Pizza shop owner Antonio Liquor said he does not blame the city for having told him to remove his statue of the Virgin Mary from the traffic island he has adopted on South Boulevard.

05.08.2013 | WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Antonio Liquori stands in his yard with the statue of the Madonna that a West Springfield official ordered removed from the traffic island adopted by Liquori's pizzeria.Photo by Sandra E. Constantine / The Republican 

05.08.2013 | WEST SPRINGFIELD — Antonio Liquori stands in his yard with the statue of the Virgin Mary that a West Springfield official ordered removed from the traffic island adopted by Liquori's pizzeria.Photo by Sandra E. Constantine / The Republican 

Updates a story posted Wednesday at 5:10 a.m.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Antonio Liquori has a hole in his heart and a statue of the Madonna in his front yard.

The owner of Liquori’s Pizzeria here said Wednesday that when he adopted the nearby South Boulevard traffic island under the city’s beautification program about a year ago, one of the first things he did was plant roses and other flowers. Then, he said, he got the inspiration to plant a statue of the Virgin Mary, too.

“One day I decided to put the Madonna there to show peace and love, not to show my religion,” said Liquori, an Italian immigrant who is Catholic.

But he received a letter dated April 17 from Department of Public Works Deputy Director of Operations Vincent DeSantis III telling him to take down the approximately yard-high statue within two weeks.

“I am sorry to inform you I have received numerous complaints regarding the island you adopted on South Boulevard. Unfortunately, in this day and age, religious artifacts are not to be displayed on City (Town) property,” DeSantis wrote in his letter. “The intent of the program is to beautify the adopted island with different types of plantings, for example: flowers, small bushes or decorative grasses.”

Liquori said after he removed the statue from the traffic island, he placed it instead in the front yard of his home just two doors down from his 659 Westfield St. pizzeria, where he has solar lights around it. Both his yard, which contains other religious icons, and his traffic island also have the flags of the U.S. and Italy prominently displayed.

Liquori was philosophical about the situation. “It really made hole in my heart when I took it down. I didn’t get mad or anything. I was heartbroken,” he told a reporter about the statue. “It’s not the town’s fault. It is the people making the noise about it. It is just the town doing what it has to do. I respect the town. I’ve been living here 28 years.”

Since he was ordered to remove the statue, there has been a groundswell of support for putting the Virgin Mary icon back on the traffic island. Liquori's Pizza patron Joan Palmero has a petition, prominently displayed at the pizza shop, signed by more than 80 people from around the region calling for the statue's restoration to the traffic island.

When asked about the situation Wednesday afternoon by a reporter, Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger said it was the first he had heard of it.

“I support the free expression of religion,” the mayor said.

A manger symbolizing Jesus' birth is displayed at the town green on Elm Street every Christmas.

As for the separation of church and state, Neffinger said he cannot comment on that as he is not an attorney. But he did have an opinion about the status of Liquori's Madonna statue. “It should not have been removed. Mr. DeSantis does not have the authority to have it removed until a decision is made (that) this violates some sort of contract or public policy,” Neffinger said.

The mayor said the issue of the statue should have been referred to him and to Town Attorney Simon J. Brighenti Jr.

Brighenti declined to comment on the grounds that he had just recently been made aware of the situation and was still looking into it.

Department of Public Works Director Robert J. Colson told a reporter that his office has gotten complaints, including one unsigned letter dated March 28 complaining, “I am writing about the terrible traffic decoration that is on South Boulevard.”

Colson said he was looking into the situation and that DeSantis was not available for comment as he had already left work for the day.

Palmero, of Lee Lange Terrace, said she has gotten 200 signatures on the petition in addition to the ones that are at the pizzeria. The 65-year-old Catholic said she has done a door-to-door campaign in the city.

“Everybody I know of who went by there thought it was stolen at first,” Palermo said of the statue.

Now, she said people are stopping at the traffic island to put pictures of the Virgin Mary there.

As for the separation of church and state, Palermo was having none of it.

“He isn’t doing anything there,” she said of Liquori. “She is protecting us. This is her month. The people of West Springfield want her back.”

Letter From West Springfield DPW to Antonio Liquori by masslive

Wrigley says it is taking a new caffeinated gum off the market temporarily as the Food and Drug Administration investigates the safety of added caffeine.

This product image provided by the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company shows packaging for Alert Energy Caffeine Gum. Wrigley says it is taking a new caffeinated gum off the market temporarily as the Food and Drug Administration investigates the safety of added caffeine. The company said Wednesday, May 8, 2013, that it has stopped new sales and marketing of Alert Energy Caffeine Gum "out of respect" for the agency, which said it would investigate the health effects of added caffeine in foods just as Wrigley rolled out Alert late last month. A stick of the gum is equivalent to half a cup of coffee.  

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON — Wrigley says it is taking a new caffeinated gum off the market temporarily as the Food and Drug Administration investigates the safety of added caffeine.

The company said Wednesday that it has stopped new sales and marketing of Alert Energy Caffeine Gum "out of respect" for the agency, which said it would investigate the health effects of added caffeine in foods just as Wrigley rolled out Alert late last month. A stick of the gum is equivalent to half a cup of coffee.

"After discussions with the FDA, we have a greater appreciation for its concern about the proliferation of caffeine in the nation's food supply," said Wrigley North America President Casey Keller in a statement to The Associated Press. "There is a need for changes in the regulatory framework to better guide the consumers and the industry about the appropriate level and use of caffeinated products."

Keller said the company has paused production and sales of the gum to give the agency time to regulate caffeine-added products.

Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner of foods, said Wrigley's decision to stop production for now "demonstrates real leadership and commitment to the public health." He said the company made the move after a series of discussions with the agency.

"We hope others in the food industry will exercise similar restraint," Taylor said.

Food manufacturers have added caffeine to candy, nuts and other snack foods in recent years. Jelly Belly "Extreme Sport Beans," for example, have 50 mg of caffeine in each 100-calorie pack, while Arma Energy Snx markets trail mix, chips and other products that have caffeine.

The companies say they are marketing the products to adults, but critics say that's not enough when the caffeine is added to items like candy that are attractive to children. Many of the energy foods are promoted with social media campaigns, another way they could be targeted to young people.

Major medical associations have warned that too much caffeine can be dangerous for children, who have less ability to process the stimulant than adults. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it has been linked to harmful effects on young people's developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems.

Taylor said last week that the proliferation of new foods with caffeine added — especially the gum, which he equated to "four cups of coffee in your pocket" — may even prompt the FDA to look closer at the way all food ingredients are regulated. The agency is already investigating the safety of energy drinks and energy shots, prompted by consumer reports of illness and death.

The only time FDA has explicitly approved the added use of caffeine in a food or drink was in the 1950s for colas. Taylor said the current proliferation of caffeine added to foods is "beyond anything FDA envisioned."

The FDA said it would look at the potential impact these new and easy sources of caffeine will have on children's health and take action if necessary. Taylor said that he and other FDA officials have held meetings with some of the large food companies that have ventured into caffeinated products, including Mars Inc., of which Wrigley is a subsidiary.

Nineteen days after Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a gunbattle with police, cemeteries still refused to take his remains and government officials deflected questions about where he could be buried.

BOSTON — Nineteen days after Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a gunbattle with police, cemeteries still refused to take his remains and government officials deflected questions about where he could be buried.

On Wednesday, police in Worcester, west of Boston, pleaded for a resolution, saying they were spending tens of thousands of dollars to protect the funeral home where his body is being kept amid protests.

"We are not barbarians," police Chief Gary Gemme said. "We bury the dead."

Tsarnaev was fatally wounded in Watertown, just outside Boston, after police confronted him in a stolen car. He was shot several times by police, then was run over with the car by his fleeing brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his accomplice in the deadly April 15 bombing, authorities have said.

The bombing, involving pressure cookers packed with explosives and shrapnel near the marathon's finish line, killed three people and injured about 260 others.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body was released by the state medical examiner May 1 and has been in limbo since. Tsarnaev's widow had wanted his body turned over to his side of the family, which claimed it.

The widow, Katherine Russell, has hired New York criminal lawyer Joshua Dratel, who has experience defending terrorism cases, as she continues to face questions from federal authorities investigating the bombing. Her attorney Amato DeLuca said Dratel's "specialized experience" will help ensure she can assist in the ongoing investigation.

Russell, who lived with Tsarnaev and their young daughter in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston, has been staying in Rhode Island with her family and has not been charged with any crime. She will continue to meet with investigators and answer questions, DeLuca said.

An expert in U.S. burial law said the resistance to Tsarnaev's burial is unprecedented in a country that has always found a way to put to rest its notorious killers, from Lee Harvey Oswald to Adam Lanza, who gunned down 20 children and six educators at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last year.

"It's very unusual that people are so fixated on this," said Tanya Marsh, a Wake University professor. "There are a lot of evil people buried in marked graves in the United States. Traditionally, in the United States, ... when somebody dies, that's the end of their punishment."

A deal had been struck Monday to bury the remains of Tsarnaev, a 26-year-old ethnic Chechen from southern Russia, at a state prison site, but it dissolved after state officials stopped cooperating Tuesday, Gemme said.

The state Department of Correction said Wednesday it did not offer a burial site and its burial facilities have been reserved for inmates who die in state custody, but Gemme stood by his earlier statement.

Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday night Tsarnaev's burial is an issue for his family.

"It's overwhelming that facility and that community and to some extent even the police chief's resources, but that doesn't turn it into something other than a family matter," Patrick said. "It is still a family matter, and this family has some decisions they've got to make and they need to make them soon."

Peter Stefan, whose funeral home accepted Tsarnaev's body last week, said Tuesday that none of the 120 offers of graves from the U.S. and Canada has worked out because officials in those cities and towns don't want the body.

In Russia, officials aren't commenting after Tsarnaev's mother said authorities won't allow her son's body into the country so she can bury him in her native Dagestan.

A solution may be found in Massachusetts law, which requires a community to provide a place to bury someone "dying within its limits." Though Tsarnaev lived in Cambridge, he was pronounced dead at a Boston hospital, meaning Boston would be obligated to bury him under a straight reading of the law.

But Marsh said there's a better legal case to bury the body in Cambridge because, in practice, where a person lived has been the key factor in determining the place of burial.

Cambridge's rules for buying a grave at the municipal cemetery require that "the deceased must be a Cambridge resident," according to online guidelines of the Cambridge Department of Public Works.

Boston also makes residency the key requirement of its cemetery burial rules.

"It's been the city's contention that he was not a Boston resident and therefore should not be buried in the city of Boston," said John Guilfoil, a spokesman for Mayor Thomas Menino.

But Cambridge's city manager has urged the Tsarnaev family not to try to bury Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the city, citing the potential massive disruption.

As officials continued to try to bury Tsarnaev, the father of one of the friends charged with helping brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after the bombing said Tuesday that his son told him the surviving suspect is "not a human" if he's responsible for it.

Amir Ismagulov is the father of Azamat Tazhayakov, who is charged with conspiracy. During an interview, Ismagulov said his son is not a terrorist.

"Azamat loves the United States and the people of the United States," Ismagulov said as his son's Russian-speaking lawyer interpreted for him.

Tazhayakov is in a federal prison on charges that he conspired to destroy, conceal and cover up objects belonging to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a friend from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

The FBI has alleged that on April 18, just hours after surveillance camera photos of the Tsarnaev brothers became public, Tazhayakov and two other students went to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room and removed his backpack and laptop computer.

Authorities said one of them later threw the backpack in the garbage and it wound up in a landfill, where law enforcement officers found it containing fireworks that had been emptied of their gunpowder.

The Tsarnaev brothers' mother has said the allegations against them are lies.

The fire is off Route 159, roughly a half-mile south of Six Flags in Agawam.

SUFFIELD - A fire caused heavy damage to a home on Mapleton Avenue Wednesday evening and reports from the scene are that one resident remains missing.

The fire in the two-story home at 1489 Mapleton Ave. was reported at about 7 p.m., and was still burning close to an hour later, according a report from the Suffield Patch.

WFSB, Channel 3 of Hartford quotes Suffield Fire Department officials saying two people managed to get out of the house, but a third person cannot be accounted for.

As of 9 p.m., the person's whereabouts could not be determined, and firefighters had not yet been able to enter the house out of concerns for its structural stability.

Deputy Fire Chief Tom Romano told the Suffield Patch that fire officials are not certain how many people lived in the home, or whether the unaccounted for person was home at the time of the fire.

Mapleton Avenue is located off Route 159, about a half-mile south of Six Flags in Agawam.

Firefighters from Thompsonville and Windsor Locks are also on scene.

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A West Springfield automobile wholesaler seeks zone changes that would allow him to sell used cars on a retail basis at a location on Riverdale Street.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Used car wholesaler Joseph Spano has requested that the city rezone four adjoining parcels on Riverdale Street and Doty Circle, including the property that used to be the quarters of Wagner BMW.

Spano, who sells cars wholesale from a location on Doty Circle, said Tuesday he needs to get the zoning changed from Business A to Business B in order to sell used cars on a retail basis.

He has asked the zoning be changed on 1497 Riverdale St., 1515 Riverdale St., a lot to the rear of 1515 Riverdale St. and 180 Doty Circle. All those parcels are undeveloped except from 1497 Riverdale St., which has is the site of the building formerly used by the Wagner BMW automobile dealership. That automobile dealership relocated to a spot to the north several years ago, according to information in Spano’s written request for the zone changes on file in the Planning Department Office.

The application states that West Springfield has more than 18 new car dealerships and more than 20 used car dealerships. It notes that there are already a number of automobile dealerships on Riverdale Street.

“The intended use is similar to and compatible with much of the current uses on Riverdale Street and will have only a positive impact on the area,” Spano stated in his zone change application.

Business B allows much the same uses as Business A with the main difference that Business B allows used vehicle sales, adult-themed businesses and industrial uses, the application states.

The Town Council, which must approve all zone changes, held a public hearing on the proposal Monday during which no one from the public can forward to speak. Spano’s lawyer, former Town Attorney James T. Donahue outlined his proposal.

Donahue described the site as a good location for the sale of used cars.

“A good portion of the street is already used for the sale of vehicles,” he said, naming car dealerships operated by Balise and Bertera.

The Planning Board, which makes recommendations of zone changes to the council, has set its public hearing on the proposal for 7 p.m. on May 15.

The Suffolk University/7NEWS poll shows a significant 32 percent of likely voters are undecided about Gomez, a reality that will make his ability to define himself, or be defined by his opponents, critical in the coming weeks.

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

A polling organization that accurately forecast the outcome of the last two Massachusetts Senate races and the 2010 governor’s contest says its first survey of next month’s special Senate election shows U.S. Rep. Edward Markey with a 17-point lead over Republican Gabriel Gomez.

The new Suffolk University/7NEWS poll results show a significant 32 percent of likely voters are undecided about Gomez, a Cohasset Republican running for statewide office for the first time, a reality that will make his ability to define himself, or be defined by his opponents, critical in the coming weeks.

Likely voters indicated the economy is the top issue in the campaign, a stance Gomez agrees with, but 71 percent of those surveyed said an agreement between the candidates to limit outside campaign spending is an important campaign issue. Markey has repeatedly challenged Gomez to take the so-called People’s Pledge, but Gomez has refused and pointed at special interest money accepted by Markey over the years.

Among 500 likely voters surveyed, Markey was the preference of 52 percent, Gomez 35 percent and 11 percent were undecided. A third candidate, Richard Heos, was chosen by 1 percent. The poll was conducted May 4 to May 7 and carries a margin of error of 4.4 percent. Among the respondents, 266 were unenrolled, 178 were Democrats and 54 were Republicans, mirroring the state’s enrollment breakdown.

Sixty percent of those surveyed said Markey was not too liberal to represent Massachusetts, only 28 percent agree with Gomez’s assertion that the long-serving Markey is the “poster boy” for term limits, 29 percent said Gomez was too conservative to represent Massachusetts, and respondents were split over whether Gomez, a former Navy SEAL and principal at an equity investment firm, is experienced enough to be a U.S. senator.

Respondents by a two-to-one margin said they expected Markey would “toe the party line” with Senate Democrats if elected rather than be an independent voice. Voters were also evenly split when asked if they saw a benefit of Massachusetts having one Democrat and one Republican in the U.S. Senate, where Democrat Elizabeth Warren holds the other seat after winning a six-year term last November by defeating former Sen. Scott Brown.

Voters don’t seem to mind that Brown is out of the Senate conversation. Sixty-three percent said they were not disappointed that Brown opted against running in this special election cycle, while 35 percent were disappointed. Brown’s favorable/unfavorable split was 52/40, compared to 53/30 for Markey and 38/23 for Gomez. In a potential bright note for Markey, President Barack Obama was viewed favorably by 67 percent of respondents, with 63 percent approving of his job performance.

“Ed Markey begins this race where he left off with his win in the Democratic Primary: exceeding expectations,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said in a statement. “The early perception immediately after the party primaries was that Markey was vulnerable. These findings suggest the opposite of a close race – that Ed Markey begins the sprint to June with a large lead over his Republican opponent who voters are unsure about.”

The poll also took the pulse of voters on three economic issues.

Only 16 percent opposed raising the minimum wage from $8 to $10 an hour, with 77 percent in favor. Sixty-one percent said the recession was not over, compared to 29 percent who believed it was. Fifty-nine percent said Massachusetts was on the right track; 32 percent see it as on the wrong track. Asked which candidate will help turn the economy around, 36 percent said Markey compared to 30 percent who indicated it would be Gomez.

Two previous post-primary polls showed a tighter race, with Markey up 44-40 in a Public Policy Polling survey and leading Gomez 42-36 in a student organized Emerson College Polling Society poll.

Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan says South Terminal in New Bedford will be the primary staging area for Cape Wind, despite the offshore wind farm’s developers exploring other options in Rhode Island.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON — The state’s top environmental and energy official on Wednesday said he’s “absolutely convinced” that the South Terminal in New Bedford will be the primary staging area for Cape Wind, despite the offshore wind farm’s developers exploring other options in Rhode Island.

The port project, also known as the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, was announced in 2010 as a coup for the South Coast fishing port that would bring hundreds of immediate and long-term jobs to the city. Since then, Cape Wind developers have met with officials in Rhode Island to discuss the possibility of using the port of Quonset, in North Kingstown, R.I., for some staging work.

“I am absolutely convinced that New Bedford will be the primary staging port for Cape Wind and future developments that are not Cape Wind related,” Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan told the News Service on Wednesday.

Sullivan testified before the House Bonding Committee, chaired by New Bedford Democrat Rep. Antonio Cabral, on the Patrick administration’s $911 million bond bill for environmental and energy capital spending that includes roughly $24 million for the South Terminal project.

The new port is expected to cost $100 million, including permitting and design, construction, the dredging of the harbor and environmental remediation and mitigation to clean the polluted waters of the harbor and reseed the impacted shellfish population.

Sullivan said the project is on a tight 19-month construction cycle to meet the timetable for Cape Wind for the start of 2014, but said he understands why Cape Wind officials would be exploring contingency options should any part of the project not go “perfectly” and get delayed.

“This isn’t just a port for Cape Wind. It was never just a port for Cape Wind. Certainly we are on a timeline to be able to meet their timelines, but Cape Wind is not the only reason. In fact, if it was the only reason we probably wouldn’t be building this port,” Sullivan said, noting the terminal has been designed to handle bulk cargo.

Gov. Patrick broke ground on port project Monday, and it is expected to be completed in later 2013. In addition to Cape Wind, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates the burgeoning off-shore wind industry could create 43,000 jobs nationwide, many of which the administration believes could have ties-ins to the New Bedford port.

“We need to have a ribbon cutting before the governor is done with term two, because I am not making that call to the governor to say that it is not happening,” Sullivan said.

In early April, members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation wrote a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu asking for approval of Cape Wind’s loan guarantee “so this important project can begin construction.”

On Wednesday, Cabral asked whether the terminal project would make the impacted area of New Bedford Harbor – which is separate from the Superfund site clean-up project – safe for swimming and fishing. “That’s the game plan,” Sullivan said.

Cabral also prodded the administration to commit more capital resources to the rehabilitation of the Schooner Ernestina, a ship built in 1894 at the James and Tarr Shipyard for the Gloucester fishing fleet and gifted back to the United States in 1982 by Cape Verde.

Currently in dry dock in New Bedford, the ship is no longer suitable for sailing after being used as a tour boat until 2005, and Cabral said he has grown frustrated that eight years have passed and the Ernestina is not much closer to sailing again.

Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Edward Lambert said the Patrick administration has committed some funding for rehabilitation work on the ship at a Maine shipyard, and completed a study showing that at least $1.4 million, but possibly double that amount, will be necessary to make it seaworthy.

Lambert also said the state was still seeking private partnerships to help fund the project and to develop a commercial operation plan for the ship after it is refurbished.

A week after new, reduced catch limits were imposed on New England fishermen by federal regulators, Cabral also told Sullivan he would like to see the administration commit more capital to the fishing industry, and said he would like to work with the administration to elevate the Division of Marine Fisheries to a department-level agency.

Sullivan said the administration has been supportive of federal disaster relief funds for fishermen and would be open to continuing the dialogue about how the state can better support the historic industry.

“We are cognizant of the fact that we should not just be the regulators of the industry, but supporters of the industry,” Sullivan said.

On the heels of House and Senate passage of major tax increases, tax collections have rebounded and the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick are on the verge of passing major tax increases to deliver the biggest infusion of new transportation revenues in recent memory.

By MICHAEL NORTON

BOSTON — What a difference a season can make for the state budget.

In December, with tax revenues running $235 million behind projections only five months into fiscal 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick took a scalpel to the $32.5 billion state budget, unilaterally cutting spending by $225 million, lowering the state’s tax revenue estimate by $515 million and asking lawmakers for authority, which was granted, to pull $200 million from the state’s reserves to support spending.

The budget picture had suddenly grown so dim that Patrick asked for permission to cut popular local aid accounts.

Five months later, and on the heels of House and Senate passage of major tax increases, tax collections have rebounded and the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Patrick are on the verge of passing major tax increases to deliver the biggest infusion of new transportation revenues in recent memory.

Tax receipts in April, historically the biggest month of the year for collections, surged 14.3 percent, or $359 million over April 2012. The big haul put collections for fiscal 2013 up 5.5 percent over fiscal 2012 with two months remaining in the fiscal year, and $510 million above budget benchmarks.

While collections could produce a significant surplus, Treasurer Steven Grossman said he’s not ready to count on that before learning how receipts look during May and June and getting a better handle on additional spending that Patrick and the Legislature may approve before closing the fiscal 2013 books.

Patrick and the Legislature have added about $158 million to this year’s budget by passing a pair of mid-year spending bills, and the governor last Friday quietly filed another supplemental budget, this time asking for $119 million to address unpaid winter road-clearing bills, special election costs, summer jobs for teens, and costs associated with legal representation of indigent defendants facing criminal charges.

During an interview from New York Monday, where he was meeting with credit rating agency officials in advance of a state bond sale, Grossman said he was “thrilled” that revenues are running so far above benchmarks, but said it’s too soon to have a “real sense” of the size of a potential surplus.

However, should one materialize, Grossman said, “My natural inclination is to want to put as much as we possibly can back into the rainy day fund.” He said he hoped the keep the fund balance above $1 billion.

Grossman said the performance of the stock market and the impact of a federal payroll tax hike and federal spending cuts have contributed to fluctuations in the state’s revenue picture.

“From the beginning of the fiscal year until now we’ve been in a volatile, unpredictable environment,” he said. “It just points out that no matter how thoughtful or how analytical you are or you think you are the behavior of consumers, taxpayers and business is sometimes quite unpredictable.”

Gov. Patrick’s budget chief, Administration and Finance Secretary Glen Shor, said in a statement to the News Service that “spending pressures” are still affecting this year’s budget, suggesting unanticipated spending needs may exceed those already formally requested by the administration.

Shor called revenue performance “strong” over the past four months, but cautioned that it’s been “largely due to one-time or volatile revenue sources, and not those most closely tied to current, underlying economic trends.”

A task force assembled by Shor to examine cuts in federal defense and medical research spending from the “sequester” met in March and April and plans to meet next on May 14. The meetings are not open to the public.

Rep. Elizabeth Poirier, a North Attleboro Republican, said the tax revenue windfall this year bolstered the argument behind a GOP-sponsored transportation financing plan, which relied in part on dedicating a portion of tax revenue growth to transportation accounts.

A major sales tax hike approved in 2009 is also helping to keep revenues up, with an expected further push from increases in gas, tobacco and business taxes nearing Gov. Patrick’s desk.

Poirier said the tax hikes come at a price. She said, "How many people are we going to push out of our state? How many more people are we going to put in dire straits because of what we've done? So we've made money, but what do our citizens do?"

Senate budget chief Stephen Brewer (D-Barre) is scheduled to release the Ways and Means Committee’s fiscal 2014 budget next Wednesday. Brewer suggested this week he’d prefer decision-making based on surplus revenues to debates over how to address budget shortfalls.

“Would I rather have that challenge to deal with? The answer is: of course,” Brewer said.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Michael Widmer estimates more than half of the $510 million in above-benchmark revenues are one-time receipts associated with holiday season bonuses and capital gains taxes stemming from investment decisions made before new federal tax laws took effect this year.

“Some of it is probably underlying improvement overall but I would say the lion’s share of that $500 million is probably one-time,” Widmer told the News Service.

Widmer recommended that lawmakers and Patrick use the money to lessen their long reliance on one-time revenues to cover spending priorities.

“Unlike earlier in the year, it’s a positive problem to deal with,” Widmer said. “There’s clearly some more breathing room for this fiscal year in terms of dealing with shortfalls without going into the rainy day fund and potentially ending the year with a surplus.”

Andy Metzger contributed reporting

The dismissal of the lawsuit means the state will now manage the system autonomously, without the court's oversight.

Loretta Rolland of Holden, Mass., center, smiles as she leaves U. S. Federal Court in Springfield Wednesday with her brother Alfred Rolland, left, of Springfield and her sister, Claire Harris, right, of Chicopee. Loretta is the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit first filed against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1998 seeking to move mentally and developmentally disabled patients from nursing homes to community based care facilities. Staff photo by Michael Gordon 

SPRINGFIELD - Her supporters, which have grown since 1998 from a small number of family members to a legion of disability rights advocates, were there to support Loretta Rolland even if she could not physically applaud herself.

A courtroom filled with advocates, attorneys, state disability rights officials and workers, came to testify at and witness a hearing in U.S. District Court that signaled the dismissal of the Rolland class action suit on Wednesday. The landmark suit against the state was settled as public agencies made substantial progress in moving those with intellectual and developmental disabilities to community settings.

Thousands had languished in nursing homes for years, spending lonely hours in hallways and without clear treatment plans until the Center for Public Representation in Northampton brought a case against state on behalf of Rolland and five others looking to get into community settings. A class of more than 1,800 was born.

Rolland has advanced cerebral palsy that gripped more of her body as she grew older. She began using a wheelchair in her 20s. She lived with her mother until she was in her 50s and her mother died, then was transferred to a nursing home and deemed "medically complex."

Rolland required 24-hour care and it was the most routine placement for severely disabled people whose families could no longer care for them. Rolland has little mobility and can barely speak, but she knew she was miserable in a nursing home.

Rolland and her fellow plaintiffs sought to change that. They ultimately changed the entire landscape of a cumbersome, complicated medical and social service model that seemed immovable at first. The effort involved thousands of plaintiffs, resistant guardians, hundreds of nursing homes, hundreds of medical professionals and social workers, myriad state agencies - all suddenly entangled in litigation.

The broad goals of the lawsuit were twofold: first, to move plaintiffs out of nursing homes into community settings; and second, to provide "active treatment," or individualized care plans for those who could not immediately be moved. But, it required corralling scattered resources and building new resources and community placements from the ground up.

"When working to support people you can never stop learning," said Elin M. Howe, commissioner of the state Department of Developmental Services, said during the hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman.

Howe said many of the plaintiffs have been moved to highly specialized group homes with round-the-clock care and enjoy daily shopping trips, dinner outings and other activities for the first time in their lives. The plaintiffs have ranged from pediatric patients to a woman in her 90s, other speakers at the hearing said.

Rolland, 71, a Springfield native, volunteers at an animal shelter and has her own apartment at a group home in Holden.

"She goes out every day and does what she wants to do," said Lindsey Dezotell, program director at the "medical model" home where Rolland lives. "She's free."

Through somewhat labored speaking, Rolland said "she never wants to go back there again," referring to the nursing home.

Howe, plaintiffs' lawyer Cathy Costanzo and others who spoke at Wednesday's hearing marveled at how the case evolved from an incredibly litigious exchange 14 years ago to a feeling of camaraderie and celebration as Neiman dismissed the case.

Court monitor Lyn Rucker handed out awards and all credited Rolland with being a vanguard for disability rights. About 670 nursing home patients have been moved into community settings with another 30 in the process of doing so.

"I think they're going to name a planet after you," joked Neiman, who managed the case and spent days in the field visiting plaintiffs at institutional and community-based settings.

Prompting an avalanche of court activity, the case broke out into two settlements advocates call "Rolland 1" and "Rolland 2."

Larry Tummino, deputy commissioner of the Department of Developmental Services, said a revised settlement agreement was reached into 2007 because they realized there had not been as much advancement as all parties had hoped.

"We just weren't where we wanted to be," he said, adding that the second phase of the litigation placed more of an emphasis on community placements than "active care" in nursing homes. The initiative will yield nearly 700 moves from nursing homes to community settings by the end of the year, advocates said.

The dismissal of the lawsuit means the state will now manage the system autonomously, without the court's oversight.

All agreed Rolland's willingness to file the suit has set a new standard of care for the disabled that will transcend generations and stretch beyond state boundaries.

"It's an epic one. It's like Brown vs. the Board of Education in the disability world," said Tara Arthur, program director for Rehabilitation Resources Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Sturbridge that runs Rolland's group home and other specialized placements. Brown vs. the Board of Education helped end segregation in public schools.

Defense lawyer David P. Hoose admitted in his opening that his client lied to police, but asked the jury not to confuse lying with the crimes Baye is charged with.

» Transcript of live blog of today's court proceedings
» Guide to the trial

SPRINGFIELD — The prosecutor in the Anthony P. Baye case told the jury Thursday that there is no physical or eyewitness evidence tying the defendant to a rash of fires that terrorized Northampton on Dec. 27, 2009. The proof, said Brett J. Vottero, will come from Baye himself.

“The most powerful evidence you will hear will come from his own lips,” Vottero said in his opening statement. “In a lie and a lie and a lie and a lie and one moment of truth.”

Baye’s false alibi and his attempts to revise it show that he was the one out setting fires that night, Vottero said. He is charged with 15 in all. One of those fires, at 17 Fair Street, took the lives of Paul Yeskie, 81, and his son, Paul Yeskie, Jr., 39. Baye, 28, faces two counts of first degree murder in connection with them.

The opening statements in Hampden Superior Court lifted the curtain on act one of what Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan has termed the most significant trial to come out of Hampshire County in five decades. The night of flames was the worst nightmare for residents of Northampton’s Ward 3, who had suffered through more than a dozen unexplained fires in the preceding few years. Baye was indicted for many of those, dating back to 2007, but Judge Constance M. Sweeney has severed them from this trial, which only pertains to the Dec. 27 fires.

Hoards of police congregated in Northampton in the days following Dec. 27, 2009, in the hope of finding the perpetrator. Two arson investigators with the state police questioned Baye for 10 hours on Jan. 4, 2010, getting him to admit to setting some of the fires. That confession was thrown out by the Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that the troopers overstepped the bounds of acceptable police interrogation.

As a result, the Northwestern District Attorney’s office dropped most of the charges against Baye, only to indict him again a week later. Vottero, a former Hampden County prosecutor, was brought in by Sullivan to try the case because of his experience with arson trials.

With the confession out, Vottero is relying on Baye’s lies to police to incriminate him. Baye was stopped twice by police in the vicinity of the fires early that rainy morning. He told officers he was out visiting his girlfriend, but the story did not pan out. Baye then changed his story.

Defense lawyer David P. Hoose admitted in his opening that his client lied to police, but asked the jury not to confuse lying with the crimes Baye is charged with. According to Hoose, Baye lied because he did not want to get arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol.

“You have to understand the pressure law enforcement was under to make an arrest,” Hoose said. “In the end they still had nothing.”

When police questioned Baye about his story, he foolishly tried to keep lying, Hoose said.

“For that he is guilty, guilty, guilty. On Jan. 4, with no better suspect, and under pressure to make arrest, the kid who got caught in a lie was arrested and charged with these fires.” 

The telling moment, Vottero told the jury, came after Baye’s police interrogation, when his parents were allowed to speak with him. When his mother asked if he had anything to say to them, Baye replied, “I’m sorry,” Vottero said.

Baye then told his father he did not remember whether or not he had been at the Yeskies’ house that night. When his mother asks what he wants them to do, Baye said, “There’s nothing you can do.”

Following the opening statements, the jury was bused to Northampton where they toured the sites of the fires. The bus drove by Baye’s 85 Hawley Street house and stopped at Arlington Place, one of the locations where he was questioned by police. The bus also passed by the World War II Club on Conz Street, where Baye had attended a party on the night of Dec. 26.

Testimony in the trial is scheduled to begin on Friday, when the prosecution calls its first witness. The trial is expected to last 2-3 weeks.

Follow the Anthony Baye trial with live updates of testimony and court proceedings every minute court is in session at www.masslive.com. For an online archive of coverage dating back to the fires, including a guide to the trial, go to www.masslive.com/hampfires.

Judge Tina Page accepted the agreed upon sentence of 2½ years, which Arsenault, 26, had already served in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center while awaiting trial.

06.25.2010 | SPRINGFIELD -- Amanda Arsenault stands in Hampden County Superior Court during her arraignment on murder charges in connection of the death of her baby in July 2009.Photo by Mark M. Murray / The Republican [file] 

SPRINGFIELD — Amanda Arsenault has pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless endangerment of a child in connection to the death of her 6-month-old son, Naiden Goitia, in July 2009.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page accepted the agreed upon sentence of 2½ years, which Arsenault, 26, had already served in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center while awaiting trial.

In March, 28-year-old Edwin Goitia, the baby’s father, was found guilty of first-degree murder in Naiden’s death and is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Joseph Franco, Arsenault’s lawyer, said Arsenault has accepted responsibility for allowing Edwin Goitia to visit with her son unsupervised in her apartment. As a result Naiden was fatally injured.

“She has accepted responsibility in order to bring full justice for Naiden,” Franco said.

A murder charge was previously dismissed against Arsenault because it was determined she had nothing to do with the injury to Naiden, Franco said.

Goitia was convicted for the killing of his child on July 29, 2009, in a Dale Street apartment in Chicopee. Prosecutor Jane E. Mulqueen had argued that Goitia smacked his baby’s head twice against a hard surface to kill him.

The murder charge against Arsenault was dismissed by prosecutors after Goitia was found guilty. Arsenault testified for the prosecution at Goitia’s trial, saying her baby had been happy and healthy before Goitia - who did not live with her but was visiting – took him to put him to bed alone.

The baby was later discovered not breathing.

The state Department of Children and Families had placed Naiden in the custody of Arsenault's father and stepmother after bruises were found on the infant in February 2009, raising suspicions of abuse.

Two out of the three bidders for the lone license in the Metro Boston and Worcester area shared the stage with ardent opponents, who claimed casinos would lower property values and quality of life, and questioned the jobs projections the proponents used.

By ANDY METZGER

BOSTON — Dream big, Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said at a Thursday forum, even if casinos are your worst nightmare.

“Now is the time to talk to the bidders,” Crosby told attendees at a Suffolk University forum Thursday morning. “This is the moment of absolute maximum leverage. There will never be a moment like this again.”

Two out of the three bidders for the lone license in the Metro Boston and Worcester area shared the stage with ardent opponents, who claimed casinos would lower property values and quality of life, and questioned the jobs projections the proponents used. The third contender, Wynn Resorts, has already negotiated a host community agreement with Everett, though its bid will still face a vote in the city and review by the commission, which will weigh it against the other proposals.

“We’re looking for a wow factor. We’re looking for something special. We’re looking for something different,” Crosby advised the applicants in introductory remarks.

Foxwoods Resort Casino CEO Scott Butera, who aims to build a casino along Interstate 495 in Milford, touted the Connecticut resort, which is the biggest casino in North America, as a much larger version of what he has in mind for the suburban town.

“You don’t have to be the biggest game in town,” said Butera, who contrasted his approach of leaving 80 percent of the wooded site undeveloped against the “McMansion” style of home architecture.

“What’s not being addressed is the impact on property values,” said Steve Trettel, of Casino Free Milford, alleging that casino proponents can’t solve all the problems casinos might create. He said, “For some influx of financial help to the town, why would we ever want to give up the semi-rural, suburban environment of our town?”

Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle, who wants to convert the Revere and East Boston horse racing track into a Caesars Entertainment resort, offered up downtown Boston attractions as a highlight of his proposal.

“We want to partner with local hotels,” said Tuttle, who said partnerships with restaurants and theaters would be part of the proposed resort. He said, “It’s an approach that is more collaborative.”

Celeste Ribeiro Myers, of No Eastie Casino, said city officials and Suffolk are aligned in trying to secure the license for the track, though it would be possible for Milford, East Boston and Everett to reject the proposals.

“Only one of these locations can be awarded a casino, if you consider it an award, however it’s important to note that none of us has to have a casino,” Myers said. She said, “We can’t get access to the most basic data. We’re marching to an arbitrary timeline that’s been set by the Gaming Commission and our local officials.”

Wynn, which abandoned a casino proposal for Foxborough last year after anti-casino candidates won a local election, did not appear at the forum, but assistant Everett city solicitor David Rodrigues spoke in support of the proposal and the roughly $30 million he said the city would receive even before the casino opens. Wynn is the only developer to secure a host community agreement and none of the municipalities in the region have held a referendum on an agreement.

“This certainly was not something that was railroaded,” said Rodrigues, who said Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s first concern was jobs for the city.

“Have you been to casinos? People lose money at casinos,” said Everett resident Evmorphia Stratis, who said she is concerned about human trafficking and areas around casinos resembling Atlantic City, N.J.

The question could be put to voters soon, as Crosby said the plan is to license a slots parlor by this October, if not sooner, and two casino licenses by February or March, 2014, if not sooner.

Asked after the forum whether Suffolk’s political arm had taken an interest in the race to replace Boston Mayor Tom Menino, an avid Suffolk supporter, Tuttle said, “I don’t think it makes any difference whatsoever. The process should be complete during Mayor Menino’s term.” He said, “The local process should be complete between now and the fall.”

Tuttle said the vote on the Suffolk Downs proposal would be for Revere and East Boston residents only unless the Boston City Council decides to make it citywide. The vote will take place between 60 and 90 days after a host-community agreement is signed, according to the city’s website.

Crosby asserted that before the commission grants a casino license, local government and citizens will have the opportunity to decide whether they want a casino in their city or town, through the agreement and the referendum.

“This is up to the locals,” Crosby said. He said cities and especially towns should draw on Gaming Commission resources as they negotiate with better resourced and more experienced casino developers.

“There’s no limits on what a host community can ask for,” Crosby said. “There are limits, obviously, on what a bidder will give.”

The study is believed to be the first of its kind.

FILE - In this August 1999 file photo, poker is played at Station Casino in Kansas City, Mo. File photo | Associated Press 

AMHERST - A University of Massachusetts-Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences research team has been chosen by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to conduct a multi-year $3.64 million research project - believed to be the first of its kind - to study the economic and social impacts of introducing casino gambling to Massachusetts, as well as problem gambling.

One of the researchers is UMass professor Rachel A. Volberg, who has studied gambling and problem gambling since 1985. She wrote "When the Chips are Down -Problem Gambling in America" in 2001.

The Western Massachusetts region is slated to receive one casino license; companies competing for it are Mohegan Sun in Palmer, Hard Rock International in West Springfield and MGM Resorts International in Springfield.

The team was given a one-year contract with a three-year extension. Volberg said the project is intended to start immediately, to obtain a "baseline snapshot of what's happening in Massachusetts before the locations are even announced."

They plan to do a survey as soon as possible to examine people's attitudes toward gambling and expanded gambling and to look at current gambling behavior.

"I've been in this field for almost 30 years . . . this is the first time to actually have the opportunity to document these impacts as they unfold over time," Volberg said.

"It's all very exciting," Volberg said. "It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity for someone like myself. I've been doing gambling research for a long time and it's a great opportunity to be able to make a contribution."

Volberg stated, "Our results will be freely available to other researchers and state commissions, who can then begin their own appropriate studies. This is going to create a very important database resource for stakeholders in Massachusetts and elsewhere.”

The state Expanded Gaming Act requires that the commission establish an “annual research agenda” to understand the social and economic effects of expanded gaming.

According to a press release, after the Gaming Commission has identified towns that will receive casinos, over the next five years Volberg and her colleagues will use tools such as community and patron surveys, baseline demographic information, census and labor statistics and socioeconomic indicators to collect information. The team will also formally evaluate problem gambling treatment services in Massachusetts.

Iris L. Cardin, co-president of Quaboag Valley Against Casinos, questioned if more research is really needed. Cardin said she thinks the negative aspects of casinos are well-known.

"It can ruin families. It's all over the place what the effects are. It's really nice to do a study, but all that money? It doesn't make sense to me," Cardin said.

In Palmer on Thursday night, the Western Massachusetts Casino Health Impact Assessment team of Partners for a Healthier Community conducted a casino health impact forum. The forum asked the question, "How do you think a casino will impact health in Palmer?"

Another forum is slated for Monday at West Springfield City Hall from 6 to 8 p.m., and one will be held in Springfield, at a location and date yet to be determined.

Findings from the health forum will be delivered to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which is overseeing the casino licensing process.

Unlike some states that have opted to purchase more generic systems "off-the-shelf" from software consultants, Massachusetts health officials decided to build their own proprietary system that will integrate the Affordable Care Act eligibility requirements with MassHealth as well to serve the entire state population.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON — Describing the next five months as the “home stretch,” officials tasked with implementing the federal Affordable Care Act – Obamacare, as it has come to be known – detailed an “intense” agenda on Thursday that will require the adoption of qualified health and dental plans, transitioning recipients of subsidized care to new health insurance products and building a custom IT system to deliver “real-time” eligibility determinations for new customers.

And it must all be done by Oct. 1.

“Every resource is being deployed to get that work done,” Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor told members of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority board on Thursday. “I am confident we are going to get to where we need to get.”

While many major decisions and legislative approvals have already been made to position the Connector for the 2014 implementation of federal health care reform, some the heaviest lifting must still be completed.

One of the more complex tasks involves building a new software system that will allow potential customers for health insurance through the exchange to obtain on-the-spot eligibility determinations when they visit the Connector’s new website.

Unlike some states that have opted to purchase more generic systems “off-the-shelf” from software consultants, Massachusetts health officials decided to build their own proprietary system that will integrate the Affordable Care Act eligibility requirements with MassHealth as well to serve the entire state population.

The system – a switch from the current paper-based process - will be able to tap into a federal data hub to access information on resident income, immigration status and other criteria necessary to determine eligibility, but will also access state records as well.

The Connector Board voted Thursday to extend the ACA compliance management and consulting contract with Deloitte through the summer of 2014, and to formally transfer the regulations and take over the duties of administering the Student Health Insurance Program (SHIP), health insurance responsibility disclosure, the employer surcharge for state-funded health costs and the employer fair share contribution programs.

The heath care cost containment bill of 2012 transferred all of those duties to the Connector from the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, which was dissolved into the Center for Health Information and Analysis.

Gov. Deval Patrick last week filed legislation to bring Massachusetts into compliance with new federal regulations under the ACA, including a three-year transition to new rating factors that businesses warn will drive up premiums for small business owners.

The bill also authorizes data to be shared between the Connector Authority, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Health, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Correction, the Center for Health Information and Analysis and any other state agencies that might collect relevant data.

Those interagency agreements will be central to developing the IT eligibility system.

“We’re hoping the federal data services hub will provide us with all of the information we need, but we still don’t know if the feds’ information will be as timely as the state information,” said Roni Mansur, deputy executive director and chief operating officer of the Connector Authority.

The transition will also require the shutting down of Commonwealth Care and Commonwealth Choice, programs created by the 2006 state reform law offering subsidized insurance options to qualified residents and a marketplace for purchasing unsubsidized insurance.

According to Mansur and Kaitlyn Kenney, director of policy and research and coordinator of national health care reform at the Connector, they will provide a more detailed update in June for the board on the status of member transition, the marketing and outreach program to inform the public about upcoming changes, and recommendations on the plans that will be offered through the exchange.

“We want to ensure that current members are successfully transitioned to whatever their new coverage option is with as minimal a disruption as possible,” said Kenney.

The goal of the Connector is to have all current members transitioned to new plans, the new IT system operational, a call-center functional and ready to serve customers and new insurance products ready for purchase by Oct. 1.

Group Insurance Commissioner Dolores Mitchell noted that Oct. 1 will be the seventh anniversary of the day Commonwealth Care opened enrollment for people with incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level under the six-month old health care reform act signed by former Gov. Mitt Romney.

“I think we should be planning something hoop-dee-do to celebrate,” Mitchell said.

Unemployment claims dropped to a five-year low last week, the Labor department reported early Thursday. That signals fewer layoffs and possibly more hiring.

ING U.S. Chairman and CEO Rodney Martin, Jr., right, watches as Getco specialist Peter Giacchi calls out prices during the IPO of Martin's company, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets closed mostly lower on Thursday as investors weighed an interest rate cut in South Korea against rising inflation in China. AP Photo/Richard Drew 

By STEVE ROTHWELL

NEW YORK — The stock market pulled back from record levels Thursday as investors became harder to please.

Even a decline in the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits failed to give stock prices a boost. Markets drifted lower in early trading, fluctuated between gains and losses in the afternoon, then ended slightly lower.

Unemployment claims dropped to a five-year low last week, the Labor department reported early Thursday. That signals fewer layoffs and possibly more hiring.

While the report failed to boost stocks, it did give the dollar a lift. The U.S. currency climbed against most major currencies and traded above 100 yen for the first time in more than four years. The Japanese currency has weakened dramatically this year due to the Bank of Japan's massive monetary stimulus.

An improvement in hiring at U.S. employers has been one of the key factors that pushed stocks up to record levels. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 15,000 for the first time Tuesday and is on track to notch six straight months of gains. The Standard and Poor's 500 index also closed at a record high Wednesday.

The bar for economic news and corporate earnings has risen as stock prices have marched higher, said JJ Kinahan, chief derivative strategist at TD Ameritrade. "You have to beat by a lot to really move the market higher," Kinahan said.

Rising corporate earnings, another key support for the stock market, were also in focus on Thursday.

Tesla Motors soared $13.61, or 24 percent, to $69.40, after the electric car maker posted its first quarterly net profit since it was founded a decade ago. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters surged $16.56, or 27.8 percent, to $76.04 after the company reported late Wednesday that its net income rose 42 percent. It also raised its earnings forecast for the full year.

Monster Beverage, the maker of energy drinks, fell $2.96, or 5 percent, to $54.01, after it reported net income that fell short of analysts' estimates. The company's profits fell 17 percent, despite stronger sales, because of unfavorable currency rates, legal expenses and costs tied to distribution agreements.

Almost 90 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported earnings for the first quarter. Earnings are projected to rise 5 percent for the period and continue climbing throughout the year, according to S&P Capital IQ.

The Dow fell 22.5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,082.62. The S&P 500 index dropped 6.02 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,626.67.

So far, markets have defied expectations for a slowdown heading into the summer.

The S&P 500 index has started the second quarter well, gaining 1.8 percent so far in the period. The index has declined in the second quarter in each of the past three years. Stocks slumped last year in the May-through-June period as Europe's debt crisis intensified, and in 2011 they dipped as wrangling in Washington pushed the U.S. to the brink of default.

"The market has had a phenomenal run," said Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy at Wells Fargo Private Bank. "We'll have to see how the second quarter plays out."

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note continued to rise, climbing to 1.82 percent from 1.77 percent on Wednesday. The yield, which moves inversely to the bond's price, has risen sharply since early Friday, when it traded as low as 1.63 percent, its lowest level of the year.

On Friday morning the government reported a sharp pickup in hiring over the past three months, which encouraged investors to sell low-risk assets like U.S. government debt, pushing the yield on the bonds higher.

The price of crude oil fell 23 cents, or 0.2 percent, $96.39 and gold fell $5.10, or 0.3 percent, to $1,468.60.

The dollar traded above 100 yen for the first time in more than four years. The Japanese currency has weakened dramatically this year, falling almost 15 percent against the dollar.

The dollar also rose against the euro and the British pound. The dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a group of currencies, rose 0.8 points, or 1 percent, to 82.71.

The U.S. currency is strengthening in part because the Federal Reserve is becoming optimistic about the outlook for the economy, while other central banks around the world are increasing their efforts to stimulate their economies. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion a month to hold down long-term interest rates and encourage borrowing and spending.

"Between the U.S. economy improving and the Federal Reserve thinking about tapering asset purchases, which is a different direction to which other central banks are moving, that's going to keep the dollar in demand," said Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management.

In other stock trading, the Nasdaq composite index, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, fell 4.10 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,409.17.

Barnes & Noble surged $4.31, or 24.3 percent, to $22.08 after the technology news blog TechCrunch reported that Microsoft was considering acquiring the book retailer's digital book venture Nook Media for $1 billion.

The plot revolves around the need to get help for friends who are having a difficult time.

MONTAGUE –Seventeen students from Sudden Scene Theater, an elective course offered to juniors at Franklin County Technical School, will bring a message of encouragement to students at a southern Vermont high school as they present their original play, “A Day in the Life,” Friday in Brattleboro.

The plot revolves around the need to get help for friends who are having a difficult time.

“The message we’re trying to get across is that if your friend is hurting or suffering in any way, it’s OK to talk to somebody and try to find help for your friend,” said Dean A. Scranton, an English/theater teacher involved with the production. “It’s not a betrayal of friendship. It’s the right thing to do.”

Paul N. Cohen, Brattleboro Union High School director of counseling and a former principal of Franklin County Technical School, invited Scranton and the students he directs to create a play to encourage students to seek a trusted adult when they or a friend are in a troubling situation. “There is real power in peer-to-peer presentations of issues that deal with teenage problems,” he said. “I’m really impressed with the work he and his students produce.”

Plays performed in the past 15 years focused on topics like dating, alcohol and drug abuse, gay rights, race and pregnancy. “We present potent teen issues through an art form to make (the issues) more accessible,” Scranton said.

A sophomore Brattleboro Union High School student committed suicide in 2011, and “the aftermath continues to resonate through the building,” Cohen said. The tragedy has led to conversations among the school administration and counseling department about ways to encourage students to confide in a trusted adult about their own concerns or concerns about a friend.

Samantha Tan, Zachary M. Swenson and Alissa J. Ames, clockwise from top, rehearse for "€œA Day in the Life,"€ an original play created by Sudden Scene Theater at Franklin County Technical School in Turners Falls. Students are scheduled to perform it at Brattleboro Union High School in Vermont Friday. 

According to the 2011 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey prepared by the Vermont Department of Health Division of Health Surveillance, in the preceding 12 months, 19 percent of all students in grades nine through 12 felt sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks, 8 percent made a suicide plan, and 4 percent attempted suicide.

Females were significantly more likely than males to feel sad or hopeless.

Reported suicide attempts declined from 9 percent in 1993 to 4 percent in 2011.

“We want to give (the Brattleboro students) a sense of relief that it’s OK to get help. They don’t have to be afraid,” said Jaime L. Judge, 17, of Orange.

“We’re giving them a sense that they are not alone,” said Zachary M. Swenson, 17, of Sunderland.

“We’re hoping to bring them hope and courage to step up and say something” when a friend is having difficulties, said Anna Vasquez-Wright, 17, of Colrain. “We hope to help them heal” from tragedies they have faced.

Contemplation of suicide is not the only issue of concern. Students should seek out a trusted adult to express concern over other issues like eating disorders, date violence, racism, homophobia and substance abuse.

“We want them to turn to an adult for help. As adults, we turn to other adults for help,” said Steven R. Perrin, principal of Brattleboro Union High School. “We want kids to look out for each other and get help.”

He said he and other school leaders were looking for a program to “help us frame this issue” of getting help, and though commercial programs are available, they chose to go with the Franklin County Technical High School one because they determined it would “resonate” with the Brattleboro high school students and be more effective.

Sudden Scene Theater uses improvisation, writing, research, theater games and activities to create theater pieces that have strong themes related to student issues. The plays are original, student-owned and operated. “My role is director, but students are responsible for all characterizations and content,” Scranton said.

The plays ring true because of their “authentic voice,” he explained. “Because they write it…(and) create the characters, when they present it, it is realistic and what they want to get across to an audience.”

After research, writing and improvisations, Sudden Scene Theater brought the rough draft to the Brattleboro high school for the administration, guidance, support staff and a few students to review. “They responded very positively to our play and following discussion and felt that we addressed the issue in an appropriate and artistic way,” Scranton said.

“We have an incredibly responsive school from the top down,” Cohen said, noting that the administration advocates for all adults to pay close attention to students and that the teachers are “student-focused,” not just in terms of core educational materials but “take wonderful, proactive roles in all aspects of student life.”

Students—indeed society in general—face more challenges and expectations today than perhaps ever before. In addition, teens’ “social life in a 24-hour-a-day process” thanks to social media, Perrin said. “They never get a chance to disconnect.”

A student-run discussion with the audience will take place after the play. “Giving voice to students to talk about meaningful aspects of their lives and empowering students to speak honestly and without direction from adults is powerful,” Scranton said.

There will be a table in the cafeteria at which students can identify on paper adults they could turn to, and those papers will be hung in the school. “They can write down who they trust—Mom, a teacher, a member of the clergy,” Cohen said. “It will get them to think about who they can turn to” in the event they are ever faced with a personal crisis or the crisis of a friend.

“We are thrilled Dean and his students are willing to do this,” Perrin said. “It’s incredibly thoughtful and generous to give us all this time and energy.”

The 25-minute play will be presented twice Friday to ninth- and tenth-grade audiences; it incorporates two musical numbers into the story line.

Two other residents managed to escape the burning building. They are being treated for smoke inhalation at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

A woman died in a Wednesday evening house fire on Mapleton Avenue in Suffield. Authorities have yet to release the woman's identity or indicate what caused the fire.Conor Berry, The Republican 

This is an update to a story posted at 7:52 a.m. Thursday

SUFFIELD - Officials have confirmed the identify of a woman killed Wednesday night in a house fire in Mapleton Avenue but are not yet disclosing the name to the press pending notification of the woman’s family, Suffield Fire Capt. Michael Thibedeau said.

The woman, a resident of the house at 1489 Mapleton Ave., was apparently trapped inside the burning house and killed in the fire, which was reported at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Two other residents managed to escape the burning building. They are being treated for smoke inhalation at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the state Fire Marshall’s Office, Thibedeau said.

It appears to have started on the first floor, he said.

It took firefighters close to an hour to get the fire under control, Thibedeau said. Several times firefighters thought they had the fire out to have it reignite.

Firefighters from Thompsonville and Windsor Locks also responded to the fire.

Mapleton Avenue is off Route 159 and less than a mile south of the Agawam line.

Video of scene by WFSB Eyewitness News 3 in Hartford
WFSB 3 Connecticut

Christopher Hoffman is charged with threatening and intimidating Maureen Adams of Goshen, a probation officer under his supervision.

WORCESTER — Probation officers in Western Massachusetts testified on Thursday about the tension and fear that hung over their jobs in the wake of an independent counsel's report that found the hiring system in the state probation department was rigged and fraudulent.

"It was terrible," said Sean P. McDonald, a probation officer in Hampshire Superior Court. "It was awful. Everyone was walking around on egg shells, afraid to make mistakes."

McDonald's comments came on the last day of testimony in the witness-intimidation trial of Christopher J. Hoffman, about 40, of Hatfield, the acting chief probation officer in Hampshire Superior Court. Hoffman is on administrative leave without pay, pending the outcome of his trial.

On Friday, a prosecutor and Hoffman's lawyer are scheduled to give closing statements to the jury of 10 men and four women, including two alternates. A verdict could come as soon as Friday.

McDonald testified about the charged atmosphere at probation sparked by a report in late 2010 by lawyer Paul F. Ware Jr., of Boston, that concluded that former Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien and his top lieutenants operated a hiring system that was rigged in favor of politically connected candidates mostly recommended by current and former state lawmakers.

The report, ordered by the state Supreme Judicial Court, prompted an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston. So far, O'Brien, former second deputy commissioner Elizabeth V. Tavares and William H. Burke III, of Hatfield, retired deputy probation commissioner for Western Massachusetts, have been indicted on multiple federal charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and bribery. The three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In the first trial that has stemmed from that investigation, Hoffman is facing two counts of witness tampering. Hoffman has pleaded not guilty.

During the nearly day-long testimony before Judge Timothy S. Hillman in U.S. District Court in Worcester, a string of witnesses offered no new significant revelations about the details of the charges against Hoffman.

Hoffman, wearing a dark suit and red tie, showed little emotion during the testimony.

Hoffman is charged with threatening and intimidating Maureen Adams of Goshen, a probation officer under his supervision.

Testimony on Thursday corroborated the prosecution's contention that Hoffman told Adams that everyone would think she was a rat for speaking with the FBI about the investigation. Other testimony indicated that Hoffman may have only been joking at the time.

Laurie Clark, a probation officer in Northampton District Court, testified that Hoffman made light of Ware's investigation.

"He told me it was going to blow over, this whole big probation scandal," Clark said. "He told me John O'Brien would get his job back and that (Chief administrative Judge Robert A. Mulligan) would say he did something."

"I told him our jobs could end at any time. I thought it was going to be a big long process. When I told him we could lose our jobs, he said, 'Point well taken,' " Clark testified.

During Clark's testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin M. Bell showed the jury a text message that Maureen Adams sent to then-acting probation commissioner Ronald Corbett Jr. after she spoke with the FBI in October 2011.

The text message from Adams said that Hoffman was going to "tell everyone I was a rat and I would be in jail within a week."

Under cross-examination by Hoffman's lawyer, Vincent A. Bongiorni of Springfield, Clark conceded that Hoffman had told Adams to tell the truth before she was interviewed by the FBI.

"Mr. Hoffman told her to tell the truth," Bongiorni told Clark. "The first thing Ms. Adams told you was that Mr. Hoffman told her to tell the truth."

Testimony on Thursday also indicated that probation was hurt by crude behavior on the part of Hoffman and his chief accuser, Adams.

Denise McCarthy, an operations supervisor in probation at Hampshire Superior Court, testified that she saw Adams several times give Hoffman the middle finger behind his back.

McCarthy said Adams was upset that Hoffman had reduced her days in the field from two to one.

McCarthy testified that Adams stopped talking to her and providing her with work after she said Hoffman was joking when he called her a rat.

McDonald, the probation officer in Hampshire Superior Court, testified that Hoffman would sometimes say to support staff, "What's up, bitches?"

McDonald testified that he once had a "verbal altercation" with Hoffman, who put a letter of reprimand in his personnel file. McDonald said he told Hoffman to get out of his office.

Testimony also showed that probation was marked by the hiring of relatives.

McDonald said his brother and sister are also probation officers and his father is the former chief probation officer in Greenfield District Court.

Clark said her father was an acting chief probation officer.

Francine M. Ryan, regional supervisor in the Springfield probation office and daughter of the late Hampden District Attorney Matthew J. Ryan, testified that Hoffman "did an excellent job" as acting chief probation officer.

However, under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Fisher, Ryan testified that she didn't know how Hoffman was promoted to his position.

"Mr. Hoffman was known as one of Mr. Burke's guys," Fisher told Ryan. "You were his boss?"

Investigators said Blomquist had some experience in the U.S. Navy and had amassed minor charges in other states including theft of government property.

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

SPRINGFIELD - At 34, he had collected a very legitimate-looking fake license and social security card, a number of aliases and criminal allegations, according to U.S. Marshals.

 

Marshals arrested John Blomquist, 34, in Moab, Utah, in connection with allegedly drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in Agawam at a motel last year. Agawam police, state police and the marshals tracked Blomquist after he fled and two child rape counts issued from Hampden County, investigators said.

U.S. Marshals said he fed the child, the daughter of an acquaintance, Clonazepam to knock her out. The child's mother said she had met Blomquist in Texas and then traveled with him here.

Marshals tracked Blomquist to the small town in Utah after chasing leads from here to New Mexico, California and elsewhere.

David Milne, a spokesman for Springfield U.S. Marshals, said Blomquist was using the alias Bradley S. Allen and had used the same alias in Western Massachusetts.

"He actively taunted marshals and sent 'catch me if you can post cards' from Las Vegas," Milne said.

With the help of Agawam police and the Massachusetts State Police violent fugitive apprehension section, marshals tracked Blomquist through several states and arrested the suspect in Moab outside a bar on Wednesday night.

Blomquist originally offered the Allen alias but shortly told investigators his true identity, Milne said.

Investigators there also found a rifle in his car; Blomquist will face weapons charges in that state and is in custody there. He will be extradited to Massachusetts where he will face child rape charges in Hampden Superior Court.

Investigators said Blomquist had some experience in the U.S. Navy and had amassed minor charges in other states including theft of government property. However, no further details were available at this time.

Law enforcement officials provided a professional resume for Blomquist with a Travis Air Force Base address and work history that included posts as a "visual media director," server at Chili's and the Hard Rock Cafe in Houston; and as a video producer in Farmington, N.M. It also lists a tenure from 1995 to 1999 as an Aviation Electricians Mate, U.S. Naval Reserve, Norfolk Naval Base, Va.

It is not yet clear when Blomquist will appear in court here to answer the child rape charges.

Antonio Liquori said he put a statute of the Virgin Mary up with his flowers beautifying West Springfield's South Boulevard in West Springfield to show love and peace.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — On Sunday, Mother’s Day, the Madonna of the South Boulevard traffic island will appear again.

A statue of the Virgin Mary will be returned to her former perch on the island. The Madonna already has been restored there in the form of a paper likeness calling for her statue to put back.

“I’m real excited about it,” Antonio Liquori, the owner of Liquori’s Pizza, said late Thursday afternoon. The native of Italy had put a statue of the Virgin Mary at the traffic island as part of his efforts through a city program to beautify such spaces.

He started out with flowers last spring and then soon got the inspiration to put the Madonna there, too.

However, several weeks ago he got a letter from Department of Public Works Deputy Director of Operations Vincent DeSantis III telling him to take the statue down. The letter stated that religious symbols are not allowed on public property and complaints had been made [see letter at the end of this article].

Antonio LiquoriPhoto by Mark M. Murray / The Republican 

With a heavy heart, Liquori removed the statue from the traffic island and placed it instead on his front lawn just several doors down from his business at 659 Westfield St.

Having to remove Mary created “a hole” in his heart, according to Liquori, who told a reporter that he put her up for love and peace, not to promote his Catholic religion.

In the meantime, Liquori's Pizza patron Joan Palmero started a petition lobbying to get the statue allowed back on the island, knocking on doors and getting signatures from customers at the pizzeria.

Her efforts created a groundswell of support for restoring the Madonna to the island.

On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger, who learned of the controversy from a reporter on Wednesday, told Department of Public Works Director Robert J. Colson to give the word that Mary can come back.

Neffinger said DeSantis did not have the authority to order the icon taken down. Instead, the matter should have gone to the Town Attorney Simon J. Brighenti Jr.

“That is not Vinnie’s decision,” the mayor said.

Neffinger said he will make up his mind about whether the statue can remain at the traffic island after he gets a legal opinion from Brighenti. He said the timing of his decision depends on how much other work the town attorney has to do.

Neffinger said DeSantis will not be disciplined.

Liquori said a lot of people were deeply hurt by the removal of the statue from the island.

“I’m not doing this for my business,” Liquori said.

The local businessman said he has no hard feelings toward DeSantis. “He is a nice, nice guy. Nothing against him. He has to do his job,” Liquori said.

Department of Public Works Director Robert J. Colson told a reporter on Wednesday that his office has gotten complaints, including one unsigned letter dated March 28 complaining, “I am writing about the terrible traffic decoration that is on South Boulevard.”

Letter From West Springfield DPW to Antonio Liquori by masslive