A 25-year-old Holyoke man suspected in four recent armed robberies here over the last several days was apprehended on the roof of a Granby Road 7Eleven early Wednesday.

Police investigators at the scene of an early morning shooting on Monmouth Street. The Republican / George Graham  

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) Springfield police: 42-year-old man fatally shot on Monmouth Street marks second homicide of 2013 Photo at right. [George Graham]

2) Bail raised for Daniel Lozada, former teacher at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School, accused of sending nude photo to student [Fred Contrada]

3) Chicopee police charge 25-year-old Holyoke resident Robert Pelletier with 4 armed robberies [George Graham]

4) Starbucks coffee shop in Springfield's South End targeted in morning robbery [The Republican Newsroom]

5) Springfield bank robbery suspect caught literally red-handed, dye pack leads to suspect within 10 minutes of holdup, police said [Jim Kinney]

Massachusetts in 2001 enacted a resolution marking Jan. 29, the anniversary of Paine's birth, as Thomas Paine Day.

 

U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern will speak at Thomas Paine Day in Amherst. Republican file photo  

AMHERST — U.S Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, will be the main speaker at the annual Thomas Paine Day celebration Jan. 26 at the Jones Library beginning at 11 a.m.

McGovern, who through redistricting and the retirement of U.S. Rep. John W. Olver became the town’s representative this year, will speak on the topics of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the People's Budget and about Paine's ideas on human rights and government assistance to the elderly, the needy, children, veterans as a right, according to a press release.

A discussion will follow his talk. The event features music and a birthday cake.
The Western Massachusetts chapter of the non-profit organization, Thomas Paine Friends, Inc. is sponsoring the celebration. Irwin and Martha Spiegelman have organized the festivities for more than a decade.

Portrait of Patriot Thomas Paine Photo, Associated Press  

Massachusetts in 2001 enacted a resolution marking Jan. 29, the anniversary of Paine's birth, as Thomas Paine Day. It is one of 13 states that have enacted similar resolutions, according to the release.

The goal to see that all 50 states recognize Paine, who was considered a patriot, human rights advocate and leader in the struggle for independence.

According to its website, “the mission of Thomas Paine Friends, Inc. is to encourage people to learn about and from Thomas Paine, his times and philosophy so that they may be inspired to participate in public affairs reflective of the spirit of Paine's life, thought and ideals.”

A nonbinding question on needle exchange failed on the 2001 election ballot.

A box of syringes at Tapestry Health's needle exchange site on Main Street in Holyoke. Greg Saulmon, The Republican  

HOLYOKE — Voters will be asked their opinions on needle exchange as the City Council has voted to put a nonbinding question on the Nov. 5 election ballot.

The question the council Tuesday voted to place on the ballot reads, "Should the city of Holyoke have a needle exchange program? Yes or No."

Voters said no to needle exchange in a nonbinding referendum in 2001.

Tapestry Health has been running a needle exchange program at 15-A Main St. since the Board of Health and Mayor Alex B. Morse gave approval in mid-August in a step that has prompted a lawsuit that is in Superior Court.

Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse  

Supporters such as Morse say the goal of such a program is people visit an office and hand over used injection-drug needles and get clean ones in return. Doctors and other specialists say isolating the used needles is vital because the sharing of infected needles is largely to blame for spreading diseases for which there are no cures like HIV-AIDS and hepatitis C.

A related benefit is intravenous drug users in such visits can get exposed to safety warnings and counseling referrals they otherwise might never get, supporters say.

Opponents like council President Kevin A. Jourdain argue such a program makes the city a magnet for injection-drug practitioners and makes it hard to present the city as having a clean image.

Ward 6 Councilor Todd A. McGee proposed the order for the nonbinding needle exchange question, to let voters have a say.

"I think the public absolutely has a right to have a say about what kind of community they want to live in," Jourdain said Wednesday.

Holyoke City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain submitted photo  

In the suit filed in October, Jourdain and six other councilors argue Morse and the Board of Health violated the authority of the 15-member CIty Council because local approval is needed to establish a needle exchange program and that must include a council vote.

Judge Richard J. Carey in November denied plaintiffs' request to halt operation of the needle exchange facility here, but agreed a City Council vote is needed to establish such a program and said the argument of plaintiffs has a likelihood of success based on its merits.

When the next step in the court case will come was unclear. Plaintiffs' lawyer John J. O'Neill said Wednesday plaintiffs are working on additional motions in the case.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are councilors Linda L. Vacon, Todd A. McGee, Brenna M. McGee, James M. Leahy, Joseph M. McGiverin, Daniel B. Bresnahan and Jourdain.

Ward 2 Councilor Anthony Soto was a plaintiff but has withdrawn from the suit.

The seven councilors who weren't plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Gordon P. Alexander, Aaron M. Vega, Rebecca Lisi, David K. Bartley, Jason P. Ferreira, Gladys Lebron-Martinez and Peter R. Tallman.

Defendants in the suit are Morse, professionally, the Board of Health and Tapestry Health.

During the public comment period before Tuesday's City Council meeting, Susan Van Pelt of Walnut Street urged against the scheduling of a nonbinding question on needle exchange. Such decisions should be left to public health professionals, she said.

Holyoke Ward 4 Councilor Jason P. Ferreira  

"There are places where populism is appropriate and there are places where it is not," Van Pelt said.

Ferreira late last year filed an order calling for a City Council vote on needle exchange. Ferreira, who supports needle exchange, said he agreed with Jourdain that the order should stay in committee until lawsuit is resolved.

"There is no reason to take action before we have all the facts in front of us," Ferreira said.

The next 10 to 14 days will feature below average temperatures

A cold front will push through this afternoon. This will return colder, drier air Thursday night through Saturday morning as arctic air makes a brief appearance.

It's a one-two blast from the north pole as a second more prolonged installment of arctic air moves in Sunday night behind another stronger cold front. This will bring us likely the coldest stretch of weather this winter.

Next week, lows will range from the single numbers and teens with highs generally in the 20s all week. Wind chills run near zero as we head back to work on Monday and we'll be tracking a high snow storm potential too.

Although it will remain mostly dry, the jet stream pattern will favor coastal storm development. So, the potential is high for something to develop next week. The question remains whether it then tracks close enough to bring us more snow. We'll keep you posted.

Today: Pleasant with sunshine. High 36.

Thursday Night: Mainly clear and breezy. Low near 12.

Friday:Sunny and breezy. Wind chill near 15. High 28.

Saturday: Mainly sunny. Low near 10, High near 36.

A developer is building two private solar parks.

 

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Have a question you'd like answered? Email justask@repub.com or send it to the address below, and we'll try to get you a response.

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Question: Just wondering if you know anything about the solar panels popping up in Agawam recently.

I notice a bank of them on the side of Route 57 heading west and it now looks like the same thing is happening at Mushy’s Driving Range off Main Street.

Who is doing the work? Is it private or the town’s project? Where is the energy from the solar panels going to?

Is Mushy’s Range out of business?

-Joe Ferrins,
Feeding Hills

Answer: Rivermoor-Citizens LLC, a partnership of Rivermoor Energy of Newton and Citizens Energy, is building two solar parks at a cost of about $4.5 million each.

One has been proposed for 912 Shoemaker Lane and the other for Mushy’s Driving Range. The electricity will be fed into the Northeast Utilities power grid for use in that region of the country.

Mushy’s Driving Range has closed.

People in small Hawaii hometown of Manti Te'o are offering support for the Notre Dame linebacker, after the story of his girlfriend and her death from Leukemia were revealed as a hoax.

By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press

LAIE, Hawaii (AP) — People in small Hawaii hometown of Manti Te'o are offering support for the Notre Dame linebacker, after the story of his girlfriend and her death from Leukemia were revealed as a hoax as originally reported by Deadspin.com.

No one answered the door Wednesday evening and no one appeared to be inside the modest, single-story wood home of Te'o's parents, Brian and Ottilia Te'o, in the small coastal town of Laie on Oahu's northern shore where Manti Te'o was born.

But members of the mostly Mormon community, a town of about 6,000 people about an hour's drive from Honolulu that is home to a small satellite campus of Hawaii's Brigham Young University, said they were dumbfounded, and didn't believe he would have knowingly perpetrated such a story.

Lokelani Kaiahua said Te'o's parents were her classmates, and she knew them to have strong family values they instilled in their children.

"I just don't see something like that being made up from him or having any part of that because they're not those kind of people," she said while sitting and talking with friends a few doors down from the Te'o family home. "Everybody's kind of like 'what is going on?'"

According to media accounts that surrounded Te'o, an All-American and Heisman Trophy finalists, throughout the season, Lennay Kekua, died of leukemia in September.

But on Wednesday the website Deadspin.com posted a lengthy story Wednesday saying there was no evidence that Kekua ever existed.

Notre Dame officials then confirmed the hoax but were insistent that Te'o was only the victim.

Te'o is a hero and role model to many children in Laie and nearby small towns like Haaula, Kaaawa, and Kahuku along the two-lane highway snaking through Oahu's northeastern coast.

Students at local Haaula often wear Notre Dame jerseys with his number "5'' on them, and Te'o has returned to the area to talk to students about the importance of staying in school, said school administrator Makala Paakaula, 38.

"He always keeps giving back to his community," Paakaula said.

She said Te'o should be lauded for uniting Notre Dame during his senior year when he could have left for the NFL.

"It's amazing how he brought together the whole school to become one ohana, one family, where they all belonged, where they all had a purpose," she said.

Many residents expressed anger toward whoever was behind the entire affair.

"If he got hoaxed, that's not his fault — shame on them," Paakaula said, "because he has a very trusting, open heart."

Islamic militants say they have captured 41 foreign hostages at a natural gas complex in the Algerian desert, but there are conflicting reports about their numbers and nationalities, and 20 of them reportedly escaped Thursday.

Islamic militants say they have captured 41 foreign hostages at a natural gas complex in the Algerian desert, but there are conflicting reports about their numbers and nationalities, and 20 of them reportedly escaped Thursday.

Here's a summary of the latest information on the hostages:

— ALGERIA: Hundreds of Algerians worked at the gas plant, but the Algerian media says most have been released. The Norwegian energy company Statoil says three of its Algerian employees are being held.

— NORWAY: Nine Norwegian employees of Statoil are hostages, the company says.

— UNITED STATES: Seven Americans have been captured, according to the militants. The U.S. says its citizens are involved but has given no numbers.

— BRITAIN: "Several" British nationals are among the hostages, the U.K. government says.

— JAPAN: At least three of the hostages are Japanese, according to the Japanese media.

— MALAYSIA: Two Malaysians being held, the government says.

— IRELAND: A 36-year-old Irish man is among the hostages, according to Ireland's government.

— FRANCE: President Francois Hollande says there are French hostages but gave no exact number.

Nearly 200 people had signed on to the petition urging the health system to consider other options rather than demolition of the Allis Mansion

SPRINGFIELD – A petition signed by nearly 200 people has urged the Sisters of Providence Health System to halt the planned demolition of the Allis Mansion at Mercy Medical Center and to explore options for saving the 1867 building.

The online petition was printed and presented to the City Council this week with 172 names, and the number was continuing to grow, organizers said.

Robert McCarroll  

In response, the council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee has scheduled a meeting on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall to discuss the demolition with concerned citizens and the health system.

“We are hoping that Mercy will stop its deconstruction of the building and put it on hold for an extended period, let’s say six to nine months,” said Robert McCarroll, a member of the city’s Historical Commission. “We are asking for time to look at options.”

Sisters of Providence has stated that demolition is necessary due to the unsafe condition of the building, and in conjunction with plans for a new, $20 million medical office building on the Mercy campus.

In a statement on Wednesday, Sisters of Providence said it will send representatives to the meeting.

“Notwithstanding our ongoing commitment to improving patient care, the Sisters of Providence Health System remains respectful of the history of Allis House and other buildings and cognizant of the need to effectively preserve that history,” the statement read.

The Allis mansion on the Mercy Medical Center Campus on Carew Street in Springfield. The Republican file / John Suchock  

Sisters of Providence has invited representatives from the Springfield Historical Commission, the Springfield Preservation Trust and Preservation Massachusetts to tour the buildings next Wednesday “to help guide our efforts to preserve the history of the buildings,” the health system said.

Critics say the health system allowed the building to deteriorate and that the mansion is not within the footprint of the new medical building.

The petition urges the health system to “immediately cease any further stripping, dismantling, gutting and demolition of Allis Mansion pending further discussion and review.”

The mansion is part of the city’s “unique historical legacy,.. representing one of the best examples of Second French Empire mansions in the city,” the petition states.

The petition, which was signed by both residents and non-residents, states that options could be discussed among representatives of Mercy Medical Center, city councilors, the historical and preservation societies, and the community.

Police reportedly chased a small black car into Granby, Conn.

 

SOUTHWICK -- The Pride gasoline station and convenience store at 198 College Highway was targeted in what police described as a violent armed robbery early Thursday.

The Hartford Courant reported that Southwick police chased a small black car across the state line into Granby, Conn. shortly after the 6 a.m. robbery.

Police in both communities were not immediately available for comment, and it was unknown if police took any suspects into custody or if anyone was injured in the robbery.

The armed robbery is the latest in a rash of robberies, both armed and unarmed, reported in Western Massachusetts over the last few days. Police arrested suspects in both Springfield and Chicopee on Wednesday.

The head of the National Rifle Association says the organization has no problem with tighter background checks of gun purchasers.

In this Dec. 21, 2012, file photo, NRA president David Keene speaks during a news conference in response to the Connecticut school shooting in Washington. Senators plan to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines, like the one used in the Newton shooting where 20 children were killed, shot multiple times with a high-powered rifle. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File) The Associated Press  

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the National Rifle Association says the organization has no problem with tighter background checks of gun purchasers.

But association president David Keene also says too much emphasis has been placed on banning certain firearms.

In an interview on "CBS This Morning" Thursday, Keene argues, quote, "The real question that needs to be addressed is not what we do about guns, but what we do to make our schools safer."

The NRA has come under close scrutiny in the wake of Newtown, Conn., shootings that killed 20 children and six adults.

Keene said officials should focus more attention on a "devastatingly broken mental health system in this country," if they genuinely want to end gun violence.

He said the NRA has been "generally supportive" of stronger background checks.

A Marine who pleaded guilty Wednesday to urinating on the corpse of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan will likely be demoted one rank under a plea agreement, although a military judge called for a much harsher sentence.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — A Marine who pleaded guilty Wednesday to urinating on the corpse of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan will likely be demoted one rank under a plea agreement, although a military judge called for a much harsher sentence.

Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola pleaded guilty to multiple charges at court-martial, including that of violating orders by desecrating remains and posing for photographs with the corpses; and dereliction of duty by failing to properly supervise junior Marines.

The judge, Lt. Col. Nicole Hudspeth, said she would have sentenced him to six months confinement, a $5,000 fine, demotion to private and a bad-conduct discharge. But she is bound by terms of the plea agreement the sergeant reached with military prosecutors. A general will review the sentence and could choose to lower it.

Deptola and another Marine based at Camp LeJeune were charged last year after a video surfaced showing four Marines in full combat gear urinating on the bodies of three Afghans in July 2011. In the video, one of the Marines looked down at the bodies and quipped, "Have a good day, buddy."

Deptola was sergeant for a scout sniper platoon. Though he had been previously deployed overseas, he was on his only combat deployment at the time. The Southold, N.Y., native is married with two children, but military officials declined to give his age.

The sergeant admitted to the judge that he urinated on one of the three corpses and posed in the "trophy photographs." He said he failed to supervise the Marines under him when the desecration began, even though he had been briefed that such behavior violated a Marine Corps general order.

"I was in a position to stop it and I did not. ... I should have spoken up on the spot," he said.

When asked by the judge why he did it, Deptola replied, "I have no excuse, no reason, ma'am. ... It was not the correct way to handle a human casualty."

The sergeant said that on the day the urination video was shot, the platoon had seen heavy action and had 11 confirmed kills, including the three Taliban men whose bodies were shown in the recording. Deptola said another sergeant in the platoon had been killed earlier that day by an IED, and the Marines believed the heavily armed Taliban fighters they killed could have been responsible for it.

Deptola's defense attorney, Maj. Tracey Holtshirley, called the case a "lynching" by the news media and general public for an isolated mistake by a well-regarded Marine. He argued Deptola had already been punished enough by the attention and being removed from his platoon. He said he should be demoted two ranks to corporal.

Other Marines involved have received lesser sentences. Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin pleaded guilty to similar charges last month. Under a deal reached before his court-martial, he lost $500 in pay and was reduced in rank to sergeant. Three other Marines were given administrative punishments for their roles.

The urination video surfaced on YouTube around the same time as other incidents that infuriated many Afghans. American troops were caught up in controversies over burning Muslim holy books, posing for photos with insurgents' bloodied remains and an alleged massacre of 16 Afghan villagers by a soldier.

The Marine Corps said the urination took place during a counterinsurgency operation in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province, located in the south of the country.

The United States now has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. and its NATO allies agreed in November 2010 that they would withdraw all their combat troops by the end of 2014, but they haven't decided on the scope of future missions in the country and the size of any residual force remaining after that.

At least six gunshots were reported in the King Street area shortly before 1:30 a.m.

 

SPRINGFIELD -- No injuries were reported shortly before 1:30 a.m. Thursday after police responded to a report of multiple shots fired in the Old Hill neighborhood.

Lt. Henry Gagnon said at least six shots were fired in the King Street area.

Additional information about the incident was not immediately available.

People with severe food allergies have a new tool in their attempt to find menus that fit their diet: federal disabilities law. And that could leave schools, restaurants and anyplace else that serves food more vulnerable to legal challenges over food sensitivities.

MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — People with severe food allergies have a new tool in their attempt to find menus that fit their diet: federal disabilities law. And that could leave schools, restaurants and anyplace else that serves food more vulnerable to legal challenges over food sensitivities.

A settlement stemming from a lack of gluten-free foods available to students at a Massachusetts university could serve as a precedent for people with other allergies or conditions, including peanut sensitivities or diabetes. Institutions and businesses subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act could be open to lawsuits if they fail to honor requests for accommodations by people with food allergies.

Colleges and universities are especially vulnerable because they know their students and often require them to eat on campus, Eve Hill of the Justice Department's civil rights division says. But a restaurant also could be liable if it blatantly ignored a customer's request for certain foods and caused that person to become ill, though that case might be harder to argue if the customer had just walked in off the street, Hill said.

The settlement with Lesley University, reached last month but drawing little attention, will require the Cambridge, Mass., institution to serve gluten-free foods and make other accommodations for students who have celiac disease. At least one student complained to the federal government after the school would not exempt the student from a meal plan even though the student couldn't eat the food.

"All colleges should heed this settlement and take steps to make accommodations," says Alice Bast, president and founder of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. "To our community this is definitely a precedent."

People who suffer from celiac disease don't absorb nutrients well and can get sick from the gluten found in wheat, rye and barley. The illness, which affects around 2 million Americans, causes abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhea, and people who have it can suffer weight loss, fatigue, rashes and other problems. Celiac is a diagnosed illness that is more severe than gluten sensitivity, which some people self-diagnose.

Ten years ago, most people had never heard of celiac disease. But awareness has exploded in recent years, for reasons that aren't entirely clear. Some researchers say it was under-diagnosed, others say it's because people eat more processed wheat products like pastas and baked goods than in past decades, and those items use types of wheat that have a higher gluten content.

Gluten-free diets have expanded beyond those with celiac disease. Millions of people are buying gluten-free foods because they say they make them feel better, even if they don't have a wheat allergy. Americans were expected to spend $7 billion on gluten-free foods last year.

With so many people suddenly concerned with gluten content, colleges and universities have had to make accommodations. Some will allow students to be exempted from meal plans, while others will work with students individually. They may need to do even more now as the federal government is watching.

"These kids don't want to be isolated," Bast says. "Part of the college experience is being social. If you can't even eat in the school cafeteria then you are missing out on a big part of college life."

Under the Justice Department agreement, Lesley University says it will not only provide gluten-free options in its dining hall but also allow students to pre-order, provide a dedicated space for storage and preparation to avoid cross-contamination, train staff about food allergies and pay a $50,000 cash settlement to the affected students.

"We are not saying what the general meal plan has to serve or not," Hill says. "We are saying that when a college has a mandatory meal plan they have to be prepared to make reasonable modifications to that meal plan to accommodate students with disabilities."

The agreement says that food allergies may constitute a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act, if they are severe enough. The definition was made possible under 2009 amendments to the disability law that allowed for episodic impairments that substantially limit activity.

"By preventing people from eating, they are really preventing them from accessing their educational program," Hill said of the school and its students.

Mary Pat Lohse, the chief of staff and senior adviser to Lesley University's president, says the school has been working with the Justice Department for more than three years to address students' complaints. She says the school has already implemented most parts of the settlement and will continue to update policies to serve students who need gluten-free foods.

"The settlement agreement provides a positive road map for other colleges and universities to follow with regard to accommodating students with food allergies and modifying existing food service plans," Lohse said.

Some say the Justice Department decision goes too far. Hans von Spakovsky, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who worked in the civil rights division of the Justice Department under President George W. Bush, says food allergies shouldn't apply under the disability act. He adds that the costs could be substantial when schools are already battling backlash from high tuition costs.

"I certainly encourage colleges and universities to work with students on this issue, but the fact that this is a federal case and the Justice Department is going to be deciding what kind of meals could be served in a dining hall is just absurd," he said.

Whether the government is involved or not, schools and other food service establishments are likely to hear from those who want more gluten-free foods. Dhanu Thiyagarajan, a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, said she decided to speak up when she arrived at school and lost weight because there were too few gluten-free options in the cafeteria. Like Lesley University, the University of Pittsburgh requires that on-campus students participate in a meal plan.

Thiyagarajan eventually moved off campus so she could cook her own food, but not before starting an organization of students who suffer from wheat allergies like hers. She says she is now working with food service at the school and they have made a lot of progress, though not enough for her to move back on campus.

L. Scott Lissner, the disability coordinator at Ohio State University, says he has seen similar situations at his school, though people with food allergies have not traditionally thought of themselves as disabled. He says schools will eventually have to do more than just exempt students from a meal plan.

"This is an early decision on a growing wave of needs that universities are going to have to address," he said of the Lesley University agreement.

The suspect had an outstanding warrant, obtained through a DNA sample, from an earlier Avocado Street break-in.

1-18-2013 - Springfield - Police arrested 36-year-old Miguel Rivera early Friday morning after he allegedly broke into this Avocado Street grocery store.Two suspects remain at large. Greg Saulmon / The Republican  

SPRINGFIELD – A 36-year-old city man suspected in an early morning break-in at an Avocado Street grocery store forgot to turn off his flashlight as he attempted to elude police by running down a nearby bike path.

“He was kind of easy to follow,” said Capt. Larry Brown.

The suspect, Miguel A. Rivera, of 62 Andrew St., took off articles of clothing as he ran down the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway, which runs parallel to the Connecticut River. Police caught him near the river, Brown said.

“I don't know what he had in mind,” Brown said. “The water is pretty cold.”

Police, alerted by a burglar alarm at the Sweet Life Food Co. store at 110 Avocado St., arrived shortly before 1 a.m. and saw Rivera running from the property. At least two other suspects remain at large, Brown said.

Rivera was charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony.

Rivera had an outstanding warrant, for breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, that pertained to another Avocado Street break-in, Brown said. Detectives linked Rivera to that prior break-in -- and ultimately received a warrant for his arrest -- from a DNA sample recovered at that scene.

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The victim refused medical treatment, police said.

 

EAST LONGMEADOW -- Police arrested a 21-year-old Lynwood Road woman after she allegedly hit her boyfriend with a fireplace broom during a domestic altercation Thursday afternoon.

Sgt. Patrick Manley said police went to the home shortly after 1:30 p.m. after receiving an abandoned 911 call. While police were en route, the woman called the station and said there was no need to respond.

Police continued, however, and upon arrival saw that the victim had a lump on his forehead and scratches on his face, neck and arms, Manley said.

The victim told police that Imme hit him with the broom, Manley said. He refused medical treatment.

Christy Noel Imme, of 30 Lynwood Road, was charged with assault and battery (domestic) and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to police documents.

A deadly Algerian military raid to free hostages from at least 10 countries and wipe out their Islamist militant captors moved closer to the heart of the natural gas complex on Friday, the government news service said.

By KARIM KABIR and PAUL SCHEMM, The Associated Press

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A deadly Algerian military raid to free hostages from at least 10 countries and wipe out their Islamist militant captors moved closer to the heart of the natural gas complex on Friday, the government news service said.

A total of 18 militants were killed and the plant's living quarters were secured, according to the news agency, which cited security officials. Dozens of energy workers remained unaccounted for after the Algerian military's initial claim that the assault at the remote desert facility was over late Thursday.

Algeria's government has kept a tight grip on information, but it was clear that the militant assault that began Wednesday has killed at least six people from the factory — and perhaps many more.

Workers kidnapped by the militants came from around the world — Americans, Britons, French, Norwegians, Romanians, Malaysians, Japanese, Algerians. Leaders on Friday expressed strong concerns about how Algeria was handing the situation and its apparent reluctance to communicate.

British Prime Minister David Cameron went before the House of Commons on Friday to provide an update, seeming frustrated that Britain was not told about the military operation despite having "urged we be consulted."

Terrorized hostages from Ireland and Norway trickled out of the Ain Amenas plant, 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) south of Algiers, the capital. BP, which jointly operates the plant, said it had begun to evacuate employees from Algeria.

"This is a large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages," Cameron said. He told lawmakers the situation remained fluid and dangerous, saying "part of the threat has been eliminated in one part of the site, a threat still remains in another part."

Algeria's army-dominated government, hardened by decades of fighting Islamist militants, shrugged aside foreign offers of help and drove ahead alone.

On Friday, Algeria's ambassador to Japan was summoned and told that Japan demanded that Algeria prioritize hostages' lives and cooperate more closely.

The U.S. government sent an unmanned surveillance drone to the BP-operated site, near the border with Libya, but it could do little more than watch Thursday's military intervention. British intelligence and security officials were on the ground in Algeria's capital but were not at the installation, said a British official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

A U.S. official said while some Americans escaped, other Americans were either still held or unaccounted for. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was briefed early Friday, according to a senior defense official, who offered no other details because "we view it as a sensitive, ongoing situation." The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

With the hostage drama entering its second day Thursday, Algerian security forces moved in, first with helicopter fire and then special forces, according to diplomats, a website close to the militants, and an Algerian security official. The government said it was forced to intervene because the militants were being stubborn and wanted to flee with the hostages.

Militants claimed 35 hostages died when the military helicopters opened fire as they were transporting hostages from the living quarters to the main factory area where other workers were being held.

The group — led by a Mali-based al-Qaida offshoot known as the Masked Brigade — suffered losses in Thursday's military assault — but garnered a global audience.

Even violence-scarred Algerians were stunned by the brazen hostage-taking Wednesday, the biggest in northern Africa in years and the first to include Americans as targets. Mass fighting in the 1990s had largely spared the lucrative oil and gas industry that gives Algeria its economic independence and regional weight.

The remote location is extremely hard to reach and was surrounded by Algerian security forces — who, like the militants, are inclined to advertise their successes and minimize their failures.

"An important number of hostages were freed and an important number of terrorists were eliminated, and we regret the few dead and wounded," Algeria's communications minister, Mohand Said Oubelaid, told national media on Thursday, adding that the "terrorists are multinational," coming from several different countries with the goal of "destabilizing Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali conflict and damaging its natural gas infrastructure."

The official news agency said four hostages were killed in Thursday's operation, two Britons and two Filipinos. Two others, a Briton and an Algerian, died Wednesday in the initial militant ambush on a bus ferrying foreign workers to an airport. Citing hospital officials, the APS news agency said six Algerians and seven foreigners were injured.

APS said some 600 local workers were safely freed in the raid — but many of those were reportedly released the day before by the militants themselves.

A spokesman for the Masked Brigade told the Nouakchott Information Agency in Mauritania that only seven hostages survived.

President Barack Obama and Cameron spoke on the phone to share their confusion. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Obama administration was "seeking clarity from the government of Algeria."

BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, operate the gas field and a Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility.

One Irish hostage managed to escape: electrician Stephen McFaul, who'd worked in North Africa's oil and natural gas fields off and on for 15 years. His family said the militants let hostages call their families to press the kidnappers' demands.

"He phoned me at 9 o'clock to say al-Qaida were holding him, kidnapped, and to contact the Irish government, for they wanted publicity. Nightmare, so it was. Never want to do it again. He'll not be back! He'll take a job here in Belfast like the rest of us," said his mother, Marie.

Dylan, McFaul's 13-year-old son, started crying as he talked to Ulster Television. "I feel over the moon, just really excited. I just can't wait for him to get home," he said.

At least one Filipino managed to escape and was slightly injured.

Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila said the 20-odd militants entered the country from nearby Libya in three vehicles, in an operation commanded by extremist mastermind Moktar Belmoktar, who is normally based in Mali.

The militants made it clear that their attack was in revenge for the French intervention against Islamists who have taken over large parts of neighboring Mali. France has encountered fierce resistance from the extremist groups in Mali and failed to persuade many Western allies to join in the actual combat.

____

Here's a summary of the latest information on the hostages:

— ALGERIA: Hundreds of Algerians worked at the gas plant, but the Algerian media say most were released.

— NORWAY: Eight Norwegian employees of Statoil remain unaccounted-for.

— UNITED STATES: Seven Americans were hostages, the militants said, but they claimed only two survived the Algerian strafing Thursday. A U.S. official said late Thursday that while some Americans escaped, other Americans remain either held or unaccounted for.

— BRITAIN: British Prime Minister David Cameron says 30 Britons were unaccounted for Thursday but that number is now "significantly reduced." One Briton was confirmed killed in the initial attack on Wednesday.

— JAPAN: JGC Corp, which provides services at the complex, confirmed seven Japanese employees were safe and 10 others were unaccounted for. Ten non-Japanese employees are also alive, it said.

— PHILIPPINES: Algeria's state news agency said two Filipino hostages were killed. Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said Friday at least one Filipino escaped with injuries during the military operation and he had no information about any fatalities.

— MALAYSIA: Two Malaysians were held, the government says.

— IRELAND: A 36-year-old Irish electrician was among the hostages but managed to escape.

— FRANCE: President Francois Hollande said there are French hostages but gave no exact number.

— ROMANIA: Romania's Foreign Ministry says Romanians are among hostages.

Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper, Lolita Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington, Lori Hinnant in Paris, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin, Bjoern H. Amland in Oslo, Norway, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Cassandra Vinograd, Paisley Dodds and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

One survivor had to pause on his way into the theater and pray. Another braced for flashbacks as he entered the auditorium where 12 people died and dozens were injured during a massacre six months earlier. Others refused to come, viewing the reopening of the multiplex as insensitive.

Aurora Police Officer Mike Hawkins, a 18 year veteran and first responder to the shooting sits with other Aurora Police officers during the reopening and remembrance ceremony at the Century Aurora cinema, formerly the Century 16, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 in Aurora, Colo. The cinema is where 12 people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting rampage last July. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool)  

By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — One survivor had to pause on his way into the theater and pray. Another braced for flashbacks as he entered the auditorium where 12 people died and dozens were injured during a massacre six months earlier. Others refused to come, viewing the reopening of the multiplex as insensitive.

The former Century 16, now renovated and renamed the Century Aurora, opened its doors to victims of the July 20 attack on Thursday night with a somber remembrance ceremony and a special showing of "The Hobbit."

Theater 9, where neuroscience graduate student James Holmes allegedly opened fire on a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Returns," is now an XD theater with a wall-to-wall screen and stadium seating.

"We as a community have not been defeated," Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan told victims, officials, and dozens of police officers and other first responders who filled half the theater's seats at the ceremony.

"We are a community of survivors," Hogan declared. "We will not let this tragedy define us."

Pierce O'Farrill, who was wounded three times in the shooting, made a point of finding his old seat in the second row of the theater. "It was just a part of closure, just going back to that spot where, obviously, I was in the most pain I'd ever felt in in my life," said O'Farrill, who was hit three times and had to be carried out by the SWAT team, past the shooter's discarded rifle.

Holmes is charged with 166 felony counts, mostly murder and attempted murder for the shooting. A judge has ordered him to stand trial, but he won't enter a plea until March.

The reopening comes nearly six months after the attack and a week after many victims sat through a three-day hearing at which prosecutors described the attack in excruciating detail

Several families boycotted what they called a callous public relations ploy by the theater's owner, Cinemark. They claimed the Texas-based company didn't ask them what should happen to the theater. They said Cinemark emailed them an invitation to Thursday's reopening just two days after they struggled through Christmas without their loved ones.

"It was boilerplate Hollywood — 'Come to our movie screening,'" said Anita Busch, whose cousin, 23-year-old college student Micayla Medek, died at the theater.

Victims have filed at least three federal lawsuits against Cinemark Holdings Inc., alleging it should have provided security for the July 20 midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and that the exit door used by the gunman to get his weapons and re-enter should have had an alarm. In court papers, Cinemark says the tragedy was "unforeseeable and random."

"We certainly recognize all the different paths that people take to mourn, the different paths that people take to recover from unimaginable, incomprehensible loss," Gov. John Hickenlooper said at the ceremony.

"Some wanted this theater to reopen. Some didn't. Certainly both answers are correct," Hickenlooper said.

The governor credited Cinemark CEO Tim Warner for flying to Colorado after hearing about the shooting to see what he could do.

Warner told attendees that the caring response to the tragedy by first responders, the community and the world was a testament that good triumphs over evil.

Samuel Aquila, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Denver, concluded the ceremony with a prayer for the dead and the living.

"All of us in some small way suffered in your suffering," Aquila told the crowd. "The way of peace means rejecting the violence of that night."

Cinemark planned to offer free movies at the multiplex to the public over the weekend, then permanently reopen it Jan. 25. Throughout the evening, police officers and security guards turned away people who drove up asking how they could get tickets to the upcoming free shows.

The decision to reopen even divided at least one victim's family.

Tom Sullivan, whose son, Alex, was killed, attended the event.

"The community wants the theater back and by God, it's back," Sullivan said. "Nobody is going to stop us from living our lives the way that we lived our lives before. This is where I live."

Alex's widow, Cassandra Sullivan, joined the boycott. So did Tom Teves, whose own son, Alex, also was killed.

"They can do whatever they want. I think it was pretty callous," Teves said.

Adam Witt, who was grazed in the shoulder during the attack, was expecting flashbacks when he walked into the theater Thursday night. He and his wife Tiffany were pleasantly surprised at how unfamiliar the renovated space seemed.

"It was strange but oddly reassuring," said Tiffany Witt, 24. "The way it looks different -- it gives us the feeling that we're moving on from what happened."

Marcus Weaver struggled to keep his emotions under control as he walked through the multiplex lobby. On July 20 he was shot in the arm and his friend Rebecca Wingo was killed. Thursday night he had to stop and pray before entering the theater.

He was glad he did. Inside he saw the woman with whom he had shared a terrifying ambulance ride on July 20, and another woman from his church whom he hadn't even realized had been in the auditorium that night.

"There was so much love in that room, it conquered all the ill feeling I had," said Weaver, 42, who wore a shirt bearing Wingo's name and image. "The shooter, he can't win. This community is way stronger."

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Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi and Colleen Slevin contributed to this report.

Massachusetts lawmakers are proposing a bill that would come down hard on stores and restaurants that misrepresent or mislabel seafood, and would even ban the sale of one kind of fish.

In this July 30, 2012 photo, salmon off the boat await processing at Alaska Glacier Seafood Co., at Auke Bay, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)  

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers are proposing a bill that would come down hard on stores and restaurants that misrepresent or mislabel seafood, and would even ban the sale of one kind of fish.

The bill, proposed by the Legislature's Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, is expected to be filed Friday.

Businesses misrepresenting seafood could be fined $800 and have their licenses to operate suspended or revoked.

The move comes after stories in The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/10E9ZxY ) that reported restaurants and stores knowingly selling cheaper, lower-quality fish labeled as more expensive, higher-quality varieties.

DNA testing showed the mismarking of Pacific cod as the more expensive Atlantic species, and tilapia as red snapper.

The bill would also ban the sale of escolar, often mislabeled as tuna. Escolar can cause gastrointestinal distress.

After back-to-back presidential losses, Republicans in key states want to change the rules to make it easier for them to win.

By STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — After back-to-back presidential losses, Republicans in key states want to change the rules to make it easier for them to win.

From Wisconsin to Pennsylvania, GOP officials who control legislatures in states that supported President Barack Obama are considering changing state laws that give the winner of a state's popular vote all of its Electoral College votes, too. Instead, these officials want Electoral College votes to be divided proportionally, a move that could transform the way the country elects its president.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus endorsed the idea this week, and other Republican leaders support it, too, suggesting that the effort may be gaining momentum. There are other signs that Republican state legislators, governors and veteran political strategists are seriously considering making the shift as the GOP looks to rebound from presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Electoral College shellacking and the demographic changes that threaten the party's long-term political prospects.

"It's something that a lot of states that have been consistently blue that are fully controlled red ought to be looking at," Priebus told the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, emphasizing that each state must decide for itself.

Democrats are outraged at the potential change.

Obama won the popular vote with 65.9 million votes, or 51.1 percent, to Romney's 60.9 million and won the Electoral College by a wide margin, 332-206 electoral votes. It's unclear whether he would have been re-elected under the new system, depending upon how many states adopted the change.

While some Republican officials warn of a political backlash, GOP lawmakers in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are already lining up behind proposals that would allocate electoral votes by congressional district or something similar.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he "could go either way" on the change and doesn't plan to push it. But he said it's a reasonable issue to debate and that he prefers that leaders discuss it well before the next presidential election.

"It could be done in a thoughtful (way) over the next couple years and people can have a thoughtful discussion," Snyder said.

Republican leaders in the Michigan Statehouse have yet to decide whether to embrace the change there. But state Rep. Peter Lund, a Republican who introduced a bill to change the allocation system two years ago, said some Republicans might be more receptive to his bill this year following the election.

"We never really pushed it before," he said, adding that the bill wasn't designed to help one party more than the other.

Democrats aren't convinced. And they warned of political consequences for Republicans who back the shift — particularly those governors up for re-election in 2014, which include the governors of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, among others.

"This is nothing more than election-rigging," said Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer.

Each state has the authority to shape its own election law. And in at least seven states — Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and North Carolina — Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Already, Maine and Nebraska have moved away from a winner-take-all system to one that allocates electoral votes based on congressional district.

"This is a concept that's got a lot of possibility and a lot of potential," said Washington-based Republican strategist Phil Musser, acknowledging that the debate would "incite different levels of partisan acrimony." Musser also predicted that more pressing economic issues would likely take priority in most Republican-led statehouses.

In Pennsylvania, Senate Republican leader Dominic Pileggi this week renewed his call for the Republican-controlled Legislature to revamp the way it awards electoral votes by using a method based on the popular vote that would have given Romney eight of the state's 20 votes.

Democrats quickly criticized it as partisan scheme.

"It is difficult to find the words to describe just how evil this plan is," said Pennsylvania state Sen. Daylin Leach, a Democrat. "It is an obscene scheme to cheat by rigging the elections,"

Gov. Tom Corbett, who supported a related proposal from Pileggi last year, had not seen the new plan and could not say whether he supports the new version, the Republican governor's spokesman Kevin Harley said.

In Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker has said that changing how electoral votes are allocated was an "interesting idea" but that it's not one of his priorities nor has he decided whether he supports such a change.

It's gotten a lukewarm reception in the Republican-controlled Legislature as well. No proposal has been introduced yet and no lawmaker has announced any plans to do so, but the state Assembly speaker, Robin Vos, first proposed the change back in 2007.

"I am open to that idea," Vos said in December as lawmakers prepared for the start of their session. "But I would have to hear all the arguments."

All 10 of the state's Electoral College votes went to Obama last fall under the current system. If they were awarded based on the new system, the votes would have been evenly split between Obama and Romney.

Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett sent an email plea urging people to sign a petition against the change: "We can't sit silently by as they try to manipulate the democratic process for political advantage," Barrett wrote. "We can't let them attack the very democratic institutions and rights that others have sacrificed so much to gain — just because they don't believe they can win in a fair election fight."

So far, Republicans have only advocated for the change in states that have supported Democrats in recent elections. The view is predictably different in states where the Republican nominee is a cinch to win.

"The Electoral College has served the country quite well," said Louisiana GOP Chairman Roger Villere, who doubles as a national party vice chairman.

He continued: "This is coming from states where it might be an advantage, but I'm worried about what it means down the road. This is a system that has worked. That doesn't mean we can't talk about changes, but we have to be very careful about any actions we might take."

___

Associated Press writers Peter Jackson in Pennsylvania, Scott Bauer in Wisconsin, Jeff Karoub and John Flesher in Michigan, and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Catholic priest Kevin Wallin was arrested by federal agents for his role in a national meth ring after selling to an undercover cop.

Former Catholic priest Kevin Wallin was arrested by federal agents for his role in a national meth ring after selling to an undercover cop.