If the council fail to fill the vacancy in a timely fashion, an appointment could be made by the mayor.

WESTFIELD – The City Council is scheduled to decide Oct. 4 whether to appoint Brian S. Winters, who received one write-in vote on last November’s city election ballot, to replace James E. Brown Jr. as city councilor in Ward 2.

Council members remain split on the appointment with several members voicing reluctance to appointing someone, they say was not an official candidate, who received a single vote to seat. But, failure to act on Oct. 4 could result in Mayor Daniel M. Knapik deciding who fills the vacant seat.

James E. Brown Jr.

Brown resigned effective Sept. 1, because of employment obligations. Now that the council has officially accepted his resignation, it has 15 days to fill the vacancy or that chore goes to the mayor, according to the City Charter.

Winters’ pending appointment is based on two opinions issued by the city’s Law Department both citing Westfield’s City Charter which outlines the process for filling vacancies on the council.

The council adjourned its Sept. 10 meeting without accepting the resignation.

Christopher Keefe

Council president Christopher Keefe made it clear Thursday night that no action would be taken to fill seat until the council’s next meeting Oct. 4 because the issue was not posted on Thursday’s agenda. “I do not wish to chance violating the open meeting law,’ Keefe said.

The two Law Department decisions both city Chapter 43, Section 26 of the Charter that states the council must appoint the next defeated candidate from the last municipal election in filling a vacancy.

The charter does not define ‘candidate’ but City Solicitor Susan C. Phillips, in an opinion issued Thursday, included a definition of candidate listed in Black’s Law Dictionary. A candidate is “one who seeks or offers himself, or is put forward by others, for an office, privilege, or honor.”

It was unclear Thursday if Winters will require seven votes from councilors to take the Ward 2 seat. But, some councilors are considering ignoring the Law Department opinions and nominate candidates for the vacancy.

Winters and his wife Erin, each received a single write- in vote in the Ward 2 council race last year but she has declined interest in filling the seat.

The withdrawal, which leaves 68,000 American forces in the warzone, comes as the security transition to Afghan forces is in trouble, threatened by a spike in so-called insider attacks in which Afghan Army and police troops, or insurgents dressed in their uniforms, have been attacking and killing U.S. and NATO forces.

In this May 2, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai walk together after they signed a strategic partnership agreement at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Nearly two years after Obama ordered 33,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to tamp down the escalating Taliban violence, the last of those surge troops have left the country, U.S. officials said. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

LOLITA C. BALDOR

The Associated Press

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Nearly two years after President Barack Obama ordered 33,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to tamp down the escalating Taliban violence, the last of those surge troops have left the country, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The withdrawal, which leaves 68,000 American forces in the warzone, comes as the security transition to Afghan forces is in trouble, threatened by a spike in so-called insider attacks in which Afghan Army and police troops, or insurgents dressed in their uniforms, have been attacking and killing U.S. and NATO forces.

And it's called into question the core strategy that relies on NATO troops working shoulder to shoulder with Afghans, training them to take over the security of their own country so the U.S. and its allies can leave at the end of 2014 as planned.

The number of U.S. forces there peaked at about 101,000 last year, and they have been coming out slowly over the past several months.

The surge was aimed at beating back the Taliban to give the Afghan government and its security forces the time and space to take hold. The key goal was to ensure that the Taliban did not regain a foothold in the country that could allow it once again to become a safe haven for terror groups. And there was hope that Taliban members would be willing to come to the peace table.

Military commanders say the war strategy is on track and that they have made broad gains against the Taliban, wresting control of areas where the insurgents once had strong footholds. And U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has characterized the insider attacks as the last gasp of a desperate insurgency.

But other top military leaders, including U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are worried about the impact of the attacks on the troops. Dempsey called them a "very serious threat" to the war campaign and has declared that "something has to change."

Former prosecutor Jack Crawley told a U.S. District Court in Wilmington that Helena Stoeckley never told prosecutors she was involved.

Associated Press fileJeffrey MacDonald, right, appears in federal court in Wilmington, N.C., in 1979. MacDonald's pregnant wife and two young daughters were murdered in in their Fort Bragg home in 1970. MacDonald was convicted of the crimes. Hearings are currently being held in federal court in Wilmington about new evidence in the case.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – One of the prosecutors in the Jeffrey MacDonald murder trial testified Thursday that a key witness didn’t confess to taking part in the 1970 murders.

Former prosecutor Jack Crawley told a U.S. District Court in Wilmington much of what Jim Blackburn had testified Wednesday, that Helena Stoeckley never told prosecutors that she was involved, and he denied making threats.

Crawley said he was present at the prosecution’s meeting with Stoeckley.

Stoeckley had told people over the years that she thought she was in the MacDonald home the night of the killings. But Crawley testified Stoeckley denied the story in the meeting, which also had present U.S. Attorney George Anderson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Murtagh.

Stoeckley died in 1983.

Retired Deputy Marshal Jimmy Britt said in 2005 that he was in the room during the interview. Blackburn has testified that Britt wasn’t there, and Crawley said, “I don’t think he was there, but I cannot say with absolute certainty.” Britt has since died.

MacDonald’s wife, Colette, and their two daughters, 5-year-old Kimberley and 2-year-old Kristen, were beaten and stabbed to death in February 1970.

Pelham, Mass., resident Joe McGinniss wrote a book called “Fatal Vision” that brought national attention to the case.

MacDonald, 68, has always maintained that he awoke on a sofa in the home as three men attacked his family and a woman, wearing a blonde wig and a floppy hat, chanted “acid is groovy, kill the pigs.”

The hearing is based on two new types of evidence: DNA results on three hairs and a statement from a former deputy U.S. marshal. Those who believe MacDonald committed the killings have said the hairs could have come from anyone – neighbors or other people who had been in the home.

"Winning an Ig Nobel has been my dream as a mad scientist," said Kazutaka Kurihara, inventor of a device called the SpeechJammer.

AP Photo | Charles KrupaHarvard University Clowes Professor of Science Robert Kirshner, left, along with Nobel laureates Dudley Herschbach, center, and Rich Roberts, fire paper airplanes back at the audience during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University, in Cambridge on Thursday. The Ig Nobel prize is an award handed out by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine for silly sounding scientific discoveries that often have surprisingly practical applications.

BOSTON (AP) — For anyone who's ever been tired of listening to someone drone on and on and on, two Japanese researchers have the answer.

The SpeechJammer, a device that disrupts a person's speech by repeating his or her own voice at a delay of a few hundred milliseconds, was named Thursday as a 2012 winner of the Ig Nobel prize — an award sponsored by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine for weird and humorous scientific discoveries.

The echo effect of the device is just annoying enough to get someone to sputter and stop.

Actually, the device created by Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji Tsukada is meant to help public speakers by alerting them if they are speaking too quickly or have taken up more than their allotted time.

"This technology ... could also be useful to ensure speakers in a meeting take turns appropriately, when a particular participant continues to speak, depriving others of the opportunity to make their fair contribution," said Kurihara, of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan.

Still, winning an Ig Nobel in acoustics for the device's other more dubious purpose is cool too.

"Winning an Ig Nobel has been my dream as a mad scientist," he said.

As usual, the ersatz Nobels were handed out by real Nobel laureates, including 2007 economics winner Eric Maskin, who was also the prize in the "Win a Date with a Nobel Laureate" contest.

Other winners feted Thursday at Harvard University's opulent Sanders Theatre included Dutch researchers who won the psychology prize for studying why leaning to the left makes the Eiffel Tower look smaller; four Americans who took the neuroscience prize for demonstrating that sophisticated equipment can detect brain activity in dead fish; a British-American team that won the physics prize for explaining how and why ponytails bounce; and the U.S. General Accountability Office, which won the literature prize for a report about reports.

Rouslan Krechetnikov, an engineering professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, and graduate student Hans Meyer took home the fluid dynamics prize for research into the sloshing that goes on in coffee cup as it's carried.

Like many projects that have won Ig Nobels in the past, it started in a casual conversation based on everyday observations.

AP Photo | Charles KrupaArtist Don Featherstone, 1996 Ig Nobel Prize winner and creator of the plastic pink flamingo lawn ornament, poses with his Nancy while being honored as a past recipient during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University, in Cambridge on Thursday.

Krechetnikov and Meyer were taking a coffee break at a conference last year when they watched as others milled around trying to prevent staining their clothes.

The science of sloshing liquids has been studied before — in rocketry, for example, shifting weight can destabilize a missile or rocket — but no one's ever really studied coffee as it splashes around, Krechetnikov said.

"It is one of those cases where we were interested in explaining the phenomena, but not changing it," he said.

The reason coffee spills?: A person's walking speed, their mental focus and, surprisingly enough, noise.

Are there practical applications? You could design a better coffee cup by using what Krechetnikov calls "a series of annular ring baffles arranged around the inner wall of the container to achieve sloshing suppression," although those solutions are impractical.

"We just wanted to satisfy our curiosity and, given the results, to share what we learned with the scientific community through peer-reviewed literature," he said.

The 22nd annual Ig Nobels ceremony, with the theme "The Universe," featured the usual doses of zaniness, including the traditional launching of hundreds of paper airplanes and the world premiere of an opera entitled "The Intelligent Designer and the Universe," about an insane wealthy man who bequeaths his fortune to have someone design a beautiful dress for the universe.

"Personally, this goes along with my view of science," Krechetnikov said. "There should be a fun side to it.

After struggling for much of the summer, the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays and have won five in a row, their longest winning string since June 23-27.

APNew York Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher, center, celebrates with teammates after their 10-7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in their baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.

NEW YORK — Streaking Ichiro Suzuki hit a go-ahead, two-run double in a seven-run fourth inning capped by Nick Swisher's grand slam, and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-7 Thursday night to open a one-game AL East lead over idle Baltimore.

After struggling for much of the summer, the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays and have won five in a row, their longest winning string since June 23-27.

Backed by an 8-2 lead, Phil Hughes (16-12) lasted just five innings.

Toronto trailed 10-4 before a three-run eighth. David Robertson got three outs for his second save this season and first since May 8.

New York was down 2-0 before Suzuki's solo home run in the third. He hooked a based-loaded double to right in the fourth on an 0-2 pitch, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead and extending Suzuki's spurt to nine hits in 10 at-bats.

That chased starter Aaron Laffey (3-6), and reliever Brad Lincoln loaded the bases with a walk to Jayson Nix. Derek Jeter followed with an RBI for a 14-game hitting streak, and Swisher sent a 96 mph fastball into the right-field seats for his seventh career slam and third this season.

Hughes (16-12) won his third straight start, allowing four runs and four hits with nine strikeouts. Hughes struck out Kelly Johnson with the bases loaded to end the third, then tied a major league record in the fourth by striking out four batters: J.P. Arencibia, Adeiny Hechavarria, Anthony Gose and Brett Lawrie. Hechavarria reached on Russell Martin's passed ball.

New York, which led the division by 10 games in late July, has been in the unusual position of scoreboard watching of late.

"It's impossible not to see the scoreboard. It's so big in front of you," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You look at the outfielders, where they're positioned, and you look at the infielders, where they're positioned, and there's the scoreboard."

Still, he didn't stay up to watch Baltimore's extra-inning wins at Seattle the previous two nights.

"It's too late for me," he said. "I also have little kids that like to get — be up early. So I went to bed, checked the scores when I got up this morning."

Toronto dropped to 66-82, ensuring the Blue Jays' second straight losing season and third in four years. Laffey gave up five runs — four earned — five walks and two hits in three-plus innings, dropping to 0-4 in his last six starts. There were 13 walks, eight by Toronto pitchers, and Blue Jays batters struck out 15 times.

New York's big fourth inning started when Martin walked and took second on a delayed steal, Curtis Granderson reached when Johnson fumbled his grounder to second and Casey McGehee loaded the bases for Suzuki with a walk.

Toronto built its lead when Johnson hit an RBI double in the second and Hughes hit Moises Sierra in the left ribs with a bases-loaded pitch in the third.

After Sierra's fifth-inning homer closed the Blue Jays to 8-4, the Yankees added a pair of runs in the fifth against Brett Cecil. Granderson popped a 200-foot, wind-blown double that Sierra chased from right field but allowed to fall on the grass behind second base. Nix doubled in a run and scored on Jeter's single.

Johnson homered in the eighth off Cory Wade, Lawrie had a run-scoring single against Joba Chamberlain and Mike McCoy hit into an RBI forceout.

NOTES: New York (86-63) matched its season high of 23 games over .500. ... Former Yankees manager Joe Torre was on hand for a pregame tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, who died Aug. 6, accompanying the composer's wife, Terre. Hamlisch was a friend of Torre's and an occasional guest in his Yankee Stadium office. ... The only other Yankees pitcher with four Ks in an inning was A.J. Burnett against Colorado on June 24 last year. ... The Yankees have 10 slams this season, tying the team record set in 1987 and matched in 2010 and 2011. Swisher had slams April 21 at Boston and Aug. 13 vs. Texas.

Manning completed 27 of 35 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) dives over the goal line for a touchdown against the New York Giants during the third quarter in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday night. Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Eli Manning didn’t need a scintillating fourth quarter comeback Thursday night.

The two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, running back Andre Brown and the rest of the New York Giants were too good for the first three quarters to need one.

Brown ran for a career-high 113 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL start and the routed the Carolina Panthers 36-7.

Four days after rallying from 14 points down to beat Tampa Bay, the Giants dominated the first half, scoring on their first four possessions to build a 20-0 lead.

The defending champion Giants (2-1) were without three starters but it hardly mattered.

Brown got the start in place of Ahmad Bradshaw, who sat out with a neck injury. Ramses Barden caught nine passes for a career-high 138 yards in his first NFL start in place of Hakeem Nicks.

Manning completed 27 of 35 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

Cam Newton struggled all night and was pressured into three interceptions. The Panthers (1-2) had five turnovers, including two by returner Joe Adams.

Mixing run and pass, the Giants dominated the opening half, outgaining the Panthers 303-125.

Manning completed 19 of 25 passes for 208 yards in the first half, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett to cap the Giants’ game-opening drive and set the tone. It capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive and marked the third straight game the Panthers have given up a touchdown on an opponent’s first drive.

Brown repeatedly bounced off tacklers and Barden had little trouble getting open against a Carolina defense that failed to pressure Manning.

Brown ran 13 times for 71 yards and a touchdown last week against Tampa Bay and surpassed that total by the end of the first quarter with 77 yards on seven.

Barden had 123 yards on seven carries at halftime.

Before Thursday night, the fourth-year receiver had never managed more than nine catches for 94 yards receiving in a season.

Any hopes that the Panthers would turn things around in the second half were slowed when rookie returner Joe Adams of the ball on the opening kickoff resulting in another field goal for Lawrence Tynes.

The Panthers didn’t get on the board until midway through the third quarter when Newton leaped over the pile from a yard out.

Medicare, unlike Social Security, cannot be easily fixed. It's on a path toward disaster along with Medicaid and pretending that all is well isn't going to change that.

Associated Press | Steve HelberRepublican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., gestures during a rally at Piedmont Precision Machine Company in Danville, Va., Wednesday.

Paul Ryan used to want to destroy Medicare. Now he wants to destroy it while claiming that he intends to save it.

The Republican vice presidential nominee was the author of a plan to turn Medicare, the popular health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, into a voucher system. This was in his so-called roadmap, issued two years ago.

The plan, it was clear, would leave many who rely on Medicare paying more and more of their own money – money they likely didn’t have – for their health care.

So Ryan changed his tune. Sort of. Rather than replacing Medicare with a voucher program, he’d leave Medicare in place and at the same time establish a private system to operate alongside the traditional plan.

Those who want to remain in the old Medicare could stay. Those who opted for the private plans could go.

What would happen? Healthier folks would be the ones to opt out, leaving Medicare the province of the sick and infirm, forcing it closer to insolvency. It’s just Ryan’s original plan in fancier clothes.

But there’s another real problem here.

The incumbent, President Barack Obama, is happy to scare voters away from the vision of his opponents, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and running mate Ryan, but he hasn’t offered a way out himself.

Medicare, unlike Social Security, cannot be easily fixed. It’s on a path toward disaster – along with Medicaid – and pretending that all is well isn’t going to change that.

Obama is absolutely right to put the fear of God into people about the Republican plan. But he’s got to offer a little something of his own on the matter.

If what you’ve got going is unsustainable, criticizing a proposed remedy as dangerous is only half a step.

The Ryan stand is an awful one, but the president’s is untenable. A real plan, anyone?

The iPhone 5 was released Friday to customers in several countries around the world. Apple sold 2 million of the new phones in the first 24 hours after announcing its release date.

• Old Amherst barn with link to poet Robert Frost may be torn down [Daily Hampshire Gazette]




• Medicare recipients save $4.5 billion on prescriptions [USA Today]




• Local businesses benefiting from The Big E [WGGB]




• Colo. shooting suspect in court; prosecutors seek palm print [The Associated Press]




• Tim Pawlenty to head bank lobbying organization [Politico]




• As expected, long lines for Apple's iPhone 5 in Asia [The Associated Press]




• Northampton wastewater treatment plant back after storm malfunction [Daily Hampshire Gazette]




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Letter writer: There is a now-public video of a private fund raising party for Mitt Romney showing the ex-governor saying quite loudly and clearly that 47 percent of the U.S. population are not paying Federal income tax are living off the government dole and that “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Brown voted against equal pay legislation

This is just to remind voters that Scott Brown – along with every other Republican senator – voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have helped American women earn equal pay for equal work.

– ALLEN WHITE, Longmeadow

Obama’s record is full of failures

Associated Press | Carolyn KasterPresident Obama visits Emily Young, first time voter, and student and University of Miami at OMG Burger, Thursday in Florida.

To all my Democrat friends:

What is it about Barack Obama that you like?

Is it the historically high unemployment? Is it the fewest people working since 1981? Is it the $16 trillion deficit?

Is it the half billion dollars wasted on Solyndra?

Is it the lack of respect in the world he has brought us? Is it the way he has disrespected Israel and its prime minister? Is it his proposed dismantling of the military? Is it his continued use of class warfare?

Is it the credit he takes for your success? Or is it just because he is a Democrat?

Think about it.

– BOB PUESCHEL, South Hadley

Mitt Romney should emulate his father

There is a now-public video of a private fund raising party for Mitt Romney showing the ex-governor saying quite loudly and clearly that 47 percent of the U.S. population are not paying Federal income tax are living off the government dole and that “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

There has been much discussion about how misleading this statement is since 80 percent of the 47 percent he is referring to are working at low-paying jobs below the income level required for income tax and many others are living off Social Security and not receiving enough benefits to pay income taxes.

That being said, the real irony of his statement is that his father, George Romney was born in 1903 in Mexico and moved to Texas in 1912 to get away from the Mexican Revolution. The important part of George Romney’s history that Mitt Romney has forgotten is that the Romney family lived on welfare when they returned from Mexico.

The government helped the Romneys survive poverty, and helped again when the Great Depression hit in 1929. Gov. George Romney never forgot where he came from and spoke about it when he was running for public office. Without the federal government’s welfare assistance program, Mitt would just be another guy like the rest of us. How could someone for whom welfare and government assistance was so critical in his family’s history speak with such disdain about those who need it today to survive.

– ED MAXWELL, South Hadley

News media biased in favor of Obama

Recent letters to the editor have labeled Charles Krauthammer and Elizabeth Parker as being respectively a shill and a tool for Mitt Romney.

The letter writers found it extremely alarming and seemed shocked that the columnists could be so biased in favor of a candidate.

They must be kidding!

Now let’s consider who is biased and acts as a shill or tool for President Obama. They include most of the columnists appearing on the editorial pages, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, the Associated Press and practically all of the newspapers in Massachusetts, except the Boston Herald.

This has been the case since Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency.

At least we can get opposing viewpoints from FNC, as well as occasionally from some columnists, so that both sides of the story are available for those who may want to know.

– DAVE MICHAUD, South Hadley

Can Scott Brown keep eyes on road?

I have to laugh every time I see Scott Brown’s advertisement “On the Road.” In his pick-up truck he is driving along while being taped, looking at the camera most of the time and not the road.

Also, he seems to be driving with only one hand on the wheel. It makes me wonder if he might also text and/or use his cell phone while driving. Would he handle his role in the Senate in much the same way (with his eyes off the road)?

– SALLY CYR BREHART, Springfield

The center includes a lost-and-found section and a message board where people can leave each other notes. Watch video

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Sheila Stroh, of Bethel, Conn., pointed to the sign that read “Lost People Center” as she posed with her husband John. Linda Najam of Danbury, Conn, snapped a picture.

“Linda’s husband teases me that I’m a lost soul,” said John Stroh, who was enjoying the Big E on Connecticut Day.

People like to make wisecracks about the Lost People Center, but it’s a serious operation to its dedicated staff and volunteers.

“We have a 100 percent success rate,” said volunteer Linda Balakier, of Chicopee, who was at the Lost People counter Wednesday with two other cheerful volunteers and Big E staff member Thomas Williams of Chicopee.

The Lost People Center was established at the Big E in 1989, according to Noreen Tassinari, director of marketing at the Eastern States Exposition.

It includes a lost-and-found section and a message board where people can leave each other notes.

There’s also a room where lost kids can play video games while they snack on pretzels, chips, juice and other goodies.

Only half of the people who get lost at the Big E are children. “More often it’s the adults who get separated from their company,” said Tassinari.

In 2011 there were 43 “searches” for lost people, said Tassinari, of which 23 were children under 16.

Cell phones have made a world of difference. In 1992, there were 343 searches.

Tassinari said that if a child is lost, the response is quick.

“We have a strong police presence, and people who work the gates and information centers will immediately notify the Lost People Center,” she said.

Earlier in the day a 4-year-old child had gotten separated from his aunts and escorted to the center by police.

“He was not scared at all,” said Balakier. “He was a chatterbox. He answered all our questions – and then he was interviewing us!”

The aunts soon turned up. “Another success story,” said Balakier.

Very small children are seldom lost as they are often ensconced in strollers, which appear to be everywhere. In the space of 15 minutes, 27 strollers passed the Lost People Center.

The center has an efficient system for logging lost and found items, though too many people neglect to follow up on their lost items. In fact, said Tassinari, in 2011, 497 items were turned in to the lost-and-found, but only 247 items were reported lost.

Zulma Arroyo-Cruz, of Southington, approached the counter balancing a stuffed potato in one hand and a Citibank card in the other. The card had been left on the counter of the eatery.

People come to the Lost People Center to ask all kinds of questions that have nothing to do with lost people.

“Where are the cream puffs?” asked a woman standing in front of the cream puff sign and its arrow.

“Where is the fried lasagna?” asked another woman.

“Where am I right now?” said another.

In most cases, the volunteers direct the questioners to the nearest information booth. A number of them are current or retired schoolteachers, and used to helping others.

They smile at the wisecracks, even if they’ve heard them before.

“I was lost, but now I’m found,” quipped a woman in a beret as she passed the counter.

“I’ve been lost since I was born,” joked John Petitpas, of East Hartford.

Another popular comment, according to volunteer Mary Powers: “I’ve lost my mind. Can you help me find it?”

The Tigers gave Western Mass. a rare state Division II title.

Republican staff photo by Michael GordonSouth Hadley High School pitcher Jordan Page, shown in action last year, was among the Tigers' players honored Friday night at Fenway Park as state Division II champions. Page now attends AIC.

BOSTON - The Red Sox honored several championship high school teams Friday night, and South Hadley High School was one of them.

"It was kind of a surprise,'' pitcher Jordan Page said before the Boston-Baltimore game at Fenway Park.

"They wouldn't have missed it for anything, though,'' said Tigers coach Matt Foley, whose team won the state Division II title in June.

Several players graduated last spring, and returned from college for their special night as part of the pregame ceremonies.

Catcher Mike Croke made it back from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Schenectady, N.Y.

Page, who pitched a shutout win over Plymouth North in the state final, attends American International. Shortstop Connor Sheridan has gone on to Westfield State.

Second baseman Tom Spring has gone on to Western New England. Outfielder Nate Flachs is part of a good returning nucleus.

The Red Sox game gave the Tigers a chance to appreciate their achievement. State baseball titles at the Division II level have been rare for Western Massachusetts teams in at least the past 25 years.

"When you're coaching, you're (concentrating on) coaching. This has given me the chance to see the title in perspective,'' Foley said.

"I'm a Yankees fan, but tonight I'm rooting for the Red Sox,'' Sheridan said.

Of course, the Red Sox were playing Baltimore, a team that is fighting the Yankees for first place in the AL East.

South Hadley finished 12-13, but went 8-1 against Division II opposition and finished a Cinderella-type year with an eight-game winning streak.

They beat a powerhouse in the final. Plymouth North was the defending D-II champion.

A ring ceremony will be held for South Hadley team on Oct. 5, at halftime of the school's football game against Ludlow.

Walt Disney Studios is producing the film starring Johnny Depp.

Walt Disney Studios Tonto is played by Johnny Depp and John Reid is played by Armie Hammer in "The Lone Ranger."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities are investigating the apparently drowning of a crew member who was working on a set for upcoming "The Lone Ranger" film.

Coroner's spokesman Ed Winter says a 48-year-old man was pronounced dead around 10 a.m. Friday. He was cleaning a pool that was going to be used in the film in Acton, which is in northeast Los Angeles County. Winter says it appears the man suffered a heart attack.

The man's identity was not released.

Walt Disney Studios is producing the film starring Johnny Depp. It expressed its condolences, saying the studio's thoughts are with the man's family, friend and co-workers. The studio is also cooperating with the investigation, which will include an autopsy to determine his cause of death.

The three men were trying to steal copper pipes and other metal from the house but the homeowner came home and prevented them from driving away.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – A Hadley Police Department cruiser.

HADLEY - A Hadley resident returning to his home on Hockanum Road just after 11:30 a.m. Friday pulled in to his driveway just as a 3 men in a truck filled with metal items stolen from his house were pulling out, police said.

The man blocked the truck in and immediately called police on his cell phone, and two of the three men in the truck got out and ran into the woods, according to police. The house is located on Hockanum Road near the 400-acre Skinner State Park

State police officers from Northampton and Springfield, and local police from South Hadley, Northampton and Amherst aided Hadley police in a search of the area. Also aiding in the search were state Department of Conservation and Recreation rangers.

Just before 4:30 p.m., a South Hadley police detective spotted two men who matched the descriptions of the two suspects getting onto a Five Colleges bus, police said.The bus was stopped and all its occupants kept inside until Hadley police could arrive. It was not disclosed where the bus was stopped.

The three men will be charged with larceny of more than $250, daytime breaking and entering, and damage to personal property. Hadley police were not releasing their names until charges are filed.

Police checked the Hockanum Road house and found that the men stole copper pipes that had just been installed as well as several steel and metal items that had been in the yard. Police said the men likely intended to sell it all as a scrap.

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DeCarlo was arrested by Wilbraham police after he showed up at the victim's address with a guitar, boxes of costume jewelry, and a bag containing a laptop computer and Bible, according to his court file.

Blaze T. DeCarlo

PALMER - Blaze T. DeCarlo, found guilty last year of two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, was back in Palmer District Court on Monday after Wilbraham police said he violated the terms of his probation by trying to contact the victim and her family.

DeCarlo, 41, of Bangor, Maine, denied charges of felony breaking and entering into a building, criminal harassment and two counts of witness intimidation. He was held on $50,000 bail or $500,000 surety and is scheduled to return to court Oct. 15 for a pretrial conference.

DeCarlo was arrested by Wilbraham police on Saturday after he showed up at the victim's address with a guitar, boxes of costume jewelry, and a bag containing a laptop computer and Bible, according to his court file.

According to the terms of his probation, he wasn't supposed to leave Maine. As a result of the guilty finding last year, he also was supposed to register as a sex offender, remain drug and alcohol free, have no contact with children under 14 and have no unsupervised contact with minors. He also was supposed to undergo sex offender counseling and treatment as ordered.

DeCarlo skipped out on his arraignment last year on the indecent assault and battery charges when he heard the assistant district attorney would be asking for $25,000 bail. When he was found by Maine police and finally arraigned back in Palmer, his bail was set at $100,000.

DeCarlo was charged by Wilbraham police for inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl.

Lester had been 14-0 lifetime against Baltimore.

APBoston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings against Baltimore Friday night.

BOSTON - Jon Lester has lost to the Orioles, and the Red Sox world we have known has officially ceased to exist.

In good times and bad, the Boston left-hander has had the O's number. That number was up Friday night, when Baltimore won 4-2 at Fenway Park.

"It was bound to happen. They've always had a good offense, but they're putting it all together this year,'' said Lester, who had been 14-0 in 20 previous career starts against the O's.

Just as the outcome ended Lester's mastery of the Orioles, it added to the misery of a woebegone Sox season.

Boston's 17th loss in 23 games left the Red Sox 16 games under .500, matching their lowest ebb this season.

Baltimore trails New York by a game in the American League East. They stand alone in the top wild card spot.

"(Orioles manager) Buck Showalter has done a good job changing the mentality over there, and they've done a good job filling in the pieces. They're putting it all together,'' Lester said.

Lester was done in by Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, who had two hits and three RBIs.

Wieters is a .382 lifetime hitter against Lester. A single went down the line in right, and a double hugged the line in left.

""He's always done a good job getting the barrel of the bat down on me. The process was there for us, the game plan was there, but it just didn't work,'' said Lester (9-13).

Lester's 14-game winning streak was the second longest by one pitcher against one team over the last 50 years.

Only Roy Oswalt's 15-0 start against Cincinnati from 2001-05 was longer.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine thinks Lester's biggest problem has been non-support.

"Wieters hit a couple of balls that were barely fair. If Jon pitches like he's done the second half of the season, he's going to win a lot of games,'' Valentine said.

"We don't get the runs to give him a cushion. He always has to make crucial pitches. Sometimes it doesn't work.''

Jim Johnson's 46th save set a record for a record for a franchise that was once the St. Louis Browns.

Baltimore is 52-21 in games decided by one or two runs. In two-run games, they are 25-13.

"They know they can play the close games. The bullpen has been shut-down, and they know they can get the onr run (to win),'' Valentine said.

Dustin Pedroia's fifth-inning RBI tied the game at 2-2. With the team returning home, Valentine had offered a night off for Pedroia, whose wife just had the couple's second child.

Pedroia hates to miss games, though, and insisted on playing.

Lester has two more starts this year. He does not want to talk about next year.

"We're not fortune tellers. We don't know what they're going to do about trades or free agents,'' the pitcher said.

"All I can do it try to work on the adjustments we've made in the second half of the season and give my team a chance (in his final 2012 starts).''

The Red Sox were without Jacoby Ellsbury, whose .360 career average against the Orioles included a 38-game hitting streak that was snapped on Aug. 16.

Valentine was evasive about Ellsbury, who apparently has an injury.

"He has a little situation that we're making sure is nothing more than a little situation,'' Valentine said.

ET CETERA: Former prisoner of war Bartlett Hastings of West Springfield, 87, was honored during the game as part of National POW/MIA Recognition Day ... Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to get one more start. It is expected to be his last with the Red Sox, ending a six-year association. Zach Stewart, who was acquired from the White Sox in the Kevin Youkilis trade, will also get a start. Stewart, pitcher Pedro Beato and third baseman Danny Valencia were called up from Pawtucket.

Sasha Rivera-Quinones, of 43 West Court, and Katiria Natal, of South Summer Street, were found in possession of 6 pounds of marijuana,

File photo | The Republican

HOLYOKE - Following a search warrant being served Wednesday at 43 West Court by Holyoke and state police and the U.S. postal inspector, Sasha Rivera-Quinones, of 43 West Court, and Katiria Natal, of South Summer Street, found in possession of 6 pounds of marijuana, were charged with possession of a Class D drug, possession of a Class D drug with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to violate drug law, Lt. Matthew Moriary said.

Subsequent to the arrests of Rivera-Quinones and Natal information was gained regarding the Lyman Terrace area which resulted in the following arrests, according to Moriarty:

• Ruth Cintron, of Chicopee, charged with operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and possession of a Class A drug;


• Carlos Pizarro, of Springfield, charged with carrying a dangerous weapon/breach of the peace while armed and possession of a Class B drug;


• Joseph Theroux, of Leeds, charged with possession of a Class A drug and possession of a Class A drug with intent to distribute, resisting arrest and destruction of property over $250;


• Kyle Itterly, of Northampton, charged with conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Hot Chelle Rae performed a 75 minute set on the Comcast Arena stage at the Big E

Handout / Eastern States ExpositionPop group Hot Chelle Rae performed at the Big E on Friday night.

REVIEW

WEST SPRINGFIELD -- It may seem to some that country music is the default genre at the Big E each season and while it does play prominently on the annual fair’s concert stages there has been a solid history of rock bands (Foghat, Black Crowes, Bret Michaels), pop bands (Fergie, Boyz II Men) and alternative groups like Owl City.

This year it was pop rock group Hot Chelle Rae carrying the torch for the non-country portion of the fair, performing a 75 minute set on the Comcast Arena Stage on Friday night. Thousands streamed in for the free performance, filling the floor seats and much of the center bleachers.

The Nashville-based quartet (lead vocals, guitar, bass, and drums) is led by Ryan Follese who appeared on the stage in a white tuxedo jacket and black bow tie singing “Beautiful Freaks.”

The group didn’t take long to light into one of their signature hits, kicking out “Tonight, Tonight,” to the delight of the crowd who seemed bent on out-singing the band on nearly every song.

“The ‘E’ in Big E must stand for energy,” Follese would later quip, impressed by the response his band received from the locals.

The song was infused with a snippet of the theme song from Will Smith’s “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” sitcom.

After introducing the band, Follese led the charge on a cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” followed by “Wish,” a song only released in Japan, and “Why Don’t You Love Me,” a song the group recorded with Demi Lovato.

The acoustic guitars came out and Follese and guitarist Nash Overstreet reprised a new song “Alright” which will be part of an upcoming album release, and the humorous “Emo” which Follese suggested was about the earliest incarnation of the band.

He suggested the crowd offer up “three fingers” as a salute to the song “Whatever” and followed up with the single “Honestly.”

The finish, a run through “I Like It Like That” featured Follese tossing some t-shirts out to the crowd while also inviting up a group of fans to help on the rap portion of the song.

Westfield’s own Katherine Kalill opened the festivities with a stirring rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

A balanced attack carried the Putnam Beavers to a victory at Agawam.

Balanced attack carries Beavers

Ben Sheehan rushed for 129 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 1:14 left after Minnechaug trailed 20-7 in the third quarter.

Alan McDonald completed 17 of 29 passes for 135 yards to help Minnechaug to a thrilling 27-26 victory.



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(Staff Photo by Dave Roback)

Sheehan scored a game-winning touchdown with 1:14 left, but Chicopee gave Minnechaug everything it could handle.

Minnechaug's Josh Henry (28) catches a pass as Chicopee's (2) Chris Roy defends during Friday night action in Wilbraham.



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(Staff Photo by Dave Roback)