The last time the town received a block grant was three years ago.

MONSON — Once again, the town did not receive a federal Community Development Block Grant, even though the $800,000 in funds that were requested would have funded housing restoration projects in the area hit by last year's tornado.

Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers announced at a recent meeting that the town missed out on the funding, and that even being struck by a tornado didn't boost the town's chances.

Edward Harrison

Selectman Edward S. Harrison called the news "disappointing," but said he thinks part of the problem is that the funds are competitive, the pool of money is shrinking and the town is considered more affluent than it was 10 to 15 years ago when it had an easier time obtaining block grants.

"We've tried to combine our efforts with other communities and we still get turned down ... While disappointing, it's certainly not the end of the world for us," Harrison said.

Harrison said the town was fortunate to receive $500,000 recently announced by Gov. Deval L. Patrick for tornado-related improvement projects. Those projects range from repairing the tennis courts by the Town Hall to tree planting on public property.

When the application for the block grant was announced back in November, a representative from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission explained that half the money would be used as a grant, specifically for residential property owners directly affected by the tornado.

The goal was to help 32 properties, assisting homeowners who exhausted all other funding sources for aid, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The other half of the funding would have been used for housing rehabilitation and septic repairs for 12 homes, also in the targeted area.

The last time the town received a block grant was in 2009, and it marked the first time in six years. At that time, Monson received $513,150 in stimulus money for replacing water mains, improving drainage and rebuilding Park Avenue and area sidewalks.

Volunteers are running the camp, and all expenses are paid with the tuition boys pay.

RUSSELL — Boys in one cabin hammered red-hot metal into shape, another nearby group practiced CPR on a dummy and across the woods Evan Garber learned leather making – something he always wanted to try – and talked about plans to try sailing.

Boy Scout camp is back in business at Horace A. Moses Scout Reservation.

“There is so much to do here,” said Garber, 12, a member of Troop 138 of Chicopee. “I was heartbroken when Moses closed.”

Citing severe financial difficulties – the camp had amassed a debt of $90,000 at the same time the Western Massachusetts Council was struggling financially – organizers announced last year it would close the resident Boy Scout camps last summer. Other programs such as Cub Scout day camp continued.

The announcement that the long-established program was closing sent a spasm of regret and anger through leaders. After the dust settled, adults mobilized and began raising money and figuring out ways to restore the camps.

This year the camp is running for two weeks, instead of its traditional five. It started July 23 and will end Aug. 5.

But the biggest change is the only paid employees are the kitchen staff. The rest, from the director and nurses to the instructors and teenage counselors, are volunteers.

Each boy pays $295 for a week. The money funds the kitchen salaries, insurance, supplies and other costs.

There are 17 volunteers, the majority of whom are spending all 14 days at the camp. Some, like camp director Daniel Shea, are teachers, others are retirees and some are using vacation time.

“I thought finding the volunteers was going to be hard, but it was the easy part. The hard part is getting the scout troops back,” said Shea, of Westfield, a teacher at Gateway High School.

An average of 70 scouts are attending each week, which is less than half of what the camp can handle. Many others are waiting to see how to changes are working, Shea said.

Those who have returned are happy. Ryan Leveillee, 15, of Springfield, is serving as the leader for his Troop 90, of Longmeadow.

“I’ve always been here. It’s my home,” he said, adding he can’t remember if it is his fourth or fifth year at Moses.

Leveillee’s troop had planned a trip to South Dakota in lieu of camping last summer but he couldn’t go. With Moses closed it gave him few other options and he never went to camp last year.

“One of our concerns is over 50 percent of the scouts (from Western Massachusetts) did not camp at all last year,” Shea said, explaining troops can attend any camp in the country.

Leveillee said even the one-year break has changed camp. He said he misses some of the Moses traditions, but applauds additions such as mountain biking and is anxious to see construction completed on the new climbing wall, which will be at least 40 feet high.

“Even just taking a year off, it is like starting a new camp,” Shea said.

Troop 90, of Longmeadow, is one of the biggest supporters of reopening. With 19 scouts, they brought the largest group for the first week and spent hours at the reservation helping to prepare the camp to open.

“The camp is in better shape than it has been in a while and the mindset now is the right one,” said Andres Gottzmann, the scout master for Troop 90.

Many troops have volunteered hours to help the caretaker, Jason Boyer, who technically works 20 hours a week at the reservation but puts in a lot more time. Hiking paths are improved and even the potholes have filled making it easier for troops to move in gear, Gottzmann said.

One of the complaints some scouts had was the camp never upgraded, so this year volunteers are offering new activities and new merit badge courses. For example the blacksmith shop expanded is offering merit badge in metal work for the first time in years, Shea said.

The camp has kept its popular programs. One of its highlights is the waterfront where scouts can earn as many as six merit badges in subjects such as small boat sailing and can become certified lifeguards. Volunteers are trying to add kayaking to a merit badge course, Shea said.

One key to improving the camp is ensuring consistency. Paid or not, Shea said he promised to serve as director for five years and others have pledged to remain.

Ronald Zissell, of South Hadley, a retired astronomer, has been involved with the camp since he was a Cub Scout in the 1950s and said he wants to pass the scouting opportunities he had to the next generation. He teaches six merit badge courses including leather making, wood carving and astronomy.

“I’m retired. The pension still comes,” he said. “If you have a chance, you should pay the young staff.”

There are young staff who gave up summer jobs to be at the camp. Jon Reardon, 17, of Southwick, is an Eagle Scout and is volunteering for the two weeks.

“I wanted to bring the camp back. I grew up here,” he said.

Byron Izyk, a Springfield High School of Commerce teacher, who is teaching in the blacksmith shop, echoed that.

He has been offered paid positions at other camps, but Izyk said he believes Moses is too valuable to let die.

“Troops come here on weekends and camp or just hike. If we close there won’t be a place nearby where they can do that,” Izyk said.

Ten teams will compete in a double elimination benefit softball tournament Aug. 5.

File photo | Associated Press

HADLEY – Last year, Kelly Martula and friends came together to support her brother’s family with a softball tournament and raffle.

Her niece – Claire O’Donnell, then 2 years old – had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissue.

That tournament was so successful that Martula and friends are doing it again, this time to benefit other Hadley families. They are planning on making this an annual event and have created Softball for Small Fries. “We want to reach out to families to pay it forward,” Martula said.

Last year, they raised $15,000 and drew 500 throughout the day to the Young Men’s Club.

The tournament will be Sunday this year also at the Young Men’s Club on East Street and will benefit two children and their families.

Samuel Pollard, who has ataxia telangictasia, a rare, genetic disorder, and Nora Weber, who has a rare congenital bone condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, were selected, she said. Samuel is 7 and Nora is 14.

“We’re trying to help give them a little peace of mind, to assist the two families in any way we can,” Martula said.

Samuel’s family needs help to make their home accessible.

This year, they are having a double elimination tournament instead of a single elimination one, with 10 teams instead of 12.

Martula said they have 10 teams already and there’s a waiting list.

They want people to come out to watch and eat. Admission is free to the tournament, which begins at 9 a.m., but people can donate, and buy food and raffle tickets to support the cause. Businesses can also donate.

As for her niece, Martula reported “she is still undergoing treatments, tests and scans to determine the level of cancer left in her system. She turned 3 on June 24,” she wrote in an email. “It was a great day.”

Anyone wishing to donate can contact Martula at kod7971@gmail.com.

Warren will be addressing the crowd immediately before former President Bill Clinton officially nominates Barack Obama for a second presidential term.

President Barack Obama waves to supporters as he hugs Massachusetts senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren before addressing supporters during a June campaign fundraiser at Symphony Hall in Boston. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

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• Andrea Nuciforo Jr. slams opponent U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in MassLive chat
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Despite her national popularity among Democrats and an online petition with 1,247 signatures calling for her to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Elizabeth Warren will not be headlining the gathering in Charlotte, N.C.

Instead, the Harvard Law professor will speak ahead of former President Bill Clinton who will officially nominate President Barack Obama for a second term in office on Sept. 5 at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

“Elizabeth Warren has championed the protection of the middle class throughout her life,” said 2012 Democratic National Convention Chair Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement. “At President Obama’s side, she helped level the playing field for all Americans and worked to make sure that everyone from Wall Street to Main Street plays by the same set of rules. Like President Obama, Elizabeth is a leader committed to rebuilding the economy from the middle class out, instead of focusing on the top down economics of the past fueled by outsourcing good jobs, risky financial deals and budget-busting tax cuts for only the wealthiest few.”

Convention addresses can sometimes take a rising political star to the next level, as was the case when Obama, then a state senator from Illinois, delivered a knockout speech during the 2004 convention.

In a press release, Warren called sharing the stage with Clinton an honor, and said she is eager to talk about "what is happening to America's families.

“I grew up in a hardworking family, in an America that was investing in kids like me. President Obama is committed to making sure that America has a level playing field for all our families and to ensuring that every kid has the opportunity to make it," Warren said. "When I worked with the President to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I saw first-hand his commitment to building a future for our children and our grandchildren. Mitt Romney and the Republicans want to go back to the same policies that broke this economy. It is time to move forward.”

Warren, who is in a heated battle against Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown over the Senate seat previously held by the late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, has shown she can appeal to Democrats nationwide, as detailed by her interstate fundraising prowess.

Since last July, Warren has raised $24.33 million, compared to the $12.74 million Brown has raised, although he started the political season with $6 million left over from his 2010 special election campaign.

Warren has also taken Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to task in the past, including at a June Obama fundraiser in Boston where she discussed his references to corporate personhood.

“No Mitt, corporations are not people,” Warren said. “People have hearts, they have kids, they have jobs. They get sick, they love and they cry and they dance. They live and they die. Learn the difference.”

Following the announcement that Warren would be speaking following Clinton, Colin Reed, a Brown campaign spokesman, said that being passed over for the keynote speech was proof that Warren's "anti-free enterprise rhetoric is so far out of the mainstream, even within her own political party, that she got downgraded from her speaking role at the Democratic Convention."

At the convention, which will take place from Sept. 3-6, delegates from across the country will also work to approve the party's official platform heading into the November presidential election.

And according to a report by the pro-LGBT Washington Blade, same-sex marriage will be, for the first time, included in the party's platform at the convention.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., told the news organization that over the weekend in Minnesota, the platform drafting committee agreed it was time to make it official.

“I was part of a unanimous decision to include it,” Frank told the Blade. “There was a unanimous decision in the drafting committee to include it in the platform, which I supported, but everybody was for it.”

The news organization also reported that language condemning the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, and words supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, will be a part of the platform.

The Republican newspaper and MassLive.com will be reporting from the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. and the Democratic national Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal will take questions from the MassLive.com readers on Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 2 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - Remembering and Renewing: a ceremony to mark the one year anniversary of the tornado that hit Western Massachusetts, held at the Old First Church in Court Square. Here, Congressman Richard E. Neal speaks during the service. (Republican staff photo by Don Treeger)

As Democratic U.S. Rep. Richard Neal aims to defeat two in-party challengers in the race to represent the newly drawn 1st Congressional District in Massachusetts, he will take to the Internet on Wednesday to engage the voters in a live chat on MassLive.com.

Neal, who has been under attack by challengers Andrea Nuciforo Jr. and Bill Shein, will answer reader-submitted questions from his Washington office for about an hour starting at 2 p.m.

A Massachusetts native, Neal became the congressman of the present 2nd Congressional District following a series of other positions in the political world. In the 1970s early in his political career, Neal served as co-chair of Democrat George McGovern's presidential bid and later became an assistant to Springfield Mayor William Sullivan, before going on to become mayor himself in 1983.

After several successful re-election campaigns, he went on to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Edward Boland in representing the district in Washington.

Fast forward to 2012, on the heels of redistricting which carved up the voting bloc Neal has represented for years, he and his opponents are busy on the campaign trail making appeals as each Democrat hopes to emerge from the Sept. 6 primary as the winner and presumptive congressman of the new district.

There are no Republican challengers in the contest.

Nuciforo, like Shein, is hoping to capitalize on the anti-Washington insider sentiment lingering in the country right now while Neal has drawn upon his experience and fundraising prowess to push forward.

Neal has raised a total of $1.16 million in the current election cycle while Nuciforo and Shein have take in about $208,000 and $18,000 respectively, although the latter candidates boast that their donations have come from individuals, while much of Neal's war chest has come from political action committees and businesses.

Recently on the campaign trail, Neal has pushed his Build America Bonds program which allows state and local governments borrow money at a lower cost than in the typical bond market.

"The surest way to jumpstart our economy is through investment in our infrastructure. While putting Americans back to work immediately will alleviate much of the economic downturn, we have an opportunity to make long term investments in our future by updating our schools, roads, bridges, and hospitals," Neal said in a statement. "Western Massachusetts is prime real estate for expansion and I will keep advocating for our region."

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.

The accident that took the life of Ashley Ballester very nearly also took the life of her daughter, Lailani, who is not quite 2 years old.

View full sizeThe Republican | Patrick JohnsonGloria Ballester of Springfield shows a photo on her cellphone of her and her daughter Ashley, left. Ashley was killed Friday night after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Sumner Avenue,

SPRINGFIELD - Ashley Ballester always enjoyed caring for people and that is why she wanted to be a nurse.

Ballester, 19, was in the process of filling out the paperwork needed to start her first semester at American International College in the fall where she was accepted into the nursing program.

She’ll never get the chance; Ballester was killed Friday night when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Sumner Avenue near Lester Street.

The accident also nearly took the life of her not-quite 2-year-old daughter Lailani, who was tossed from her baby carriage in the collision and landed on the side of the road.

Gloria Ballester, the mother of Ashley and grandmother of Lailani, said she does not have the words to describe what it is like to lose a daughter and almost a granddaughter at the same moment.

The entire family is devastated, she said. “I feel...I can’t even describe what I am feeling,” she said.

Since Saturday morning, their lives have revolved around making funeral arraignments, receiving condolences from friends and visiting Lailani in the hospital.

Lailani remains in the pediatric intensive care unit at Baystate Medical Center, but Gloria Ballester said she is showing signs of improvement. She suffered some broken ribs, a collapsed lung and an abrasion to her liver. She also needed 25 staples to close a gash in her head, she said.

On Tuesday morning, Gloria Ballester intends to go to district court for the arraignment of Michael Wingfield, the man accused of driving the car that stuck Ashley and Lailani and then fleeing the scene.

Wingfield, 35, of 30 Longfellow Terrace and 70 Harrison Ave., is charged with motor vehicle homicide, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident that results in death, using a motor vehicle without authority and driving a motor vehicle with a revoked license.

The Republican | Patrick JohnsonA photo of Ashley Ballester and her daughter Lailani that can be seen on a shrine set up at Sumner Avenue and Lester Street. Ashley Ballester was killed and Lailani critically injured when struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Gloria Ballester said she hopes he is punished by the courts.

“Most definitely,” she said.

“He deserves to pay for it,” she said. “It was an accident, but it stopped being an accident as soon as he left.”

Gloria Ballester said she learned her daughter had been killed while she herself was at Baystate Medical Center being treated for an undisclosed condition.

She said she had been at the hospital from 11 a.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday. At around 1 a.m., hospital staff came in to tell her about the accident. 

Ashley, she said, was a sweet person, always pleasant and friendly.

“She was a great mother and she made sure her first priority was her child,” Gloria said. “She was a great daughter.”

Ashley spent the last few hours before her death at the Holyoke Mall in Ingleside shopping for presents for Lailani’s upcoming 2nd birthday party.

Going to and from the mall meant taking the bus, and shortly after 8 p.m. the bus let Ashley and Lailani off at the Bryant Street bus stop, diagonally across Sumner from her family’s home on Lester Street, Gloria Ballester said.

The stop is at the almost exact midpoint between the two nearest crosswalks on Sumner Avenue, at the “X” to the west and White Street to the east.

Both crosswalks are at intersections where there are traffic signals. Regardless of which way she chose, it would mean walking up the street, crossing and then reversing direction on the other side. Going to either crosswalk meant adding another half-mile of walking onto what was probably already a pretty tiring afternoon.

Or she could just cut across the four lanes of Sumner to Lester Street, a distance of about 200 feet, and be home. She opted to cross Sumner and paid for it with her life, and very nearly with the life of her daughter.

View full sizeThe Republican | Patrick JohnsonA car on Sumner Avenue drives past a street shrine dedicated to Ashley Ballester, who was killed when struck by a hit-and-run driver Friday. Sumner is posted at 35 mph, but residents say traffic regularly drives faster than that.

Residents of the neighborhood said they see people crossing Sumner just as Ashley did every day at all hours.

In the span of a few moments a reporter with The Republican witnessed two people crossing Sumner, dodging between cars coming in both directions.

The absence of crosswalks and the overabundance of speeding traffic at all hours makes for a dangerous combination.

“They won’t stop,” said one man who did not wish to give his name. “If I’m out on my bike and a car’s coming, they won’t stop. They’re not going to stop at all.”

Gloria Ballester said Sumner Avenue has too few crosswalks, and that encourages people to jaywalk - like her daughter did.

The combination of few crosswalks, speeding cars and other problems, such as non-working street lights, are only going to lead to more tragedies along Sumner Avenue, she said.

“I would like to see the city of Springfield do something to get more crosswalks, fix the missing lights and do something about the speeders,” she said. “People speed down the street like it's a race track.”

Materials mined from the quarry helped build roads.

The Republican file photo | John SuchockiThis aerial photograph, taken in 2002, shows Mount Tom quarry at bottom right, adjacent to former ski area.

HOLYOKE – The quarry at Mount Tom is history – almost.

No work currently is planned at the quarry and quarrying there must cease on Aug. 31 under a 2002 agreement, a lawyer representing the quarry operator and a city councilor said Monday.

As of Sept. 1, the state gets an option to buy the 16.14 acres that contain the quarry – a purchase option that is “irrevocable,” according to the agreement.

But regardless of whether the current owner maintains ownership or the state buys the property, the agreement is clear that quarrying stops as of Aug. 31, said Frank P. Fitzgerald, who represents quarry operator Mount Tom Rock LLC, of Palmer, and Ward 7 Councilor Gordon P. Alexander.

A permit application to resume quarrying was filed this month, but such an application is filed yearly as a formality to ensure approvals were obtained if quarrying were to continue, Fitzgerald said.

But, he said, “They’re not planning anything up there. ... It’s just something they file every year.”

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Basalt mined from the quarry was reduced to traprock, which was used in road building. The operation has been controversial since the early 1990’s among those who say it damages the environment and causes other disruptions because of repeated trips of rock-hauling trucks.

Others have said owner Mt. Tom Companies Inc., formerly known as Mt. Tom Ski Area Inc., had the right to use their property under whatever lawful means they chose.

Building Commissioner Damian J. Cote said the application for a permit to resume quarrying was filed July 16.

The filing raised questions among people here who have kept an eye on the quarry site. One question was about timing, given that the permitting process alone would take weeks and the 2002 agreement specified the Sept. 1 deadline for the state to get the option to buy the property.

Alexander said, to his knowledge, the last quarrying occurred in October.

In summer 2002, the owners of the defunct ski area sold 381 acres of mountainside property for $3 million to a coalition of state, federal and non-profit agencies.

The agreement left the corporation owning a 2.16-acre ridge-top parcel for telecommunication towers, and 16.1 acres near the former ski lodge that includes the quarry.

In the 2002 agreement, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation paid $1.3 million for 144.7 acres of land on the mountain.

Mount Tom Rock is a domestic limited liability company. Its managers are David J. Callahan, of Palmer, and Jerome J. Gagliarducci, of Springfield, according to online documents filed with the office of state Secretary of State William F. Galvin.

Mt. Tom Companies is a domestic profit corporation. Its president is Mary Rose O’Connell, of Holyoke, and its treasurer is Joseph O’Donnell, of Belmont, according to online documents filed with the secretary of state.

Mt. Tom Option

The funeral for the veteran police officer killed in the line of duty will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Watch video

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Updates a story posted Monday at 4:14 p.m.

WESTFIELD – Patrolman Jose Torres, killed at a construction site accident last week, was remembered Monday by many as a family man, cop’s cop and an avid Red Sox fan.

Hundreds of friends and well-wishers stood for as long as two-hours outside Firtion Adams Funeral Home waiting to pay their last respects to the 27-year police veteran. Police cruiser #21 was parked outside the home, lights running and draped in black bunting, representing his duty vehicle.

More than 2,500 well wishers attended the wake with an estimated 300 to 400 still standing in line outside the funeral home at 7:30 p.m.

Police and other public safety officers from as far away as Boston and East Lyme, Conn. joined the Torres family to pay their last respects first. Many more are expected for funeral services, with full police honors, on Tuesday. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. at Westfield State University followed by burial in Pine Hill Cemetery.

“Not to long,” said Elaine M. Chrzanowski about the wait. “I’ve know Jose since we were kids. He was an awesome individual. Everybody loved him,” she said.

William R. Wagner said he coached youth football with Torres. “He was just a great role model. People loved him.”

Patrick T. Kennedy, music director at Westfield High School, said “this is nothing especially for someone like him. He was well liked. What a tragic loss.”

Torres died July 26 after being struck by a dump truck at a water line replacement project on Pontoosic Road where he was assigned traffic control duty. The accident remains under investigation by state and local police.

Many people Monday spoke of Torres’ love of family and people in general. Some spoke of how they met the officer with many saying it was the result of an incident they or a family member had been involved in.

“He was very understanding and would do anything for anyone,” said Lisa Burns.

Michael Burns said he grew up with Torres and his brothers Danny and Junior who became firefighters.

“He was the guy you wanted at an incident,” Michael Burns said. “I just saw him last week. Many people say Jose was the life of the party. But, he was the life of life,” said Burns.

Mayor Daniel M. Knapik last week called Torres an “ambassador for the Police Department.” Monday the mayor said “There are not many in Westfield who did not know Jose.”

There were stories of Torres purchasing burgers and other food for homeless and he and his friends going out Christmas Caroling during the holidays.

“He was such a sweet guy,” said Patricia Stephens. “He was such a good guy, just a sweet man,” she said.

Several mentioned Torres’ love for the Red Sox and his casket was a Red Sox casket and decorated with Red Sox memorabilia including a Red Sox blanket. He had taken his sons Jay and Christopher to Fenway Park earlier this month to witness a game.

Members of Westfield Police Explorer Club passed out bottled water to mourners Monday afternoon and will be available during Tuesday’s funeral services to help park vehicles.

“This is what we do. We help in any way we can here, at parades, fireworks and any community activity,” said Caitlin Julios, 16, a junior at Westfield High School.

Tuesday’s funeral procession will leave from Firtion Adams Funeral Services at 76 Broad St. at 10 a.m. and proceed up Broad Street to Elm Street, stopping at Fire Department Headquarters. It will then proceed down Elm Street to Franklin Street to Washington Street and stop at the Police Department Headquarters. From there will travel to Court Street, stopping in front of City Hall before proceeding to Western Avenue and Westfield State University.

Following funeral services, the procession will return down western Avenue to Pine Hill Cemetery.

During Monday’s wake, a make-shift stand had been set up at Little River Plaza at the intersection of East Main Street and Little River Road to sell blue ribbons and blue light bulbs, a project started by Marybeth Barnachez, wife of Police Officer John P. Barnachez.

Proceeds from the sale, which started Sunday, will benefit the Torres family.

Councilor John A. Lysak said a lawyer for the state Department of Revenue told him that the move amounted to a legal sidestepping of Proposition 2½.

File photos | The RepublicanThree closed branches of the Springfield City Library, clockwise from top –€“ Liberty Street, Pine Point and East Forest Park – will reopen in September after the City Council passed a $15 per year increase in the municipal trash fee.

SPRINGFIELD — In a decision cheered by library supporters, the City Council approved a $15 trash fee increase Monday, part of which will be used to reopen three library branches in the fall.

The council voted 7-4 to boost the trash fee from $75 to $90, and then approved using $200,000 of the new revenue to reopen the Liberty Street, Pine Point and East Forest Park branches as early as Sept. 24.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno initially proposed a $10 trash fee increase as part of a budget that forced the closing of the thee branch libraries on July 2. But the mayor later agreed to a plan floated by City Councilor Timothy C. Allen to boost the fee by $5, and earmark the extra money to reopen the libraries. A $25 senior citizens discount will remain in effect.

“It’s wonderful,” said Molly E. Fogarty, the city’s library director, after the councilors approved the $200,000 transfer.

The three branches could open as early as Sept. 24, according to Fogarty, who said they will be open part-time, the same schedule as the city’s six other branches.

Timothy Allen

While praising Allen intentions and expressing support for city libraries, several councilors voiced reservations about the library rescue plan.

Councilor John A. Lysak said a lawyer for the state Department of Revenue told him that the move amounted to a legal sidestepping of Proposition 2½.

City Councilor Timothy J. Rooke also pointed out that the $200,000 could be used to restore public safety cuts. “If I have a fire at my home, I don’t want people throwing books at it,” he said.

Allen acknowledged that $200,000 transfer was a stopgap measure, and would only spare the three branches for one more year. He said the council needs to launch a broader review of how the library and other city services will be funded, and the role the council will play the city’s finances.

“I don’t like the ($200,000 transfer) situation either; it’s the only way ... to keep them open,” he added.

Councilor Matthew Lovell said the council's main goal should be to support the town manager in his goals. "If he succeeds, then the town succeeds," Lovell said.

PALMER — How to bring more businesses into town, tap unused recreation land and improve sidewalks were some of issues town councilors discussed at their meeting Monday night.

District 4 Town Councilor Donald Blais Jr. said he wants to see more businesses, as he said he has noticed new businesses moving into other towns, and not Palmer. Blais said he would also like to see sidewalks improved.

"There are a lot of things we could do, but haven't been able to do because we've been too caught up in the casino," Blais said.

Mohegan Sun of Connecticut is one of two announced companies interested in the lone Western Massachusetts casino license. Mohegan wants to build a resort casino off Thorndike Street (Route 32). The other company is Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas, which bought land in Springfield for a resort casino.

Council Vice President Barbara A. Barry said small businesses have moved into town, and said she thought it was wrong for the council to give the impression that nothing good is happening in town of Palmer.

Blais also criticized the appearance of the former Three Rivers Grammar School, and questioned who would want to move into Three Rivers after seeing it.

Barry noted that the Board of Health has taken the school owners to court to get them to fix it up.

"The town of Palmer is a good town," Barry said. "I think we have made a lot of progress in the past year."

Council President Philip J. Hebert asked about utilizing the beach at Forest Lake, and Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard said he would research its ownership.

Six years ago, then-town manager Richard L. Fitzgerald had a plan to redevelop Forest Lake, which once was a destination with a merry-go-round and roller skating rink. Its purchase would have been funded by the Community Preservation Act surcharge, something voters shot down.

At-large Councilor Jason Polonsky suggested a "restaurant week" to promote the good food in Palmer. Blanchard said communities that feature restaurant weeks generally have a tourist association or chamber of commerce organizing them.

Councilor Matthew J. Lovell said the council's main goal should be to support the town manager in his goals.

"If he succeeds, then the town succeeds," Lovell said.

Councilors also brought up other issues of concern, including Monson Developmental Center, which has phased out most operations, but once employed numerous Palmer residents; civil service, as the police chief had discussed possibly withdrawing from the system; the economic development position, which the charter requires but was not funded due to budgetary constraints; and the Palmer Redevelopment Authority, which has not met regularly in some time.

Hebert said he felt anything casino-related should go to the town manager.

"I don't feel I'm the point man for the casino," Hebert said.

The past council president, Paul E. Burns, was a vocal casino advocate.

The amusement park wants to build a 385-foot-tall swing set ride to be called the "Star Flyer."

File photo | The Republican

AGAWAM – The Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously Monday to grant the special permit Six Flags New England needs to build the highest swing-set ride in the world at its amusement park on Main Street.

The amusement park wants to build a 385-foot-tall swing set ride to be called the “Star Flyer.” It would replace the park’s “Sky Coaster” ride.

And just to ensure that the attraction will still be the highest swing set ride in the world should a competitor swing into action, board member Gary E. Suffriti attached the condition that Six Flags can built up to 410 feet high without coming back before the board.

Following the 3-0 vote, John Winkler, president of Six Flags New England, declined to predict by when the park will get the new attraction up and running.

“We have to work with the vendor on their schedule,” Winkler said.

A special permit is needed for the project because it involves building a structure 200 feet or higher.

The ride will consist of two sets of a dozen swings each mounted on arms that will turn around as the swings are raised upward.

Mary Roncalli-Langone of 62 Mark Drive again expressed concern that the new ride might increase noise levels and asked for noise mitigation measures. She has said she is concerned about the screams made by riders and questioned why a noise study by the park has not been readily accessible.

Officials told her a noise study done about seven years ago should still be on file somewhere in the Planning Department Office.

“I don’t think it is going to be a noise generator,” Suffriti said. “I don’t think it is going to be like a roller coaster.”

He went on to say that viewing a similar ride on You Tube alleviated any concerns he had about noise. “I think you guys have been pretty good neighbors,” Suffriti said.

“I’m satisfied with all the information they gave us,” board chairwoman Doreen A. Prouty said. “It, hopefully, is not going to be a noisy ride.”

In answer to a question by board member James C. Marmo, a park official said riders can be brought down from the top of the attraction manually in case of a power outage.

“I have no problems with it,” Marmo said of the proposed ride.

People needed Tuesday night to plan for the first town-wide gleaning effort.

File photo | Associated Press

AMHERST – A group of people interested in growing more food in town is looking for some volunteers to help plan and implement a community-wide gleaning event this harvest to help feed the hungry here.

On Tuesday, members will be holding a planning meeting at 7 p.m. in the Bangs Community Center.

This gleaning – which is a gathering of crops that would be left in the field – is part of a larger resident-led initiative to grow more local food, said Stephanie Ciccarello, the town’s sustainability coordinator.

The town is offering help by providing meeting space “and getting information out there to get people more connected with the food they eat.”

This all started with a meeting that involved Ciccarello, W. David Ziomek, director of conservation and development, and John Gerber, a University of Massachusetts professor involved in a variety of local food endeavors.

The gleaning initiative is called Feed our Neighbors and the plan is to stage a gleaning at the end of the harvest at a few town farms to collect what’s not harvested by farmers. Then the food would be given to the Survival Center and other groups and families, she said.

“The reality is there are people that need food. This is a way to have the community get it out to them,” Ciccarello said.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010, more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated, more than any other material category but paper.

The gleaning, though, “It’s a part of something bigger.” Called Growing Food in Community, the group is “looking beyond the community garden (model) to grow more food in town,” Ciccarello said.

She said there are just two community gardens and they have accessibility and water issues.

The group wants to create a website where they can pair people looking to farm or garden with people who might have land or need help farming or gardening. They would be able to use the website to find a match. The helper would be able to keep some of what is grown and the farmer would be able to cut down on waste.

For more information, contact Ciccarello at (413) 259-3149 or by email at ciccarellos@amherstma.gov.

Explaining the delay, town officials say they have been unable to obtain claims information from Massachusetts officials – making it impossible to calculate the costs and benefits of any potential changes.

File photo | The Republican

WARE – Saying they need more information, selectmen at last week’s contentious meeting again delayed making a decision whether to increase the amount retired public school teachers contribute to their health insurance coverage.

More than 50 of those that would be affected attended. A new meeting date has not been set.

Explaining the delay, town officials say they have been unable to obtain claims information from the state – making it impossible to calculate the costs and benefits of any potential changes.

There are 71 retired teachers. Seven pay 10 percent of their insurance premium while the town picks up the remaining 90 percent; 64 retirees pay 15 percent for insurance with the town paying the balance. Retired town employees pay 50 percent.

According to the selectmen’s public meeting notice, the hearing was convened to “discuss removal of the retired teachers from the State Insurance Commission and movement to the Town’s insurance coverage.”

Savings of $187,000 per year would accrue due to the change, the town manger said.

A spokesman for the retired teachers say the retired town employees cost Ware nearly $1 million more than the retired teachers.

“Please show us how increasing the cost of health insurance (for retired teachers) makes the situation more equitable,” retired high school principal Peter Thamel told selectmen. “It makes it even more inequitable.”

The importance of the state claims data – which has not been provided – is discussed in a report by Allison Genetelli, the consultant Ware hired to review the insurance issue.

According to her report, “moving Ware into HCIT (Hampshire County Insurance Trust)” – an avenue that could provide “lower premiums and improved benefits for” retired and active employees – cannot happen without the state claims data.

That is because the retired Ware teachers “are not allowed to enter HCIT without a minimum of 1-2 years of claims data for review,” Genetelli wrote.

She also noted in her report that the “current practice” of the state “is not to give claims data to municipalities.”

This Catch-22 impasse has bewildered selectmen and the public attending the hearings that began in June.

The state “Group Insurance Commission is saying the data is not available; they are looking into making it available,” Ware Town Manager Stuart Beckley said in an interview. “It is important (information), combined with the Hampshire Council discussions, because they will not allow them (Ware retirees) in, and we don’t know what the price is.”

The Hampshire Council of Governments was formed in 1998 when county residents approved making it the successor to the defunct Hampshire County government structure. The council administers the HCIT, which is available to “all municipalities, schools, nonprofits, businesses and individuals in Western MA,” its website states.

Proponents of proposed projects in Agawam, Holyoke, Westfield and elsewhere throughout Western Massachusetts say the initiatives have moved slowly because of the Natural Heritage review process.

Photo submitted by Wiliam Pepin | RICHMOND – Property formerly owned by Gov. Deval L. Patrick in the town of Richmond, shown in this aerial photo, was subject to Natural Heritage review. When the governor bought the property for $775,000 in June 2005, the land had not yet been mapped as priority habitat. That designation came in October 2006, with Patrick selling the property for $1 million in July 2007. The priority habitat designation was removed from the land on Oct. 1, 2008.

Massachusetts has designated roughly 400,000 acres as habitat for plants and animals that are endangered, threatened or of special concern. That makes it relatively easy to get caught in the conservation net used by the state's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program to establish priority habitat for at-risk species.

Properties owned by public schools, airports, utility companies and even the governor of Massachusetts have been mapped as priority habitat, a designation with potential development restrictions for landowners.

Officials at the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, which oversees Natural Heritage, say the priority habitat conservation model is a valuable tool for screening projects that could harm imperiled plants and animals. But for anyone looking to develop land within priority habitat — a designation covering about 8 percent of the commonwealth's 5 million acres — the involvement of Natural Heritage can potentially slow, restrict or derail projects.

Natural Heritage has regulatory authority to uphold provisions of the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act, or MESA. But critics claim the species protection program is too restrictive and fails to provide due process, appellate and compensation rights to landowners. With lawmakers now considering measures that would restore some of those rights, state environmental officials point out that only a minority of projects are impacted by Natural Heritage.

In recent years, more than 77 percent of projects proposed within priority habitat were able to proceed as originally planned, according to conservation and environmental officials. Only around 3 percent of projects required MESA permits, while the remainder required conditions or mitigation measures to protect at-risk species before they advanced.

Just dealing with Natural Heritage can be a perplexing proposition, according to critics of the state conservation program, who claim guidelines are fuzzy and communication from program officials even fuzzier.

Holyoke Community College officials, who are reluctant to criticize Natural Heritage directly, describe an experience that's akin to navigating a long and winding road. After nearly a decade of struggling to build a $2.3 million access road linking HCC's ring road to Route 202, the school is in the final stages of receiving Natural Heritage permission to proceed with the project.

The presence of at-risk species on the land where the access road would be built put the brakes on the project. Because the road would cut through priority habitat for a state-listed salamander species, project proponents have worked closely with Natural Heritage over the years to make sure construction doesn't harm the amphibians or other species on the land.

Changes to the Natural Heritage review and permitting process, which can be confusing and cumbersome, would be welcomed, according to HCC officials. "Any improvement that streamlines the permitting process and improves the timetable for that process is a good thing," said Jeffrey P. Hayden, the school's vice president of business and community services.

Erica Broman, executive director of the Holyoke Community College Foundation, said the overall experience has been exasperating. "It has been an immensely frustrating and expensive process that, even 12 years later, is still not complete," she said. The nonprofit foundation supports programs and activities aimed at enhancing education and expanding opportunities for HCC students.

"I think most folks are fine with playing by the rules, just tell us what they are," said Broman, who has been heavily involved in the access road project. "I have never felt like we knew what those rules were."

HCC and foundation officials are "sympathetic and interested in doing what is right in terms of preserving our environment," Broman said. But as years passed, and the project review process ground on, "more and more of the property became priority habitat," she said.

"At no time did we get clear written communications saying, 'If you do this, we can permit the project' or 'We cannot permit the project,' " Broman said. "Knowing that in advance would have allowed for a much more efficient use of our very limited resources and, I suspect, a much shorter time frame in executing this roadway project."

Proponents of the access road say it would open up the campus to students from communities west and south of HCC, potentially increasing enrollment and spurring economic development in Holyoke. The project also would create about 110,000 square feet of business space along the access road and alleviate traffic congestion near campus entrances, according to proponents.

Holyoke isn't the only community to bump up against the Natural Heritage program. In Agawam, city officials have been working with program officials since 2004 to create an industrial park on a 24-acre site on Suffield Street, but a slow-moving population of protected turtles has resulted in a slow-moving project that has yet to come to fruition. Agawam officials are working with Natural Heritage to address the problem so the project can proceed.

In Westfield, a requirement to set aside land as turtle habitat is expected to create additional costs for a planned $400 million natural gas electrical power plant. Matthew A. Palmer, the project's manager, says complying with Natural Heritage is "quite a process." Turtles found on the land must be physically moved to another location, according to Palmer, who estimates overall construction costs could rise by as much as $200,000.

In Holyoke, Natural Heritage ordered Holyoke Gas & Electric to relocate timber rattlesnakes before building a nearly 200-foot communications tower in the Mount Tom range. The animals were moved to a Rhode Island zoo for breeding, but must be re-released on Mount Tom and electronically tracked for a year. Natural Heritage also required the utility company to conduct other measures to protect plant and animal species over the next few years.

Submitted photoA timber rattlesnake

In Montague, town officials have blamed Natural Heritage for scuttling plans for a new industrial park by requiring the landowner to give up 300 acres of property to build on a 100-acre parcel.

In the Berkshires, property formerly owned by Gov. Deval L. Patrick in the town of Richmond was subject to Natural Heritage review. When the governor bought the property for $775,000 in June 2005, the land had not yet been mapped as priority habitat. That designation came in October 2006, with Patrick selling the property for $1 million in July 2007. The priority habitat designation was removed from the land on Oct. 1, 2008.

"When he sold it, it was still mapped as priority habitat," Reginald Zimmerman, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said of the governor's former property, which is near Patrick's current Richmond home.

Zimmerman said the priority habitat designation was triggered by the presence of two species of rare pond weeds located in wetlands behind the governor's then-property.

Thomas W. French, the assistant director of MassWildlife who oversees the Natural Heritage program, said priority habitat mapping is done without any prior information about who owns the land being scrutinized for the presence of species that are endangered, threatened or of special concern. "We map without any knowledge of who owns anything," he said.

The designation is made based on the best best scientific information available, including Geographical Information System maps and a species' natural history, range and dispersal, among other factors. Maps can -- and do -- change as scientists learn more about a particular species, according to French. In the case of the Richmond property, "it was mapped coincidentally to the governor owning it," he said.

French said the two aquatic plant species -- one endangered, the other of special concern -- were located in wetlands protection habitat that precluded development. The priority habitat designation was in effect for a two-year period before the mapped area was reduced in size, he said, adding that such changes are fairly typical. "Mapping guidelines may change as we learn more," he said.

Despite criticism heaped on Natural Heritage by some lawmakers, municipal leaders and property owners who are unable to develop their land as they would like, state environmental officials say the priority habitat model is an important conservation tool for protecting endangered and threatened species.

Critics say Natural Heritage is too powerful and denies landowners their fundamental due process rights, but state Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. says his office has been responsive to calls for reform. Changes were made to broaden the public comment process for endangered species habitat mapping and to expand exemption rights for grandfathered projects and those initiated before habitat maps were amended.

Once land is designated as priority habitat, it's very difficult to remove from that protection category, according to critics. But Sullivan says various reforms, including the de-listing of species no longer deemed to be threatened or endangered, are expected to decrease the state's overall priority habitat map by about 25,000 acres.

Amtrak says it's launching its eTicket program, which started as a pilot on the Downeaster, to all trains within its national network.

The Associated PressPassengers board Amtrak's Downeaster train, headed for Portland, Maine from Boston, at the station in Exeter, N.H., Tuesday, July 10, 2012. The Downeaster has set another ridership record, completing its fiscal year with 528,292 passengers, the highest in its 10-year history. The Downeaster makes five daily trips between Portland and Boston. Ridership grew 4 percent in the fiscal 2012, and ticket revenue grew by 4.5 percent. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Amtrak says it's launching its eTicket program, which started as a pilot on the Downeaster, to all trains within its national network.

eTickets enable passengers to skip the line at the ticket window and go straight to the gate by printing their tickets anywhere or by using a smartphone to present the eTicket to the conductor.

Lines where eTickets can be used include the Northeast Corridor, state-supported routes and long-distance services.

Amtrak piloted eTickets on five routes including the Downeaster last year before Monday's national rollout and it quickly exceeded expectations. It resulted in shorter lines at ticket counters, less tickets sold onboard trains and fewer claims of lost tickets.

The Downeaster travels between Portland and Boston, with stops in New Hampshire.

Sweeney said his pinkie was sore but didn't know if he broke any bones. He was scheduled to have X-rays Tuesday.

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)Boston Red Sox's Ryan Sweeney, left, reacts after he struck out swinging during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park in Boston on Wednesday, June 6, 2012. Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, right, looks on. The Orioles won 2-1.

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox outfielder Ryan Sweeney hurt his left hand after punching a door and had to leave Boston's victory over Detroit in the ninth inning Monday night.

Manager Bobby Valentine said after the game that Sweeney was taken out for a defensive replacement because he had done something to his hand in his last at-bat and couldn't throw.

Sweeney, however, said following the 7-3 victory that he "punched a door."

He said his pinkie was sore but didn't know if he broke any bones. He was scheduled to have X-rays Tuesday.

Cody Ross took his place in right field.

A 9-year-old boy is fighting for his life after a weekend shooting in Massachusetts at the hands of his father, who police say also killed his 7-year-old daughter before committing suicide.

The Associated PressLawrence, left, and Ann Miller, who have lived in Oxford for over 30 years, stand together at the beginning of a candle light vigil held on the town common in Oxford, Mass., on Monday, July 30, 2012. The vigil was in remembrance of 7-year-old Abigail Benway, slain by her father, and to pray for her 9-year-old brother, Owen Benway, who was also shot before their father, Daryl Benway, 41, took his own life in their home on Saturday. (AP Photo/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Betty Jenewin)

OXFORD, Mass. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy is fighting for his life after a weekend shooting in Massachusetts at the hands of his father, who police say also killed his 7-year-old daughter before committing suicide.

A hospital spokeswoman said Monday shooting victim Owen Benway was in critical condition.

Authorities said the children's father, Daryl Benway, 41, separated from his wife just weeks before opening fire Saturday at the family's home in Oxford, 60 miles south of Boston.

On Monday night, nearly 1,000 people attended a prayer vigil in Oxford, including friends and classmates of the children, The (Worcester) Gazette & Telegram reported.

Owen's sister, Abigail Benway, was to start second grade soon at Chaffee Elementary School. Schools officials are offering grief counseling.

The newspaper said the children's mother, Kelleen Benway, posted a message on her Facebook page Monday saying, "I want to thank all that keep Abby and Owen in their prayers. I am truly devastated without my little girl and hanging on to my son with all I am. Please continue to pray for Owen."

Friends and neighbors tell The Boston Globe that Daryl Benway recently lost his job and feared foreclosure.

Beckett had been made available, but his biggest suitor, which appears to have been the Texas Rangers, was reportedly turned off by the amount of money remaining on his contract.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)Boston Red Sox's Josh Beckett, right, and John Lackey stretch before a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Boston, Monday, July 30, 2012.

The Boston Red Sox will not trade Josh Beckett and the 2012 MLB trade deadline is expected to pass quietly in New England, according to an ESPN Boston report early Tuesday morning.

Beckett had been made available, but his biggest suitor, which appears to have been the Texas Rangers, was reportedly turned off by the amount of money remaining on his contract. The 32-year old right-hander is owed more than $5 million for the remainder of the current season and almost $32 million over the next two campaigns.

Several teams inquired about Jacoby Ellsbury, according to Gordon Edes, but the Red Sox are unwilling to part with the outfielder less than one year after he finished runner-up in the 2011 American League MVP voting.

Ryan Sweeney was also on the block and might have been headed to the Cincinnati Reds, but he injured his left hand punching a door Monday night and the Red Sox have reportedly given up their quest to deal him.

The collapse of regional power grids in India left 620 million people with no electricity for several hours in an incident that has been dubbed as "the world's biggest-ever blackout."

AP Photo/ Rajesh Kumar SinghCommuters crowd a busy road outside a Metro station after Delhi Metro rail services were disrupted following a massive power outage in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, July 31. Indian officials say the nation's northern and eastern power grids failed, leaving about half the country without power. The collapse of the grids came a day after the northern grid failed and left eight states without power for much of the day.

By RAVI NESSMAN
Associated Press

NEW DELHI — India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest-ever blackout.

Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in New Delhi. Electric crematoria stopped operating, some with bodies half burnt, power officials said. Emergency workers rushed generators to coal mines to rescue miners trapped underground.

The massive failure — a day after a similar, but smaller power failure — has raised serious concerns about India's outdated infrastructure and the government's inability to meet its huge appetite for energy as the country aspires to become a regional economic superpower.

Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde blamed the new crisis on states taking more than their allotted share of electricity.

"Everyone overdraws from the grid. Just this morning I held a meeting with power officials from the states and I gave directions that states that overdraw should be punished. We have given instructions that their power supply could be cut," he told reporters.

The new power failure affected 620 million people across 20 of India's 28 states — about double the population of the United States. The blackout was unusual in its reach, stretching from the border with Myanmar in the northeast to the Pakistani border about 3,000 kilometers (1,870 miles) away. Its impact, however, was softened by Indians' familiarity with frequent blackouts and the widespread use of backup generators for major businesses and key facilities such as hospitals and airports.

Shinde later said power was fully restored in the northeast grid four hours after it went down, and that the north grid had 45 percent power and the east grid 35 percent. R.N. Nayak, chairman of Power Grid Corp., which runs the nation's power system, said he expected to have full power later in the evening.

The outages came just a day after India's northern power grid collapsed for several hours. Indian officials managed to restore power several hours later, but at 1:05 p.m. Tuesday the northern grid collapsed again, said Shailendre Dubey, an official at the Uttar Pradesh Power Corp. in India's largest state. About the same time, the eastern grid failed and then the northeastern grid followed, energy officials in those regions said. The grids serve more than half India's population.

In West Bengal, express trains and local electric trains were stopped at stations across the state of West Bengal on the eastern grid. Crowds of people thronged the stations, waiting for any transport to take them to their destinations.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it would take at least 10 to 12 hours to restore power and asked office workers to go home.

"The situation is very grave. We are doing everything to restore power," West Bengal Power Minister Manish Gupta said.

New Delhi's Metro rail system, which serves about 1.8 million people a day, immediately shut down for the second day in a row. Police said they managed to evacuate Delhi's busy Rajiv Chowk station in under half an hour before closing the shutters.

S.K. Jain, 54, said he was on his way to file his income tax return when the Metro closed and now would almost certainly miss the deadline.

Tuesday's blackout eclipsed yesterday's in India, which covered territory including 370 million people. The third largest blackout affected 100 million people in Indonesia in 2005, according to reports by The Associated Press.

India's demand for electricity has soared along with its economy in recent years, but utilities have been unable to meet the growing needs. India's Central Electricity Authority reported power deficits of more than 8 percent in recent months.

In addition, vast amounts of power are pirated through unauthorized wiring that taps into the electrical system.

The power deficit was worsened by a weak monsoon that lowered hydroelectric generation and kept temperatures higher, further increasing electricity usage as people seek to cool off.

But any connection to the grid remains a luxury for many. One-third of India's households do not even have electricity to power a light bulb, according to last year's census.

___

Associated Press writer Nasr ul Hadi contributed to this report from New Delhi and Prasanta Pal contributed from Kolkata.

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Follow Ravi Nessman on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ravinessman

Tuesday afternoon's Major League trade deadline will see a load or rumors, but the bark this time of year is almost always worse than the bite.

Philadelphia ace Cliff Lee could be one of the big names on the move Tuesday afternoon.

This is "the big day."

The Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline arrives at 4 p.m. Tuesday. That means an avalanche of rumors, chatter and near-trades will gain momentum all day.

Some deals will even be completed, but mega-deals -- some of which have been speculated about for months -- are less likely.

As of Tuesday morning, a lengthy list of big-name players have been discussed as possible trade chips:

Cliff Lee, Josh Johnson, James Shields, Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino, Justin Upton, Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Alfonso Soriano, B.J. Upton, Justin Masterson, Joe Blanton, Stephen Drew, and Shin-Soo Choo.

The long list includes many talented major league baseball players. But of the 16 players on the list, many are likely to remain with their current clubs past the deadline.

So which players will be dealt?

Boston Red Sox fans can probably forget about saying goodbye to any big names.

Josh Beckett is scheduled to pitch Tuesday night in Boston against reigning American League Cy Young and MVP, Justin Verlander. Count on seeing that match-up happen.

All signs point to Beckett remaining in Boston, at least past the deadline.

Jacoby Ellsbury has also seen his name show up in trade rumors. Ellsbury will almost certainly remain a member of the Red Sox for now as well.

Red Sox fans who are itching to see their team pull the trigger on some form of deal should focus on the less glitzy names on the big league roster.

Kelly Shoppach in particular seems like a prime candidate to be dealt. The Red Sox have 24-year-old catcher Ryan Lavarnway in Triple-A Pawtucket. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has reported that both the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals have interest in Shoppach.

Other members of the Red Sox who could be included in a trade include Mike Aviles and Aaron Cook.

What about the rest of Major League Baseball?

The team to watch Tuesday is the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers are the two-time defending American League Champions. They've also lost two consecutive World Series and are now looking at a division rival, the Los Angeles Angels, which is loaded up for a run at the American League West crown. The Angels have baseball's brightest young star in Mike Trout, added former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke to power their now-loaded rotation and sit just four games back of Texas after pounding the Rangers 15-8 on Monday night.

Texas has one of the league's great offenses, but could use pitching.

Japanese import Yu Darvish is not having the number one starter type of season that the Rangers expected him to.

Derek Holland who was 16-5 with an E.R.A under 4.00 in 2011 is 7-5 with an E.R.A of 4.74 this season. Colby Lewis has a torn ligament in his elbow and will miss the remainder of the season.

The Rangers are also waiting on young pitcher Neftali Feliz to return from an injury, but his recovery is not progressing at an encouraging pace.

Cliff Lee is the biggest name on that list of players who might be dealt, and even though as of Tuesday morning reports seem to suggest that the Rangers and Phillies have not found a path to a deal.

That could easily change this afternoon. Philadelphia has a bloated payroll, Lee is having a subpar season, and the Rangers really need starting pitching.

Another big name player who appears to be on the move is Philadelphia outfielder Shane Victorino. At 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning a deal that would send Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers appeared on the verge of completion.

The time leading up to the trade deadline will feature some trades. A few of them might be big, but the bark this time of year is almost always worse than the bite.