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3 more intentionally set fires, another Molotov cocktail hit Forest Park

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Residents are being asked to remain on alert for any suspicious activity, and contact the fire department if they have any information.

SPRINGFIELD -- The work of at least one arsonist continues in the city's Forest Park neighborhood.

In less than an hour beginning just after midnight Friday, three more fires -- all relatively minor -- were intentionally set, and another Molotov cocktail was hurled at a building.

Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, says around 12:05 a.m. a Molotov cocktail was reported thrown at a building on White Street, making it at least the seventh such device used in three incidents since Wednesday. This one targeted the rear of A Touch of Garlic, a restaurant, located at 427 White Street.

About 20 minutes later at 15 Kimberly Ave., Leger said, someone stuffed a rag down into a truck's gas tank and lit it.

At 12:39 a.m., trash outside a gas station at 195 Allen Street was set ablaze; three minutes later trash caught fire outside 223 Allen Street.

The Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad is already investigating three arson fires in the neighborhood — including at two adjacent houses on Kimberly Avenue — on Wednesday and Thursday.

Residents are being asked to remain on alert for any suspicious activity, and contact the fire department if they have any information.

The Springfield Arson & Bomb Squad can be contacted at 413-787-6370. Those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip via a cell phone by addressing a text message to “CRIMES,” or "274637," and then beginning the body of the message with the word "SOLVE."


View Locations of fires set between midnight and 1 a.m. and latest Molotov cocktail incident in a larger map


Hunt for drug cheats is on ahead of London Games

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Before a starting gun has been fired or a medal awarded, one of the most intense competitions of the London Olympics is already being waged behind the scenes.

olympics drugsThis image made provided by LOCOG Thursday Jan. 19, 2012 shows Britain's Sports minister Hugh Robertson, left, with Professor David Cowan, right, at the anti-doping laboratory in Harlow, England which will operate during the London 2012 Games. Britain's sports minister says there will be "no place to hide" for drug cheats at the London Games. (AP Photo/LOCOG)

By STEPHEN WILSON, AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) — Before a starting gun has been fired or a medal awarded, one of the most intense competitions of the London Olympics is already being waged behind the scenes.

From training grounds across the world, to rooms in the athletes village, to border checkpoints around the U.K., the cat-and-mouse game between drug cheats and the doping police is in full swing.

The goal: to deter or catch dopers before they line up to compete. And those who slip through the pre-games crackdown will face the most extensive ant-doping program in Olympic history, with more tests and more advanced testing techniques.

"The more cheats we can catch is the better for the clean athletes," IOC President Jacques Rogge told The Associated Press.

The IOC and London organizers will be conducting more than 5,000 urine and blood tests overall, up from 4,770 in Beijing four years ago. Nearly 40 percent of the tests are being carried out before the games start on July 27 to try to nab athletes when they're more likely to be doping.

During the games, which run until Aug. 12, the top five finishers — plus two other athletes chosen at random — will be tested. Athletes are also subject to surprise out-of-competition controls at any time and any place. Samples will again be saved for eight years to allow for retroactive testing.

"I think it's the tightest net we have ever had," IOC vice president Thomas Bach said.

The official Olympic testing program went into effect on Monday with the opening of the athletes village.

A nondescript building in the northern suburb of Harlow houses the doping lab where an athlete's reputation can be ruined by a positive result. The lab — operated by GlaxoSmithKline and headed by Professor David Cowan of the Drug Control Center at King's College, London — will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and test up to 400 samples a day for more than 240 banned substances.

The IOC will act quickly on any positive results, setting up a disciplinary committee to investigate and hold a hearing. If found guilty of doping, athletes face disqualification from the games, loss of any medals and public shame.

The 2004 Athens Olympics produced the highest number of doping cases at any games — 26, more than double the previous high of 12 in Los Angeles in 1984. Six medalists, including two gold winners, were caught in Athens from among 3,600 tests.

That number could still rise: IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist told the AP this week that he is investigating up to five suspected positive results uncovered in the recent retesting of Athens samples.

In Beijing four years ago, there were 14 positive tests among athletes and six among horses in the equestrian competition. Later, retests of the Beijing samples caught five more athletes for use of CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO. Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain was retroactively stripped of his gold medal in the 1,500 meters.

"The fact that people know that samples can be analyzed again is a big deterrent," Ljungqvist said. "If athletes don't get caught now they may be caught tomorrow."

More and more, anti-doping authorities are using intelligence and cooperation with law enforcement agencies to go after the cheats.

At the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, Italian police — acting on a tip-off from the IOC — raided the lodgings of the Austrian cross-country and biathlon teams, seizing doping substances and equipment.

"We will not hesitate to work with public authorities and police forces as we have done in Turin when needed," Rogge said.

Suspected dopers are being targeted for testing. UK Anti-Doping, the national agency set up in 2009, operates a 24-hour anonymous hotline for whistleblowers to provide information about doping and trafficking.

"We've got a clearer picture of the possible threat of doping and this can filter down to individual athletes," UKAD chief executive Andy Parkinson said. "We're starting to see a lot of activity in terms of athletes being prosecuted in advance of the games."

Drug-testers have another new weapon at their disposal: the athlete biological passport. The program, adopted by cycling, track and field, swimming and other sports, tracks an athlete's blood profile over time. Changes can indicate doping and lead to sanctions without a positive test.

Another novelty is the IOC's policy that prohibits athletes from bringing in needles and syringes unless approved for legitimate medical reasons. Needles are banned from housing areas, locker rooms and training and competition sites. In addition to being used for doping, needles pose a health risk to cleaners and staff.

Ljungqvist said the quality of the testing has also advanced, with more sensitive techniques to detect the steroids, stimulants, hormones and other chemicals used to enhance performance. The detection window for human growth hormone and other drugs has improved so the use of drugs can be traced back more than a couple of days.

"We have widened the window steadily," Ljungqvist said.

How clean will be the London Games be?

"I have no crystal ball," Rogge said. "We have a stronger policy than in the past. It could be that we catch more cheats than in the past, but it could be also that the deterrent effect is big enough to stop many of them."

Parkinson, the UKAD chief executive, said ultimately it depends on the athletes more than the testers.

"There is only so much we can do," he said. "We have to recognize that some athletes may want to cross the line and cheat during the games. We want everyone standing on the podium to be proud of being a clean athlete and not have any person question their performance."

Northampton man and woman charged with attempted murder, kidnapping after tying jump rope around girl's neck

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Police have dealt with one of the suspects, Lance Gouvan, on several occasions.

lance-gouvan.jpgLance Gouvan's Facebook profile photo.

NORTHAMPTON -- A 9-year-old girl escaped serious injury Thursday afternoon after a 34-year-old man and 26-year-old woman allegedly tied a jump rope around her neck, hitched it to a tree limb and left her standing on the tips of her toes for a period of time.

Police Capt. Scott A. Savino said the suspects, who gave their addresses as the streets of Northampton, were arrested a short time later on Main Street.

Lance M. Gouvan, 34, and Megan R. Bonny, 26, were charged with attempted murder, kidnapping of a child, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault and battery. The two were held in lieu of $100,000 bail overnight, Savino said.

The incident began about 12:50 p.m. at 78 Pomeroy Terrace, home to a residential program for youth run by Cutchins Programs known as the Northampton Center for Children and Families.

Police, continuing to probe the incident, said they believe race was not a factor. Both the girl and the suspects are white, Savino said.

Gouvan was arrested on a warrant in Holyoke in July, 2011. At the time, he had a Monson address, police records show. In August 2011, he was arrested in Northampton on a warrant from Westfield District Court.

In May, 2012, Gouvan was the subject of a feature story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette after he launched an initiative to clean up a wooded area in Northampton where homeless people camp.

The woods near Pomeroy Terrace have long been dotted with tents and camp sites where some of the city's homeless population lives during the warmer months of the year.

Ex-Rutland police officer convicted of rape

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A former central Massachusetts police officer has been convicted of raping a woman he had offered to give a ride home at his second trial in the case.

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A former central Massachusetts police officer has been convicted of raping a woman he had offered to give a ride home at his second trial in the case.

A Worcester Superior Court jury on Thursday convicted 39-year-old Jason Briddon of rape and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the May 2007 sexual assault in Worcester.

Briddon, a former part-time officer in Rutland, is already serving prison time for a separate rape conviction.

Prosecutors say he offered the then-27-year-old woman a ride home from a bar but instead took her to another building and raped her.

His defense lawyer said there was no physical evidence in the case and told The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/LC99dc ) there will be an appeal.

The victim said she felt "vindicated."

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

West Stockbridge potholes fixed prior to Michelle Obama's Western Mass. visit

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West Stockbridge Town Administrator Mark Webber says the holes were filled Thursday in 90 minutes at a cost of about $100.

072012mobama2.jpgFirst lady Michelle Obama participates in a children's fitness class at the Blanchard Park YMCA, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

RICHMOND— The potholes Gov. Deval Patrick had asked to be fixed near his western Massachusetts home before a fundraising visit by first lady Michelle Obama have been filled and local officials say the political uproar over the request was much ado about nothing.

West Stockbridge Town Administrator Mark Webber says the holes were filled Thursday in 90 minutes at a cost of about $100. He tells The Berkshire Eagle the town had planned on fixing the road anyway.

A Patrick aide made the request to officials in neighboring Richmond, where the home is located. Richmond administrator Matthew Kerwood passed along the request.

Kerwood, a Republican, says he approached Patrick first to ask how the town could make the first lady's visit more enjoyable and said Patrick was treated like any resident.

MassLive.com to host live chats with Massachusetts U.S. Senate and congressional candidates

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Each of the candidates in the U.S. Senate race and the race to represent the 1st Congressional District in Massachusetts have agreed to make themselves available for about an hour to answer questions from the voters on MassLive.com.

Republican MassLive Logo
Scott Brown VS Elizabeth Warren JuneU.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and his Democratic rival, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren. (AP & Republican file photos)

In an effort to bridge the gap between voters and candidates running for national office in Massachusetts, MassLive.com will be hosting live chats with politicians and political hopefuls over the next several weeks leading up to election day.

Each of the candidates in the U.S. Senate race and the race to represent the 1st Congressional District in the Bay State have agreed to make themselves available for about an hour to answer questions from you, our readers, as you work to decide who goes to Washington next January.

Reporter Robert Rizzuto said he pitched the idea as a way to bring the readers closer to the candidates he covers daily.

"When I took the assignment to cover the 2012 elections for The Republican and MassLive.com, I did so with the hopes of being able to share the access to the candidates we reporters tend to take for granted with the public," Rizzuto said. "I can call Sen. Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren's campaign reps any time of day and typically have a response within a couple of hours at the latest, but the voters just don't get that level of interaction. Most people can't afford to take a day off to have a meet and greet with a politician when they're in town, but maybe they will have the time to jump on the website and ask them a question directly."

The live chats will be moderated by Rizzuto in an effort to ensure each candidate gets questions on a variety of topics. They will be interacting via the Cover It Live platform The Republican and MassLive.com staff employed in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm.

Dates are still being arranged with Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, but Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren and 1st Congressional District challengers Bill Shein and Andrea Nuciforo Jr., have already scheduled time to discuss the issues with the voters.

  • Shein, a Berkshire County writer and political activist, will kick off the series on Thursday, July 26, at noon.
  • Nuciforo, a former state senator and the current Berkshire Middle District register of deeds, will speak with the readers on Monday, July 30, at noon.
  • Warren, a Harvard Law School professor and former overseer of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, will live chat on Friday August 3 at a time yet to be determined.

First Congressional District CandidatesDemocratic U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, Andrea Nuciforo Jr. and Bill Shein are all competing to represent the new 1st Congressional District from Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives. No Republicans have emerged in the race. (Republican file photos)

"All of the candidates have expressed interest and their willingness to participate in the MassLive.com live chats, but we are still working to schedule a time with the sitting senator and congressman," Rizzuto said. "I know better than most just how busy each candidate is, but when I brought up the idea, not one of them hesitated in accepting the invitation. Sen. Brown and Rep. Neal do have more to consider since they spend much of their time in Washington."

Neal, Nuciforo and Shein are battling in a three-way primary to represent the newly drawn 1st Congressional District in Massachusetts, which includes all of Berkshire County, most of Hampden County and parts of Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester counties.

Brown and Warren are dueling in what is being billed as the most expensive Senate race in history as the eyes of the nation are focused on them, considering the election may determine which political party controls the U.S. Senate.

Warren is the only candidate among the aforementioned who has already participated in live chats this election season.

She spoke with the readers of Boston.com on June 22 and the readers of the AOL-affiliated Patch.com websites in Eastern Massachusetts on July 13.

Readers are encouraged to submit questions ahead of time either by commenting on this post or sending an email to rrizzuto@repub.com with the subject line "LiveChat Question" followed by the appropriate candidate's name.

Calif. neighbor of Colorado shooting suspect, James Holmes, says he was shy

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Those who knew James Holmes, in custody for the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, describe him as a shy, intelligent person raised in California by parents who were active in their well-to-do suburban neighborhood.

Gallery preview


ELLIOT SPAGAT,Associated Press
JULIE WATSON,Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Those who knew the 24-year-old man in custody for the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater describe him as a shy, intelligent person raised in California by parents who were active in their well-to-do suburban neighborhood.

James Holmes, who was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program in Colorado, grew up in San Diego, where his parents still live on a quiet, street of two-story homes with red tile roofs. He played soccer at Westview High School and ran cross country before going to college.

Neighbors say the family belonged to a Presbyterian church and hosted a Christmas party for residents. Many families choose the San Diego neighborhood because it is part of the well-regarded Poway Unified School District, one of the best in California.

On Friday morning, police escorted the suspect's father, a manager of a software company, from their San Diego home. The mother, a nurse, stayed inside, receiving family visitors who came to offer support. The suspect also has a younger sister.

San Diego police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown, spoke to reporters in the driveway of the Holmes' home, on behalf of the family.

"As you can understand, the Holmes family is very upset about all of this," she said. "It's a tragic event and it's taken everyone by surprise. They are definitely trying to work through this."

The family in a written statement said "our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time."

Police in Colorado said Holmes fired into a crowded movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora while wearing a gas mask, killing 12 people and wounding 59 others. He was in police custody in Colorado and the FBI said there was no indication the attack was tied to any terrorist groups.

There have been no indications so far that Holmes had any run-ins with the law before Friday. San Diego Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton said there were no records found under his name, not even for a traffic ticket. Riverside County prosecutors also have no criminal record for him, said John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney's office.

A furniture mover who lives several blocks from the suspect's Aurora apartment building said he shared a beer with him Tuesday at a neighborhood bar where they talked about Denver Bronco Peyton Manning.

Jackie Mitchell said he recognized Holmes' photo on television as the guy he met at the bar. He described him as smart with a "swagger."

"We just talked about football. He had a backpack and geeky classes and seemed like a real intelligent guy and I figured he was one of the college students," he said.

There was no reference made to a planned shooting, Mitchell said.

Anthony Mai, a 16-year-old who grew up next door to Holmes, said Holmes largely kept to himself but his behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

"He felt a little bit concealed, but it wasn't too much. It was alright" he said. "This is just a feeling in my gut, but I felt like he had something, like he was being picked on or something."

His father, Tom Mai, a retired electrical engineer, said he was a "shy guy" who came from a "very, very nice family."

Rose To said the Holmes family set up chairs in their garage for the Christmas party a few years ago, giving neighbors a chance to mingle.

"They were really nice people, good neighbors," she said.

Mai said the mother told him the suspect couldn't find a job after earning a master's degree from a University of California school and so went back for another degree.

Holmes graduated from University of California, Riverside, in the spring of 2010 with a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience, said university spokesman Sean Nealon. No other details were immediately available about his life on campus, Nealon said.

In 2011, Holmes enrolled in the Ph.D. neuroscience program at the University of Colorado-Denver but was in the process of withdrawing, said spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. University officials earlier said he was a student at the university's medical school.

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Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Orange County, Calif., and Dan Elliott and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.

First home complete in Habitat for Humanity blitz building initiative for Springfield tornado victims

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The first of four homes being built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers for tornado victims was nearly complete on Friday.

07.20.2012 | SPRINGFIELD -- Jennifer Schimmel, center, executive director of the Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, acknowledges Walter J. Tomala Jr., general contractor from TNT Contractors, at the home at 237 Quincy Street, as Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, looks on at right, during a press conference at the house Friday morning.
07.20.2012 | SPRINGFIELD -- The home at 237 Quincy Street, which was built by Habitat For Humanity for Toni Jones of Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — When Toni Jones, a special education paraprofessional and single mother, learned she would have a new home in June, she began making mental plans to move next year.

“When Habitat for Humanity called on May 31 to say my home would be done June 8, I thought ‘Oh, OK, next year.’ And she said: ‘No, no next week,” Jones, 44, a victim of the tornado on June 1, 2011.

Jones is one of four beneficiaries of the “Home for the Holidays” campaign by Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, the local chapter of the national charity that builds homes for low-income residents and offers zero-interest loans as mortgages.

Hers at 237 Quincy St. was the first completed in one week – a blitz building project that required hundreds of volunteers to complete the modular, three-bedroom home.

Bob Perry, chairman of the board of the Springfield chapter, said the agency is just shy of its $600,000 fund-raising goal that began in January.

“People said: how do you think you’re going to do that? But we just did it,” Perry said from the porch on Quincy Street on Friday.

He added that the fund-drive is just $75,000 short of its goal, with corporate bigs like Baystate Health, Babson, and MassMutual and the city contributing. Many building professionals, like Walter Tomalo, of TNT general contractors in Westfield, provided hundreds of thousands in in-kind materials.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno toured the home at 237 St. on Friday morning during the dedication.

“This is nice. This is a good-sized kitchen,” Sarno said.

Hundreds submitted applications and the four, including Jones, were chosen through a lottery.

She said her favorite feature of the two story home is the long hallway off the foyer and her big back yard. Jones expects to be able to move in by October.

“I didn’t know everything would happen so fast, or that anything would happen at all,” Jones said.

As is the charity’s policy, Jones was required to help with the building. She had no experience with such handiwork before but said she took to it surprisingly easily and feels more qualified to make home improvements as the need arises.

The three other homes in early building stages are on Mill, Leitch and Clayton streets.


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Amherst's Robert Hirschfeld prepares for move to New Hampshire as next Episcopal bishop there

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Hirschfeld said he is a big supporter of The Rev. Gene Robinson, who was the first openly gay Bishop of the Granite State.

Robert Hirschfeld 72012.jpgA. Robert Hirschfeld, former rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, has been elected as the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

AMHERST - A. Robert Hirschfeld said it was his then 12 year-old son Henry who suggested he consider becoming the next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

“I wasn’t interested. I was eager to stay here,” said Hirschfeld, who had been the reverend of the Grace Episcopal Church since 2001. If anything he was thinking of the bishop’s position for the diocese in Western Massachusetts.

He thinks his son was interested because “he has cousins. My brother’s the rector for the St. Paul’s School (in Concord, N.H.)”

On May 19, Hirschfeld, 51, was elected bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. He was consecrated July 4 bat the Episcopal General Convention in Indianapolis.

He will be ordained Aug. 4 as bishop coadjutor and then installed as the 10th Bishop of New Hampshire Diocese on Jan. 5, 2013.

Hirschfeld, one of three finalists, was elected on the first ballot, which is considered rare. The Rev. William W. Rich, a senior associate rector at Trinity Church in Boston, a married gay man and the Rev. Penelope Maud Bridges, rector of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Great Falls, Va. were the other two nominees.

“I was kind of humbled I was on the same ballot (with them,)” Hirschfeld said during a recent interview at his former office at Grace Church.

In New Hampshire, Hirschfeld will succeed Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church an appointment in 2003 that drew controversy and death threats.

At one of the sessions where bishop finalists meet with people and convention delegates Hirschfeld said he was asked what he was going to do to keep the diocese in the news.

He smiled. “I don’t see that as the role of the bishop,” he said. But he said, “there are realities we all are facing and the church has something to offer.

“I see families running ragged. They’re exhausted and being pulled in any number of directions...the pressure on young people to perform and accomplish.

He said the “bishop may be called upon to speak and offer visions” that would help.

And he said, “I’m a big supporter of Gene Robinson. I’m not going to turn the clock backwards.”

Hirschfeld said he was drawn to New Hampshire because of the mystery.
After having been rector at Grace for 11 years he said there was a real possibility of becoming bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, “I knew exactly what would done if I stayed in Western Massachusetts. It was so clear to me.

"When I thought about New Hampshire it was a fog, it was unknown yet I felt this mysterious pull, this attraction of uncertainty that kept me in the process.”

Hirschfeld left Grace July 15 and since then has been in the process of packing their Shutesbury home and looking for a house. His wife Polly Ingraham teaches in Fitchburg so they will try to find a house that accommodates both. “It’s a jagged time.”

He said it was difficult leaving Grace and the community. His first service at Grace was the Sunday following the Sept. 11 attacks. He said he was thrown “into the caldron…It kind of fused our relationship for good or ill. There was no honeymoon period.”

But through this transition, he said “I’m learning to become more dependent on my relationship with God.”

Former Democratic State Rep. Raymond Jordan of Springfield to be honored at retirement party

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Jordan has been active in the Democratic Party for more than 30 years, including heading the Massachusetts Electoral Collage in 2008.

Ray Jordan MugRaymond A. Jordan (Republican file photo)

Friends, family members and colleagues of former Massachusetts State Representative Raymond A. Jordan are set to host a retirement party in his honor Friday evening at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Springfield.

Jordan, who recently retired from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development where he worked as the New England States Liaison to Faith Based and Community Initiatives, has been active in the Democratic Party for more than 30 years.

Jordan was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1975, representing the residents of the 12th Hampden District, a position he held until 1995 when he resigned to accept an appointment from former President Bill Clinton to become the New England Special Project Officer for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From 1996–2002, Jordan served as the senior community builder/state coordinator for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development at the Connecticut state office. Prior to his most recent position, he served as the department’s special project officer for New England in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jordan presently serves as the vice-chair of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and has been a member of the Democratic National Committee since 1996. Jordan is the first and only African-American member of the DNC from Massachusetts.

In 1992, Jordan founded the 5A Program (Academics, Athletics and Arts Achievement Association, Inc.) According to a press release, there are over 300 youth and 50 adult volunteers who currently participate in this program aimed at providing positive alternatives to the destructive social problems threatening today’s youth.

Jordan and his wife Donna (Harris) Jordan were born and raised in Springfield and recently celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary and have two daughters, Denise and Darlene.

Denise Jordan serves as chief of staff to Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno while Darlene Jordan is the owner of a property management company.

According to the family, all proceeds collected through ticket sales to the event will benefit “The Raymond A. Jordan Scholarship Fund” that will soon be established.

Parallels between 'Dark Knight Rises' film, Colorado theater shooting

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There is no evidence so far that the motives of the assailant in the Aurora, Colo., killings on Friday had any specific link to "The Dark Knight Rises."

Bane.JPGThe villainous Bane in a scene from "The Dark Knight Rises."

In "The Dark Knight Rises," a masked villain leads a murderous crew into a packed football stadium and wages an attack involving guns and explosives. It's just one of the more haunting scenes in what was one of the most anticipated movies of the summer, if not the year.

There is no evidence so far that the motives of the assailant in the Aurora, Colo., killings on Friday had any specific link to "The Dark Knight Rises." It's not clear why he chose to enter the movie theater at 12:30 a.m., not far into the midnight screening that marked the film's opening day. Several survivors remarked on their initial confusion as the attack unfolded at seeing a masked figure silhouetted in a gaseous haze and the sounds of real gunshots mingling with the film soundtrack.

In superhero movies, violent attacks on the public by villains are key components of many plots, including "The Avengers" and "The Amazing Spider-man," both in theaters now. By Hollywood standards, the Batman movies are more grim than bloody. The Christopher Nolan-directed "Dark Knight" trilogy has been more dark than that of typical superhero films, taking a cue from the comic book series published by DC Comics, including "Detective Comics" and writer Frank Miller's gritty 1986 take on the character, "Batman: The Dark Knight."

There are general parallels to the Colorado shooting, "The Dark Knight" and the comic book character:

— Bruce Wayne's drive to become Batman arose from witnessing the deaths of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, at the hands of small-time criminal Joe Chill, who shot and killed them after they had left a movie theater.

— The Batman video game called "Arkham City" takes place in an abandoned movie theatre (The Monarch, outside of which Bruce Wayne's parents were killed).

— In the "Dark Knight" graphic novel by Miller, the Joker slaughters the audience of a television talk show with gas.

— In the same book, a man beleaguered man shoots up a porn theater after being fired from his job, killing three people with a handgun.

— "The Dark Knight Rises" features at least two scenes where unsuspecting people are attacked in a public venue: the stock exchange and a football stadium.

Movie studio grapples with Colorado theater shooting

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Warner Bros. quickly canceled a premiere planned for Paris and canceled press interviews in France.

APTOPIX_COLORADO_SHOOTING_10880319.JPGPeople gather outside the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., at the scene of a mass shooting early Friday morning, July 20, 2012.

NEW YORK (AP) — The movie industry grappled Friday with the deadly Colorado shooting at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," as one of the most anticipated films in years became enmeshed with a horrifying tragedy.

The shooting, which killed 12 and left nearly 60 injured in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, reverberated through Hollywood and upended carefully laid plans for the global release of "The Dark Knight Rises." Warner Bros. quickly canceled a premiere planned for Paris and canceled press interviews in France.

"Warner Bros. and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident," read a statement from Warner Bros. "We extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to the victims, their loved ones and those affected by this tragedy."

New York City's police commissioner said he was told the gunman had painted his hair red and called himself the Joker — Batman's nemesis — but Aurora police would not confirm that.

The studio was rushing to react to the tragedy. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros, said he had been up since 4 a.m. making calls.

"Everybody is very saddened by the event. We were obviously looking for a very happy occasion for us," Fellman said. "It's a difficult way to begin. We're just more concerned now with the well-being of those that were injured, of course."

The studio had no further comment on whether screenings might be canceled, or precautions taken. Director Christopher Nolan and actor Christian Bale did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Warner Bros. did move to pull trailers for its upcoming movie "Gangster Squad" from showings of "The Dark Knight Rises." The trailer of the film, which stars Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling in a ruthless war between `40s Los Angeles police and the mob, includes a scene of mobsters firing into a movie theater from behind the screen.

A person familiar with what was shown at the Aurora theater said the trailer did not play there. The person did not want to be identified because the person was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Cinemark Holdings, Inc., the chain that owns the theater where the shooting happened, said it was working closely with local law enforcement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and loved ones, our employees, and the Aurora community," the company said.

Movie theaters around the country continued Friday showings of the film as planned, though some were stepping up security. New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly said the city was providing an extra security in New York theaters playing "The Dark Knight Rises" "as a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons."

In the wake of the shooting, "The Dark Knight Rises" and the earlier Batman films, with their dark themes and emphasis on terrorism, were sure to be heavily scrutinized. The practice of midnight screenings for eagerly anticipated blockbusters, too, could come into question.

Kelly also said that the suspected gunman, James Holmes, had his hair painted red and identified himself to authorities saying he was the Joker. Heath Ledger played the Joker in the previous Batman installment, "The Dark Knight," although his hair was colored green. Ledger died in 2008 before the film was released from a toxic combination of prescription drugs.

The National Association of Theatre Owners issued a statement offering their "hearts and prayers" to the victims. The association said, "Guest safety is, and will continue to be a priority for theater owners," adding that the group would work closely with law enforcement and review security procedures.

"We share the shock and sadness of everyone in the motion picture community at the news of this terrible event," said former Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America. "We extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to the victims, their loved ones and all those affected by this tragedy."

"The Dark Knight Rises" had expectations of being one of the biggest weekend openings ever. Its midnight screenings earned $30.6 million, Warner Bros. said Friday. That's the second-best midnight opening ever, behind $43.5 million for the "Harry Potter" finale. "The Dark Knight" earned a then-record $158.4 million in its first three days, including $18.5 million from midnight screenings.

The PG-13 film played in 3,825 theaters domestically in the midnight screenings, expanding to 4,404 cinemas nationwide Friday. Many showings on the weekend were sold out in advance.

Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for Hollywood.com who specializes in box office, declined to speculate on an effect the tragedy might have on the film over the weekend, saying it was too soon to estimate. But some moviegoers were already rethinking their plans.

Christine Cooley, who works for the University of Florida at a campus facility near Tampa, Fla., said she and her 15-year-old daughter were stunned by the TV coverage of the shooting Friday morning.

"Her immediate reaction was `I'm never going to the movie theater again. Why should I go somewhere where I'm looking over my shoulder worrying that someone is going to come in and harm us when I can wait six months and watch it in the safety of my own home?'"

Cooley said she tried to explain to her daughter that it was an isolated incident, "but I see where she's coming from. Why put yourself in harm's way?"

Others were undeterred.

"Just seem like another day at the movies," said Jimmie Baker, 40, of Harlem, N.Y., at a theater in Times Square.

Andrew Bross, 22, of Livingston, N.J., returned Friday to watch "The Dark Knight Rises" for the second time in 12 hours.

"I go to the movies every week," he said. "I'm going to keep going. I'm not going to let it stop me one bit."

Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of "Lost," said he was going to see the film Friday night and suggested a modest tribute: a minute of silence as the end credit roll.

Belchertown school system to create new curriculum development administrative position

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In another matter Superintendent Judith Houle told the school board the school’s “PeaceBuilders” anti-bullying and behavior improvement initiative is bearing fruit.

Judith Houle mug 2012.jpgJudith C. Houle

BELCHERTOWN - A newly created assistant superintendent for curriculum development position is in the works for the Belchertown school district.

Following recommendations from Superintendent Judith Houle and members of her senior leadership team, the School Committee voted unanimously in favor of the concept at a meeting earlier this week. Currently, Houle directs curriculum development.

The leadership team said the most critical need at the schools are maintaining adequate staff and improving the direction and oversight of the curriculum.

In supporting the measure, school board chairman Linda Tsoumas said the committee agrees with the leadership team’s assessment but for now there is no plan in place to implement the idea. That could change later this year.

Houle, who rejected suggestions that the curriculum position be part time, estimated an annual salary for the proposed assistant superintendent at $90,000. She said it would be difficult to find and keep an individual in that job part time.

Money to fund the new position is scheduled to come from the school’s share of an unexpected extra of $92,590 in state aid for the fiscal year that began July 1 – that town officials were recently notified of following passage of the state budget.

Town administrator Gary Brougham told the school committee he is recommending that $65,000 of the extra go to the school system. The transfer is subject to town meeting approval. A special town meeting will occur in the fall. School officials are hoping the money can then be used to hire an assistant superintendent for curriculum development.

In another matter Houle told the school board the school’s “PeaceBuilders” anti-bullying and behavior improvement initiative is bearing fruit.

Relying on data from the state department of elementary and secondary education that was organized by the school data administrator, Ben Admussen, she said problematic student behavior is on the decline.

Houle said the proportion of “student offenders” dropped by 30 percent in the past year, there were 50 percent fewer victims, suspensions declined 7 percent and there were 29 percent less “incidents that targeted members of the school community” in Belchertown public schools.

In other business Houle said one of her top priorities is better communication with parents. Toward that end she will begin a once per week online blog to update the community with important information.

“There are things that came to light with the BB gun and the bus incident” Houle told the committee on Tuesday. “We have discovered some holes in the communication with the public; we need to fix them.”

Although no one was harmed, school bus windows were shattered from gunshot in December. That bus was transporting elementary school kids along State Street in December, according to police, who said a Belchertown High School student with a bb gun and a Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School student with a pellet gun, who were not on the bus, discharged them inadvertently.

More recently, police said two high school students assaulted an elementary school student in May on a Belchertown school bus operated by First Student transportation company. The incident, which resulted in an investigation by the Northwestern District Attorney, led to calls from some for Houle’s resignation, more than 20 letters of complaint about her and two emotional, jam-packed school board meetings.

Red Sox notes: Andrew Bailey continues to make progress

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Bailey threw off of a mound on Friday.

tedstampusps.jpegThe Ted Williams stamp went on sale Friday.

BOSTON – There is still no timetable on relief pitcher Andrew Bailey’s return from the disabled list, but he’s at least getting closer to finally stepping on a field.

Signed during the offseason with the expectation that he would serve as the team’s closer, Bailey, who posted a 3.24 ERA and saved 24 games last season for Oakland, suffered a thumb injury during spring training and was then further set back by a subsequent forearm injury.

Now, for the first time this season, he is said to have all of his issues behind him and is beginning to work toward an eventual return.

“I don’t think he has a health issue to deal with any longer,” Valentine said. “He now just has a conditioning issue, pitch buildup, and competition challenge ahead of him.”

Bailey threw an estimated 38 pitches – a mix of fastballs and cutters – off a mound on Friday, and will throw another bullpen session on Sunday. If the Red Sox get the field in Texas on Wednesday, he will throw 15 pitches.

In Bailey’s absence, Alfredo Aceves got off to a rough start early in the season, but has since turned it around and has converted 18 of 20 save opportunities with a 2.62 ERA since April 23.

TRADE RUMORS: After Cody Ross hit a walk-off homer Thursday night, Valentine joked that he has no intentions of trading the outfielder.

That hasn’t stopped teams from inquiring about him. According to a report in the Boston Globe, several organizations have called to inquire about Ross’ availability, though Boston reportedly has no interest in moving him unless they get a ton in return.

Ross, 31, signed a one-year, $3 million contract during the offseason and was hitting .274 with 16 home runs entering Friday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Red Sox are also said to have continued interest in Chicago Cubs starter Matt Garza (5-7, 4.02 ERA), though some in the front office don’t feel that he would be an upgrade over any of the current starting pitchers.

NOTES: Ortiz has said that he would like to continue working in the batting cages while he rehabilitates his Achillies, but the medical staff has not cleared him to do so. He will remain sidelined until he is able to shed the walking boot he was equipped with. … Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who has sat the last few days against left-handed pitchers, will return to lineup Saturday against Toronto righty Carlos Villanueva. … The United States Postal Service put the Ted Williams stamp on sale Friday, as well as stamps featuring Joe DiMaggio, Larry Doby and Willie Stargell. Boston postmaster James Holland was at Fenway Park for a pregame ceremony on Saturday. Limited quantities of individual stamp sheets are available in each player’s city. Visit www.usps.com/play-ball for more information.

The Red Sox are red hot, and this run feels different

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The Red Sox are close to being fully healthy for the first time this season.

White Sox Red Sox Bas_Kubo-4.jpgAdrian Gonzalez is swinging a hot bat, and the Red Sox are reaping the benefits. (AP Photo)

The Boston Red Sox are one of baseball's hottest teams since the All-Star break, winners of five of seven.

The key to sustained success in baseball is not a never-ending win streak -- teams don't go undefeated in Major League Baseball. The real key to a great season is winning each series of games on the schedule.

The Red Sox took two out of three from Tampa Bay in the first series after the break. That has been followed by the Sox taking three of four from the Chicago White Sox.

That's the perfect formula.

This has been a maddening season for Red Sox fans. The routine has been that every time the Red Sox appear to be heating up, that period is abruptly ended by a brief losing streak.

The Red Sox started the season 4-10, then they won six of their next seven, which was immediately followed by a run where they lost eight of nine. At that point, on May 11th, the Red Sox were 12-19.

Since then they're 36-26, which is good, but not nearly good enough, not in what is shaping up a unique season in the American League.

The American League East has long had a reputation as baseball's toughest division, but this season the whole American League is in on the act.

There are only four teams under .500 in the entire league. The National League has eight teams languishing below .500, including four of the worst five teams in all of baseball.

Compounding fans' frustration with their beloved Red Sox is that the Sox will always be viewed in comparison with their historic rival, the New York Yankees.

No team in baseball has a better record than the 57-35 Yankees. The Bronx Bombers were 21-21 back on May 21st. Since then they're 36-14. That's .720 baseball, and if that is the clip the Yankees are going to play at for the remainder of the regular season, then Red Sox fans should do themselves a favor, and stop worrying about comparing the Red Sox and Yankees. It's only going to annoy you.

The real issue for Red Sox fans is whether or not the current hot streak is something they can maintain, or is it yet another run that will be followed by one of those teeth-gnashing cold streaks?

This season those mini-streaks have always been comprised of games that the Red Sox could have won, they've just found ways to lose them.

The current hot streak feels a little different.

The Red Sox are one sore Big Papi achilles tendon away from being fully healthy.

Not only that, the Red Sox are beginning to get contributions from players who were somewhat dormant for much of the season.

First and foremost is Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez who missed the first two games following the break with a sore back, has been on an absolute tear since his return to the lineup last Sunday afternoon.

Gonzalez is 11 for his last 20, with two home runs and 12 RBI. Gonzalez was heating up before the All-Star break, and at one point he was on an 18-game hitting steak, but that streak did not feature the same sort of overall production as his current groove. Gonzalez had one home run and nine RBI over that 18-game stretch.

His current, much gaudier numbers have been accomplished in a mere five games. This is the Adrian Gonzalez that the Red Sox dealt a package of top prospects for. This is the Adrian Gonzalez that was inked to a seven-year $154 million contract.

He's not an easy out. He can hit the ball to all fields with power. His hot streak has been complimented by the return of Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford from injury. It has also been even slightly overshadowed by a guy named Cody Ross.

Everyone is aware of Cody Ross right now. Signed to a one-year $3 million contract, Ross has emerged as one of those right-handed hitters who is a perfect match for Fenway Park. Ross has 11 home runs, 34 RBI and an OPS of 1.003 at home this year.

This week the Chicago White Sox looked helpless as Ross unloaded on them on back-to-back nights.

Two games, nine at-bats, five hits, three home runs, an nine runs batted in. One of those home runs was the walk-off, three-run shot that won Thursday night's game in dramatic fashion.

The current run has a different feeling to it -- it feels like it should be happening. When David Ortiz returns from his injury the Red Sox lineup could look something like this.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury
2. Carl Crawford
3. David Ortiz
4. Adrian Gonzalez
5. Cody Ross
6. Dustin Pedrioia
7. Will Middlebrooks
8. Jarrod Saltalamachhia
9. Mike Aviles

Yes, that lineup has Dustin Pedroia batting sixth. He and Crawford could easily be swapped, much of that could depend on whether or not Crawford is able to continue to get on base, and steal bases.

That lineup also features Mike Aviles, who leads all AL shortstops in RBI batting ninth.

If the Red Sox' biggest issue is whether or not to bat second a former MVP, or a guy who has stolen over 40 bases in a season seven times in his career, that would qualify as a problem most teams wouldn't mind having.

The Red Sox are in a good spot right now.


Ludlow police chief on standoff with retired cop: Springfield Commissioner William Fitchet's 'bravery ... was tremendous'

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Retired Springfield police officer George Stuart held a loaded handgun pointed straight at his heart throughout his entire 7½-hour negotiations, Ludlow Police Chief James McGowan said. Watch video

Ludlow standoff follows fire on Center StreetSpringfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet, center, walks out of the woods with officer Richard Rodrigues and Capt. Thomas Trites, both of the Springfield Police Department.

LUDLOW – Retired Springfield police officer George W. Stuart held a loaded handgun pointed straight at his heart throughout his entire 7½-hour negotiations Wednesday with Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet and others.

“He was adamant that this was the day he had chosen (to take his life),” Ludlow Police Chief James J. McGowan said Friday afternoon. McGowan was with Fitchet throughout the ordeal in the woods behind Stuart’s 795 Center St. home.

Stuart kept asking the men, initially including Springfield Police Officer Richard Rodrigues, a close personal friend, to leave and let him do what he had set out into the woods to do, McGowan said. “You guys can just leave, this is all a waste of time and I have made up my mind,” said McGowan, recalling the 71-year-old Stuart’s words.

Fitchet, however, would have none of that, McGowan said. “Commissioner Fitchet was relentless and would not leave,” he said.

Stuart is recovering at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield from a self-inflicted gunshot to the abdomen that occurred at the end of the standoff. McGowan said charges are pending against Stuart, who retired in 1997.

McGowan said Stuart was upset over his pending divorce. According to court documents, Stuart had been supposed to appear at an 8:30 a.m. hearing in Hampden Probate and Family Court in Springfield that very day.

Instead, Stuart is suspected of dousing his home in accelerant and setting it on fire around 10:30 a.m. His wife, Rena Brunelle, had not been living there for some time and was not present, McGowan said. The blaze did substantial damage to the home and investigators found evidence that money had been burned, McGowan said, adding that he did not know how much.

Then, armed with a .38 caliber snub-nose handgun, Stuart took to the woods, McGowan said.

McGowan, on vacation but still in the Ludlow area, said he was informed of the fire and the possibility that Stuart might still be inside the house, shortly after the fire broke out. About a half-hour later, McGowan said he was informed that Stuart was armed and making his way through the woods in back of his house.

That’s when McGowan decided to have his department call on Fitchet for help.

Gallery preview

“I knew that (Fitchet) knew (Stuart) very well and he came right out here,” said McGowan. “To be honest, he beat me out here.”

At about noon, Fitchet, McGowan and Rodrigues entered the woods and found Stuart about 150 feet away from his home. Stuart’s original intent was to make his away to the other side of the woods, in the area of Fox Hill Road, but a strong police presence there turned him away, McGowan said.

The three were slightly apart and Fitchet was the one who made initial contact with Stuart, McGowan said. As they talked, Fitchet asked Rodrigues to stand down; with the permission of Stuart, he eventually asked Rodrigues to join them.

After a time, again with permission from Stuart, McGowan joined the group. “We were all within 5 or 6 feet of him most of the day,” he said.

The four men then talked, for hours. They drank water and Gatorade in an effort to beat the 90-degree temperatures and high humidity that dominated the day. At times Stuart, growing tired, sat on the ground – never failing to keep the muzzle of the gun pointed at this heart, according to McGowan.

“He knows guns from top to bottom,” McGowan said of Stuart, an award-wining marksman during his years on the force. “He knew ammunition from top to bottom. He knew exactly what the outcome that he had planned would be.”

Throughout the day, the officers kept urging Stuart to drop his weapon, walk out of the woods and get into Fitchet’s car for a ride to the hospital.

At times Stuart appeared to waiver a bit in his resolve to take his own life, McGowan said. “We had him in tears a couple of times, getting him to realize that whatever he was thinking didn’t have to happen that way. ... I really believe we had a chance in that sense.,” he said.

As adamant, however, as Stuart was about talking his own life, he was equally adamant that he had no intention of hurting any law enforcement officials.

“His initial intent wasn’t for this to end the way it was ending up,” McGowan said. “He had other plans.”

McGowan declined to elaborate on the plans, saying he didn’t want to interfere with the investigation Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni is conducting jointly with his department.

At some point as the hours dragged on, Rodrigues left the group. McGowan said he and Fitchet continued to try to convince Stuart to get into Fitchet’s car, which was parked in the back yard of Stuart’s home. Toward that end, the two officers convinced Stuart to walk closer to the backyard, hoping that the sight of Fitchet’s car would prompt him to give up the gun.

McGowan moved a bit ahead, asked Stuart how best to negotiate a barbed wire fence with the intent of getting Fitchet’s car and pulling it closer.

At that point McGowan said he heard a scuffle behind him and looked back at Fitchet and Stuart.

“(Stuart) looked at the commissioner and said “‘This is it, it’s over’ and the commissioner believed he was about to pull the trigger on his weapon,” McGowan said. “At that, very bravely to be sure, (Fitchet) grabbed the revolver and pushed it up into the air and away from Mr. Stuart.”

The shot went wild into the air, scorching and drawing blood from Fitchet’s hand and fingers, McGowan said, adding that Fitchet later said he thought he had lost a finger when the gun went off.

“Commissioner Fitchet didn’t give up and he just kept pushing the gun away from (Stuart),” McGowan said, adding that the .38 is a small gun, difficult to control when it’s in the hands of another, and he believes that Stuart was able to twist it enough to get a shot into his body.

“He was trying to get his heart, he was intent on getting his heart, but the commissioner kept pushing the gun down. The bravery that the commissioner showed was tremendous, as was his commitment to not wanting to see Mr. Stuart hurt himself,” McGowan said.

The second shot, which occurred three or four seconds after the first, penetrated Stuart’s abdomen and the long ordeal was finally over.

Fitchet has declined to publicly discuss his role in the incident.

Haunted by Europe, U.S. stock market can't get ahead

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U.S. stocks fell sharply as escalating problems in Spain jolted investors.

By CHRISTINA REXRODE | AP Business Writer

071012 general electric factory.JPGMachine operator Ed Snyder works in the cell assembly line at General Electric's battery plant in Schenectady, N.Y. General Electric Co., said Friday, July 20, 2012, that net income fell 16 percent in the second quarter, but that was mainly due to lingering charges from financing companies that were sold off four years ago. Its energy infrastructure business, meanwhile, reported double-digit growth in the period, and the company’s quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations. Profits also surged for the company’s transportation business. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

NEW YORK — For the past few days, the U.S. stock market was able to forget about problems in Europe.

Friday put Europe squarely back in the spotlight.

U.S. stocks fell sharply as escalating problems in Spain jolted investors. Spain's stock market plunged 6 percent and its borrowing costs spiked after a regional government asked for a financial lifeline.

The drop on Wall Street, which sent the Dow Jones industrial average down as much as 133 points, marked a U-turn for the market. Stocks had risen over the past three days as investors focused on healthy earnings from U.S. companies like Mattel, Honeywell and Coca-Cola.

On Friday, talk of sluggishness in Europe was prevalent as more companies turned in their quarterly results.

Staffing agency Manpower fell 6 percent, to $33.46, and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices fell 13 percent, to $4.22, after reporting that weak demand in Europe had dragged down second-quarter revenue.

Xerox trimmed its earnings forecasts as Europeans bought less equipment. Ingersoll-Rand, whose products include Trane air conditioners, cut its revenue prediction for the same reason. Xerox fell 49 cents to $6.70, and Ingersoll-Rand lost $1.22 to $40.25.

Late Thursday, guitar maker Fender abruptly canceled its plans to go public, blaming "current market conditions" and "concerns about economic conditions in Europe." And General Electric, though its stock edged up 7 cents to $19.87, noted Friday that its orders also fell in Europe.

"We prepared ourselves for a pretty tough year this year, or certainly a volatile year," CEO Jeff Immelt said in a call with analysts. "We haven't been disappointed." GE's finance officer, Keith Sherin, said the company is making "a full-court press" to reduce exposure to Europe.

Even the Internet powerhouse Google noted that growth in Southern Europe had slowed, particularly in Spain. But Google also reported higher revenue and profit, and its stock rose $17.76, to $610.82.

All the major U.S. stock indexes fell. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 120.79 points to 12,822.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 13.85 to 1,362.66. The Nasdaq composite index lost 40.60 to 2,925.30. All three indicators were down about 1 percent. They eked out tiny gains for the week and are about flat for the month to date.

Despite the generally sour mood in the market, two tech companies soared on their first day of trading. Kayak Software, a travel-booking website, jumped 28 percent, or $7.18, to $33.18. Palo Alto Networks, a technology security company, rose 27 percent, or $11.13, to $53.13.

The broad downturn was an unwelcome change after three days of gains, the Dow's longest winning streak in more than a month. Until Friday, investors focused on upbeat earnings from U.S. companies. Nearly three-fourths of the companies that have reported second-quarter earnings so far have beat expectations, according to FactSet.

Jeff Mortimer, director of investment strategy for Bank of New York Mellon's wealth management division, expects Europe's problems to drag on for a long while.

"There is no quick answer to the issues that they're wrestling with," he said. "They have a sovereign debt issue, they have a banking issue and they have a growth issue. ... I think we'll have one eye over there for years."

Spain was the epicenter of the latest European earthquake. Protestors took to the streets to voice their disapproval of government spending cuts. The Treasury minister predicted that the recession would drag on into next year. And the region of Valencia said it needed help from the central government to pay its bills.

Spain did get approval from the other euro countries for a bailout for its struggling banks, but that wasn't enough to calm investors. The Spanish government's borrowing costs shot above 7 percent, the rate at which other countries have been unable to afford to borrow money. Spain's borrowing costs rose to 7.22 percent and its benchmark stock index plunged 6 percent, to 6,246.30.

To be sure, bad financial news out of Spain is hardly new. Just as troubling, if not more so, were budding signs that the crisis is deepening even among Europe's relatively strong members. Germany announced that its economic growth likely slowed in the second quarter. In the U.K., the government said it had to borrow more than expected in June.

Among other stocks making big moves, Chipotle plunged 22 percent even though the burrito chain reported big jumps in revenue and profits. Even though revenue climbed 21 percent, analysts had expected more. Chipotle stock lost $86.88 to $316.98.

The country's six megabanks — Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo — all fell. Investors are concerned about an array of recent challenges, including Moody's downgrades at all the banks except Wells, and net job cuts over the year at all the banks except JPMorgan.

Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield will work with Connecticut Children's Medical Center

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Connecticut Children's Medical Center will send a pediatric orthopedic surgeon to Shriners Hospital a few times a month.

SPRINGFIELD — Shriners Hospital for Children is partnering with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to expand services and bring more young patients into Shriners.

“There certainly are some gaps in the services now offered in Western Massachusetts,” said David H. Burstein, chairman of the board of governors for Shriners Hospital for Children. “Basically, this keeps families from having to travel to Boston.”

David Burstein

Starting next month, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center will send a pediatric orthopedic surgeon to Shriners a few times a month.

“We have a backlog of surgeries somewhat,” Burstein said. “We are trying to satisfy that backlog.”

Shriners has a long-standing partnership with Baystate Medical Center and that will continue, Burstein said.

Connecticut Children’s will also make a pediatric neurosurgeon available to Shriners for consultation. This direct affiliation arrangement will help Shriners in cases where young patients are suffering from nerve problems.

“The orthopedic surgeons deal with bones and muscles,” Burstein said. “If they are the carpenters, the pediatric neurosurgeons are the electricians.”

Shriners approved the deal at a national convention earlier this month.

“In the short run it will augment the Shriners services,” said Dean Rapoza, senior vice president for strategic planning, business development and marketing at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. “In the long run we’d like to improve pediatric surgical access for patients and families.”

He said Connecticut Children’s is pursuing a lot of partnerships both inside and outside the state in hopes of improving quality and making the best use of its resources.

“Regardless of who gets elected and how health care reform works out, lowering costs and working in partnership is going to be a focus,” he said.

Burstein said over time, Connecticut Children’s will make more doctors in more subspecialties available to Shriners, including pediatric urologists and pediatric ear-nose-throat doctors.

Burstein said Shriners sees about 16,000 outpatients a year and doctors there perform 600 to 700 surgeries each year. The goal is to double those volumes within five years.

“I think that is realistic,” he said.

By increasing the number of children treated, Shriners will spread its fixed costs out over more patients and improve its bottom line, Burstein said. A faltering stock market and rising health care costs cut into Shriners budget in 2008 and 2009. The Shriners national organization had plans to close the Springfield Hospital and four others among the 22 nationwide.

But Shriners started accepting insurance payments in April 2011 and is in good financial shape, Burstein said. In cases where the family has no insurance, treatment is free.

“It’s at no cost to the family, we don’t charge co-pays or deductibles,” Burstein said.

A stronger stock market also helps make up budget gaps, Burstein said. The hospital has an annual budget of $17 million and 191 employees.

Connecticut Children’s is a nonprofit and treats children without regard to their ability to pay as well, Rapoza said. Connecticut Children’s had 310,000 patient visits a year and employs 2,300. The main campus is in Hartford, but Connecticut Children’s has facilities across the state including a neonatal intensive care unit at University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

Granby celebrates its 'Year of the dinosaur' with contests, dinner and a fiberglass dinosaur

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There’s a gold egg, a glow-in-the-dark egg and an egg cracked just enough to reveal a baby dinosaur’s eye inside.

dinojpg.JPG Robert Johnson and Dave Facchini, of Hampshire Towing, with the help of Julien Beauchemin, unload a fiberglass dinosaur for display at the Granby Free Public Library.

GRANBY – A six-foot fiberglass dinosaur was gently lowered into place by five men in front of the Granby Free Public Library earlier this week in observance of Granby’s summer-long, townwide celebration of the “Year of the Dinosaur.”

The celebration includes a contest to name the friendly fiberglass dinosaur, a treasure hunt all over town for dinosaur “eggs,” children building little prehistoric habitats, and a dinosaur dinner.

Granby is rightfully proud to have once been home to the giant creatures who roamed the earth millions of years ago.

“The Connecticut Valley is probably the best place in the world to find dinosaur tracks,” said Kornell Nash, owner of the Nash Dinosaur Tracks museum and shop in Granby.

There were a few “oasis areas” up and down the Valley that trapped rainwater during those hot, dry times, said Nash, and one of those spots was in Granby.

He estimates that since his father founded the dinosaur shop in 1939, the family has found 4,000 to 5,000 dinosaur fossils.

A highlight of the summer celebration is an elaborate “Jurassic Egg Encounter,” in which humongous papier-maché “eggs” are placed all over town for people to discover and record for purposes of entering a raffle.

The 16 giant eggs were painted by library trustees and community members, including Dianne Barry, Deana Drapeau, the LaCoste and Barrows families and art students at Granby High School.

There’s a gold egg, a glow-in-the-dark egg, an egg cracked just enough to reveal a baby dinosaur’s eye inside and many more. They measure 26 to 42 inches in diameter. Every week for eight weeks, two new eggs are stashed in two new places.

An entry fee of $5 buys an information packet, available at the library, complete with a little egg-shaped dino notebook and a list of clues for the egg hunt. All proceeds benefit the new library building.

People can join the egg hunt at any time, said Janice McArdle, youth services librarian. Raffle prizes will include a karaoke machine, a gift certificate to a llama farm, a miniature fountain, gift baskets and more, said McArdle.

On Thursdays in July, kids are meeting at 3:30 p.m. in the library for “Dinosaur Digs,” a chance to build landscapes for toy dinosaurs.

The Friends of the Granby Library will offer a Dinosaur Dinner (choice of carnivore or herbivore) at Church of Christ Congregational in Granby on Sept. 14 at 5 p.m., followed by a Dinosaur Festival there on Sept. 15.

The dinosaur at the library was made possible by Pleasant Street Autobody, which repaired the six-foot statue.

The fiberglass critter been cast off in the Neolithic 1960s and lay forgotten behind the old police station. It was covered with cracks and had a nest in its tail, said McArdle.

The team at Pleasant Street Autobody, including Julien Beauchemin and owner Bill Johnson, worked for 12 days to restore the little dinosaur. Nancy Evren, library trustee and Beauchemin’s daughter, chose the colors – gray, with blue toenails and pink lips.

FDA warns of bacteria in shellfish from New York's Oyster Bay Harbor

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Shellfish from the area were distributed to several states including: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

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WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is warning people not to eat raw or partially cooked shellfish harvested from New York's Oyster Bay Harbor because they have been linked to cases of foodborne illness in several states.

The agency said Friday that oysters and clams from the Long Island harbor may be contaminated with bacteria that cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms.

Regulators say consumers should check the tags on their shellfish to identify where they were harvested. If they were harvested in the harbor on or after June 1, consumers should throw them away.

New York officials closed the Nassau County, N.Y. site to shellfish harvesters July 13.

Shellfish from the area were distributed to several states including: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

The FDA says the shellfish have been linked to confirmed and possible cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus illness. The bacteria can cause illness within a few hours or as late as five days after being consumed.

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