In Pakistan alone, up to 3,336 people have been killed by the unmanned aircraft since 2003, according to the New America Foundation.

By JULIE PACE & LARA JAKES
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday defended America's controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary linchpin in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy. But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no "cure-all" and said he is haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed.

The president also announced a renewed push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, including lifting a moratorium on prisoner transfers to Yemen. However, shutting the prison will still require help from Republicans reluctant to back Obama's call to move some detainees to U.S. prisons and try them in civilian courts.

Obama framed his address as an attempt to redefine the nature and scope of terror threats facing the U.S., noting the weakening of al-Qaida and the impending end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

"Neither I, nor any president, can promise the total defeat of terror," Obama said in remarks at the National Defense University. "What we can do — what we must do — is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend."

Since taking office, Obama's counterterrorism strategy has increasingly relied on the use of strikes by unmanned spy drones, particularly in Pakistan and Yemen. The highly secretive program has faced criticism from congressional lawmakers who have questioned its scope and legality.

The president, in his most expansive public discussion on drones, defended their targeted killings as both effective and legal. He acknowledged the civilian deaths that sometimes result — a consequence that has angered many of the countries where the U.S. seeks to combat extremism — and said he grapples with that trade-off.

"For me, and those in my chain of command, these deaths will haunt us as long as we live," he said. Before any strike, he said, "there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured — the highest standard we can set."

Ahead of the address, Obama signed new "presidential policy guidelines" aimed at illustrating more clearly to Congress and the public the standards the U.S. applies before carrying out drone attacks. Officials said the guidelines include not using strikes when the targeted people can be captured, either by the U.S. or a foreign government, relying on drones only when the target poses an "imminent" threat and establishing a preference for giving the military control of the drone program.

However, the CIA is still expected to maintain control of the drone program in Yemen, as well as in Pakistan's tribal areas, given the concern that al-Qaida may return in greater numbers as U.S. troops draw down in Afghanistan. The military and the CIA currently work side by side in Yemen, with the CIA flying its drones over the northern region out of a covert base in Saudi Arabia, and the military flying its unmanned aerial vehicles from Djibouti.

In Pakistan alone, up to 3,336 people have been killed by the unmanned aircraft since 2003, according to the New America Foundation which maintains a database of the strikes.

Obama's advisers said the new guidelines will effectively limit the number of drone strikes in terror zones and pointed to a future decline of attacks against extremists in Afghanistan as the war there winds down next year. But strikes elsewhere will continue. The guidelines will also apply to strikes against both foreigners and U.S. citizens abroad.

On the eve of the president's speech, the administration revealed for the first time that a fourth American citizen had been killed in secretive drone strikes abroad. The killings of three other Americans in counterterror operations since 2009 were widely known before a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy acknowledged the four deaths.

In that letter, Holder said only one of the U.S. citizens killed in counterterror operations beyond war zones — Anwar al-Awlaki, who had ties to at least three attacks planned or carried out on U.S. soil — was specifically targeted by American forces. He said the other three Americans were not targeted in the U.S. strikes.

Though Obama sought to give more transparency to the drone program, the strikes will largely remain highly secret for the public. Congress is already briefed on every strike that U.S. drones take outside Afghanistan and Iraq during the war there, Obama said, but those briefings are largely classified and held privately.

The president said he was open to additional measures to further regulate the drone program, including creating a special court system to regulate strikes, similar to one that signs off on government surveillance in espionage and terror cases. Congress is already considering whether to set up a court to decide when drones overseas can target U.S. citizens linked to al-Qaida.

White House officials said the president had originally planned to deliver Thursday's speech earlier this month, but it was delayed as the administration grappled with a trio of other controversies, including the attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, the IRS' targeting of conservative groups and government monitoring of reporters.

Also Thursday, Obama reaffirmed his stalled 2008 campaign promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where some terror suspects are held. Lifting the ban on transfers of some Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen is a key step in jumpstarting that process, given that 30 of the 56 prisoners eligible for transfer are Yemeni.

Obama halted all transfers to Yemen after the failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing attempt of an airliner over Detroit. The convicted bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, trained in Yemen.

Congress and the White House have sparred since Obama took office in 2009 over the fate of the suspects and whether they can be brought to trial on U.S. soil. In the meantime, the detainees have been held for years with diminishing hope that they will charged with crimes or given trials.

Obama acknowledged that the politics of closing Guantanamo are difficult, but he made the case that "history will cast harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism, and those who fail to end it."

Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was open to a proposal from Obama on the future of Guantanamo Bay. But that plan has to consist of more than political talking points, he said.

"This speech was only necessary due to a deeply inconsistent counterterrorism policy, one that maintains it is more humane to kill a terrorist with a drone than detain and interrogate him at Guantanamo Bay," McKeon said

This week, the Pentagon asked Congress for more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo prison. More than 100 of the prisoners have launched a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention, and the military earlier this month was force-feeding 32 of them to keep them from starving to death.

___

Associated Press writers Lita Baldor, Kimberly Dozier and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS MOORE, Okla. — Teachers and students at Plaza Towers Elementary School hunkered down against the storm just as they had been taught in countless tornado drills, their principal said Friday, recounting how she walked the halls until the twister was on the doorstep, then announced on the intercom, "It's here." In a pause-filled recollection that left...

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS

MOORE, Okla. — Teachers and students at Plaza Towers Elementary School hunkered down against the storm just as they had been taught in countless tornado drills, their principal said Friday, recounting how she walked the halls until the twister was on the doorstep, then announced on the intercom, "It's here."

In a pause-filled recollection that left many weeping, Amy Simpson said at a news conference that her teachers emerged battered after doing what they could to save every child in the Oklahoma school. Still, seven second- and third-graders were among the 24 killed when the top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado with 210 mph winds struck Moore on Monday.

"The teachers covered themselves in debris while they were covering their babies. And I believe that is why so many of us survived that day, because the teachers were able to act quickly, stay calm and take literally the weight of a wall onto their bodies to save those that were under them," said Simpson, a native of the city of about 56,000.

The tornado was on the ground for 40 minutes and left a 17-mile path of destruction.

Its victims at the school were ages 8 and 9.

"These kids are close. They grew up in one neighborhood. They play in the streets. They play in the creek. They have their own little community, even more so in the classroom," second-grade teacher Emily Eischen said.

The Moore School District canceled its school year after the tornado hit Plaza Towers and the Briarwood school, where all students survived. District officials and teachers met with pupils and their parents Thursday to give everyone a chance to say goodbye before heading into summer vacation.

Simpson said that, having been born and raised in Oklahoma, she knew what it meant to deal with tornadoes. The state, in the heart of Tornado Alley, has averaged more than 50 tornadoes per year since record-keeping began in 1950.

"Not one parent blamed us because they're Oklahomans, too, and they know what a tornado means and they know what it means in school," Simpson said. "We practice our procedures. We get in our safest places."

Simpson said teachers and students had spent much of Monday morning celebrating their achievements and practicing this year's sixth-grade graduation.

Then attention turned to the sky.

When the sirens blared, the principal walked the school to make sure everyone was prepared.

"Teachers were rubbing kids on the back, singing songs," while the students were crouched with their hands behind their necks, Simpson said.

When Simpson got to her office, a fifth-grade teacher told her the storm was just southwest of the school. "I got on the intercom and said, 'It's here,'" Simpson said.

She rode out the storm in a bathroom.

"You feel things trickling down on you from the ceiling, then those things become chunks of things," Simpson said. "I yelled and said, 'In God's name, go away!' I yelled it about four times. And then it was gone."

While debris was still flying, Simpson said, she told others, "I've got to get to the kids. I got out of the bathroom and the whole neighborhood was gone."

She quickly tended to the younger students then saw that students in grades 4, 5 and 6 were heading to a nearby church. She asked her husband to help the second- and third-graders — she hadn't seen any of them yet.

They were in a part of the school that was particularly hard-hit. School counselor Kristin Atchley said surviving class members could tell while still trapped in the rubble who wasn't going to make it.

"They knew before they got pulled out," Atchley said.

Simpson, sobbing, said she had already been to three funerals and will have gone to four more by the end of next week.

One of the Friday funerals was for 8-year-old Kyle Davis. Hundreds of mourners packed a Baptist church — many wearing T-shirts with "K. Davis (hash)16" emblazoned on the back to memorialize his love of soccer. Teammates passed around a soccer ball and a Sharpie to sign before the service.

"It's hard to believe that someone who was only 8 years old touched so many lives enough to fill a church like this to capacity," said John Jackson, one of Kyle's coaches.

On a display in the church lobby were some of Kyle's trophies and other medals from sports and school, as well as a poster Kyle made on which he wrote, "When I grow up, I want to be a soccer champion."

The public is invited to the presentation.

The Palmer Historical CenterThe Republican I Lori Stabile 

PALMER - The Palmer Historical and Cultural Center - Harmony Hall, 2072 Main St. in Three Rivers, will offer a patriotic presentation in honor of Memorial Day on May 26 at 3 p.m.

Palmer police, fire departments, ambulance, and the community emergency response team, along with local and state leaders, are invited. This is an open invitation to all departments throughout the area and to the general public.

This is a patriotic presentation with multi-media projections accompanied by a chorus comprised of members from the various churches in town and from neighboring communities The presentation in the past has contained bagpipers, drums and trumpet, various music, patriotic readings, the origin of Taps and visual presentations with scenes from America and images honoring armed forces and public safety entities.

For information, call Bob Haveles at (413) 896-9550.

Election of officers and honoring retiring members are on the slate of events for the chamber dinner.

 

HOLYOKE -- The annual meeting of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce will be Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House, 500 Easthampton Road.

Events at the meeting will include election of officers and honoring of retiring members Rosalie M. Deane, executive director of the Holyoke Housing Authority, David L. Dupont, Holyoke public schools superindendent, and John J. Kelley, market manager and vice president, Peoples United Bank, a chamber press release said.

Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door. For information, call (413) 534-3376.

The park is getting everything from new benches and bike racks to paving, trees and turf.

Veterans Park in Holyoke, shown in file photo, has undergone a $1.4 million renovation.File photo 

HOLYOKE -- The city will reopen Veterans Park after a $1.4 million renovation with a ceremony June 14 at 2:30 p.m.

The park is at Maple and Dwight streets, across from the Holyoke Transportation Center and the U.S. Post Office, and has been closed for the renovation since August. The ceremony will include Richard K. Sullivan, secretary of the state Executive Office of
Energy and Environmental Affairs, said a press release from the city Parks and Recreation Department.

The renovation has included new paving, fencing, trees, turf, curbing, planters, benches, trash receptacles and bike racks.

All interested community members and staff are invited to participate and meet the candidates in an informal setting.

 

MONSON — A "meet and greet" will be held Tuesday night with the two finalists for the position of school superintendent.

The event will be held in the atrium at the Quarry Hill Community School. Cheryl Clarke, Granite Valley Middle School principal, will be present from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Paul Haughey, Blackstone-Millville Regional School District's director of student services, will be present from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

All interested community members and staff are invited to participate and meet the candidates in an informal setting.

School Committee members will be available to meet as well, and are actively seeking input on their final selection.

St. Jude's Hospital will be the recipient of a program at an Agawam stable.

West Springfield seeks combat veterans to honor
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WEST SPRINGFIELD – The city’s Department of Veterans Services is soliciting city combat veterans to be recognized at the Annual Veterans’ Breakfast Nov. 2 in the St. Thomas School gymnasium. The event will take place at 10 a.m. Any combat veteran who is currently a West Springfield resident or was a West Springfield resident when entering the services and has not been previously honored is eligible. Contact the Department of Veterans Services by Oct. 1 if interested at (413) 263-3019 or (413) 495-1819.

Agawam farm to raise money for St. Jude's Hospital
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AGAWAM – Aspen Hill Farm will hold a Saddle up for St. Jude’s Hospital fund-raising day on June 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds from pony rides, hay rides, raffles and a bake sale at the 1207 North Westfield St. farm will go to St. Jude’s Hospital. The medical facility in Memphis, Tenn., provides free medical care to needy children. 
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Agawam Dog Owners Group seeks help raising money for dog park 

AGAWAM – Debbi Sanchez, president of the Agawam Dog Owners Group, has asked that people help the group in its drive to raise money to build a dog park in the city. The city is entered into a contest sponsored by PetSafe for either $25,000 or $100,000 to be used toward building a dog park. Top vote-getters will win money. People may cast votes as often as once a day through May 31 by going to petsafe.net/barkforyourpark/city/7634/agawam-ma/. 
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Agawam Senior Center Friends, Rotary Club to hold golf tournament
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AGAWAM – The Friends of the Agawam Senior Center and the Agawam Rotary Club will sponsor the 18th Annual Senior Center Golf Tournament June 5 at Crestview Country Club on Shoemaker Lane.
Registration along with a continental breakfast will start at 7:30 a.m. followed by a shotgun start at 8 a.m. The cost to take part is $500 per foursome. There will be a buffet lunch immediately after the tournament. Lunch for non-golfers will be $15. For more information, call the Senior Center at (413) 263-3264. 
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Agawam Small Business Assistance Center to host golf tournament
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AGAWAM – The Agawam Small Business Assistance Center will hold its annual TEE TIME nine-hole golf tournament June 18 at the Agawam Golf Club at 128 Southwick St. The cost for the event is $50 a player and includes cart, dinner and prizes. It will be a scramble tournament with a noon shotgun start. Registration will start at 11 a.m. The deadline to sign up is June 11. After that the cost will be $65 per golfer. The center seeks hole sponsors at $75 and prize donations from local businesses. The price of attending dinner for non-golfers will be $25 each. To register or become a sponsor, call the center’s office at (413) 786-0172. 
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The special election for senator will be held June 25.

Market Square's 200-year-old sycamores frame Chicopee City Hall.Image provided by Bellamy Association 

CHICOPEE - The last day to register to vote or report a change of name or address for the June 25 special election for U.S. Senate is June 5, said Janina Surdyka, registrar of voters.

The registrars office, located in the City Hall Annex, will extend its hours to 8 p.m. on June 5 to allow last-minute registration. Voters can also find mail-in registration forms at all city libraries, the Senior Center or can e-mail jsurdyka@chicopeema.gov, mail or call the office at (413) 594-1550 to request a form, she said.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot for the June 25 special election which will pit U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, a Democrat, against Republican Gabriel Gomez, is noon on June 24. The ballots are designed for voters who will not be in Chicopee during polling hours or have a physical disability. Applications for a ballot must be made in writing.

The lawsuit was filed in September 2011 by former inmate Debra Baggett against Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe, Jr. and Assistant Superintendent Patricia Murphy, who runs the women's correctional center.

SPRINGFIELD - A federal judge ruled that a case alleging male correctional officers at the women’s prison in Chicopee routinely videotaped naked female inmates during strip searches may proceed as a class action lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that since the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center opened in 2007, the jail has had a policy of allowing male officers to videotape strip searches of female prisoners in non-emergency situations.

The complaint argues the policy is degrading and unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor has certified a class of approximately 178 women who have been videotaped by a male officer. Any woman who was held
at the women's correctional center and was videotaped by a male officer during a strip search since September 15, 2008, is a member of the class.

The lawsuit was filed in September 2011 by former WCC inmate Debra Baggett against Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe, Jr. and Assistant Superintendent Patricia Murphy, who runs the women’s correctional center. It alleges that from Sept. 15, 2008, to May 20, 2010, males held the camera for 71 percent of the videotaped strip searches.

Ashe has evaluated and modified the policy in the wake of the lawsuit, attorneys for both sides have said. The frequency by which males videotape the strip searches have plummeted to 2 percent of the time, the complaint states.

The Palmer Board of Health at the Town Administration Building, 4417 Main St., has available free sharps disposal containers.

Whitney Irwin, also known as Attar, offers classes in belly dance steps, choreography, and community belly dance, all open to ages 12 and up. submitted photo 

BRIMFIELD - Community belly dancing is held at Hitchcock Free Academy on the first Friday of the month. All levels and ages 12 and up are welcome. The next session will be on Friday, June 7, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Instructor is Whitney Irwin, also known as Attar. There will be a sliding scale fee of $5 to $15, payable at the door. Drop in or reserve a spot; call (413) 245-9977 for information, or visit www.hitchcockacademy.org.

Irwin also leads ongoing belly dancing classes Thursday evenings, 7:45 – 8:45 p.m.; next session starts June 6; visit the website for details.

Beginner belly dancing classes at Hitchcock Free Academy will start June 7 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. All ages 12 and up are welcome; students ages 12-14 must have a parent or
guardian present. Fee for the three-class session is $37 for Brimfield, Holland, Sturbridge, and Wales residents; all others, add $5.

PALMER - The Palmer Board of Health at the Town Administration Building, 4417 Main St., has available free sharps disposal containers.

These container are for safe disposal of used needles, no questions asked. It is illegal to dispose of sharps in the trash, recycling bins and compost containers. The Palmer Board of Health applied for and was awarded state grant money to purchase the sharps containers. Visit or call the Palmer Board of Health for information, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or call (413) 283-2606.

MONSON - Astronomer Jack Megas will hold a lecture on summer sky gazing on Sunday, June 2 at Keep Homestead Museum, 35 Ely Road, at 1:30 p.m. Museum will be open 1 to 3:30 p.m. No admission charge. For information, call (413) 267-4137, email khm@keephomesteadmuseum.org or visit www.keephomesteadmuseum.org
Friends of the Keep Homestead Museum also will hold its annual meeting on June 2 at 3:30 p.m.; all interested people are welcome to attend.

Rapper Pitbull put on a memorable performance at the MassMutual Center on Friday night

This April 26, 2012 file photo shows rapper Pitbull smiling after accepting the award for the Song of the Year by a male performer during the Latin Billboard Awards. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file) 

SPRINGFIELD _ MGM Springfield dipped its toes into the lukewarm waters of the local concert scene on Friday night, promoting a show with rapper / pop star Pitbull at the MassMutual Center. The event felt an awful lot like a political rally, with “Vote Yes” signs and as many casino supporters as concert-goers filling the aisles.

That is, until Pitbull took the stage.

Arguably one of the world’s most recognizable pop stars, the bilingual, multi-genre, ultra-talented rapper put on one of the most dynamic performances the downtown stage has seen in years, perhaps going back to the venue’s heyday when the legends of the rock genre were regulars on Main Street.

Front to back, side to side, Pitbull turned the confines of the MassMutual Center into a fully-engaged house party and kept the momentum moving forward throughout a 75 minute set. If you weren’t a fan going in, there is a good chance you were a fan going out.

Pitbull was pulled to Springfield off of his current tour with Ke$ha. While he didn’t bring the singer with him to the City of Homes, he brought everything else. Pitbull was augmented by the full-blare production of a live, seven-piece band, back-up dancers, and a video and laser extravaganza.

The event began with the dimly-lit dance track act Justice Crew, followed by the DJ act Jump Smokers who put a charge in the crowd with remixes of LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” and Katy Perry’s “Firework.”

Before the headliner took the stage, MGM executives Mike Mathis and Kelley Tucky commandeered the microphone to remind residents of the July 16 vote to approve a casino in Springfield.

Pitbull’s set began with “Hey Baby” and continued to build with a sound and fury that engulfed “I Like,” “International Love,” and “Dance Again,” which featured a video appearance and soundtrack of Jennifer Lopez.

Pitbull was able to deftly weave his famous duets (Christian Aguilera, J-Lo, Marc Anthony) into the show through recorded tracks while hammering away on his own live vocals ( he worked hard enough to have a hoarse delivery by set’s end) to present a world-class performance.

The highlight of those duets may have been his take on “Get it Started” which featured a video appearance from Shakira.

The songs went from English to Spanish, the genres from rock (Guns’N’Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine) to salsa and samplings of the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).”

So did MGM Springfield make a splash?

The glass-half-empty types will suggest that not selling out (small pockets of empty seats scattered here and there) despite a huge name and a generous outlay of comp tickets to youth groups and local servicemen is a cue that MGM Springfield should consider the very real fact that “if you build it”... they still might not come.

But if this was to be a living, breathing example of what a casino could bring to the city from an “event” standpoint, MGM Springfield can certainly point to this night as a success.

However, Pitbull dropping staccato Latin raps over Christina Aguilera beautifully singing “Feel the Moment” against the backdrop of Aha’s 80s hit “Take On Me,” literally taking on several cultures, eras, and genres at once (all of which are relevant in our fair city) raises the specter of yet another question for the entity that has committed to presenting multiple shows at the venue as part of a casino project;

How are they going to top this?

A quantity of heroin,cocaine and prescription drugs were confiscated in a Wilbraham raid.

Republican file photo 

Wilbraham Police Sgt. Edward Lennon said the investigation was headed up by Officer Shawn Baldwin and culminated with the raid at approximately 9 a.m. Thursday morning, when a strike team of eight officers, including representatives from theLudlow Police Department , executed a search warrant on 83 Stoney Hill Road. Two men were arrested and a quantity of heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs were seized.

Arrested in the raid were 28-year-old Corey Johnson and Matthew Posley, also 28 years old. Both men list 83 Stoney Hill Road as their residence. The men were arraigned in Springfield District Court Friday.

Johnson was charged with possession with the intent to distribute a Class A substance (heroin), possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance (cocaine) and possession with the intent to distribute a Class E substance (prescription medication).

Posley entered pleas of not guilty to charges of possession with the intent to distribute a Class A substance (heroin), and possession with the intent to distribute a Class E substance (prescription medication).

A medical charity flight crashed killing at least two people.

EPHRATAH, N.Y. (AP) — The crash of a volunteer Angel Flight in upstate New York that killed at least two people is under investigation, and authorities say a search is under way for the missing pilot.

Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey says the search for the pilot will resume Saturday morning.

Lorey says the flight's two passengers were found dead Friday evening near where the twin-engine plane crashed in a wooded area in Ephratah, about an hour west of Albany. He says the bulk of the plane is submerged in a pond and divers were expected to go in at daylight.

The flight originated in Bedford, Mass., and was headed to Rome, N.Y.

Officials did not immediately identify the passengers or pilot.

Angel Flight is a nonprofit group that arranges free air transportation for sick patients from volunteer pilots. President and founder Larry Camerlin, said the organization was "tremendously saddened" by the tragic news of the crash.

Volunteers of all ages are needed that day to help plant.

Arborist Bob McCabe of Merrimack, New Hampshire and Brad Medeiros, of Medeiros Hydro Seeding, loads trees as a part of the Replanting Monson Tree celebration at the Quarry Hill Community School last year.The Republican/Dave Roback 

MONSON - The Replanting Monson Tree Committee will hold a tree planting to celebrate the town's recovery from the tornado on Saturday, June 1 - the second anniversary of the twister - at 9 a.m. at Rogers Field at Flynt Park.

Dozens of trees, saplings and shrubs will be planted on the slope of Mt. Ella, which is above the athletic fields of Flynt Park. Volunteers are needed on that day - people of all ages and abilities, as there will be work for all. Help is needed with registration, food, unloading trees, locating trees and shrubs, digging, planting and watering, and clean up.

People are asked to bring a shovel, gloves and/or a 5-gallon bucket. Donations of hoses also are needed.

For information, or to donate money or goods or to volunteer, email monsontreecommittee@gmail.com or call Valerie Beaudoin (413) 267-4213.

Superintendent Mary-Elizabeth Beach told the school committee the emergency preparedness plan would be updated.

Mary Elizabeth Beach 

WARE – With deadly tornadoes rocking Oklahoma and memories of the 2011 Western Massachusetts twisters still fresh in people’s memories, the Ware school board on Wednesday directed the superintendent to create an emergency plan that specifically addresses tornado and hurricane strikes.

Superintendent Mary-Elizabeth Beach told the school committee the emergency preparedness plan would be updated.

In other business, committee members said they are working to rewrite policy to better address problems that require investigation by the school or law enforcement.

“We want to be able to document” any problem, such as bullying, that has taken place on school grounds, school board vice chairman Aaron Sawabi said.

In another matter, the student school committee representative, Courtney Varnum, announced that three freshman had their essays published in “Writing to Go,” part of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project. They are Aurora Thresher, Katherine Desjardins, and Kyle Hill.

Commencement ceremony for the 62 graduating seniors of Ware High School is June 1, at 1 p.m. in the gymnasium.

Top-ranked student, Elizabeth Lauren Desjardins, will speak at the graduation as the Class of 2013 Valedictorian.

Second-ranked Jordin Lynn Corriveau will present the Salutatorian address. Kelsey Rousseau is the senior class president.

Three men held in jail for more than a year and a half, accused in the kidnapping, intimidation and triple murder of three Berkshire County men are finally getting their day in court — but not until January.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall, however, was Lesley Arak's Holyoke High School prom photo gallery, at right.

1) East Longmeadow police charge Cooley Avenue resident Matthew Tannen with statutory rape of a child [George Graham]

2) Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's hearing rescheduled [Associated Press]

3) Three Berkshire County men to face trial in 2011 triple murder [Dave Canton]

4) I-5 bridge collapses in Washington, people in water [Associated Press]

5) Holyoke police use stun gun to subdue Jewelia Rex who faces intent to murder and arson charges [Mike Plaisance]

Tax information released this week highlights the vast disparity in wealth between Gomez, a Republican who earned a fortune working in private equity, and Markey, a Democrat, who has served in Congress for more than three decades.

BOSTON - Income tax filings made public this week by the two candidates for U.S. Senate highlights a vast disparity in wealth between Republican Gabriel Gomez, who earned a fortune working in private equity, and Democrat Edward Markey, who has served in Congress for more than three decades.

According to his federal tax filings, Gomez earned $10.1 million between 2006 and 2011, or an average of $1.68 million a year.

Markey, during those same years, earned $890,000, an average of $148,000 a year. (Markey earned similar amounts of money annually in 2005 and 2012.)

Gomez's filings show he paid $2 million in federal taxes over the six-year period, giving him an average effective tax rate of 21.02 percent. Though the tax rate for top earners was 35 percent during those years, much of Gomez’s income came from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income.

Markey paid $231,000 in federal taxes over eight years, giving him an average effective tax rate of 19.18 percent.

Much of the information contained in the tax returns is not entirely new. The Gomez campaign in March, during the Republican primary, released a summary of five years of Gomez’s tax returns, though it did not provide details about the filings.

Markey has disclosed information about his income through the personal financial disclosure forms he files annually as a member of Congress.

This was, however, the first time the Markey campaign allowed reporters to see the candidate's actual tax returns. The Gomez campaign made the returns available to some reporters in March, and renewed its offer this week.

The Gomez campaign made Gomez’s tax returns from 2006 to 2011 available on Wednesday to reporters at Gomez’s campaign office. A reporter from The Republican and MassLive.com was given one hour to review hundreds of pages of documents and was not allowed to have copies of them.

The Markey campaign delayed releasing the congressman's tax filings until Friday afternoon before the Memorial Day weekend. While Markey's campaign allowed reporters more time to view the documents, the congressman did not allow reporters to make copies his records either.

Markey released his tax filings dating back to 2005, in an attempt to pressure Gomez to release that year’s filing as well. In 2005, Gomez took advantage of a controversial tax deduction for committing not to change the façade of his historic home in Cohasset. Markey also released his 2012 tax documents; Gomez has requested an extension for his 2012 return.

The disparity between the candidates is a clear result of their diverse occupations.

Gomez has worked as a principal for the private equity firm Advent International since 2004. At Advent, his wages rose continuously from 2006, when he earned just under $400,000, to 2010, when he earned $751,000. His wages dropped slightly in 2011, but wages represented only a small portion of his income.

Between 2006 and 2008, Gomez earned between $1.1 million and $2.3 million a year from capital gains. Gomez has a large portfolio of investments, including in funds he holds through Advent and through his previous job at another private equity firm, Summit Partners. His capital gains dropped precipitously the following year, as the U.S. economy tanked. Gomez still generally earned at least $100,000 a year – and one year close to $400,000 – from interest and dividends.

Gomez also reported earning $28,659 in income from foreign sources during those years, but he did not indicate in which countries those earnings originated. He reported paying a few hundred dollars a year in foreign taxes.

The returns, filed jointly by Gomez with his wife, Sarah Gomez, a former special education teacher, show Gomez had an adjusted gross income that ranged from a low of $823,000 in 2011 to a high of $2.95 million in 2007. His tax rate varied from 15.9 percent to 24.3 percent.

Sarah Gomez is currently not working professionally. The couple has four school-age children, and Sarah Gomez serves on the Cohasset Historical Commission.

In contrast, Markey, who has served in Congress since 1976, has an annual salary that is set by law. The wages he reported on his tax form each year have remained constant, between $140,000 and $155,000 a year. His federal effective tax rate has ranged from 18.3 percent to 20.07 percent.

Markey has reported almost no income from investments. He has earned less than $200 a year in interest and dividends, mostly from the congressional federal credit union, according to the filings.

Markey and his wife Susan Blumenthal, a health policy expert, file their taxes separately so the tax returns do not reflect any investments held by Blumenthal. She is currently a senior fellow in health policy at the New America Foundation and a senior advisor at amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. She is also a clinical professor at Georgetown University in Washington and at Tufts Schools of Medicine in Boston.

Markey, in a 2011 financial disclosure, reported he and his wife had investments and bank accounts valued at between $855,000 and $2.15 million. The wide range is because congressmen are required only to report a range of values for each asset – valuing a bank account, for example, at between $50,001 and $100,000; spouses of a member of Congress are not required to report their exact wages.

According to the tax filings, Markey got a small boost to his income in 2012, when he turned 65 and started collecting Social Security benefits. He reported receiving $9,860 in Social Security income for that year.

The Gomez tax returns show he donated a total of $117,810 to charity between 2007 and 2011, for which he claimed tax deductions. Markey donated $18,250 to charity between 2005 and 2012.

Markey’s biggest deductions were for mortgage interest and other taxes that he had paid. He also took deductions for $7,000 to $12,000 a year in unreimbursed business expenses, almost entirely for vehicle expenses and travel. Markey, a proponent of clean energy technology, bought a Toyota Camry Hybrid in 2006 and was still driving it as of 2012. For several years, he took advantage of a $1,820 tax credit for driving a hybrid car.

Graphic by The Republican editor Greg Saulmon.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the Gomez campaign allowed some reporters to view Gomez's tax filings in March.

It takes a Chicopee Boy Scout troop about two hours to place flags at more than 2,300 veterans' graves in Saint Stanislaus Cemetery each Memorial Day. They take them down a few weeks later for Flag Day then repeat the process for Veterans Day in November. Watch video

05.18.2013 | CHICOPEE -- Adam Maciaszek of Troop 131 in Chicopee flags the graves in St. Stanislaus Cemetary in Chicopee for Memorial Day.Photo by Dave Roback / The Republican 

CHICOPEE — The work of placing crisp new American flags on the graves of 2,300 veterans at St. Stanislaus Cemetery went quickly last week for the Boy Scouts of Troop 131, lasting about two hours in between rain storms.

The Scouts talked and joked about school, camping, whatever, as they scooped armloads of flags from an adult Scout leader’s minivan and walked back and forth through row after row of gravestones. One boy asked aloud if anyone knew what Memorial Day used to be called?

One Scout answered back with “Decoration Day”.

They look, said Scout Adam K. Maciaszek, a senior patrol leader with the troop, for a heavy brass flag holder designating a veteran’s branch and time of services. Some veterans, he said, have brass tablets near their gravestones that give more information, dates of service, rank, a name of a ship or battle and awards, such as the Bronze Stars and Purple Heart.

“It’s interesting to see what they did when they served our country,” Adam, 15, said. “It’s important for us to see what they did for us.”

Scoutmaster Richard Rich said that’s part of the idea.

“We hope the boys take a little bit of time and reflect,” he said. “It’s important that the boys understand the sacrifices that have been made for them.”

Troop 131 is chartered to St. Stanislaus Basilica. Scouts have been flagging the graves of veterans in the parish cemetery for years, putting out the flags each year a few days before Memorial Day then removing them after Flag Day in June. Scouts put the flags out again in the fall a few days before Veterans Day and remove them a few weeks later, Rich said.

It’s a process repeated all across the Pioneer Valley and the country each year. Memorial Day, with its roots in the American Civil War 150 years ago, has always been a time to mark graves and remember sacrifices. Memorial Day commemorations at the Gettysburg Battlefield began in 1968. Congress changed the name from Decoration Day in 1882.

Walter W. James, an adult member of the Boy Scout Committee for Troop 131, pointed out a few graves at the front of the cemetery belonging to Civil War veterans.

Others served in the Spanish- American War, World War I, Korea and Vietnam but by far the majority of St. Stanislaus’ veterans served in World War II.

About a third of those buried in St. Stanislaus are veterans, said Michael Burnetti, the graves registration officer for the Chicopee Veterans Services Office. All told, there are about 7,000 veterans graves in all Chicopee’s cemeteries including the 2,300 veterans buried at St. Stanislaus.

05.22.2013 | AGAWAM -- Christopher Lockhart, right a senior at Longmeadow High, gets ready to places a flag on a grave as Henry Blake, left from Springfield Elks Lodge 61 Veterans Committee, marks the spot as they flagged graves at the Massachusetts Veterans Cemetery in Agawam in preparation for the Memorial Day holiday.Photo by Mark M. Murray / The Republican 

In Agawam, Sophomores from Agawam High School placed flags at the graves at the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery, which opened in 2001, has the graves of more than 7,000 veterans on 61 acres.

“We try and teach kids to become invested in where they live,” said Sean Jennings, a history teacher at Agawam High School. “This cemetery is in your town.”

Students from Longmeadow High School participated as well. The volunteer effort was organized by the Springfield Elks Lodge.

Jennings knows that the students in his U.S. History I class, which covers everything up to the Progressive Era just prior to World War I, have a complicated relationship with the military and with war. “I don’t think it quite hits home like other generations,” “That’s not a slight. We haven’t had a draft in 40 years.”

But his students were also 4 or 5 years old during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and they grew up with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“They are as in touch with aspects of the situation as any adult,” Jennings said. “But it isn’t like past wars were everybody served. Many of these kids don’t know anyone in the service.”

Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful that it will jeopardize benefits for millions of their members.

By SAM HANANEL, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful that it will jeopardize benefits for millions of their members.

Union leaders warn that unless the problem is fixed, there could be consequences for Democrats facing re-election next year.

"It makes an untruth out of what the president said — that if you like your insurance, you could keep it," said Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. "That is not going to be true for millions of workers now."

The problem lies in the unique multiemployer health plans that cover unionized workers in retail, construction, transportation and other industries with seasonal or temporary employment. Known as Taft-Hartley plans, they are jointly administered by unions and smaller employers that pool resources to offer more than 20 million workers and family members continuous coverage, even during times of unemployment.

The union plans were already more costly to run than traditional single-employer health plans.

But Obama's Affordable Care Act has added to that cost — for the unions' and other plans — by requiring health plans to cover dependents up to age 26, eliminate annual or lifetime coverage limits and extend coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

FILE - In this July 28, 2004, file photo, Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, addresses the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, in Boston. Some labor unions that initially backed President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry about what they say are unexpected consequences of the plan that could hurt their members. Schaitberger said unions have been forceful in seeking solutions from the Obama administration, but none have been forthcoming. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) 

"We're concerned that employers will be increasingly tempted to drop coverage through our plans and let our members fend for themselves on the health exchanges," said David Treanor, director of health care initiatives at the Operating Engineers union.

Workers seeking coverage in the state-based marketplaces, known as exchanges, can qualify for subsidies, determined by a sliding scale based on income. By contrast, the new law does not allow workers in the union plans to receive similar subsidies.

Bob Laszewski, a health care industry consultant, said the real fear among unions is that "a lot of these labor contracts are very expensive, and now employers are going to have an alternative to very expensive labor health benefits."

"If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?" Laszewski said. "In my mind, what the unions are fearing is that workers for the first time can get very good health benefits for a subsidized cost someplace other than the employer."

However, Laszewski said it was unlikely employers would drop the union plans immediately because they are subject to ongoing collective bargaining agreements.

Labor unions have been among the president's closest allies, spending millions of dollars to help him win re-election and help Democrats keep their majority in the Senate. The wrangling over health care comes as unions have continued to see steady declines in membership and attacks on public employee unions in state legislatures around the country. The Obama administration walks a fine line between defending the president's signature legislative achievement and not angering a powerful constituency as it looks ahead to the 2014 elections.

Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, said unions have spent more than a year trying to get a regulatory fix that would allow low-income workers in union plans to receive subsidies too. But labor leaders say they have been told it won't happen. And new legislation is unlikely anytime soon.

Both Hanson and Schaitberger said the frustration could spill over into the 2014 election cycle if union concerns aren't addressed.

"It started out with some anxiety, and I think it's translated into more anger," Schaitberger said.

Sabrina Siddiqui, a Treasury Department spokeswoman, declined to discuss the specifics of any negotiations between the administration and union officials. But she said the law helps bring down costs and improve quality of care.

Katie Mahoney, executive director of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said employers were concerned about possible increases in health care costs and would do what was needed to keep their businesses running and retain worker talent. The Chamber has not taken a position on the union concerns, but Mahoney said it was highly unlikely that the administration would consider subsidies for workers in the union plans.

"They are not going to offset the expense of added mandates under the health care law, which employers and unions are going to pay for," Mahoney said.

Unions say their health care plans in many cases offer better coverage with broader doctors' networks and lower premiums than what would be available in the exchanges, particularly when it comes to part-time workers.

"It's not favoritism. We want to be treated fairly," said Hansen, whose union has about 800,000 of its 1.3 million members covered under Taft-Hartley policies. "We would expect more help from this administration."

Unions backed the health care legislation because they expected it to curb inflation in health coverage, reduce the number of uninsured Americans and level the playing field for companies that were already providing quality benefits. While unions knew there were lingering issues after the law passed, they believed those could be fixed through rulemaking.

But last month, the union representing roofers issued a statement calling for "repeal or complete reform" of the health care law. Kinsey Robinson, president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, complained that labor's concerns over the health care law "have not been addressed, or in some instances, totally ignored."

"In the rush to achieve its passage, many of the act's provisions were not fully conceived, resulting in unintended consequences that are inconsistent with the promise that those who were satisfied with their employer-sponsored coverage could keep it," Robinson said.

The Eastampton road project 15 years in the making could begin in the fall.

EASTHAMPTON – Bill Clinton was sworn in for his second term in 1997 and “The English Patient” won Best Picture at the Academy of Awards.

That was the same year officials began working to improve the safety at a four-way intersection here.

Now it appears the project could possibly begin later this year but more likely in the spring of 2014.

The City Council earlier this month approved five easements and compensation for five property owners, a necessary step before the project could go out to bid, the mayor said.

The Transportation Improvement Program for the Pioneer Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization will fund most of the estimated $2.95 million project. The city will use Chapter 90 money for the land-takings that range from $500 to $138,500 to Ronald and Carol Laurin for a house that will be razed.

Officials want to improve safety where West Street, Pomeroy Meadow Road, Glendale and Loudville roads meet. Two stop signs and a flashing yellow caution light alert motorists to the intersection’s dangers.

The primary problem is a lack of good sight distances for drivers approaching the intersection.

There have been accidents there over the years, Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said, and a fatal crash a number of years ago.

“The time commitment isn’t that unusual in the days since the Big Dig,” the mayor said. There are fewer federal dollars for regional projects.

The mayor also said the project is a bit more complicated than just straightening the sightlines. “It abuts a flood plain.” So with the widening they have to create what is called “compensatory storage” so the waters from that plain can drain into what has been Laurin land. “It gets complicated,” he said.

The state is expected to put the project out to bid next month, he said. Some preliminary work might be able to happen in the fall but he expects work would begin next spring.

The state lists construction to begin in the fall.

“We’re happy to get the project off the ground. It’s been too costly for us to do on our own.”


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