Under the new ordinance, the three sitting members of the Board of Health will remain in their positions for the duration of their terms.

Mary Clare Higgins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Marshals dragged Loughner out of the courtroom because of an angry outburst.

Jared Lee Loughner is accused of shooting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in an Arizona shooting spree.

TUCSON, Ariz. – The man accused of gunning down Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six is mentally incompetent to stand trial, a judge ruled Wednesday after U.S. Marshals dragged the man out of the courtroom because of an angry outburst.

As survivors of the deadly January attack looked on, Jared Lee Loughner lowered his head, raised it and said what sounded like “Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me.” His words were loud but mumbled, and it wasn’t clear who he was talking about. He wore a khaki prison suit and sported bushy, reddish sideburns.

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns’ decision means the 21-year-old will be sent to a federal facility for up to four months in a bid to restore his competency.

The ruling came after Loughner spent five weeks in March and April at a federal facility in Springfield, Mo., where he was examined by two court-appointed mental health professionals. The two were asked to determine whether Loughner understands the consequences of the case against him.

The competency reports by psychologist Christina Pietz and psychiatrist Matthew Carroll haven’t been publicly released.

Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 federal charges stemming from the Jan. 8 shooting at a meet-and-greet event that wounded Giffords and 12 others and killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge.

After the outburst, two marshals standing behind Loughner’s chair grabbed him by each arm and led him from the courtroom. Loughner’s father, sitting a few rows behind his son, lowered his eyes and huddled with two women seated next to him.

After a short recess, the marshals told the judge that Loughner had calmed down. They then brought Loughner back into the courtroom, and the judge told him he had a right to watch the hearing.

Burns asked Loughner if he wanted to stay in the courtroom and behave, or view the proceeding on a TV screen in another room.

“I want to watch the TV screen,” Loughner responded.

At least two survivors of the Tucson attack looked on: Giffords aide Pam Simon, who was shot in the chest and right wrist; and retired Army Col. Bill Badger, who is credited with helping subdue Loughner after a bullet grazed the back of Badger’s head.

Prosecutors had asked for the mental exam, citing a YouTube video in which they believe a hooded Loughner wore garbage bags and burned an American flag.

The judge gave the two mental health professionals access to Loughner’s health records from his pediatrician, a behavioral health hospital that treated him for extreme intoxication in May 2006 and an urgent care center where he was treated in 2004 for unknown reasons.

Loughner will be sent to a federal facility for a maximum of four months to see if his competency can be restored. If he’s later determined to be competent, the case against him will resume.

If he isn’t deemed competent at the end of his treatment, his stay at the facility can be extended. There are no limits on the number of times such extensions can be granted.

If doctors conclude they can’t restore his mental competency, the judge would have to decide whether the suspect can be restored. If the judge decides there’s no likelihood of restoration, the judge can dismiss the charges against him. In that case, state and federal authorities can petition to have him civilly committed and could seek to extend that commitment repeatedly, said Heather Williams, a federal public defender in Tucson who isn’t involved in the Loughner case.

The doctors who examined Loughner were ordered not to focus on his sanity at the time of the shooting.

Loughner’s lawyers haven’t said whether they intend to present an insanity defense. But they noted in court filings that his mental condition will likely be a central issue at trial and described him as a “gravely mentally ill man.”

The transportation task force will continue to meet.

Republican file photo

EAST LONGMEADOW – The transportation task force and the School Committee have come to an agreement about busing fees.

While the fees will not be reduced for families of two children, there will be a cap of $540 placed on busing fees.

“Basically, families who have more than two school-aged children will not have to pay for more than two children to ride the bus,” said Laura B. Joubert, a parent and member of the Transportation Task Force.

The bus fee will remain at $270 per student, but for families with three or more children, there will be a reduction in cost.

“This cap will not help my family, but it might make it easier for larger families to put their kids on the bus,” she said. “This is just a first step. The task force will continue to meet during the next school year to see how we can further assist families.”

Joubert submitted a warrant article about the bus fees during the May 2010 annual Town Meeting. While the article did not pass, it did push the School Committee to start the task force.

“I was happily surprised that everyone came together and has been willing to look at this issue seriously,” she said.

School Committee and task force committee member Joseph Cabrera said he was disappointed with the resolution.

“After a year of working on this, I am disappointed that this is the only agreement we could come to. More needs to be done to reduce the fees,” he said.

The task force has been meeting regularly during the past school year to discuss the bus fees, as well as other transportation issues in town. A survey of the system revealed that most families were concerned with the high fee.

“We had a very good response to the survey,” said Superintendent of Schools Gordon C. Smith. “Most families are concerned about the fee, and many said they would be satisfied with a cap. We got a lot of useful comments about things we should be working on as well.”

Smith agreed with Joubert that this is just a first step.

“We will continue to look at ways to make it more convenient for parents to place their children on the bus if that is something they want to do,” he said.

The School Committee voted to approve the cap at its May 9 meeting. The committee approved the 2011-12 transportation services contract during its meeting Monday night.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38 points close at 12,394.66.

Associated Press photoA sculpture of fuel nozzles stands in front of a convenience store in Lawrence, Kan., Tuesday. Oil prices, which were below $99 a barrel Tuesday, exceeded $101 Wednesday.

NEW YORK – The oil rally is on again.

Stocks closed higher Wednesday for the first day this week as rising oil prices offset worries about the global economic recovery. Oil rose nearly $2 to settle at $101.32 per barrel, pushing energy stocks higher.

Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. led the S&P 500, rising 7 percent. Higher prices for copper, silver and other commodities lifted miners and other material companies. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. gained 2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.45 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 12,394.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.19, or 0.3 percent, to 1,320.47. The Nasdaq composite rose 15.22, or 0.6 percent, to 2,761.38.

Markets have been battered in recent days by new worries over Europe’s debt crisis. The last time stocks closed higher was Thursday, when investors welcomed a blockbuster initial public offering by the social networking site LinkedIn Corp.

Greece’s government and opposition party failed late Tuesday to reach agreement on how to pare the country’s debts, adding to the uncertainty surrounding Greece’s financial future. Many analysts believe Greece will eventually have to restructure its debt, possibly by extending interest payments or lowering interest rates.

Without that restructuring, Greece might default. That would cause a domino effect, raising borrowing rates for larger European countries and hampering the world economy.

Japan’s government reported that the country’s exports fell by 12.5 percent in April after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami shuttered factories and forced manufacturers to stop production. Japan’s auto shipments were particularly hurt, dropping 67 percent. The report added to concerns that the global economy is a long way from returning to health.

The drop in Japanese exports hit orders for long-lasting goods in the U.S. The Commerce Department said companies ordered fewer computers, heavy machines, cars and airplanes from factories in April. The 3.8 percent drop was the biggest in 6 months, reflecting a decline in U.S. business investment.

Stocks had been on a steady climb since last August until the Japanese catastrophe shook global financial markets in March. Strong corporate earnings sent stocks back up in April, but markets have stalled in the past three weeks. The S&P 500 closed at 1,363 on April 29, its highest level of the year, and has drifted lower ever since.

Some analysts say the market may have been rising too far, too fast since the beginning of the year, making stocks seem expensive. The Dow is still up 7 percent for the year. The S&P 500 is up 5 percent.

“A pullback in the market is probably healthy,” said Michael Sansoterra, portfolio manager at Silvant Capital Management.

Fertilizer company CF Industries rose 3 percent a day after a JPMorgan upgraded the stock, citing the company’s good cash flow and positive predictions for the agriculture industry.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia jumped 24 percent. The company announced that it had hired the Blackstone Group as an adviser, triggering speculation the whole company will be put up for sale.

Retail stocks struggled. Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. sank 11 percent after reporting that higher costs pushed profit down 36 percent. Discount retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. slipped 1 percent after reporting earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.

American International Group Inc. fell 4 percent to $28.28 as the U.S. Treasury Department sold some of its stake in the company. Treasury said it would sell 300 million AIG shares for $29 each, making a small profit. The price was set late Tuesday at the low end of the government’s projected range.

Coleman, a NASA flight engineer, landed safely in Kazakhstan after working aboard the International Space Station with astronauts from Russia and Italy. Watch video

Associated Press photoU.S. astronaut Cady Coleman speaks on a satellite phone to her family shortly after the landing with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and European Space Agency Astronaut Paolo Nespoli in the Soyuz TMA-20, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday. A Russian Soyuz capsule delivered an international trio of astronauts back to Earth on Tuesday after six months on the International Space Station, parachuting through clear skies toward a safe landing on the Kazakh steppe.

SHELBURNE – Astronaut Dr. Catherine “Cady” Coleman is back on Earth and reunited with her husband and son in Houston.

Coleman, a NASA flight engineer, landed safely Tuesday in Kazakhstan after spending more than five months working aboard the International Space Station with astronauts from Russia and Italy. She returned to Houston, where she lives when not in Shelburne Falls.

“I’m just totally happy to have my wife back safe on the earth again. It’s great,” said Coleman’s husband, local artist Josh Simpson, calling The Republican from Houston. “It’s not quite the same talking to her on the phone or seeing her on TV as it is seeing her in person.”

“I think it’s been really hard for our ten-year-old son because it’s nice to have Mom close by,” he said. But Coleman read stories to her son every night before bed.

Simpson said raising their son on his own for five months was a challenge, but when Cady was training in Russia, Europe and Japan, she was gone for several weeks at a time.

“It got us used to the idea that Mom wasn’t going to be home for a long time,” he said. “But it’s no more difficult than spouses who stay home whose wives and husbands are deployed in the military.”

“We’re geographically challenged as a family,” he said. “So it’s nice to see each other. ... It’s a good recipe for a long and lasting relationship” because it means they have fewer arguments, he joked.

Simpson and Coleman met in 1990 when Coleman accidentally dialed the number to Simpson’s studio and he answered. They have been married for 13 years.

Simpson is a glass-blower and focuses his work on depictions of celestial bodies and flights in outer space.

“We represent two ends of a continuum,” said Simpson. “She actually explores space and ... I hope to inspire people to do the same.”

When Coleman landed in Kazakhstan, she called Simpson from a satellite phone and said the landing was “a lot of fun,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Johnson Space Center in Houston said Coleman, 50, and her colleagues will undergo medical rehabilitation and debriefing, which usually takes two to three weeks, so it is unclear when she will be back in Western Massachusetts.

While in orbit 200 miles above the planet, the crew of Expedition 27 performed “more than 150 microgravity experiments in human research; biology and biotechnology; physical and materials science; technology development; and Earth and space sciences,” according to a NASA press release.

The trio included commander Dmitry Kondratyev of Russia and Italian engineer Paolo Nespoli.

When she wasn’t expanding our planet’s understanding of science, Coleman was broadening the minds of students on terra firma.

Coleman delivered a recorded commencement address to graduates of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from aboard the ISS, during which she encouraged graduates to work together to save a fragile world.

In March, she appeared live from the station at Springfield Technical Community College. She answered questions from students at the college, STEM Middle Academy in Springfield and the Lt. Elmer J. McMahon Elementary School and Dr. Marcella R. Kelly Elementary School in Holyoke.

In 1983, Coleman joined the U.S. Air Force, where she was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. and retired in 2009 as a captain. She began working for NASA after receiving her doctorate in polymer science and engineering from Umass Amherst in 1991.

“This is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work,” said Simpson. “I totally support her. I think it’s fantastic.”

No sanctions have been issued to the school following the release of state findings

File photo / The RepublicanPioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School Principal Kathleen Wang.

HADLEY - While the state Department of Children and Families has determined there was a case of neglect at the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, it is unclear if the state will do anything about it.

A 9-year-old child was confined to a “a time-out” for at least seven hours - but was allowed to use the bathroom and eat lunch. The incident took place March 25.

According to the report from the state, Kathleen Wang, the school principal, said the decision to put the child in time-out was a team decision and that the action was appropriate.

The school’s executive director Richard Alcorn said “there’s no finding against the school, three’s nothing actionable.”

“Because there has been no finding against PVCICS or any members staff, we have not and may never receive a copy of the any associated report(s),” Alcorn in a statement. He said they will talk to school attorneys and figure out how to proceed.

According to the state findings, Wang said the action taken was appropriate and not in violation of school policy. She said they child was a difficult and fragile child, something not supported by the child’s doctor, according to the report. The doctor links current symptoms to what happened on that day, according to the report.

“Furthermore any fragility perceived By Dr. Wang and her staff should have served to protect” the child from any excessive discipline.

The school, which first opened in Amherst in 2007, serves students from 39 communities in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties.

Find out if your favorite pizza shop has advanced to the round of 32.

The votes have been tabulated, recounted, reexamined for hanging chads, and counted again. Our democracy works, and we now know the names of your favorite 32 pizza shops in the Valley.

Voting in Round 1 of the 2011 Valley Food Championship Pizza Playoffs concluded at noon on Wednesday, and your voices have been heard. Eight pizza shops from each of the four regional polls have advanced to Round 2.

The balloting was incredibly close in every region – your vote matters!

Starting with Round 2 of the Pizza Playoffs, the surviving pizza shops have been paired off in NCAA-style, head-to-head brackets and will advance through the field until the champion is determined. We'll reveal those brackets at noon on Thursday when Round 2 voting begins. Round 2 voting will continue through next Wednesday at noon.

Our readers will participate in two more rounds of voting to narrow our field to an Elite 8. At that point, judges from The Republican's newsroom – arts and entertainment editor Ray Kelly, sports reporter Pam McCray and photographer Don Treeger – will visit each of the surviving pizza shops in head-to-head critiques until the one true 2011 Valley Food Championship Pizza is determined.

Check back at www.masslive.com/pizza at noon on Thursday to vote in Round 2. For now, here are YOUR 2011 Valley Food Championship Pizza Playoffs Round 1 winners:

South

Fazio's Ristorante & Pizzeria (East Longmeadow)
Family Pizzeria & Restaurant (Springfield)
Frankie & Johnnie's Pizza (Springfield)
Peppa's Pizza / Peppa's Express (East Longmeadow / Springfield)
Pizza Shoppe (East Longmeadow)
Red Rose Pizzeria (Springfield)
Salerno Pizzeria (Springfield)
2 Guys Pizzeria (Springfield)

North

Antonio's (Amherst / Easthampton)
Big Y (Northampton)
Easthampton Village Pizza (Easthampton)
Joe's (Northampton)
Nini's Ristorante (Easthampton)
Pinocchio's Pizzeria (Northampton)
Pizza Paradiso (Northampton)
Roberto's Restaurant (Northampton)

East

Dugout Cafe & Pizza Shop (Chicopee)
Family Pizza (South Hadley)
Gregory's Pizza Pub & Restaurant (Wilbraham)
John's Pizzeria & Restaurant (Chicopee)
La Cucina di Hampden House / La Cucina Express (Hampden)
Milano's Pizzaria & Restaurant (Chicopee)
Poppi's Pizza (Ludlow)
Teresa's Restaurant (Ware)

West

Amadeo's Restaurant & Pizzeria (Holyoke)
Bertucci's (West Springfield)
Bruno Pizzeria (Feeding Hills)
Capri Pizza (Holyoke)
Liquori's Pizza (West Springfield)
Pizza Guy (Agawam)
Roma Restaurant (Southwick)
Sorrento Pizza (West Springfield)

American flags are placed at veterans' graves in Springfield each Memorial Day and Veterans Day by volunteers.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayJames J. Mahoney, investigator for the City of Springfield Department of Veterans' Service, and Charly N. Woehlke, behind at left, the department's deputy director, places flags at veterans' graves at St. Michael's Cemetery off State Street on Wednesday in preparation of the upcoming Memorial Day observance.

SPRINGFIELD – The placing of American flags at veterans graves for Memorial Day, long a tradition in Springfield, is short on volunteers.

Charly N. Woehlke, deputy director of the Springfield Department of Veterans Services, said Wednesday that more volunteers are needed to place thousands of flags this week in advance of the holiday.

The Gate of Heaven cemetery on Tinkham Road was not flagged as of Wednesday morning, triggering a call for assistance to the Veterans Office, and the St. Michael’s cemetery on State Street was about half-flagged, Woehlke said.

There are approximately 22,000 veterans graves in Springfield, all being flagged by volunteers, including approximately 2,000 graves at Gate of Heaven and about 5,000 at St. Michael’s, Woehlke said.

A lot of the volunteers are older veterans who belong to veterans organizations, and many are unable to physically make the long walk through larger cemeteries, she said.

“They just can’t do it anymore,” Woehlke said. “They can’t walk that far. We really need the younger generation to take part.”

Some high school students, including members of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), do help out, Woehlke said.

Veterans agents in some surrounding communities, including Holyoke and Northampton, said they were in good shape in the placing of flags.

Woehlke said that having volunteers on hand has not been a problem until this year.

In addition to the older veterans, unfortunately some of the past volunteers “now have volunteers flagging their graves,” Woehlke said.

The poor weather earlier this week also may have been a factor in hampering the placement of flags, she said. The task will continue into the weekend, she said.

Those who wish to help with flagging can contact Woehlke at the veterans office at (413) 886-5045. Another option is to call Gate of Heaven at 782-4731, or St. Michael’s at 733-0659.

“All we really need is their time,” Woehlke said.

The city pays for new flags each year, used both on Memorial Day and again on Veterans Day. The cost each year is approximately $11,000.

Richard J. Tyrell, chairman of the Springfield Veterans Activities Committee, said he hopes volunteers, including scouts, civic associations and others, “bring their troops” forward for the flag placing task.

He said he was “not surprised” by the shortage of volunteers given that many are “working on different things to help the veterans who are coming home,” and may have forgotten about some of traditional tasks.

He agreed that many of the older veterans are challenged physically.

“No matter where the heart, the body wins,” he said.

The flags are delivered to each cemetery. The veteran status is typically shown on the headstone or a marker, and some with sites have small brass posts for the flag.

William C. Walls Jr., director of the state’s veterans’ memorial cemeteries, said the veterans cemetery in Agawam was flagged Wednesday by a “very dedicated” group of volunteers. There are approximately 5,500 grave sites.

In Holyoke, Veterans Services Director Deborah A. Malek, said flagging is continuing and going well. It can be a challenge for older veterans, particularly the sloped grounds of Forest Dale Cemetery, she said.

The Hampshire Veterans Services Office in Northampton reported that flagging was proceeding without problems. Volunteers are from various organizations, including American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts.

Oprah urged people in the last broadcast of her popular talk show to find their calling and go with it.

View full sizeThe Republican | Don TreegerFans watch the last Oprah Winfrey show at the Rave Cinemas in West Springfield.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Misty-eyed Oprah addicts got their last fix Wednesday of The Oprah Winfrey Show, watching their heroine on the big screen at Rave Theaters.

The theater and CBS-3 of Springfield hosted the high definition broadcast on the big screen for 300 local fans of the talk show host so famous she needs only one name.

The screening was preceded by an Oprah Finale Party that featured drawings giving away more than $20,000 in prizes ranging from a Caribbean cruise to jewelry and a three-year lease on a Hyundai from Gary Rome Hyundai.

“It is like when ‘M*A*S*H’ ended years ago. I felt I was losing family,” 60-year-old Cheryl P. LaPon, of Chicopee, a retired public housing administrator, said of the end of the popular talk show. “I love her show. She is just a great humanitarian and a great person.”

LaPon and others who attended the showing said they are impressed by all the good Oprah has done, such as founding charities and helping people.

“She gives so much to others,” 38-year-old Cheryl A. Bascom, of Westfield, said.

Bascom was particularly impressed with an interview Oprah did with a Connecticut woman who was attacked by a pet chimpanzee.

“She did a wonderful job, very respectful,” Bascom said. “She has her own network so I’m sure she will have new endeavors.”

Oprah’s hour-long swan song featured the talk show host in a fitted pink dress highlighting her early shows and expressing gratitude to her viewers.

“This is what I was called to do,” Oprah said of her show. “Everybody has a calling.”

She urged her viewers to find their calling and go with it.

“It has been a privilege for me to speak to you,” Oprah said. “You let me into your homes to talk to you every day.”

“I thought she summed up her 25 years beautifully,” Ann G. Parker, 68, of Northampton, said.

Parker said through her program Oprah helped women become more appreciated. “I think everyone is going to miss Oprah. I hope we don’t go backwards in our consciousness because Oprah is not here,” Parker said.

Cynthia Butler, 50, of Agawam, said she was touched by Oprah’s final show.

“It was like ‘let your light shine.’ Everyone has a light,” Butler said.

Amherst College President Anthony Marx is leaving his job at the end of June.

Courtesy Amherst CollegeGregory Call

AMHERST — The Amherst College Board of Trustees has named Gregory S. Call, the Dean of the Faculty, to become acting president while the search committee continues its search for a new president to replace Anthony W. Marx, who is leaving to become president of the New York Public Library.

In an email from the college, the trustees announced they voted to appoint Call acting president effective July 1.

Call is a mathematician who works in the field of arithmetic geometry, and is currently Dean of the Faculty and the Peter R. Pouncey Professor of Mathematics.

“Greg’s appointment enables a seamless leadership transition from Tony Marx to Greg to the 19th president of Amherst College. Greg’s leadership will allow the Presidential Search Committee to continue its work confident that it can take the appropriate time to select an exceptional 19th president from what is an extraordinary pool of candidates,” the trustees announcement said.

College spokeswoman Caroline Hanna said “the goal of this process is to find an exceptional 19th president of Amherst College, and finding the right person simply takes time. We are thankful, though, to have Dean Call to lead the institution during that transition period, however long it lasts.”

Marx has been president for eight years.

O'Brien and Gelinas have been vociferous in their complaints against Sayer and other school officials after the suicide of freshman Phoebe Prince

View full sizeThe Republican | Dave RobackDarby O'Brien, left, looks on as Luke Gelinas speaks to the South Hadley School Committee during the public speaking section of the committee's meeting at South Hadley High School on Wednesday.

SOUTH HADLEY – As promised, Darby O’Brien and Luke Gelinas Wednesday night demanded the resignation of School Superintendent Gus Sayer and any School Committee member who served on the board before the April elections.

But, forewarned by a Tuesday press conference by the South Hadley residents, committee Co-Chairman Dale Carey told those in attendance at the public speaking session of the board’s meeting that members would listen but not respond.

O’Brien and Gelinas based their demands on a Monday ruling by a Hampshire Superior Court judge that 2010 executive sessions to approve a contract extension and pay raise to Sayer violated the state Open Meeting Law. The judge said officials deliberated tried to mislead the public about the purpose of the executive sessions.

O’Brien and Gelinas have been vociferous in their complaints against Sayer and other school officials after the suicide of freshman Phoebe Prince, who killed herself in 2010 after relentless bullying by classmates.

Gelinas said during the public speaking session Wednesday that the town and School Committee should be made to apologize to the Prince family and the superintendent “must immediately return any funds from the unlawful pay raise he received.”

The judge ruled the pay raise invalid, but said the complaint filed in court by O’Brien and Gelinas was too late to invalidate the February vote to extend the superintendent’s contract.

O’Brien, in speaking during the session, chastised the committee saying, “you represent school kids. What is the statement to the community if we allow members to participate in secret meetings?”

He then asked Co-Chairman Barry Waite, a new board member, to ask Sayer for his resignation, saying the superintendent had “failed this town for the past year and a half. We will continue to take this to the district attorney, the attorney general and the U.S. attorney until we straighten this out.”

Waite said after the meeting he did not plan to ask for anyone’s resignation. “It’s really not my position to do so. These people were elected and we do not have a law of recall.”

One motorcyclist was sent to Baystate Medical Center with serious injuries, police said.

Republican file photo

An update was posted to this story at 10:03 p.m. Wednesday.

SPRINGFIELD – Boston Road is blocked off in both directions while police clean up from a serious motorcycle accident in the vicinity of 590 Boston Road.

Traffic is being detoured onto side streets.

One motorcyclist was sent to Baystate Medical Center with serious injuries, police said. His condition is not yet known.

The accident left debris scattered across the road.

Sgt. Neal Maloney said the bike was apparently traveling east at a high rate of speed when it lost control rounding a curve. It clipped the front end of a car heading west.

The motorcycle skidding another 100 feet or so and landed on the front door step of Dezi's Jewelry exhcange and pawn shop, Maloney said. The impact with the car ripped the right front bumper off the car.

The accident remains under investigation.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of the accident:

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The school's test scores and finances deteriorated following its move to the former Holy Name Elementary School, officials contend.

SPRINGFIELD – State education officials have warned the New Leadership Charter School to improve its academic, financial and management performance by 2013 or risk being shut down.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s governing board voted Tuesday to place the school on extended probation until its charter expires in January, 2013.

The move comes 11 months after the state board revoked the charter of the Robert M. Hughes Academy in Springfield, forcing the K-8 school to close following an MCAS cheating scandal.

Republican file photoMitchell D. Chester

The education board’s vote this week came on the recommendation of Commissioner Mitchell Chester, who said New Leadership has been struggling to meet state and its own standards.

“Unless there are significant improvements in the school’s academic, fiscal and operational health over the next 20 months, I will consider non-renewal of the New Leadership Charter School’s charter in January 2013,” Chester wrote in a letter to the education board.

New Leadership attracted unwanted national attention in 2009 when a student, 11-year old Carl Walker-Hoover, committed suicide after complaining of bullying by other students. While Walker’s mother, Sirdeaner Walker, said administrators failed to help her son, state officials never faulted the school in the suicide.

The chairman of New Leadership’s board of directors, Peter Daboul, acknowledged the recent problems cited by the commissioner, but attributed them mostly to the school’s difficult move in September 2009 from its temporary location at Western New England College to the former Holy Name Elementary School on Alderman Street.

“It was disruptive, and a stress on the administration and the board,” said Daboul, a retired vice president at MassMutual Life Insurance Co.

“The bottom line was that our performance measures, which had been on an upward trend, took a noticeable decline,” he added.

Established in 1998, the grade 6-12 school has 490 students, with 60 percent being African-American; 35 percent Hispanic and 4.6 percent white. Seventy-six percent are low income, and 11 percent are enrolled in special education classes, according to the state education records.

The school’s finances have deteriorated due to a dispute with the city, which funnels state education money to the publicly financed charter school, Daboul said. The school contends that the city has kept about $1 million of the state aid, and the parties have been unable to reach an agreement.

Daboul said the state education department will ultimately decide the issue, and Chester has asked that it be resolved as quickly as possible.

Once the funding and transition-related troubles are ironed out, the school will be in a good position to get off probation and have its charter renewed in 2013, Daboul said.

The accident blocked traffic on Boston Road in both directions for more than 90 minutes.

Staff photo by Patrick JohnsonA Springfield police officer looks at the wreckage of a motorcycle involved in a Boston Road crash while an onlooker takes a photo with her cell phone. After impact the motorcycle continued for another 100 feet into the parking lot of a Boston Road shop.

Staff photo by Patrick JohnsonA Springfield police officer takes a photo of the debris field from a Boston Road accident. A motorcycle clipped the front end of a car, seriously injuring the motorcyclist

This is an update of a story that was posted at 8:43 p.m. Wednesday

SPRINGFIELD - A motorcyclist was critically injured Wednesday night after colliding with the front end of a car in the area of 600 Boston Road, according to police.

The accident closed both lanes of Boston Road for more than 90 minutes while police investigated the crash and cleared the scene. Debris from the motorcycle was scattered across the both lanes of the road.

Traffic was detoured down Fargo and Arnold streets until Boston Road reopened at about 9:30 p.m.

The motorcyclist was rushed to Baystate Medical Center following the accident. While his condition was not known, police said his injuries are very serious. Police were not releasing his name.

According to Sgt. Neil Maloney of the Springfield Police Traffic Bureau, the motorcycle was heading east at a high rate of speed.

The rider apparently lost control rounding a curve and the bike skidded into the westbound lane where it clipped the front end of a car, Maloney said.

Investigators are still trying to put together what happened, he said. There were reports from witnesses that the motorcyclist had been doing wheelies just before losing control, but Maloney said those had not yet been confirmed.

Impact ripped the right front bumper off the car, and the motorcycle skidded for another 100 feet or so, coming to rest by the front door step of Dezi's Jewelry Exchange and Pawn Shop.
Several pieces of the motorcycle were torn off, including the gas tank and engine, and were lying in the road.

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The prosecutor called the 2009 killing of Jose E. Colon "another act of senseless violence in this city."

The Republican file photo | Michael GordonRodney Briggs at his 2009 arraignment for murder

SPRINGFIELD – Rodney D. Briggs, of Springfield, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 to 28 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a 2009 strip club killing.

The prosecutor called the killing of Jose E. Colon “another act of senseless violence in this city.”

Briggs had been charged with murder in the Jan. 21, 2009, early morning fatal shooting of Colon, 22, at the Mardi Gras strip club. He also faced illegal firearms charges.

Colon’s killing in January that year was followed by another strip club killing in June, focusing the spotlight temporarily on enforcement of weapons bans and security at such clubs.

The guilty plea process for Briggs had an added procedural dimension because Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, when he was a defense lawyer prior to his election to the top law enforcement post, represented Briggs in the murder case for about 10 months.

Assistant District Attorney Donna S. Donato told Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis the defense could have raised an issue of self-defense if the case went to trial because medics treating Colon found a knife, unopened, under him.

She said she agreed to having Briggs plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and take a 19-20-year sentence on that, in addition to pleading guilty to carrying a firearm without a license, with another 6-8-year sentence added to the first. That means he can’t be eligible to apply for parole until serving 25 years.

She said if Briggs had pleaded guilty to second degree murder he would be eligible to apply for parole after 15 years of a life sentence.

Mastroianni withdrew as Briggs lawyer in July 2010, and Linda J. Thompson became defense lawyer.

Mastroianni had filed a “disclosure of appearance of conflict of interest” in February and an affidavit in March. Velis delayed the plea and had Donato get Mastroianni to come into the courtroom for a sidebar conference.

Mastroianni then left the room and Donato put on the record Mastroianni had had no role in the plea agreement and she and Assistant District Attorney James C. Orenstein had never talked about it in front of him.

Velis then put on the record all ethical standards were satisfied.

In relating what happened, Donato did not discuss possible motive, saying Briggs shot Colon in the head and fled the club. A 9mm loaded firearm was found outside the club and Brigg’s fingerprints were on the clip.

Briggs was arrested without incident Feb. 16, 2009 by agents of the New York and New Jersey Violent Fugitive Task Force in Atlantic City, N.J.

Thompson said there was evidence Colon, of Springfield, told Briggs he was armed and said some of the eyewitnesses changed their statements after seeing part of a surveillance video.

She said the scene was the Mardi Gras at 1:30 a.m. when people “had been drinking, had been agitated.”

“He ruined more than one life, including his own, when this act was committed,” Thompson said of Briggs.

Ivy Lopez, Colon’s long-time girlfriend, said he was killed when their daughter was very young so the child will know him only by pictures and what she is told.

She said all Colon ever wanted was a child.

Lopez said, “I shouldn’t have to be a single parent” raising her child without the father.

She also said she is not satisfied with the punishment issued, saying Briggs shouldn’t be able to walk the same earth as her and her daughter.

In initial police reports a witness described the scene after the shooting, with dancers jumping from the stage and taking cover behind the bar, and patrons trying to pay their bills and depart.

In January Marcus Blanton, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed armed assault with intent to murder and firearms charges, admitting he opened fire in July 2009 at the former Club 418 on Worthington Street, killing Aaron L. Waldon and wounding four others, including a dancer and other employees of the bar.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno called the Club 418 shooting a “black eye” for the city, and a state police lieutenant called that incident, combined with Colon’s shooting at the Mardi Gras “a disgrace.”

The Republican file photo | Michael S. GordonRodney Briggs is arraigned in the 2009 shooting death of Jose E. Colon.

Mitchell was given 2 life sentences holding Smart captive and raping her for months when she was just 14.

Associated PressElizabeth Smart, left, and her father Ed Smart talk to the media in front of the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse Wednesday, May 25, 2011, in Salt Lake City. Smart's kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, was sentenced to life in prison. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)

By JENNIFER DOBNER

SALT LAKE CITY — Elizabeth Smart finally got her chance Wednesday to confront the street preacher convicted of holding her captive and raping her for months when she was just 14. Now 23, she stood tall in the courtroom — stoic, with an even voice and a strength Brian David Mitchell clearly lacked.

Mitchell, frail and skinny with a long, peppery white beard, sang hymns softly and closed his hollow eyes, just as he did throughout his trial, just as he would moments later as the judge gave him two life sentences without parole. That did not stop Smart from looking right at him and coolly speaking her piece.

It took her about 30 seconds.

"I don't have very much to say to you. I know exactly what you did," said Smart, wearing a houndstooth checked skirt, an ivory jacket and pearls. "I know that you know that what you did was wrong. You did it with full knowledge ... but I have a wonderful life now and no matter what you do, you will never affect me again.

"You took away nine months of my life that can never be returned. You will have to be held responsible for those actions, whether it's in this life or the next, and I hope you are ready for when that time comes."

Mitchell's sentencing closed a major legal chapter in the heartbreaking ordeal that stalled for years after he was declared mentally ill and unfit to stand trial in state court. A federal jury in December unanimously convicted the 57-year-old of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for sex.

When the judge asked if he had anything to say, Mitchell, whose hands and feet were bound, kept right on singing. His bizarre demeanor changed just once during the hearing: As he was sentenced, he sang louder.

Outside the courthouse, a beaming Smart, now a Brigham Young University music student, told reporters that the sentencing "is the ending of a very long chapter and the beginning of a very beautiful chapter for me." She said she wants to work with other crime victims and lend her support to the cause of missing children.

Smart was snatched from her Salt Lake City bedroom by knifepoint in the early hours of June 5, 2002. The massive search to find the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl riveted the nation, as did her improbable recovery while walking with her captor on a suburban Salt Lake City-area street on March 12, 2003.

At trial, she testified in a steady, clear voice about her "nine months of hell." Mitchell whisked her away to his camp in the foothills near the family home. She was stripped of her favorite red pajamas, draped in white, religious robes and forced into a polygamous marriage with Mitchell. She was tethered to a metal cable strung between two trees and subjected to near-daily rapes while being forced to use alcohol and drugs.

Associated PressBrian David Mitchell is escorted into the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse Wednesday, May 25, 2011, in Salt Lake City. Nearly nine years after she was taken at knifepoint, raped and held captive, Elizabeth Smart is set to publicly confront her kidnapper for the first time, when Mitchell is sentenced. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)

Mitchell, who outlined his religious beliefs in a rambling 27-page manifesto he called "The Book of Immanuel David Isaiah," took Smart to California for five of the months she was held captive. She recalled being forced to live homeless, dress in disguises and stay quiet or lie about her identity if ever approached by strangers or police. She said he threatened her life and the lives of her family every day.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball said Mitchell deserved a life sentence because the facts of the case were "unusually heinous and degrading."

Carlie Christensen, U.S. attorney for Utah, said the resolution was long overdue for Smart and her family. "It is a measure of justice for Elizabeth and it will certainly ensure Brian David Mitchell will never inflict such intolerable and unspeakable cruelty on anyone else again," Christensen said.

The defense waived its closing remarks before sentencing. Parker Douglas, a member of Mitchell's defense team, said outside the courthouse that the sentence was not unexpected.

"I wish Elizabeth Smart and her family the best. I hope they get to move on," Douglas said. He added that the decision about whether to appeal depends largely on what Mitchell wants.

Though Smart testified at Mitchell's trial, she never addressed him directly then because he was removed from the courtroom each day after singing hymns to disrupt the proceedings. On Wednesday he sang songs including "Come Come Ye Saints" and "O Come O Come Emmanuel."

"Exploitation of religion is not a defense," Smart's father, Ed, said at Mitchell's sentencing, in a statement that was even shorter than his daughter's. "You put Elizabeth through nine months of psychological hell."

The facts of the case have never been in dispute, but defense attorneys have said Mitchell's actions were tainted by mental illness and long-held delusional beliefs that he had been commanded by God to fulfill important prophecies.

Elizabeth Smart, who recently returned from a Mormon church mission in France, described her captor as vulgar and self-serving when she testified at trial. She said she believed he was driven by his desire for sex, drugs and alcohol, not by any sincere religious beliefs.

"Nine months of living with him and seeing him proclaim that he was God's servant and called to do God's work and everything he did to me and my family is something that I know that God would not tell somebody to do," Smart said during the trial.

Mitchell was deemed competent for a federal trial, though a parallel state case — where he remains charged with six felonies — stalled after a judge twice determined he was unfit and rejected a petition for forced treatment. A key witness for federal prosecutors, New York forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner, concluded that Mitchell was "malingering" or faking a mental disorder to avoid prosecution.

Defense attorneys maintain Mitchell needs psychiatric attention and asked the judge to recommend incarceration in a federal prison hospital rather than a standard prison.

Wanda Barzee, his estranged wife and co-defendant in the case, is already serving a 15-year sentence in a federal prison hospital in Texas for her role in the kidnapping.

Barzee, 65, pleaded guilty to federal kidnapping and unlawful transportation charges in November 2009. Upon her release, Barzee is expected to be transferred to the Utah State Prison to serve a sentence on a conviction in a companion case involving the attempted abduction in 2002 of Smart's cousin.

Mitchell's ex-wife, Debbie Mitchell, praised the Smart family for their courage.

"There's some closure to it, knowing he'll never molest another child," she said. "We've never heard him say he's sorry. He got caught. We never heard him apologize or say he regretted his actions."

Rebecca Woodridge, Mitchell's former stepdaughter, said she wants to thank Elizabeth Smart and confront her stepfather, who she says abused her for five years when she was a child.

Woodbridge said she talked to Mitchell Tuesday and asked if he had anything to say to the public. He told her that he doesn't think the world is ready to hear what he has to say.

Associated Press Writer Chi-Chi Zhang contributed to this report.

The Senate voted to restore $3 million for summer jobs for at-risk youth while rejecting proposed cuts in the state sales and income taxes.

The Republican | Joe DeburroThe Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston.

By STEVE LeBLANC

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Senate began debate on its proposed $30.5 billion state budget Wednesday, voting to restore $3 million for summer jobs for at-risk youth while rejecting proposed cuts in the state sales and income taxes.

The Senate rejected another amendment that would have created a permanent sales tax holiday weekend. Sales tax holidays are popular with shoppers and merchants, but critics say the state can't always afford the loss of tax dollars.

During last year's sales tax holiday on August 14 and 15, the state lost an estimated $19.9 million in potential sales taxes, which instead went as savings for consumers.

Democratic leaders in the Senate say their spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 protects the state's most vulnerable residents while spending slightly less than budgets proposed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Gov. Deval Patrick.

The Senate plan includes no new taxes and dips into the state's one-time savings accounts for $440 million to help close an estimated $1.9 billion spending gap without additional federal stimulus dollars.

Senators kept that no-new-taxes promise by rejecting a proposed increase on the excise tax on cigars, smoking tobacco and smokeless tobacco.

Lawmakers were equally reluctant to pass significant tax cuts, defeating separate proposals to cut both the state sales and income tax rates.

The sales tax amendment would have cut the rate from 6.25 percent to 5 percent. It was defeated on a 28-10 vote.

A second amendment that would have cut the income tax rate from 5.3 percent to 5 percent also failed on a 33-5 vote.

Stephen Brewer

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Stephen Brewer, D-Barre, said rolling back the income tax rate would result in a $116 million loss in state revenue. Brewer said that would be too big a fiscal hit. He said if revenues continue to come in faster than projected, they could trigger an automatic income tax rollback to 5.25 percent.

Republican lawmakers pointed to a ballot question approved by Massachusetts voters in 2000 that would have lowered the income tax rate to 5 percent. Lawmakers later froze it at 5.3 percent.

They said Democrats have repeatedly failed to honor the will of voters by refusing to drop the tax to 5 percent.

The Senate also rejected an amendment that would have established a six day holiday from the state meals tax. Senate Democrats said the state would lose between $60M and $86M in revenue in the new fiscal year if the measure had passed.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said the drying up of federal stimulus dollars reinforces the need for the state to tighten spending and work to spark up the Massachusetts economy. He compared stimulus money to a roller coaster ride.

"The federal stimulus money pulled that car up on the roller coaster and we got near the top, but we knew that at some point we'd be facing a downturn as that money was removed and we'd be accelerating at a very rapid level to a new valley," Tarr said.

Brewer said the state's reliance on one-time revenues will drop dramatically as a result of stimulus dollars drying up. In the current fiscal year, the state used $1.75 billion in one time funds.

Under the Senate plan, Brewer said, that will fall to $440 million in one-time funds.

"It is a testament to the financial straits facing the commonwealth," he said. "Simply put, the money is not there."

Youth advocates praised the Senate for restoring summer jobs money, saying it could help save 1,200 jobs. The $3 million is $1 million higher than the funding in the House version of the budget.

Senators are hoping to wrap up their budget debate on Thursday.

At that point a six-member House and Senate conference committee will be named to hammer out a compromise budget that will be sent back to both chambers for final approval before being sent to Patrick's desk.

The governor has 10 days to sign the budget and issue any vetoes.

Patrick is expected to be asked whether DiMasi pressured him or his administration to approve a software contract in 2007.

File photos | Associated PressFormer Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, left, and Gov. Deval Patrick, right.

BOSTON — Federal prosecutors plan to call Gov. Deval Patrick to testify on Friday in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and two associates.

The U.S. Attorney's office says Judge Mark Wolf was informed late Wednesday that the governor would be one of the government's witnesses on Friday.

Prosecutors told the judge in court earlier in the day that Patrick had cleared his schedule for Friday in anticipation of being called to testify. A spokesman for the governor said while he had not actually cleared his schedule for that day, he was prepared to testify whenever called.

Patrick is expected to be asked whether DiMasi pressured him or his administration to approve a software contract in 2007.

The governor has said there was no wrongdoing by his administration.

Patrick would be the first sitting governor to testify in a criminal trial since 1995, when then-Gov. William Weld testified in the influence-peddling trial of a state senator who was later acquitted.

At the trial on Wednesday, a onetime top official in Patrick's administration testified that she was repeatedly pressed by DiMasi to sign off on a multimillion dollar software contract.

Leslie Kirwan, who served as the state secretary of administration and finance, said at the federal corruption trial of DiMasi and two associates that DiMasi advocated for so-called performance management software during at least two Statehouse meetings and in a phone call in 2007, and that he also approached her on the subject during an unrelated event the two attended at Fenway Park.

While the state had earlier been authorized by the Legislature to spend $15 million for a performance management project, Kirwan testified that she did not not believe the state was ready at the time to purchase the software needed to implement the program.

Ultimately, Kirwan relented and signed the contract with the Cognos software firm, though it was later rescinded after questions were raised about the bidding process and the state inspector general launched an inquiry.

After approving the contract, which was negotiated down to $13 million, Kirwan recalled telling another state official that she hoped her decision would be viewed favorably by DiMasi.

"I expressed the hope that the speaker would be satisfied with the outcome and that he would help with another matter we were concerned with," Kirwan testified.

The other matter involved a dispute over the location of a new state data center in Springfield. A top lieutenant of DiMasi in the House, state Rep. Thomas Petrolati, had been advocating for a site other than one the administration supported.

DiMasi, lobbyist Richard McDonough and Richard Vitale, an accountant and close DiMasi friend, are charged with scheming to use the speaker's clout to steer two lucrative software contracts, worth a combined $17.5 million, to Cognos in exchange for kickbacks, with the then-speaker allegedly pocketing $65,000. All three men have pleaded not guilty.

Kirwan's objections to the contract led Joseph Lally, a former software salesman, to label Kirwan as a "rogue secretary" in an email to a Cognos official that was introduced by prosecutors as evidence in the trial. Lally has pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution last week.

DiMasi never mentioned Cognos by name in any of his discussions with her, Kirwan said.

Asked if she would have approved the contract had she known that DiMasi was receiving money that was being paid by Cognos to the then-speaker's law associate, Kirwan answered:

"I would not have approved the contract and I would have sought legal advice on what other steps to take."

Kirwan, who left state government in 2009 and is now a Harvard University dean, testified that performance management was a "goal" of the Patrick administration and that the governor had brought the subject up when he interviewed her for the post of Administration and Finance Secretary. She said, however, that it was not an immediate priority of the new administration after Patrick took office in January 2007.

Also Wednesday, an official with the Secretary of State's office testified that McDonough did not register as a lobbyist for Cognos in 2006, the year in which the company received its first state contract, also allegedly with DiMasi's help. The official said McDonough filed an amended registration two years later showing that he had in fact lobbied for Cognos in 2006.

McDonough's lawyer, Thomas Dreschler, objected to the evidence being presented to the jury, saying it was not relevant to the federal charges and would be prejudicial to his client.

A special education teacher at Chicopee High School is reportedly under investigation after a 15-year-old female student reported to school officials that she received sexual messages on her cell phone from the teacher.

School officials reportedly told CBS-3 that if official charges are leveled against the teacher, he could be fired for the allegations.

CHICOPEE - Although no formal charges have been filed, a special education teacher at Chicopee High School is reportedly under investigation after a 15-year-old female student reported to school officials that she received sexual messages from him on her cell phone, according to a report from CBS-3 in Springfield.

Administrators at Chicopee High School reported that the student's guardian reported the situation to them earlier this week leading school officials to look through the teacher's phone. CBS-3 reported that officials didn't find anything out of the ordinary on his phone but a look through the student's phone reportedly revealed sexually suggestive pictures which were allegedly from the teacher.

The student was not in any of the special education teacher's classes, but rather knew him in passing between periods, according to published reports. He was placed on administrative leave without pay pending results of the investigation, which Chicopee Police Chief John Ferraro confirmed is ongoing.

School officials told reporters that the teacher has a decade-long history with the district and there is no reason to believe he had a physical relationship with any students at the school.

An Army sergeant was found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of premeditated murder in the 2008 slayings of his squad leader and another U.S. soldier at a patrol base in Iraq, but he was spared the death penalty when the military jury didn't return a unanimous verdict.

FILE - This Monday, April 13, 2009 image taken at Fort Stewart, Ga. and provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich. Bozicevich wept as he testified Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at his court-martial at Fort Stewart while facing a possible death sentence in the slaying of a superior and another U.S. soldier. Bozicevich says he killed both men in self-defense, firing blindly after they threatened him at a patrol base in Iraq. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press

FORT STEWART, Georgia (AP) — An Army sergeant was found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of premeditated murder in the 2008 slayings of his squad leader and another U.S. soldier at a patrol base in Iraq, but he was spared the death penalty when the military jury didn't return a unanimous verdict.

Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich of Minneapolis now faces a sentence of life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole. The death penalty is an option in a court martial only when there's a unanimous guilty verdict for premeditated murder. The 12-member jury at Fort Stewart did not report exactly how it was split when it announced its verdict.

Bozicevich, 41, admitted during the trial that he shot Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley Durbin of Dallas at a patrol base outside Baghdad on September 14, 2008, after they criticized him for making mistakes in an unforgiving war zone. But he testified that he only opened fire because the two soldiers aimed rifles at his head and threatened to kill him if he didn't sign off on their written reports about him.

Prosecutors insisted that he grabbed his gun in anger after the men wounded his pride, when Dawson decided to strip the soldier of his leadership role of a four-man squad because of a series of battlefield blunders. Prosecutor Maj. Scott Ford told jurors Tuesday that Bozicevich snapped after that "final blow to his ego."

Bozicevich sat quietly and showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Once the judge, jurors, and the defense team cleared the courtroom, relatives and friends of the victims burst into cheers. Durbin's mother collapsed in relief in her chair, hardened soldiers wept with joy and the victims' families greeted prosecutors and even the security guard standing outside the courtroom with praise and hugs.

"My husband can rest in peace now," said Brandi Durbin as she prepared to share the news with relatives. "I've got to calm down a bit, because if I don't, they'll think it's bad news."

A sentencing hearing is set to begin Thursday, and jurors will have to decide whether Bozicevich should be sentenced to life in prison with parole or without parole. Still, the victims' families seemed content that Bozicevich will likely face decades behind bars.

"I'm just glad we finally got justice," said Latasha Dawson, Darris' wife. "It's been a long two and a half years. Life in prison is fine — as long as he never gets out."

Durbin, of Dallas, was found shot seven times in a corner of the base's small communications station, where Bozicevich had been on duty. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla., fell in the dirt outside with six bullets in his back and another lodged in the rifle slung over his shoulder. Several witnesses said they saw Bozicevich chasing Dawson while firing at him, including two final shots while he stood directly over Dawson.

While several soldiers testified to hearing gunshots in the night and witnessing the aftermath — including Bozicevich screaming "Kill me!" as he was pinned to the ground — the accused soldier was the only survivor of the confrontation with Dawson and Durbin.

His defense attorney, Charles Gittins, urged jurors to give more weight to Bozicevich's story that Dawson and Durbin aimed rifles at his head. He said he disarmed them using martial arts moves and managed to grab his own rifle before bolting from the room and scuffling with Dawson outside. Bozicevich said he fired his gun blindly in hopes of getting clear: "I sprayed and I prayed."

"Sgt. Bozicevich, with no history of violence, was trying to do a good job," Gittins said. "He was scared. He was in fear for his life, and he acted accordingly."

But prosecutors said Bozicevich erupted after the two criticized him for a disastrous series of mistakes, including making a wrong turn during a patrol in Iraq and later leaving behind a squad member. They say Dawson's decision to strip Bozicevich of his leadership role and give the job to Durbin, who was 13 years younger than Bozicevich, was the final straw.

"This is a man who thinks he's better than anyone around him. And anytime he fails, it's someone else's fault. After he kills two fellow soldiers in a cold, calculating way, he tells you it's their fault."

The victims' families said they were glad this phase of the court-martial trial is over, after years of court motions and more than a month at trial. Carole Durbin, who is Wesley's mother, wept with other family members and clutched several members of the prosecuting team after the verdict was read.

"I'm just grateful my son's name is cleared, that his name is rightfully cleared," she said. "He didn't deserve to have his name smeared like that."

___

Associated Press Military Writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga. contributed to this report. Bluestein can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/bluestein