the combination made it seem as if it was 104 degrees.

An advisory is issued when the combination of high temperatures and high humidity create an environment where heat-related illness is possible.

During heat advisories, people are advised to avoid prolonged work in direct sunlight or poorly ventilated rooms, to drink plenty of water and take advantage of air conditioning. People are also advised to check in on elderly relatives and neighbors.

Communities throughout the Pioneer Valley, including Springfield, Holyoke, Greenfield and Westfield, opened cooling centers where people could go to seek shelter from the heat. A complete map of cooling centers and hours or operations, as well as water parks and swimming areas, is available on Masslive.com.

An electrical outage on Tuesday afternoon along the State Street corridor left 287 customers without power for a few hours.

View full sizeThe Republican | John SuchockiJohn Bain of Sandy Hill Road, Westfield, waters his plants to keep them from drying up in the heat.

WMECO spokeswoman Sandra Ahearn said the outage is most likely related to the heat. The outage was caused by a problem with some lines, called a cable fault. By 8 p.m., all but 16
customers had power restored.

Among the customers in the area affected at the High School of Science and Technology, 1250 State St., and Kindred Hospital Park View, 1400 State St.

Jake Socha, CEO for the hospital, confirmed power is out but the hospital was operating on back-up generators. All of the patients are safe and there are no plans for evacuation, he said. “We’re OK,” he said

He said he has been in contact with WMECO officials who say they anticipate the power will be restored fully within four to eight hours. The hospital’s back-up generators have the capacity to power the facility for as much as 72 hours, he said.

As a precaution, Socha said he has requested the delivery of two additional portable generators in the event the outage continues longer than expected.

Morganelli said if the temperature reaches as high as expected, it will be three straight days of 90-degree temperatures, making it an official heat wave. With moderate temperatures forecast through the weekend, it will be the briefest of heat waves.

“If it hadn’t stopped at 88-89 on Sunday, it would have been 7 straight days of 90-plus temperatures,” he said.

Westfield has had five heat waves this summer, Springfield and Chicopee have had four.

Map of where to go in the Pioneer Valley for relief from the heat.

View Locations to seek relief from the heat in Western Massachusetts in a larger map

Kapp has 20 paintings on display at the West Springfield Public Library through the month of July.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanWest Springfield artist Sharleen J. Kapp is seen with some of the paintings she created using credit cards and that are on display at the West Springfield Public Library through this month.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Sharleen J. Kapp does some clever things with her friends’ credit cards and it’s not charging up a lot of clothes at Macy’s. An artist, she cuts them up and uses them as paintbrushes to create works of art.

Kapp has 20 paintings done with that technique on display at the West Springfield Public Library through the end of the month. She got her inspiration from watching a young artist paint using that method over the Internet and decided to try it out on her students in a watercolors class she teaches at the Senior Center.

“ I had been trying to find something to get the people in my class to loosen up. It did actually and they had fun doing it,” Kapp, 79, said during a recent interview at the library.

The paintings they produced were very abstract and very wet, according to Kapp, who said she ended up deciding that credit card paintbrushes are not the best tools for watercolors.

She then went on to use credit cards in her own painting with acrylics and got better results .

“I have a tendency to paint a little too controlled for my own taste,” she said, explaining that other people like her paintings but she wanted to get back to an earlier time in her career rather than paint to please other people.

Kapp began her credit card paintings using whole cards and then progressed from there, using strips to paint in details. The credit cards enable her to get more paint onto the Masonite boards she used for the paintings.

The paintings in her show at the library have subjects that range from a portrait of her mother, a woman poking her hands through a wall to hold a white dove and churning rapids with a red kayak tucked into the corner.

The black and white likeness of her late mother was painted from a photograph of her in a flapper-style hat surrounded by crows. The crows are painted in very abstractly so that viewers must look at the work very carefully to discern them.

The kayak served the same purpose in the painting of rapids.

“It was fun to just put a little kayak in the rapids,” she said.

The artists explained that she liked putting something in the paintings so people can find something they did not expect to see.

Kapp is a lifelong artist, who is mostly self taught. When she lived in Australia she studied with the abstract painter Peter A. Panow, a Russian immigrant who was a contemporary of Picasso.

“I had the good fortune to study with him in his studio,” Kapp said.

The local artist also worked for many years as a graphics artist and illustrator.

Aerial spraying with planes will take place on a warm night with no wind or rain: prime conditions for mosquitoes to be out.

The Republican file photo | Michael BeswickState health officials plan to begin aerial spraying for mosquitoes in nearly a dozen southeastern Massachusetts communities.

BOSTON — State health officials plan to begin aerial spraying for mosquitoes in nearly a dozen southeastern Massachusetts communities after a number of mosquito samples recently collected in the region tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis, a potentially deadly disease for humans.

The state Department of Public Health says aerial spraying will begin "as soon as possible" in the following communities: Bridgewater, Carver, Easton, Halifax, Lakeville, Middleborough, Norton, Plympton, Raynham, Taunton, and West Bridgewater. Department officials would not give an exact timetable, saying they will need to monitor the weather and other factors before spraying pesticides.

Aerial spraying with planes will take place on a warm night with no wind or rain: prime conditions for mosquitoes to be out.

Southeastern Massachusetts residents are urged to taking as many precautions as possible against mosquito bites, such as applying insect repellent and wearing long-sleeved clothing when outdoors, especially on warm nights. Residents should also drain standing water to cut down on potential mosquito breeding areas and install or repair window screens.

State Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach said the recent confirmed samples of EEE in mammal-biting mosquitoes have come earlier this year than in the past, which he finds "particularly concerning."

He said cases of these mosquitoes do not usually arise until August, meaning that this year southeastern Massachusetts residents could have an even longer exposure period that normal. Officials attribute this to the mild winter and recent high temperatures, which speed up breeding and the growth of the virus in mosquitoes.

The commissioner said it's too early to predict whether or not this summer will bring one of the highest-risks for EEE seen in the state.

He said ground-level insecticide spraying is currently taking place in southeastern Massachusetts.

Last month, the department issued new guidelines that would allow health officials to consider spraying insecticides in a region if just one mammal-biting mosquito is found to be infected with EEE. Previously, they had officials determine there was a critical risk, based on at least two human or mammal cases of the virus.

There have been no human cases of EEE or West Nile virus in Massachusetts so far this year. There were two cases of EEE last summer, and one was fatal.

The talk show host stated the film's villain, Bane, is a sly reference to Bain Capital, even though the character was created by conservative writers.

AP photosRush Limbaugh, left, and Christian Bale in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Holy conspiracy, Batman!

Conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh warned his listeners that the upcoming blockbuster film "The Dark Knight Rises" is nothing more than a left-wing attempt to derail the campaign of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

Want proof? The movie's main villain is a mask-wearing, terrorist named Bane. Bain Capital is the Boston investment firm Romney used to head.

“The movie has been in the works for a long time, the release date’s been known, summer 2012 for a long time,” Limbaugh said Tuesday on his radio show. “Do you think that it is accidental, that the name of the really vicious, fire-breathing, four-eyed, whatever-it-is villain in this movie is named Bane?”

Limbaugh added, “This movie, the audience is going to be huge, lot of people are going to see the movie. And it’s a lot of brain-dead people, entertainment, the pop-culture crowd. And they’re going to hear ‘Bane’ in the movie, and they are going to associate Bain.”

Limbaugh is obviously not one of those "brain-dead" people who read DC Comics.

The villainous Bane is not a recent Hollywood creation. Bane was first introduced in the Batman "Knightfall" storyline back in 1993 - a year before Romney entered politics in his  failed bid to unseat U.S. Sen . Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Bane was co-created by Chuck Dixon, an outspoken conservative writer, who wasted no time shooting down Limbaugh's theory.

“The idea that there’s some kind of liberal agenda behind the use of Bane in the new movie is silly,” Dixon told ComicBook.com on Tuesday. “Bane was created by me and Graham Nolan and we are lifelong conservatives and as far from left-wing mouthpieces as you are likely to find in comics.”

It also escaped Limbaugh's notice that the hero of the film is billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has a reputation in Gotham City for being tough on crime.

Warren cited recent financial scandals at J.P. Morgan and Barclays to tout the need for increased regulation.

AP Photo/Stephan SavoiaMassachusetts Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Elizabeth Warren holds Christopher Lydon's hand as she tells a story about shaking hands and talking with voters while campaigning during a forum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Tuesday, July 17, 2012.

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BOSTON — Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday portrayed the upcoming election as a choice about financial accountability and regulation.

“We’re now four years into the financial crisis, and the people who broke our economy have still not been held accountable,” Warren told around 500 people at the John F. Kennedy presidential library and museum in Boston. “It’s been scandal after scandal since then.”

Warren pointed to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s promises to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reforms as an example of the political choice voters have to make.

“His answer for what’s broken in the financial system is to reduce the amount of regulation, cut down on the number of cops on the beat, to say to those guys as clearly as you can, go forth and do whatever you do best,” Warren said. “The alternative vision is to say no, no, no, we’ve got to have some rules ... Families need the rules, the banking system itself needs the rules.”

The event was moderated by Christopher Lydon, who has been a news anchor and radio show host on WGBH and WBUR. The library, which is non-partisan, invited Warren’s opponent, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, to a similar forum.

As she often does on the campaign trail, Warren spoke passionately about her work creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a way to “create a level playing field for consumers.” She said the bureau is changing the system by making the terms of credit cards, mortgages and other financial instruments easier to understand, by protecting groups such as seniors or service members, by having a consumer complaint hotline and by ensuring banks comply with consumer protection laws.

Asked about President Barack Obama’s decision not to appoint her head of the agency she helped create, due to Republican opposition, Warren replied, “It wasn’t about me. This was about the best way to protect the consumer agency, and that’s what I care about.”

Warren cited recent financial problems – a trading loss at J.P. Morgan that cost the bank nearly $6 billion, and a scandal in which traders at Barclays were accused of manipulating the Libor – a benchmark interest rate – as indications of why regulations are needed.

“We’ve now tested for around 30 years the notion if we just cut taxes and leave it to the wealthy, if we just deregulate, let people do what they want to do, the largest, most powerful institutions, that somehow the scraps from that will feed the rest of us, will somehow make the rest of us wealthier,” Warren said. “It didn’t work.”

Lydon questioned Warren on why Democrats are not campaigning for public financing of campaigns as part of their crusade for financial reform. Warren responded by touting the DISCLOSE Act, an act that failed to pass the Senate this week due to Republican opposition, which would require any group that spends more than $10,000 on election-related advertising to release the names of donors who contributed at least $10,000.

“My Republican opponent Scott Brown and every other Republican filibustered so that the people who are pumping money into these independent groups can remain secret, remain in the shadows, remain behind the curtain,” Warren said. Republicans say the $10,000 ceiling gives Democrats and unions an advantage. Brown has called the bill “a cynical political ploy.”

Asked why her race against Brown is so close, Warren said stories like the DISCLOSE Act are not getting enough media attention. “These stories that are central to the functioning of our democracy, these are not the stories that are front and center,” she said.

Lydon also pointed out that Warren has raised nearly $25 million, making her one of the most well-funded Democrats in the country, and questioned whether she could avoid becoming “part of the old boys’ club.”

Warren responded, “Nobody is fooled about what I stand for… I haven’t had to trim my sails one bit for one nickel.”

The Brown campaign seized on comments Warren made when Lydon asked why America is talking about containing the interest rate on college student loans when countries like Europe are sending students to school for free. Warren did not say outright that she wanted free education, but responded, “You preach to the choir on this one.” Warren said education is an investment, and government support has been withdrawn to the extent that a young person at a public university today will pay more than 350 percent of what their parents paid 30 years ago. Warren said the U.S. should invest in education again, as it has in the past.

Brown spokeswoman Alleigh Marre said, “Free college education for everyone who wants it sounds good, but someone has to pay for it.” Marre said Warren “needs to explain what additional taxes she would raise to pay for this massive new entitlement.”

The audience was a friendly one, and several attendees said they liked Warren’s work on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “I come from a generation when it was assumed government had a role in leveling the playing field, helping people who didn’t have a voice,” said Ruth Davis, 68, a Democratic retiree from Hingham. “That’s been lost the last 30 years. She’ll bring it back.”

If approved, new rules would bar parole for three-time violent offenders while also reducing some mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders.

File photo / The Republican

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON – Ending months of negotiations, a House-Senate conference committee on Tuesday approved an overhaul of the state’s criminal sentencing laws that would bar parole for three-time violent offenders while also reducing some mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders.

The compromise was approved on a 5-1 vote, with the Senate’s lead negotiator casting the lone dissenting vote. Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, objected strongly to several late changes offered by House negotiators.

“While I represent the Senate, I have my own self to think about and look in the mirror and say, ‘Do I feel comfortable with how we ended up,’ and the only way I can represent that is my vote today.”

The compromise still needs the backing of the full House and Senate before the legislative session ends July 31.

“This has not been an easy process,” acknowledged Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty, D-Chelsea, the top House negotiator.

The crackdown on habitual violent offenders – sometimes called a “three strikes” provision – has for years been championed by Les Gosule, whose daughter Melissa Gosule was kidnapped, raped and murdered in 1999 by a man who had 27 prior convictions. Gosule made an emotional appeal for passage last week on the 13th anniversary of his daughter death.

The bill would eliminate the possibility of parole for felons convicted three separate times of serious violent crimes ranging from murder to child rape to certain types of assault.

Both chambers passed versions on the measure last fall, but the Senate included it in a broader anti-crime bill that also included the changes in mandatory minimum sentences.

As members of the conference committee struggled for months to reach consensus, their differences were aired in public, as the panel broke tradition with most other Beacon Hill conference committees that routinely hold negotiations in secret.

Creem objected to the removal from the final version of the bill a “safety valve” that would, in limited cases, give judges discretion to grant parole eligibility to three-time violent offenders after they had served at least two-thirds of their sentences.

She also said she was “confused” as to why the House opted at the eleventh hour to strip out a call for a study by an existing crime commission of ways to further reduce mandatory minimum sentences, which have been criticized for clogging jails with people who might be better served by community-based programs.

“This bill achieved a goal of mine to take the most heinous and the most violent criminals off the streets of (Massachusetts) after three felonies,” said Rep. Bradford Hill, R-Ipswich, one of two Republicans on the conference committee.

Hill added that the negotiations had changed his thinking about mandatory minimums and that he would back a bipartisan effort for further sentencing reform in the next legislative session.

Critics of the habitual offender measure argue it will disproportionately target minority groups and lead to more prison overcrowding.

Leslie Walker, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, said she was disappointed by the committee’s vote.

“There is no data to support this bill as anything that’s going to deter crime, and anything that’s going to positively impact public safety,” Walker said. “This is an emotional bill, not a thoughtful bill.”

Walker said opponents would appeal to Gov. Deval Patrick to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

No one was injured in the 4 p.m. fire, and all of the damage was confined to the exterior of the building.

Julian Feller-Cohen photo03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – The Northampton Fire Department's patch.

NORTHAMPTON - An overheated air conditioner started a fire to a deck at 41 Winthrop St. Tuesday afternoon, causing $60,000 damage to the home, according to Fire Department captain John Garriepy.

No one was injured in the 4 p.m. fire, and all of the damage was confined to the exterior of the building. The resident, Howard Dupuis, was allowed to return to his home once the utilities were restored, Garriepy said.

Garriepy said Dupuis was home at the time of the fire but was unaware of it until a neighbor who saw smoke knocked on the door. No smoke had entered the house and the smoke detectors were never triggered, he said.

The neighbor began to hose the deck down before firefighters arrived, and firefighters were able to extinguish the flames in about 10 minutes.

An investigation determined an air conditioning unit underneath the deck overheated and started the fire, he said.

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Because of its isolation, Bear Hole Reservoir has been the site of much illegal dumping, according to the mayor.

Photo by Sandra E. Constantine / The RepublicanWest Springfield Mayor Gregory Neffinger, right, is seen with his city's director of water, Jeffery R. Auer, at Bear Hole Reservoir.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger announced Tuesday that he has closed Bear Hole Reservoir to the public for 14 days to do clean up and better secure the area from all-terrain vehicles.

Neffinger said he had the gates to the area off Bear Hole Road locked starting Saturday, which was the first day the attraction was closed to the public.

During a news conference at the reservoir, the mayor said all-terrain vehicles are barred from the reservoir area, but people still use them illegally, creating ruts that cause erosion into Paucatuck Brook. The brook flows into Bear Hole Reservoir, which is a backup source of drinking water for the city. West Springfield currently draws all the drinking water it needs from artesian wells in Southwick.

Because of its isolation, the area has been the site of illegal dumping, with a crew from Americorps having pulled out three tons of trash there earlier this year, according to the mayor.

Neffinger said while the attraction is closed areas will be cleared to better allow regular police patrol, litter will be removed and better gates will be installed. The Department of Public Works will also clear away vegetation to increase sight lines essential for allowing patrolling of the attraction.

“I believe that the individuals who are causing vandalism are few and this property when used in a respectfully manner will truly be an asset to our community,” Neffinger said in a prepared statement.

The mayor said the decision to close the reservoir was made in concert with interim Police Chief Ronald P. Campurciani, Conservation Officer Mark Noonan and Jeffery R. Auer, city deputy director of water.

“This is a valuable resource that will be respected by the public if the town also treats it with respect,” the mayor stated.

The mayor said he wants to reopen the watershed for use by hikers and bicyclists free from illegal dumping and the nuisance of all-terrain vehicles. In the interim, Neffinger said people who ordinarily walk their dogs at the reservoir may use Bear Hole Road for that purpose.

Firefighters spent hours battling the blaze in 95-degree weather.

HOLYOKE – Firefighters spent hours in 95-degree heat Tuesday battling a brush fire they believe was started by someone living in a tent in the woods between Community Field and Scott’s Tower, an official said.

“Chainsaws had to be used to cut through piles of brush. The heat-humidity did not make the job easy for firefighters,” Lt. Thomas G. Paquin said just before 9 p.m.

The fire at the park off Cherry Street burned 40,000 square feet of brush-covered area and was embedded in the woods, he said.

That required that firefighters drag 700 feet of hose into the woods to extinguish the flames, he said.

An unoccupied tent and a fire pit were found near the fire site, he said.

“We’re going to go up there in the daylight, see if we can find someone,” Paquin said.

Outdoor burning, including fire pits, is illegal here, he said.

“The dry spell we are going through makes this even more important,” Paquin said.

Community Field reopened June 23 after a year-long, $3.1 million renovation.

Wieprecht was apprehended through "Operation Predator," an ongoing investigation into the international distribution of child pornography over the Internet.

GREENFIELD - A 57-year-old Greenfield man was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to possessing a collection child pornography videos that showed children being raped and tortured, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Louis K. Wieprecht was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dennis F. Saylor to serve 135 months, or 11.25 years to be followed by 10 years of probation.

Wieprecht pleaded guilty on Jan. 17 to a charge of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors and receiving material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. He was arrested in October 2010 after authorities executed a search warrant of his residence.

Wieprecht came under suspicion two years ago as part of “http://compnetworking.about.com/od/p2ppeertopeer/Peer_to_Peer_File_Sharing_P2P_Networking.htmOperation Predator,” an ongoing investigation in international child sexual exploitation that is being conduced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations.

During the execution of the search warrant, Wieprecht admitted that he used his computer to collect videos of child pornography over peer-to-peer file-sharing networks and that he gave other peer-to-peer users access to his child pornography files, according to information from the Department of Justice.

An examination of his computer revealed some 400 video files containing child pornography, including many that showed graphic depictions of very young children subjected to rape and sexual torture.

The mayor sees the coordinator organizing arts and cultural efforts into an economic development boost.

HOLYOKE – More than a dozen men and women have applied for the new job of city coordinator of arts, culture and tourism.

The application deadline for the $43,037-a-year position is Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Mayor Alex B. Morse said Monday he expects to fill the job a few weeks later after he reviews applications and interviews candidates.

As of Monday, he said, five men and eight women had filed the required resume with three letters of reference for the job formally known as creative economy industry coordinator.

Morse has said he sees the coordinator tying together the various arts and cultural activities happening here to highlight Holyoke’s creative endeavors and boost economic development.

The coordinator would work with businesses, individuals and organizations in music and other performing arts, architecture, film, publishing, marketing and other areas, according to the job description on the city website, holyoke.org

The City Council has required that the person hired as creative economy coordinator be a city resident. The council last month also installed a so-called “sunset clause” that means the job is repealed in two years if Morse is unable to show it has generated activity to pay for itself.

On Tuesday, the state Office of Creative Economy Industries will hold the first of a statewide series of events called CreativeNEXT here. It will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Mill 1 Event Space at Open Square off Lyman Street.

The event will be a discussion of representatives of companies, organizations and other creative individuals on what they feel are the opportunities and barriers for growth in the so-called creative economy industry, officials said.

“I invite all businesses, organizations and individuals interested in developing the creative economy industry of our region to come to this exciting event in our city,” Morse said.

“We want to make it a place for people in the Granby community to come and enjoy themselves.”

GRANBY – The lounge at American Legion Post 266 was granted an expanded entertainment license by the Selectboard last week, which means it can provide live music by small bands.

The Selectboard approved the license unanimously, with member Mary McDowell saying, “It’s a great thing for Granby to have a place like this.”

The license was granted with the understanding that bands would be restricted to Thursday through Sunday, would not perform past midnight and would not perform outdoors.

Edward Houlberg, general manager of Post 266, agreed and told the board that bands would not perform every weekend, that Friday and Saturday nights would likely be their only nights and that they would not disrupt the neighborhood. “These are not metal bands,” he said.

He said a local band called the Valin Brothers is scheduled to perform July 27. Jerome Riley, former lead singer for the Platters, will be performing in August. The lounge also uses DJ’s.

Houlberg said the expanded license will increase his customer base. “We want to make it a place for people in the Granby community to come and enjoy themselves,” he said. “We hope to have mystery theater in the fall, and to do something for New Year’s Eve.”

The lounge, on the first floor of Post 266, is open to the public. The second floor is rented out for parties.

The American Legion is a nonprofit organization, and Houlberg said proceeds support its veterans.

Fire Chief Russell Anderson, who was present at the Selectboard meeting, reminded Houlberg of the 100-person limit on the second floor of Post 266 and warned against using both floors at once.

Houlberg said no more than 80 tickets at a time are sold for second-floor events.

Granby resident Martin Merrill attended the meeting to speak in favor of the expanded license. “We need a venue for that kind of thing in Granby,” he said.

After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, angering critics who hoped that relentless protest campaigns might lead to change.

This June 14, 2010 file photo shows the city-owned Boy Scouts headquarters in Philadelphia. After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, ruling out any changes despite relentless protest campaigns by some critics. On Wednesday, March 21, 2012, a judge ruled the city of Philadelphia must pay nearly $900,000 after a failed effort to evict the Boy Scouts of America over the group's ban on gays. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

NEW YORK — After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, angering critics who hoped that relentless protest campaigns might lead to change.

The Scouts cited support from parents as a key reason for keeping the policy and expressed hope that the prolonged debate over it might now subside. Bitter reactions from gay-rights activists suggested that result was unlikely.

The Scouts' national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press that an 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, came to the conclusion that the exclusion policy "is absolutely the best policy" for the 102-year-old organization.

Smith said the committee, comprised of professional scout executives and adult volunteers, was unanimous in its conclusion — preserving a long-standing policy that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 and has remained controversial ever since.

As a result of the committee's decision, the Scouts' national executive board will take no further action on a resolution submitted at its recent national conference asking for reconsideration of the membership policy.

The Scouts' chief executive, Bob Mazzuca, contended that most Scout families support the policy, which applies to both adult leaders and Scouts.

"The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers and at the appropriate time and in the right setting," Mazzuca said. "We fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society."

The president of the largest U.S. gay-rights group, Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign, depicted the Scouts' decision as "a missed opportunity of colossal proportions."

"With the country moving toward inclusion, the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have instead sent a message to young people that only some of them are valued," he said. "They've chosen to teach division and intolerance."

Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said the Scouts "have turned their backs on a chance to demonstrate fairness, exercise sound judgment, and serve as a role model for valuing others."

The Scouts did not identify the members of the special committee that studied the issue, but said in a statement that they represented "a diversity of perspectives and opinions."

"The review included forthright and candid conversation and extensive research and evaluations — both from within Scouting and from outside of the organization," the statement said.

The announcement suggests that hurdles may be high for a couple of members of the national executive board — Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson — who have recently indicated they would try to work from within to change the membership policy. Both of their companies have been commended by gay-rights groups for gay-friendly employment policies.

Stephenson is on track to become president of the Scouts' national board in 2014, and will likely face continued pressure from gay-rights groups to try to end the exclusion policy. Asked for comment on Tuesday about the Scouts' decision to keep the policy, AT&T did not refer to Stephenson's situation specifically.

"We don't agree with every policy of every organization we support, nor would we expect them to agree with us on everything," the company said. "Our belief is that change at any organization must come from within to be successful and sustainable."

A statement from the executive committee of the Scouts' national executive board alluded to the Turley-Stephenson developments.

"Scouting believes that good people can personally disagree on this topic and still work together to achieve the life-changing benefits to youth through Scouting," the statement said. "While not all board members may personally agree with this policy, and may choose a different direction for their own organizations, BSA leadership agrees this is the best policy for the organization."

Since 2000, the Boy Scouts have been targeted with numerous protest campaigns and run afoul of some local nondiscrimination laws because of the membership policy.

One ongoing protest campaign involves Jennifer Tyrrell, the Ohio mother of a 7-year-old Cub Scout who was ousted as a den mother because she is lesbian.

Change.org, an online forum supporting activist causes, says more than 300,000 people have signed its petition urging the Scouts to reinstate Tyrrell and abandon the exclusion policy. The petition is to be delivered to the Scouts' national headquarters in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday.

Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, an Iowa college student who was raised by lesbian mothers, said Tuesday's announcement didn't change his view that eventually the Scouts would relent under pressure from campaigns such as those that he and his allies have mounted.

"I'm sure they'll keep saying this until the day they decide to change the policy," said Wahls.

He contended that the committee review process should not have been kept secret. "The very first value of the Scout Law is that a Scout is trustworthy," Wahls said. "There is absolutely nothing trustworthy about unelected and unnamed committee members who are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions."

The Boy Scouts' policy stands in contrast to inclusive membership policies adopted by several other major youth organizations, including the Girl Scouts of the USA and Camp Fire.

Police began the investigation after receiving complaints from residents and business owners in Three Rivers about drug activity around the park.

File photo

PALMER — Police arrested a 28-year-old Three Rivers man on oxycodone possession charges Monday afternoon after intercepting an alleged drug deal in the parking lot of Laviolette Field in the Three Rivers section.

Detective Sgt. Scott E. Haley said Christopher Shannon, of 2052 Main St., Apt. 3, was charged with two counts of distribution of a class B substance (oxycodone), two counts of selling within 1,000 feet of a park, and one count of being a subsequent drug offender.

Shannon was held overnight until his arraignment Tuesday in Palmer District Court, where he denied the charges. Haley said he was held in lieu of $25,000 bail. Additional arraignment information was not available.

The arrest was made in cooperation with the Hampden County Narcotics Task Force and the Springfield unit of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Haley said.

He said police began the investigation after receiving complaints from residents and business owners in Three Rivers about drug activity around the park.

A spokesman for the Worcester County District Attorney’s office said it will continue to investigate if Rodney Stanger, the man serving a 25-year sentence for a 2008 stabbing in Florida, is connected to the murder of Molly Anne Bish. Watch video

These were the most-read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall, was cbs3springfield's video, at right, covering the arraignment of David Doyle, of Northampton, accused of trying to stab his wife to death.

1) Reported murder victim Jessica Dana remembered at Huntington vigil [Manon Mirabelli]

2) Northampton woman, stabbed in the abdomen at Meadowbrook Apartment complex, taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield [George Graham]

Convicted killer Rodney Stanger

3) Molly Bish connection?: Worcester DA's office to review items discovered in convicted Florida killer's trailer [Lori Stabile]

4) Tanker truck crashes, spills gasoline on Interstate 95 in Woburn [Associated Press]

5) Elderly Westfield woman loses $2,800 to scammer claiming to be her granddaughter in trouble in Guatemala [George Graham]

The Route 10 bridge will remain open until next year.

File photo / The RepublicanThe Route 10 bridge in Easthampton is scheduled to be repaired next year. The bid for the project was recently awarded.

EASTHAMPTON – State officials have awarded the contract for the long planned replacement of the Route 10 Bridge over the Manhan River to a Weymouth firm but no start date for the project is in place.

Seven companies bid on the estimated $4.6 project.

The bid last month was awarded to Northern Construction Services LLC of Weymouth, which offered the lowest bid at $3,747,747, according to Sara Lavoie, press secretary for the state Department of Transportation.

Tully Construction Corp. of Southbridge was the highest bidder with a $4,731,162 bid.
Lavoie in an email said that the department and contractor are in the process of scheduling a preconstruction conference. They will determine a start date at that meeting.

Northern Construction is currently working on a bridge repair project in Whatley and repaired the bridge on Hardwick Pond Road in Ware over Muddy Brook.

City and state officials will schedule a public hearing with residents once the start date is set, Lavoie wrote. Mayor Michael A. Tautznik expects that meeting to occur in the late summer or early fall.

The bridge will remain open until the spring of 2013 to allow for preliminary work. 
The project is slated to take about 16 months, but according to the contract the bridge cannot be closed for more than 180 days.

If it is, the state will deduct $3,335 each day from the contractor or up to $100,500, according to the contract.

There are many other milestones included in the contract as well.

Before the bridge is closed, the contractor has to make intersection improvements, including the installation of a permanent signal at O'Neil and Route 10, a temporary traffic signal at Ferry and Pleasant streets and traffic signal work at West and Mill streets. In addition, a temporary pedestrian bridge at the existing bridge must be installed.

Initially, the project was to start in 2010 then in 2011.

The blaze was reported at about 6:20 a.m. on Wednesday.

LONGMEADOW - Firefighters are investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed a utility shed Wednesday morning on the golf course at Twin Hills Country Club.

Fire Lt. John Dearborn said no injuries were reported in the blaze at the facility at 700 Wolf Swamp Road. The fire had been burning for some time before it was reported at about 6:20 a.m.

“It’s a total loss,: Dearborn said of the shed, which was about 15 by 20. Officials said the shed also housed a bathroom.

A Massachusetts high school is reviewing the way it calculates final class rankings after the school's valedictorian participated in graduation ceremonies as the salutatorian, the second highest academic rank.

LEICESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts high school is reviewing the way it calculates final class rankings after the school's valedictorian participated in graduation ceremonies as the salutatorian, the second highest academic rank.

Powers Brennan says she was a "little mad" when she received a letter after graduation last month explaining that she was Leicester High School's valedictorian even though she was originally told she had graduated second.

Superintendent Paul Soojian tells The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/Msn2YT ) calculating class rankings in time for graduation is done at the end of the third quarter. Using those numbers, Powers was second. He says there has never been a problem before, but the school will review the process.

Principal Thomas Lauder says the incident was "unfortunate" because Powers and the boy ultimately ranked second are "great kids."

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Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com

Two one-time top aides to the former Massachusetts probation commissioner facing corruption charges for overseeing what authorities called a rigged hiring process have been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying against their ex-boss in federal and state corruption investigations.

BOSTON (AP) — Two one-time top aides to the former Massachusetts probation commissioner facing corruption charges for overseeing what authorities called a rigged hiring process have been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying against their ex-boss in federal and state corruption investigations.

Prosecutors in the state attorney general's confirmed Tuesday that Edward Ryan and Francis Wall are cooperating with them. Ryan was the legislative liaison for former probation chief John O'Brien while Wall was O'Brien's deputy commissioner.

The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/NLSqQ3 ) reports that confirmation came when their names surfaced in Suffolk Superior Court about the state's bribery case against O'Brien.

O'Brien has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud.

Prosecutors say job applicants were hired not on the basis of qualifications, but based on political connections.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

The victim, who suffered injuries to his hands and arms, required medical treatment.

STURBRIDGE – Police arrested an 18-year-old Fiskdale man late Tuesday morning after he allegedly assaulted a male with a weedwacker at the Hyland Brewery on Lake Road.

Police learned of the string trimmer assault shortly before noon when the victim, with lacerations on his arms and hands, approached Officer Hillary A. DaDalt.

The suspect, Tyler T.M. Holstead, of 484 Main St., Fiskdale also damaged a vehicle with the weedwacker, according to a release issued by police.

Medical personnel treated the victim’s injuries, according to the release. Lt. Mark Saloio and officers Carol Benoit and Daniel Hemingway assisted in the investigation

Holstead was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and defacement of property (damage of vehicle by weedwacker), according to the release.