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Springfield School Committee to hire 80 new school janitors

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The quality of maintenance at Springfield schools varied widely before EduClean was hired.

2005 springfield central high school custodian.jpgA custodian at Springfield Central High School uses a scrubbing machine to help remove the top layers of wax and dirt buildup from the second floor corridor

SPRINGFIELD – Reversing a decision by the former Springfield Finance Control Board, the School Committee has voted to hire more than 80 new custodians at schools cleaned by a private firm for five years.

In approving the change for the coming school year, the committee said the $11 million plan will save money and improve school maintenance – the same rationale cited by the control board to hire Danvers-based cleaning contractor EduClean in 2006.

The committee approved the new hirings on a 5-0 vote, with member Peter M. Murphy abstaining. Two subcommittees – Building Maintenance and Finance – had previously endorsed returning to in-house cleaning crews.

About 100 night custodians were laid off after EduClean was hired on a five-year, $18 million contract designed to save the city $9 million; another 100 on the day shift kept their jobs.

Under the new plan, the city will hire 55 full-time custodians, 24 part-time custodians and three supervisors to replace about 200 part-timers working nights for EduClean. The annual cost, including the fringe costs was listed as estimated at $11,954,744, or $268,340 less EduClean’s the current contract.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the timing of the transition will depend on how quickly new janitors can be hired. If enough help can be found quickly, the new night crew will take over July 1; if not, EduClean’s contract will be extended for three months, Sarno said.

“The important thing is that we will have continuity,” said Sarno, who also serves as chairman of the school board.

School Committee member Antonette Pepe supported the move on the condition that new janitors do a better job than the old ones.

A review of school maintenance by The Republican in 1999 found glaring inconsistencies from school to school, with some clean and well-maintained and others grimy and graffiti-scrawled, with dustballs and dead leaves in hallways and dead bugs lining the windowsills.

Since arriving in 2006, EduClean has its share of critics, including Pepe, who complained of dirty bathrooms and drinking fountains at several schools in 2007.


With 2011 Springfield Vintage Grand Prix nixed, organizers and city officials promise new start for 2012

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Mayor Domenic Sarno and race organizers denied there was a dispute over the city's demand for a $300,000 performance bond.

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Updates a story posted Monday at 1:57 p.m.


SPRINGFIELD – Gentlemen, shut off your engines.

Two months before the Springfield Vintage Grand Prix was set to roar through downtown, the inaugural event was canceled Tuesday, with organizers and city officials promising a new start next summer.

Citing legal and logistical obstacles, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said city officials could not guarantee that the July 22-24 race would be staged as the safe, crowd-pleasing event initially envisioned by the organizers.

“We want this to be first-class,” said Sarno following an 75-minute meeting with officials from the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and Michael A. Hall, the event’s local promoter.

“We want to be sure it’s done correctly,” he added.

Both Sarno and Peter Roberts, representing the sports car club, downplayed disagreements between the city and the organizers, and denied that the cancellation was triggered by city demand for a $300,000 performance bond.

Both sides also expressed disappointment that a race intended to bring thousands of sports car enthusiasts downtown to help celebrate the city’s 375th anniversary will be postponed to 2012.

“Nobody’s more disappointed than I am,” said City Councilor Melvin A. Edwards, who helped organize the event.

But city Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said there were too many obstacles – from details of the race route to the need for a special act from the state Legislature permitting racing downtown – and too little time to iron them out.

“We’re looking to have this as a long-term (event), something we can do annually,” Pikula said. “The first one we do is the most important thing we do,” he aid.

The 1.6-mile race was to feature between 80 and 110 pre-1960 cars, including Porsches, Ferraris, Jaguars, at no cost to the city and with no admission charge for the public.

Besides coinciding with the city’s 375th anniversary, the race would have commemorated the city’s role as the birthplace of the first gasoline-powered automobile in North America, produced in the late 19th century by the Duryea brothers.

In 1895, the first automobile race in the United States was won by the Duryea brothers.

Without the special act from Beacon Hill, the organizers have been hard pressed to line up sponsors to help finance the event, said Heriberto Flores, chief executive officer for the New England Farm Workers Council, which is backing the race.

“You can’t raise money if it’s an illegal loan,” Flores said.

West Side's Taste of the Valley returns to Town Common

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The annual event on the Park Street Town Common will include at least 15 restaurants and concession stands.

2010 pintu taste of the valley.JPGPintu's Indian restaurant will return to the 2011 West Side's Taste of the Valley on the West Springfield Town Common June 9-12.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Loosen your belts. West Side’s Taste of the Valley is promising a smorgasbord of culinary delights.

Sponsored by Chicopee Savings Bank, the annual event on the Park Street Town Common will include at least 15 restaurants and concession stands.

The Rotary Club and the town have scheduled the 12th annual event for June 9 to 12.

Delicacies and signature dishes will be served up by Angelo’s, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Carol’s Concessions, Crepes Tea House, Fried-Olicious, Istanbul Mediterranean Grill, Local Burger, Mamma Mia’s Pizzeria, Moolicious, Pintu’s, The Runway by B’Shara’s, Samuel’s Sports Bar, Thai Taste, Tokyo Asian Cuisine and the Ultimate BBQ.

The menu will also include items to satisfy musical tastes.

Several bands will perform on the Town Common during the four-day food fest.

The lineup includes Merrick Section and Nuthin’ Fancy: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Experience on June 9.

The following day, the Taste of the Valley will present Blues Head and Aquanett, while June 11 performers include John Brandoli, the Time Trippers, Humble Streak, and Bennie and the Jets.

The closing day, entitled Jazz Sunday, is sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center. It feature performances by the Jeremy Milligan Quartet, Flava Evolution, Joe Velez and Creacion, Unit 7, and the West Springfield High School Jazz Band.

Special events are planned during the Taste of the Valley.

Eastern Action Sports Teams will be on the Common on June 10, 4 to 7 p.m., performing amazing tricks and BMX bike demonstrations. This year’s Taste will also include a midway with games and rides for children and teens, animal rides and a petting zoo with exotic animals.

The Taste of the Valley’s “Saturday Cruise,” sponsored by Affordable Auto Glass, returns this year with a display of classic, antique and special interest cars on June 11, 1 to 5 p.m. There is no fee to participate, and vehicles are judged by a panel of representatives from the event, with the winners awarded trophies and gift certificates.

The second annual “Jazzy 5K Fun Run and Walk,” sponsored by Mercy Medical Center, kicks off Jazz Sunday on June 12 at 10 a.m.

Race participants will follow a 3.1 mile route that starts and ends at the Senior Center on Park Avenue.

The Taste of the Valley is a community event made possible by the volunteer efforts of the Rotary Club and Town of West Springfield, the West Springfield Lions Club and many others. Hours are June 9, 4 to 9 p.m.; June 10, 4 to 11 p.m.; June 11, 1 to p.m.; and June 12, 11 to 6 p.m.

For show times, menu items, race entry information and more, visit www.westsidetaste.com.

Apocalypse later: Radio host Harold Camping says world's end actually coming on OCTOBER 21

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We're not out of the woods yet – Camping says he was off by 5 months.

052311 harold camping.jpgHarold Camping speaks during a taping of his show "Open Forum" in Oakland, Calif., Monday, May 23, 2011. Camping says his prophecy that the world would end was off by five months because Judgment Day actually will come on October 21. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

By GARANCE BURKE

OAKLAND, Calif. — As crestfallen followers of a California preacher who foresaw the world's end strained to find meaning in their lives, Harold Camping revised his apocalyptic prophecy Monday, saying he was off by five months and the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21.

Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before global cataclysm struck the planet, said he felt so terrible when his doomsday message did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions — some of it from donations made by followers — on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.

Follower Jeff Hopkins also spent a good deal of his own retirement savings on gas money to power his car so people would see its ominous lighted sign showcasing Camping's May 21 warning. As the appointed day drew nearer, Hopkins started making the 100-mile round trip from Long Island to New York City twice a day, spending at least $15 on gas each trip.

"I've been mocked and scoffed and cursed at and I've been through a lot with this lighted sign on top of my car," said Hopkins, 52, a former television producer who lives in Great River, NY. "I was doing what I've been instructed to do through the Bible, but now I've been stymied. It's like getting slapped in the face."

Camping, who made a special appearance before the press at the Oakland headquarters of the media empire Monday evening, apologized for not having the dates "worked out as accurately as I could have."

Through chatting with a friend over what he acknowledged was a very difficult weekend, it dawned on him that instead of the biblical Rapture in which the faithful would be swept up to the heavens, May 21 had instead been a "spiritual" Judgment Day, which places the entire world under Christ's judgment, he said.

The globe will be completely destroyed in five months, he said, when the apocalypse comes. But because God's judgment and salvation were completed on Saturday, there's no point in continuing to warn people about it, so his network will now just play Christian music and programs until the final end on Oct. 21.

"We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "The fact is there is only one kind of people who will ascend into heaven ... if God has saved them they're going to be caught up."

It's not the first time the 89-year-old retired civil engineer has been dismissed by the Christian mainstream and has been forced to explain when his prediction didn't come to pass. Camping also prophesied the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said later that didn't happen then because of a mathematical error.

Monday, rather than give his normal daily broadcast, Camping took questions as a part of his show, "Open Forum," which transmits his biblical interpretations via the group's radio stations, TV channels, satellite broadcasts and website.

Camping's hands shook slightly as he pinned his microphone to his lapel, and as he clutched a worn Bible he spoke in a quivery monotone about some listeners' earthly concerns after giving away possessions in expectation of the Rapture.

Family Radio would never tell anyone what they should do with their belongings, and those who had fewer would cope, Camping said.

"We're not in the business of financial advice," he said. "We're in the business of telling people there's someone who you can maybe talk to, maybe pray to, and that's God."

But he also said that he wouldn't give away all his possessions ahead of Oct 21.

"I still have to live in a house, I still have to drive a car," he said. "What would be the value of that? If it is Judgment Day why would I give it away?"

Apocalyptic thinking has always been part of American religious life and popular culture. Teachings about the end of the world vary dramatically — even within faith traditions — about how they will occur.

Still, the overwhelming majority of Christians reject the idea that the exact date or time of Jesus' return can be predicted.

Tim LaHaye, co-author of the best-selling "Left Behind" novels about the end times, recently called Camping's prediction "not only bizarre but 100 percent wrong!" He cited the Bible verse Matthew 24:36, "but about that day or hour no one knows" except God.

"While it may be in the near future, many signs of our times certainly indicate so, but anyone who thinks they 'know' the day and the hour is flat out wrong," LaHaye wrote on his website, leftbehind.com.

Signs of disappointment also were evident online, where groups that had confidently predicted the Rapture — and, in some cases, had spent money to help spread the word through advertisements — took tentative steps to re-establish Internet presences in the face of widespread mockery.

The Pennsylvania-based group eBible Fellowship still has a website with images of May 21 billboards all over the world, but its Twitter feed has changed over from the increasingly confident predictions before the date to circumspect Bible verses that seem to speak to the confusion and hurt many members likely feel.

Camping offered no clues about Family Radio's finances Monday, saying he could not estimate how much had been spent on getting out his prediction nor how much money the nonprofit had taken in as a result. In 2009, the nonprofit reported in IRS filings that it received $18.3 million in donations, and had assets of more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.

Josh Ocasion, who works the teleprompter during Camping's live broadcasts in the group's threadbare studio sandwiched between an auto shop and a palm reader's business, said he enjoyed the production work but he had never fully believed the May 21 prophecy would come true.

"I thought he would show some more human decency in admitting he made a mistake," he said. "We didn't really see that."

Associated Press writer Tom Breen in Raleigh, N.C., and Videographer Ted Shaffrey and AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York, contributed to this report.

Tornado devestation unfathomable for many survivors; Pioneer Valley relief workers head for Missouri

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The local chapter of the American Red Cross will send two workers to help with relief efforts in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo.

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The American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter on Tuesday will deploy a local volunteer and reassign a fieldworker to help with tornado relief efforts in Missouri, according to a statement from the Springfield-based chapter.

Belchertown resident Stephanie Bozigian-Merrick is headed for hard-hit Joplin, Mo., where 116 people were killed and more are feared dead after a twister cut an apocalyptic path of destruction through the small Midwestern city on Sunday.

The tornado's nearly 200-mph winds leveled much of Joplin's south side, crushed cars and churches and left schools, businesses and homes in ruins. Monday's search-and-rescue efforts were hampered by thunderstorms accompanied by strong winds, heavy rain and hail and threat of more tornadoes.

Warren resident Donna McKinney will join Bozigian-Merrick in Joplin, according to Dawn Leaks, assistant director of chapter support for the local branch of the American Red Cross.

McKinney will assist with relief efforts and Bozigian-Merrick will serve as a nurse, according to Leaks. McKinney recently was deployed to Baton Rouge, La., but she will abandon that post and travel by van with other Red Cross volunteers to Joplin, Leaks said.

The national relief organization opened a shelter in Joplin shortly after the tornado struck on Sunday. That shelter, located at Missouri Southern State University with accommodation for up to 1,000 people, had approximately 110 people staying there by Sunday night.

The twister that hit Joplin was one of dozens reported across seven Midwest states over the weekend. One person was killed in Kansas and another in Minneapolis, the latter of which also now has a Red Cross shelter.

JOPLIN4.jpgCoworkers Cindy Albers, left, and Kim Hoosier hug on 20th Street near New Hampshire Ave in Joplin, Mo., on Monday, May 23, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses and killing at least 116 people.

But Joplin, population 50,000, bore the brunt of the region's devastation after a half-mile-wide tornado wiped out this blue-collar city about 160 miles south of Kansas City.

Last month, a ferocious pack of twisters roared across six Southern states, killing more than 300 people -- more than two-thirds of them in Alabama. As in the Midwest, though, the Southerners also had warning, but those storms were too wide and too powerful to escape, obliterating towns from Tuscaloosa, Ala., to Bristol, Va.

The National Weather Service (NWS) characterized Sunday's turbulent Midwestern weather as the deadliest tornado outbreak since April 1974. Forecasters are predicting the severe weather will persist for the remainder of the week, with a possibility of tornadoes popping up Tuesday in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. The turbulent weather could reach the East Coast by Friday, the NWS said.

Leaks said the Red Cross is moving large amounts of relief supplies to Joplin and other affected areas in that region. The relief organization also will deploy additional staff, particularly those who are trained medical and mental health workers.

Elsewhere in the nation, Red Cross relief operations continue across the South in response to last month's tornadoes and ongoing flooding along the Mississippi River. Since March 31, Red Cross disaster workers have provided thousands of people with overnight shelter, distributed thousands of cleanup and comfort kits, and served more than 1.8 million meals and snacks, according to Leaks.

The Pioneer Valley Chapter has deployed a total of eight local volunteers to assist with various relief efforts, including Tim Van Cleef of Amherst, who recently returned from a deployment to North Carolina as a technology support assistant; Ellen Patashnick of Springfield, a relief worker in Mississippi; Dorrie Durand of Holyoke, a casework supervisor in Alabama; Vicki Edwards of Agawam, a casework assistant in Mississippi; Bill Pryne of East Longmeadow, a nurse supervisor in Illinois; and Gerri Sexton-Jones of Springfield, who assisted victims in Tennessee.

"Our local volunteers join thousands of their colleagues from across the country to provide help and hope to the victims of these tragic spring storms," Leaks said in a statement.

JOPLIN3.jpgThe damaged St. John's Regional Medical Center is seen in the distance through tornado debris in Joplin, Mo., on Monday, May 23, 2011. The hospital was among the many structures that were severely damaged by Sunday's twister.

Back in Missouri, meanwhile, the difficult task of identifying the dead is under way.

Jasper County Coroner Rod Chappel said a portable morgue en route from Texas was expected to arrive late Monday, according to the Joplin Globe newspaper. The morgue will be staffed by people who will use "visuals, DNA, dental records and X-rays to identify the deceased," Chappel told the newspaper for its Tuesday edition.

"We will compare what we find in the forensics with what we get from family members to individually ID the bodies," Chappel said, adding that the process could take several hours for each body.

The next of kin will then be notified and the bodies will be released to mortuaries, he said.

Officials said the tornado was the single worst twister in nearly 60 years and the second major tornado disaster in less than a month. Authorities predict the death the toll to rise as the full scope of the destruction comes into view, according to the Associated Press.

Images of post-tornado Joplin on Monday revealed a disaster of nearly apocalyptic proportions: house after house reduced to splinters, cars crushed like aluminum cans, and shaken residents roaming streets in search of missing family members.

Adding to the danger, fires from gas leaks continued to burn across Joplin on Monday as more violent weather loomed on the horizon, including the threat of hail, high winds and pssibly more tornadoes. By daybreak Monday, the city's south side emerged from darkness as a barren, smoky wasteland.

"I've never seen such devastation -- just block upon block upon block of homes just completely gone," former state legislator Gary Burton, who showed up to help at a volunteer center at Missouri Southern State University, told The Associated Press.

JOPLIN2.jpgBusinesses near St. John's Regional Medical Center show damage Monday, May 23, 2011, from the tornado that hit the area Sunday, killing dozens. Authorities warned Monday that the death toll could climb as search-and-rescue efforts continue.

Unlike the multiple storms that killed more than 300 people last month across the South, Joplin was smashed by just one exceptionally powerful tornado. The last time a single twister wrought this much devastation was in June 1953, when a tornado hit Flint, Mich., also killing 116, according to the NWS.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon told the AP he did not want to guess how high the death toll could climb, but added, "Clearly, it's on its way up."

Hope remained, though, as 17 people were pulled alive from the rubble on Monday.
But heavy thunderstorms complicated rescue efforts, forcing crews to move gingerly around downed power lines and jagged chunks of debris while searching for victims and survivors.

Search teams fanned out in waves across several square miles of wasteland resembling London after the Blitz. Groups went door to door, making quick checks of property that in many places had been razed to their foundations.

Kerry Sachetta, the principal of Joplin High School, said he could barely recognize his flattened school building.

"You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing," Sachetta said. "That's really what it looked like."

NWS Director Jack Hayes said the storm was given a preliminary label as an EF4 -- the second-highest rating assigned to twisters based on the damage they cause. Hayes said the storm had winds topping 198 mph, and at times the tornado reached a width of three-quarters of a mile.

St. John's Regional Medical Center, where staff had only moments to hustle their patients into the hallway, was shredded by the twister, which killed six people -- five patients and one visitor.

The damage to the facility was so extensive that doctors had to abandon the hospital soon after the twister passed, according to AP reports.

Dr. Jim Riscoe said some members of his emergency room staff showed up after the tornado with injuries of their own, but they worked through the night anyway.
"I spent most of my life at that hospital," Riscoe told AP from a makeshift triage center established at Joplin's Memorial Hall entertainment venue.

JOPLIN1.jpgCars are strewn about in the parking lot at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses and killing more than 100.

"It's awful. I had two pregnant nurses who dove under gurneys ... It's a testimony to the human spirit," the doctor said.

Dazed tornado survivors tried salvaging whatever they could from their flattened or badly damaged homes.

Kelley Fritz rummaged briefly through the remains of a storage building before giving up. Her boys, both Eagle Scouts, rushed into the neighborhood after realizing every home was destroyed. When they returned, she said, "my sons had deceased children in their arms."

Justin Gibson said he was prepared for the worst and expected to lose friends and family in the catastrophe. As he stood outside the tangled remains of a Home Depot, Gibson pointed to a black pickup truck that had been tossed about like a Matchbox car. He said the truck belonged to his roommate's brother, who was last seen at the store with his two young daughters.

"I don't know the extent of this yet," Gibson said, "but I know I'll have friends and family dead."

Once a thriving mining town, Joplin flourished though World War II because of its rich lead and zinc mines. It also gained fame as a stop along Route 66, the storied highway stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., before freeways diminished the city's importance.

The community, named for the founder of the area's first Methodist congregation, is now a transportation crossroads and manufacturing hub. It's also the hometown of poet Langston Hughes and "Gunsmoke" actor Dennis Weaver.

Major employers in and around the city include electronics manufacturer LaBarge Inc., colleges such as Missouri Southern State University and hospitals and clinics. Agriculture is also important to the economy.

Material from the Associated Press, the Joplin Globe and other media outlets was used in this report.

VIDEO from The Associated Press:


The Boston Celtics will play a preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Mullins Center on Oct. 19,

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If 2008's soldout game between the Celts and Sixers at the Mullins Center is an indicator, this October's matchup should be equally popular with hoops fans from around the Pioneer Valley.

CELTIC JAM.JPGCeltics' Paul Pierce, center, rebounds the ball between Philadelphia's Thaddeus Young, left, and Samuel Dalembert during the first quarter of an Oct. 8, 2008, game at the Mullins Center in Amherst.

AMHERST -- The Boston Celtics will play a preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Mullins Center on Oct. 19, according to Global Spectrum, which manages the 10,500-seat sports and concert arena on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

This will be the second preseason match-up between the teams at the Amherst venue, which hosted them in October 2008.

The Sixers, who defeated the Celts, 98-92, in front of a capacity crowd in that October outing, will again have the home-court advantage this fall. The reason for the hometown status for an out-of-town team is simple: The Sixers and Global Spectrum are both owned by Comcast-Spectacor, an international entertainment and sports company.

celtics.jpgPaul Pierce takes flight in this AP file photo.

"It's exciting for us to be able to bring the Sixers to the Mullins Center this season, as we enjoy being able to showcase our two professional teams at some of the venues we manage each year," Comcast-Spectacor President Peter Luukko, a 1981 UMass graduate, said in a release Monday.

"Personally, for me, this is a thrill to be back on the campus of my alma mater, UMass, where we, as a company, can help give back to the school by providing valuable on-site educational experiences for interns and students affiliated with the sports management program here at UMass," said Luukko, who graduated with a degree in sports management.

Celtics.jpgDelonte West saves the ball in this AP file photo.

Tickets, including VIP and hospitality packages, go on sale June 8 at 10am. Tickets are available at the Mullins Center Box Office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. More information is available at www.mullinscenter.com.

Besides the Mullins Center, Philadelphia-based Global Spectrum (www.global-spectrum.com) manages more than 100 other public facilities around the world.


CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF THE COURTSIDE ACTION between these legendary NBA teams the last time they played in Amherst in October 2008:

AM News Links: How to spot a psychopath, Springfield earns dubious distinction from the FBI, and more

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Obama praises Northern Ireland as a model for peace, powerful storms continue to brew in Missouri, and more of this morning's headlines.

PHILIPPINES.jpgChildren play in floodwaters following a sudden downpour that inundated low-lying areas in Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. Typhoon Songda (local name Chedeng), the third weather disturbance to enter the Philippines area, is brewing in the eastern part of the country and is forecast to bring heavy rains and make landfall later this week.

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Continued storms complicate rescue efforts after Midwest tornadoes, as death toll reaches 116

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President Barack Obama said he would travel to Missouri on Sunday to meet with people whose lives have been turned upside down by the twister.

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JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Rescue crews worked into the rain-soaked chill of night, ignoring lightning and strong winds to dig through splintered homes, crumpled businesses and crushed cars in this Missouri town walloped by the deadliest single tornado in nearly six decades. Even more ominous: More storms, possibly strong ones, were on the horizon.

The death toll in Joplin reached 116 on Monday and was expected to climb. But there were glimmers of hope: Rescuers pulled 17 people from the rubble, and Gov. Jay Nixon vowed that crews would keep searching until everyone is accounted for.

"They still think there are folks that could be alive," Nixon told The Associated Press. Searchlights were brought in for work to continue overnight.

The killer tornado ripped through the heart of Joplin, a blue-collar southwest Missouri town of 50,000 people, Sunday night, slamming straight into St. John's Regional Medical Center. The hospital confirmed that five of the dead were patients — all of them in critical condition before the tornado hit. A hospital visitor also was killed.

The tornado destroyed possibly "thousands" of homes, Fire Chief Mitch Randles told AP. It leveled hundreds of businesses, including massive ones such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

Speaking from London, President Barack Obama said he would travel to Missouri on Sunday to meet with people whose lives have been turned upside down by the twister. He vowed to make all federal resources available to help in recovery and rebuilding efforts.

"The American people are by your side," Obama said. "We're going to stay there until every home is repaired, until every neighborhood is rebuilt, until every business is back on its feet."

It was the second major tornado disaster in less than a month. In April, a pack of twisters roared across six Southern states, killing more than 300 people, more than two-thirds of them in Alabama.

In Joplin, much of the town's landscape was changed beyond recognition. House after house was reduced to slabs, cars were crushed like soda cans and shaken residents roamed streets in search of missing family members.

The danger was by no means over. Fires from gas leaks burned across town. The smell of ammonia and propane filled the air in some damaged areas. And the forecast looked grim.

The April tornadoes that devastated the South unspooled over a three-day period starting in the Plains. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said a repeat could be setting up, with a possible large tornado outbreak in the Midwest on Tuesday and bad weather potentially reaching the East Coast by Friday.

"This is a very serious situation brewing," center director Russell Schneider said, citing a moderate risk of severe weather Tuesday in southwestern Missouri and in Oklahoma, Kansas and parts of North Texas.

Heavy rain fell from dark skies all day Monday, finally letting up only as night fell, and lightning was so frequent that it slowed the rescue and recovery effort, Randles said. A police officer from Riverside, Mo., who was helping with the rescues, was burned from a lightning strike and hospitalized. Another officer was slightly injured in a near-lightning strike but kept working.

The rainy, cool weather — the forecast called for an overnight low of 62 degrees — raised concerns about its effect on anyone still trapped in rubble. A whipping wind, perhaps strong enough to finish off homes left barely standing by the tornado, made things more dangerous for searchers and potential survivors.

The twister that hit Joplin was one of more than 50 reported across seven Midwestern states over the weekend. One person was killed in Minneapolis and another in Kansas, but Missouri took the hardest hits.

At the destroyed Wal-Mart, perhaps 200 ruined cars lay crumpled in the parking lot. They were among thousands of shattered vehicles around town, including dozens of tractor-trailers tossed on their sides or tops.

Kim Weathers, 48, looked at her black Envoy and could only shake her head — a piece of the roof from the Wal-Mart had pierced the windows and crushed the side of the SUV.

"We were in the store and all of a sudden somebody yelled, 'Get down!' Weathers said. "I could feel the wind coming, then stuff was flying, hitting me in the head. I looked up and it was outside — the roof was gone."

St. John's took a direct hit, leaving debris dangling from the top of the structure and blowing out almost every window. The town's other hospital, Freeman, was overflowing with patients, and makeshift hospitals and triage areas were set up at several other locations. More than 400 people were treated for injuries, Randles said.

Unlike the multiple storms that killed more than 300 people last month across the South, Joplin was smashed by just one exceptionally powerful tornado. Not since a June 1953 tornado in Flint, Mich., had a single twister been so deadly. That storm also killed 116, according to the National Weather Service.

Nixon did not want to guess how high the death toll in Joplin would eventually climb. But he told AP: "Clearly, it's on its way up."

While many residents had up to 17 minutes of warning, rain and hail may have drowned out warning sirens. Some residents said the sirens are so common in "Tornado Alley" that they pay them little heed.

Nancy Hood, 63, is bedridden after suffering from diabetes and cancer. She said she often ignores warning sirens, but didn't on Sunday, telling her husband to grab their two grandsons, ages 4 and 7, and get to the hallway. The tornado destroyed most of Hood's house — except the bedroom where she remained and the hallway.

"Praise God," Hood said. "It was divine intervention."

As rescuers toiled in the debris made soggy by the latest storm, they moved gingerly around downed power lines, large chunks of jagged metal, and boards with nails sticking out. Fires, gas fumes and unstable buildings also posed threats.

Teams of searchers fanned out in waves across several square miles. The groups went door to door, making quick checks of property that in many places had been stripped to their foundations or had walls collapse. Some condemned homes were spray-painted with a big "X."

National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes said the tornado was given a preliminary label as an EF4 — the second-highest rating assigned to twisters based on the damage they cause.

Hayes said the storm had winds of 190 to 198 mph. At times, it was three-quarters of a mile wide.

The tornado got the attention of those who suffered in the South, including in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the epicenter of the April storm.

"We're praying for those people," said retired Marine Willie Walker, whose Tuscaloosa home suffered more than $50,000 in damage. "We know what they're going through because we've been there already."

Once the center of a thriving mining industry, Joplin flourished though World War II because of its rich lead and zinc mines. It also gained fame as a stop along Route 66, the storied highway stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., before freeways diminished the city's importance.

The community, named for the founder of the area's first Methodist congregation, is now a transportation crossroads and manufacturing hub. It's also the hometown of poet Langston Hughes and "Gunsmoke" actor Dennis Weaver.

City Manager Mark Rohr said the city "will recover and come back stronger than we are today."

Buck Nordyke, 53, planned to stay in his south Joplin home to ride out the rest of the storms, even though he's without power and has some slight roof damage.

"We could go to a neighbor's house or a hotel," Nordyke said. "But what about the next day, or what about the next day?"

___

Associated Press writers David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Kristi Eaton in Norman, Okla., and Nomaan Merchant in Joplin contributed to this report.


32-year-old man, found with gunshot wound at Shell station in Northampton, tells police he had just been shot in Holyoke

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Holyoke police are probing the shooting, reported shortly after 5 a.m.

030911 Northampton Police Car Police Cruiser 103.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – A Northampton Police Department cruiser.

NORTHAMPTON - A 32-year-old Florence man, found with a gunshot wound to his leg Tuesday morning at the Shell station on Pleasant Street, told police that he had just been shot in Holyoke.

Capt. Scott A. Savino said the victim drove himself to the Shell, at 506 Pleasant St., and walked inside shortly after 5 a.m. to summon help. Responding police found the victim standing inside near the counter.
They observed a small entry wound in the man’s lower thigh, Savino said.

The victim, who was able to provide police with a description of his shooter, was taken by ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital. Holyoke police, who continue to probe the shooting, had the victim’s vehicle towed to their city.

Additional information was not immediately available.

Springfield car crashes into utility pole, closes section of Allen Street

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The driver who struck the utility pole was uninjured in the Tuesday morning crash, but a stretch of Allen Street was closed to traffic as workers secured the damaged pole.

springfield police cruiser back end.jpgA section of Allen Street between Cooley Street and Bicentennial Highway was closed Tuesday morning after a driver crashed into a utility pole.

SPRINGFIELD -- City police are advising morning commuters to avoid Allen Street between Bicentennial Highway and Cooley Street until crews repair a utility pole damaged in a car accident around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

A vehicle crashed into a pole in the vicinity of Bicentennial Plaza and Family Care Medical Center, sheering the pole in two, according to Springfield Police Sgt. Dennis Prior.

Prior said the driver was uninjured in the incident. Police did not release the driver's name.

As a result of the crash, the stretch of Allen Street running from its intersection with Bicentennial Highway east toward Cooley Street remained closed as of 8 a.m.

Prior urged motorists to take alternate routes to avoid delays during their morning commutes.

Crews from Western Massachusetts Electric Co. were tending to the damaged pole.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate locale of where a vehicle struck and damaged a utility pole Tuesday morning on Allen Street, a portion of which was closed to traffic:


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Springfield police respond to child abduction incident; infant recovered unharmed

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Details of the case remain sketchy, but city police said the unidentified infant is safe after being found at a North End address shortly before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

spfld 911 cruiser.JPGSpringfield police recovered an infant reported missing early Tuesday morning. It remains unknown if the man who took the child will be charged in connection with the incident.

SPRINGFIELD -- Authorities responding to an apparent child-abduction incident early Tuesday morning found the missing infant at a North End residence, according to Springfield police.

Details of the case remain sketchy, but Springfield Police Sgt. Paul Browne confirmed the infant had been found unharmed at a Massasoit Street address shortly before 7:30 a.m.

"The baby's been found at this point, the baby's safe," Browne said around 8:30 a.m.

Earlier police reports indicated a man, believed to be the child's father, had taken the baby. That triggered a citywide search that ended around 7:22 a.m., when the infant was recovered at 149 Massasoit Street, according to police reports.

Multiple police units were involved in the search.

Browne said he had no more information about the matter, which had just been resolved when The Republican contacted him Tuesday morning.

"They're just clearing the scene (at Massasoit Street) now, so we're waiting for the paperwork," he said, adding that more information would be available when officers file their reports.

It remains unclear if the man will face charges; his identity had not been released as of 8:50 a.m.


THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of where police recovered a missing baby Tuesday:


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DNA evidence said to link ex-IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn to NY maid

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The forensic evidence is the first to link Strauss-Kahn to the woman.

052411dsk.jpgMembers of the media record video outside the entrance to 71 Broadway in New York on Sunday, May 22, 2011, where former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is under house arrest after he was released from Rikers Island jail on $1 million bail plus $5 million bond. The 62-year-old economist is accused of sexually assaulting a maid in his suite at Manhattan's Sofitel.

NEW YORK — DNA taken from former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn matches material on the uniform of a hotel maid who says he sexually assaulted her, two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.

The two people would not describe the material found on the shirt but said DNA matched a sample from Strauss-Kahn, who submitted to testing after his arrest more than a week ago. He denies the maid's allegations.

Testing was being performed on other items, said the two people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke to the AP on Monday on condition of anonymity.

During their investigation, authorities cut out a piece of carpet and swabbed sinks and other surfaces in his hotel room. Investigators told the AP they believed the carpet in the hotel room may contain Strauss-Kahn's semen, spat out after an episode of forced oral sex by the maid.

The forensic evidence is the first to link Strauss-Kahn to the woman — and it's also on track with what his lawyers have suggested would be his defense.

Strauss-Kahn's attorney Benjamin Brafman declined to comment on Monday. At a court hearing last week, he told a judge that forensic evidence developed in the investigation "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter" — leading to speculation that Strauss-Kahn's defense would argue that it was consensual.

New York Police Department spokesman Paul J. Browne and the Manhattan district attorney's office wouldn't comment.

The one-time French presidential contender has been charged with a criminal sex act, attempted rape and sexual abuse and is free on $1 million bail, under house arrest at a lower Manhattan apartment. He's been accused of attacking the 32-year-old West African immigrant on May 14 in his luxury suite at the Sofitel hotel near Manhattan's Times Square. His lawyers say he's innocent.

Staff at the Sofitel told authorities that the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn had made passes at them the day before the attack was reported, including flirting with a clerk and calling another employee to ask her up to his room, according to a third person with direct knowledge of investigators' interviews with staff.

Strauss-Kahn had flirted with one female staff member who accompanied him to his suite to make sure his accommodations were satisfactory after he checked in on May 13, the person said. Later, he phoned the desk clerk who had checked him in, asking her if she would like to get together with him when she got off duty, the person said. The desk clerk refused, saying she was not allowed to socialize with the VIP guest, the person said.

That person also wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

On Monday, lawyers for Strauss-Kahn continued to search for new housing for their client as he awaits trial. His bail agreement hit a snag late last week after tenants at the Upper East Side apartment building chosen for his house arrest refused to allow him, citing unwanted media attention.

Strauss-Kahn has been staying at a temporary location under watch by armed guards with Stroz Friedberg, the same company that guarded disgraced financier Bernard Madoff. It wasn't clear when he would be moved. French and U.S. media have been staking out the building where Strauss-Kahn spent the weekend after he was released from his Rikers Island jail cell.

He resigned last Wednesday from the IMF.

His attorneys have described Strauss-Kahn as a loving father and family man. They say his actions after the attack was reported are not those of a guilty man eager for a quick escape. He left the hotel, had lunch and then phoned later to ask if he'd left anything behind. When hotel staff said he had left his cellphone, he told them exactly where he was: at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight bound for Paris. Authorities pulled him from the jetliner.

Your comments: Readers react to 'Springfield vintage car race canceled'

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Readers weigh in on the cancellation of the July Springfield Vintage Grand Prix Race.

grand prix logo.JPGLogo for the Springfield vintage grand prix

The much anticipated Springfield Vintage Grand Prix Race set to be held in downtown Springfield from July 22-24 was canceled by both city officials and race organizers on Monday. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the race was called off due to concerns regarding safety and liability.

How did our readers respond?

scarypicture says:

Kudo's to the city and entrepreneur Mike Hall for a tough decision. An event like this is complicated, huge and certainly unchartered territory for all parties involved. Thank you for not giving up on a great concept that can be further explored, patiently tweaked and eventually wind up as a winner for the city in 2012.

deli9 says:

What a shame! I know it was planned for a long time but egos got in the way of fun for all ages. If they really wanted to they could have worked it out like adults but instead this is the way of the bad politics we have in this city. People had rented equipment and hotel rooms in advance and a big black mark on us. Would you trust this city next year? I doubt it!

scotiacat20 says:

I'm actually curious about this whole situation. But SCCA and vintage racing? Umm, hello, the road courses at Lime Rock Park and New Hampshire Motor Speedway? Both tracks already host SCCA and Vintage racing, so I have to ask, why is this needed in Springfield? Maybe this particular vintage group doesn't attend either facility, but SCCA does.

Also, what was the overall cost to the city and its taxpayers? What was the cost for adding the event to an existing SCCA weekend at the above mentioned race tracks or renting the track out for the day to hold an event of this type? All it takes is for one "accident" and it will be a fiasco will be brought upon the city in terms of a lawsuit. With road blocks, I can't believe the businesses (that are open) will welcome the lack of customer availability to their business.

Anyone remember the speedboat races that were held on the Connecticut River in the late '70's and early '80's at the old Riverfront? Two or three appearances and it was done. Not much money was needed to host that, but this is a different story. Lots of labor (jersey barriers, fencing, extra police, etc) is needed for this to work. It's just not feasible in the city.

Ram9296 says:

Yes, in place more receptive to it than Springfield. The politic-speak of the Mayor and the city officials turn my stomach. Blaming it on the organizers rather than owning up...business as usual...

Do you have a comment you would like to add? Visit the original story and have your say.

Gov. Deval Patrick, former budget aide to testify in trial of former Speaker Salvatore DiMasi

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Leslie Kirwan, former secretary of administration and finance, will testify that DiMasi seemed "intensely interested" in rigged software deal.

An updated version of this story is now available at MassLive.


Salvatore DiMasi 2008.jpgFormer Massachusetts Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi is seen at a meeting of the editorial board of The Republican in 2008.

By Kyle Cheney

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick's former top budget aide will testify this week that in 2007, as Patrick was acclimating himself to the Corner Office, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi was exerting influence on administration officials considering a $13 million deal for Cognos Corp., prosecutors asserted Monday.

Leslie Kirwan, who as secretary of administration and finance had final say on most statewide contracts, will testify that DiMasi seemed "intensely interested" in the Cognos deal and that when she approved the contract in August 2007 she hoped it would buy good will for the administration, according to a Monday court filing issued by prosecutors.

According to the filing, Kirwan's testimony will center on an email she delivered to a deputy on the same day she signed the Cognos deal. In the email, with the subject line "Finally," Kirwan said she hoped "the big guy down the hall is happy and we get some credit for the next 'stick.'"

"Kirwan's email is highly relevant in showing that as the final decision-maker in signing the Cognos contract, she was keenly aware of DiMasi's specific interest in seeing it done," wrote Theodore Merritt, a government attorney in the trial.

Kirwan was Patrick's top finance official from 2007 to 2009, when she departed in October for a post at Harvard University. According to the filing, Kirwan testified before a grand jury in March 2009. DiMasi was indicted in June that year.

Merritt argued that her testimony will show that DiMasi did more than simply ensure the $13 million deal made it through the Legislature - as they asserted during the first two weeks of witness testimony, when two former lawmakers and a high-level House aide took the stand. Rather, he wrote, it will show that DiMasi made "several personal contacts" with Kirwan, which he said indicate "that the official actions he took after the passage of the [legislation], did, in fact, advance the interests of Cognos and his coconspirators."

DiMasi is charged with rigging a pair of taxpayer-funded contracts for Cognos in 2006 and 2007 in exchange for kickbacks. He is facing a count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and a count of extortion. Lobbyist Richard McDonough and accountant Richard Vitale, two longtime friends of DiMasi, are codefendants on all but the extortion charge. Their trial is in its fourth week and is expected to last well into June.

Lawyers for the defendants are asking Judge Mark Wolf to exclude Kirwan's email from evidence. As of early Tuesday morning, a rebuttal by defense attorneys had yet to be filed publicly. Lawyers for DiMasi and his codefendants have argued that DiMasi sought the type of software offered by Cognos - a performance management application - in a high-minded attempt to improve the functionality of state government and empower legislators to make informed policy decisions.

In addition, during previous witness testimony, DiMasi's lawyer Thomas Kiley pointed out that in his efforts to keep track of the software deal, DiMasi never pushed lower-level administration officials to specifically support Cognos, despite several known competitors for the contract.

Merritt, in his filing, contended that Kirwan's email is essential to proving that DiMasi pressured the Patrick administration to sign the contract, "an important disputed factor in the case."

"In this case, not only is it relevant in showing how DiMasi's official actions contributed to signing of the Cognos contract and the degree of influence he exerted on the decision maker," Merritt wrote, "it is probative in rebutting the defendants' arguments and evidence - first highlighted in their opening statements - that it was the Administration's decision to execute the Cognos contract and therefore DiMasi did not, and could not, take any official action to benefit Cognos in return for payments and kickbacks."

Merritt contended that Kirwan, "as the recipient of DiMasi's behind-the-scenes influence to get the contract signed, is somewhat comparable to the victim of extortion" and that her "state of mind" - whether she felt pressured to approve the Cognos deal - would be "at the center of the case."

According to prosecutors, Kirwan's suggestion that she hoped the speaker gave her credit for "the next 'stick'" was a reference to a dispute between the administration and DiMasi over where to site a Springfield data center. DiMasi had sought to place it at the Springfield Technical Community College, also known as STCC - pronounced 'stick' - while others pushed for a high school location.

In their indictment, prosecutors described repeated efforts by DiMasi to discuss "performance management software" - an application of the type offered by Cognos - with Kirwan. Bethann Pepoli, the acting head of the state IT department at the time the Cognos deal was pending, testified Monday that she recommended that Kirwan approve a $15 million contract for performance management software, in part because of DiMasi's influence.

Kirwan is one of a handful of Patrick administration officials to testify in the three-week- old trial. Patrick himself is slated to testify later this week or next. David Simas, Patrick's former deputy chief of staff who now advises President Barack Obama, is expected to testify Tuesday, and prosecutors say they expect to call David Morales, who held various high-level positions under Gov. Patrick, including deputy chief of staff and commissioner of health care finance and policy.

Northampton council approves restructuring of health board

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Because the board currently has only three members, a conversation between two of them would constitute a quorum and trigger the Open Meeting law.

NORTHAMPTON – Pending approval by the state Legislature, Northampton will have an expanded Board of Health with new rules governing its oversight.

The City Council last week approved an ordinance expanding the board from three to five members and putting it under the control of a health director appointed by the mayor. The changes proposed by Mayor Mary Clare Higgins have been in the works for some time. The council got a first look at them last November before referring the ordinance to an ad hoc committee for fine-tuning.

Under the revamped system, the Health Department will enforce all city ordinances and state and federal regulations related to health, including issuing permits and investigating complaints. Although its duties do not change significantly from the duties of the current board, the expansion to five members is intended to make the process more efficient.

“It’s clearly a good thing to have a large base for decisions and planning,” said Councilor Pamela C. Schwartz, who served on the ad hoc committee. “With three you can’t even talk among yourselves without being subject to the open meeting law.”

Because the board currently has only three members, a conversation between two of them would constitute a quorum and trigger that law, Schwartz said.

Although the ad hoc committee recommended that the board appoint the health director in consultation with the mayor, the council voted to amend that clause giving the mayor the power of appointment and the council the right of approval. Some councilors questioned the change, pointing out that the ad hoc committee was unanimous on that point. All three sitting members of the board were present at the council meeting, but the council twice declined to hear from them on the matter, a move that didn’t sit well with Ward 5 Councilor David A. Murphy.

“It was interesting to not even hear from them,” he said.

The measure passed on first reading with the amended language, however. It will come back to the council for final approval at its next meeting. The council also passed an order referring the changes to the state Legislature for approval. The Legislature has authority in the matter because it involves a change in the city charter.

Under the new ordinance, the three sitting members of the Board of Health will remain in their positions for the duration of their terms. The two new members will be appointed by the mayor with the council’s approval. Donna Salloom was among the three current Board of Health members present at the council meeting. Salloom said she was not upset by the council’s reluctance to hear from the board, given the amount of dialogue that has already taken place.

“I think many City Council members felt they had heard all the issues repeatedly,” she said. “I think it was a good compromise.”


Liquor license approved for F.L. Roberts Mobil station on Boston Road in Wilbraham

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F.L. Roberts has two other liquor licenses for Mobil stations in Springfield.

WILBRAHAM – The Board of Selectmen Monday night approved a license for the F.L. Roberts Mobil Station at 2788 Boston Road to sell beer and wine in its convenience store.

F.L. Roberts representative Richard Smith told selectmen that F.L. Roberts wants to use 40 percent of its cooler space for beer and wine.

Manager Michael Pease said F.L. Roberts already has a wine and beer license for two of its Springfield Mobil stores on Broad Street and Armory Street.

There have been no violations at the Broad Street store, Pease said. He said there have been two recent violations at the Armory Street store, and the store is now “carding” all buyers, regardless of their age. Even if the buyers return a second time, they still are being carded, Pease said, or asked to show a driver’s license or other identification card.

All clerks who work in the stores are at least 18 years old, Pease said.

“The weakest link,” in refusing to sell beer, wine or cigarettes illegally to those under the legal age is the clerks, Selectmen Chairman Patrick J. Brady said.

The Board of Selectmen approved the wine and beer license for F.L. Roberts for the station’s convenience store near the fire station by a vote of 3 to 0. The approval is subject to approval by the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.

In other action, the Board of Selectmen elected a new chairman, vice chairman and clerk.

Brady was elected chairman, Selectman Robert J. Boilard was elected vice chairman and Selectman James E. Thompson was elected clerk. All three votes of the three-member board were unanimous.

The reorganization vote occurred following Saturday’s town election, which saw the reelection of Thompson to the Board of Selectmen. In a no contest election, Thompson was elected to his sixth term on the Board of Selectmen.

“I want to welcome the new guy,” Boilard joked at Monday’s meeting

Developing: Noemy Ramos, arrested in connection with weekend murder of Carlos Beslanga, denies charges

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Ramos was ordered held on $150,000 cash bail or $1.5 million surety.

noemyramos33.jpgNoemy Ramos

SPRINGFIELD – Family members of the late Carlos E. Beslanga burst into sobs Tuesday morning in District Court as the woman charged with aiding the man suspected of his murder was led into the courtroom for arraignment.

Noemy Ramos, 33, began sobbing as well as Judge Mark D. Mason ordered that she be held in lieu of $150,000 cash bail or $1.5 million surety.

Ramos, who denied two counts of accessory after the fact of murder, grew even more emotional as correctional officers led her out of the courtroom and appeared to make a tentative effort to resist them. She repeatedly cried “Oh my god,” as they led her out a side door.

Police are still seeking 37-year-old Luis Manuel Cintron who is suspected of fatally stabbing the 32-year-old Beslanga with a large knife.

Sgt. John M. Delaney said that Ramos, at Cintron’s behest, allegedly ran down the street and hid the knife in the sewer before fleeing with him in a white Honda.

Police said Beslanga was in Springfield visiting relatives and about to travel home to Newington, Conn. After loading his family in the car for the return trip, he stepped into an alleyway between 62 and 66 Cumberland St. to relieve himself.

Cintron apparently confronted Beslanga about urinating on his property and the two got into an altercation. Police allege that Cintron stabbed him in the chest. The stabbing took place in front of Beslanga’s wife, mother and children, according to police.

Beslanga was pronounced dead in the emergency department at Baystate Medical Center, which is about 200 yards away from the stabbing. Beslanga, described as a hard-working family man who provided for his four children, is the city’s 8th homicide victim of the year.

Police said that Ramos contacted police through her lawyer and arranged to surrender to officers at the McDonald’s in the city’s South End.

Lawyer Joseph D. Bernard, who represented Ramos at the arraignment, told the judge at the start of the arraignment that he and Assistant District Attorney Marie Angier had agreed on the bail.

Mason told Ramos that if bail is posted, she is to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, abide by zero curfew and avoid contact with members of Belanga’s family.

A pre-trial conference was set for June 29.

Those attending the arraignment included Kathaline Lopez who said she and others were there to support Ramos. “She is a good person, a great person, great at heart” she said.
Friends and family of Beslanga were not immediately available for comment after the arraignment.

Those with information on the stabbing or Cintron’s whereabouts are asked to call the detective bureau at (413) 787-6355. Those wishing to report anonymously may use the Text-a-Tip program. To do so, address a text message to “CRIMES,” or “274637,” and begin the body of the message with the word “SOLVE.”

Delaney said Cintron has been arrested numerous times by Springfield police. His last arrest, in May 21, 2010 was for breaking and entering and stealing copper pipes.

He has also been arrested in the past for burglary, assault and battery on a police officer, Domestic assaults and Battery, breaking into vehicles, threat to murder, failure to Stop from a police officer and several additional breaking and enterings.

Ramos has been arrested numerous times by Springfield police for such things as shoplifting, motor vehicle violations and warrants, Delaney said.




This is a developing story. Details will be added as our reporting continues.

Body of Camden Hughes, 6, found along Maine road, returned to Texas for funeral

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A long-time family friend said that the boy's grandfather, brother and father traveled to Maine to retrieve his remains.

Camden Hughes 52411.jpgView full sizeThis undated handout photo provided by Shirley Miller shows Camden Hughes, left and his mother, Julianne McCrery McCrery is accused of killing the 6-year-old and leaving his body on a dirt road in Maine.

AUGUSTA, Maine – A family friend says the body of a boy left along a dirt road in Maine is back in Texas for a funeral to be held this weekend.

Shirley Miller, a long-time friend in Texas, told the Associated Press Tuesday that the body of 6-year-old Camden Hughes is back on Texas soil. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Camden’s body was released Friday by the Maine medical examiner.

The boy’s mother, Julianne McCrery, of Irving, Texas, is being held in New Hampshire, where she’s charged with killing the boy before leaving him in South Berwick, Maine. She was originally detained in Massachusetts.

Miller says McCrery’s father, her other son and the son’s father traveled to Maine to retrieve Camden’s remains. She says they didn’t meet with Julianna McCrery.

2nd teen, Jordan Errichetto, charged in Pittsfield cemetery vandalism

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His lawyer, Jill Sheldon, said that her client “vehemently denies” involvement in the vandalism last month.

PITTSFIELD – Police have arrested a second teenager in connection with a vandalism spree at a Pittsfield cemetery that authorities estimate resulted in $15,000 worth of damage.

Jordan Errichetto pleaded not guilty on Monday in Central Berkshire District Court to five counts of felony gravestone vandalism. Police say the 18-year-old will face additional charges.

His lawyer, Jill Sheldon, told The Berkshire Eagle that her client “vehemently denies” involvement in the vandalism last month. More than 200 headstones in Pittsfield Cemetery were toppled, water pipes were broken and American flags placed on graves of veterans for Memorial Day were torn up and strewn about.

Sheldon said his arrest is a case of mistaken identity.

Another 18-year-old suspect, John Lundy, has also pleaded not guilty.

Average home price in Massachusetts declines

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But the median price of condominiums reportedly increased over the same period.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts housing market continued to struggle in April with sales and median prices both down from the same month last year, although the numbers were up when compared to March.

The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of real estate data, on Tuesday reported a 28 percent drop in sales of single family homes compared to April 2010 with a 4 percent drop in median sales price.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors said there was a 20 percent drop in sales year over year, and a more than 8 percent decrease in the median price.

The organizations use slightly different numbers in their calculations.

Home sales were up from March as is typical in the spring market.

Both organizations reported an increase in the median price of condominiums year over year.

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