With help from Broyhill Furniture and Pieroway's, the regional Make-a-Wish Foundation unveiled the teen's private space.

Manon Mirabelli photoCarl King, 16, of Westfield, who is awaiting a liver transplant, in his new bedroom provided by the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in collaboration with the Broyhill furniture corporation nationally and Pieroway's Furniture locally.

WESTFIELD – For 16-year-old Carl King, his dream for a new bedroom where he can relax while awaiting a liver transplant came true Thursday when the regional Make-a-Wish Foundation unveiled the teen’s private space.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts and Rhode Island granted Carl’s wish for a new bedroom with the help of the Broyhill Furniture corporation on the national level, as well as Pieroway’s furniture locally.

Thursday’s unveiling of the New England Patriot’s-themed bedroom was a celebration for Carl and his parents, Karen M. and Sam W. King. Carl said he chose to have his room decorated in recognition of his favorite football team because he has good memories of going to games with his father.

“My dad had season tickets and we used to go,” he said, adding that some of his other interests include “sports, working at Six Flags New England, snowboarding and making people laugh.”

Karen King said her son was first diagnosed with liver disease in October 2009 when they also learned he had Type I diabetes as well. Carl is now on a national donor list for a liver transplant, but the good news is that regular blood test results have shown that his liver is functioning at an acceptable level, which has put him lower on the donor list.

“It’s based on his lab results, and he’s been doing better,” Karen King said.

While the ultimate goal is the transplant, knowing their son is functioning like a normal 16-year-old is comforting to his family, said Sam King.

“It’s good news,” he said. “We all wish for our kids to be healthy.”

In the meantime, Carl can enjoy his down time in the room created just for him according to his specifications. Once he was approved for the room makeover by Make-a-Wish, he was allowed to shop online for his new furniture, bedding, wall art, window coverings and his very favorite item - a wrought-iron lamp fashioned after the Eiffel Tower.

“It’s a relaxing place to be, and it looks cool,” said Carl, a Westfield High School sophomore.

Peg A. Wheble, development officer for Make-a-Wish of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, said Carl was referred to the foundation by his medical team in Boston and is one of 50 recipients nationally of a new bedroom. Making the wish come true, she added, could not have been possible without the cooperation of Broyhill.

“Broyhill is helping the Foundation grant these room-makeover wishes across the country,” she said. “The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

For Pieroway’s Furniture owner Michael L. Ouimette, helping to enrich Carl’s life was a joy for himself as well. “This feels good,” he said while surveying the unveiling in Carl’s room. “It’s a great feeling to help someone.”

The facility at 225 Goodwin St. in Indian Orchard will be capable of producing 2.2 megawatts of power.

solar panels

SPRINGFIELD – Western Massachusetts Electric Company has started construction on a solar power generation facility at 225 Goodwin St. in Indian Orchard that will be capable of producing 2.2 megawatts of power or enough for about 400 homes. The 12-acre site is owned by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority.

There was a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday.

Upon completion, the Indian Orchard facility will join WMECO’s Silver Lake Solar Facility in Pittsfield as one of the largest in the Northeast region. The project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Twin explosions struck a paramilitary training center in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 68 people, in the bloodiest attack in the country since a U.S. raid killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers watch a damaged bus at the site of a bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. Twin bomb attacks against Pakistani navy buses that were talking employees to work Tuesday killed at least four people and wounded more than 50 others. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press

SHABQADAR, Pakistan (AP) — Twin explosions struck a paramilitary training center in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 68 people — nearly all recruits — in the bloodiest attack in the country since a U.S. raid killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

A suicide bomber detonated at least one of the blasts at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but front-line force in Pakistan's battle against al-Qaida and allied Islamist groups close to the Afghan border. Like other branches of Pakistan security forces, it has received U.S. funding.

The scene of the blast was littered with shards of glass mixed with blood and human flesh. The explosions destroyed at least 10 vans the recruits were boarding to go home for a short break at the end of a recent training session.

Dr. Abdul Hameed Afridi of Lady Rieding Hospital in Peshawar said 117 people have been treated at the hospital, including 40 with critical wounds.

About 3 to 4 pounds (6 to 8 kilograms) of explosives were used in one explosion, said police officer Jahanzeb Khan. Ball bearings and nails were used in another, heightening the death toll, he said.

A vegetable vendor at the site said some recruits were seated in white minivans and others were loading luggage atop the vehicles.

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, People transfer an injured man to a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan Friday, May 13, 2011. Two explosions struck a paramilitary training center in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, in the bloodiest attack in the country since a U.S. raid killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Umar Qayyum)

"There was a big blast," he said. "I saw smoke, blood and body pieces all around."

The attack was a savage reminder of the toll militant groups are taking on Pakistan even as it faces international suspicion that elements within its security forces may have been harboring bin Laden, who was killed in a raid about three hours' drive from Peshawar.

Police official Nisar Khan said a suicide bomber, a man in his late teens or early 20s, set off one blast. The cause of the other explosion was not yet known, he said.

"The first blast occurred in the middle of the road, and after that there was a huge blast that was more powerful than the first," said Abdul Wahid, a 25-year-old recruit whose legs were wounded in the blasts.

He said he was knocked to the ground by the force of the explosions.

"After falling, I just started crawling and dragging myself to a safer place ... along the wall of a roadside shop," he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility. But militants have pledged to avenge bin Laden's May 2 killing, and reprisal strikes on Pakistani territory had been expected.

The Sept. 11 mastermind and at least four others were killed by U.S. Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a garrison city. Bin Laden is believed to have lived in the large house for up to six years.

A man, who lost his family member in twin suicide bombs attacks, reacts as he talks on a phone in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. Twin explosions struck a paramilitary training center in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, in the bloodiest attack in the country since a U.S. raid killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair)

Pakistani officials have denied knowing he was there but have criticized the American raid ordered by President Barack Obama as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

Pakistani leaders have also repeatedly pointed out that tens of thousands of their own citizens have died in suicide and other attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamabad became an ally of the U.S. in taking on Islamist extremists.

Many of the attacks in Pakistan have targeted security forces, including young cadets or recruits.

The terror suspects' words were bold, authorities say. They boasted about wanting to pose as congregants to blow up synagogues, lauded jihad and martyrdom and proclaimed that Muslims "are getting abused all over the world."

Ahmed Ferhani 26, left, and Mohamed Mamadouh 20, appear in court with their attorneys for arraignment,Thursday, May 12, 2011, at Criminal court in New York. Both men are charged with a terrorist plot targeting New York synagogues. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano, Pool)

By COLLEEN LONG & JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — The terror suspects' words were bold, authorities say. They boasted about wanting to pose as congregants to blow up synagogues, lauded jihad and martyrdom and proclaimed that Muslims "are getting abused all over the world."

One said he wanted to bomb the Empire State Building, according to authorities. They schemed about how they would avoid getting caught like another terror plotter and strategized about financing their operation by selling guns.

"We gonna be victorious," suspect Ahmed Ferhani said, according to a court document. "Y'all can do whatever — we gonna win at the end."

The end came before Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh got near carrying out their alleged ambitions, which they had unknowingly spilled to an undercover detective over the course of seven months, authorities said Thursday as the two were charged in a rare terrorism case brought under state law, instead of federal laws.

The two were arrested Wednesday moments after Ferhani bought guns, ammunition and an inert hand grenade from another undercover officer, officials said. There was no indication that the plot that's alleged ever put New Yorkers in danger, and no evidence that the men were affiliated with any terrorist organization.

The apartment complex where Ahmed C. Ferhani lives is seen in the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Thursday, May 12, 2011. Ferhani, along Mohamed Mamdouh, were arrested on May 11 by the New York Police Department and have been accused of buying firearms and grenades as a part of an alleged plan to blow up numerous synagogues in New York. (AP Photo/Andrew Burton)

Lawyers for Ferhani, a 26-year-old Algerian immigrant, and Mamdouh, a 20-year-old American citizen of Moroccan descent, said they denied the charges.

"Mr. Ferhani tells me he hasn't committed any crime at all," said his lawyer, Stephen Pokart. Mamdouh's attorney, Steven Fusfeld, said Mamdouh was "upset because he maintains he committed no crime."

While the case echoes other terrorism investigations that have involved the use of undercover officers in recent years, it is one of few brought under a New York state terrorism law passed within six days of the Sept. 11 attacks — and the first case to use the law as it was initially envisioned, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

The law was notably used in a murder case against a Bronx gang member; he was convicted in 2007, but an appeals court last fall said his conduct didn't amount to terrorism and ordered his sentence reduced.

The case against Ferhani and Mamdouh falls squarely within the law's bounds, prosecutors say. The men "plotted and took concrete steps to bomb synagogues and kill Jewish New Yorkers as an act of terrorism," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence David Cohen, left, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, second from left, and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance second from right, join NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly as he speaks to reporters during a news conference at City Hall, Thursday, May 12, 2011 in New York. New York City officials say two Americans bought guns and a grenade and wanted to carry out a terror plot against a New York synagogue. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Police said the FBI was aware of the investigation and decided not to get involved. The FBI declined to comment.

The men said nothing during their arraignment Thursday. Ferhani, wearing a pinstriped suit and carrying a New York Yankees cap, bowed his head through much of the proceeding. Mamdouh was in jeans. The men were held without bail; if convicted, they could face life in prison.

Ferhani, who is unemployed, moved to the U.S. in August 1995 from Algeria with two siblings and his parents, who claimed asylum after fleeing the war-torn country, authorities said. He has been living in Queens and had been granted permanent resident status by authorities, but he is facing deportation. He had been known to police for some time and was arrested in a robbery case in Manhattan last October.

The two suspects lived blocks from one another in Whitestone, a section of Queens.

"You wouldn't think something like this would come to our neighborhood," said Jim Hartofilis, 57, saying the middle-class, ethnically diverse area prides itself on its tolerance, he said.

Ferhani's father told The New York Times that the accusations were unbelievable.

"Bomb a synagogue? That's not my son."

He said his son had a diverse group of friends, including a Christian girlfriend.

"All people are equal," he told the newspaper. "We don't make a distinction."

Officials refused to give details on how the first undercover officer met Ferhani, who later introduced the officer to Mamdouh.

The Casablanca-born Mamdouh is a taxi service dispatcher. He came to the United States with his parents in August 1999 and is a U.S. citizen, officials said. His attorney said he lives in Queens with his brother and sister, and his parents are local business owners. He is also facing an unrelated burglary case in Queens, Manhattan prosecutors said.

Members of the media photograph an inert hand grenade, hand guns and live cartridges being held as evidence during a news conference at City Hall, Thursday, May 12, 2011 in New York. New York City officials say two Americans bought guns and a grenade and wanted to carry out a terror plot against a New York synagogue. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

An undercover detective, who secretly recorded many conversations with the two, heard Ferhani say he hated Jews and was fed up with the way Muslims — especially Palestinians — were treated around the world, officials said.

"They're treating us like dogs," Ferhani said once, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Ferhani's anger grew over the months, and "his plans became bigger and more violent with every passing week," Vance said.

Ferhani expressed interest in the Empire State Building attack, Kelly said. And Ferhani repeatedly discussed the idea of attacking a synagogue during several meetings with the undercover detective and Mamdouh, the court complaint said. Mamdouh said he "would love to blow that ... up" and emphasized the importance of paying for things with cash instead of credit cards, the complaint said, so they would not get caught like "the one that put the car in Times Square" — a reference to the failed bombing there last year by Faisal Shahzad.

Ferhani suggested disguising himself as a worshipping Jew so he could infiltrate a synagogue and leave a bomb inside, the complaint said. He also discussed using grenades and carrying multiple guns in case they were caught, according to the complaint.

On May 5, the undercover detective introduced the men to another officer pretending to be an illegal gun dealer at a meeting where Ferhani said he needed the weapons "for the cause," the complaint said.

At a roadside meeting Wednesday on Manhattan's West Side, one of the undercover officers handed Ferhani a bag holding three handguns, three boxes of ammunition and the inert grenade. As soon as Ferhani put the bag into the trunk of a car, he was arrested, the complaint said. Mamdouh had been dropped off nearby and was arrested soon afterward.

New York City police have been on high alert for potential threats to the city since the U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden last week, though Kelly said the men had no apparent link to al-Qaida.

"We are concerned about lone wolves acting against New York City in the wake of the killing of bin Laden," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "Those, perhaps, are the toughest to stop."

Extra security had already been in place at local religious institutions since bin Laden's death, and Jewish leaders said heightened awareness was a part of life.

"The fact that (there are) people who wish to injure and kill Jews is not news," said David Pollack, who helps advise synagogues on security.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Hawley, Cristian Salazar, Jim Fitzgerald and Tom Hays contributed to this report.

An underground electrical explosion behind city hall Friday morning is under investigation by WMECO officials.

Robert Rizzuto / The RepublicanSpringfield firefighters lift four metal grates that were emitting smoke in the aftermath of an underground electrical explosion early Friday morning.

SPRINGFIELD - Western Massachusetts Electric Company employees were sent to the area on Pynchon Street behind Springfield City Hall Friday morning after an apparent underground electrical explosion.

Just after 4 a.m., an officer reported seeing black smoke coming from a manhole cover near city hall and fire fighters were called to investigate. As he awaited their arrival, he reported that he could hear explosions underneath him.

WMECO employees arrived at 4:45 a.m. and began their investigation.

No injuries or damage to city hall was reported as of early Friday morning.

This incident is the latest among several electrical fires and explosions reported in downtown Springfield over the past six months.

The most notable underground electrical fire happened on Dec. 13 and caused a fire at the historic Elijah Blake House at the Springfield Museums.

At about 5:48 a.m. that day, firefighters were sent to investigate a reported manhole explosion on Mattoon Street.

A few minutes later, a fire in an electrical panel was reported at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. That fire put itself out quickly but just before 6:30 a.m. firefighters noticed flames coming from a manhole cover near the Elijah Blake House and then inside the 161-year-old building.

A Springfield firefighter suffered minor burns to his face while fighting the blaze, but crews were able to save the building and no damage was reported to any artifacts within the Springfield Museums.

At the time of the incident, Dennis Leger, public information officer with the city fire department, said investigators with the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad believed the flames traveled from a conduit in the Edwards Street manhole to a control box in the basement of the Blake House, causing an estimated $80,000 in damage.

12/13/10 Springfield - Springfield Fire Department Photo by Dennis Leger- Fire fighters work on a fire at the Elijah Blake House on the grounds of the quadrangle early Monday morning.

A WMECO spokesperson recently told MassLive.com that the internal investigation into the situation is "still continuing."

"We know it's a cable fault but the investigation is not completed," said Sandra Ahearn, WMECO spokesperson. "Many cases are the result of a cable fault of some kind."

In response to similar electrical fires on Taylor and Lyman streets reported in early March, Ahearn said that the investigations were ongoing.

"The oldest parts of the underground systems (in Springfield) are about 40 years old," she said. "When we start to see reliability issues in a certain area, that part of the system is considered for replacement."

Here are the average energy prices in the Pioneer Valley for the week ending today.

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The state Transportation Department is under fire for handing out raises to 17 employees at a time when Gov. Deval Patrick called for public employee unions to forgo raises and pay more for health care to ease budget pressures.

12-07-09-Springfield-Staff Photo by Dave Roback-Massachusetts DOT Secretary and CEO Jeffrey B. Mullan

BOSTON (AP) — The state Transportation Department is under fire for handing out raises to 17 employees at a time when Gov. Deval Patrick called for public employee unions to forgo raises and pay more for health care to ease budget pressures.

The Boston Globe reports Friday that Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan handed out the raises totaling $140,000 just two months after saying the economy was too weak to increase salaries for public sector executives.

One employee got an 18 percent pay hike.

Assistant Transportation Secretary Joseph Landolfi says the raises are justified because the employees have taken on new responsibilities since the agency was created in 2009 by merging several other state departments, including the Turnpike Authority.

Some union leaders are asking what happened to the "shared sacrifice" Patrick talked of.

Today's poll: Are zero-tolerance policies for bringing weapons to school appropriate?

Greg Saulmon / The Republican05.13.2011 | HOLYOKE - Fishermen try their luck in the Connecticut River early Friday morning. The HG&E Shad Derby is coming up on May 21 and May 22.

The Forecast

Mid-May in Western Massachusetts: Anglers line up on the shore of Slim Shad Point in Holyoke while the early sun lights up the dam and, way off, the last clouds we'll see all day drape around Mt. Tom.

We're looking at sun and a high of 73 today, according to the National Weather Service.

ABC40 / FOX 6 meteorologist Dan Brown says the rain that's been showing up in the forecast should hold off until later on Saturday night. Beyond that, though, the weather's going downhill: "An unsettled, cool pattern is shaping up for much of next week. It doesn't look like a washout but you will certainly need to keep the umbrella on stand-by," Brown writes.

Find the full forecast here.

Today's Poll

A 9-year-old student at Palmer's Old Mill Pond Elementary School, charged under the district's “zero tolerance policy” regarding weapons on school grounds, will be summoned to Juvenile Court for bringing an Airsoft toy gun on a school bus.

“It was inappropriate to bring it to school ... Anything that can shoot a projectile is considered a weapon,” Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said. But, Frydryk continued, it's unlikely the child will be found delinquent, or guilty, by the court.

“That’s not going to happen in this case. We have to file the charge because it is not appropriate to bring any kind of weapon on school grounds. Nobody, neither us, or the school administration, thinks he brought it to school to harm anyone,” Frydryk told The Republican's Lori Stabile.

What do you think -- are zero-tolerance policies for bringing weapons to school appropriate? Vote in our poll, and check back tomorrow for the results.

Thursday's results: Yesterday, we asked, "Do you approve of president Barack Obama's job performance?" 21 people voted. 76.19% said, "no," and 23.81% said "yes."

Thursday's Top 5

1. 2011 Turners Falls Prom [photo gallery]
2. 2011 Mohawk Regional Prom
3. Valley Food Championship Pizza Playoffs: Help us pick which restaurants to review
4. Springfield woman and 2 young daughters suffer minor injuries when attacked by swans at Heritage Park in East Longmeadow
5. 2011 Westfield High School Junior Senior Prom [photo gallery]

Quote of the Day

“I will be resuming my education and will continue to work. I would ask the public and the media to respect my request for privacy. I will have no further public comment."
— Austin Renaud, one of six teens charged in the Phoebe Prince bullying case, in a statement offering condolences to Prince's family and thanking them for asking the Northwestern District Attorney's office to drop statutory rape charges against him. Read Patrick Johnson's story here.

Jonathan Jones, 27, of Springfield was taken into custody just after 3 a.m. following an assault that happened inside a home on the 100 block of Mattoon Street.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD - A city man was taken into custody Friday morning after allegedly beating up a pregnant woman during a domestic dispute.

Jonathan Jones, 27, of Springfield was taken into custody just after 3 a.m. following an assault that happened inside a home on the 100 block of Mattoon Street.

"He showed up at this house and had an altercation with the female that lived there," said Springfield Police Lt. John K. Slepchuck. "He struck her in the face and when she tried to call us for help, he took the phone away from her."

When the victim did manage to call police, Jones reportedly fled. Police arrived along with EMTs from American Medical Response and the pregnant woman was taken to the hospital.

A few minutes later, police found Jones walking near the intersection of Princeton Street and St. James Avenue where he was taken into custody.

Jones was charged with domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a pregnant woman, intimidating a witness and larceny over $250.

He was held awaiting arraignment. No further details were available on the woman's condition.

An inmate shows regret after asking the judge to sentence him to 33 years to honor Larry Bird, Hartford boy killed by hit-and-run driver and more headlines.

Trinamool Congress party supporters celebrate the early leads of the party, outside the residence of party leader Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, India, Friday, May 13, 2011. In West Bengal, India's fourth most-populous state, Congress and allied Trinamool Congress won in a landslide after an aggressive campaign that hammered the Communist-led alliance for stagnation, corruption, agricultural malaise and industrial decline. Opponents had been trying to unseat the Bengali Communists since 1977, and Banerjee said Friday's results reflected a 34-year "freedom struggle" and a "victory for the people." (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

• Hartford boy, 5, killed by hit-and-run driver [Courant.com]


• Inmate regrets asking judge for 33 years in honor of Larry Bird [Boston.com]


• Steven Tyler: Aerosmith will play ‘Idol’ [BostonHerald.com]


• 20 years later, detectives are still searching for the person who killed Lisa Ziegert of Agawam [CBS-3.com]


• US journalists being held in Libya allowed visitor [GlobalPost.com]


• Provincetown woman killed in Route 6 crash [CapeCodOnline.com]






• Conn. teen James Tate banned from prom, mayor, governor among thousands who come to his defense [MassLive.com]


• Sony's letter to publishing partners leaked, shows "lackluster communications" [computerandvideogames.com]


• Warhol's Elizabeth Taylor portrait sells for about $27 million [CNN.com]






• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


• Read more News Links »


• Do you have News Links? Send them our way or tweet them to @masslivenews

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Paul is known on Capitol Hill as "Dr. No" for his enthusiasm for bashing runaway spending and government overreach.

Associated PressIn this May 5, 2011 file photo, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas speaks in Greenville, S.C. Campaign aides say Ron Paul will run for president for a third time. Aides said Paul will announce those plans on Friday while in New Hampshire. He formed a campaign exploratory committee last month.

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Rep. Ron Paul announced Friday that he will run for the GOP nomination for president in 2012, the third attempt for the man known on Capitol Hill as "Dr. No" for his enthusiasm for bashing runaway spending and government overreach.

"Time has come around to the point where the people are agreeing with much of what I've been saying for 30 years. So, I think the time is right," said the 75-year-old Paul, who first ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988.

Paul made his announcement in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" from New Hampshire, where he planned his first event for his presidential campaign on Friday.

Three years ago, the former flight surgeon and outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve became an Internet sensation — and a prodigious fundraiser— when he made a spirited but doomed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

First elected to Congress in 1976, he is known for holding unconventional views while keeping a smile on his face, espousing a sort of modern Republican populism.

The obstetrician has delivered more than 4,000 babies and is personally against abortion, but he doesn't think the federal government should regulate it. That's a function of state government, he says.

He has also said he wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, favors returning the United States to the gold standard in monetary policy and wants the U.S out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Democrats have tried repeatedly to beat him in a congressional district that stretches from the outskirts of Corpus Christi to Galveston. But the independent swath of coastal Texas seems a good fit for the maverick doctor. He has 18 grandchildren, according to his website, and he and his wife of 54 years, Carol, are known widely in Paul's district for the cookbooks they give away to supporters.

"The secret to his success is his authenticity," said Democratic consultant Jeff Crosby, who grew up in Paul's district. "He's an authentic nut."

Crosby, who worked to defeat Paul in 2006 — unsuccessfully — described the difficulty he had trying to persuade voters to reject what he thought were the candidate's radical views.

"Just the mere fact that he does what he says he's going to do, regardless of how nutty or ineffective it may be, they like it," Crosby said. "A lot of folks along the coast have never expected much from government, and they're getting it."

Paul, a native of Pittsburgh, is both a spiritual father and actual father in the tea party movement. His son, tea party darling Rand Paul, won a Senate seat in Kentucky last year and has become an ardent proponent of spending cuts and smaller government.

As far back as 2007, long before people were evoking the fabled Boston Tea Party to symbolize their disgust with an overtaxing central government, Ron Paul was hosting a "Tea Party Fundraiser" aboard a shrimp boat near Galveston.

Organizer and Paul campaign volunteer Elizabeth Day remembers that supporters wore period dress and rolled fake barrels of tea into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"When people come to believe in Ron Paul, there is a passion that burns within us," said Day, a 57-year-old oil company revenue analyst. "To me, Ron Paul is the tea party."

The elder Paul has built coalitions that include senior citizen "granny warriors" and pot-smoking libertarians. During his 1988 presidential run, High Times magazine, which caters to marijuana users, published a cover story under the headline, "Ron Paul: Pro-Pot Presidential Candidate."

Paul has expressed the view that the states, not the federal government, should regulate vices like pornography and drugs.

What sets Paul apart most from his GOP brethren are his views that defense spending needs to shrink and that the U.S. should get out of its two wars. Paul says the conflicts are financially unsustainable — and another drag on a battered U.S. dollar that he believes is on the verge of collapse.

He also disputes a fundamental underpinning of the war in Iraq, namely that Islamic terrorists must be stopped overseas before they can attack the United States.

"They came over here because we were over there," Paul said in the run-up to the 2008 campaign. "We occupy their territory. It would be like if the Chinese had their navy in the Gulf of Mexico."

Paul has routinely turned down pork-barrel spending for his own district, but he has earned praise at home for refusing to sign up for lucrative pension benefits to which he is entitled as a member of Congress. Paul took a break from the House after his failed 1988 presidential bid but was re-elected in 1996.

Though he has voiced support for term limits, Paul has been in Congress for almost 30 years. Thanks to a law first crafted for Texas-born President Lyndon Johnson, he was able to run for the House and the presidency at the same time in 2008. Supporters figure he'll do the same in 2012.

Former Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina counts herself among the die-hard Ron Paul followers who won't let age, unconventional views or the professed tea party proclivities of other candidates shake her away from the soft-spoken presidential contender.

"All the Republicans say we need to reduce spending," said Medina. "They talk about it, but they don't actually deliver on those promises. He's different."

Bin Laden's system was painstaking and slow, but it worked.

Associated PressIn this Dec. 24, 1998 file photo, Muslim militant and al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden speaks to a selected group of reporters in mountains of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON — Using intermediaries and inexpensive computer disks, Osama bin Laden managed to send emails while in hiding, without leaving a digital fingerprint for U.S. eavesdroppers to find.

His system was painstaking and slow, but it worked, and it allowed him to become a prolific email writer despite not having Internet or phone lines running to his compound.

His methods, described in new detail to The Associated Press by a counterterrorism official and a second person briefed on the U.S. investigation, frustrated Western efforts to trace him through cyberspace. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence analysis.

Bin Laden's system was built on discipline and trust. But it also left behind an extensive archive of email exchanges for the U.S. to scour. The trove of electronic records pulled out of his compound after he was killed last week is revealing thousands of messages and potentially hundreds of email addresses, the AP has learned.

Holed up in his walled compound in northeast Pakistan with no phone or Internet capabilities, bin Laden would type a message on his computer without an Internet connection, then save it using a thumb-sized flash drive. He then passed the flash drive to a trusted courier, who would head for a distant Internet café.

At that location, the courier would plug the memory drive into a computer, copy bin Laden's message into an email and send it. Reversing the process, the courier would copy any incoming email to the flash drive and return to the compound, where bin Laden would read his messages offline.

It was a slow, toilsome process. And it was so meticulous that even veteran intelligence officials have marveled at bin Laden's ability to maintain it for so long. The U.S. always suspected bin Laden was communicating through couriers but did not anticipate the breadth of his communications as revealed by the materials he left behind.

Navy SEALs hauled away roughly 100 flash memory drives after they killed bin Laden, and officials said they appear to archive the back-and-forth communication between bin Laden and his associates around the world.

Al-Qaida operatives are known to change email addresses, so it's unclear how many are still active since bin Laden's death. But the long list of electronic addresses and phone numbers in the emails is expected to touch off a flurry of national security letters and subpoenas to Internet service providers. The Justice Department is already coming off a year in which it significantly increased the number of national security letters, which allow the FBI to quickly demand information from companies and others without asking a judge to formally issue a subpoena.

Officials gave no indication that bin Laden was communicating with anyone inside the U.S., but terrorists have historically used U.S.-based Internet providers or free Internet-based email services.

The cache of electronic documents is so enormous that the government has enlisted Arabic speakers from around the intelligence community to pore over it. Officials have said the records revealed no new terror plot but showed bin Laden remained involved in al-Qaida's operations long after the U.S. had assumed he had passed control to his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The files seized from bin Laden's compound not only have the potential to help the U.S. find other al-Qaida figures, they may also force terrorists to change their routines. That could make them more vulnerable to making mistakes and being discovered.

"We have done this to avenge the Abbottabad incident," Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, told The Associated Press

View full sizeAP photoSoldiers of Pakistan army and police officer stand guard after a bombing in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden's death(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

SHABQADAR, Pakistan (AP) — A pair of suicide bombers attacked recruits leaving a paramilitary training center in Pakistan on Friday, killing 80 people in the first retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden by American commandos. The Taliban claimed responsibility, blaming the Pakistani military for failing to stop the U.S. raid.

The blasts in the northwest were a reminder of the savagery of al-Qaida-linked militants in Pakistan. They occurred even as the country faces international suspicion that elements within its security forces may have been harboring bin Laden, who was killed last week in a raid in Abbottabad, about a three hours' drive from the scene of the bombing.

"We have done this to avenge the Abbottabad incident," Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, told The Associated Press in a phone call. He warned that the group was also planning attacks on Americans living inside Pakistan.

The bombers blew themselves up in Shabqadar at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but front-line force in the battle against al-Qaida and allied Islamist groups like the Pakistani Taliban close to the Afghan border. Like other branches of Pakistan's security forces, it has received U.S. funding to try to sharpen its skills.

At least 80 people were killed, including 66 recruits, and around 120 people were wounded, said police officer Liaqat Ali Khan.

Around 900 young men were leaving the center after spending six months of training there. They were in high spirits and looking forward to seeing their families, for which some had brought gifts, a survivor said.

Some people were sitting inside public minivans and others were loading luggage atop the vehicles when the bombers struck, witnesses said.

"We were heading toward a van when the first blast took place and we fell on the ground and then there was another blast," said 21-year-old Rehmanullah Khan. "We enjoyed our time together, all the good and bad weather and I cannot forget the cries of my friends before they died."

The scene was littered with shards of glass mixed with blood and flesh. The explosions destroyed at least 10 vans.

It was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since bin Laden's death on May 2, and the deadliest this year.

Militants had pledged to avenge the killing and launch reprisal strikes in Pakistan.

The Taliban spokesman suggested the attack was aimed as punishment against Pakistani authorities for failing to stop the unilateral U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, something that has sparked popular nationalist and Islamist anger.

"The Pakistani army has failed to protect its land," Ahsan said.

In its communications, the Taliban often tries to tap into popular sentiments in the country, where anti-Americanism is often stronger than feelings against Islamist militants. This is despite militant attacks over the last four years claiming the lives of many hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians.

Some 350 lawyers sympathetic with Islamists attended special prayers for bin Laden on the premises of the provincial high court in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday. The lawyers cursed the May 2 raid, chanting "Down with America."

The explosive vests used in Friday's attacks were packed with ball bearings and nails, police said.

Police official Nisar Khan said a suicide bomber in his late teens or early 20s set off one of the blasts.

"The first blast occurred in the middle of the road, and after that there was a huge blast that was more powerful than the first," said Abdul Wahid, a 25-year-old recruit whose legs were wounded in the blasts.

Bin Laden, the Sept. 11 mastermind, and at least four others were killed by U.S. Navy SEALs who raided his compound in Abbottabad. Bin Laden is believed to have lived in the large house for up to six years.

Pakistani officials have denied knowing he was there but have criticized the American raid ordered by President Barack Obama as a violation of their country's sovereignty. To counter allegations that Pakistan had harbored bin Laden, the officials have pointed out that many thousands of Pakistani citizens, and up to 3,000 of its security forces, have died in suicide bombings and other attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamabad became an ally of the U.S. in taking on Islamist extremists.

Many of the attacks in Pakistan have targeted security forces, but government buildings, religious minorities, public places and Western targets have also been hit.

In another development Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said a U.S. missile strike killed three people near the Afghan border.

The four missiles struck a vehicle in the Doga Madakhel village of North Waziristan tribal region. North Waziristan is home to many militant groups dedicated to attacking Western troops in Afghanistan.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. They did not know the identities of the dead.

___

Associated Press writers Ashraf Khan and Deb Riechmann in Islamabad, Babar Dogar in Lahore and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan contributed to this report.

Police arrested the suspects late Thursday afternoon.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE - Raids by city, state and federal law enforcement personnel yielded the arrests of three suspects on drug charges, including a city man and Chicopee man for trafficking cocaine, late Thursday afternoon,

Police arrested two of the suspects after stopping their vehicle near 18 Leary Drive shortly before 4:30 p.m. Manolin Fernandez, 44, of 163 South St., Chicopee, was charged with trafficking cocaine (200-pus grams), violation of a drug-free zone (Sullivan School) and conspiracy to violate drug law, Interim Chief Frederick J. Seklechi said.

Victor Nunez Jr., 33, of 69 Hitchcock St., Apt. 1, was charged with trafficking cocaine (200-plus grams), conspiracy to violate drug law, violation of a drug-free zone and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Police arrested the third suspect after executing their search warrant at 522 South Bridge St. about 20 minutes later.

Anthony Manzanillo, of 130 Suffolk St., was charged with conspiracy to violate drug law and a default warrant.

Arrests were made by Holyoke Police narcotics officers, U.S. Marshals and the Massachusetts State Police Gang Task Force.

Gasoline prices have soared more than 33 percent in the past year.

File photo by Jessica Hill / Associated PressJohn Magel, of Wetherfield, pumps gas at a station in Wethersfield, Conn., last month. U.S. consumers paid more for gas and food in April, pushing inflation to its highest level in two and a half years. But so far in May 2011, inflationary pressures have begun to ease, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON – Consumers paid more for gasoline and food in April, lifting inflation to its highest level in two and a half years. But inflationary pressures have begun to ease this month and analysts say some prices could taper off by summer.

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent in April, the Labor Department said. In the past 12 months, prices have risen 3.2 percent. That’s the biggest year-over-year gain since October 2008.

Excluding volatile food and energy, prices ticked up 0.2 percent and have risen only 1.3 percent this year. That’s double the gain posted six months ago, but still below the level the Federal Reserve considers a healthy pace of inflation.

The cost of new and used cars, clothing, and medical care all increased, pushing up the core index. Car prices likely increased because of temporary parts shortages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Most other prices were subdued.

Oil prices have fallen from earlier this month. Economists say gas and food prices should retreat later this year. High prices are likely slowing the economy in the April-June quarter. But growth should pick up in the second half of this year, they say.

“With commodity prices now dropping back, it looks like inflation is close to peaking,“ said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics. He says year-over-year inflation should climb to 3.5 percent before dropping in the second half of the year.

Cary Leahey, an economist at Decision Economics, said yearly inflation figures should start to decline in the next several months, although core prices should continue to rise. The Federal Reserve won’t need to start raising interest rates until next year to keep inflation in check, he said.

Gas prices rose 3.3 percent in April. That accounts for half last month’s increase. They have soared more than 33 percent in the past year. Demand in fast-growing developing countries and political turmoil in the Middle East have caused oil prices to rise. Prices at the pump have since leveled off near $4. That’s up $1.09 from last year.

Food prices increased 0.4 percent last month. That’s half the previous month’s increase, which was the largest in nearly three years. The price of fresh vegetables fell. Dairy, meat, fish and eggs all rose.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the impact of higher food and gas prices should be temporary. The central bank has also said it is watching closely for any signs of inflation. Seven months ago, when the core index had risen only 0.6 percent in a year, the Fed was more concerned about falling prices. The October reading was the smallest increase since the index began in 1957.

The operator was cited for failing to adequately set the brakes while the vehicle was unattended.

Photo by Lori Stabile / The RepublicanThe the front of the Napa Auto Parts store in Palmer is seen after a driverless Lexus sedan smashed into the store Friday, breaking the window and brickwork.

PALMER – A driverless Lexus sedan crossed busy North Main Street on Friday morning and slammed into the Napa Auto Parts store because the operator forgot to put the emergency brake on when he parked it on Holbrook Street to get a haircut.

The incident happened at 11 a.m., and left a gaping hole in the brickwork and glass window at the auto parts store. Holbrook Street, which is primarily residential, is across the street from the store.

Police cited Michael Gaudet, 36, of Winchester Street in Baldwinville for failure to adequately set the brakes while the vehicle was unattended.

Building Inspector Richard W. Rollet, who also responded, said the building could stay open, and that the damaged area had to be blocked off.

Police Sgt. Christopher J. Burns said the 2007 silver sedan traveled in reverse a couple hundred feet before it struck the store. It then bounced forward and came to a stop, with only some damage to its back bumper.

Jennifer LaBrecque, of Palmer, was heading toward downtown on North Main Street in a Suburu Legacy when she said she saw the silver car “flying out of the street.”

“I thought it was someone backing up real fast. I had to slam on my brakes. It cut right in front of me,” LaBrecque said.

Gaudet apologized to the police and LaBrecque. Burns said police found him by going into the hair salon.

Napa’s assistant manager, Douglas V. Skinner, said the noise of the crash “scared everybody.”

“I didn’t expect anything like that, of all the years I’ve been here,” said Skinner, a 10-year employee.

No one was injured.

Twenty years after the death of former Agawam schoolteacher Lisa Zieger, police are still looking for her killer.

Michael and Michell-Temple Orr, of East Longmeadow, are seen in these Greenwich Police Department booking photos. Click on the lnk, above right, for a report from Greenwich Time in which Michael Orr admits he used a master key to steal from tenants in an apartment complex in Connecticut.

• Michael Orr, of East Longmeadow, admits stealing from tenants in Stamford, Conn. [GreenwichTime.com]


• Massachusetts spending $22 million to replace highway signs (video) [MyFoxBoston.com]


• Agawam police continue to search for Lisa Ziegert 20 years later (video) [cbs3springfield.com]


• Relatives of Krista Dittmeyer, whose body was found in New Hampshire pond, shocked by drug allegations [BostonHerald.com]


• Worcester area officials training dogs to sniff out Asian longhorned beetles [Telegram.com]


• Northampton holds groundbreaking ceremony for $17 million police station (photo gallery) [Gazettnet.com]


• Construction workers honored for saving life of Anthony Holden at former Springfield Technical High School demolition site [WGGB.com]


• Manslaughter trial begins for brother of former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (video) [NECN.com]


• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


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Reports on the police scanner said the accident involved a dump truck and a motorcycle.

MONSON – Monson police are at the scene of a motorycle accident on Route 20 in the area of Labonte’s Towing at 241 Wilbraham St.

Reports on the police scanner said the accident involved a dump truck and a motorcycle. More details will be published as they become available.

Officials could not verify whether bin Laden, himself, had been watching the videos.

"Well, well, well… what have we here? Seems U.S. officials have found many things while searching Osama bin Laden's million-dollar Abbottabad hideout. And what have they found most recently? Yep. Porn."

This, at least, is what Time Magazine reported Friday.

File photo / Associated PressIn this undated image taken from video provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, a man who the American government says is Osama bin Laden watches television in a video released on May 7. The videos show bin Laden watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist videos. Could he have used the TV for something else?

Quoting Reuter's news service, Time says that the pornography recovered in bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded videos and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity.

According to National Public Radio, officials do not know bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials.

USA Today echos these reports with the following tidbit:

"The news agency quotes unidentified current and former U.S. officials as saying it is unclear where in the sprawling compound the material was found nor is it clear who had been viewing it."

Recently released home videos show bin Laden viewing pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating, at least, that he did have equipment capable of playing videos.

"Materials carted away from the compound by the U.S. commandos included digital thumb drives, which U.S. officials believe may have been a principal means by which couriers carried electronic messages to and from the late al Qaeda leader," Reuters reported.

Bin Laden, the purported mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was killed by Navy SEALs who raided his compound in Pakistan earlier this month.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Ellen M. Donoghue

Ellen (Maybury) Donoghue, 83, formerly of East Longmeadow, passed away on Sunday. She was a longtime resident of East Longmeadow, lived briefly in Holyoke at Providence Place and moved to Virginia in November 2009. Born in Springfield, she was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and received her masters of education at AIC. Donoghue was an elementary school teacher in the Longmeadow School System for 39 years before retiring in 1987. She was a parishioner of St. Michael's Catholic Church in East Longmeadow and a member of the St. Michael's Women's Club. She was treasurer of Hampden East Chapter of the Retired Educators Association of Massachusetts, a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and a volunteer in the Longmeadow School System.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Bart, Eleanor L. "Sheehan"




• 
  Berman, Louis
  



• 
  Chambers, Robert G. "Bob"
  




• Dean, Muriel L. (Doherty)
  




• 
  Donoghue, Ellen M. (Maybury)
  



• 
  Grassetti, Shirley M. (Green)




• 
  Ingram, Elvera (Fusco)
  



• 
  Knightly, Frances C. (Cunningham)
  




• McGarry, Francis
  




• 
  Melfa, Michael A.
  



• 
  Murray, Alice Teresa




• 
  Perusse, Barbara A. (Beiser)