Restoring police and fire overtime and hiring a housing/code enforcement officer are topping the budget restoration list in Amherst.

Stephanie J. O'Keeffe

AMHERST - Restoring police and fire overtime and hiring a housing/code enforcement officer are topping the budget restoration list if the town doesn’t have to cut as much as previously planned.

Town Manager John P. Musante presented a level-funded general government budget of nearly $18.6 million in January, a budget that was based on a 12.5 percent cut in state aid or $1.7 million cut town-wide. The budget was also based on the town levying to its full levy limit of $40.2 million. Last year, the town approved a $1.68 million override but only about $1.2 was levied. This year officials planned to levy the remaining $427,000.

But a range of options are on the table, officials said, if the cut to state aid is not as deep. Based on the latest information, officials believe that the cut to the town would about $700,000 instead of $1.7 million.

But that raises all kinds of questions about whether to spend that by restoring some cuts, whether to add that to reserves, not raise taxes to the full limit or add the money to the capital budget, which has been severely cut over recent years. Options include a little bit of everything.

Musante has prepared two tiers of budget restorations to the town side of the budget that even if all were funded would add just 1.7 percent to the bottom line, he said.

Select Board chairwoman Stephanie J. O’Keeffe would like to see the overtime restored and the position added as a way of improving quality of life to neighborhoods effected by students.

She said the Building Inspection office is short-handed and an additional inspector would be able to address housing violations, such as trash or too many cars on the lawn. “This is another tool in the tool box. The town has been trying to get serious (about student) behavior for a number of years and so has the university.”

But at the same time, she said, the town does not yet know what local aid will be, or is she ready to assume taxes will be raised to its levy limit. She said she foresees a lot of what if contingencies.

These are the conversations the Budget Coordinating Group will be having over the next several meetings, she said. That group is comprised of town, school and library officials staff and board and committee members.

“It’s a very evolutionary process,” she said. The further along “things kind of clarify.” Library and school officials are also looking at restoration budgets that the budget group will discuss.

The next budget group meeting is Thursday at 9:45 in Town Hall.

The changes would include an addition to the high school and a move of middle-schoolers.

SOUTHWICK – Education officials are considering a reconfiguration of schools that would create a regional junior/senior high school and convert the middle school into a facility that would house grades three through six.

In addition, a three-town regionalization that would add Granville to the Southwick-Tolland Regional School District would raise the state’s reimbursement rate on a building project up to six percentage points.

“This is a big opportunity for you,” said Jonathan F. Winikur, of Strategic Building Solutions from Old Saybrook, Conn.

Calling the high school the “flagship” of the town’s three schools, Winikur told School Committee members at a recent meeting that with an enrollment of 566 students, the building is currently beyond its 470-student maximum capacity.

“It has a severely undersized administration office and the sciences area is severely lacking,” he said. “The main entrance does not suggest this is where you go.”

Constructing “a significant addition” to the high school that was originally built in 1971 and reconfiguring it to include a middle school, Winikur added, would create “the best of both worlds and focuses the majority of new construction at one site.”

The proposed 58,000-square-foot addition would be constructed to the back of the building in a horseshoe design while the rest of the school would be modernized and renovated to meet the accessibility standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The junior/senior high school proposal was well received by town and school officials who noted that the configuration would provide a new crop of junior high school students with additional athletic and foreign language study opportunities.

High school principal Pamela Hunter said she would like to see the team concept currently employed for students at Powder Mill Middle School remain intact.

“If the community goes for it, we would keep the team concept in the junior high school,” she said.

Members of the district’s school building committee favored the addition proposal that would allow students in grades seven and eight to move to the high school.

In the plan, Powder Mill Middle School would house students in grades three through six, and Woodland Elementary would serve children from pre-kindergarten through grade two.

Once a plan has been recommended, Winikur said, the project will move on to the schematic design phase and cost estimates can then be developed.

District Schools Superintendent John D. Barry said he hopes to bring a recommendation forward to member communities in the fall.

A permit has been approved for hockey center.

EAST LONGMEADOW – The Planning Board has approved a special permit that will allow the construction of an inline hockey center off Maple Street.

The project was proposed by Maple Crane Realty, of East Longmeadow, and would be managed by Eric Weichselbaumer, of Hampden.

“The board feels this has the potential to provide some much-needed recreational space for the older teens and young adults in town,” said Planning Board Director Robyn D. Macdonald.

The rink would be built where there are currently some run-down warehouses. The site will be off Maple Street with a main entrance on Crane Street.

During the special permit hearing on Feb. 15, the board expressed hopes that the facility will be an improvement to the neighborhood, especially since the current facility is broken down.

Both the police and fire departments approved the project with several conditions including the installation of a sprinkler system, lighting in the parking lot and doorways of the establishment and a traffic study.

Weichselbaumer, who formerly managed the Enfield Roller Hockey Rink, said he does not expect to see more than 10 cars per hour in the parking lot which will be shared by the rink and Avalanche Landscaping.

Weichselbaumer also expressed a desire to add a small ice rink that would be used for training within the facility.

Planning Board Chairman Donald Anderson said the ice rink is not a part of the special permit and will not be allowed on the property unless the owners come back to apply for an amendment to the approved permit.

Anderson said ice rinks are extremely popular and would change the traffic conditions and affect the parking situation outside the facility.

“The special permit is very limited. The board would like to see how it works out as just an inline skating rink before they allow anything more than that,” Macdonald said.

Since Carl Walker-Hoover's death, his mother has become an advocate calling attention to bullying and to the deadly toll it takes on young people. She testified in support of anti-bullying legislation that passed in Massachusetts that mandates each school district have a policy to recognize and deal with bullying. Carl’s death, and the suicide of bullying victim Phoebe Prince, 15, of South Hadley, helped galvanize passage of the legislation.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk with parents Sirdeaner Walker and Kirk Smalley in the Blue Room of the White House before the start of the Conference on Bullying Prevention, March 10, 2011. Smalley, of Oklahoma, is the father of a 11-year-old boy, Ty, who killed himself in May 2010 after continued bullying.(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

SPRINGFIELD – When Sirdeaner L. Walker had a moment alone with President Barack Obama Thursday in the White House, she used the time to tell the president about her son, Carl Walker-Hoover.

Like any proud parent, Walker even showed the president the class picture of Carl dressed up in a dark suit.

“I told him the story of how on the night of the election, I let him stay up past his bedtime and how when the president was elected, Carl was so happy,” she said about her meeting during the first White House Conference on Bullying Prevention.

She told the president how she held him up as a role model for Carl, telling her 11-year-old son that the new president also came from a single-parent household and how she said “Carl, you can be anything you want to be.”

“The president looked at the photo and said ‘he’s a fine looking young man,’” Walker recalled.

Unspoken between the two was the tragedy that Carl will not have a chance to grow up.

After being tormented by bullies at school, he hanged himself in April 2009 at their family home in Springfield.

Since then, his mother has become an advocate calling attention to bullying and to the deadly toll it takes on young people. She testified in support of anti-bullying legislation that passed in Massachusetts that mandates each school district have a policy to recognize and deal with bullying. Carl’s death, and the suicide of bullying victim Phoebe Prince, 15, of South Hadley, helped galvanize passage of the legislation.

Republican File PhotoFamily hand out photo - Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was an 11-year-old sixth-grader at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, when he hanged himself on April 6, 2009, after what his mother has said was persistent bullying at school.

In a telephone interview, Walker said the conference experience was emotional, uplifting and in many ways, overwhelming and awesome.

During the conference, President Obama spoke to the audience about how he was continually teased for being the new kid in school with big ears and the funny name.

Walker said that hearing that touched her because she knows the president understands what she is fighting.

“He has the experience of being bullied,” she said. “To me it means he knows how it feels.”

Since Carl’s death, Walker has been an advocate for the federal Safe Schools Improvement Act, legislation that would require schools receiving federal funds adopt anti-bullying policies and codes of conduct that specifically prohibit bullying or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation.

The bill would also create uniform policies for dealing with bullying and require states to report data to the Department of Education.

Her efforts have brought national attention to the issue as she was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres.

Walker said she hopes the bill will eventually become law, even in the highly partisan political atmosphere of Washington. Stopping bullies from terrorizing children is a subject that Republicans and Democrats alike can understand, she said.

“Everyone understands it is a real issue,” she said.

Walker said when it was her turn to speak at the conference, she noted the diversity of the audience and how all children, regardless of background, race, ethnicity, or income, can be the target of bullies.

Speaking on behalf of other parents who lost children because of bullying, she said, “You could be in our shoes if we don’t do something about this.”

Both Williams, a former city councilor, and Kenneth Shea, a former School Committee member, chose not to seek re-election in 2009.

File photos | The RepublicanFormer Springfield School Committee member Kenneth Shea, left, and former Springfield City Councilor Bud Williams, right, are considering plans to run for seats on the City Council in the 2011 municipal elections.

SPRINGFIELD – Perhaps 2011 is the year of the political comeback.

Approximately 20 potential candidates have taken out nomination papers thus far for mayor and City Council, including two former, long-time elected officials who gave up their seats in 2009.

Former veteran Councilor Bud L. Williams, who gave up his seat two years ago to run for mayor against Domenic J. Sarno, and lost, said he is seriously considering a run for an at-large council seat this year. He had served 16 years on the council prior to the loss for mayor.

“I feel fresh,” Williams said. “There is plenty of work to do.”

In addition, former School Committee member Kenneth E. Shea, who chose not to seek re-election in 2009 after 24 years on the committee (six terms), said he plans to run for City Council in Ward 6.

“I’ve taken some time off, and there are some issues in the city that can use my expertise,” Shea said.

The last day to take out nomination papers is July 22, and the papers must be returned by July 26, with the required number of voter signatures to qualify for the fall ballot. Council candidates must gather at least 100 signatures of voters.

Shea could face the incumbent in Ward 6, Amaad I. Rivera, who has also taken out nomination papers. Rivera has been on the council since January, when he replaced Keith Wright, who resigned in mid-term. Ward 6 primarily covers the Forest Park neighborhood.

Williams, of 155 Overlook Drive, said he has received numerous phone calls regarding if he will be a candidate for the council. He said he is “seriously considering a run” and will make a decision in the near future.

He is a retired probation officer and is chairman of the Ward 7 Democratic Committee. Sometimes, leaving office is an opportunity “to take a step back, reflect, and then come back fresher,” Williams said.

Shea said his desire to run is based in part in believing he has strong budget experience as a past School Committee member, and also in a desire to help with quality of life issues in Forest Park. Shea, a resident of 389 Trafton Road, is a local lawyer.

Those taking out papers for mayor thus far are listed as Antonette E. Pepe, Jose F. Tosado, Jeffery P. Donnelly and Michael Jones. Sarno has stated he will run again.

Others taking out papers for City Council include incumbents James J. Ferrera III, John A. Lysak, Timothy C. Allen, Melvin Edwards, E. Henry Twiggs, Clodovaldo Concepcion, and Zaida Luna. Other non-incumbents taking out papers for council thus far include Charles A. Stokes, Edward Kelly and Orlando Ramos.

The Republican asked Coakley about the closed session as part of Sunshine Week, a national effort to promote a discussion about open government and freedom of information.

Republican file photo by Michael S. GordonAttorney General Martha Coakley took over enforcement of the Open Meeting Law on July 1.

Editor's note: Sunshine Week, which runs through Saturday, is a media initiative that celebrates the public's right to an open government. This story is being published as part of The Republican's commitment to open government.

BOSTON -- The state attorney general says she will review the actions of the trustees of the University of Massachusetts for possible violations of the state Open Meeting Law when they met in closed session in January to question three finalists for the president's job.

Attorney General Martha M. Coakley’s review should help clarify a section of the Open Meeting Law that regulates interviews for finalists for positions. Coakley took over enforcement of the law on July 1 from district attorneys. The Republican had asked Coakley about the Jan. 13 closed session as part of Sunshine Week, a national effort starting Sunday and led by the American Society of News Editors to promote a discussion about open government and freedom of information.

According to a report by Coakley’s office, one purpose for executive sessions is to interview job applicants but such closed meetings can occur only during preliminary screenings of candidates. Once there are finalists, all screenings must be conducted in open meetings, the attorney general’s report said.

Coakley said her office can conduct a review of a potential violation, but she is making no judgments at this time. “We're going to look at what the board did in that instance,” she said.

A spokesman for the University of Massachusetts said he was confident the Jan. 13 executive session in Boston was appropriate and consistent with state law.

Robert P. Connolly, vice president for strategic communications, said that generally trustees went into executive session for three reasons allowed under the Open Meeting Law. Those reasons include discussing the character and reputation of individuals, conducting a strategy session to prepare for negotiations with nonunion personnel -- the president-elect in this case -- and to comply with any general or special law such as state privacy laws.

The Open Meeting Law says that state and municipal governmental bodies must hold their meetings in public with certain exemptions.

The law includes 10 reasons for a public body to meet in executive session.

Connolly said trustees did not use the purpose for an executive session in the Open Meeting Law that specifically guides interviews of job applicants.

Instead, they used the three other purposes, which were applicable to the session, he said.

No interviews with finalists were held in open session.

Before the full board meeting, a separate public body – the 21-member search committee – met in closed session with each of the three candidates at a downtown Boston hotel. A spokesman for Coakley declined comment on whether the office would review the meetings with finalists by members of the search committee. A member of the search committee, Edward W. Collins Jr. of Springfield, said the search panel also abided by the law.

View full sizeRobert Ambrogi, a lawyer and member of the state's Open Meeting Law Advisory Commission, says it is clear that trustees violated the Open Meeting Law when they met behind closed doors with finalists for the president's job.

Robert J. Ambrogi, a lawyer and member of the state’s Open Meeting Law Advisory Commission, said the law is clear and unequivocal in its requirement that the final stages of screening the applicants for a position are to be held in public.

Ambrogi said trustees circumvented the intent of the Open Meeting Law.

“The more important the position, the more important it is that the public be kept informed,” said Ambrogi, who is also executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association. “The exceptions cited by the university do not apply to screening job candidates.”

Once the preliminary screening is done, the law requires that all other meetings “to consider and interview applicants” must be conducted in public, Ambrogi said.

After meeting behind closed doors, trustees reconvened in open session and voted unanimously to elect Robert L. Caret as the president of the five-campus University of Massachusetts. Caret will succeed Jack M. Wilson, who is stepping down as president on July 1.

Before that vote in open session, trustees held a three-hour closed meeting during which they met separately with each of the three finalists, according to James J. Karam, chairman of the trustees. Karam said trustees were limited in terms of the questions they could pose to candidates. “They were questions normally not asked in public,” he said.

Karam said trustees checked with the university’s general counsel before voting to hold the executive session. Karam said the university also obtained clarification from the attorney general’s office ahead of the closed meeting.

“This was not done willy-nilly,” Karam said.

Coakley said her office did not pre-approve the closed meeting of trustees.

Coakley’s review comes as she is nearing completion of the first year of her oversight of the Open Meeting Law. State legislators put the attorney general’s office in charge as part of an overhaul of the 36-year-old law in 2009. The new law included creation of an advisory commission.

Under the revised law, anyone can obtain a complaint form from the attorney general’s office over the Internet and use the form to cite a possible violation for review. The law created a new division of open government in the attorney general’s office. Coakley said she has assigned two full-time assistant attorneys general and a half-time para-legal to the office.

The attorney general’s office says it has so far received 76 complaints around the state and reached findings on 29. The office said that the findings included 15 violations of the law.

Of the complaints, six came from Western Massachusetts. The attorney general’s office found that only one of those six complaints – an error in the posting of a July 6 meeting notice by the Wales Board of Selectman -- resulted in a violation.

The office ordered the Wales board to comply with the law in the future by including on notices a list of topics that could be discussed at a meeting. The list of topics is a new requirement for meeting notices went into effect less than a week before the July 6 meeting, the attorney general noted.

If the attorney general’s office finds a violation, it can order remedial action by the public body, direct immediate and future compliance, order attendance at a training session, release of records or other action.

In the case of an illegal executive session, the office could order release of minutes as one possible remedy. Executive sessions don't have to be taped, but minutes must be kept.

The office also may nullify the action of a public body or issue $1,000 fines against a state or municipal board for each intentional violation of the Open Meeting Law. So far, Coakley’s office has not issued any fines.

Under the new law, complaints generally must be filed with the proper form within 30 days of a violation. The complaint must be sent to the clerk of a community if the allegations involve a municipal board. The complaint goes to the board chairman if the charges involve a county, regional or state board. People can ask the attorney general to investigate if they don't like the action taken by the board in response to the complaint.

Coakley said the new law is a “huge improvement” over the prior law, when oversight and enforcement were provided by district attorneys. Under prosecutors, enforcement was too fragmented, she said.

Coakley said the new complaint process is resulting in faster and better resolution of possible violations. The office says it will settle complaints generally within 90 days.

“Clearly, people are taking advantage of using the on-line complaints,” she said. “People haven't been afraid either to come to us or to file a complaint.”

The attorney general’s division of open government, led by Assistant Attorney General Britte McBride, is also holding a series of forums around the state to educate people about the new law. One will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. May 25 at Northampton High School.

File photo | The RepublicanMassachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says the Obama administration's decision to no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of gay marriage affirms Massachusetts' first-in-the-nation push to allow gay couples to marry.

The approved budget will not require an override of Proposition 2½.

WILBRAHAM – The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee has approved a fiscal 2012 school budget which calls for the reduction of 16 teaching positions.

School Committee Chairman Peter T. Salerno said the $39.7 million budget that was approved calls for the reduction of five full-time teachers at the high school, six middle school teachers and five elementary teachers.

The budget also calls for the reduction of 20 paraprofessionals, or teacher aides, and 1.5 clerical positions. All of the staffing reductions will be made unless negotiations with collective bargaining units to reduce costs are successful, Salerno said.

“We are meeting with all collective bargaining groups,” Salerno said. He said existing contracts are not set to expire until 2013.

There are no more federal stimulus funds to supplement the fiscal 2012 budget, resulting in a deficit in funding the budget, Salerno said. He said the budget approved by the School Committee will not require a Proposition 2½ override.

School Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea said the reduction of teaching staff may affect some of the elective courses and related arts which can be offered next year.

Salerno said school administrators are working to keep class size under 25 per class.

The total student body enrollment has been declining in recent years from a total student body of 3,826 students in 2001 to the current 3,500 students.

O’Shea also said the school district will be trying to offer more special education programs within the district, reducing the number of out-of-district tuition it pays to keep budget costs down. There will be specific entry and exit criteria for students utilizing special education services, O’Shea said.

Salerno said the school district will be attempting to deliver services more efficiently. Until state revenues pick up, there will be a shortage of state aid to help fund services in the school district, he said.

The Holyoke Geriatric Authority owes $2.84 million in unpaid bills to various city agencies.

The Republican file photo / Dave RobackHolyoke Geriatric Authority

HOLYOKE – Another delay and more frustration were the themes Monday as city councilors again were thwarted in seeking financial information about the Geriatric Authority of Holyoke.

The council Finance Committee tabled a motion to deal with financial questions, such as the authority’s $2.84 million in unpaid bills to city agencies.

The tabling was necessary because no officials authorized to speak for the authority attended the meeting at City Hall.

Executive Director Sheryl Young Quinn said in a voice-mail message to The Republican that members of the authority’s board of directors wouldn’t be attending the Finance Committee meeting. The board also hadn’t instructed her to attend, she said.

City Councilor Linda L. Vacon

Also, councilors said that board Chairman Joseph T. O’Neill wrote in an e-mail Monday afternoon it was premature for such a meeting because authority officials are planning later this month to meet with representatives of the city departments the authority owes money to.

Still, three members of the authority board – Raymond P. MurphyJr., Alan Taupier and Charles F. Glidden – did attend the Finance Committee meeting. But they said they learned of the meeting in Monday morning’s Republican and weren’t authorized to speak for the authority.

But, Councilor Linda L. Vacon and others said authority officials were reacting as though councilors’ questions were new. In fact, they said, councilors have been asking the same questions for a year about the authority’s unpaid bills and other matters.

“We have asked these questions for months ... and this council has been asking this in every way known to man,” Councilor Linda L. Vacon said.

Finance Committee Chairman Todd McGee scheduled the meeting because he has numerous questions about authority finances, but he was unable to attend the meeting because of an illness. Committee Vice Chairman Peter R. Tallman ran the meeting.

The authority became a quasi-official city agency in 1971, with the City Council appointing three directors to its board, the mayor appointing three and those six voting a seventh.

The authority has unpaid bills dating to 2007 to the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department, in pension contributions to the Retirement Board and in health and life insurance fees, according to the city treasurer’s office.

The authority is current on pension payments made from employee payroll deductions, officials said.

The facility at 45 Lower Westfield Road has about 80 senior citizen residents, another 80 in a daycare program, 177 employees and a payroll of $4 million, she said.

The City Council Tuesday is scheduled to consider an order from Councilor Donald R. Welch to begin the process of shutting down the Geriatric Authority because of the unpaid bills. But closing the authority is a lengthy process that also would require approval from the state, which could rule to keep the authority open regardless of a City Council decision, council President Joseph M. McGiverin said.

The group opposes proposals for biomass energy plants in Greenfield, Russell and Springfield.

File photoThis conveyor belt, front right, conveys wood chips into the McNeil Generating Station in Burlington, Vt., a wood-burning power plant.

A coalition that opposes biomass energy plants proposed in Springfield, Russell and Greenfield has launched a petition asking for a moratorium on state-issued air permits for the projects and a continued freeze on renewable energy credits.

Organizers of the petition gathered in Greenfield on Monday to publicize their effort.

The coalition, in a statement, said that the wood-burning plants create air pollution and are harmful to health.

“At a time when our governments are in financial meltdown and health costs are skyrocketing, taxpayer money (is) in these dirty incinerators that will poison communities for decades,” said Meg Sheehan of the Biomass Accountability Project, which is among the coalition participants. “The federal government is giving billions of our money to corporations that wrongly call biomass ‘green energy.’”

The coalition also includes Massachusetts Forest Watch, ARISE for Social Justice, Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, Massachusetts Environmental Energy Alliance, Concerned Citizens of Russell, and Biofuelwatch.

The group said there is a lack of public support for biomass energy.

Proponents of biomass plants say they are safe, provide energy, and produce jobs and tax revenue.

The petition, as drafted, asks the state Department of Environmental Protection under the Clean Air Act “to place a moratorium approving air permits for biomass electricity until Dec. 31, 2013.”

In addition, it asks the state Department of Energy Resources to continue a moratorium, begun in December 2009, on new renewable energy credit applications until Dec. 31, 2013, or until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concludes new rules on biomass greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA was expected to set the standards for large-scale biomass plants next month, but has declined to do so for another three years, said Lee Ann Warner, of Stop Toxic Incineration Springfield.

The petition also calls on the state Department of Public Health to advise the state commissioner of public health to issue a policy against biomass energy.

Janet Sinclair, of Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, said the petitions will be circulated and then presented to the three agencies.

“Clean energy doesn’t come out of a smokestack,” Sinclair said. “The public’s right to clean air and water should not be violated by biomass industry, much less with federal and state subsidies."

Frank P. Fitzgerald, a lawyer representing the Springfield biomass project, said the developers, Palmer Renewable Energy, believe it “would not be in the best interest of the American people to slow down the process of bringing clean, green and local energy right now to end our dependence on foreign oil”

The petition follows other petitions opposed to biomass plants in Springfield and Greenfield, organizers said. In addition, it follows a statewide petition opposed to offering renewable energy credits for incinerators signed by more than 130,000 voters statewide in advance of the 2009 moratorium.

The state Department of Environmental Protection recently issued a draft, conditional plan approval for a $150 million, 35-megawatt, wood burning plant in East Springfield. There is a 30-day comment period, ending April 9.

Fotios "Freddy" Geas, his brother Ty Geas and Arthur "Artie" Nigro are standing trial in federal court.

NEW YORK - As jury selection got under way Monday in a federal mob murder and racketeering trial expected to showcase notorious witnesses and misdeeds from the Pioneer Valley, a pool of prospective panelists was whittled down by hardship, biases and religious beliefs.

Once a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates is seated, the group will hear the case of the 2003 murder-for-hire plot against Western Massachusetts crime boss Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, the grudge slaying of low-level associate Gary D. Westerman the same year, the attempted murder of a New York union official, shake-downs of strip club owners in Springfield and Connecticut and a list of other organized crime strong-arm schemes from Springfield to Connecticut and New York, according to prosecutors.

Standing trial are reputed mob enforcers Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 44, of West Springfield; his brother Ty Geas, 39, of Westfield; and reputed onetime New York Genovese crime boss, Arthur “Artie” Nigro, 66, of Bronx, N.Y., whom law enforcement officials say controlled rackets for the most dangerous of this city’s five mafia crime families.

The defendants have pleaded innocent to all charges. They face life in prison if convicted.

U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel began weeding out jurors with standard questions of potential personal and economic hardships given that the trial is expected to last at least a month. Candidates who cleared that hurdle were then herded into a courtroom to answer more specific questions as a group: Whether they work in law enforcement jobs or know someone who does, whether they had an aversion to witnesses testifying under plea agreements, whether they, a friend or family member had been the subject of a criminal prosecution.

The last question created a small swell of possible red flags.

One man, prospective juror No. 65, announced that he had a friend he believed had been falsely charged in a drug case.

“There were false witnesses; false wiretaps. He lost his home and a lot of time, then was let go with no charges,” the man told Castel, shortly before being excused.

Another woman had a son in jail; another said she had a brother who served time for drug trafficking a second brother who was imprisoned for his involvement for a murder. Not all of several potential jurors who answered “yes” to that questioned were excused.

As the evening neared, a woman in the back row told the judge her 17-year-old son caught a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting on Jan. 6, but survived, and she believed she could serve as an impartial juror.

Bruno was shot seven times on Nov. 23, 2003, by a paid gunman amid a power play; the Geases and others are alleged to have planned the ambush with Nigro’s blessing. Westerman was shot twice in the head and buried in a wooded lot in Agawam over a grudge and correct suspicions he was a police informant, according to prosecutors. Union boss Frank Dadabo was allegedly shot six times because he angered Nigro by giving a contract to the wrong man.

Prospective juror No. 62 tentatively raised her hand nearly at the end of the day, telling Castel she may not be able to sit on the jury for religious reasons.

“I’ve been trying for Lent to not pass judgment ... this is all making me a little uneasy,” she said.

Jury selection will continue today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Police continued to investigate the two homicides, which occurred 18 hours apart on Sunday. Watch video

Republican file photoThe photo of Kevin Gomez can be seen in this memorial set up where he was killed.

CHICOPEE – Several hundred students at Chicopee Comprehensive High School dressed in white Monday as a tribute to fallen classmate Kevin Gomez who was shot to death early Sunday in Springfield.

Students at the school were grieving the loss of Gomez, a 16-year-old freshman who played for the school’s basketball and football teams.

“It was a tough day,” said varsity football coach Marc D. Schuerfeld.

Gomez was found shot in the back on the street near 729 Belmont Ave. shortly after midnight on Sunday morning. He was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center a short time later.

He was said to have just attended a birthday party in Springfield.

A man police identified as Craig Fish, 40, of 96 Maple St. was found outside his apartment building at about 8:15 p.m. Sunday.

Fish had a laceration to his abdomen and other stab wounds to his upper body. He was rushed to Baystate Medical Center but pronounced dead.

His death was the second homicide in Springfield in one day.

Police had little new information about either homicide, which were the fifth and sixth of the year.

There have been no arrests.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni and Police Commissioner William Fitchet are scheduled to have a press briefing Tuesday.

They are expected to discuss Mastroianni’s decision to have state police investigators lead all homicide investigations for the month of April, but may also discuss the latest violence.

At Chicopee Comp, grief counselors were made available in the school library throughout the day to help distraught teens who knew Gomez.

“We are trying to help the kids out as much as possible. It is going to be a tough couple of weeks for them,” said varsity basketball coach Michael C. Beck.

Gomez was remembered as nice person and hard working, both on and off the court.

“He was a member of our team and our family, and he will be greatly missed,” said Schuerfeld. “It is a tremendous tragedy and we are going to cope as best we can.”

Also grieving was the family of Fish, a Holyoke native and Westfield Alternative School graduate, who were shocked to learn of his death.

His father, Edward J. Fish, lives in Holyoke, but he was too distraught to be interviewed.

A cousin, Kelly Thimmish of Southwick, remembered Craig Fish as a nice guy with a great sense of humor, but also said he spent much of his adult life battling with demons, which she said were primarily addictions to drugs and alcohol.

“He was a great guy,” Thimmish said. “We called him the ‘gentle giant.’”

Diane English, of Westfield, an aunt, said Fish had worked at C&S Wholesale, did landscaping and made deck furniture.

“When he was working, people loved his work,” she said.

She said he went “down a rough patch,” but was convinced he had made it through it.

“I talked to him on March 5, on his 40th birthday, and he was happy-go-lucky Craig,” she said.

He told her that he was sober and he sounded positive about his life and his future, she said.

She said she did not know what happened to him between the last time they talked and his death.

She said all she knew about how he died was “Craig didn’t deserve it.”

Republican Reporter Sandra Constantine contributed to this report

One finalist, Daniel Hanneken, was described as a principal in Marlborough, but minutes from a Marlborough School Committee meeting show someone else was appointed to that post in January.

NORTHAMPTON – The former principal of a Marlborough school and the superintendent of a school district in upstate New York are the finalists for the school superintendent job.

At a special meeting Monday, the School Committee announced that it will scheduled interviews for Daniel J. Hanneken, who has held administrative posts in Marlborough, Lawrence and Chelsea, and Irwin H. Sussman, a superintendent and former principal in the Hadley-Luzerne Central School System in New York.

The two finalists were selected by a screening committee from a pool of 14 applicants vying to replace Isabelina Rodriguez, who left in January to head the Granby schools.

According to School Committee Vice Chairwoman Stephanie Pick, four of those applicants were interviewed before two two finalists were selected. Former Hampshire Regional School District Superintendent William G. Erickson is filling in for Rodriguez on an interim basis.

Hanneken was described at the meting as the principal of the Whitcomb School in Marlborough, a grade 4-7 school with more than 1,400 students. However, according to the minutes from a Marlborough School Committee meeting, Mary Murphy was appointed to that post in January. Katherine H. Hennessy, a Marlborough School Committee member, confirmed that Hanneken has not been principal of the school since January but offered no explanation for his departure. He previously served as principal of the Gerard A. Guilmette School in Lawrence and assistant principal of a middle school in Chelsea. Prior to his career in education, Hanneken served in the U.S. Air Force, working with military families to help them manage their finances.

Sussman has served as superintendent of the Hadley-Luzerne Central School District since 2003. Prior to that, he was principal of the district’s high school and assistant principal of the Unatego Junior-Senior High School in Otego, N.Y. He earned his master’s degree from State University of New York and began his career in education as a social studies teacher.

Neither candidate could be reached Monday. Citing its confidentiality policy, the School Committee did not disclose their ages or other personal information.

The School Committee scheduled a meeting for March 21 to finalize the questions they plan to ask the candidates when they interview them at the end of the month. The dates for those interviews are pending. Committee members each chose a theme from which they will prepare questions for discussion at the March 21 meeting. The committee will also determine a forum for the pubic to meet the candidates.

Joseph L. Wood of the New England School Development Council, who is advising the School Committee on the search process, praised the screening committee for its professionalism and thoroughness. Wood will help coordinate the candidate interviews, which most likely will take place at the end of March. Pick said the School Committee hopes to have the new superintendent in place by July. The job was advertized at $122,000-$130,000.

A 4th reactor caught fire; the government warned 140,000 people nearby to stand indoors to avoid exposure.

Associated PressIn this Sunday, March 13, 2011 photo, the exterior of the Fukushima Dai- ichi nuclear plant's Unit 2 is seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima. A third explosion in four days rocked a crippled nuclear power plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan early Tuesday as authorities struggled to avert a catastrophic release of radiation. The latest blast happened in the plant's Unit 2 near a suppression pool, which removes heat under a reactor vessel, plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

By ERIC TALMADGE
and SHINO YUASA

SOMA, Japan — High levels of radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government warned 140,000 people nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.

Tokyo also reported slightly elevated radiation levels, but officials said the increase was too small to threaten the 39 million people in and around the capital, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) away.

In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima state, one of the hardest-hit in Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world's third-largest economy.

Officials just south of Fukushima reported up to 100 times the normal levels of radiation Tuesday morning, Kyodo News agency reported. While those figures are worrying if there is prolonged exposure, they are far from fatal.

Kan and other officials warned there is danger of more leaks and told people living within 19 miles (30 kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to stay indoors to avoid exposure that could make people sick.

"Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told residents in the danger zone. "Don't turn on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors."

"These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that," he said.

Weather forecasts for Fukushima were for snow and wind from the northeast Tuesday evening, blowing southwest toward Tokyo, then shifting and blowing west out to sea. That's important because it shows which direction a possible nuclear cloud might blow.

The nuclear crisis is the worst Japan has faced since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It is also the first time that such a grave nuclear threat has been raised in the world since a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded in 1986.

Some 70,000 people had already been evacuated from a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius from the Dai-ichi complex and about 140,000 remain in the zone for which the new warning was issued.

Workers were striving to stabilize three reactors at the power plant that exploded in the wake of Friday's quake and tsunami, after losing their ability to cool down and releasing some radiation. A fourth reactor that was shut down caught fire on Tuesday and more radiation was released, Edano said.

The fire was put out. Even though the fourth reactor was shut down, the fire there was believed to be the source of the elevated radiation.

"It is likely that the level of radiation increased sharply due to a fire at Unit 4," Edano said. "Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower."

He said another reactor whose containment building exploded Monday had not contributed greatly to the increased radiation.

Officials said 50 workers, all of them wearing protective radiation gear, were still trying to put water into the reactors to cool them. They say 800 other staff were evacuated. The fires and explosions at the reactors have injured 15 workers and military personnel and exposed up to 190 people to elevated radiation.

In Tokyo, slightly higher-than-normal radiation levels were detected Tuesday but officials insisted there are no health dangers.

"The amount is extremely small, and it does not raise health concerns. It will not affect us," Takayuki Fujiki, a Tokyo government official said.

Kyodo reported that radiation levels nine times higher than normal were briefly detected in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo and that the Tokyo metropolitan government said it had detected a small amount of radioactive materials in the city's air.

Japanese government officials are being rightly cautious, said Donald Olander, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at University of California at Berkeley. He believed even the heavily elevated levels of radiation around Dai'ichi are "not a health hazard." But without knowing specific dose levels, he said it was hard to make judgments on the evacuation orders.

"Right now it's worse than Three Mile Island," Olander said. But, he said, it's nowhere near the levels released during Chernobyl.

On Three Mile Island, the radiation leak was held inside the containment shell — thick concrete armor around the reactor. The Chernobyl reactor had no shell and was also operational when the disaster struck. The Japanese reactors automatically shut down when the quake hit and are encased in containment shells.

Olander said encasing the reactors in a concrete sarcophagus — the last-ditch effort done in Chernobyl — is far too premature. Operators need to wait until they cool more, or risk making the situation even worse.

The death toll from last week's earthquake and tsunami jumped Tuesday as police confirmed the number killed had topped 2,400, though that grim news was overshadowed by a deepening nuclear crisis. Officials have said previously that at least 10,000 people may have died in Miyagi province alone.

Millions of people spent a fourth night with little food, water or heating in near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the loss of homes and loved ones. Asia's richest country hasn't seen such hardship since World War II.

Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the hardest-hit, said deliveries of supplies were only 10 percent of what is needed. Body bags and coffins were running so short that the government may turn to foreign funeral homes for help, he said.

Though Japanese officials have refused to speculate on the death toll, Indonesian geologist Hery Harjono, who dealt with the 2004 Asian tsunami, said it would be "a miracle really if it turns out to be less than 10,000" dead.

The 2004 tsunami killed 230,000 people — of which only 184,000 bodies were found.

The impact of the earthquake and tsunami on the world's third-largest economy helped drag down the share markets. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunged for a second day Tuesday, nose-diving more than 12 percent to 8,422.21 while the broader Topix lost 13 percent.

To lessen the damage, Japan's central bank injected $61.2 billion Tuesday into the money markets after pumping in $184 billion on Monday.

Initial estimates put repair costs in the tens of billions of dollars, costs that would likely add to a massive public debt that, at 200 percent of gross domestic product, is the biggest among industrialized nations.

In a bid to stop the reactors at the nuclear plant from melting down, engineers have been injecting seawater as a coolant of last resort.

Yuta Tadano, a 20-year-old pump technician at the Fukushima power plant, said he was on the second floor of an office building in the complex when quake hit.

"It was terrible. The desks were thrown around and the tables too. The walls started to crumble around us and there was dust everywhere. The roof began to collapse.

"We got outside and confirmed everyone was safe . Then we got out of there. We had no time to be tested for radioactive exposure. I still haven't been tested," Tadano told The Associated Press at an evacuation center outside the exclusion zone.

"We live about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the facility. We had to figure out on our own where to go," said Tadano, cradling his 4-month-old baby, Shoma. "I worry a lot about fallout. If we could see it we could escape, but we can't."

The Dai-ichi plant is the most severely affected of three nuclear complexes that were declared emergencies after suffering damage in Friday's quake and tsunami, raising questions about the safety of such plants in coastal areas near fault lines and adding to global jitters over the industry.

Yuasa reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Clean-up on public property began almost immediately and roads were reopened within 24 hours. The residents’ yards were finally cleared today.

View full sizePhoto by Jeff BrownA large pile of mud and debris sits in the side yard of the Hinterleitner and Torres home at 2 Water St. in Greenfield.

GREENFIELD – Linda Hinterleitner’s home at 2 Water St. sits at the bottom of a hill, right in the path of chaos wrought by last Monday’s mudslide.

At the top of the hill is Green River Cemetery, where about 3,000 cubic tons of mud began sliding at around 5 a.m. The mudslide closed down roads, forced the evacuation of four homes and totaled several cars.

Water had pooled at the edge of the hill, causing the fine silt banking to cascade down and swamp Water Street, Meridian Street and Deerfield Street.

Clean-up on public property began almost immediately and roads were reopened within 24 hours. The residents’ yards were finally cleared yesterday.

Snow and Sons Landscaping, the cemetery’s superintendent, hired the local Clayton Davenport Trucking Co., Inc., to clear the clogged drainage pipe at the bottom of the affected hill so that water could be diverted from the residents’ yards into the city’s storm system. The Green River Cemetery board will foot the bill.

Town engineer Laurence Petrin said he expects the town’s clean-up efforts to be complete by the middle of this week, but there may be some extra work once the private property is fully cleared because that could carry mud onto streets and sidewalks.

He said he had no estimate of the cost.

Last Tuesday, Clayton Davenport cleared mud from the foundations of the four affected homes, but huge messes remained for almost a week.

Some of the mud in Hinterleitner’s backyard was piled as high as the family’s basketball hoop, a consequence of the foundation work. The mound of mud in the side yard was full of debris, from shards of shattered flower pots and long wooden planks to a rag doll and a leather shoe, all of which Hinterleitner said came from somewhere other than her yard.

“We’re doing all we can for the residents down there,” said Timothy Mosher, a dispatcher with Clayton Davenport. “Basically, if it came off the hill, we’re going to take it away.”

Ashley Torres, who lives on the home’s second floor, said crews began working on the yard at 8 a.m. Monday and by 2:30 p.m. had moved on to the neighbor’s yard.

View full sizePhoto by Jeff BrownThe depth of the mud and debris from last Monday's mudslide can be seen in the back yard of 24 Meridian St., next door to the Hinterleitner and Torres home.

“They did a good job,” said Torres, who had expressed concern that her 4-month-old son Andreas wouldn’t be able to play outside until the mud was gone.

But for Hinterleitner and Torres, the ordeal isn’t over.

The basement was flooded in some places with as much as four inches of mud. They and their close-knit families have spent days scooping it with a shovel into a bucket, but there is a thin layer still left behind that will have to be scraped up. They do not have flood insurance.

Torres said her car had mud in the engine.

She took it to a repair shop yesterday and said she was awaiting a full diagnosis and estimate. Her car insurance has a $500 deductible, she said, which she can’t afford.

“I couldn’t afford a $5 deductible,” she said.

“We’re far from having money,” said Hinterleitner, who lives on the first floor with her son, who is Torres’ boyfriend, and shares Torres’ car. “We’ve got to find rides to school, work, doctors.”

She said her biggest concern was Andreas’ immunization shot appointment this morning.

“He won’t miss (it) no matter what I do,” she said. “He’s my biggest concern.”

Andreas has been given bottled spring water just in case the drinking water was affected by the mudslide, Torres said. She wasn’t too concerned, she said, but “better safe than sorry.”

Petrin said there was no way the water could have been contaminated.

Green River Cemetery board president Alan Blanker could not be reached for comment. Calls to Snow and Sons Landscaping, as well as questions about the cemetery posed to other city officials, were referred to Blanker.

The Red Cross initially assisted the families and paid for a motel room for the Hinterleitners and the six-member Torres family for two nights. They returned home Wednesday.

Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday.

(AP Photo/Mark Baker)People queue at a radiation emergency scanning center in Koriyama, Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government warned anyone nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.

By ERIC TALMADGE & SHINO YUASA, Associated Press Writers

SOMA, Japan (AP) — Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday after an explosion and a fire dramatically escalated the crisis spawned by a deadly tsunami.

Hidehiko Nishiyama of the economy ministry that oversees nuclear safety told reporters Tuesday that "we cannot deny the possibility of water boiling" in the pool.

Nishiyama sought to avoid commenting on the potential risks from the rising temperatures caused by a failure of systems required to keep the spent fuel rods cool. He said the plant's operator is considering what to do about the problem.

In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima state, one of the hardest-hit in Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world's third-largest economy.

Though Kan and other officials urged calm, Tuesday's developments fueled a growing panic in Japan and around the world amid widespread uncertainty over what would happen next. In the worst case scenario, the reactor's core would completely melt down, a disaster that could spew large amounts of radioactity into the atmosphere.

The radiation fears added to the catastrophe that has been unfolding in Japan, where at least 10,000 people are believed to have been killed and mllions of people have spent four nights with little food, water or heating in near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the loss of homes and loved ones.

Asia's richest country hasn't seen such hardship since World War II. The stock market plunged for a second day and a spate of panic buying saw stores running out of necessities, raising government fears that hoarding may hurt the delivery of emergency food aid to those who really need it.

In a rare bit of good news, rescuers found a 70-year-old woman alive in her swept-away home four days after the tsunami flattened much of Japan's northeastern coast.

After Tuesday's fire and separate explosion at two reactors in the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, officials just south of the area reported up to 100 times the normal levels of radiation, Kyodo News agency reported. While those figures are worrying if there is prolonged exposure, they are far from fatal.

(AP Photo/GeoEye, DigitalGlobe)In this photo combo, the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex in Japan is shown on Nov. 15, 2009 in a satellite image provided by GeoEye, left, and on Monday, March 14, 2011 in a satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe. Radiation leaked from the crippled nuclear plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor was rocked by an explosion Tuesday, March 15, and a fourth caught fire in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government warned anyone nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.

Tokyo reported slightly elevated radiation levels, but officials said the increase was too small to threaten the 39 million people in and around the capital, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) away. Closer to the stricken nuclear complex, the streets in the coastal city of Soma were empty as the few residents who remained there heeded the government's warning to stay indoors.

Kan and other officials warned there is danger of more leaks and told people living within 19 miles (30 kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to stay indoors to avoid exposure that could make people sick.

"Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told residents in the danger zone.

"These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that," he said.

Weather forecasts for Fukushima were for snow and wind from the northeast Tuesday evening, blowing southwest toward Tokyo, then shifting and blowing west out to sea. That's important because it shows which direction a possible nuclear cloud might blow.

The nuclear crisis is the worst Japan has faced since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It is also the first time that such a grave nuclear threat has been raised in the world since a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded in 1986.

Some 70,000 people had already been evacuated from a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius from the Dai-ichi complex. About 140,000 remain in the new warning zone.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that Japanese officials told it that the reactor fire was in the storage pond — a pool where used nuclear fuel is kept cool — and that "radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere."

Workers were desperately trying to stabilize three reactors at the power plant that exploded in the wake of Friday's quake and tsunami, after losing their ability to cool down and releasing some radiation. Since the quake, engineers have been injecting seawater into the reactors as a last-ditch coolant.

A fourth reactor that had been shut down before the quake caught fire Tuesday and more radiation was released, Edano said.

The fire was put out. Even though the fourth reactor was shut down, the fire there was believed to be the source of the elevated radiation.

(AP Photo/Mark Baker)An official wearing a protective suit helps usher people through a radiation emergency scanning center in Koriyama, Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011, four days after a giant quake and tsunami struck the country's northeastern coast.

"It is likely that the level of radiation increased sharply due to a fire at Unit 4," Edano said. "Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower."

He said another reactor whose containment building exploded Monday had not contributed greatly to the increased radiation. Edano said that reactor, and another, Unit 3, had stabilized but the status of Unit 2 was unclear.

Temperatures in two other reactors, units 5 and 6, were slightly elevated, Edano said.

"The power for cooling is not working well and the temperature is gradually rising, so it is necessary to control it," he said.

Officials said 50 workers, all of them wearing protective radiation gear, were still trying to pump water into the reactors to cool them. They say 800 other staff were evacuated. The fires and explosions at the reactors have injured 15 workers and military personnel and exposed up to 190 people to elevated radiation.

In Tokyo, slightly higher-than-normal radiation levels were detected Tuesday but officials insisted there are no health dangers.

"The amount is extremely small, and it does not raise health concerns. It will not affect us," Takayuki Fujiki, a Tokyo government official said.

Kyodo reported that radiation levels nine times higher than normal were briefly detected in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo and that the Tokyo metropolitan government said it had detected a small amount of radioactive materials in the air.

Edano said the radiation readings had fallen significantly by the evening.

Japanese government officials are being rightly cautious, said Donald Olander, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at University of California at Berkeley. He believed even the heavily elevated levels of radiation around Dai-ichi are "not a health hazard." But without knowing specific dose levels, he said it was hard to make judgments.

"Right now it's worse than Three Mile Island," Olander said. But it's nowhere near the levels released during Chernobyl.

On Three Mile Island, the radiation leak was held inside the containment shell — thick concrete armor around the reactor. The Chernobyl reactor had no shell and was also operational when the disaster struck. The Japanese reactors automatically shut down when the quake hit and are encased in containment shells.

(AP Photo/Japan Defense Ministry)In this Saturday March 12, 2011, photo released by the Japan Defense Ministry, Japanese troopers escort a local resident as they help the evacuation of stranded people at Tagajo, northeastern Japan, after Friday's earthquake and the ensuing tsunami.

Olander said encasing the reactors in a concrete sarcophagus — the last-ditch effort done in Chernobyl — is far too premature. Operators need to wait until they cool more, or risk making the situation even worse.

The death toll from last week's earthquake and tsunami jumped Tuesday as police confirmed the number killed had topped 2,700, though that grim news was overshadowed by a deepening nuclear crisis. Officials have said previously that at least 10,000 people may have died in Miyagi province alone.

Millions of people spent a fourth night with little food, water or heating in near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the loss of homes and loved ones. Asia's richest country hasn't seen such hardship since World War II.

With snow and freezing temperatures forecast for the next several days, shelters were gathering firewood to burn for heat, stacking it under tarps and tables.

Though Japanese officials have refused to speculate on the death toll, Indonesian geologist Hery Harjono, who dealt with the 2004 Asian tsunami, said it would be "a miracle really if it turns out to be less than 10,000" dead.

The 2004 tsunami killed 230,000 people — of which only 184,000 bodies were found.

Rescuers were heartened Tuesday to find one survivor. Osaka fire department spokesman Yuko Kotani says a 70-year-old woman was found inside her house that was washed away by the tsunami in northeastern Japan's Iwate prefecture. The rescuers from Osaka, in western Japan, were sent to the area for disaster relief.

Kotani said the woman was conscious but suffering from hypothermia and is being treated at a hospital. She would not give the woman's name.

The impact of the earthquake and tsunami dragged down stock markets. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunged for a second day Tuesday, nose-diving more than 10 percent to close at 8,605.15 while the broader Topix lost more than 8 percent.

To lessen the damage, Japan's central bank made two cash injections totaling 8 trillion yen ($98 billion) Tuesday into the money markets after pumping in $184 billion on Monday.

Initial estimates put repair costs in the tens of billions of dollars, costs that would likely add to a massive public debt that, at 200 percent of gross domestic product, is the biggest among industrialized nations.

Yuta Tadano, a 20-year-old pump technician at the Fukushima plant, said he was in the complex when quake hit.

"It was terrible. The desks were thrown around and the tables too. The walls started to crumble around us and there was dust everywhere. The roof began to collapse.

"We got outside and confirmed everyone was safe . Then we got out of there. We had no time to be tested for radioactive exposure. I still haven't been tested," Tadano told The Associated Press at an evacuation center.

"I worry a lot about fallout. If we could see it we could escape, but we can't," said Tadano, cradling his 4-month-old baby, Shoma.

The Dai-ichi plant is the most severely affected of three nuclear complexes that were declared emergencies after suffering damage in Friday's quake and tsunami, raising questions about the safety of such plants in coastal areas near fault lines and adding to global jitters over the industry.

___

Yuasa reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

A look at 8 news stories from the past year or so that have fallen out of the mainstream media spotlight, but are still important enough to care about.

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)Icaris Celnet stands in the ruins of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, the eve of the first anniversary of the earthquake that killed more than 230,000 people and displaced some 1.5 million more.

• Still recovering from a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haitians prepare to vote in a new president while two former presidents return from exile. [BBC.com]


• New Zealand officials revisit building codes, prohibit new buildings in Christchurch for 6 months following quake in February [NewZealandHerald.com]


• Chaos in Somalia has led to an increased presence of AlQaeda terrorists, who have killed 50 African Union peacekeepers in the past 2 weeks [WashingtonPost.com]


• Crisis in Darfur allows for continued rape of girls and women [RadioDabanga.com]


• Group funded by Rev. Pat Robertson files lawsuit in NYC Ground Zero mosque case [UPI.com]


• New Jersey politicians work to pass anti-bullying and harassment bill for colleges in honor of Tyler Clementi, whose suicide came after being secretly videotaped by a college roommate [HRC.com]


• Remember the Large Hadron Collider that was supposed to end the world? It didn't, and the unit is still being used to learn more about the universe. [Reuters.com]


(AP Photo)The Large Hadron Collider is located underground in Switzerland, and is the largest particle accelerator in the world.
• Philippine police capture militant linked to 2003 airport bombing [CanadianPress.com]


• Today in History by the Associated Press [Associated Press.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

NOTE: Users of modern browsers can open each link in a new tab by holding 'control' ('command' on a Mac) and clicking each link.

Emerging technologies are allowing people greater access to their elected officials every day & politicians need to be aware of the pros and pitfalls associated with the new reality.

This is a story written in connection with the Sunshine Week initiative for open government.

Among the millions of people tweeting, blogging or posting their thoughts to Facebook each day are an increasing numbers of politicians.

While office holders use these platforms to promote their efforts or to draw support for bills, others work to show voters a personal side beyond the campaign promises and photo-ops.

Everyone who follows an elected official on Twitter or “friends” them on Facebook opens a door to communicate with their representatives in a way never before possible.

Experts say that’s a good thing, at least as far as an open and transparent government is concerned.

Jane Fountain, a political science and public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, knows the power of the Internet in relation to government firsthand.

She is director of the UMass-based National Center for Digital Government, which works to strengthen the network of researchers and practitioners engaged in using technology in government.

Photo by Shaowei WangJane Fountain, professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the National Center for Digital Government

“Technology has led a march toward transparency, and we now have a better view of what our elected officials are doing,” she said. “It is a good way for citizens to get more information about the process and see how it all works.”

Fountain attributes the political use of the Internet to the failed, but precedent-setting presidential campaign of Howard Dean in 2003. Dean’s campaign harnessed the power of the Internet to rally support and draw financial contributions from millions of people.

“That campaign really began the modern trend of utilizing the Internet in a political campaign,” Fountain said, explaining that the use of the medium matured with the success of Barack Obama’s candidacy and with the organization of the tea party.

But the power of the web goes beyond campaigns.

“Once elected, things like personal websites, Twitter and Facebook are good ways for elected officials to keep in touch with the people that put them there,” Fountain said.

Tracking bills and budgets is one such need.

The state Legislature recently launched an updated website, and although it isn’t in its final form, said state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, it is on its way to delivering more to constituents.

State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg

“When in session, you can stream video from both the House and the Senate to see every argument, remark and vote,” Rosenberg said. “Since most people can’t get to the Statehouse during a session, it is important to let them see what we do there and give them access to all the information we use to make a decision.”

Rosenberg’s own website includes clearly links to his schedule, streaming video from the Legislature, and tools for following bills. He said making this information accessible helps break down the perceived barrier between elected officials and the electorate.

“In the 1990s when I chaired the Senate Task Force on Technology, there was no electronic system for tracking bills, e-mail was limited at best, and there were no digital social networks,” Rosenberg said. “At this point, most Massachusetts legislators are on Facebook, Twitter or at least have an online newsletter and website.”

Rosenberg said he believes using modern technology to reach the people is more than just an opportunity; it’s a responsibility.

“As elected officials, we have a fundamental responsibility to build and maintain trust with the voters,” Rosenberg said. “If we don’t embrace technology to do so, we miss an opportunity and breed cynicism and mistrust toward government. Over the past 25 years, there has been a movement to maximize the use of technology for access and accountability, and that is good for everybody involved.”

With a digital political presence quickly becoming a job requirement, it’s critical for politicians to stay surefooted in a landscape that can change by the hour.

“If we should have learned one thing from WikiLeaks, it is that people need to be careful of what they say and how they say it,” Fountain said. “If someone doesn’t take the time to craft a sentence perfectly or just speaks from the cuff, it could result in a backlash or interpretation they never anticipated.”

Fountain said that the amplification of scandal on the Internet is as new as it is underappreciated. Mark Foley, a former Republican congressman from Florida, knows this lesson.

In late 2006, news broke that Foley had inappropriate online conversations with teenage boys who were serving as congressional pages in his office. As the story developed, former pages came forward and released the instant messaging transcripts of conversations Foley had with them either while they were serving or once they graduated.

Closer to home, state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, was recently the target of a parody Twitter account that satirized his alleged connection to a patronage scandal at the state probation department.

A screen shot from @ThePetroMachine, a Twitter parody page dedicated to Ludlow State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati.

Petrolati was mentioned numerous times in a report on probation patronage, but has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The anonymous person behind the account posted for several days before Petrolati’s office caught wind of it – only after being contacted by a Republican reporter seeking comment. The account was suspended shortly after an article appeared in The Republican and on MassLive.com.

It all amounts to a world in which words – whether the politician’s own or those of his or her critics – travel faster and farther than ever before, and are less likely to be forgotten.

“New technology gives politicians the power to reach out to people, but it also leaves a permanent record, whether they are always aware of it or not.

A comment a politician makes in a closed meeting can be recorded on a smart phone and uploaded online before anyone even leaves the room,” Fountain said. “What would otherwise be a small political misstep has the potential to take a life of its own. Elected officials are either used to or need to get used to an environment where anything they say or do can end up on the web.”

Westmass Area Development Corporation should be on track to purchase the Ludlow Mills property in June.

The Republican file photo | Mark MurrayLudlow Mills

LUDLOW-The Westmass Area Development Corporation has secured $13 million in funding for the acquisition and initial development of the Ludlow Mills project.

Through a combination of state grants, private debt financing and equity investments, Kenn W. Delude, president and CEO of Westmass, said the corporation has authorized final site work which will culminate in the acquisition of the Ludlow Mills site in June.

Delude said subsurface environmental and geotechnical investigations will begin around March 21 as a final step in advance of the acquisition of the property.

The work is expected to be completed in approximately six weeks, putting Westmass on track to acquire the Ludlow Mills property in June, Delude said.

Permitting, a zone change and infrastructure commitments will be worked on simultaneously over the next 60 to 90 days.

Delude said, “Obtaining commitments for this portion of the Mills’ financial plan is a huge success given the challenges accessing capital in current economic conditions.”

Delude said that $5.2 million in state grant commitments that Gov. Deval L. Patrick made to the project, to the town of Ludlow and the region, helped Westmass secure the necessary funding.

The grants will be provided through programs administered by state Secretary Gregory Bialeck of Housing and Economic Development and state Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

“These grant funds were the catalyst needed to stimulate the project’s private equity investments and debt financing,” Delude said.

Delude said that when redevelopment is complete, preliminary estimates indicate the site could provide between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs for residents of the region and stimulate up to $300 million in private investment.

The project’s primary focus will be on commercial and industrial development with a limited number of residential housing units.

Delude thanked State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, state Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, the Ludlow Board of Selectmen and the Ludlow community for its support of the project.

“Westmass is committed to seeing that the Ludlow Mills once again become a major contributor to the economic prosperity of the region,” Delude said.

Delude said the Ludlow Mills site is the largest brownfield re-use development initiative in New England and currently has 66 buildings on the site and approximately 1,450,000 square feet of space on 170 acres.

Development of the project is planned to take place over 15 or more years.

DeLeo said he intends to force cities and towns into the state’s health insurance program, the Group Insurance Commission.

Associated Press / File photosMassachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, left, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo.

By KYLE CHENEY | State House News Service

BOSTON - Warning that cities and towns will face “brutal” budgets in the coming months, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said Tuesday that labor-backed proposals to cut the cost of municipal health insurance “did not go far enough.”

In a speech to the greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, obtained by the News Service, DeLeo said he intends to force cities and towns into the state’s health insurance program, the Group Insurance Commission – a plan he suggested he favored in January – unless then can “meet or beat” savings under the state’s plan. He said his hometown of Winthrop saved $800,000 by joining the state plan.

Unions this month largely embraced plans by Gov. Deval Patrick to force cities and towns into the Group Insurance Commission, unless they develop their own plan of equal or lesser cost within an expedited bargaining period. Patrick has estimated that cities and towns would see savings between $100 million and $120 million under that proposal. Labor unions have proposed that their members receive a 50 percent cut of the savings to offset higher premiums, co-pays or deductibles they see.

“If cities and towns can’t meet or beat the GIC, they will be forced to join it,” DeLeo said, according to his prepared remarks, adding, “If we want to do what’s right for our children who attend public schools; if we want to provide public safety protection at adequate levels; if we want our streets plowed and our trash collected – it’s high time we give cities and towns the tools – through legislation – to make more than a dent in the cost of municipal health insurance.”

Although DeLeo has declined to convene meetings with Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders on expanded gambling – and the leaders acknowledge they’ve had no serious talks on the subject since July – the speaker again reiterated that a proposal to bring new forms of gambling to Massachusetts is “the quickest way” to shore up funding for cities and towns and create blue collar jobs.

“With the urgency for revenue and jobs in mind, I will continue to work with Governor Patrick and Senate President Murray to find a consensus on gaming. I am hopeful we can get it done this session,” DeLeo said.

DeLeo said “the bulk” of his time in recent weeks has been devoted to plans to overhaul the state’s judiciary and criminal justice systems, wracked by scandal and controversy. The state Probation Department was plunged last year into a patronage scandal following the report of an independent investigator that found rampant hiring and promotion abuses within the agency, some with the encouragement of legislators. The state Parole Board came under fire in December after a paroled criminal with a long rap sheet shot and killed a Woburn police officer.

In his speech, DeLeo embraces a proposal by Gov. Deval Patrick to phase out the courts’ current form of administration – a chief judge is appointed to oversee the day-to-day operations – and replace it with a professional administrator with management experience.

“In separating the judicial and business functions of the court, the chief justices of each of the court departments will properly maintain responsibility for all other core judicial functions, such as monitoring caseload, assigning judges, judicial training and judicial discipline,” he said.

However, he said he intends to scrap the governor’s plan to merge the Probation Department, a court agency, into the Executive Branch, an idea that has attracted few fans in the Legislature and within the Judiciary.

“Under the bill I will file, the Probation Department will remain in the trial court. I have considered the Governor’s proposal to align probation with parole functions in the executive branch. After having spoken with [Chief] Justice Ireland and others, however, I believe that the functions of Probation are properly within the judiciary and so, should remain there,” he said.

DeLeo also embraced a requirement that job applicants for the Probation Department be tested to ensure they meet hiring criteria.

“The test will provide a pool of qualified individuals from which the administrators would select candidates to interview,” he said. “Unless applicants exceed a required score, they cannot advance in the interview process. Period.”

He acknowledged that he had previously supported placing the probation agency under the state civil service system, but he said that his approach “offers what I like most about civil service -- an objective test -- without its well recognized flaws.”

A proposal to overhaul the agency’s hiring practices will also require that all job recommendations be made in writing and prevent hiring officials from seeing them until job applicants reach the final round of consideration. It will also make recommendations public records.

“A job recommendation is a serious matter. We all know that a job recommendation from a public official carries weight and I will be the first to say that all recommendations for successful candidates should be transparent,” he said.

Addressing tax policy, DeLeo reiterated an oft-stated pledge: “I will support no new taxes or fees in the House budget.” He has also suggested in recent weeks that proposals by Gov. Deval Patrick to raise additional revenue for the budget – including a plan to expand 5-cent deposits on plastic bottles to water and other non-carbonated beverages – were off the table.

The Winthrop Democrat and former House budget chief estimated next year’s budget gap at $2 billion.

In his speech, DeLeo proposed requiring the Department of Revenue to publish reports on tax policies “on a regular basis.

“Under this plan, taxpayers could express their views on these changes earlier in the process and before they are set in stone,” he said. “When it comes to fostering a better business environment and making sure Massachusetts maximizes revenue, dropping surprise tax announcements is counterproductive.”

DeLeo also said he intends to shorten the length of the tax audit process.

“We need to maximize state and taxpayer resources – not squander them in overly long tax audits,” DeLeo said. “Unless the state can complete an audit within 18 months, we will consider waiving taxpayer penalties for substantial underpayment of taxes.”

Western Mass. is at risk to lose a Congressional seat.

sec.state.maMassachusetts' Congressional districts, last updated in 2008. A Legislative panel will oversee the redistricting of the Commonwealth, which is losing one Congressional seat. See the full version »

The Joint Committee on Redistricting will hold its first public hearing this Wednesday on the process of redrawing Congressional districts for the Commonwealth, which is slated to lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives based on results of the 2010 census.

The hearing will be held at 1 p.m. in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House in Boston, according to the State House News Service.

The committee will unveil its new website and announce the dates and locations of more public hearings to be held around the state. The committee has been emphasizing its efforts toward transparency after Democratic members of the Legislature roundly rejected measures in the House and Senate to appoint an independent panel — rather than state legislators themselves — to oversee redistricting.

State Republicans criticized the rejection, largely along party lines, citing a January poll that found 62 percent of state residents supported such a measure.

Redistricting could have a major impact in Western Massachusetts, which currently has two U.S. representatives, Democrats Richard Neal of Springfield and John Olver of Amherst. Both made unusually early announcements that they intended to run for re-election, and some have suggested that the less populous western half of the state could see its districts merged.

Western Mass. has representation on the panel, though: the committee's Senate chair is Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst and its House vice chair is Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield. Reps. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, and Christopher N. Speranzo, D-Pittsfield, are also members.

Redistricting could also be impacted by who decides to run against U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican. The Washington Post's Aaron Blake wrote back in December about what Brown's election to the U.S. Senate has to do with redistricting:

Had Brown not shocked the world by winning a special election in January, there wouldn't be an opportunity for a Democratic member of Congress to challenge him. And without the opportunity for a promotion, the only way to avoid two members running against each other would have been if one retired.

As it stands now, it appears likely that at least one member of the delegation will run against Brown. Failing that, the members could hope one of two septuagenarian members retires. Read more »

The two "septuagenarian members" — Barney Frank, 71, and John Olver, 75 — have both said they intend to run for reelection. The Post recently named Reps. Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano as possible challengers to Brown, who continues to have strong approval ratings among state voters, according to a recent poll from the Western New England College polling center.