The fiscal 2014 school budget is a level services budget – no cuts but no positions restored.

Easthampton School Superintendent Nancy Follansbee The Republican [file]  

EASTHAMPTON — The School Committee approved the superintendent’s fiscal 2014 $17.3 million budget Tuesday night, of which $15.6 million is being requested from the city, up about 3 percent from the current $15 million level.

Now school officials have to wait to see what the city will be able to contribute.
Mayor Michael A. Tautznik will present the city’s budget next month with his recommendations for school spending. He is waiting to see the level of state aid.

The requested budget includes no cuts to programs or personnel, said Superintendent Nancy Follansbee. However, it does not restore previous cuts.
“It’s a realistic budget given the economic constraints,” she said prior to the vote. “What’s most important in this economic climate is to maintain the current services we have.”

“We’re hopeful he’ll find the funds to fund level services or as close to that as possible,” she said.

According to the budget summary she wrote, “What this budget accomplishes is to maintain the integrity of the educational program ... Any reductions to a level service budget will result in further cuts and reductions in the programs and services our schools can provide.”

Twelve positions have been cut over the last two fiscal years.

Voters rejected a $1.4 million Proposition 2 ½ property tax override last November that would have restored positions. Follansbee said the committee has no plans to bring another measure back to voters.

The vote to support the level services budget was unanimous; Tautznik, a member of the committee, also supported it. But if the mayor is only able to level fund the school budget, that would leave a $609,412 gap.

Follansbee offered a possible savings of $282,245, with one staff cut at the high school and a half a position cut at the White Brook Middle School.

But she said she believes the cuts “would adversely impact the quality of education we provide.”

She said that parents asked the mayor if he would consider using free cash to help with the gap, and he said he would consider it. If not, she said, there would be further staffing cuts.

In an email Wednesday, Tautznik said after other expenses are paid in this fiscal year, $237,000 would be available in discretionary funds. "Without other revenue it will be impossible to fund a request for a $600,000 increase from any department," he wrote.

The city would look at the "possibility of using one-time reserves, but that is not an alternative that can be sustained without some identifiable source of recurring funds to offset this one-time funding in future years."

The mayor said he expects to present his budget to the City Council in May.

The federal government will also provide a total of $7.2 million in HUD storm-recovery money to other Massachusetts communities, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 2:38 this afternoon.

Mark M. Murray / The Republican file The intersection of Boston Road and Parker Street in Springfield is seen in Decemb er. City officials plan to use disaster relief funds to redo Boston Road from Pasco Road to the Wilbraham town line. 

SPRINGFIELD - The city is in line to receive$21.9 million in disaster aid, money it plans to spend on the new South End Community Center, a senior citizens center in Blunt Park, to rebuild Boston Road and other projects.

The money is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 's Community Development Block Grant program, said City Development Officer Kevin E. Kennedy.

The federal government will also provide $7.2 million in HUD storm recovery money to other Massachusetts communities, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield.

Neal's office and the city made the joint announcement.

"For the past few months, I have repeatedly told senior officials at HUD that securing more assistance for disaster relief in Springfield was my top priority," Neal said in a prepared statement.

HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said the $7.2 million has not been allocated, but it must go to communities hardest hit by storms in 2011. Those serial disasters include the tornado of June 1 and Tropical Storm Irene in August and the October 29 snowstorm.

Kennedy, a former Neal staffer, said Springfield also expects to get $20 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in recovery money related to the 2011 tornado. He expects a FEMA announcement in a few weeks.

"Oh, we're getting it," Kennedy said following a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "The question is how much."

The plan is to pool the disaster recovery funds and put the total of about $40 million toward capital projects. That could include $8 million to $10 million for the senior citizen center, $2.5 million for the renovation and expansion of the Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center at Forest Park, $8.6 million for the reconstruction of the heavily traveled commercial stretch of Boston Road and $6 million to $8 million for a new South End Community Center.

The old South End Community Center was destroyed by the June 2011 tornado.

HUD's Sullivan said the money comes from $16 billion in federal Community Development Block Grant disaster aid included in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. HUD disaster relief money is meant to address housing, business and infrastructure needs beyond those covered by other forms of assistance.

Absentee ballots and dog licenses are available at the Monson town clerk's office, 29 Thompson St.

MONSON — Absentee ballots are now available for the special state primary election on April 30, according to Monson Town Clerk Nancy C. Morrell. Each absentee voter must complete an absentee-voter application to receive a ballot.

Also, voter registration for all non-registered voters seeking to vote in the primary will take place April 10, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the town clerk's office, 29 Thompson St. Voting for the primary election will be held at Quarry Hill Community School, 43 Margaret St.

Morrell has more information at (413) 267-4115.

Licenses are also available by mail. Checks may be written to "Town of Monson" and mailed to the clerk's office, along with a copy of a dog's rabies certificate and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Town Clerk Nancy Morrell has more information at (413) 267-4115.

Police are searching for a HIspanic male wearing a blue coat who is believed to have gotten into a dark blue Toyota Camry.

03.27.2013 | SPRINGFIELD -- Police officer Timothy Morrow and his K9 Cairo try and get a scent from a hat left behind on Avon Place, the scene of a shooting early Wednesday afternoon. Mark M. Murray | The Republican

This is an updated version of a story posted at 1:14 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD – The Milton Bradley Elementary School at Maple and Mulberry streets was one of three schools locked down Wednesday afternoon while police searched the neighborhood for suspects involved in the shooting of a man one block away on Avon Place.

Milton Bradley was locked down for about 30 minutes as a precaution, as was the High School of Commerce on State Street, and the Forest Park Middle School on School Street, said Azelle Cavaan, communications director for the school department.

Just after 1 p.m., police were alerted to several gunshots in the area of Avon Place and Maple Street by the department’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system. Officers arrived to find a man with a gunshot wound to the chest.

Officer Charles Youmans, an aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet, said the man suffered a serious gunshot wound to the chest, but he was conscious and alert at Baystate Medical Center. Detectives were at the hospital and trying to interview him, he said.

The man, whose name was not released, was driven to Baystate High Street Health Center in a private vehicle, said police Sgt. Robert Tardiff. From there he was transported by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center.

Youmans said police do not have any suspects for the shooting, nor is there a motive.
Springfield and state police responded to the shooting quickly and blocked off Avon Place, a short dead-end street. Officers opened the street again at about 2:30 p.m.

During their investigations,Springfield police pulled over a car at the corner of Avon Place and Maple Street, forced four men out and searched the car. They later let them go.

Milton Bradley Elementary School was placed under lockdown, and no one was allowed inside and out, as a precaution due to the proximity to the shooting. Youmans said police also searched the inside of the school to rule out that someone involved in the shooting was able to get inside before the school was sealed. No one was found, he said.

For the afternoon dismissal, police escorted students from Milton Bradley to their buses
and to the area where parents pick up children, Youmans said.

That section of Maple Street is heavily populated with pedestrians and car traffic.

Capt. C. Lee Bennett said several people on the street witnessed the shooting and many are cooperating with police about what they saw.

One man who declined to be identified beyond his first name, Michael, told The Republican that he had just stepped outside when he heard multiple gunshots. "I heard five shots, one shot, a pause and four more.”

View Avon Pl in a larger map

Staff writers Jack Flynn and Patrick Johnson contributed to this report.

Police said Taverna snatched the box and ran towards a gray sedan in the mall parking lot with a Girl Scout leader in pursuit.

There is no shortage of Girl Scout cookies. Dave Roback  

Nicholas Taverna, 22, of 79 Deven St., Greenfield, and Cassidy Michalski, 25, of 18 Hoosac Road, Deerfield, were previously arraigned in Northampton District Court on charges of unarmed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and shoplifting over $100 by asportation. According to police, the two men made off with a metal box containing $392 after stealing it from a table at a Northampton Wal-Mart where a troop of Girl Scouts was selling cookies.

Police said Taverna snatched the box and ran towards a gray sedan in the mall parking lot with a Girl Scout leader in pursuit. The Scout leader, a Chesterfield resident, was dragged by the car and thrown to the ground, breaking his nose.

Michalski later told police that he and Taverna had gone to Wal-Mart to steal cell phones to trade for heroin. In passing by the table, Taverna asked the Girl Scouts how much money was in the box, then snatched it and fled, police said.

Both men have since been indicted by a Hampshire County grand jury. Michalski was arraigned on March 19, Taverna on March 25. Both men pleaded innocent to all charges. Bail had been set in District Court at $5,000 for each man. Taverna and Michalski have posted bail and were released June 26 pretrial hearings.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Springfield Symphony Orchestra director Kevin Rhodes is seen speaking to middle school students in West Springfield last year. Mark M. Murray / The Republican file  

WILBRAHAM - The Francis Michael Casey Fund for the Fine and Performing Arts will present a concert at Wilbraham & Monson Academy featuring Springfield Symphony Orchestra music director Kevin Rhodes.

The concert, “Conversations with Russian Pianist Alexander Ghindin, will be April 10 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at the Alumni Memorial Chapel.

A reception will be held following the concert at the Morrow House from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The concert is a prelude to the the orchestra’s performance the following Saturday, April 13, featuring Gershwin’s “An American In Paris,” Pistoni’s “Symphony No. 4” and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 40, G minor, featuring Ghindin.

The Francis Michael Casey Fund for the Fine and Performing Arts was created in 1994 by Arthur and Barbara Zalkan and their three children to honor Francis Michael Casey, who taught English at Wilbraham & Monson Academy before serving as headmaster for 14 years, for his devotion to and support of the fine and performing arts.

Among other purposes, the fund is intended to support annual performances for the enjoyment of the Academy and the larger community.

Menino spoke for about 12 minutes and received a three-minute standing ovation.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 7:26 this morning.

By STEVE LeBLANC
and BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON – An at times emotional Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told well-wishers gathered at the city’s historic Faneuil Hall on Thursday that he won’t seek re-election to an unprecedented sixth term after nearly two decades in office.

“I am here with the people I love, to tell the city I love, that I will leave the job that I love,” Menino said, with his wife Angela and family by his side. “I can run, I can win and I can lead, but not in the neighborhoods all the time as I like.”

Menino, who used a cane to walk to the podium, has had persistent health problems including a six-week hospital stay last year to treat a respiratory infection and a compression fracture in his spine. Menino also was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

But the city’s longest serving mayor told the crowd that he is on the mend. Still, he said, it’s not enough to maintain the pace that has become his trademark.

“I’m back to a mayor’s schedule, but not a Menino schedule,” he said. “Spending so much time in the neighborhoods gives me energy.... It may not be the only way to lead Boston, but it’s the only way for me.”

Menino spoke for about 12 minutes and received a three-minute standing ovation.

During his comments, Menino alluded to a poll that once indicated that more than half of the city’s residents had said they’d personally met him.

He also acknowledged that his decision not to run again is expected to trigger a political stampede.

“I have no plans to pick the person to fill this seat,” he said. “I just ask that you choose someone who loves this city as much as I do.”

President Barack Obama praised Menino.

“Boston is the vibrant, welcoming, and world-class city it is today because of Tom Menino,” Obama said in a statement. “For more than two decades, Mayor Menino has served the city and every one of its residents with extraordinary leadership, vision, and compassion.”

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who won a critical endorsement from Menino in last year’s U.S. Senate race called him “the best mayor in America” and “the best friend to the neighborhoods and people of Boston.”

Although Menino wasn’t always the smoothest of political figures, he earned a reputation as one of the hardest working, from filling potholes to shaping the city’s skyline.

A recent Boston Globe poll showed the 70-year-old Menino was viewed favorably by a wide margin of city residents, although less than half said they wanted him to run again. Most political watchers assumed Menino could have cruised to another victory.

Menino said he’s not done yet.

“I have nine months left. Just think what I can do in nine months,” he said. “We can have some real fun.”

Menino’s long stewardship of the city came a critical moment in Boston’s history when traditional urban ethnic enclaves began to give way to waves of new immigrants and younger professionals.

He worked to make Boston more fun and livable. Despite its famously narrow, twisting streets, Menino ushered in a bicycle-sharing program and named a “bicycle czar” to negotiate conflicts between bicyclists and Boston drivers.

He also struggled to try to improve the Boston school system and wasn’t shy about wearing his sympathies on his sleeve.

Last year Menino, a strong gay rights supporter, vowed to block Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in the city after the company’s president spoke out publicly against gay marriage.

Lawrence DiCara, a former city councilor, said Menino’s success stemmed from his attention to detail and – unlike many of his predecessors – his lack of interest in higher office.

“He kept his eye on the ball,” DiCara said. “He was not interested in running for governor. He was not interested in running for Congress. He had one thing he wanted to do and that was being mayor of Boston.”

Menino was the city’s first Italian-American mayor, breaking a nearly century-long domination of city politics by Irish-Americans that began with John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, the grandfather of President John F. Kennedy and Sens. Robert and Edward Kennedy, and included the legendary James Michael Curley.

Menino grew up in Hyde Park, far from the city’s traditional political power bases.

“He grew up an Italian kid in an Irish city and he grew up in a neighborhood that no one came from,” said DiCara.

Menino’s departure will create only the second open mayoral election in the last half century and the first since 1983, when Kevin White chose not to seek re-election.

Boston City Councilor John Connolly had already indicated his intention to run. Other potential candidates include state Rep. Martin Walsh, city councilors Tito Jackson and Rob Consalvo, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley.

Menino became acting mayor when his predecessor, Raymond Flynn, left office in 1993 after being named ambassador to the Vatican. Menino, then president of the City Council, was automatically elevated to the mayor’s job.

The circumstances prompted some critics to label him the “accidental mayor.” But he was elected mayor in his own right in November 1993 and won re-election by wide margins in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009.

James Brett, a former state lawmaker who was the Menino’s first mayoral opponent in 1993, said he immediately recognized Menino’s tenacity as a campaigner.

“Anyone who would underestimate him would be foolish to say the least,” said Brett, who now runs the business-backed New England Council. “He was grounded and focused as a candidate.”

Peter Meade, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said Menino had an “unbelievable” work ethic, often making two or three more stops around the city after most of his staff had gone home.

While a demanding boss, Meade said Menino “never asked anyone to do anything he wasn’t willing or anxious to do himself.”

Menino earned the nickname “Urban Mechanic” by focusing on the nuts and bolts of city management – fixing potholes, cleaning streets, and even discouraging the practice of saving a shoveled-out parking space by putting folding chairs or trash cans along the curb.

More recently, Menino became a prominent voice for stricter gun control measures, joining New York Mayor and Boston-area native Michael Bloomberg as co-chairs of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

“He will be remembered as one of the most influential and important mayors in Boston’s long history, and – it is my fervent hope – someone who began to turn the tide against the scourge of gun violence in this country,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

Menino also built an impressive political machine that handily defeated challengers and propelled allies into office.

Despite his political savvy, Menino was also known for his sometimes tortured phrases and malapropisms, which earned him the nickname “Mumbles” from detractors but endeared him even more to the populace.

He once confused former New England Patriots placekicker and Super Bowl hero Adam Vinatieri with former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and referred to Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo as “Hondo,” which was the nickname of former Celtics great John Havlicek.

The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a new high Thursday, three weeks after another popular market gauge, the Dow Jones industrial average, obliterated its own closing record.

CHRISTINA REXRODE
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK — For the second time in less than a month, the American stock market marched past another milepost on its long, turbulent journey back from the Great Recession, toppling another record left over from the days before government bailouts and failing investment banks.

The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a new high Thursday, three weeks after another popular market gauge, the Dow Jones industrial average, obliterated its own closing record.

The reaction on Wall Street was muted — more of a dull buzz than a victory cry. Investors warned clients not to get overly excited.

"Getting back to where we were is an important step," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. But he cautioned in a note to investors: "Markets are volatile, and if you are a long-term investor you should expect declines."

The S&P rose six points to 1,569, a gain of 0.4 percent, beating by four points its previous record of 1,565.15 set on Oct. 9, 2007. The index is still shy of its all-time trading high of 1,576.

The index has now recovered all of its losses from the recession and the financial crisis that followed. Investors who put their dividends back into the market have done even better. A $10,000 investment in the S&P back in October 2007 would be worth $11,270.

On any other day, a gain of that size would go unheralded, but not after the turmoil that began in late 2008 and persisted through a slow, sometimes stalled recovery. The milestone generated chatter at water coolers and on business news channels.

The S&P 500 is a barometer that gauges market performance. And while professional investors might scoff at using it to decide when to buy and sell, the breaking of an old record can be psychologically important.

When the S&P 500 last closed this high, it was a headier time. In the fall of 2007, the financial crisis was simmering but hadn't yet boiled over. It was an era before big bailouts and the Great Recession, back when jobs were much easier to come by and salaries seemed to go only up. Bear Stearns still existed. So did Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.

Investors have reason to be cautious.

The U.S. economy is stable, but growth is anemic. The European debt crisis is far from resolved. Some investors are concerned that the market's gains this year are being fueled by the Federal Reserve's easy money policy, and will disappear once the Fed reverses course.

The crisis-of-the-moment is Cyprus, the Mediterranean island country that struggled this week to get an emergency bailout from other countries. For many investors, the bailout deal was a reminder of Europe's lingering economic problems.

On Thursday, U.S. economic news was mixed.

The U.S. economy grew faster than first estimated in the fourth quarter, the government reported. But the growth, an annual rate of 0.4 percent, was still weak. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid jumped for the second straight week. Longer-term, though, jobless claims have been declining since November. Unemployment is 7.7 percent, versus the 4.7 percent in 2007.

"If you're a bull or a bear, you could find enough news out there to convince you of your position," said Jim Lauder, CEO of Global Index Advisors in Marietta, Ga., and co-portfolio manager on Wells Fargo Advantage Dow Jones Target Date Funds.

Cyprus reopened its banks after closing them for nearly two weeks to keep depositors from making panicked withdrawals. Portugal reported that its budget deficit was widening.

Brian Singer, partner at William Blair in Chicago, said the market's gains Thursday were more about a lack of any major negative developments than the appearance of any good ones. Investors aren't necessarily convinced of the economy's health, but they've learned to live with the sicknesses.

"We are looking at a realization that Western civilization is not ending as we know it," Singer said. "Fiscal discussions in the U.S. have settled into an acceptable stalemate. The Italian elections that did not result in a government are on hold. Cyprus hasn't sunk into the Mediterranean."

Thursday also marked the end of the first quarter, since markets are closed for Good Friday. Overall, it's been a strong quarter.

The Dow climbed for the first 10 trading days of March — a record not matched in more than 16 years. In the past 10 days, though, it has wavered under the weight of Cyprus.

The Dow rose 11 percent in the first three months of the year, its best quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2011. Last year, it lost ground in two quarters and was up by smaller amounts — 4 percent and 8 percent — in the other two. On March 5, it beat its own all-time record of 14,164.53, which was also set on Oct. 9, 2007, and has been climbing ever since.

To be sure, the S&P 500's last record was followed by a painful downfall. By March 2009, long after the subprime mortgage market had been revealed as an unsustainable bubble and rumors were buzzing that the government might nationalize U.S. banks, the S&P had cratered from its lofty heights. It fell to its Great Recession low, 676.53, on March 9, 2009 — down 57 percent from its October 2007 pinnacle.

Now, with Thursday's gains, it has more than doubled since reaching that bottom. Including dividends, it is up more than 150 percent.

While the School Committee is charged with hiring a new superintendent, it is the superintendent's job to hire the principals, said Ward 3 School Committee member Howard Moore.

Members of the Northampton School Committee are sworn in in January 2012. Don Treeger  

NORTHAMPTON — The School Committee will be even busier interviewing candidates for administrative positions in the School Department as Northampton High School Principal Nancy Athas has announced her retirement and Leeds Elementary School Principal Joseph Smith says he is leaving his post to seek new challenges.

The committee must already search for a replacement for Robert K. Finn Ryan Road School Principal Margaret Riddle, who previously announced she will retire at the end of the school year and School Superintendent Brian Salzer, who is leaving for a job in Germany after less than two years in Northampton.

Athas, who previously served as the principal at Greenfield High School, has been in Northampton for five years. With her seventh grandchild on the way, Athas said it is “time to move in another direction.”

“I’ve been in education for 37 years,” she said. “It’s been a long haul. The career I picked was the right one for me. I loved what I did.”

Athas hopes to stay involved in education through consulting and volunteering. Her five years at the high school were busy and sometimes trying. Last year the school went through its once-in-a-decade assessment by the New England Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Athas has also had to oversee the departure of teachers as money has become increasingly tight for education.

“When you have a product that’s good, it’s hard to see it shrink and shrink,” she said.

Her last day will be July 26.

Smith, who has been at Leeds since 2010, will beat her out the door by almost a month. He said he decided to step down on June 30 even though the School Department had renewed his contract until 2016.

“I’m looking for a different environment with different challenges,” he said.

As Northampton’s first African-American principal, Smith has overseen a staff and student body that was less diverse than in Amherst, where he taught and served as assistant principal at Crocker Farm Elementary School. Nonetheless, he said he has enjoyed his time at Leeds and worked hard with the teachers and students there.

“I think I’ve led Leeds to a place that will be much easier for my successor to carry on what I’ve started,” he said.

Salzer, 45, is leaving in July to take a post at an international school in Germany. Riddle has been with the Northampton schools since 1978 and has been principal at Ryan Road since 2006. While the School Committee is charged with hiring a new superintendent, it is the superintendent’s job to hire the principals, said Ward 3 School Committee member Howard Moore.

“It seems like quite a large number of spots to fill,” said Moore. “I don’t think there’s any way to say it’s a good thing.”

However, Moore said he supports the decisions to leave by the individuals involved and suggested this will be an opportunity to fill the spots with people who have the skills for those posts.

All the principal positions have been posted, Moore said, and he expects Salzer to begin looking for candidates. The School Committee was scheduled to begin the task of replacing Salzer at its meeting on Thursday.

The Springfield Public Forum and the Western Massachusetts Media Consortium will present the group’s first debate in the 2013 special Senate race tonight from 7-8 p.m.

Republican Senate candidates Michael Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney; Gabriel Gomez, a businessman and former Navy SEAL; and state Rep. Dan Winslow will square off at the CityStage theater in downtown Springfield in a standard-format debate hosted by Jim Madigan, the public affairs director for and host of several programs on the PBS affiliate WGBY-TV.

The Springfield Public Forum and the Western Massachusetts Media Consortium will present the group’s first debate in the 2013 special Senate race tonight from 7-8 p.m.

Mobile readers can click here to view the chat on a mobile device.

Republican hopefuls for the U.S. Senate, from the left, Norfolk state Rep. Daniel Winslow, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, and Cohasset businessman Gabriel Gomez, react as they listen to moderator R.D. Sahl, right, while preparing for a televised debate at the WCVB-TV studios in Needham, Mass., Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Three Republicans and two Democrats are vying for the seat left empty by Secretary of State and former Mass. Sen. John Kerry. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, Pool) The Associated Press  

The road reconstruction projects in Springfield include $2 million designated for improvements near the Quadrangle, and $2.5 million for a Allen Street-Bicentennial Highway improvement project.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 11:56 this morning.

 

SPRINGFIELD — The city has announced that four major road improvement projects are scheduled to begin during the next two weeks, including reconstruction in the Quadrangle museums area in the downtown.

The 2013 road construction season includes a $2 million project to reconstruct Elliot and Edwards streets and a portion of Spring Street from Salem Street to State Street near the Quadrangle, scheduled to begin April 1, officials said. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, helped secure approximately $1.5 million in federal funds for the work, with the balance covered by state funds.

 

Related improvements will include planting of trees, construction of new sidewalks and installation of antique street lights in that area of the Quadrangle-Mattoon Street historic district, according to the project summary. The project is expected to take 12 to 16 months to complete.

In addition, the city will launch a $2.5 million reconstruction project at Allen Street and Bicentennial Highway on April 1. The project includes resurfacing on Allen Street from Bradley Road to Bicentennial Highway, new traffic signals at the Bradley, Talmadge Drive and Bicentennial intersections, and new sidewalks and pedestrian crosswalks, said Allan R. Chwalek, the city’s director of public works.

The project is scheduled for completion by September.

“The projects announced today are the start of a busy 2013 construction season in Springfield,” Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said in a prepared statement. “As we move forward with our rebuilding efforts, projects like these are contributing to the continuing narrative that Springfield is on the mend and on the move.”

In addition, Tiffany Street is scheduled to be milled and paved beginning April 1, officials said. The state-funded project will cost approximately $450,000.

The fourth project, with some work begun last year, involves the intersection of Main Street and Front Street in Indian Orchard, set to resume on April 8. The project will cost approximately $900,000, with a mix of state and federal grant money.

Chwalek said many other road improvement projects are scheduled this year, as the city awaits approximately $3 million in state Chapter 90 funds.

The year "is shaping up to be one of the busiest construction seasons we have had in a long time and that is great,” Chwalek said. “The infrastructure needs it.”

A Ware official confirmed that Prouty had served as a part time officer in town for more than 10 years, but his last day with the town occurred the day of the sexual assault allegation.

The October 2011 snowstorm knocked out much of the power to Western and central Massachusetts. The Associated Press  

WARE – A former part-time Ware policeman has been found not guilty of the sexual assault of an acquaintance outside an emergency shelter during the aftermath of the October 2011 snowstorm.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan charged Kenneth M. Prouty, 53, of West Brookfield, with indecent assault and battery on a person more than 14 years old and assault and battery. A grand jury had indicted him in May.

A Ware official confirmed that Prouty had served as a part-time officer in town for more than 10 years, but his last day with the town occurred the day of the sexual assault allegation.

Prouty is currently a state correctional officer.

He was found not guilty by a Superior Court jury last week.

In a filing with the court, the district attorney said on Oct. 31, 2011, at about 9:30 p.m. Prouty “grabbed the victim and threw her up against his truck" and committed assault and battery.

The Ware public schools campus had been set up as an emergency shelter following the October 2011 storm. The incident was alleged to have occurred in a parking lot on school grounds, according to the DA.

Seven hundred people attended the annual teen parent lobby day.

BOSTON - Jediael Ramirez, a young father from the South End of Springfield, says he is turning his life around with the help of state-funded programs such as monthly cash assistance, food stamps and job training.

Ramirez, 22, is participating in YouthBuild in Springfield, a program sponsored by the YWCA of Western Massachusetts that offers education services and teaches construction skills.

Jediael Ramirez of Springfield with his child, Jaydena, on his shoulders at the Statehouse in Boston. The Republican photo by Dan Ring  

YouthBuild, which received $2 million state grant this fiscal year for programs across the state, is "extremely" positive for his life and is putting him on the right track, he said.

"I would have been on the streets selling drugs, not caring, to be honest," said Ramirez, who said he lives with the mother of his 1-year-old child, Jaydena, and is hopeful of becoming an airplane mechanic.

Ramirez was among about 700 people who was at the Statehouse who attended an annual "teen parent lobby day" to urge legislators to finance services such as school-based health centers, child care, teenage pregnancy prevention and a shelter program for teen mothers with histories of trauma, abuse and neglect.

Also at the Statehouse, the Rev. Morris Stimage-Norwood, pastor at the Greater New Life Christian Center in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield, attended an event held to advocate for funding for grants under the Charles E. Shannon effort to reduce gang violence.

Annielu Arroyo of Springfield with her child, Kaylee, at the Statehouse in Boston. The Republican photo by Dan Ring  

The Christian Center received $37,000 Shannon grant through the city for a "teen opportunity project," which offers a gospel music academy, youth business development and training in construction skills.

At teen lobby day, teen parents attempted to counter the perception that they are hurt by low expectations and stigma.

The event was sponsored by the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy.

Cities in Western Massachusetts traditionally have some of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the state.

Holyoke ranked No. 1, and Springfield No. 4, in the state in teen birth rates in 2009, according to the most recent statistics by the state Department of Public Health.

Annielu Arroyo, 17, of Springfield, who came to the Statehouse with her daughter, Kaylee, 1, also praised YouthBuild. "They should fund more programs like this. They can change lives."

A couple of Springfield mothers, Jazmin Gonzalez, 18, and Gabrielle Gonzalez, 21, who is planning to take an exam to be a police officer, attended along with other young mothers helped by a state-funded program called Healthy Families of Greater Springfield, operated by Square One on Main Street in Springfield.

"I hope they will keep funding teen programs for us," said Jazmin Gonzalez, who is in her senior year at the Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy in Springfield.

Leslie M. Estevez, 20, a single mother who has a 1-year-old child, and Karla M. Luna, 17, who has a 3-month-old child, attended the lobby day along with Elizabeth Dlugosz, program coordinator for Healthy Families of Hampshire County, operated by Community Action of Franklin, Hampshire and North Quabbin Regions.

Estevez, of Northampton, said many teen mothers don't have benefits. She said she is getting a lot of support from Healthy Families. "I love it," she said about being a young mother. "In the beginning, it was rough."

According to information provided by the alliance, many programs to benefit teen parents have faced budget cuts in recent years during an ongoing fiscal problems in state government.

Hans Gieskes, the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, travelled to the Worcester on Wednesday to present Herbert H. Adams, a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, with the military decoration Militaire Willems Orde for Adams' participation in Operation Market Garden on Sept. 17, 1944.

WORCESTER -- Hans Gieskes, the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, traveled to the Worcester Senior Center on Wednesday to present Herbert Adams, 89, a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, with the military decoration Militaire Willems Orde for Adams' participation in Operation Market Garden on Sept. 17, 1944.

The ceremony, which featured remarks by Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and Worcester City Manager Michael O'Brien, was captured by a film crew. According to Gieskes, the ceremony will be part of a program shown on national TV in Holland on Liberation Day, which is celebrated on May 5 to mark the end of the Nazi Germany occupation during World War II.

Adams received the award on Wednesday morning at the Worcester Senior Center because he was left out when the entire 82nd Airborne Division was recognized on Oct. 8, 1945. Tjarco Schuurman, 30, of Hoofddorp, Netherlands, discovered that Adams had been left out. He then sent a letter to Queen Beatrix, the queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Queen forwarded the request the Netherlands Ministry of Defense, which approved the request in November. The Ministry of Defense then sent the orange shoulder cord to Mr. Gieskes at the Netherlands Consulate in Boston to put on Adams' uniform.

“I accept this for all of those who didn’t come back,” said Adams before recognizing the help the Dutch Resistance provided American soldiers and his gratitude to the Dutch people for their generosity. He remembered the people who gave the American soldiers food, even though they were starving themselves and didn't have a resupply coming like the soldiers.

“When you look back, would you give all your food to someone you don’t know?” said Adams.

Adams is known for his giving back in Worcester. City Manager O'Brien told stories about Adams cutting limbs and cleaning up parks in the city and how Adams had been asked to stop by the police because they didn't know he was given permission to do work in the parks by the city manager. For this, O'Brien gave Adams the license plate that was previously on the city manager's car as a present.

At the end of the ceremony, Adams gave out handmade gifts of wood from trees that fell during Dec. 12, 2008, ice storm.

The Worcester Senior Center and Chapter XXII of the Central Massachusetts Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge organized the ceremony.

License Commission Chairman Peter Sygnator said that some statistics from the Police Department from 2011, 2012 and 2013 that will be used in making the decision have been misplaced.

SPRINGFIELD — The License Commission on Thursday voted to continue until April 18 a vote on whether to change the closing hour of city bars to 1 a.m. from the current 2 a.m. closing time.

License Commission Chairman Peter L. Sygnator said that some statistics from the Police Department from 2011, 2012 and 2013 that will be used in making the decision have been misplaced.

The statistics will be requested from the Police Department again, Sygnator said.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has advocated for the earlier closing, saying it will enhance public safety.

Opponents say the earlier closing will cause Springfield clubs to lose business, revenue and jobs.

The commission will hold hearings on the regulations.

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to approve draft regulations for the licensing process for proposed specific casino sites.

Before finalizing the regulations, the commission will take comments and hold a public hearing that has yet to be scheduled.

» Read a summary of the draft regulations in a story posted Monday

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that additional inspection showed the Fung Wah bus service is a public safety hazard.

BOSTON – A discount bus service from New York to Boston has been ordered to cease all operations, about a month after its operating license was revoked by federal regulators.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Thursday that additional inspection showed the Fung Wah bus service is a public safety hazard. The agency said the company failed to repair its vehicles, falsified inspection records and failed to meet drug and alcohol testing requirements.

Fung Wah’s entire fleet was taken off the road in late February after Massachusetts inspectors found various problems, including cracked bus frames. Its operating license was pulled shortly after, when the company allegedly stopped cooperating with federal safety inspectors.

No one answered at New York numbers for Fung Wah and it was not possible to leave a message.

A new trial date has been set for early July after the case was cut short by an evidentiary misstep on Monday - eerily, two years to the day of the crash.

SPRINGFIELD - A lawyer for a defendant accused of killing another man with his truck told a judge on Thursday he will move to dismiss the case after a mistrial in Hampden Superior Court earlier this week.

Daniel Leary 

Daniel Leary, 37, of Southwick, was charged with motor vehicle homicide and driving under the influence after he struck and killed David Laduzenski, 29, on March 25, 2011.

Laduzenski, a West Springfield native living in Somerville, was in town visiting family and friends.

A new trial date has been set for early July after the trial was cut short by an evidentiary misstep on Monday - two years to the day of the crash.

Investigators say Leary's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit when he drove off the road and hit Laduzenski, who was standing in a friend's driveway that night. Leary told police that Laduzenski jumped in front of his truck. His defense lawyer has challenged the legitimacy of the Breathalyzer results.

Laduzenski lingered on life support for two days before he died.

After days of testimony that began March 21, Judge Tina S. Page halted the trial after a snippet of video of police referring to charging Leary with drug possession was mistakenly played for jurors.

Page had barred from evidence any testimony about the drugs. But, a quiet reference to the drug charge by one officer during the booking process was amplified over courtroom speakers. Lawyers from both sides had reviewed the tape before trial and missed the comment, they conceded.

Defense lawyer Aaron W. Wilson moved for a mistrial. The prosecution was nearing the end of its case and Leary was to take the stand in his own defense.

Also on Thursday, Page reduced Leary's bail from $10,000 cash to $5,000. He has been out on bail pending trial, so the reduction represents money back to the defendant.

"We didn't oppose it; he's complied with all his conditions of release up to this point, so we don't anticipate he'll stop showing up to court," Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said after the hearing.

Wilson told Page he will file a motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds.

Scott, who has two sons in the Easthampton school system, won the election on the 1st ballot.

EASTHAMPTON — The School Committee and City Council elected Laura Scott to the School Committee on Wednesday night to fill the seat vacated by Bonnie L. Katusich, who resigned last month.

She was one of four who applied for the position initially. The two boards voted to allow a fifth candidate, Wendy Bloomenthal, who had applied the following day, to be considered.

Scott, a parent, former educator and now Realtor, was elected on the first ballot, said School Committee chairwoman Nancy Sykes. Scott received the required seven votes with 13 voting. The other candidates were Teresa S. Barut, Laurie A. Garcia and Lois B. Levin.

All the candidates presented statements and were asked questions by the 13 city councilors and school committee members involved in the election process.

Sykes said the process went very well. When asked if she thought Scott would be a good addition to the committee, she said “absolutely.” She said she would have said the same had any of the others been elected.

“They were all incredible, they all brought a great deal ... their interest and qualifications, their variety of backgrounds,” Sykes said. She said all the applicants were encouraged to run in the November election when all seats are up for reelection.

Scott, according to her letter of interest, said she has sons in preschool and kindergarten and as a Realtor understands “the importance of the public’s perception of schools to property values and city growth.”

Barut is a math teacher at Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton, Garcia teaches at the Amherst Regional Middle School in Amherst, Levin is a dietitian at Baystate Franklin Medical Center and Bloomenthal had a human service background and now works in a neighboring school district, according to her letter of interest.

The City Charter required the joint meeting to fill the vacancy until the next election.

Scott was sworn in after the election.

The entire Massachusetts congressional delegation – all Democrats – came out in support of universal background checks for gun purchases.

Democratic Senate candidates and U.S. Representatives Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch. The Associated Press/The Republican  

The entire Massachusetts congressional delegation – all Democrats – came out Thursday in support of universal background checks for gun purchases.

“We have now a chance to finally pass commonsense reforms like universal background checks that respect and preserve the Second Amendment but also help keep guns out of the hands of those who cannot have them legally,” said Massachusetts Sen. William “Mo” Cowan.

Democratic President Barack Obama is pushing universal background checks as part of his proposals to curb gun violence – an issue that has taken on increasing urgency in Congress since the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. While background checks are currently required when someone buys a guy in a store, checks are not required for guns purchased at a gun show or in a private transaction.

Obama also pushed for a ban on assault weapons and a ban on high-capacity magazines. But neither of those policies appeared to have enough support to pass through Congress. The universal background check provision is more popular, and is included in a gun control bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

A recent poll by Quinnipiac University found overwhelming support – 92 percent – among Americans for universal background checks. Support for bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was lower, at slightly more than 50 percent.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, center, talks with Sen. William "Mo" Cowan, D-Mass., left, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass. in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 following Cowan's re-enactment swearing-in as Senator by Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) The Associated Press  

Massachusetts’ 11 members of Congress sent out a joint statement Thursday expressing support for universal background checks. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Edward Markey also said they supported an assault weapons ban. “It's time to get these military-style weapons off of our streets and to prevent deadly weapons from falling into the wrong hands," Markey said.

Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said requiring background checks on all gun sales “is just one part of a comprehensive, common sense approach to reducing gun violence.” (Lynch has said previously that he supports reinstating the assault weapons ban.)

The delegation timed their statement to coincide with a “National Day to Demand Action” sponsored by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a coalition of mayors founded by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, of Springfield, said the country needs to find “common sense solutions” to gun violence. “There is no good reason why this issue should polarize America,” Neal said. “And a good place to start is with universal background checks and closing the gun show loopholes.”