A Worcester-area man is facing charges after police say he illegally killed a bear in his backyard.

AUBURN, Mass. (AP) — A Worcester-area man is facing charges after police say he illegally killed a bear in his backyard.

Authorities say they don't buy 76-year-old Richard Ahlstrand's claim he was cornered by the animal Saturday outside his Auburn home. He faces charges including illegally killing an animal and weapon possession.

Ahlstrand tells the Boston Herald he was investigating damage to his bird feeders when a black bear charged him. He says he was carrying a shotgun because it looked like a large animal had disturbed his feeders.

Ahlstrand says he's sorry he killed the bear but he had no choice.

Auburn police Chief Andrew Sluckis says he believes a 50-gallon barrel in the yard was being used as bait, not serving as birdseed storage.

Two people are under arrest after multiple gunshots were fired outside a Worcester YMCA.

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Two people are under arrest after multiple gunshots were fired outside a Worcester YMCA.

No one was hurt but two vehicles had windows shot out at about 2:15 p.m. Sunday.

Police say an off-duty state trooper was walking to the YMCA when he heard a gunshot. The trooper saw a man standing at the top of the steps of the Y with a gun. The man fired three shots before driving away.

The trooper followed the suspect's car until police were able to arrest him and another man. Police also recovered a gun.

Police say 22-year-old Jesus Benitez and 19-year-old Luis Rosario are scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

A church-sponsored group feeding the homeless was at the Y at the time of the shooting, but police did not disclose a motive.

The roadway was closed from approximately 2 to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

EAST LONGMEADOW -- Police closed a section of Hampden Road for approximately 9 hours Sunday while National Grid and Verizon workers dealt with a utility pole that somehow snapped at its base.

Sgt. Patrick Manley said the snapped pole and low-hanging wires were reported at about 2 p.m. near 19 Hampden Road. Police remained on scene until approximately 11 p.m. when the roadway was reopened.

Manley said there was no indication that a vehicle accident caused the pole to break.

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Talks between two influential senators have emerged as the most promising route for a bipartisan breakthrough on expanding federal background checks for gun buyers, a pivotal part of President Barack Obama's plan for combating gun violence.

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Talks between two influential senators have emerged as the most promising route for a bipartisan breakthrough on expanding federal background checks for gun buyers, a pivotal part of President Barack Obama's plan for combating gun violence.

One possibility being discussed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would involve expanding background checks to gun show sales and firearms transactions online, Senate aides said. Sales between close relatives and temporary transfers between hunters may be excluded, but an agreement along those lines could give Obama's guns agenda a significant boost and would be a major expansion of the current system, which covers only sales handled by federally licensed gun dealers.

The agreement remains a work in progress and could change, said Senate aides who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private talks.

But because of their credentials, an accord between the two lawmakers could make it easier for gun control advocates to win crucial support from wavering moderate Democrats and from GOP senators, who have largely opposed much of Obama's push on guns.

Manchin is a moderate and Toomey is a conservative, and both senators have received A ratings from the National Rifle Association, which has opposed the major parts of Obama's plan, including his call for nearly universal background checks.

Senators return Monday from a two-week spring recess, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been hoping to begin debate on Democrats' gun legislation Tuesday. That could be delayed if Manchin and Toomey seem close to an agreement but need more time to complete one.

Obama planned to speak at the University of Hartford in Connecticut on Monday to continue trying to pressure Congress to move ahead on gun control legislation.

Also high on Congress' agenda is immigration, where a decisive moment is approaching.

Bipartisan groups in the House and Senate are expected to present legislation as early as this week aimed at securing the U.S. border, fixing legal immigration and granting legal status to millions who are in the United States without authorization. That will open months of debate on the politically combustible issue, with votes by the Senate Judiciary Committee expected later this month.

The House returns Tuesday and initially plans to consider a bill preventing the National Labor Relations Board from issuing rules until a dispute over administration appointees is resolved.

Lawmakers will also devote time to the 2014 budget that Obama plans to release Wednesday. It calls for new tax increases, which Republicans oppose, and smaller annual increases in Social Security and other government benefit programs, over the objections of many of the president's fellow Democrats.

Advocates' hopes were high for congressional action on gun restrictions following the December massacre of 20 first-graders and six staffers at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

But momentum seems to have dipped in recent weeks and it remains unclear whether the Democratic-run Senate will be able to approve any curbs considered major by gun control groups. An Obama-backed assault weapons ban seems all but dead, and a prohibition against ammunition magazines carrying over 10 rounds, also supported by the president, seems unlikely to survive.

Without support from some Republicans, a significant expansion of background checks won't be possible because there are only 53 Democrats in the Senate plus two Democratic-leaning independents. Conservative GOP senators have promised to use delaying tactics against gun legislation, which would take 60 votes to end.

Federal background checks are currently required only for transactions handled by the roughly 55,000 federally licensed firearms dealers; private sales such as gun-show or online purchases are exempt.

For weeks, Manchin has been part of an effort to craft a background check compromise, along with Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill. Schumer focused his efforts on conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., but those talks sputtered over Schumer's insistence on — and Coburn's opposition to — requiring that records be kept of private gun sales.

"I'm still hopeful that what I call the sweet spot — background checks — can succeed," Schumer said Sunday. "We're working hard there."

Proponents say background checks and records — which are currently retained by gun dealers, not the government — are the best way to ensure that would-be gun buyers' histories are researched. Opponents say the system is a step toward government files on gun owners and say criminals routinely skirt the checks anyway.

Asked about the potential compromise, Manchin spokesman Jonathan Kott said, "My boss continues to talk to all of his colleagues." Toomey spokeswoman E.R. Anderson said she could provide no information.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., urged fellow Republicans to allow debate to go forward without a filibuster, even as he declined to express support for a background check bill.

"The purpose of the United States Senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand," McCain said, appearing alongside Schumer on CBS' "Face the Nation."

With or without an agreement, the Senate gun legislation would toughen federal laws against illegal firearms sales, including against straw purchasers, those who buy firearms for criminals or others barred from owning them. The legislation also would provide $40 million a year, a modest increase from current levels of $30 million, for a federal program that helps schools take safety measures such as reinforcing classroom doors.

In addition, the gun bill contains language by Schumer expanding background checks to cover nearly all gun transactions, with narrow exceptions that include sales involving immediate relatives. Even without a bipartisan deal, Schumer is expected to expand the exemptions to more relatives, people with permits to carry concealed weapons and others, in hopes of winning more support.

This may be the year Congress decides what to do about the millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. And this may be the week when a bipartisan group of senators makes public details of the overhaul plan it has been negotiating for months.

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — This may be the year Congress decides what to do about the millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. And this may be the week when a bipartisan group of senators makes public details of the overhaul plan it has been negotiating for months.

But what will that be? Why now? And who are all these immigrants, once you get past the big round numbers?

A big dose of facts, figures and other information to help understand the current debate over immigration:

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WHY NOW?

Major problems with U.S. immigration have been around for decades.

President George W. Bush tried to change the system and failed. President Barack Obama promised to overhaul it in his first term but never did.

In his second term, he's making immigration a priority, and Republicans also appear ready to deal.

Why the new commitment?

Obama won 71 percent of Hispanic voters in his 2012 re-election campaign, and he owes them. Last year's election also sent a loud message to Republicans that they can't ignore this pivotal voting bloc.

It's been the kind of breathtaking turnaround you rarely see in politics. Plus, there's growing pressure from business leaders, who want to make it easier for the U.S. to attract highly educated immigrants and to legally bring in more lower-skilled workers such as farm laborers.

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WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

Talk about "comprehensive immigration reform" generally centers on four main questions:

—What to do about the 11 million-plus immigrants who live in the U.S. without legal permission.

—How to tighten border security.

—How to keep businesses from employing people who are in the U.S. illegally.

—How to improve the legal immigration system, now so convoluted that the adjective "Byzantine" pops up all too frequently.

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WHAT'S THE GANG OF EIGHT?

A group of four Democrats and four Republicans in the Senate, taking the lead in trying to craft legislation that would address all four questions.

Obama is preparing his own plan as a backup in case congressional talks fail. There's also a bipartisan House group working on draft legislation, but House Republican leaders may leave it to the Senate to make the first move.

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COMING TO AMERICA

A record 40.4 million immigrants live in the U.S., representing 13 percent of the population. More than 18 million are naturalized citizens, 11 million are legal permanent or temporary residents, and more than 11 million are in the country without legal permission, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a private research organization.

Those in the U.S. illegally made up about 3.7 percent of the U.S. population in 2010. While overall immigration has steadily grown, the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally peaked at 12 million in 2007.

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WE'RE NO. 1

The U.S. is the leading destination for immigrants. Russia's second, with 12.3 million, according to Pew.

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WHERE FROM?

Twenty-nine percent of the foreign-born in the U.S., or about 11.7 million people, came from Mexico. About 25 percent came from South and East Asia, 9 percent from the Caribbean, 8 percent from Central America, 7 percent South America, 4 percent the Middle East and the rest from elsewhere.

The figures are more lopsided for immigrants living here illegally: An estimated 58 percent are from Mexico. The next closest figure is 6 percent from El Salvador, says the government.

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WHERE TO?

California has the largest share of the U.S. immigrant population, 27 percent, followed by New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada, Hawaii and Texas, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a private group focused on global immigration issues.

California has the largest share of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, at 25 percent, followed by Texas with 16 percent. Florida and New York each has 6 percent, and Georgia has 5 percent, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

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GETTING IN

Here's one way to think about the ways immigrants arrive in the U.S: Some come in the front door, others the side door and still others the back door, as laid out in a report from the private Population Reference Bureau.

—Arriving through the front door: people legally sponsored by their families or employers. Also refugees and asylum-seekers, and immigrants who win visas in an annual "diversity" lottery.

—Side door: legal temporary arrivals, including those who get visas to visit, work or study. There are dozens of types of nonimmigrant visas, available to people ranging from business visitors to foreign athletes and entertainers. Visitors from dozens of countries don't even need visas.

—Back door: Somewhat more than half of those in the U.S. illegally have come in the back door, evading border controls, Pew estimates. The rest legally entered, but didn't leave when they were supposed to or otherwise violated terms of their visas.

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HOW DO WE KNOW?

It's widely accepted that there are more than 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

But how do we know that?

Those who are living here without permission typically aren't eager to volunteer that information. Number-crunchers dig into census data and other government surveys, make some educated assumptions, adjust for people who may be left out, mix in population information from Mexico and tend to arrive at similar figures.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates there were 11.5 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally in January 2011. Pew puts the number at 11.1 million as of March 2011.

Demographers use what's called the "residual" method to get their tally. They take estimates of the legal foreign-born population and subtract that number from the total foreign-born population. The remainder represents those who are living in the country without legal permission.

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IS IT A CRIME?

Simply being in the United States in violation of immigration laws isn't, by itself, a crime; it's a civil violation.

Entering the country without permission is a misdemeanor criminal offense. Re-entering the country without authorization after being formally removed can be felony.

Pew estimates that a little less than half of immigrants who lack legal permission to live in the U.S. didn't enter the country illegally. They overstayed their visas, worked without authorization, dropped out of school or otherwise violated the conditions of their visas.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME?

There are varying and strong opinions about how best to refer to the 11 million-plus people who are in the U.S. without legal permission.

Illegal immigrants?

Undocumented workers?

Unauthorized population?

Illegal aliens?

The last has generally fallen out of favor. Some immigrant advocates are pressing a "Drop the I-Word" campaign, arguing that it is dehumanizing to refer to people as "illegal."

"Undocumented worker" often isn't accurate because many aren't workers, and some have documents from other countries. Homeland Security reports refer to "unauthorized immigrants," but the agency also reports statistics on "aliens apprehended."

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DEFINITIONS, PLEASE:

—Legal permanent residents (LPRs): people who have permission to live in the U.S. permanently but aren't citizens. They're also known as "green card" holders. Most of them can apply for citizenship within five years of getting green cards. In 2011, 1.06 million people got the cards.

—Refugees and asylees: people who come to the U.S. to avoid persecution in their home countries. What's the difference between the two terms? Refugees are people who apply for protective status before they get to the U.S. Asylees are people who apply upon arrival in the U.S. or later.

—Naturalization: The process by which immigrants become U.S. citizens.

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GOING GREEN

Is there an actual green card? Indeed there is.

It's the Permanent Resident Card issued to people who are authorized to live and work in the U.S. on a permanent basis. In 2010, the government redesigned them to add new security features — and make them green again.

The cards had been a variety of colors over the years. New green cards are good for 10 years for lawful permanent residents and two years for conditional residents.

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PATH TO CITIZENSHIP

There's a lot of talk about creating a "path to citizenship" for immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal status. But there's no consensus on what the route should be, and some conservatives reject the idea outright, seeing it as tantamount to amnesty.

There is a vigorous debate over what conditions immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally should have to satisfy to get citizenship — paying taxes or fees, passing background checks, etc.

Some Republicans want to first see improvements in border security and in tracking whether legal immigrants leave the country when required. Obama doesn't support linking the path to citizenship with border security.

Some conservatives want to grant immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally some sort of legal status that stops short of citizenship. Some 43 percent of Americans think those who are here illegally should be eligible for citizenship, one-quarter think they should only be allowed to apply for legal residency, and about the same share think they should not be allowed to stay legally at all, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in March.

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A NEW ACRONYM

Move over LPRs; make way for LPIs.

The president's draft immigration proposal would create a "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" visa. It would allow those who are here illegally to become legal permanent residents within eight years if they met certain requirements such as a criminal background check. They could later be eligible to become U.S. citizens.

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THE A-WORD

Nothing stirs up a hornet's nest like talk of amnesty for immigrants who are in the country illegally, although there's a lot of disagreement over how to define the term.

A 2007 effort to overhaul the immigration system, led by Bush, failed in part because Republicans were dismayed that it included a process to give otherwise law-abiding immigrants who were in the country illegally a chance to become citizens. Critics complained that would be offering amnesty.

All sides know it's not practical to talk about sending 11 million-plus people back to their countries of origin. So one big challenge this time is finding an acceptable way to resolve the status of those who are in the country illegally.

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GETTING A REPRIEVE

While the larger immigration debate goes on, the government already is offering as many as 1.76 million immigrants who are in the country illegally a way to avoid deportation, at least for now.

Obama announced a program in June that puts off deportation for many people brought here as children. Applicants for the reprieve must have arrived before they turned 16, be younger than 31 now, be high school graduates or in school, or have served in the military. They can't have a serious criminal record or pose a threat to public safety or national security.

Applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are averaging 3,300 a day. By mid-March, nearly 454,000 people had applied and more than 245,000 had been approved, with most of the rest still under consideration.

In some ways, the program closely tracks the failed DREAM Act, which would have given many young illegal immigrants a path to legal status. Obama's program doesn't give them legal status but it at least protects them from deportation for two years.

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HISTORY: DOING THE WAVE

The U.S. is in its fourth and largest immigration wave.

First came the Colonial era, then an 1820-1870 influx of newcomers mostly from Northern and Western Europe. Most were Germans and Irish, but the gold rush and jobs on the transcontinental railroad also attracted Chinese immigrants.

In the 1870s, immigration declined due to economic problems and restrictive legislation.

The third wave, between 1881 and 1920, brought more than 23 million people to the U.S., mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe, aided by cheaper trans-Atlantic travel and lured by employers seeking workers.

Then came the Great Depression and more restrictive immigration laws, and immigration went into decline for decades.

The fourth wave, still underway, began in 1965 with the end of immigration limits based on nationality. Foreign-born people made up 1 in 20 residents of the U.S. in 1960; today, the figure is about 1 in 8.

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HISTORY: HERE A LAW, THERE A LAW

Until the late 1800s, immigration was largely a free for all. Then came country-by-country limits. Since then, big changes in U.S. immigration law have helped produce big shifts in migration patterns.

Among the more notable laws:

—1965 Immigration and Nationality Act: Abolished country-by-country limits, established a new system that determined immigration preference based on family relationships and needed skills, and expanded the categories of family members who could enter without numerical limits.

—1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act: Legalized about 2.7 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, 84 percent of them from Mexico and Central America.

—1990 Immigration Act: Increased worldwide immigration limit to a "flexible cap" of 675,000 a year. The number can go higher in some years if there are unused visas available from the previous year.

—1996 Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Expanded possible reasons for deporting people or ruling them ineligible to enter the U.S., expedited removal procedures, gave state and local police power to enforce immigration laws.

—Post-2001: In 2001, talk percolated about a new immigration plan to deal with unauthorized immigrants, guest workers and violence along the Mexican border. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of 2001 put an end to that, amid growing unease over illegal immigration.

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ABOUT LAST TIME. ...

The last big immigration legalization plan, in 1986, took six years to get done.

The law, signed by President Ronald Reagan, had three main components: making it illegal to hire unauthorized workers, improving border enforcement and providing for the legalization of a big chunk of the estimated 3 million to 5 million immigrants then in the country illegally.

The results were disappointing on two central fronts: The hiring crackdown largely failed because there was no good way to verify eligibility to work, and it took a decade to improve border security. As a result, illegal immigration continued to grow, fueled by the strong U.S. economy.

What did work as intended: Close to 3 million immigrants living in the U.S. without permission received legal status. By 2009, about 40 percent of them had been naturalized, according to Homeland Security.

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LATINOS RISING

Census figures show that between 1960 and 2010, immigration from Europe declined while the numbers coming from Latin America and Asia took off. As the immigrants' points of origin changed, so did their destinations. Concentrations shifted from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West.

A few Census Bureau snapshots:

—In 1960, there were fewer than 1 million people in the U.S. who were born in Latin America. By 2010, there were 21.2 million.

—In 1960, 75 percent of foreigners in the U.S. came from Europe. By 2010, 80 percent came from Latin America and Asia.

—In 1960: 47 percent of the foreign-born lived in the Northeast and 10 percent in the South. By 2010, 22 percent lived in the Northeast and 32 percent in the South.

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THE FENCE

The fence between the U.S. and Mexico runs off and on for 651 miles along the 1,954-mile border. Most of it has been built since 2005. At some points, it's an 18-foot-high steel mesh structure topped with razor wire. At others, it's a rusting, 8-foot-high thing, made of Army surplus landing mats from the Vietnam War.

The fencing is one of the more visible manifestations of a massive effort over the past two decades to improve border security. The results of that effort are dramatic. Those images of crowds of immigrants sprinting across the border illegally while agents scramble to nab a few are largely a thing of the past.

Two decades ago, fewer than 4,000 Border Patrol agents worked along the Southwest border. Today there are 18,500.

Plummeting apprehension statistics are one measure of change: 357,000 last year, compared with 1.6 million in 2000. The numbers are down in part because fewer are trying to make it across.

The border isn't sealed but it is certainly more secure.

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WHO'S HANGING AROUND

With tighter border security and years of economic difficulty in the U.S., it turns out that most of the immigrants who are in the U.S. without permission have been there for a while. Just 14 percent have arrived since the start of 2005, according to Homeland Security estimates. In contrast, 29 percent came during the previous five years.

At the peak in 2000, about 770,000 immigrants arrived annually from Mexico, most of them entering the country illegally. By 2010, the pace had dropped to about 140,000, most of them arriving as legal immigrants, according to Pew.

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WHO'S LEAVING?

Mexicans, mostly. Since 1986, more than 4 million noncitizens have been deported. Deportations have expanded in the Obama administration, reaching 410,000 in 2012 from 30,000 in 1990. Most of those deported — 75 percent — are sent back to Mexico. Nearly half of those removed had prior criminal convictions. So far, the Obama administration has deported more than 1.6 million people.

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TO NATURALIZE OR NOT

Lots of U.S. immigrants who are eligible to become naturalized citizens don't bother. As of 2010, about two-thirds of eligible immigrants had applied for citizenship, according to the Migration Policy Institute. That lags behind the rate in other English-speaking countries such as Australia and Canada, which do more to promote naturalization.

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WHY BOTHER?

What's so great about citizenship?

Naturalization offers all sorts of rights and benefits, including the right to vote and run for office. Naturalized citizens are protected from losing their residency rights and being deported if they get in legal trouble. They can bring family members into the U.S. more quickly.

Certain government jobs and licensed professions require citizenship. Citizenship also symbolizes full membership in U.S. society.

In 2010, there was a 67 percent earnings gap between naturalized citizens and noncitizen immigrants, according to a report from the Migration Policy Institute. Even after stripping out differences in education, language skills and work experience, naturalized citizens earned at least 5 percent more.

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SKIPPING IT

Nearly two-thirds of the 5.4 million legal immigrants from Mexico who are eligible to become U.S. citizens haven't done so, according to a Pew study released in February. Their rate of naturalization is half that of legal immigrants from all other countries combined. The barriers to naturalization cited by Mexican nonapplicants include the need to learn English, the difficulty of the citizenship exam and the $680 application fee.

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WORKERS

How do immigrants who are in the U.S. without permission fit into the nation's jobs picture?

In 2010, about 8 million were working in the U.S. or trying to get work. They made up about 5 percent of the labor force, according to Pew. Among U.S. farm workers, about half are believed to be in the country illegally, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Business groups want a system to legally bring in both more highly skilled workers and more lower-skilled workers such as agricultural laborers. The idea is to hire more when Americans aren't available to fill jobs. This has been a sticking point in past attempts at immigration overhaul. Labor groups want any such revamped system to provide worker protections and guard against displacing American workers. Current temporary worker programs are cumbersome and outdated.

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EMPLOYERS

Current law requires employers to have their workers fill out a form that declares them authorized to work in the U.S. Then the employer needs to verify that the worker's identifying documents look real. But the law allows lots of different documents, and many of them are easy to counterfeit.

The government has developed a mostly voluntary employment verification system called E-Verify, which has gradually gotten better. But so far just 10 percent of employers are using it, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The system is now required in varying degrees by 19 states.

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FAMILIES VS. JOBS

A big question in the immigration debate centers on how much priority to give to the family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Under current law, the U.S. awards a much larger proportion of green cards to family members than to foreigners with job prospects here. About two-thirds of permanent legal immigration to the U.S. is family-based, compared with about 15 percent that is employment-based, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The rest is largely humanitarian.

Some policymakers think employment-based immigration should be boosted to help the economy. Advocates for families want to make sure any such action doesn't come at the expense of people seeking to join relatives in the U.S.

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WHO CARES?

For all the attention being devoted to immigration right now, it's not the top priority for most people, even for most Hispanics. It ranked 17th on a list of policy priorities in a recent Pew Research Center poll. Among Hispanics, one-third said immigration was an extremely important issue to them, behind such issues as the economy and jobs, education and health care.

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WHAT TO DO?

The public is divided on what should be done to fix immigration problems. In a recent Pew survey, 28 percent said the priority should be tighter restrictions on immigration, 27 percent said creating a path to citizenship, and 42 percent thought both approaches should get equal priority.

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A VIEW FROM THE SOUTH

Is life actually better in the U.S.? A little more than half of Mexican adults think so, according to a 2012 Pew Global Attitudes poll. Thirty-eight percent said they'd move to the U.S. if they had the chance. Nineteen percent said they'd come even without authorization.

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Sources: Pew Hispanic Center, Migration Policy Institute, Department of Homeland Security, Census Bureau, Government Accountability Office, Population Reference Bureau, Encyclopedia of Immigration.

Associated Press writers Alicia Caldwell and Erica Werner contributed to this report.

Thatcher’s former spokesman, Tim Bell, said that the former prime minister had died Monday morning of a stroke. She was 87.

GREGORY KATZ AND ROBERT BARR
Associated Press

LONDON - Love her or loathe her, one thing's beyond dispute: Margaret Thatcher transformed Britain.

The Iron Lady who ruled for 11 remarkable years imposed her will on a fractious, rundown nation- breaking the unions, triumphing in a far-off war, and selling off state industries at a record pace. She left behind a leaner government and more prosperous nation by the time a mutiny ousted her from No. 10 Downing Street.

Thatcher’s former spokesman, Tim Bell, said that the former prime minister had died Monday morning of a stroke. She was 87.

For admirers, Thatcher was a savior who rescued Britain from ruin and laid the groundwork for an extraordinary economic renaissance. For critics, she was a heartless tyrant who ushered in an era of greed that kicked the weak out onto the streets and let the rich become filthy rich.

"Let us not kid ourselves, she was a very divisive figure," said Bernard Ingham, Thatcher's press secretary for her entire term. "She was a real toughie. She was a patriot with a great love for this country, and she raised the standing of Britain abroad."

Thatcher was the first - and still only - female prime minister in Britain's history. But she often found feminists tiresome and was not above using her handbag as a prop to underline her swagger and power. A grocer's daughter, she rose to the top of Britain's snobbish hierarchy the hard way, and envisioned a classless society that rewarded hard work and determination.

She was a trailblazer who at first believed trailblazing impossible: Thatcher told the Liverpool Daily Post in 1974 that she did not think a woman would serve as party leader or prime minister during her lifetime.

But once in power, she never showed an ounce of doubt.

Thatcher could be intimidating to those working for her:

British diplomats sighed with relief on her first official visit to Washington D.C. as prime minister to find that she was relaxed enough to enjoy a glass of whiskey and a half-glass of wine during an embassy lunch, according to official documents.

Like her close friend and political ally Ronald Reagan, Thatcher seemed motivated by an unshakable belief that free markets would build a better country than reliance on a strong, central government. Another thing she shared with the American president: a tendency to reduce problems to their basics, choose a path, and follow it to the end, no matter what the opposition.

She formed a deep attachment to the man she called "Ronnie" - some spoke of it as a schoolgirl crush. Still, she would not back down when she disagreed with him on important matters, even though the United States was the richer and vastly stronger partner in the so-called "special relationship."

Thatcher was at her brashest when Britain was challenged. When Argentina's military junta seized the remote Falklands Islands from Britain in 1982, she did not hesitate even though her senior military advisers said it might not be feasible to reclaim the islands.

She simply would not allow Britain to be pushed around, particularly by military dictators, said Ingham, who recalls the Falklands War as the tensest period of Thatcher's three terms in power. When diplomacy failed, she dispatched a military task force that accomplished her goal, despite the naysayers.

"That required enormous leadership," Ingham said. "This was a formidable undertaking, this was a risk with a capital R-I-S-K, and she demonstrated her leadership by saying she would give the military their marching orders and let them get on with it."

In deciding on war, Thatcher overruled Foreign Office specialists who warned her about the dangers of striking back. She was infuriated by warnings about the dangers to British citizens in Argentina and the difficulty of getting support from the U.N. Security Council.

"When you are at war you cannot allow the difficulties to dominate your thinking: you have to set out with an iron will to overcome them," she said in her memoir, "Downing Street Years." "And anyway what was the alternative? That a common or garden dictator should rule over the queen's subjects and prevail by fraud and violence? Not while I was prime minister."

Thatcher's determination to reclaim the islands brought her into conflict with Reagan, who dispatched Secretary of State Alexander Haig on a shuttle mission to London and Buenos Aires to seek a peaceful solution even as British warships approached the Falklands.
A private diary kept by U.S. diplomat Jim Rentschler captures Thatcher at this crisis point.
"And here's Maggie, appearing in a flower-decorated salon adjoining the small dining room (...) sipping orange juice and sherry," Rentschler wrote. "La Thatcher is really quite fetching in a dark velvet two-piece ensemble with grosgrain piping and a soft hairdo that heightens her blond English coloring."

But the niceties faded over the dinner table.

"High color is in her cheeks, a note of rising indignation in her voice, she leans across the polished table and flatly rejects what she calls the 'woolliness' of our secondstage formulation," Rentschler writes.

Needless to say, Haig's peace mission soon collapsed.

The relatively quick triumph of British forces revived Thatcher's political fortunes, which had been faltering along with the British economy. She won an overwhelming victory in 1983, tripling her majority in the House of Commons.

She trusted her gut instinct, famously concluding early on that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev represented a clear break in the Soviet tradition of autocratic rulers. She pronounced that the West could "do business" with him, a position that influenced Reagan's vital dealings with Gorbachev in the twilight of the Soviet era.

It was heady stuff for a woman who had little training in foreign affairs when she triumphed over a weak field of indecisive Conservative Party candidates to take over the party leadership in 1975 and, ultimately run as the party's candidate for prime minister.

She profited from the enormous crisis facing the Labour Party government led by Harold Wilson and later James Callaghan. Britain was near economic collapse, its currency propped up by the International Monetary Fund, and its once defiant spirit seemingly broken.

The sagging Labour government had no Parliamentary majority after 1977, and the next year it suffered through a "winter of discontent" with widespread strikes disrupting vital public services, including hospital care and even gravedigging. The government's effort to hold the line on inflation led to chaos in the streets.

Britain seemed adrift, no longer a credible world power, falling from second to third tier status.

It was then, Thatcher wrote in her memoirs, that she came to the unshakable, almost mystical belief that only she could save Britain. She cited a deep "inner conviction" that this would be her role.

Events seemed to be moving her way when she led the Conservative Party to victory in 1979 with a commitment to reduce the state's role and champion private enterprise.

She was underestimated at first - by her own party, by the media, later by foreign adversaries. But they all soon learned to respect her. Thatcher's "Iron Lady" nickname was coined by Soviet journalists, a grudging testament to her ferocious will and determination.

Thatcher set about upending decades of liberal doctrine, successfully challenging Britain's welfare state and socialist traditions, in the process becoming the reviled bete noire of the country's leftwing intelligentsia.

She is perhaps best remembered for her hardline position during the pivotal strike in 1984 and 1985 when she faced down coal miners in an ultimately successful bid to break the power of Britain's unions. It was a reshaping of British economic and political landscape that endures to this day.

It is for this that she is revered by free-market conservatives, who say the restructuring of the economy led to a boom in that made London the rival of New York as a global financial center. The left demonized her as an implacably hostile union buster, with stone-cold indifference to the poor. But her economic philosophy eventually crossed party lines: Tony Blair led a revamped Labour Party to victory by adopting some of her ideas.

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on Oct. 13, 1925. She learned the values of thrift, discipline and industry as the dutiful daughter of Alfred Roberts, a grocer and Methodist lay preacher who eventually became the mayor of Grantham, a modest-sized town in Lincolnshire 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London.

Thatcher's personality, like that of so many of her contemporaries, was shaped in part by the traumatic events during her childhood. When World War II broke out, her hometown was one of the early targets for Luftwaffe bombs. Her belief in the need to stand up to aggressors was rooted in the failure of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's attempt to appease Adolf Hitler rather than confront him.

Thatcher said she learned much about the world simply by studying her father's business. She grew up in the family's apartment just above the shop.

"Before I read a line from the great liberal economists, I knew from my father's accounts that the free market was like a vast sensitive nervous system, responding to events and signals all over the world to meet the ever-changing needs of peoples in different countries, from different classes, of different religions, with a kind of benign indifference to their status," she wrote in her memoirs.

"The economic history of Britain for the next 40 years confirmed and amplified almost every item of my father's practical economics. In effect, I had been equipped at an early age with the ideal mental outlook and tools of analysis for reconstructing an economy ravaged by state socialism."

Educated at Oxford, Thatcher began her political career in her mid-20s with an unsuccessful 1950 campaign for a parliamentary seat in the Labour Party stronghold of Dartford. She earned nationwide publicity as the youngest female candidate in the country despite her loss at the polls.

She was defeated again the next year, but on the campaign trail she met Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman whom she married in 1951. Their twins Mark and Carol were born two years later.

"She was beautiful, gay, very kind and thoughtful," Denis Thatcher said in an interview 25 years later.

"Who could meet Margaret without being completely slain by her personality and intellectual brilliance?"

As the first male Downing Street spouse, Denis Thatcher stayed out of the limelight to a large degree while supporting his wife on her many travels and public engagements. He was said to give her important behind-the-scenes advice on Cabinet choices and other personnel matters, but this role was not publicly discussed.

Margaret Thatcher first won election to Parliament in 1959, representing Finchley in north London. She climbed the Conservative Party ladder quickly, joining the Cabinet as education secretary in 1970.

In that post, she earned the unwanted nickname "Thatcher the milk snatcher" because of her reduction of school milk programs. It was a taste of battles to come.

As prime minister, she sold off one state industry after another: British Telecom, British Gas, Rolls-Royce, British Airways, British Coal, British Steel, the water companies and the electricity distribution system among them. She was proud of her government's role in privatizing some public housing, turning tenants into homeowners.

She ruffled feathers simply by being herself. She had faith - sometimes blind faith - in the clarity of her vision and little use for those of a more cautious mien.

Success in the Falklands War set the stage for a pivotal fight with the National Union of Miners, which began a 51-week strike in March, 1984 to oppose the government's plans to close a number of mines.

The miners battled police on picket lines but couldn't beat Thatcher, and returned to work without gaining any concessions.

She survived an audacious 1984 assassination attempt by the Irish Republican Army that nearly succeeded. The IRA detonated a bomb in her hotel in Brighton during a party conference, killing and injuring senior government figures, but leaving the prime minister and her husband unharmed.

Thatcher won a third term in another landslide in 1987, but may have become overconfident.

She trampled over cautionary advice from her own ministers in 1989 and 1990 by imposing a hugely controversial "community charge" tax that was quickly dubbed a "poll tax" by opponents. It was designed to move Britain away from a property tax and instead imposed a flat rate tax on every adult except for retirees and people who were registered unemployed.

That decision may have been a sign that hubris was undermining Thatcher's political acumen. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in London and other cities, leading to some of the worst riots in the British capital for more than a century.

The shocking sight of Trafalgar Square turned into a smoldering battleground on March 31, 1990 helped convince many Conservative figures that Thatcher had stayed too long.

"How could a leader who was wise make 13 million people pay a tax they had never paid before? It just showed that she was no longer thinking in a rational way," one of her junior ministers, David Mellor, said in a BBC documentary.

For Conservatives in Parliament, it was a question of survival. They feared vengeful voters would turn them out of office at the next election, and for many that fear trumped any gratitude they might have felt for their longtime leader.

Eight months after the riots, Thatcher was gone, struggling to hold back tears as she left Downing Street after being ousted by her own party.

It was a bitter end for Thatcher's active political career - her family said she felt a keen sense of betrayal even years later.

Thatcher wrote several best-selling memoirs after leaving office and was a frequent speaker on the international circuit before she suffered several small strokes that in 2002 led her to curtail her lucrative public speaking career.

Denis Thatcher died the following year; they had been married more than a half century.
Thatcher's later years were marred by her son Mark Thatcher's murky involvement in bankrolling a 2004 coup in Equatorial Guinea. He was fined and received a suspended sentence for his role in the tawdry affair.

She suffered from dementia in her final years, and her public appearances became increasingly rare.

She is survived by her two children, Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher, and her grandchildren.

A Foxborough High School class ring lost 40 years ago is back on the finger of its rightful owner.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — A Foxborough High School class ring lost 40 years ago is back on the finger of its rightful owner.

The ring was found in the town library three years ago and has sat in the lost and found box at the circulation desk since.

Town resident Bill Milhomme was given the task recently of finding the owner after talking with a librarian about how class rings have changed. His only clue was the initials KJB on the ring.

Using the Internet, he managed to find 57-year-old Kristopher John Brooks, Class of 1973, a musician and teacher who currently lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Brooks tells The Sun Chronicle (http://bit.ly/YGctcQ ) he lost the ring during gym class and is happy to have it back. How it ended up in the library is unclear.

___

Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, http://www.thesunchronicle.com

A proposed bill to give immigrants living in the country illegally driver's licenses has received mixed opinions.

SPRINGFIELD — With the exception of 16-year-olds obsessing about their driver’s tests, most people don’t think much about the benefits of driving and having a license.

State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and state Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen, D-Somerville, are working with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition for passage of legislation that would provide access to driver’s licenses for immigrants who cannot obtain Social Security documentation.

“There are many different opinions about immigration, but I think we have found a very small issue where we have some common ground. Everyone wants the roads to be safer,” said Farley- Bouvier.

The bill titled An Act relative to safe driving stipulates that in order for a person to receive one of these licenses they must pass a driver’s exam. They must also purchase liability insurance for their motor vehicles.

“The card will not be valid if the person does not purchase the insurance,” Farley-Bouvier said.

The bill also calls for the issuance of an ID card with a distinctive design that would set it apart from a regular driver’s license.

“They would not be able to use the card for any other benefits. It would just allow them to drive safely on the roads and take a test that would teach them about our traffic laws,” said Vern MacArthur, a spokesman for the Pioneer Valley Project, which recently held a meeting in Springfield where more than 700 people gathered to discuss the bill.

Currently, Illinois and New Mexico have similar bills in place, while other states, including Connecticut, are considering it.

Ecuadorian immigrant Belgica Cordero believes it is a matter of urgency for immigrants who need to drive for work and get their children to school.

“Many are afraid to bring their children to the hospital or to school because they can’t drive. It also makes it so much more difficult to go to work,” she said.

Although Cordero has her Social Security number and is in the process of earning her citizenship, she said she sympathizes with the many immigrant families who live in constant fear of deportation.

Holyoke City Councilor Aaron Vega File  

“Immigrants come here to work. They come to fulfill the American dream and provide a better life for their families,” she said. “The American people are a very generous and giving people, and we ask that the residents look at this issue and give their support.”

State Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke says he is open to looking at both sides of this issue.

“I think the benefit here is public safety,” Vega said. “The truth is you have people driving who are not familiar with our traffic laws and do not have insurance if they get into an accident.”

He said it’s also important to note that the identification will not give immigrants who are in this country without documentation access to any other benefits. “This is not a shortcut to obtain services; it’s not a free ticket,” he said.

State Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield, said while the issue of undocumented drivers on the road is very real, this particular bill is a piecemeal effort at solving a much larger problem.

“I think the federal government needs to do something about immigration and the status of the many undocumented immigrants living in the state and the country,” she said. “People come here, they work hard, they pay taxes, they care about their community and they fight for our country, but they can’t go out and get a license to drive to work. That’s a problem.”

However, Coakley-Rivera believes the proposed legislation is too vague and does not address many problems that could arise if it is passed.

“What about the issue of identification fraud,” she said. “You can get legal citizens who are wanted for a crime or have lost their license due to (a driving under the influence of alcohol charge) who come here and pretend they are from some other country, present minimal documentation and get a license,” she said.

Coakley-Rivera said the bill also leaves too much authority to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

“Who will determine what identification is necessary for a person to apply for the license? And, what language will the person be taking the test in? The registry does not have the ability to deal with immigrants speaking a variety of different languages,” she said.

State Rep. Matthew Beaton , R-Shrewsbury, also believes the proposed bill has flaws.

“While I agree with the intentions of the bill and the downstream affect of getting uninsured drivers off the street I think this is a Band-Aid to a much bigger problem,” he said.

Beaton said he believes the state should worry about enforcing the current laws instead of creating new laws to serve the needs of immigrants.

“I don’t think states should have to come up with the solution, this is a federal problem which absolutely needs to be addressed,” he said. “I think by passing bills like this one we are encouraging illegal immigrants to come to Massachusetts. We will give you a license, an EBT card, anything you want on the tax payer dollars.”

Farley-Bouvier said the bill is still in the early stages, and it could be a year before it goes before the full Legislature for a vote.

A North Carolina man tearfully begged authorities to hurry to his house to rescue his daughter and her cousin, who were buried when the walls of a 24-foot deep pit he dug on his property collapsed.

In this image made from video and provided by WSOC-TV Charlotte, authorities work to rescue two children at a construction site, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in Stanley, N.C.  

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MITCH WEISS

STANLEY, N.C. — A North Carolina man tearfully begged authorities to hurry to his house to rescue his daughter and her cousin, who were buried when the walls of a 24-foot deep pit he dug on his property collapsed.

Jordan Arwood, 31, was operating a backhoe Sunday night in the pit when the walls collapsed and he called 911.

Arwood's desperate voice is heard on a recording released by the Lincoln County communications center on Monday, when the children's bodies were recovered.

"Please hurry ... My children are buried under tons of dirt ... They're buried under tons of clay ... It fell on top of them," he said sobbing.

When the dispatcher asked him if he could see the children, Arwood said he couldn't.

"The entire wall collapsed on them. Get a crane. Get a bulldozer. Get anything you can, please," he said. "There's no way they can breathe."

As the dispatcher began encouraging him — and with people wailing in the background — Arwood began praying.

"Lord lift this dirt up off these children ... so the children will be alive and well ... I have to get my kids. Lord, please," he said.

The bodies of the two young cousins, 6-year-old Chloe Jade Arwood and 7-year-old James Levi Caldwell, were dug out Monday.

Later on Monday, sheriff's deputies removed firearms and a marijuana plant from Arwood's mobile home. Arwood is a felon who is not allowed to have guns. He was convicted in 2003 for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.

The father had been digging with a backhoe on the site Sunday, Sheriff David Carpenter said. Investigators described the pit as 20 feet by 20 feet with a sloped entrance leading down to the 24-foot bottom. The children were at the bottom of the pit retrieving a child-sized pickaxe when the walls fell in on them, Carpenter said.

The sheriff would not say what Arwood was building or whether he had any professional help. He did say that investigators would be looking into reports from neighbors that Arwood had been building some sort of protective bunker.

"It's a very large hole. It would look to be something like that, but I don't know. ... We're going to find out exactly what his intentions were," Carpenter said.

He said deputies would be speaking with county planning and zoning officials about any potential building code violations at the site.

Andrew Bryant, a planner with the Lincoln County Planning & Inspections Department, said no permits had been issued.

On the tape, Arwood said he didn't know what happened.

"They were inside the hole helping to get something and the wall collapsed," he said.

At one point, the dispatcher warned him not to put pressure on the dirt. But Arwood said he had to reach the children.

"If this was you and your children in the dirt, you'd be moving the dirt, too," he said.

Arwood's house was at the end of a gravel-covered road dotted with modular and mobile homes. It's a tight-knit rural community where neighbors sit outside on front porches and look out for each other.

When word spread about the disaster, they ran to Arwood's house and began helping. On Monday, they were somber, saying they were heartbroken for the family. They said Arwood told them it happened without warning and that he tried to grab the children, but they were just beyond his reach.

It was no secret that Arwood was digging a two-story deep hole. Neighbors said it wasn't unusual to see children in the pit when the girl's father was working there.

Neighbor Bradley Jones, who works in construction, said there was no structure to support the pit's tall dirt walls and that there was some concrete on a ledge on top of the hole.

In recent days, the hole was muddy from the rain. He said he warned his daughter, Chelsea, who babysits for the children, not to go in.

"It was dangerous. There was nothing to reinforce those walls," he said.

Chelsea said Arwood told her that he was building the structure to "protect his family" - it was going to be a bunker.

"It's so sad," she said.

Biesecker reported from Raleigh. Associated Press news researcher Monika Mathur in Washington contributed to this report.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 said its reason for endorsing the Penn National casino project included its goal of hiring 90 percent of its workers from Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1459, representing more than 5,000 employees in the region, has announced its endorsement of Penn National Gaming’s proposed $807 million casino project in the North End of the downtown district.

The union gave its exclusive endorsement to the Penn National project, praising the company’s goal of hiring 90 percent of its casino workforce from Springfield, and the company’s cooperative spirit and commitment to economic development.

“Penn National has an established record of delivering on their commitments, and to working closely with local organized labor in projects across the country,” said Richard M. Brown, secretary-treasurer of UFCW Local 1459. “We are excited to be partnering with Penn, and believe that their project in the north end is by far the best one for the working families of Springfield and Western Massachusetts.”

Penn National is one of four companies competing for a single casino license in Western Massachusetts. Three other companies have submitted casino plans: MGM Resorts International, proposing a project in the South End of Springfield; Mohegan Sun, proposing a casino in Palmer off the Massachusetts Turnpike; and Hard Rock International, planning a project on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield.

Local 1459 represents private and public employees in areas that include: food service; health care; public works; parks and recreation; nursing; bus driving; and administration.

Brown said he has spoken with officials of both Penn National and MGM, with just Penn asking for the union’s endorsement. Penn was deemed the best “fit,” given factors including its local hiring goals and its tie-in to Union Station, he said.

Eric Schippers, senior-vice president of public affairs at Penn National, said the company is extremely proud to have the union’s endorsement and to be partnering with it on economic development.

Under the signed agreement, UFCW will support and help promote the Penn National project.

“Ultimately, we anticipate our agreement will lead to a partnership on the operating side of our casino as well, meaning our employees will be given an opportunity to join the UFCW,“ Schippers said.

Regarding construction and development, Penn has signed memorandum of understandings with the Pioneer Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, Carpenters Local 108, and the Community Works Building Trades Pre-Apprenticeship Program.

MGM previously announced that it has received the endorsements of both the Springfield International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 364, and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 648, representing Springfield police and firefighters.

HARTFORD, CONN. - Leading up to, and following President Obama's remarks at the University of Hartford's Sport Center regarding stricter gun controls, attendees reacted to the speech and to the recent gun-control measure passed there (Video by Brian Canova)

The state funding would allow consultants to assess issues on Union Street in Easthampton.

Easthampton just received a state grant to look at ways to make Union Street, pictured here, more pedestrian- and bike-friendly. Republican file photo  

EASTHAMPTON — Most everyone agrees there are problems on Union Street that make travel difficult for pedestrians and bicyclists, and now with a $10,000 state grant, the city will receive help to define the problems and plan to fix them.

The city received the funding from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development from its Massachusetts Downtown Initiative program, said City Planner Jessica Allan.

She said the city received money from the same source years ago to look at similar issues on Cottage Street.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council named that street a Cultural District last month, in part for its walkability.

The money will pay for consultant services, Allan said. The city will be able to develop “concept plans for Union Street. We’re hoping to get an analysis of what the issues are and preliminary designs to mitigate those issues.”

The street has numerous businesses and parking on both sides that at times makes crossing the street difficult.

She said once the city has the report on the problems, it will hold community meetings to look at recommendations.

She said as with Cottage Street, it takes time to address issues but the grant is a start. “We don’t know what the problems are, the design issues that prohibit this from being a walkable, bike-friendly thoroughfare,” she said.

One requirement for a Cultural District is walkability. The city initially included Union Street in its plans, but it was omitted in part because of that factor.

Disabled American Veterans bought the gift cards with money they sought in donations.

 

HOLYOKE -- The Holyoke Disabled American Veterans Chapter 41 has donated $1,500 in gift cards to the city's Veterans' Services Department.

Mayor Alex B. Morse accepted the cards, which can be used at local businesses, from chapter commander Nick Flannery at City Hall April 4. The Veterans Services Department will distribute the cards to veterans, a press release said.

"We sincerely appreciate the Disabled American Veterans giving back to the local community, these gift cards will help some of our neediest veterans,” Veterans’ Services Director Timothy Niejadlik said.

The Disabled American Veterans raised the money by seeking donations at local businesses with little blue "Forget Me Not" flowers, the press release said.

"It's an opportunity for the public to come in and learn about the program and comment on it," Palmer Community Development Director Alice L. Davey said.

 

PALMER — The public will get a chance to chime in on a grant application to help Quaboag Valley businesses at an April 21 hearing at 6:30 p.m. at the Palmer Town Building, 4417 Main St.

Palmer Community Development Director Alice L. Davey will conduct the hearing to solicit public input on the continuation and expansion of the Quaboag Valley Business Assistance and Loan Program through a $500,000 grant application to the state Department of Housing and Community Development Economic Development Fund.

"It's an opportunity for the public to come in and learn about the program and comment on it," Davey said.

If approved, the grant would provide loan assistance to various small businesses. Beneficiaries would include so-called microenterprises, or businesses with five or fewer employees and low- to moderate-income owners; for-profit businesses that project job creation for predominantly low- to moderate-income people; and nonprofit organizations that project job creation for predominantly low- to moderate-income people.

The grant also would provide funding for technical assistance to microenterprises looking to develop viable loan applications.

Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard has agreed to let Palmer serve as lead community for the grant, which would benefit all 15 Quaboag Valley communities, according to Davey. She said she is optimistic about Palmer receiving the grant on behalf of the municipalities.

The Quaboag Valley Business Assistance Corporation, a nonprofit under the auspices of the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corp., would manage the grant program with assistance from Davey. "I oversee the grant locally," she said.

Any person or organization wishing to speak at the hearing will have a chance to do so, according to Susan Trudeau, program coordinator for the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corp. Public input received at the hearing will be taken into consideration, officials said.

Established in 1995, the Quaboag Valley Business Assistance and Loan Program has helped hundreds of local small businesses over the years.

Communities that stand to benefit from the grant, a component of the Massachusetts Community Development Block Grant Program, include Belchertown, Brimfield, Brookfield, East Brookfield, Hardwick, Holland, Monson, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Palmer, Spencer, Wales, Ware, Warren and West Brookfield.

Davey has more information at (413) 283-2614.

The beginning of construction -- a process that would take 18 to 20 months -- is nearly two years away.

The building housing the Victory Theatre on Suffolk Street, in a 2010 photo. Don Treeger, The Republican

HOLYOKE -- Disputes about progress and money are dominating discussions lately about the $28 million project to renovate the long-closed Victory Theatre.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether the curtain will ever rise again in the old vaudeville house where performers included the Marx Brothers and Bing Crosby.

The theater at 81-89 Suffolk St. opened in 1919 and closed in 1979.

Engineers have told the building's owner that the structure is sound, but the interior has sustained decades of water damage, chunks of plaster have deteriorated off ceilings and walls and rows of seats are battered.

Still, tours have revealed the building's beauty, from the marble floors and art deco trim to mahogany walls, murals and other touches.

The beginning of construction is nearly two years away and construction itself will take 18 to 20 months, blowing past the theater reopening that was heralded to be Dec. 30, 2012, said Donald T. Sanders, executive artistic director of the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA), the nonprofit group that owns the theater.

Sanders arguably has been unmatched in championing the renovation of the Victory Threatre. But even he said at a March 27 meeting of the City Council Finance Committee disputes surrounding the project are discouraging.

"It's a mess," Sanders said.

Rendering of what the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, which is undergoing a $28 million renovation, would look like. Rendering is by Durkee Brown Viveiros Werenfels Architects, of Providence, R.I.

The city sold the theater to MIFA in 2009 for $1,500. But a condition of the sale included a "reverter clause," a step that lets the city resume control of the property for a nominal fee June 30 if inadequate progress has been achieved.

Mayor Alex B. Morse said he is considering options that include extending the reverter, which would let MIFA continue, or exercising the reverter, which would have the city seize the property and find another developer.

Morse and other officials in his administration have clashed with Sanders and MIFA over the project.

Sanders explained the project has a complicated funding mechanism. Of the $28 million project cost, he said in a phone interview Monday, MIFA has commitments for nearly $20 million. That consists of $10 million in state and federal historical tax credits, $8 million in new market tax credits and the rest in cash donations, he said.

Tax credits generate funding like this: In return for providing money for projects in distressed, low-income-areas, investors get tax credits based on a percentage of their investment over a period of years.

The problem for Sanders and MIFA, and one which he said he realizes, is commitments of "tax credits" are a vague notion to many people. Some people are skeptical $28 million can be obtained to reopen a building dismissed for decades as just another boarded-up structure.

It's not unusual for such large arts-related projects to take longer than projected, Sanders said, as government agencies need to be convinced a project is worthy and other fund-raising needs to be pursued.

Still, said Sanders, "We are exactly in the place where we need to be."

Morse praised MIFA for the arts events it provides here and said he was committed to working with the organization to develop a plan to get the Victory Theatre renovated.

But, Morse said, "I have to do my due diligence and make sure a structure is in place to support the development of a (nearly) $30 million dollar project. I have no doubt we can find a structure that works, but collaboration and cooperation will be critical."

Others in Morse's administration were more blunt. During the March 27 meeting, Marcos A. Marrero, director of the city Office of Planning and Economic Development, said the mayor was concerned about MIFA's capacity to complete such a large project.

A week later, City Solicitor Heather G. Egan cautioned councilors against voting on an order that sought to give MIFA more time on the project by extending the reverter for a year.

"I would urge you not to adopt an order, because I believe it would send a mixed message to MIFA, that they can continue on this path of non-compliance and lack of progress," Egan wrote.

Nevertheless, the council voted 8-5 to give MIFA the extension, a vote Egan said was advisory because only the mayor can grant such an extension.

The criticism and questioning about MIFA's project capabilities prompted an admittedly angry Sanders to say during the Finance Committee meeting, "If we can't do it, then how come we're doing it?"

Sanders was so upset that he likened the pressures on MIFA to having to deal with "Adolf Hitler." Later he said he was referring to the situation and not any individual official.

Finance Committee Chairman Todd A. McGee said MIFA is making progress. The roof has been fixed and the theater's murals are being restored, he said.

Morse might be concerned about MIFA's project capacity, McGee said, "But what other options is he offering up?"

Part of the dispute involved a $125,000 state grant. In order to get the money, the state required that the city, not MIFA, be the one to which it was provided. The money would be used for a fund-raising plan and other planning, Marrero said.

Ward 5 Councilor Linda L. Vacon asked how the city can accept money for a project it doesn't own.

"Good question," Marrero said.

Sanders said MIFA would rather do without the state grant because the organization didn't feel comfortable working with the contractor chosen for the fund-raising and other planning.

Exercising the reverter to seize the Victory Theatre would seem to be a tough step. While the mayor has sole authority to extend the reverter, retaking the property would also require approval of the City Council, the majority of which voted to give MIFA more time.

Clay Buchholz's ERA after two games is 0.64.

Today's Boston Red Sox coverage on MassLive.com:

Hitting lefties isn't total novelty for Daniel Nava, whose 3-run homer powers home opener win

Clay Buchholz' dazzling pitching was not just a spring fling

On the ride back from Fenway Park after a Red Sox win, the party is just beginning

Joel Hanrahan steadies ship, takes save in first game at Fenway Park

Red Sox sellout streak is extended, but its imminent end will be a relief

Shortstop Jose Iglesias looks Pawtucket-bound

• David Ortiz gets two hits in Florida sim game; after three games, could join Pawtucket

• Triple-A first baseman Mauro Gomez claimed off waivers by Blue Jays on Monday

• Red Sox lefty relievers Craig Breslow, Franklin Morales making progress

• Red Sox keep John Lackey off disabled list for now

• Trade rumors: Are the Red Sox looking at acquiring pitcher Aaron Harang?

Social media:

• Follow Evan Drellich on Twitter

• Follow Ron Chimelis on Twitter

• Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter

• Like us on Facebook: Boston Red Sox on MassLive.com

Residents and business owners in a Worcester neighborhood that has been proposed as the home of the state's only slots parlor appear largely opposed to the project.

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Residents and business owners in a Worcester neighborhood that has been proposed as the home of the state's only slots parlor appear largely opposed to the project.

More than 100 people gathered Monday at a public meeting before a City Council joint subcommittee.

Mass Gaming & Entertainment LLC has said it wants to build a $240 million "destination gaming facility" at the vacant 14-acre Wyman-Gordon industrial property.

The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/11NCyY6) reports that one resident said the neighborhood needs a bank, supermarket and pharmacy, not a gambling facility.

Others worried about increased traffic, crime, prostitution, and the siphoning of business away from neighborhood companies.

But supporters say a slots parlor would provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city.

Time is running out to register to vote in the Republican and Democratic primaries in Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election.

Republican Senate candidates Gabriel Gomez, Michael Sullivan and Daniel Winslow. File photos by the Associated Press and The Republican  

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

BOSTON (AP) — Time is running out to register to vote in the Republican and Democratic primaries in Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election.

Wednesday is the last day to register for those who haven't registered or who want to change their party affiliation.

Residents will be able to register in most cities and towns from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday. In towns with fewer than 1,500 voters, registration must be open at least from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m.

Those who are U.S. citizens, residents of Massachusetts, and who will be at least 18 years-old by primary day are eligible to register.

Someone who has moved to a different community must register again to vote.

The primaries are scheduled for April 30. The special election for the Senate is on June 25.

Mehdi Ouazzani isn't the devil, but he has played one on TV — only he didn't realize that some thought he looked like President Barack Obama while he was at it.

By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Mehdi Ouazzani isn't the devil, but he has played one on TV — only he didn't realize that some thought he looked like President Barack Obama while he was at it.

A veteran Moroccan actor with decades of film experience, Ouazzani was bemused to wake up one morning and find that his role in The History Channel's popular five-part miniseries "The Bible" had become the latest way for conservative commentators in the United States to needle the president.

"One morning somebody called me and said 'you have to look at your email' and I was so surprised," Ouazzani told The Associated Press in Casablanca before jetting off to the remote desert town of Erfoud, where he's playing a police inspector in a German crime drama.

"For someone like me, a simple unknown actor, to find himself in a controversy like this — even though it's nonsense — it makes me known around the world, so it's something positive," he said with a chuckle.

With gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, an expressive face and a slim Errol Flynn-style pencil mustache, Ouazzani doesn't look a great deal like America's 44th president — but then he doesn't resemble a stereotypical Satan very much either.

It was only after an hour and a half of makeup and a heavy hooded robe in Morocco's blazing desert that Ouazzani became the figure on a mountain top tempting Jesus.

It's this new look that laid the stage for the Obama comparisons.

After the episode aired in mid-March, conservative firebrand commentator Glenn Beck tweeted to millions of his followers : "Does Satan look EXACTLY like Obama? Yes!" The cry was taken up by others and provoked a fierce response from Obama's supporters that compelled the History Channel to announce it had "the highest respect" for Obama, and "it's unfortunate that anyone made this false connection."

Part of the resonance of the controversy was the sheer success of the miniseries, which had 13 million viewers for its first episode — beating out even "American Idol." The final episode, featuring the passion of Christ, aired on Easter, March 31, and had 11.7 million viewers — competing handily with the season finale of cable favorite "The Walking Dead."

Conservative television personalities Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity were still talking about it weeks later on their shows, with Hannity telling "The Bible" executive producer Roma Downey that he, too, thought the program's Satan resembled Obama.

In a statement, Downey maintained that she and fellow producer and husband Mark Burnett "have nothing but respect and love our president, who is a fellow Christian," adding that "false statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of the Bible."

It's not Ouazzani's first tour through the pages of Christianity's holy book. He appeared in the 2006 mini-series "Ten Commandments" and the 2000 production "In the Beginning," as well as a string of other biblical productions in the 1990s.

Previous film productions have taken advantage of this North African country's stark deserts and lush palm groves to recreate ancient Palestine. "I've seen several different Jesuses and Judases and I've played Satanic characters before, I played Judas."

Still, Ouazzani found playing Satan this time quite a challenge, as he tried to convey intensity with little more than his eyes, delivering the devil's grim temptations to Jesus in sepulchral tones.

"I have a very expressive face, when African or Moroccan people talk, we talk with our faces," he said, describing his scenes as the prince of darkness playing opposite Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado's Jesus. "Satan taught me how to manage my close-ups, because Satan didn't feel anything, didn't suffer anything."

Ouazzani's face lights up as he talks about the filming, displaying little real-life resemblance to his gloomy character in the movie.

Ouazzani praised the producers and the professionalism on the set, which dealt with its own set of challenges, including Morocco's ample desert serpent population.

"Before you go to the set, there was a special person who knows about serpents and scorpions and they go through and clean everything," said Ouazzani, describing how one of the snake wranglers even caught one in the middle of production.

"He came into the middle of the set, he looked around and then went running and took up a snake from under the sand with his hand," he said.

Ouzzani said working on a series like "The Bible" has been particularly enjoyable because it gives him a taste of the Hollywood system — something many Moroccan actors yearn to do.

"Hollywood is the only cinema where I really feel like an actor," he said, "the rest feels do-it-yourself."

While dozens of American productions have been shot in Morocco, including "Gladiator," ''Kingdom of Heaven," ''Blackhawk Down," ''The Bourne Ultimatum" and most recently the TV series "Game of Thrones," they feature comparatively few Moroccan actors.

Ouazzani ascribes being cast to luck and knowing the right people — but speaking French, Spanish, Italian, English and Arabic hasn't hurt. He credits his time as a flight attendant for the national airline, Royal Air Maroc, with putting him in daily touch with people from all over the world.

He started acting in his 20s and has appeared on the Spanish stage, played a police inspector in French movies, and will play a terrorist leader in an upcoming Spanish film about the 2011 bombing of a tourist cafe in Marrakech.

And who knows, maybe a chance comment by a conservative commentator will open the gates to Hollywood.

"Some good has come out of this," he said, adding with a twinkle in his eye: "Before, I knew who Obama was, and now he knows me, and if he has time I'd like to invite him and his family for couscous in Morocco."

Virgin America did the best job for its customers among leading U.S. airlines last year, a report said Monday, as carriers overall had their second best performance in the more than the two decades since researchers began measuring quality of service.

By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Virgin America did the best job for its customers among leading U.S. airlines last year, a report said Monday, as carriers overall had their second best performance in the more than the two decades since researchers began measuring quality of service.

The report ranked the 14 largest U.S. airlines based on on-time arrivals, mishandled bags, consumer complaints and passengers who bought tickets but were turned away because flights were over booked.

Airline performance in 2012 was the second highest in the 23 years that Wichita State University in Kansas and Purdue University in Indiana have tracked the performance of airlines. The airline's best year was 2011.

Besides being the overall leader, Virgin America, headquartered in Burlingame, Calif., also did the best job on baggage handling and had the second-lowest rate of passengers denied seats due to overbookings. United Airlines, whose consumer complaint rate nearly doubled last year, had the worst performance. United has merged with Continental Airlines, but has had rough spots in integrating the operations of the two carriers.

This is the first year Virgin America, created in 2007, has been large enough to be included in the rankings. United carries roughly 18 times more passengers than Virgin America, and has 702 planes, compared to 52 for the smaller carrier.

The number of complaints consumers filed with the Department of Transportation overall surged by one-fifth last year to 11,445 complaints, up from 9,414 in 2011.

"Over the 20-some year history we've looked at it, this is still the best time of airline performance we've ever seen," said Dean Headley, a business professor at Wichita State University in Kansas, who has co-written the annual report. The best year was 2011, which was only slightly better than last year, he said.

Despite those improvements, it's not surprising that passengers are getting grumpier, Headley said. Carriers keep shrinking the size of seats in order to stuff more people into planes. Empty middle seats that might provide a little more room have vanished. And more people who have bought tickets are being turned away because flights are overbooked.

"The way airlines have taken 130-seat airplanes and expanded them to 150 seats to squeeze out more revenue, I think, is finally catching up with them," he said. "People are saying, 'Look, I don't fit here. Do something about this.' At some point airlines can't keep shrinking seats to put more people into the same tube," he said.

The industry is even looking at ways to make today's smaller-than-a-broom closet toilets more compact in the hope of squeezing a few more seats onto planes.

"I can't imagine the uproar that making toilets smaller might generate," Headley said, especially given that passengers increasingly weigh more than they use to. Nevertheless, "will it keep them from flying? I doubt it would."

The rate of complaints per 100,000 passengers also rose to 1.43 last year from 1.19 in 2011.

United's 2012 ranking doesn't reflect its experience over the past six months, in which the airline has made significant improvements in performance, company spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said

"Customer satisfaction is up, complaints are down dramatically and we are improving our customers' experience," he said in an email.

In recent years, some airlines have shifted to larger planes that can carry more people, but that hasn't been enough to make up for an overall reduction in flights.

The rate at which passengers with tickets were denied seats because planes were full rose to 0.97 denials per 10,000 passengers last year, compared with 0.78 in 2011.

It used to be in cases of overbookings that airlines usually could find a passenger who would volunteer to give up a seat in exchange for cash, a free ticket or some other compensation with the expectation of catching another flight later that day or the next morning. Not anymore.

"Since flights are so full, there are no seats on those next flights. So people say, 'No, not for $500, not for $1,000,' " said airline industry analyst Robert W. Mann Jr.

Regional carrier SkyWest had the highest involuntary denied-boardings rate last year, 2.32 per 10,000 passengers.

But not every airline overbooks flights in an effort to keep seats full. JetBlue and Virgin America were the industry leaders in avoiding denied boardings, with rates of 0.01 and 0.07, respectively.

United Airlines' consumer complaint rate was 4.24 complaints per 100,000 passengers. Southwest had the lowest rate, at 0.25. Southwest was among five airlines that lowered complaint rates last year compared to 2011. The others were American Eagle, Delta, JetBlue and US Airways.

Consumer complaints were significantly higher in the peak summer travel months of June, July and August when planes are especially crowded.

"As airplanes get fuller, complaints get higher because people just don't like to be sardines," Mann said.

The complaints are regarded as indicators of a larger problem because many passengers may not realize they can file complaints with the Transportation Department, which regulates airlines.

At the same time that complaints were increasing, airlines were doing a better job of getting passengers to their destinations on time.

The industry average for on-time arrival rates was 81.8 percent of flights, compared with 80 percent in 2011. Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance record, 93.4 percent in 2012. ExpressJet and American Airlines had the worst records with only 76.9 percent of their planes arriving on time last year.

The industry's on-time performance has improved in recent years, partly due to airlines' decision to cut back on the number of flights.

"We've shown over the 20 years of doing this that whenever the system isn't taxed as much — fewer flights, fewer people, less bags — it performs better. It's when it reaches a critical mass that it starts to fracture," Headley said.

Passengers appear to be checking fewer bags since the industry's shift in 2008 to charging for fees for extra bags, and carrying more bags onto planes when permitted, industry analysts said.

The industry's mishandled bag rate peaked in 2007 at 7.01 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, and has since been declining. It was 3.07 in 2012, down from 3.35 bags the previous year.

The report's ratings are based on statistics kept by the department for airlines that carry at least 1 percent of the passengers who flew domestically last year.

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AP Airlines Writer Joshua Freed contributed to this report from Minneapolis.