The bill would allow judges to impose a life sentence but it would not be mandatory.

Western Massachusetts lawyers Linda J. Thompson, Donald W. Frank and Joseph A. Franco, from left, say there are many things in Gov. Deval Patrick's bill they would like to have clarified.  

SPRINGFIELD - Several local defense lawyers and Hampden County’s top prosecutor all found good things within Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed legislation that would eliminate mandatory life sentences without parole for teens under 18 convicted of first-degree murder.

The measure filed by Patrick Monday would also raise the age for juvenile court jurisdiction from 17 to 18 in Massachusetts.

Under current state law, teens as young as 14 can be tried as adults for first-degree murder. Conviction on first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence without parole in Massachusetts.

Patrick’s bill would still allow life sentences without parole for juveniles under certain circumstances.

Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said he is not taking a stance for or against Patrick’s proposed legislation.

“I’m interested in spending more time reading it and seeing what it means,” he said. “I definitely see points that are worth having a conversation about.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles are unconstitutional.

Because of that Supreme Court case - Miller v. Alabama - the change proposed by Patrick to eliminate mandatory life sentences for teens is not a great surprise, several lawyers said.

Joseph A. Franco, Linda J. Thompson and Donald W. Frank - all lawyers who have handled murder cases - said there are many things in the bill which they would want clarified.

They said the legislation conforms with the Supreme Court decision in terms of doing away with mandatory life sentences for juveniles.

Thompson said a positive element is prosecutors must give notification if they are going to seek life without parole for juveniles.

She said the legislation seems to be a step in the right direction.

What wasn’t required under the Supreme Court decision, but what Patrick had included, is raising the age for juvenile court jurisdiction, Thompson said.

“I think that’s really important,” she said, citing scientific studies on brain development of teens.

Two things - lack of critical judgment and lack of impulse control - are present with teenage offenders, she said.

Frank said the legislation seems to reflect what was suggested by the Miller decision in terms of what factors a court should consider in sentencing juvenile murder defendants.

Patrick’s bill spells out more specifically what those considerations should be, he said.

“Of course I applaud both the Supreme Court and the governor for recognizing the limitations of adolescent brain development,” Frank said.

Franco said giving judges discretion in sentencing is always a good thing since judges are in the best position to make those decisions.

He said it is not clear if the legislation addresses the problem of juveniles who have already been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Mastroianni said it is good Patrick allowed judges to consider factors in cases where they believe a life sentence without parole is warranted.

He said district attorneys concerns are making sure a defendant serves a sufficient amount of time and that the public is protected.

According to a prepared statement issued by Patrick’s office, “An Act to Reform the Juvenile Justice System in the Commonwealth” will create a fairer justice system for the state’s youth.

“Every violent felon should be held accountable for their actions, even youth. But in sentencing every felon’s circumstances should be considered, too, and youth itself is a special circumstance,” Patrick said.

“It is time for the Commonwealth’s laws to reflect the value, in accord with the Supreme Court, that young people deserve every opportunity for rehabilitation and reform,” he said.

State Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral said, “The governor’s legislation recognizes the importance of providing juveniles with age-appropriate resources for rehabilitation. It builds on established research that proves an adolescent brain affects behavior and judgment, but that rehabilitation is possible.”

“Fair treatment of juveniles requires both holding them accountable for their actions and ensuring the highest degree of public safety in order to keep the Commonwealth’s neighborhoods safe and secure," she said.

Woods had a double bogey and two bogeys on the final five holes but held on to win the Farmers Insurance Open.

SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods is a winner again at Torrey Pines, and the only question Monday was how long it would take him to finish.

Woods stretched his lead to eight shots in the Farmers Insurance Open before losing his focus and his patience during a painfully slow finish by the group ahead.

Despite dropping four shots over the last five holes, he still managed an even-par 72 for a four-shot victory on the course where he has won more than any other in his pro career.

He won the tournament for the seventh time, one behind the record held by Sam Snead, who won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times. It was the eighth time Woods won at Torrey Pines, which includes his playoff win in the 2008 U.S Open.

This one was never close.

Woods built a six-shot lead with 11 holes to play when the final round of the fog-delayed tournament was suspended Sunday by darkness. He returned Monday — a late morning restart because CBS Sports wanted to show it in the afternoon on the East Coast — and looked stronger than ever until the tournament dragged to a conclusion.

Having to wait on every tee and from every fairway — or the rough, in his case — Woods made bogey from the bunker on the 14th, hooked a tee shot on the 15th that went off the trees and into a patch of ice plant and led to double bogey, and then popped up his tee shot on the 17th on his way to another bogey.

All that affected was the score. It kept him from another big margin of victory, though the message was clear about his game long before that.

One week after he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, he ruled at Torrey Pines.

It was his 75th career win on the PGA Tour, seven short of the Snead's all-time tour record.

"It got a little ugly toward the end," Woods said. "I started losing patience a little bit with the slow play. I lost my concentration a little bit."

He rallied with a two-putt par on the 18th hole to win by four shots over defending champion Brandt Snedeker and Josh Teater, who had the best finish of his career.

Like so many of his big wins, the only drama was for second place.

Brad Fritsch, the rookie from Canada, birdied his last two holes for a 75. That put him into a tie for ninth, however, making him eligible for the Phoenix Open next week.

Fritsch had been entered in the Monday qualifier that he had to abandon when the Farmers Insurance Open lost Saturday to a fog delay.

Woods effectively won this tournament in the final two hours Sunday, when he stretched his lead to six shots with only 11 holes to play. Nick Watney made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth when play resumed to get within five shots, only to drop three shots on the next five holes.

Everyone else started too far behind, and Woods wasn't about to come back to them.

Even so, the red shirt seemed to put him on edge. It didn't help that as he settled over his tee shot on the par-5 ninth, he backed off when he heard a man behind the ropes take his picture.

Woods rarely hits the fairway after an encounter with a camera shutter, and this was no different — it went so far right that it landed on the other side of a fence enclosing a corporate hospitality area.

Woods took his free drop, punched out below the trees into the fairway and then showed more irritation when his wedge nicked the flag after one hop and spun down the slope 30 feet away instead of stopping next to the hole.

He didn't show much reaction on perhaps his most memorable shot of the day — with his legs near the edge of a bunker some 75 feet to the left of the 11th green, he blasted out to the top shelf and watched the ball take dead aim until it stopped a foot short.

He failed to save par from a bunker on the 14th, and he hooked his tee shot so badly on the 15th hole that it traveled only about 225 yards before it was gobbled up by the ice plant. He had to take a penalty drop and wound up making double bogey.

More than his 75th career win, it was a strong opening statement for what could be a fascinating 2013.

Before anyone projects a monster year for Woods based on one week — especially when that week is at Torrey Pines — remember that he just missed the cut last week in Abu Dhabi.

Woods said he wasn't playing much differently, and would have liked two more rounds in the Middle East. Instead, a two-shot penalty for a bad drop sent him home.

Still, in healthier and happier times he usually was sharp coming after a long layoff. Throw out the trip to the Arabian Gulf, and he is.

Was this a statement?

Woods was eight shots ahead with five holes to play when he stumbled his way to the finish line, perhaps from having to kill time waiting on the group ahead. Erik Compton, Steve Marino and Fritsch had an entire par 5 open ahead of them at the end of the round.

Still, Woods played a different game than everyone else at Torrey Pines.

"I think he wanted to send a message," said Hunter Mahan, who shares a swing coach with Woods. "I think deep down he did. You play some games to try to motivate yourself. There's been so much talk about Rory (McIlroy). Rory is now with Nike. That would be my guess."

Mahan got a good look at Woods this week, playing in the group behind him on the front nine because Mahan was first off on the two-tee start.

"He looked strong," Mahan said. "He had great control of his swing. He was hitting some strong shots, different from any other player I saw out here."

Woods is not likely to return to golf until the Match Play Championship next month.

The community policing philosophy is familiar to the 5 new officers, as it is with all reserve officers.

Louise K. Bisson, Holyoke assistant city clerk, left, gives the new police officer oath to Crystal L. Manzi, center, as Police Chief James M. Neiswanger, in background, and Mayor Alex B. Morse, right, look on. Also sworn in as new officers were Jamie G. Girard, Szymon P. Wolanczyk, Michael R. Everett and Jonathan H. Frost. John Suchocki / The Republican  

HOLYOKE — Protecting and serving is five months away, but the prospect of a wait seemed less important to five new police officers Monday than the reality that they are beginning their careers.

"I come from seven years in the correctional field in the jail so I wanted to get out on the street and prevent crime that way, and help the community," said Michael R. Everett, 34, who worked at the Hampden County Correctional Center, in Ludlow.

"I like helping people and I think the law should be followed. I'm looking forward to everything. I'm just looking forward to getting started on my career," said Crystal L. Manzi, 27.

Jamie G. Girard, Szymon P. Wolanczyk and Jonathan H. Frost joined Everett and Manzi in getting sworn in as full-time officers at City Hall by Mayor Alex B. Morse and Police Chief James M. Neiswanger.

All five had been reserve police officers. They will begin a 20-week course of classroom instruction and physical activity at the Western Mass. Police Academy at Springfield Technical Community College on Monday.

A plus for the department is the five are versed in Neiswanger's community policing philosophy, officials said.

"It's an exciting time to be part of the Police Department," Morse said. "It's also a good time to bring in these new officers because they're already doing community policing (as reserve officers) so they won't need that much new training."

The meet-and-greet importance of community policing is instilled in all reserve officers, Neiswanger said.

"They're hitting the ground running, so that's a beautiful thing," he said.

When they complete the academy, the five officers will bring the patrol force to 91, the same as it is now as some patrol officers will be lost in the interim to retirements and promotions, he said.

The department is authorized to have 120 patrol officers and additional hiring is expected, including five more officers in the spring, he said.

The department has its full complement of four captains and eight lieutenants. There are 14 sergeants, one short of the full 15, he said.

"It's good to have them aboard," Neiswanger said. "I wish them all well, and long and very successful careers."

It costs the city $12,500, or $2,500 per officer, to send the five to the academy. An entry level police officer's yearly salary is $43,939.

Leger, 29, a decorated city firefighter and U.S. Air Force veteran who was honorably discharged, was charged with a single count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after a fight at North Main Street establishment.

EAST LONGMEADOW — A fight at a local restaurant Friday has resulted in charges being brought against a member of the Springfield Fire Department.

Lt. James F. Leger, 29, a decorated city firefighter, was charged Monday in connection with a fight at Pasquale's Ristorante, 642 North Main St. He is due in Palmer District Court on March 8.

James LegerThe Republican [file] 

The alleged assault stemmed from an incident just after midnight Friday, when Leger and another man exchanged words. The argument became physical and Leger struck the 24-year-old man on the head with a bar stool, according to East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Patrick Manley.

Leger claimed the man shoved him, so he shoved him back.

Police charged Leger with a single count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was expected to be arraigned Monday in Palmer District Court, but Hampden Assistant District Attorney Colleen Martin confirmed that Leger's attorney, Thomas J. Rooke of Springfield, asked for a postponement because Leger is a military veteran. "He's being assessed under a veterans' program," Martin said.

Rooke said Leger has yet to be formally charged with a crime. The lawyer said he hopes his client will not be arraigned if Leger is deemed eligible for a diversion and treatment program for veterans. "There's two sides to every story," Rooke said, claiming the firefighter acted in self-defense.

The injured man was treated for a head laceration at Baystate Medical Center and later released, Manley said.

Most of the city labor contracts have been expired since June 30, 2012, leading to dozens of collective bargaining sessions.

 

Timothy Collins  

SPRINGFIELD – Local officials said Monday they are striving to settle contracts with 20 municipal and school unions including a contract with teachers that expired seven months ago.

The expired contract with the Springfield Education Association triggered a silent demonstration at last week’s School Committee meeting by dozens of teachers, some carrying signs calling for a new contract.

“I am hopeful we can reach an agreement on a contract that is comparable and competitive with the surrounding district,” said Timothy T. Collins, president of the Springfield Education Association.

William E. Mahoney, the city’s human resources and labor relations director, said that all 12 municipal contracts expired June 30. In addition, 10 of the 12 school union contracts expired the same date including the teachers union.

William E. Mahoney  

“The city is committed to resolving these contract negotiations as expeditiously as possible,” Mahoney said. “In 2012, the city conducted 135 bargaining sessions with school and city unions and will continue in these efforts to achieve reasonable, fair and affordable contracts.”

There are contractual agreements with school bus monitors and crossing guards, Mahoney said.

City and school labor negotiators and representatives of the teachers union have been involved in negotiations of a new contract since October of 2011, Collins said.

The latest contract with teachers was a two-year agreement that was essentially limited to salary changes — providing a 1 percent pay raise on July 1, 2010, and a 2 percent raise on July 1, 2011.

A prior five-year contract was reached with the state-imposed, now disbanded Springfield Finance Control Board, after a prolonged impasse, contentious negotiations and litigation.

Current salaries for teachers vary, generally ranging from a new teacher with a bachelors degree paid approximately $38,000 annually to a teacher with a doctorate degree and 12 years experience earning about $64,000.

The school district is continuing with the terms and conditions of the expired contract until a new contract is ratified, Collins said.

Collins said there is some frustration among teachers regarding the lapsed contract.

“These are some of the hardest working, most dedicated teachers in the Commonwealth,” Collins said. “And they deserve a contract that will both attract and retain teachers in the Springfield Public School District, a contract with comparable benefits and salaries to the surrounding districts.”

Peter M. Murphy, vice-chairman of the School Committee, said the teachers who gathered at last Thursday’s committee meeting were “very respectful and very well represented.”

“We continue to bargain in good faith in hopes we will reach a resolution in the best interest of the students of Springfield,” Murphy said.

Shalamar Williams said she had expected to have the baby at the hospital.

SPRINGFIELD — The temperatures were in the single digits early Friday morning, and Shalamar Williams did not make it to the hospital in time to deliver her fourth child.

Her husband, Kevin Williams, stepped in and delivered the child in the couple’s home on Herman Street with an ambulance dispatcher telling him what to do by telephone.

Their new baby girl, Akina Diane Williams, named for Shalamar’s stepmother and Kevin’s grandmother, is happy and healthy.

Shalamar said her husband went pale when he realized he was going to have to deliver the baby.

She added, “He kept his composure.” Kevin Williams was able to deliver the baby, and the ambulance dispatcher told him to tie off the umbilical cord with a sneaker lace.

Then the ambulance attendants arrived.

Shalamar said she was “a little bit in shock” over what had happened.

“It was definitely an experience to remember. It happened so fast,” she said.

The baby, born at 5 pounds and 17 inches long, is healthy. Shalamar said she is very grateful for everything her husband and then the ambulance attendants did.

“My husband was wonderful,” she said. “He did everything perfect.”

Shalamar is a nurse at the Jewish Nursing Home in Longmeadow. She said her husband is an ex-Marine, and she figures his emergency training helped him with the delivery.

“I want to be able to show my daughter, some day, what Daddy did,” Kevin Williams said.

Akina joins her sisters, Daviana, 8, and Tayla, 6 and her brother, Elias, 11 months.

“That’s the whole troop,” Kevin Williams said. He said his son, Elias Williams, 11 months, is already walking and a little jealous of his new baby sister.

Shalamar said she had been having contractions, about 10 minutes apart, and she did not think she would be having the baby so quickly.

“I was trying to hold off going to the hospital,” she said. “My husband thought they would send us back home.”

She said she learned that every labor is different.

Akina was born on her due date. Her other children were born a week early, she said.

Kevin said he wants to give credit to his brother in law, Franklin, who helped him get through the delivery and helped watch his other children when he and his wife and the new baby went by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center.

Shalamar said her older children woke up during the commotion of the delivery, but her brother kept them in a separate room and told the children their mother was OK, she was just having a baby.

“I expected to deliver Akina in the hospital, like the others. It’s an experience to remember,” she said.

Shalamar and the baby stayed for one night in the hospital. Now they are home, reunited with the rest of the family.

The Freddie the Fire Truck teaching tool will be used in the firefighters' presentation.

Holyoke Fire Chief John A. Pond reads to Blessed Sacrament School second-graders in a visit to the school last year. John Suchocki / The Republican file  

HOLYOKE - Firefighters plan to be at the Blessed Sacrament School Tuesday from 9 to 11 a.m. to discuss fire prevention tips with children.

The school is at Northampton and Hitchcock streets.

Youngsters will see displays about fire safety as firefighters use the Freddie the Fire Truck teaching tool, according to a prepared statement issued by the Holyoke Fire Department.

An increasing workload is prompting Palmer officials to consider expanding the hours and pay scale for its veterans' services agent, according to Town Manager Charles Blanchard.

PALMER — With Paul Graveline, the town's part-time veterans' services officer, poised to retire next month, town leaders are now considering making the post a full-time job to handle the increasing caseload.

Town Manger Charles T. Blanchard said the state Department of Veterans' Services has recommended converting the job to either a full-time or regional position to keep up with the workload. Such a move would allow the town to have more coverage by increasing hours from roughly 16 hours per week to a more appropriate level, Blanchard said.

Charles Blanchard Republican file photo  

Graveline's job includes serving as burial agent and administering and distributing benefits to local veterans. He also is responsible for organizing the town's annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies, among other duties.

Blanchard said the town so far has received applications from several qualified candidates, all of whom must have an associate's degree or equivalent experience in financial administration.

The town's current census puts Palmer's population at about 11,800 residents, with 12,000 generally being the level warranting a full-time veterans' agent, according to Blanchard. He plans to discuss the issue with state Department of Veterans' Services officials to see if the town "can get some leeway," he said.

"We did advertise (Graveline's job) as a part-time position, but we have to be aware that that may be a problem with the state," Blanchard said. "The caseload has gone up."

At-large Councilor Paul E. Burns, who has praised Graveline's performance as director of veterans' affairs, was surprised by the apparent need to increase the hours for the position. "It seems like a heck of a jump," he said.

Blanchard said a past analysis of entering into a regional veterans' services arrangement with other communities cost about the same as it would for Palmer to hire a full-time veterans' services officer. The current part-time job does not come with benefits and pays about $11,000 annually, though that amount would increase for a full-time position with possible benefits.

Graveline, a military veteran who lives in town, could not immediately be reached for comment. "He's really done a great job," Blanchard said.

Lawyer Lawrence Farber withdrawing appeal because town bylaws allow for fines.

The Gilreath Manor Apartments are seen on Hobart Lane in Amherst. The owner was fined for violating a town bylaw that limits to four the number of unrelated people living together. Michael Beswick / The Republican file  

AMHERST - The lawyer representing Grandonico Properties said he will drop an appeal of fines being levied against his client for violating a town bylaw that bans more than four unrelated people from living together.

The Zoning Board of Appeals opened a public hearing last month after Lawyer Lawrence J. Farber appealed the fines Building Commissioner Robert Morra levied against Grandonico for violations reported in the wake of a fire at Gilreath Manor apartments. Grandonico owns the property.

Farber had said that tenants, not his client, were responsible.

But in a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Farber wrote, “As we are now acknowledging that said fines could be assessed to the landlord under current bylaws, nothing is left to appeal.”

Because the hearing was opened, Farber said he will attend the scheduled reopening Thursday night.

The four unrelated residents bylaw has been on the books for about two decades but is seldom enforced.

Morra, who became building commissioner in April, wanted to enforce it and regarded the appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals as an assessment of whether he could.

If the board allows the appeal to be withdrawn, that determination would not be made, he said.

The investigation began after firefighters responded to a Sept. 13 fire in a basement apartment at Gilreath Manor on Hobart Lane and found five unrelated people living there.

Morra said after a subsequent inspection he found similar violations in six of the 14 units that are part of Gilreath Manor.

He notified property owner Kathryn Grandonico Oct. 19. when the violations were not corrected.

Morra notified her that he would begin assessing a $100-a-day fine Dec. 17. According to the collector’s office, $2,400 has been paid.

The hearing opened Dec. 20, but the board continued it until Thursday. The thinking was that extending it until the end of January would provide time for the student tenants to return from holiday in case they wanted to testify.

Carol Booth, a lawyer with University of Massachusetts Legal Services Office, was representing tenants, who she said should not be responsible for the fines.

Booth said no tenants were told about the bylaw when they were renting, and they were shown apartments that had more than four people living in them.

In January, she collected testimony from tenants, including one who said she was asked to hide her bed after the fire so only four beds would be visible during any inspection.

The town’s 17-member Safe And Healthy Neighborhoods working group is looking at a range of housing and neighborhood issues, including the bylaw dealing with limits on unrelated tenants.

The Zoning Board of Appeals meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Town Hall.

The fire was reported just before 8 p.m. at Bridge and Main streets, just on the other side of the Colonial Bridge from Holyoke.

South Hadley firefighters at the scene of a Monday night fire at 24 Bridge St. in South Hadley The Republican | Michael Beswick  

SOUTH HADLEY -- Firefighters with Fire District 1 are on the scene of a structure fire at 24 Bridge St., the site of the Crack of Dawn Restaurant.

The fire was reported just before 8 p.m. at Bridge and Main streets, just on the other side of the County Bridge from Holyoke.

Firefighters are surrounding the building and hosing it down from the exterior, according to reports from the scene. The building is fully engulfed in flames.

One spectator, Elizabeth Taylor of South Hadley, said "It's engulfed completely."

She said earlier she could smell smoke in the neighborhood and then could hear sirens. When she first arrived at the scene, she could see smoke pouring out of the building. "Smoke is escaping from everything.

More information will be posted as it become available.

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Agawam City Councilor Cecilia P. Calabrese is concerned about the effects a casino in neighboring West Springfield would have on traffic and the Six Flags New England amusement park in her community.

 

WEST SPRINGFIELD – A main focus of a meeting between the Agawam City Council Community Relations Subcommittee and West Springfield officials has changed from the impacts a casino proposed for West Side’s Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds would have on Agawam to issues concerning a CSX railway crossing.

The meeting will take place with the West Springfield Town Council Traffic and Safety Subcommittee Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the council’s office in the municipal building.

Agawam City Councilor Cecilia P. Calabrese, who chairs the Agawam subcommittee, had asked for the joint session. She had said she is concerned about the effect the $700 million to $800 million resort casino complex proposed by Hard Rock International would have on traffic in Agawam as well as on business at the Six Flags New England amusement park. The official added that she would like to explore what mitigation measures can be taken regarding the negative impact such a development would have on Agawam.

Calabrese said Agawam officials do not know as much as they would like about the project, which has been proposed for land near gate 9 at the fairgrounds in West Springfield.

However, West Springfield officials said, and Calabrese confirmed, Monday that the meeting will concentrate on issues related to the Bridge Street railway crossing from West Springfield over the Westfield River into Agawam.

Town Councilor Brian J. Griffin has said casino plans for West Springfield are in such a preliminary stage officials do not have much information about traffic to convey. However, Griffin added that West Side officials will still be happy to discuss the casino project.

Outside Cairo, protesters marched, pelted police with rocks or cut off roads and railway lines in nearly a half dozen cities, including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the country's second largest.

Egyptians carry the coffin of a man killed during a mass funeral in Port Said, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of the restive Egyptian city of Port Said on Sunday for a funeral for most of the 37 people killed in rioting a day earlier, chanting slogans against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Associated Press  

By HAMZA HENDAWI

CAIRO — Protesters battled police for hours in Cairo on Monday and thousands marched through Egypt's three Suez Canal cities in direct defiance of a night-time curfew and state of emergency, handing a blow to the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's attempts to contain five days of spiraling political violence.

Nearly 60 people have been killed in the wave of unrest, clashes, rioting and protests that have touched cities across the country but have hit the hardest in the canal cities, where residents have virtually risen up in outright revolt.

The latest death came on Monday in Cairo, where a protester died of gunshot wounds as youths hurling stones battled all day and into the night with police firing tear gas near Qasr el-Nil Bridge, a landmark over the Nile next to major hotels. In nearby Tahrir Square, protesters set fire to a police armored personnel carrier, celebrating as it burned in scenes reminiscent of the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak.

"I will be coming back here every day until the blood of our martyrs is avenged," said 19-year-old carpenter Islam Nasser, who wore a Guy Fawkes mask as he battled police near Tahrir square.

Angry and at times screaming and wagging his finger, Morsi on Sunday declared a 30-day state of emergency and a nighttime curfew on the three Suez Canal cities of Suez, Ismailiya and Port Said and their provinces of the same names. He said he had instructed the police to deal "firmly and forcefully" with the unrest and threatened to do more if security was not restored.

But when the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew began Monday evening, crowds marched through the streets of Port Said, beating drums and chanting, "Erhal, erhal," or "Leave, leave" — a chant that first rang out during the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011 but is now directed at Morsi.

"We completely reject Morsi's measures. How can we have a curfew in a city whose livelihood depends on commerce and tourism?" said Ahmed Nabil, a schoolteacher in the Mediterranean coastal city.

In Suez and Ismailiya, thousands in the streets after curfew chanted against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he hails. In Suez, residents let off fireworks that lit the night sky.

"Oh Morsi, Suez has real men," they chanted.

In Ismailiya, residents organized street games of soccer to emphasize their contempt for the curfew and state of emergency.

On Morsi's orders over the weekend, army troops backed with tanks and armored vehicles have deployed in Port Said and Suez — the two cities worst hit by the violence — to restore security, but they did not intervene to enforce the curfew on Monday night.

The commander of the Third Field Army in charge of Suez, Maj. Gen. Osama Askar, said his troops would not use force to ensure compliance. Army troops in Port Said also stood by and watched as residents ignored the curfew.

Adding to Morsi's woes nearly seven months into his turbulent presidency, the main political opposition coalition on Monday rejected his invitation for a dialogue to resolve the crisis, one of the worst and deadliest to hit Egypt in the two years since Mubarak's ouster.

Nevertheless, the dialogue went ahead late Monday afternoon. A list of participants released later by the presidential palace showed that Morsi presided over an inaugural session made up almost entirely of fellow Islamists whose support for him has never been in question.

The violence first erupted Thursday and accelerated Friday when protests marking the two-year- anniversary of the start of the anti-Mubarak uprising turned to clashes around the country that left 11 dead, most of them in Suez.

The next day, riots exploded in Port Said after a court convicted and sentenced to death 21 defendants — mostly locals — for a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium a year ago. Rioters attacked police stations, clashed with security forces in the streets and shots and tear gas were fired at protester funerals in mayhem that left 44 people dead over the weekend.

The official MENA news agency said three more people died on Monday, succumbing to wounds sustained on Saturday, taking to 47 the number of people killed in the city over the past three days.

Earlier Monday, thousands in Port Said turned out for the funerals of some of those killed over the weekend. Witnesses later reported clashes in the city. The armed forces later said troops have repulsed an attack by six gunmen on motorbikes on the city's main prison.

In Cairo, white clouds of tear gas hung over Qasr el-Nil Bridge from early Monday morning and through the evening, wafting into nearby districts. The fighting was reminiscent of scenes two years ago to the day, when police and protesters battered each other on the same bridge in the most violent day of the 2011 uprising.

"People died to gain their freedom, social justice, bread. Now after 29 years of the despotic Mubarak, we're ruled by a worse regime: religious fascist, more dangerous," said Mohammed Saber, a 65-year old engineer who came to watch the clashes with his wife and children.

The clashes intensified in Monday evening. A group of protesters, including black masked youth, flashed the V-for-victory signs as they jubilantly milled around the burning police vehicle in Tahrir.

Outside Cairo, protesters marched, pelted police with rocks or cut off roads and railway lines in nearly a half dozen cities, including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the country's second largest.

The geographical spread of the unrest and the tenacity of the protesters have showcased the depth of opposition to Morsi's rule outside the ranks of the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups.

However, it will take the mostly liberal and secular opposition time and effort to translate this popular resentment of the Islamists into electoral power and seriously challenge them at the ballot box. The Islamists have dominated elections for both houses of parliament late in 2011 and early 2012. Morsi narrowly won the presidency with under 52 percent of the vote.

The major opposition parties grouped in the National Salvation Front, led by reform leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBardei, are seeking to leverage the turmoil roiling the country to break the Islamists' hold on power and force Morsi to make concessions.

ElBardei and other front leaders said they would only accept his invitation to join a national dialogue to resolve the crisis if he agreed first to form a national unity government and a commission to rewrite what they see as contentious parts of an Islamist-backed constitution adopted in a referendum last month.

The rejection of Morsi's offer is likely to lend more weight to ElBaradei and his colleagues in the Salvation Front at a time when protesters on the streets are increasingly showing their independence from politicians, voicing a wide range of non-political grievances.

The Front has painted the explosion of unrest as a backlash against attempts by Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists to monopolize power in Egypt. It says the instability is proof that Morsi doesn't have enough legitimacy to bring security or achieve reforms alone.

"We support any dialogue if it has a clear agenda that can shepherd the nation to the shores of safety," said ElBaradei, flanked by former Arab league chief Amr Moussa and leftist Hamdeen Sabahi.

The Front later issued a statement in which it said failure by Morsi to meet its conditions should be cause for early presidential elections, now scheduled for 2016.

It also called for mass, nationwide protests on Friday.mor

Late Monday, cleanup crews were skimming oily water near Vicksburg, a day after a barge struck a bridge, rupturing a compartment holding 80,000 gallons of oil.

The towboat Natures Way Endeavor banks a barge against the western bank of the Mississippi River, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 as an 18-wheeler crosses the Interstate 20 bridge. Cleanup crews with booms skimmed oily water from the Mississippi River Monday, a day after a barge with more than 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge near Vicksburg, spreading a sheen of light crude that kept part of the waterway shut to ship traffic Monday, authorities said. Associated Press  

By HOLBROOK MOHR

VICKSBURG, Miss. — Experts say the stretch of Mississippi River where vessel traffic was halted after a barge hit a railroad bridge on Sunday is one of the most dangerous along the 2,500-mile-long river.

Late Monday, cleanup crews were skimming oily water near Vicksburg, a day after a barge struck a bridge, rupturing a compartment holding 80,000 gallons of oil.

Authorities said that the oil was being contained and there was no evidence of it washing ashore downriver. Orange boom was stretched across part of the river downstream from the barge, and small boats patrolled the area as oil was pumped from the ruptured tank into another tank on the same barge. Officials hope to eventually transfer all the oil to another barge.

Tugs were holding the barge at the bank on the Louisiana side of the river, directly across from Vicksburg's Riverwalk and Lady Luck casinos.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Ryan Gomez said a tug was pushing two tank barges when the collision occurred about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Both barges were damaged, but only one leaked. Authorities declared the bridge safe after an inspection.

Gomez said United States Environmental Services, an oil spill response company, was collecting oily water.

Officials did not yet have an estimate of how much oil had been pumped out, or how much spilled into the Mississippi.

Another Coast Guard spokesman, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally, said the oil was contained and skimmers would work through the night collecting it. He said a flyover by a Coast Guard helicopter from Vicksburg 50 miles to the south found no evidence of shoreline impact.

Authorities said a major environmental disaster was unlikely as the swift current dispersed the oil. They were less certain when the river would reopen to vessels.

Drew Smith, a hydraulic engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, wouldn't speculate on the specific cause of Sunday's crash, which is under investigation by the Coast Guard.

But he said the Mississippi at Vicksburg is challenging for southbound vessels, mostly barges carrying grain and other products from the nation's heartland.

Southbound tows must travel faster than the flow of the water for their rudders to steer effectively. At Vicksburg they must negotiate a 120-degree turn on the meandering Mississippi, then straighten up to pass under the railroad bridge and the Interstate 20 bridge.

The task is made more difficult by the Yazoo River, which empties into the Mississippi north of the bridges, increasing the speed of the current.

Herman Smith, superintendent of the Vicksburg Bridge Commission, said the railroad bridge is struck once or twice a year, usually during periods of high water. During the river's historic 2011 flood, the span took five hits over two weeks. The river isn't in flood stage now, he said.

"There's a curve to the north of us, about three-quarters to a mile away from us. But it's the current," Herman Smith said.

The river's other most dangerous stretch is at St. Louis. There, six bridges cross the river over a distance of four mils, Smith said.

On Monday, 31 tugboats, barges and other vessels were parked waiting for the river to reopen, said Army Corps spokesman Kavanaugh Breazeale. The river was closed to traffic for 16 miles — eight miles north and eight miles south of Vicksburg.

Ann McCullough, spokeswoman for the American Waterways Operators, a trade association for the U.S. tugboat, towboat and barge industry, said the shutdown is concerning. But she couldn't estimate the daily economic impact.

"It's a significant matter when the nation's waterborne superhighway is disrupted for any reason," she said.

During the 2011 flood, officials said delays in loading a ship — because barges can't move on the river — can cost shipping companies from $20,000 to $40,000 a day. But the river is busier at some times than others, so it's difficult to gauge the current impact.

The barges are owned by Corpus Christi, Texas-based Third Coast Towing LLC, Lt. Gomez said. A woman who answered the phone at the company Monday declined to comment.

Both vessels were being pushed by the tug Nature's Way Endeavor. The website for Nature's Way Marine LLC of Theodore, Ala., identifies the vessel as a 3,000-horsepower, 90-foot-long boat. It was built in 1974 and underwent a rebuild in 2011, according to the company.

A company manager referred calls to the Coast Guard in Vicksburg.

The last time an oil spill closed a portion of the lower Mississippi was in February 2012, when two barges collided, spilling less than 10,000 gallons. The river was closed for about a day. In 2008, a fuel barge collided with a tanker and broke in half, dumping 283,000 gallons of heavy crude and closing the river for six days.

On March 23, 2011, several barges broke loose, and some hit the U.S. 80 bridge and Interstate 20 bridge. One was hung up on the I-20 bridge for about three weeks before it was removed.

Sunday's spill was not expected to create environmental problems for the Gulf of Mexico, 340 miles to the south. The cargo of 80,000 gallons in the ruptured barge compartment doesn't compare with the more than 200 million gallons of oil that spewed from BP PLC's Macondo well after a blowout in 2010.

The BP well blew wild for months, while the Vicksburg spill has been contained and oil is being moved to safety.

The panel is part of a winter fare farmers market celebration.

Michael Docter of Winter Moon Roots in Hadley will be talking about growing winter crops at a CISA panel Thursday in Northampton. Republican file photo  

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Twenty years ago, a group of educational and nonprofit organizations created the Pioneer Valley Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture to identify and address issues facing agriculture in the valley.

Six years later, that group grew into the Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture and now the agency is celebrating Thursday with a panel featuring four area farmers on the topic “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Changing Agriculture in the Pioneer Valley.”

The farmers will tell stories about how they have adapted as well as talk about the challenges, said Claire Morenon, CISA program coordinator. The free program begins at 6 p.m. at the Northampton Center for the Arts in Northampton.

The idea for the panel grew out of the weeklong celebration of winter fare farmers markets held Jan. 26 through Feb. 2. The intention “was to create a space for farmers to tell their stories about how farming has changed.

“All the (participating) farms are examples of people running them (who) are open to the change and responding to the opportunities in the market,” she said.

Panelist Michael Docter, who ran the Food Bank farm in Hadley for years, now operates Winter Moon Roots in Hadley growing only winter storage crops. That’s in response to the growing winter market trend where people want to buy fresh locally grown produce even when there’s snow on the ground and temperatures are below zero.

In 2008, there was a lone winter market and now there are seven, she said.
As the dairy market has been shrinking, Carolyn Wheeler of Wheel-View Farm in Shelburne has started selling meat instead.

Wheel-View has been a family farm for generations, Morenon said.

Nate L’Etoile of Four Star Farms in Northfield is now growing wheat. Wheat had been locally grown at one time but there has been a push on growing it here within the last decade, Morenon said.

And Nancy Hanson, one of the managers of the Hampshire College Farm, grew up on a farm “and is going to give a little of the long view” of the tradition.

“It’s not easy going,” Morenon said. As more farmers markets have sprouted up so has the competition.

The increasing numbers of markets and vendors is also opening the way for more questions and concerns about regulation.

And as more young people turn to farming there “are way more farms trying to sell locally.”

The first day of school in the district will be Aug. 28.

WILBRAHAM — The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee has approved a calendar for the 2013-14 school year.

The calendar which was proposed by School Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea will have students begin the 2013-14 school year on Aug. 28.

According to the calendar, the last day of school will be June 17, 2014, unless there are an inordinate number of snow days.

Christmas vacation for the 2013-14 school year will begin Dec. 23. Students will return to school after Christmas vacation on Jan. 2, 2014.

The calendar also contains a February and an April school vacation.

The calendar also includes five in-service days for teachers and four early release days.

O’Shea said the in-service days are needed for teachers to implement a new math series, for teacher evaluations and to complete the accreditation process.

All of Spring Street between Pearl and State was blocked off for more than an hour following the first report of a gas leak just before 4 p.m. Watch video

This is an updated version of a story first posted at 4:27 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - A work crew on Spring Street accidentally ruptured a gas main Monday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of a three-block area between State and Pearl streets and sending hundreds of people outside during a winter storm.

All of Spring Street between Pearl and State was blocked off for more than an hour following the first report of a gas leak just before 4 p.m. The Fire Department did not allow people to return to their homes until after 5 p.m.

Just outside the police cordon tape, scores of residents could be seen huddling together in the rain while awaiting word when they could go back inside. Dozens lined up under a slight overhang in front of Spring Street Drug, while others stood in the doorways of nearby buildings. Several sought shelter in the lobby of the Springfield Police Station at 130 Pearl St.

The PVTA dispatched at least two heated buses to the scene to provide temporary shelter for those forced to stand outside.

Among those being evacuated were the residents of St. Luke’s Retirement Home.

Thanks to the generosity of Elizabeth Rosario, elderly residents from St. Luke’s avoided standing in the freezing rain while waiting for a bus to Mercy Hospital.

Instead, 31 crowded into Rosario’s 2-room apartment at 54 Byers St. - 10 in her bedroom, 21 in the living room.

It was a tight fit, but nobody complained, Rosario said.

“They were great,” Rosario, 45, said of her guests.

“We try to help each other in this neighborhood,” Rosario’s neighbor, Robert Benton, added.

Mayor Domenic Sarno said had the evacuation lasted much longer, the city was prepared to set up emergency shelters for displaced residence. He said Mercy Hospital was willing to provide accommodations for the residents of St. Luke had had it become necessary.

“Thank God everything seems to be under control,” Sarno said shortly after people were allowed back in their homes.

Dennis Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant said once the gas to the main was shut off, firefighters had to check each building to determine there were no pockets of gas that had built up inside. Once that was done, residents were allowed to begin returning inside at 5 p.m., roughly an hour after the leak was reported.

Sarno, in addition to thanking the police, firefighters and gas company workers who responded to the scene, thanked those who were displaced for their understanding.

“The people who were evacuated were very cooperative. We’re very appreciative of that.”

The scene of the emergency is just a few blocks away from the scene of the Nov. 23 gas explosion on Worthington Street that destroyed or damaged dozens of buildings in the vicinity.

Leger said that aside from involving a natural gas leak, the two events were not similar.
“That was a little different scenario,” he said. “This is a gas main that was cut, (and) it’s in the open air.”

The Nov. 23 gas explosion was blamed on a gas worker accidentally punching a hole in a gas line with a sensor tool as he searched for the source of a gas leak. The fumes from that leak built up inside Scores’ Gentleman’s Club, and eventually triggered an explosion that flattened the club and damaged several nearby buildings.

Leger said there was little danger of that happening on Spring Street. The leak was outside and once the main was shut off, the gas quickly dispersed, he said.

Carlos Otriz of 37 Spring St. said he witnessed the main being ruptured just before 4 p.m.

Ortiz said he was standing outside smoking a cigarette with his friend Rolando Reyes. Nearby, a construction worker was digging at a hole with a back hoe.

Suddenly, he heard a large whooshing sound and when he looked up, the operator of the backhoe was jumping off the backhoe. At the same time, the police officer who was directing traffic saw them standing there. “He yelled for us to get out of there,” Ortiz said. “It’s a gas leak – everyone has to get out.”

Cathy Nero of Spring St., said she had just gotten home from work and was going through the mail when someone knocked on the door and told her she would have to get out.

“They said we had to evacuate because of a gas leak,” she said.

She said she became frightened for herself and her two sons, and immediately thought back to the November explosion. She said she was driving her car at the time and the explosion nearly shook her off the road.

Huddled in doorway in Byers Street, a young woman who would only give her name as Glenda, said she was waiting for her mother to get home. With her dog, Blackie, a Chihuahua terrier mix, wrapped inside her jacket, she said she was trying to keep the dog warm.

A PVTA bus had been parked nearby but getting in it really wasn’t an option, she said, because she saw other people with their dogs getting on, and Blackie doesn’t really get along with other dogs, she said.

“I had just gotten home. As soon as I went upstairs, I was in the house 5 minutes, and they said we had to leave,” she said.

When the buses arrived on Byers Street for the residents of St. Luke’s , they came out one at a time - wearing sweaters, light jackets or wrapped in blankets.

One woman had no coat until Firefighter Christopher Pohner spotted her. He took off his uniform jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“There’s a lot of ladies who’d love to be cuddled up in that jacket,” Pohner was heard to joke as she boarded the bus.

A block away, evacuated residents standing in front of Spring Street Drug expressed irritation at being rousted from their homes, while others wondered if late January was a good time to be resurfacing the street.

To Spring Street resident Diane Johnson, things could have been worse. The 25 degree temperatures on Monday were cold, but it was much colder last week when the temperature was in single digits.

“It’s not that cold today - if this had been last week, we’d all be popsicles by now.”

Staff writer Jack Flynn contributed to this report.

All money collected will be given to the American Red Cross.

CHICOPEE – Students and staff from Fairview Veterans and Edward Bellamy middle schools are organizing a drive to raise money and supplies for those in New York and New Jersey who lost homes and belongings in October in Superstorm Sandy.

The schools, which will be joined by staff and students from other schools, will be collecting supplies from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Castle of Knights on 1599 Memorial Drive. In the case of snow the date will be changed to Feb. 9.

All monetary donations will be given to the American Red Cross. Supplies needed are: toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, new socks, new underwear, toothbrushes, flashlights, clothing, baby supplies, new blankets, new wool hats, winter coats, work boots, work gloves, shampoo, and non-perishable food items.

Under terms of his parole, Ortiz will be permitted to move to Chicago where he has family.

SPRINGFIELD - Juan Ortiz who was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1985 killings of Springfield police officers Alain Beauregard and Michael Schiavina, will be paroled from prison in 18 months, the state Parole Board has ruled.

In a decision released Tuesday, the board voted 4-2 to grant parole to Ortiz, now 50, who has been behind bars since his conviction in 1986 on two counts of second-degree murder under the state’s joint venture law. His then-18-year-old brother, Eduardo Ortiz, who later killed himself during a city-wide manhunt, was identified as having fired the shots that killed the two officers.

Ortiz’s lawyer, David J. Martel said he was pleased with the ruling.

"After 27 years in prison, Mr. Ortiz will now have the opportunity to become a free man and make a contribution to society as he always wanted to do," Martel said.

Springfield police officer Joseph Gentile, president of local 364 of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, said he was surprised and disappointed with the ruling when he learned of it from a reporter Tuesday night.

"I'm very disappointed. I really don’t know what happened to change (the board’s) mind,” he said. “I’m very surprised at this point that they decided to let him out.”

Ortiz is being held at the Department of Corrections facility in Norfolk, a medium security prison outside Boston.

Juan Ortiz, convicted of second-degree murder in 1985 in connection with the shooting deaths of two Springfield police officers, attends his appearance before the Massachusetts Parole Board Sept. 25 2000 in Boston. Associated Press file / Patricia McDonnell 

As part of the terms of his parole, Ortiz will spend the next 18 months at a lower-security facility where he will begin counseling to help with his transition to being released. Upon release, he will be allowed to move to Chicago, where he has family.

Ortiz requested and was granted permission to move out of state. His case will be assigned to a parole officer in Illinois. Among the terms of his release is that he is to have no contact with the Beauregard or Schiavina families and that he is not allowed to live or work in Hampden County.

Voting in favor of parole were board members Cesar Archilla, Charlene Bonner, Ina Howard-Hogan, and chairman Josh Wall. Opposing were Shelia Dupre and Roger Michel. Board member Lucy Soto-Abbe of Springfield, who prior to her appointment to the parole board spent 17 years as a victim advocate with the Hampden DA's office, recused herself and did not vote.

The vote comes four months after Ortiz appeared before a parole hearing and admitted responsibility for the deaths of the two officers.

“I did everything my brother did, except pull the trigger,” Ortiz said at the hearing. “I know the (patrolmen’s) families have suffered; my family has suffered ... I’m just asking for forgiveness.’

Ortiz’s 18-year-old brother, Eduardo “Eddie” Ortiz fired the shots that killed Beauregard and Schiavina on Nov. 12, 1985 during a routine traffic stop on Stebbins Street. Schiavina, 28, died that night, while Beauregard, 29, died three days later.

It was the first time in state history that two police officers were killed in the same incident, and they were the last Springfield officers killed in the line of duty until the shooting death of officer Kevin Ambrose in June.

Eduardo Ortiz would take his own life 17 hours after the shooting as police closed in on the house in the North End where he was found to be hiding.

Ortiz was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder after turning down a plea deal that would have gotten him a nine- to 10-year sentence. Instead he was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences with a chance for parole after 15 years.

Ortiz was denied parole three times previously since he first became eligible in 2000, in October 2000, November 2005 and most recently in April of last year.

Massachusetts Parole Board ruling on Juan Ortiz. by

At the September hearing, as with previous hearings before the board, family of the two fallen officers, co-workers, commanding officers, including Police Commissioner William Fitchet, and representatives of the Hampden County district attorney’s office testified against granting parole.

The ruling notes that board members accepted that Ortiz had admitted to his own culpability and showed a contrition not previously seen at the earlier hearings.
“In past hearings, Ortiz showed little understanding of his role in the murders and displayed little sense of personal responsibility.”
It noted his long record of good conduct in prison, has completed a prison counseling program that allowed him to be more honest about his role in the shooting, and demonstrates that he is unlikely to reoffend.

In their dissent, Dupre and Michel each indicated they favored reviewing his case in another three years. They said they were not satisfied with Ortiz’s description of the crime or with his commitment to rehabilitation programs.

Dupre noted that Ortiz “still minimizes his involvement and has not made strides in his rehabilitation.”

Martel said he appreciated the open minds shown by family members of the victims during the most recent parole hearing.

"They just hoped the parole board would do the right thing," Martel said. "They came to terms with the possibility that Mr. Ortiz would be granted parole."

Martel said he had not yet spoken with Ortiz, who is being held at a state prison in Norfolk. Martel was lawyer for Ortiz when he first asked for parole in 2000.

Doris Beauregard- Shecrallah could not be reached for comment, nor could Fitchet and district attorney Mark G. Mastroianni.

Staff writer Dan Ring contributed to this report.

The Goshen and Northampton fire departments were dispatched to the scene to help remove the injured from the vehicles.

ASHFIELD - Three people were injured in a two-car crash on a section of Route 112 Tuesday evening, according to state police.

The accident was reported at about 5:40 p.m. on a section of Route 112, also known as Suburban Drive, between Main Street and Spruce Corner Road, according to trooper Thomas Murphy of the State Police Media Relations Office.

He said three people were trapped in vehicles and had to be removed by area fire rescue, he said.

The Goshen and Northampton fire departments were dispatched to the scene.

Each was transported to a local hospital by ambulance but he had no word on the extent of any injuries.

The accident remained under investigation.

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The city previously opened community policing substations on Maple and South Bridge streets.

 

Holyoke Police Chief James M. Neiswanger favors community policing to establish police presence in neighborhoods and make troublemakers uncomfortable. John Suchocki, The Republican  

HOLYOKE - A third community policing substation opened Tuesday at 176 High St. downtown.

"The opening of this office is testimony of the good faith and hard work between the Holyoke Police Department and the citizens of Holyoke," Lt. Matthew F. Moriarty said.

The substations are intended to establish police presence in neighborhoods to foster relationships, prompt tips in the fight against crime and make troublemakers uncomfortable, Police Chief James M. Neiswanger has said.

The first substation opened at 415B Maple St. in the Churchill Neighborhood in December 2011 and a second opened recently on South Summer Street. Property owners donated the substation spaces, officials said.