A few dozen residents joined representatives from Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Congregational, Buddhist, Muslim and other places of worship.

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Religious leaders from different faiths gathered Friday on a wind-swept, snowy soccer field to mark two weeks since the Connecticut elementary school massacre and pray for healing.

A few dozen residents joined representatives from Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Congregational, Buddhist, Muslim and other places of worship.

"Your faith leaders want you to know that we continue to stand with you as we all continue to deal with this great tragedy that has befallen our beloved community of Newtown," said the Rev. Jack Tanner, of Newtown Christian Church. "It is only the beginning of a long healing process that we will all go through."

A gunman shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 and killed 20 first-grade students and six adult staff members. He also killed his mother before going on the school rampage and then committing suicide.

"We are your children, your hurting children from many faiths, many traditions, many cultures, from many parts of the Earth," said the Rev. Leo McIlrath, of the Lutheran Home of Southbury. "We cry out to you. We are in pain and we ask for your healing."

Vicky Truitt, who works at Newtown Congregational Church, said she had been feeling worn down before the service.

"Today it was helpful, the prayers that they gave, to hear all the different denominations all together as one," Truitt said. "Even the ones where you didn't understand the words, you could understand the feeling that was behind them."

The outpouring of grief from around the country is evident in Sandy Hook, a section of Newtown where memorials are filled with stuffed animals, flowers, candles and crosses. Tiny Christmas stockings with the names and ages of the victims hang from one memorial, and signs from South Carolina and Florida offer love and prayers.

Patti Raddock, of Fairfield, Conn., was among many out-of-towners in Newtown to pay their respects. She said the tragedy made her feel ill.

"It's still unfathomable," she said. "I don't know how we could have stopped this kind of craziness."

The footrace begins at the Montague Grange located at 34 Main St. next to the common.

 

MONTAGUE – The 25-th Annual Sawmill River 10K Run will be on New Year’s Day. The Jan. 1 event is open to all ages.

The footrace begins 10 a.m. from the Montague Grange located at 34 Main St. next to the Common.

The race was started by resident Al Ross in 1988.

Since 2009 the Montague Parks and Recreation committee has organized the event.

Entrants can register online at www.runreg.com/Net/3338 up until Dec. 31 at 4 p.m., for $25.

Registration the day of the race, $30, starts 9 a.m. at the Grange Hall.

All the proceeds help to subsidize children from low income families to participate in the town’s summer playground and swimming programs, said Jon Dobosz. He is the town’s Director of parks and recreation.
.
“We provide baked potatoes with all the fixings after the race in the Grange Hall,” he said.

Last year 135 runners competed.

Bulger’s attorneys say Stearns has a conflict of interest because he was a federal prosecutor in the 1980s, when Bulger was an FBI informant.

Richard Stearns  

BOSTON – Federal prosecutors say there’s no proof the judge overseeing gangster James “Whitey” Bulger’s trial is biased.

Bulger’s attorneys say U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns has a conflict of interest because he was a federal prosecutor in the 1980s, when Bulger was an FBI informant. They say Stearns would have known about an agreement for immunity from his crimes that Bulger says he had with the FBI.

Stearns has rejected calls to step aside, but an appeals court scheduled a Jan. 8 hearing in the case.

The Boston Globe reports that prosecutors argued in filings Friday that Stearns was never privy to matters involving Bulger because Bulger’s case was handled by a special task force. They also argued Bulger has failed to show any immunity agreement existed.

Bulger is accused of participating in 19 murders.

2 to 4 inches of snow expected tomorrow, staying cold next week.

Clouds continue pushing into western Massachusetts tonight ahead of our next band of snow. Temperatures head towards the middle-teens overnight. Be aware that any partially melted snow from today can refreeze overnight.

A quick, fresh coating of snow will hit the region Saturday afternoon. Beginning in the late morning hours, expected snowfall totals for this system are generally 2 to 4 inches across the Springfield area through the day on Saturday. This will be an all-snow event, no ice or rain is expected to be in the mix with this one. Snow should also be a little fluffier and easier to shovel than the heavy, wet snow from yesterday.

Temperatures drop radically for the start of 2013. Highs may be stuck in the 20s for the start of the New Year, with overnight lows in the single digits. While it will be fair mix of sun and clouds for a majority of next week, the cold temperatures will help keep the snow on the ground instead of quickly melting away.

Tonight: Increasing clouds overnight, cold, low 15.

Saturday: Light afternoon snow showers, 2-4 inches of accumulation, high 32.

Sunday: Partly sunny, breezy and cold, high 30.

New Year's Eve: Partly cloudy and cold, high 30.

Radar | 5 Day Forecast

The news of Sunando Sen's death, who was from India and lived in Queens, came as the mayor touted drops in the city’s annual homicide and shooting totals.

Commuters watch as a train enters the 40th Street-Lowry Street Station, where a man was killed Thursday after being pushed onto the subway tracks, in Queens on Friday. Seth Wenig | Associated Press  

By TOM HAYS

NEW YORK – For New York City, it wasn’t an unusual sight: a possibly mentally ill woman pacing and mumbling to herself on an elevated subway station platform.

The woman eventually took a seat on a bench Thursday night, witnesses later said. Then, without any warning or provocation, she sprang up and used both hands to shove a man into the path of an oncoming train.

As police sought on Friday to locate the unidentified woman, Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged residents to keep the second fatal subway shove in the city this month in perspective. The news of the horrific death of 46-year-old Sunando Sen, who was from India and lived in Queens, came as the mayor touted drops in the city’s annual homicide and shooting totals.

“It’s a very tragic case, but what we want to focus on today is the overall safety in New York,” Bloomberg told reporters following a police academy graduation.

The New York Police Department released a sketch of the woman and surveillance video of her fleeing the area and interviewed witnesses, including some who described her as acting agitated before the attack.

Some witnesses said Sen had been shielding himself from the cold by waiting in a stairwell before he ventured out onto the platform to see if the train was coming. They also said he had no interaction with the woman, who immediately darted down a stairway after she pushed him.

One witness told police that Sen had no time to try to save himself. The witness turned away to avoid seeing him getting crushed on the tracks.

Investigators identified Sen, who lived alone, through a smartphone and a prescription pill bottle he was carrying. They notified his relatives in India of his death.

Detectives were following leads from the public generated by the video and were checking homeless shelters and psychiatric units in a bid to identify the woman, described as Hispanic, heavyset, about 5-foot-5 and in her 20s. It was unclear whether the woman and Sen knew each other or whether the attack was simply the act of a deranged stranger.

The medical examiner said Friday that an autopsy found that Sen died from head trauma.

Commuters on Friday expressed concern over subway safety.

“It’s just a really sad commentary on the world and on human beings, period,” said Howard Roth, who takes the subway daily.

He said the deadly push reminded him, “the best thing is what they tell you – don’t stand near the edge, and keep your eyes open.”

Bloomberg, asked earlier Friday about the episode at a station on Queens Boulevard in the Sunnyside neighborhood, pointed to legal and policy changes that led to the release of many mentally ill people from psychiatric institutions from the 1960s through 1990s.

“The courts or the law have changed and said, no, you can’t do that unless they’re a danger to society; our laws protect you. That’s fair enough,” Bloomberg said on “The John Gambling Show with Mayor Mike” on WOR-AM.

There are no barriers separating the trains from the people on the city’s subway platforms, and many people fall or jump to their deaths in front of rushing trains each year.

Though shoving deaths are rare, Thursday night’s killing came just weeks after a man was pushed in front of a train in Times Square. A homeless man was charged with murder and is awaiting trial.

Other high-profile cases include the 1999 fatal shoving of Kendra Webdale, an aspiring screenwriter, by a former psychiatric patient. That case led to a state law allowing for more supervision of mentally ill people living outside institutions.

Like many subway riders, Micah Siegel follows her own set of safety precautions during her daily commute: Stand against a wall or pillar to keep someone from coming up behind you, and watch out when navigating a crowded or narrow platform to avoid being knocked – even accidentally – onto the tracks.

“I do try to be aware of what’s around me and who’s around me, especially as a young woman,” Siegel, a 21-year-old college student, said as she waited at Pennsylvania Station on Friday.

So does Roth, who’s 60.

“It sounds a little wimpy if you’re like, ‘Who’s going to push me?’” he said. “But it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

School safety experts say there’s a huge difference between a trained officer who becomes part of the school family – and a guard with a gun.

Police department school resource officer Rich Agundez Jr., who confronted and wounded a student who attacked teachers and students at Granite Hills High School in California with a shotgun in 2001, testifies in court. Agundez said he experienced a "tunnel vision of concentration" in response to the shooting because he was prepared. Associated Press file photo  

By LARRY MARGASAK

WASHINGTON – The student’s attack began with a shotgun blast through the windows of a California high school. Rich Agundez, the El Cajon policeman assigned to the school, felt his mind shift into overdrive.

People yelled at him amid the chaos but he didn’t hear. He experienced “a tunnel vision of concentration.”

While two teachers and three students were injured when the glass shattered in the 2001 attack on Granite Hills High School, Agundez confronted the assailant and wounded him before he could get inside the school and use his second weapon, a handgun.

The National Rifle Association’s response to a Connecticut school massacre envisions, in part, having trained, armed volunteers in every school in America. But Agundez, school safety experts and school board members say there’s a huge difference between a trained law enforcement officer who becomes part of the school family – and a guard with a gun.

The NRA’s proposal has sparked a debate across the country as gun control rises once again as a national issue. President Barack Obama promised to present a plan in January to confront gun violence in the aftermath of the killing of 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School students and six teachers in Newtown, Conn.

Agundez said what happened before the shooting in the San Diego County school should frame the debate over the NRA’s proposal.

With a shooting at another county school just weeks before, Agundez had trained the staff in how to lock down the school, assigned evacuation points, instructed teachers to lock doors, close curtains and turn off the lights. He even told them computers should be used where possible to communicate, to lessen the chaos.

And his training? A former SWAT team member, Agundez’ preparation placed him in simulated stressful situations and taught him to evade a shooter’s bullets. And the kids in the school knew to follow his advice because they knew him. He spoke in their classrooms and counseled them when they came to him with problems.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, school boards, administrators, teachers and parents are reviewing their security measures.

School security officers can range from the best-trained police officers to unarmed private guards. Some big-city districts with gang problems and crime formed their own police agencies years ago. Others, after the murder of 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999, started joint agreements with local police departments to have officers assigned to schools – even though that was no guarantee of preventing violence. A trained police officer at Columbine confronted one of two shooters but couldn’t prevent the death of 13 people.

“Our association would be uncomfortable with volunteers,” said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers – whose members are mostly trained law enforcement officers who “become part of the school family.’”

Canady questioned how police officers responding to reports of a shooter would know whether the person with a gun is a volunteer or the assailant.

Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson, who also was a top Homeland Security official and will head the NRA effort, said the program will have two key elements.

One is a model security plan “based on the latest, most up-to-date technical information from the foremost experts in their fields.” Each school could tweak the plan to its own circumstances, and “armed, trained, qualified school security personnel will be but one element.”

The second element may prove the more controversial because, to avoid massive funding for local authorities, it would use volunteers. Hutchinson said in his home state of Arkansas, his son was a volunteer with a local group “Watchdog Dads,” who volunteered at schools to patrol playgrounds and provide added security.

He said retired police officers, former members of the military or rescue personnel would be among those likely to volunteer.

There’s even debate over whether anyone should have a gun in a school, even a trained law enforcement officer.

“In general teachers don’t want guns in schools period,” said Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, one of the two large unions representing teachers. He added that one size does not fit all districts and said the union has supported schools that wanted a trained officer. Most teachers, he said, do not want to be armed themselves.

“It’s a school. It’s not a place where guns should be,” he commented.

The security situation around the country is mixed.

–Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he has the authority to mobilize private citizens to fight crime and plans to post armed private posse members around the perimeter of schools. He said he hasn’t spoken to specific school districts and doesn’t plan to have the citizen posse members inside the buildings.

–The Snohomish School District north of Seattle got rid of its school officers because of the expense.

–The Las Vegas-based Clark County School District has its own police department and places armed officers in and around its 49 high school campuses. Officers patrol outside elementary and middle schools. The Washoe County School District in Nevada also has a police force, but it was only about a decade ago that the officers were authorized to carry guns on campus.

–In Milwaukee, a dozen city police officers cover the school district but spend most of their time in seven of the 25 high schools. In Madison, Wis., an armed police officer has worked in each of the district’s four high schools since the mid-1990s.

–For the last five years, an armed police officer has worked in each of the two high schools and three middle schools in Champaign, Ill. Board of Education member Kristine Chalifoux said there are no plans to increase security, adding, “I don’t want our country to become an armed police state.”

–A Utah group is offering free concealed-weapons permit training for teachers as a result of the Connecticut shootings. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne proposed a plan to allow one educator in each school to carry a gun.

Ed Massey, vice chairman of the Boone County, Ky., school board and president of the National School Boards Association, said his district has nine trained law enforcement officers for 23 schools and “would love to have one in every school.”

“They bring a sense of security and have done tremendous work in deterring problems in school,” he said. “The number of expulsions have dramatically decreased. We used to have 15 or 20 a year. Now we have one or two in the last three years.”

An officer, he said, “is not just a hired gun. They have an office in the school. They are trained in crisis management, handling mass casualties and medical emergencies.”

He said a poster given out by the local sheriff’s department shows one of the officers and talks about literacy and reading.

Kenneth Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm, said having trained officers in schools is “more of a prevention program than a reactive program if you have the right officers who want to work with kids.”

But he also criticized a drop in funding for school security, saying, “Congress and the last two administrations have chipped away to the point of elimination of every program for school security and emergency planning.”

Dr. Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center that provides training to schools, said the NRA’s suggestion of using volunteers “is a whole new concept of school safety.” He questioned whether the NRA wants to bring the best sharpshooters on campus.

“How is that going to create a positive atmosphere for young people?” he asked. “How does that work on the prevention side?”

Agundez, 52, who retired as a policeman in 2010, learned shortly before his retirement just how much his trained reaction to a shooter affected students at Granite Hills High.

He was writing a traffic ticket and the driver’s whole body started shaking. It turns out the driver had been a student that day nine years earlier.

“He gave me a hug,” Agundez recalled. “He said ‘I always wanted to thank you.’ You saved our lives.”

The regular season comes to a close Sunday against Miami.

This is the time of year when a team is supposed to be peaking and getting ready sprint into the playoffs. All that should be left is a little fine-tuning and getting guys healthy.

The New England Patriots aren't enjoying this luxury. The issues that plagued the early part of the season – closing games out, ineffective defense, some awkwardness on offense – have been resolved, only to be replaced by questions on the offensive line and slow starts.

Are these issues of great concern, isolated incidents or the result of injuries? The answers to those questions are not yet known and the Patriots have only Sunday's regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins to figure it out.

Some may argue that New England hit it's stride in Week 15 when a 42-14 win over the Houston Texans capped a six-game winning streak.

The Pats fell into a 28-point hole against San Francisco in their next game and lost 41-34. The next contest saw the Patriots post a narrow 23-16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The recent play may make it appear that New England has lost momentum and needs a big win to get back on track, but the team does not subscribe to this theory.

"I think you want to be playing well so you have confidence going into the playoffs. There's no question about that," quarterback Tom Brady said. "But like I said, whatever we do this weekend isn't going to have any bearing on what happens in the playoff (game) the following week."

Added coach Bill Belichick: "Absolutely, that's what I totally believe – each week is its own week."

The Patriots got off to slow starts in both of their most recent contests and took some time to get started on offense. This issue plagued New England last year before it shook off the issues and advanced to the Super Bowl last season.

Players say that it's merely about focus and attention to detail, which suggests that all they need to do is flip over a switch to put this issue in the past. Less explainable is the sudden struggles of the offensive line.

After being relatively strong early in the year, the offensive line has given up six sacks in the last two games. Brady was sacked six times in the seven games prior.

It's probably not a coincidence that Brady threw interceptions in both games and had one of his shakier performances of the season against Jacksonville, a game in which he was hit 10 times.

Injuries have been an issue across the line, but at this point in the season that excuse could be viewed as a cop out since the line has had moving parts with Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly and others battling ailments throughout the season.

Those issues could also be the result of focus waning late in the season. But whatever the case may be, the Patriots have one more game to figure it out.

After this, an inability to stay focused or get up for a game could result in the season coming to an abrupt end.

Talks aimed at reaching a new deal covering the 14,500 longshoremen will continue during the extension, which runs through Feb. 6.

A truck driver watches as a freight container, right, is lowered onto a tractor trailer by a container crane at the Port of Boston in Boston. The crane and a reach stacker, left, are operated by longshoremen at the port. Associated Press file photo  

By DAVID B. CARUSO and SCOTT MAYEROWITZ

NEW YORK – Dockworkers along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico agreed Friday to extend their contract for more than a month, averting a weekend strike that could have crippled major ports from Boston to Houston and bottled up billions of dollars’ worth of cargo.

Talks aimed at reaching a new contract covering the 14,500 longshoremen will continue during the extension, which runs through Feb. 6.

The dockworkers’ union and an alliance of port operators and shipping lines agreed to the extension after resolving one of the stickier points in their negotiations, involving royalty payments to longshoremen for each container they unload. Details were not disclosed.

Federal mediator George Cohen said the agreement on royalties was “a major positive step forward.”

“While some significant issues remain in contention, I am cautiously optimistic that they can be resolved,” he said.

The contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance originally expired in September. The two sides agreed to extend it once before, for 90 days, but it had been set to expire again at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

As recently as Dec. 19, the president of the longshoremen’s union, Harold Daggett, had said a strike was expected.

A walkout would have crippled the loading and unloading of a vast number of products, including electronics and clothing, and made it more difficult for U.S. manufacturers to get parts and raw materials at a time when the economy is in shaky condition. The ports involved handle about 40 percent of all U.S. container cargo.

Business groups expressed relief that the two sides had agreed to keep the docks running.

“A coast-wide port shutdown is not an option. It would have severe economic ramifications for the local, national and even global economies and wreak havoc on the supply chain,” said National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay.

White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said: “We’re pleased the parties are going to continue their work at the negotiating table and continue to urge them to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”

Major ports that would have been frozen included the massive terminals serving the New York City area and critical seaports in Savannah, Ga., Houston, and Hampton Roads, Va.

Other ports that would have been affected are in Boston; the Philadelphia area; Baltimore; Wilmington, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Miami; Tampa, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; and New Orleans.

Longshoremen on the West Coast have a separate contract.

The fire at 16 Westmoreland Ave. forced residents out of their home. A fire official declined to provide details about the incident.

Republican file photo  

There were no apparent injuries in the blaze at 16 Westmoreland Ave., which broke out shortly before 1 a.m.

A fire official said information about the incident must come from Longmeadow fire Chief Eric Madison, who was off duty late Saturday afternoon and unavailable for comment.

Media reports indicate the fire apparently began in the chimney and spread to interior walls in the home. Working smoke detectors alerted the residents, who are "staying with neighbors," according to 22News .

Former President George H.W. Bush's condition continued to improve Saturday, prompting doctors to move him out of intensive care, a spokesman said.

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2006 file photo, former President George H.W. Bush delivers the keynote speech before receiving an honorary Doctor of Public Administration degree at Suffolk University in Boston. A spokesman says Bush's condition continues to improve and that he was moved Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, out of intensive care and into a regular hospital room. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, Pool, File)  

HOUSTON (AP) — Former President George H.W. Bush's condition continued to improve Saturday, prompting doctors to move him out of intensive care, a spokesman said.

"President Bush's condition has improved, so he has been moved today from the intensive care unit to a regular patient room at The Methodist Hospital to continue his recovery," family spokesman Jim McGrath said Saturday. "The Bushes thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes."

Bush was hospitalized Nov. 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough. He was moved to intensive care at the Houston hospital on Dec. 23 after he developed a fever.

On Friday, McGrath said Bush had improved since arriving in the ICU. He said he was alert and in good spirits and was even doing some singing.

McGrath said Saturday morning that future updates on Bush's condition would be made as warranted.

Bush, the 41st president, is the country's oldest living former president by a few months.

Tuesday marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Still looking for some way to mark the New Year ?

Why not participate in some local events marking the historical significance of Jan. 1, 2013 – the 150th anniversary of the day Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The proclamation, written on Sept. 22, 1862, and issued on Jan. 1, 1863, declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

Springfield is celebrating the signing during a downtown event beginning Monday night at 8 and continuing until 1 a.m. Tuesday; and Amherst will note the occasion on the Town Common on Tuesday with a reading of the proclamation at 2 p.m., the same hour the 16th president signed the document.

Springfield’s celebration at Sovereign Bank at 1350 Main St. is open to the public and will include music, performances, Civil War re-enactors, and refreshments. Tickets are $25.

The event, organized by a 14-member planning committee, will serve as a fund-raiser and kickoff for a series of programs aimed at educating young people about the significance of the Civil War.

Planning committee member state Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, who will read Lincoln’s words at midnight, called the Emancipation Proclamation “one of the most critical moments in history.”

State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, another committee member, noted how far the nation has come since Lincoln freed the slaves. “It is the diversity of America that acted Nov. 6 to elect an African-American president for the second time. It was done by whites, and blacks and Asians and the whole population of America,” he said. “This is what Lincoln envisioned.”

We can’t think of a more fitting way to ring in the new year than celebrating this historic event – and we applaud all the organizers for giving us the opportunity.

The Minutemen led by 13 at halftime.

The University of Massachusetts basketball team eked out a 64-59 win at Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon for its fifth straight victory.

The Minutemen took a 13-point lead to halftime, but saw it dwindle to just two with less than a minute to play.

Maxie Esho led UMass with 14 points, while Terrell Vinson scored 10 and in the process became the 44th player in school history to total 1,000 points for his career.

Keeyo Jones, 19, and Shawanees Robinson, 21, a male and female from Springfield, were charged with unlicensed gun possession and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, among other alleged offenses.

 

A Springfield police detective said the duo apparently was attempting to shoot out some street lights but missed, triggering multiple 911 calls and the city's automated ShotSpotter system around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

There were no injuries or damage from the gunfire, which was pinpointed to the intersection of Oak and Union streets, the detective said. Keeyo Jones, 19, and Shawanees Robinson, 21, were charged with various weapons offenses, including unlicensed gun possession and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

Police said officers caught up with Jones and Robinson on the grounds of the William N. DeBerry Elementary School, 670 Union St., located several blocks east of where the shots were fired. Investigators said they had yet to locate a third suspect involved in the incident as of late Saturday afternoon.

Jones and Robinson are expected to be arraigned Monday in Springfield District Court.

Police have asked anyone with information to contact the Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355.

View Larger Map

The Minutemen let a 13-point lead dwindle to two, but held on for their fifth straight win behind Esho's season-high 14 points.

UMass forward Maxie Esho dunks during a September workout at Curry Hicks Cage. AP photo  

DEKALB, Ill. – On a day where the game was at times as messy as a high school cafeteria, the University of Massachusetts basketball team was lucky to have its cleanup crew in working order.

Maxie Esho and Freddie Riley combined for 25 points off the UMass bench as the Minutemen held off pesky Northern Illinois Saturday for their fifth straight victory, 64-59.

Starters Jesse Morgan, Chaz Williams, Terrell Vinson all picked up multiple first-half fouls, forcing UMass coach Derek Kellogg to turn to Esho, Riley and Trey Davis, who all stepped up in a big way to give the Minutemen a 36-23 halftime lead.

Esho had 11 points in 13 first-half minutes, while Riley added eight points in 16 minutes, and Davis, who was a game-time decision because of a left ankle injury, was forced to play nine minutes because of Williams’ foul situation.

“I thought the foul trouble in the first half might have helped us,” Kellogg said. “The second unit was the one that kind of expanded and extended the lead.”

Esho, with his elite athleticism, especially excelled in a hectic, speedy game that got extremely sloppy at times (the teams combined for 37 turnovers), allowing him to rack up a season-high 14 points,

“I think he’s better sometimes when the game is a little more unorganized or up-tempo,” Kellogg said of Esho. “I think he gets to use his athleticism and really make athletic plays, which he did a great job of throughout the contest.”

A desire to play at that frenetic pace is why Esho says he came to UMass in the first place.

“I think I do play well when the game is going fast,” he said. “That’s why I chose to play for Coach Kellogg.”

As in last week's win over East Carolina, though, a double-digit UMass lead disappeared down the stretch. The Miuntemen’s 13-point halftime advantage was whittled down to three with 4:02 to go.

The main culprits for UMass were turnovers (20 in the game) and defensive rebounding (the Minutemen allowed the Huskies 17 offensive boards).

“(Turnovers were) a huge sticking point. Many of them were kind of unforced. We had transition layups where we turned the ball over a few times,” Kellogg said. “We’ve worked on trying to improve our decision-making as a team, and we’re going to continue to zero in on that.”

The teams traded baskets until 26 seconds remained and the Huskies found themselves down 61-59 with the ball, but sophomore Abdel Nader, who had a game-high 15 points, was called for traveling. Northern Illinois’ Travon Baker fouled Williams with 12 seconds left, and Williams, who finished the game with 12 points, hit both to put the game out of reach.

Kellogg acknowledged after the game that he did not feel totally comfortable with a 13-point halftime advantage over a Northern Illinois team that has just one Division I win.

“I was anticipating they’d make some 3-point shots,” he said. “I’m really waiting for the team to start closing some games out if you have the opportunity.”

The Huskies did shoot 5 for 11 from beyond the arc in the second half after going 0 for 7 in the first, and UMass found itself stuck with a few unusual lineup combinations because of fouls – and late in the game because of cramps in both of Esho’s legs.

“We played some funky lineups, and when that happens, some of our offense sputters to a certain extent because some guys don’t know different positions,” Kellogg said.

While the Minutemen have been in enough close games that they felt comfortable, Esho said he doesn’t view that as a positive.

“It’s not something we want to get used to. It’s something we need to focus more on – closing out games,” he said. “It’s not something as a team that we like.”

Vinson became the 44th player in UMass history to score 1,000 points in his career.

UMass forward Terrell Vinson became the 44th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. The Republican | David Molnar  

DEKALB, Ill. — When Terrell Vinson missed his first two free throws of Saturday’s win over Northern Illinois, the senior forward left more than just points four and five of the day for the University of Massachusetts on the table.

Vinson entered Saturday’s contest needing just one point to become the 44th 1,000-point scorer in school history, and eventually got it six minutes later when he returned to the free throw line — and went two for two.

“It probably distracted my on my first two free throws,” Vinson said. “I missed both of them because I was thinking about getting to 1,000 points. It’s cool.”

Vinson is the second player to join the 1,000-point club this season, as Chaz Williams accomplished the feat earlier in the year.

“It’s a nice mark to make,” Vinson said.

Vinson averaged 9.6 points per game as a freshman, 6.5 as a sophomore and 9.9 as a junior. Entering Saturday, he was averaging 12.9, and finished the day with 10 points.

DAVIS RETURNS FROM INJURY

Freshman point guard Trey Davis, who missed the team’s Dec. 22 win over East Carolina with a tweaked left ankle, was forced into extra duty Saturday while starter Chaz Williams played a season-low 26 minutes because of foul trouble.

Davis played a career-high 13 minutes, including the final 8:38 of the first half when the Minutemen turned a six-point lead into a 13-point halftime advantage.

“I thought he played very well when he was in there,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “I’m starting to get more and more confidence in him as the season goes on.”

Davis favored the ankle in warmups, but dressed anyway.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play or not,” Davis said. “But when (Kellogg) called my name, the coaches told me to forget about (the ankle) and go out there and play.”

He was in visible pain after the game, but said he would ice the ankle on the trip back to Amherst, and planned to play on Jan. 2 against Miami (Ohio).

“I don’t want to miss any more games,” he said.

TEAM MAKES BRIEF RETURN TO WESTERN MASS

The Minutemen were scheduled to fly back to the east coast late Saturday night despite the fact that they play at Miami (Ohio) in just four days.

Kellogg said last week that he had had bad experiences staying on the road, and mentioned after the game that he thought the trip home would still allow his team to improve.

“We got the win, and we’re going to go home and try to improve on a short trip back home,” he said.

UMass is scheduled to arrive at Miami on Jan. 1.

ONE LINERS

Raphiael Putney was shut out for the second time this season, missing all three of his shot attempts in 19 minutes… Putney scored in every game he appeared in last season… Williams’ three assists were his second lowest total this season… He entered the game ranked seventh nationally in assists at 7.5 per game… By outrebounding the Minutemen 17-4 on the offensive glass, Northern Illinois was able to rack up 20 more field goal attempts in the game than UMass.

The Falcons had dominated the Whale until Saturday's flat performance.

Springfield coach Brad Larsen (left) was much more satisfied with his team's effort in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Connecticut than he had been Thursday night, when the Falcons lost to Albany. File photo by DAN HICKLING  

SPRINGFIELD - Storms can cause power outages, but the Falcons can't blame their latest defeat on the snowfall.

While their power play was flickering and fizzling, the Connecticut Whale was plugged in enough for a 4-2 win before 4,899 hardy souls at the MassMutual Center.

The pattern of this game was a near carbon copy of Thursday's one-goal loss to Albany. In both games, Springfield's offense was all too silent until the third period, when a couple of late goals could not change the outcome.

Falcons coach Brad Larsen was far more satisfied with his team's effort against Connecticut, though.

That game Thursday was not us, but I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,'' Larsen said.

"We competed, but we couldn't get a bounce. The puck found (the Whale's) sticks, and they're a good team.

"Nobody is happy we're losing, but if we get effort and keep playing like this, we'll get results.''

The tone of this one was set in the first period, when special teams left Springfield in a 2-0 hole.

The Falcons went 1-for-8 on the power play in this game. Not only were Whale a tidy 1-for-1, they also scored a short-handed goal.

So much for the value of seven extra power plays. Until Ryan Craig scored at 6:06 of the third period, the Falcons looked headed to being shut out for the first time.

Craig's goal came with a two-man Springfield advantage. It snapped an 0-for-24 power-play drought.

"We have a good power play, but of course, we have to get results,'' Craig said.

"We need to shoot the puck, recover and get second chances. But we're a good hockey team, and every team has ebbs and flows like this.''

Craig's goal woke up the Falcons, who came closer on Ryan Russell's 15-foot wrist shot at 12:51. Kris Newbury's high-sticking penalty at 14:01 gave the Falcons a chance to make it a cliff-hanger.

They put on some pressure but came up empty.

It was in the telling first period that Springfield's special teams were lacking. The Whale's Chad Kolarik scored both goals in the period.

In the first two games of this homestand, Springfield has been outscored 7-1 in the first two periods. In the third period, it's been the Falcons with a 4-1 edge, but with two losses to show for it.

"Obviously, we want better starts. It's hard to have an explanation,'' Craig said.

Kolarik's first came at 12:52, a mere five seconds after the Falcons' Patrick Cullity was sent off for holding.

Before the period ended, Springfield had two power-play chances to catch up. Not only did they fail to score, but Kolarik finished off a 2-on-1 break for a short-handed goal at 19.16.

Skating down the middle, Kolarik knocked in a rebound of Newbury's 30-foot drive from the right circle. Springfield goalie Curtis McElhinney kicked it out, but had no chance when Kolarik picked up the puck in stride.

Later in the same penalty, the Falcons were granted a two-man advantage for 35 seconds. David Savard's rattler off the post was as close as they came.

Goals by Logan Pyett and Christian Thomas made it 4-0 by the midpoint of the second period.

Springfield had won three of the first four meetings with Connecticut, with two shutout wins and a 10-2 pounding in Hartford on Nov. 4.

The Falcons are 2-4-1 since Dec. 14. The home drought is now 0-4-2 since Nov. 11.

They will try again Sunday, when Norfolk comes in for a game at 5.

Craig moved into 10th place on the Falcons' scoring list with 46 goals. He has seven this season.

The region's second significant snowstorm made a mess of area roads Saturday, keeping police and firefighters busy and prompting many municipalities to implement parking bans to allow crews to clear streets of ice and snow.

Grace McCarthy, 11, and her brother, Owen McCarthy, 6, took advantage of Saturday's snowstorm to do some tubing at the Ludlow Country Club. They were joined by their father, David McCarthy, who proved you don't have to be a kid to enjoy winter in Western Massachusetts. Dave Roback, The Republican  

SPRINGFIELD — The region's second significant snowstorm made a mess of area roads Saturday, keeping police and firefighters busy and prompting many municipalities to declare parking bans to allow snow removal from local streets.

Despite slippery conditions, most Western Massachusetts public safety agencies reported only minor accidents involving vehicles crashing or skidding off roadways.

Flurries that began falling late Saturday afternoon quickly changed over to heavy, sustained snowfall that was expected to dump up to five inches in some parts of the Pioneer Valley and six or more inches in eastern sections of the state, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton.

Most cities and towns implemented winter parking bans ahead of the storm, but some people failed to follow the rules. "We're just busy removing cars because of the parking ban," a Ludlow police dispatcher said.

In Holyoke, authorities responded to numerous reports of cars "off the roadway." Those three words combined to form the most uttered phrase of the day on Saturday, as dozens of reports of cars off the road or stuck in snowbanks or ditches were issued throughout the duration of the storm.

"All the roads are kind of tough. They (drivers) just have to slow down because of the conditions," Holyoke police Sgt. Brian Chirgwin said.

Massachusetts State Police responded to multiple mishaps in both lanes of Interstate 91. "They're slipping off the road," a trooper from the Northampton barracks said.

"It's a mess; we have about 10 cars off the road right now," state police Sgt. Jonathan Swift, who's stationed at the Charlton barracks, said around 7 p.m. Saturday.

A winter storm warning remains in effect for Hampden and Hampshire counties through 6 a.m. Sunday, according to Mike Skurko, a meteorologist with CBS 3 News, media partner of The Republican and MassLive.com. Snow was predicted to fall through Saturday evening before tapering off early Sunday and gradually clearing.

The storm generally was expected to dump between three to five inches in the Pioneer Valley, with greater accumulations forecast for eastern sections of Hampden and Hampshire counties. But coastal sections of New England were expected to bear the brunt of the storm, with heavy snowfall predicted for Providence, R.I., and Boston.

In New Hampshire, five people were injured after snowy weather contributed to a 20-car pileup on Interstate 93 in New Hampton, police said.

With winds gusting to 15 mph Saturday in the Pioneer Valley, the projected low temperature of 24 degrees was expected to feel more like 16 degrees because of the windchill factor, the National Weather Service reported. On Sunday, the high temperature for this region is expected to barely crack 30 degrees, with a chance of flurries on Monday and Tuesday.

Although the blast of wintry weather caused problems for some area drivers, other locals enjoyed the snowstorm. Ludlow resident David McCarthy and his children, Grace, 11, and Owen, 6, jumped on snow tubes and whisked down a hill at the Ludlow Country Club on Saturday afternoon.

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation implemented a parking ban for all DCR roadways, including state parks and forests, that took effect at 9 p.m. Saturday. Vehicles in violation of the ban would be towed to allow for snow removal and emergency access, officials said.

Area parking bans include:

– Springfield: No parking on the even side of the street from 7 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday. No parking on the odd side of the street from 9 a.m. Sunday until 4 p.m. Sunday.

– Chicopee: No parking on designated main streets and on the odd side of secondary streets from 7 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday.

– Holyoke: No parking on the even side of street from 5 p.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. Sunday.

– Northampton: No parking on any city street from 12:01 a.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday, except for Main Street. Parking there is prohibited from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday.

– Palmer: No parking from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday, except for streets subject to Category 2 restrictions of the town's winter parking regulations.

– Granby: No parking from 12 p.m. Saturday until further notice.

– Ludlow: No parking from 6 p.m. Saturday to 12 p.m. Sunday.

– Longmeadow: A parking ban is in effect from the time snow and ice begins until 12 hours after the cessation of precipitation. Any vehicle that interferes with winter street-clearing operations will be ticketed and towed at the owner's expense.

– Monson: All vehicles, other than town vehicles acting in emergency capacities, are banned from town roadways from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.

– South Hadley: No parking from 5 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Sunday.

– Westfield: A city-wide parking ban was implemented at 8 p.m. Saturday and was expected to remain in effect until further notice.

– Wilbraham: An on-street parking ban was in effect Saturday into Sunday, but specific hours were unavailable, according to a police dispatcher.

Erika Menendez, who told police she shoved a man to his death because she has hated Muslims since Sept. 11, was charged in the death of Sunando Sen.

A train passes through the 40th Street-Lowry Street Station, where a man was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks Thursday, in Queens on Friday. Seth Wenig | Associated Press  

By COLLEEN LONG

NEW YORK — A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform into the path of a train because she has hated Muslims since Sept. 11 and thought he was one was charged Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said.

Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, who was crushed by a 7 train in Queens on Thursday night, the second time this month a commuter has died in such a nightmarish fashion.

Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. She could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted. She was in custody and couldn't be reached for comment, and it was unclear if she had an attorney.

Menendez, who was arrested after a tip by a passer-by who saw her on a street and thought she looked like the woman in a surveillance video released by police, admitted shoving Sen, who was pushed from behind, authorities said.

"I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up," Menendez told police, according to the district attorney's office.

Sen was from India, but police said it was unclear if he was Muslim, Hindu or of some other faith. The 46-year-old lived in Queens and ran a printing shop. He was shoved from an elevated platform on the 7 train line, which connects Manhattan and Queens. Witnesses said a muttering woman rose from her seat on a platform bench and pushed him on the tracks as a train entered the station and then ran off.

The two had never met before, authorities said, and witnesses told police they hadn't interacted on the platform.

Police released a sketch and security camera video showing a woman running from the station where Sen was killed.

Menendez was arrested by police earlier Saturday after a passer-by on a Brooklyn street spotted her and called 911. Police responded, confirmed her identity and took her into custody, where she made statements implicating herself in the crime, police spokesman Paul Browne said.

The district attorney said such hateful remarks about Muslims and Hindus could not be tolerated.

"The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare," he said.

On Dec. 3, another man was pushed to his death in a Times Square subway station. A photo of the man clinging to the edge of the platform a split second before he was struck by a train was published on the front page of the New York Post, causing an uproar about whether the photographer, who was catching a train, or anyone else should have tried to help him.

A homeless man was arrested and charged with murder in that case. He claimed he acted in self-defense and is awaiting trial.

It's unclear whether anyone tried — or could have tried — to help Sen on Thursday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday urged residents to keep Sen's death in perspective as he touted new historic lows in the city's annual homicide and shooting totals.

"It's a very tragic case, but what we want to focus on today is the overall safety in New York," Bloomberg told reporters following a police academy graduation.

But commuters still expressed concern over subway safety and shock about the arrest of Menendez on a hate crime charge.

"For someone to do something like that ... that's not the way we are made," said David Green, who was waiting for a train in Manhattan. "She needs help."

Green said he caught himself leaning over the subway platform's edge and realized maybe he shouldn't do that.

"It does make you more conscious," he said of the deaths.

Such subway deaths are rare, but other high-profile cases include the 1999 fatal shoving of aspiring screenwriter Kendra Webdale by a former psychiatric patient. That case led to a state law allowing for more supervision of mentally ill people living outside institutions.

Leftover flurries overnight, windy and cold tomorrow.

WINTER STORM WARNING for Hampden and Hampshire County until 6 a.m. Sunday.

WIND ADVISORY for eastern Hampden County until 8 p.m. Sunday.

Several inches of snow has accumulated across the region, the latest totals can be seen on the CBS3 Pinpoint Weather Blog.

While a Winter Storm Warning is still in effect, the back edge of this system is starting to work its way into New England, so this persistent snow will be easing up shortly. After midnight, we'll just be left with a few flurries through the overnight hours.

Clouds decrease tomorrow afternoon, but it will stay cold and windy with highs near 30 degrees. A steady northwest wind at about 20 to 25 mph will be with us, keeping the wind chills in the teens through much of the day. A Wind Advisory has been issued as wind gusts could get above 40 mph in spots.

Temperatures drop radically for the start of 2013, with highs stuck in the low-20s and overnight lows in the single digits. While it will be fair mix of sun and clouds for a majority of next week (except some flurries on New Year's Day), the cold temperatures will help keep this snow on the ground instead of quickly melting away.

Tonight: Moderate snow ends, lingering flurries, low 18.

Sunday: Decreasing clouds, breezy and cold, high 27.

New Year's Eve: Partly sunny and chilly, high 27.

New Year's Day: Cloudy with flurries, high 28.

Radar | 5 Day Forecast

This will be his eighth New Year's Eve turn for ABC. But it's his first since Dick Clark's death last April at age 82.

Ryan Seacrest, producer and host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC, poses for a portrait Friday, Dec. 28, 2012 in New York. AP  

NEW YORK (AP) — Yes, Ryan Seacrest has a New Year's resolution for 2013: improve his skill at dancing.

"There's a Significant Other in my life who's very good at it," he notes. That would be professional dancer Julianne Hough, a two-time champ on "Dancing with the Stars" in whose proximity "I feel the pressure to be as good as she is. It sounds like a joke, but this is a serious thing for me to accomplish next year."

So add dancing lessons to the long list of projects that keep Seacrest famously fast on his feet. His numerous broadcast gigs include roles on E! Entertainment and NBC, a syndicated morning radio show for Clear Channel, as well as "American Idol," whose new season starts next month on Fox. Behind the cameras, he has a swiftly expanding production empire that includes the Kardashian portfolio of reality shows.

But as Monday nears, Seacrest is focused on this annual rite: "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," which, with related programming, will blanket ABC from 8 p.m. until past 2 a.m. EST.

Booking musical acts has been in the works for months, Seacrest says. Performers include Carly Rae Jepsen, Neon Trees, Flo Rida and Pitbull, as well as Taylor Swift, in the headliner position just before midnight.

But Friday afternoon in Manhattan, Seacrest is soon due at a production meeting "to work out the nitty-gritty of the show — some of which we will stick to, some of which we won't."

Already he has appeared on "Good Morning America," then headed to the rooftop of One Times Square, where the huge crystal ball was poised for its flashy descent, along with half-a-dozen TV teams queued up to tape interviews with him.

An hour later, at ABC `s Upper West Side headquarters, Seacrest has shed his top coat and taken a break to reflect on Monday's extravaganza. This will be his eighth New Year's Eve turn for ABC. But it's his first since Clark's death last April at age 82.

Clark, of course, originated "New Year's Rockin' Eve" four decades ago. And it is Clark on "Rockin' Eve" who gave Seacrest as a youngster his earliest memories of ringing in each new year.

"I'd like to say I can imagine how it's going to feel, but I'm not quite sure," says Seacrest. "I looked forward so much to each year that I did the show with him."

Seacrest recalls how typically he would be posted outside overlooking Times Square, while Clark, who had suffered a stroke in 2004, made brief appearances from indoors.

"Then, right after midnight, I would run inside and stand next to him, and he always has some funny, clever thing to make fun of me about," says Seacrest, unwittingly speaking in the present tense. "I think I will really miss that moment this year."

The night will begin with a two-hour tribute, "New Year's Rockin' Eve Celebrates Dick Clark," hosted by Fergie and Jenny McCarthy.

Then Seacrest takes over for the countdown show at 10 p.m. EST.

"I definitely will say something about him, and it will be from the heart," Seacrest promises. "But the night will be, as he would want, a celebration of what's to come: Dick was always one to say, `The show must go on.'"

That clearly resonates for the man who claims Clark as his mentor.

Seacrest, who marked his 38th birthday on Christmas Eve, grew up in Atlanta loving music and dreaming of a career in broadcasting.

From childhood, he was a student of Dick Clark, who in the 1950s had pioneered melding music, youth and TV on a show he called "American Bandstand."

"I loved the perception that people came together to hang out and be introduced to new music," Seacrest says. "Dick was brilliant at making everyone feel at home and comfortable, and never getting in the way. That's the key."

That became the key for Seacrest, who, today, is among the most accomplished at doing what he does. But just what does he do?

"At the doctor's office where it says `Occupation,' I always have trouble knowing what to write in that box," he says with a laugh. "I usually put `Host.' I enjoy bringing pop-culture moments and events to an audience, introducing the country to a promising new act or sitting down with an artist who has had a big hit.

"I like being the host of a party. I never feel like I need to be the star of it. Just host."

Seacrest wangled a shift on an Atlanta radio station when he was still in high school. So, from the start, he was live on the air, "and I felt comfortable when things didn't always go as planned. I didn't realize how valuable that would be until later, when I was standing on the `American Idol' stage."

Populated with jittery contestants and volatile judges, "Idol" counts on Seacrest to keep everything on track.

And he does — even when a problem pops up of his own making.

"I remember a results show when we were down to the final two contestants," he says, "and I realized I didn't have the results card with me. I'd gone offstage during a commercial and set it down. So while I'm standing there with those two contestants, I thought to myself, `How am I gonna leave this shot, get that card and get back, without everybody seeing it?'

"In a split second, I decided the only way was to ask Randy (Jackson) at the judges' panel a question, knowing they would cut to a shot of him — I figured he would give a longer answer than Simon (Cowell) — and I'd have time to jump to the side, grab the card and sprint back."

It worked. No viewer was the wiser.

"Idol" returns January 16, and earlier this month Seacrest was busy as the show completed shooting contestants in Los Angeles, with winners of that round set to move on to the live competition.

At the same time, he tends a growing crop of productions and other business ventures, with some 50 people in his employ.

"I put as many hours into that as I do in all the shows that I'm hosting," he says. "Production is hard work, but fulfilling. That entrepreneurial spirit is a great lesson I learned from Dick," whose dick clark productions established him not just as an entertainment personality, but as a media mogul. "If he wasn't on the air, Dick was in his office working hard."

But does Seacrest ever feel like he's taking on too much?

"Only some mornings," he replies, with a look of mock-weariness. "But then I'll be somewhere watching something and thinking, `Gosh, I want to be part of that. I feel like I'm missing that party.' I wouldn't want to be home watching New Year's Eve! I want to be bringing it to YOU!"