Stock indexes started the day slightly lower after the government reported that Americans cut back on spending. Consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in April, the first decline since last May, the Commerce Department said early Friday.

Traders gather at the post that handles Hertz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stock futures slumped on the final trading day of May, with new data showing that consumers pulled back from their breakneck spending pace in April.AP Photo/Richard Drew 

NEW YORK — Stocks dropped sharply in late trading Friday on Wall Street but still managed to end the month higher.

After moving between small losses and gains for most of the day, the stock market started to drift lower in afternoon trading. The sell-off accelerated in the final hour. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day with its biggest loss in nearly six weeks, falling more than 200 points.

Some traders said the sudden afternoon swoon was due to investors rebalancing their holdings at the end of the month. As stocks fell, bonds rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which had risen as high as 2.20 percent during the day, fell back to 2.13 percent in late trading. Yield falls as bond prices rise.

On Friday, there was both encouraging and disappointing news on the economy.

Stock indexes started the day slightly lower after the government reported that Americans cut back on spending. Consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in April, the first decline since last May, the Commerce Department said early Friday.

That news was offset by a report released later showing that a measure of U.S. consumer confidence jumped to the highest level in almost six years in May, lifted by rising home prices and record-high stock prices.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 84.5 in May, up from 76.4 in April and the highest since July 2007. Investors are hoping that increasingly confident consumers will step up their spending, which would contribute to U.S. economic growth.

The Dow closed down 208.96 points, or 1.4 percent, to 15,115.57.

It was the biggest loss for the index since April 15, when markets plunged after worries about an economic slowdown in China caused commodity prices to drop sharply.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 23.67, or 1.4 percent, to 1,630.74. The Nasdaq composite declined 35.38 points, or 1 percent, to 3,455.91.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.13 percent from 2.12 percent late Thursday. The yield has risen by half a percentage point since the start of the month and is the highest it's been since April 2012.

Rates have risen on concern that the Federal Reserve is considering easing back on its purchases of $85 billion in bonds every month.

The sharp rise in Treasury yields could be trouble for the market if it continues unabated, said David Bianco, chief U.S. equity strategist at Deutsche Bank. The yields on Treasury notes are benchmarks for setting interest rates on many kinds of loans to consumers and businesses. If they rise quickly, lending rates would rise too, holding back the economy by discouraging borrowing and spending.

"I'm not bearish, but I'm a little bit cautious," Bianco said.

The Dow ended up 1.9 percent for the month, its sixth straight monthly gain. The S&P 500 index rose by 2.1 percent in May and has gained for seven months straight, the longest winning streak since 2009.

The S&P 500 has only fallen in one month, October, over the last year.

In commodities trading, oil fell $1.64, or 1.8 percent, to $91.97 a barrel, close to its lowest in a month, after OPEC oil ministers said they would keep their output targets steady. Gold fell $19 to $1,393 an ounce, a decline of 1.3 percent.

Among stocks making big moves:

• Lions Gate Entertainment rose 77 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $28.80. The company reported net income that topped Wall Street's expectations as it benefited from home video sales of the finale to its hit franchise "Twilight."
• Palo Alto Networks fell $5.87, or 11 percent, to $48.52 after the network security company posted a quarterly loss and predicted lower profit and revenue in the current quarter than analysts were expecting.
• OmniVision Technologies, a maker of mobile camera sensors, jumped $2.98, or 19 percent, to $18.47. The company reported that its net income doubled in its fourth fiscal quarter as revenue rose sharply.

King said he told the shooter, “Youngblood please don’t shoot me” but the man took out a second gun and began shooting him repeatedly.

SPRINGFIELD - One of the victims in a State Street shooting two years ago described for jurors Friday a man in a black hoodie who entered a barber shop walking backwards for several feet, and then “spun around.”

Darryl King said he asked the man if he wanted a haircut. He said the man, whose eyes were very red, “gave me that crazy look” and pulled out a revolver.

King said he told the shooter, “Youngblood please don’t shoot me” but the man took out a second gun and began shooting him repeatedly.

The testimony came in the Hampden Superior Court trial of Tamik Kirkland, 26, who faces a murder charge for the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Sheldon Innocent.

Innocent, a new father who lived with his family in Wilbraham, was in King’s barbershop chair at Bill Brown’s House of Beauty on State Street when the man prosecutors say was Kirkland began firing at King.

Innocent was killed and King was shot 11 times shortly after noon April 30, 2011.

Kirkland, of Springfield, broke out of the minimum security state prison in Shirley after hearing his mother had been shot in Springfield, authorities said.

Authorities have said neither King nor Innocent had anything to do with the shooting of Kirkland’s mother.

The breakout from the state prison, or the shooting of Kirkland’s mother, has not been talked about in front of the jury in the trial before Judge Tina S. Page.

Kirkland’s lawyers say he did not have anything to do with shooting Innocent and King, and repeatedly attacked King’s identification of Kirkland as the man who came into the barber shop and began shooting him.

The defense contends the prosecution is asking jurors to make a false assumption that because Kirkland was involved in a shoot-out with police outside 46 Burr St., he must be the person who shot Innocent and King.

Shortly after the barber shop shooting police parked near the Burr Street address saw a car back in and a man leave the house and get into the trunk.

When officers went to the trunk a shoot-out ensued. Kirkland was shot six times.

He faces two charges of armed assault with intent to murder and two of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for shooting police officer Raul Gonzalez and state Trooper Stephen J. Gregorczyk.

The two were spared injury because they were wearing protective vests, police said.

In regard to the barber shop shootings, Kirkland is accused of murder of Innocent, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury for King, and a count of armed assault with intent to murder for King.

Kirkland also faces six illegal weapon charges.

Under questioning from Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, King said he has seen the man who entered the store around before and had a son about the same age.

King, who said it was clear the man was aiming at him, described the first series of shots that hit him, and said he went to the floor and saw the man start to leave.

“I knew I was bleeding real bad. He came back in and gave me three more shots,” King said.

King said he positively identified Kirkland from a photo array police presented to him at Baystate Medical Center when he first was being treated for the gunshots.

Much of the defense questioning had to do with the statement typed by a state trooper from that questioning.

King said he told police the photo of Kirkland was definitely “the person who shot me.”

Defense lawyer Nikolas Andreopoulos said, “Where does it say in your statement you recognized the shooter was Tamik Kirkland?”

King said it wasn’t in the statement but he did tell police.

Mastroianni called state Trooper Liam Jones, who had been at that interview with King, to the stand.

Jones said he took his own notes and wrote a report on the interview and in the report, he wrote King definitely identified the picture of Kirkland as the shooter.

Also testifying Friday was Antonio Nixon, a barber working alongside King that day, and Richard Gladden, who was his customer at the time of the shooting.

Gladden said he recognized the sound of gunshots from eight years in the service and pulled Nixon down to the floor with him so they would not be hurt.

When the shooting finally stopped the shop was filled with smoke from the firing, he said.

Neither Nixon or Gladden saw the shooter, they testified.

Nixon said it seemed the gunfire “went on and on.”

The trial is scheduled to resume on Monday.

Ferrara said that he believed both Ramsey's and Melvin's families regarded each as a victim.

SPRINGFIELD - After pleading guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter, Rosa Ramsey was sentenced to five to seven years in prison for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2010 during a late-night argument.

Ramsey, 47, stabbed Corey T. Melvin, then 35, in her Robert Dyer Circle apartment on March 15 of that year. Investigators later revealed that Ramsey waited several hours to call police after stabbing him around 2:30 a.m.

When police arrived at 73 Robert Dyer Circle, they found Melvin dead on the floor with stab wounds to his head and chest, and Ramsey had several stab wounds to her legs.

Ramsey was nearly silent during her sentencing in Hampden Superior Court on Friday before Judge John S. Ferrara. A group of Melvin's family members were in the courtroom, and loudly lamented what they believed to be an insufficient sentence for what they deemed to be murder.

Ramsey's defense lawyer, Linda J. Thompson, argued for three to five years in jail, also urging Ferarra to let her client serve out her sentence at the women's county jail in Chicopee as opposed to state prison.

After spending some time considering the issue, Ferrara denied the request. Earlier in the sentencing, he said that he believed both Ramsey's and Melvin's families regarded each as a victim.

"The truth is I really can't know the truth of what happened in those early morning hours," Ferrara said. "The truth may lie at either end or somewhere in between."

Ferrara stayed Ramsey's sentence for one week, apparently to let her prepare for being transferred to state prison. She has already served 1,173 days and will get credit toward her sentence to that end.

With nearly 300 acres of land at the farm’s disposal, 100 of which is actively farmed at that site on a regular basis, the Kosinski family is looking to the future with the addition of a winery, which will utilize one the farms most prolific crops, blueberries.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 1:36 this afternoon.

WESTFIELD – Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled $700,000 worth of grants to 11 farms statewide as he toured the Kosinski Farm Friday in Westfield.

Kosinski Farm, itself, is due to get $75,000 earmarked for its newest endeavor as it looks forward to constructing a winery.

Gene M. and Susan J. Kosinski, along with their sons, Michael G. and Edward J. Kosinski, greeted Patrick, as well as Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, making his last public appearance as lieutenant governor, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard K. Sullivan and Commissioner of Agriculture Greg Watson to their 80-year-old farm located at Russellville and North roads.

With nearly 300 acres of land at the farm’s disposal, 100 of which is actively farmed at that site on a regular basis, the Kosinski family is looking to the future with the addition of a winery, which will utilize one the farms most prolific crops, blueberries.

The blueberry winery, Gene Kosinski said, will be constructed on a two-acre parcel at a cost of about $300,000, which includes, personal, borrowed and now the grant funds.

“We’re hoping to have it all done by this fall,” Kosinski said. “All the plans are done, and we’re ready to move along. This grant puts us right on track to be able to make it happen.”

Patrick said that like all business, farming has also changed with the economy, and it is the responsibility of government to lend assistance when it can. The agriculture industry, he added, remains an important piece of the economy, “and these investments will help local farmers continue to remain sustainable.”

“If we can, we should help,” said the governor. “I’m happy that farmers are taking the next step in making farming a sustainable part of the economy. Making fruit into wine adds another dimension. We want to help farmers think of ways to make what they do better.”

During his tour of Kosinski Farm, Patrick was shown where flowers are grown, corn dried, pies baked and crops kept at their freshest in the farm’s walk-in cooler where visitors can shop for fruits and vegetables harvested the same day.

The Kosinskis also showed the governor their famous blueberry crops and explained that the oldest wood on the bush must be cut back in order to allow for the growth of new fruit.

At the conclusion of the tour, Patrick assembled his cabinet for a meeting on the farm, Murray’s last cabinet meeting as part of the governor’s administration.

The grant funds are awarded through the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Improvement Program, which seeks to perpetuate farming on land that has been protected from development through the DAR’s Agricultural Preservation Restriction.

Farm grants announced by Gov. Patrick

Here is a list of the grants to farms Gov. Deval Patrick announced on Friday.

• Ridale Genetics, in Cummington, $50,000 for a hay and equipment barn;
• Silverbrook Farm, in Dartmouth, $50,000 for greenhouses;
• Farmer Dave’s, in Dracut, $50,000 for a packing and storage structure;
• Chicoine Family Farm, in Easthampton, $50,000 for a farmstand and hay and equipment storage;
• Fairview Orchards, in Groton, $75,000 for apple trees and drainage;
• Mountain View Farm, in Lanesborough, $75,000 for a storage barn and farm stand;
• Cervelli Farm, in Rochester, $100,000 for an equipment storage structure;
• Thomas Farm, in Sunderland, $25,000 for a goat dairy barn addition;
• Warner Farm, in Sunderland, $75,000 for retail expansion and a freezer;
• Kosinski Farm, in Westfield, $75,000 for a value-added fruit winery, and,
• North Country Harvest, in Westfield, $75,000 for a grain dryer and storage silo.

Traffic, public safety, jobs and housing will be among the issues discussed by the joint committee, Ferrera and Griffin said.

SPRINGFIELD – Casino advisory committees in Springfield and West Springfield will hold joint meetings to consider the potential impact if a casino is approved in either community.

Springfield City Council President James J. Ferrera and West Springfield Town Councilor Brian Griffin announced the plan Friday during a press conference at Springfield City Hall.

With Hard Rock International proposing a casino at the Big E in West Springfield and MGM Resorts International planning one in Springfield’s South End, the two neighboring communities will be affected if either is approved, Ferrera said.

“This will be an insurance policy for Springfield” if Hard Rock’s proposal wins approval next year from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Ferrera said.

Traffic, public safety, jobs and housing will be among the issues discussed by the joint committee, Ferrera and Griffin said.

Griffin also said the $500,000 in so-called “mitigation funds” for neighboring communities included in MGM’s host agreement with Springfield will also spark discussion.

“It is woefully inadequate,” he said, adding that a figure “in the millions” would be more realistic to compensate Springfield’s neighbors for potential negative impact on attractions, restaurants, hotels and retail businesses from MGM’s casino.

Ferrera said he expects the first meeting of the joint committee to be held next week.

In a related development, a group studying the potential health impact of a casino will hold a public hearing June 3 in Springfield.

The group, the Western Massachusetts Casino Health Impact Assessment, will also hold a forum in West Springfield at a later date.

The effort is being led by Partners for a Healthier Community in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts and Springfield’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The project’s advisory committee includes leaders from each of the potential casino host communities.

The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Springfield Central Library. Anyone planning on attending should call (413) 794-7739.

Floodwaters up to 4 feet deep hampered rescue attempts and frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had passed to the east.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, killing a mother and baby and crumbling cars and tractor-trailers along a major interstate.

The broad storm hit during the evening rush hour, causing havoc on Interstate 40, a major artery connecting suburbs east and west of the city. To the south, winds approaching 80 mph were forecast for Moore, where a top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado killed 24 on May 20.

Floodwaters up to 4 feet deep hampered rescue attempts and frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had passed to the east.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said troopers found the bodies of a woman and an infant near their vehicle. Randolph said it's not known if the woman was driving into the storm when it hit around 7 p.m. Friday.

Emergency officials reported numerous injuries were reported in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Troopers requested a number of ambulances at I-40 near Yukon, west of Oklahoma City.

Hail and heavy rain pelted the metro area to the point that emergency workers had trouble responding to "widespread" reports of injuries.

"We're scrambling around," said Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency. "There is very low visibility with the heavy rain ... so we're having trouble getting around.

"The damage is very, very widespread."

Standing water was several feet deep, and downtown Oklahoma City looked more like a hurricane had gone through than a tornado.

Tornado warnings were also posted Friday night near Tulsa and near St. Louis.

Watch live streaming coverage from KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City:

After 2 successive days of temperatures in the 90s, Greater Springfield is, if the forecast holds, rushing headlong into its first heat wave of 2013.

 

SPRINGFIELD — Day one: check. Day two: check. Next up is day three.

After two successive days of temperatures in the 90s, Greater Springfield is, if the forecast holds, rushing headlong into its first heat wave of 2013.

Definitions for a heat wave vary around the world, but for the Northeast, it’s three or more successive days of temperatures of 90 degrees or higher.

Day three, barring a major asteroid strike or something, should arrive on Saturday. The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures should be around 92 on Saturday, which would be a shade lower than Friday when temperatures up the Connecticut River valley hit the mid-90s.

Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield recorded a high of 96 degrees, Bradley International Airport tied a 1987 record for the date with a mark of 95 degrees, and Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee recorded 92 degrees. Orange Municipal Airport recorded a mark of 93 degrees.

The Republican weather station in downtown Springfield measured a high of 93 degrees, while the Springfield Department of Public Works on Tapley Street recorded a high of 95 degrees.

A degree here, a degree there; the bottom line is Friday was hot.

This came on the heels of Thursday, when temperatures reached or exceeded 90 degrees at Westover, Bradley and downtown Springfield.

In addition to the heat on Friday, the region had to contend with poor air quality. The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for the region, warning of unhealthy amounts of ozone that could affect people with lung issues. The advisory was in effect until 11 p.m. Friday.

Nick Morganelli, meteorologist with CBS 3 Springfield, the media partner of The Republican and MassLive.com, said there is little relief in sight through the weekend, and people are best advised to do whatever they can to stay cool.

“Stay hydrated, limit outdoor activity during the midday heat, check on seniors and those with lung issues, and keep pets indoors,” he said.

“We're in the haze, heat, and humidity through Sunday,” he said.

In anticipation of Saturday’s forecast, the city of Springfield will open cooling centers at four library branches from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The branches are the Forest Park branch, 380 Belmont Ave., Indian Orchard Branch, 44 Oak St., Liberty Street branch, 773 Liberty St., and the Sixteen Acres branch at 1187 Parker St.

The state Department of Recreation will have a lifeguard on duty at the beach at Chicopee State Park in Chicopee.

There is also a chance for sudden thunderstorms later in the day on Saturday and Sunday, Morganelli said.

The forecast calls for the heat wave ending after Sunday, and rain is expected to move in on Monday and Tuesday, he said.

Meanwhile the National Weather Service investigated reports that a tornado touched down in Ashfield on Wednesday night, but could not confirm one actually did, an official said.

Joseph Dellicarpini of the National Weather Service station in Taunton said the reports of the tornado were based on several trees in Ashfield being knocked down.

An investigation of the scene showed the trees were all likely knocked down by a wind of 60 to 70 miles an hour and not a tornado, he said. Based on how the trees fell, he said, “We’re pretty confident it was a straight-line wind.”

Public records show the government filing a lawsuit against Google in April after the company declined to cooperate with similar demands.

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Google Inc. to comply with FBI warrantless demands for customer data.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston on Tuesday rejected Google's argument that the so-called National Security Letters the company received from the FBI were unconstitutional and unnecessary. Illston ordered Google to comply with the secret demands even though she found the letters unconstitutional in March in a separate case filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

She acknowledged as much in her four-page order in the Google case made on May 20 and obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

Illston put the Google ruling on hold until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could decide the matter. Until then, she said the Mountain View, Calif.-based company would have to comply with the letters unless it showed the FBI didn't follow proper procedures in making its demands for customer data in the 19 letters Google is challenging.

After receiving sworn statements from two top-ranking FBI officials, Illston said she was satisfied that 17 of the 19 letters were issued properly. She wanted more information on two other letters.

Google could appeal Illston's decision. The company declined comment Friday.

Kurt Opsah, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said it could be many more months before the appeals court rules on the constitutionality of the letters, which the FBI sends to telecommunication companies, Internet service providers, banks and others amid terror investigations. The letters are used to collect unlimited kinds of sensitive, private information, such as financial and phone records.

In March, Illston found that the FBI's demand that recipients refrain from telling anyone — including customers — that they had received the letters was a violation of free speech rights.

"We are disappointed that the same judge who declared these letters unconstitutional is now requiring compliance with them," Opsah said on Friday.

Illston's order omits any mention of Google or that the proceedings have been closed to the public.

But the judge said "the petitioner" was involved in a similar case filed on April 22 in New York federal court.

Public records show that on that same day, the federal government filed a "petition to enforce National Security Letter" against Google after the company declined to cooperate with government demands.

The letters, along with the recent seizure of reporters' phone records by President Barack Obama's administration, have prompted complaints of government privacy violations in the name of national security.

In 2007, the Justice Department's inspector general found widespread violations in the FBI's use of the letters, including demands without proper authorization and information obtained in non-emergency circumstances. The FBI has tightened oversight of the system.

The FBI made 16,511 national security letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available.

A northern Virginia businessman was sentenced Friday to more than two years in prison for illegally funneling nearly $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's political campaigns in 2006 and 2008.

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia businessman was sentenced Friday to more than two years in prison for illegally funneling nearly $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's political campaigns in 2006 and 2008.

William Danielczyk, 51, of Oakton pleaded guilty in February to violating campaign-finance laws by reimbursing employees of his company, Galen Capital, and others who were recruited to attend fundraisers and make contributions Clinton's Senate and presidential campaigns.

There are no allegations Clinton or her campaign acted improperly.

The sentence of 28 months was roughly half of the five-year maximum sought by prosecutors in U.S. District Court. Danielczyk's lawyers, meanwhile, argued that many similar violations of the campaign-finance laws had resulted only in probation.

In imposing his sentence, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris compared Danielczyk's case to defense lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, who received 27 months for illegally funneling more than $380,000 to House members controlling the Pentagon's budget.

Arguing for a lighter sentence, defense lawyer Abbe Lowell said Danielczyk's case differed from more serious violations in part because Danielczyk did not seek any special favors in exchange for his fundraising efforts.

But prosecutor Eric Gibson disputed that, citing grand jury testimony that Danielczyk had told others he hoped to land an ambassadorship and saw fundraising as a means to achieve it.

Lowell also urged the judge to tread lightly given the fact that campaign-finance laws are in flux and courts are still sorting out the implications of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which lifted many restrictions on corporate spending in political elections. Indeed, for a brief time, Cacheris had tossed out some of the charges against Danielczyk, ruling that under Citizens United, the campaign finance law banning corporations like Galen from making contributions to federal candidates is unconstitutional.

An appellate court later overruled Cacheris, saying Citizens United gives corporations a free hand to contribute to campaign activities by independent groups but not directly to candidates themselves.

At Friday's hearing, Danielczyk did not apologize for his conduct but said he was angry with himself.

"I've always tried to lead by example, and I obviously didn't do that here," he said.

The scheme was first exposed more than five years ago by The Wall Street Journal. At the time, Danielczyk lied and said he had not reimbursed people for making contributions. Prosecutor Eric Gibson said the lies to the media were just a small part of Danielczyk's efforts to hide his scheme, including falsely describing reimbursements to his straw donors as bonuses and "consulting fees" and swapping out a laptop computer with incriminating evidence that he was obliged to turn over to the FBI.

A co-defendant, former Galen executive Eugene Biagi, 78, was sentenced Friday to probation. Under his plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend no more than probation to the judge.

Biagi's lawyer, Todd Richman, said his client actually disliked Clinton and engaged in the scheme only because Danielczyk, his friend and employer, told him to.

"The chance that he would have engaged in this on his own is zero ... certainly not for Hillary Clinton," Richman said.

Former NBA All-Star guard Daron "Mookie" Blaylock was on life support at a hospital Friday after his SUV crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a van in suburban Atlanta, police said.

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Former NBA All-Star guard Daron "Mookie" Blaylock was on life support at a hospital Friday after his SUV crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a van in suburban Atlanta, police said.

In this May 8, 1997, file photo, Atlanta Hawks' Mookie Blaylock (10) drives against the Chicago Bulls' Ron Harper during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball playoff game in Chicago. Police say the former Hawks guard is on life support after a car crash in suburban Atlanta on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael S. Green, File) 

Blaylock was driving in Jonesboro Friday when he crashed and was airlifted to the Atlanta Medical Center in critical condition, said Clayton County police spokesman Clarence Cox.

Cox says a man and woman riding in the van were also taken to the medical center. Their names and conditions were not immediately available.

The 46-year-old Blaylock was a first-round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets out of Oklahoma in 1989.

He played for the Atlanta Hawks between 1992 and 1999, appeared in the 1994 NBA All-Star game and had his best season in 1996-97, averaging 17.4 points and 5.9 assists.

In 13 NBA seasons with New Jersey, Atlanta and Golden State, he averaged 13.5 points and 6.2 assists.

Tim Janiak of East Longmeadow became the latest to come up short against Gus & Paul's Corned Beef Challenge. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD — Gus and Paul’s Bakery Deli & Catering's Corned Beef Challenge remained undefeated after yet another hopeful joined the growing ranks of people to come up short against the mammoth-sized meal.

In this case, the vanquished was Tim Janiak of East Longmeadow, who entered the Sumner Avenue deli Friday afternoon hungry for an upset, but who left beaten, bowed and – quite literally – gasping for breath out in the street.

For those unfamiliar with the "Gus & Paul's Corned Beef Challenge," contestants have to eat a 10-pound meal consisting of a corned beef sandwich consisting of 2.5 pounds of corned beef, 1 pounds of Swiss cheese, 2 sliced tomatoes, 1/2 head of lettuce, a 1.5 pound water roll, 1/2 pound of mustard, and 1 pound of sliced pickles. It comes with 1 pound of coleslaw and 1.25 pounds of french fries as fixings.

And before anyone can say "that would feed me for a week," contestants have only one hour to devour with no help from friends, family, bystanders or pets.

That's the challenge.

If anyone can eat the meal in the appointed time, they eat for free. Otherwise they pay $59.99.

In the five years that the challenge has been around, no one has gotten the meal for free.

Janiak started out strong, displaying a ravenous spirit at the outset, but he was soon in trouble. He was only able to eat half the sandwich before calling it quits.

NEW YORK — Jacoby Ellsbury's fifth stolen base Thursday night gave him a record, and a left groin strain.

By Evan Drellich

NEW YORK — Jacoby Ellsbury's record came at a cost.

Ellsbury's fifth stolen base Thursday night in a 9-2 Red Sox win set the team record for most steals in a game, but also led to a left groin strain that made Ellsbury a scratch from the lineup Friday afternoon in New York.

Ellsbury was not available at all in Boston's 4-1 loss to the Yankees, and he's questionable for Saturday.

"Still was stiff throughout the course of the game tonight," Sox manager John Farrell said Friday night. "Questionable tomorrow. We’ll see how he comes in tomorrow.”

This three-game series is key, but the Red Sox do have an off-day Monday, so resting Ellsbury for three games would be the equivalent of a four-day rest — if that's necessary.

Ellsbury said the injury happened as he took off for third base in the eighth inning. He stole second and took third base on Phillies catcher Erik Kratz's errant throw, but by the time he pulled into third, he wasn't running full speed.

"I felt it get tight right when I did it," Ellsbury said. "The ball went into the outfield, and you could see me just jogging into third."

Daniel Nava was inserted into the leadoff spot in place of Ellsbury, with Jackie Bradley Jr. in center for his first start since being recalled this week. Bradley Jr. will play center while Ellsbury and Shane Victorino (15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain) are unavailable.

Follow MassLive.com Red Sox beat writer @EvanDrellich on Twitter. He can be reached by email at evan.drellich@masslive.com.

The city license commission acted to revoke the license after the bar had been the subject of recent complaints by both the police and fire departments.

 

WESTFIELD — The city License Commission voted this week to revoke the license for an Elm Street bar that had apparently been the subject of recent complaints by both the police and fire departments.

The commission voted on Wednesday night at a special meeting to permanently take away the license for Tommy D’s bar at 250-252 Elm St.

“It is the intent of the commission to revoke their license permanently,” said Westfield Director of Licensing Denise Carey.

The bar is owned by Buck Pond Enterprises of Westfield, a corporation that lists Gaetano A. Denardo as president and treasurer, according to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office.

Denardo resides in Westfield. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Westfield News* reported two of the complaints against the bar involved disturbances with customers that spilled into the street and had to be broken up by the police.

In a third incident, firefighters responded to a fire alarm sounding to find the smoke detectors had been activated by someone bringing a motorcycle inside the bar to gun the engine and spin the tires.

The bar had previously been reprimanded by the commission in 2006 for a large fight involving more than 100 people that required several police and state troopers to break up. The commission ordered it to close earlier on Friday and Saturday nights for a year.

*-Westfield News articles may require a subscription

On a variety of policy fronts, pressing financial and other needs are forcing Republicans to concede more publicly than usual that minimalist government isn't necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution.

President Barack Obama is introduced by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on May 28 in Asbury Park, N.J. One major principle of Obama's presidency that his foes love to hate - that government, when it works right, can be best-equipped to aid and protect Americans - is finding fresh currency among some Republicans. Obama walked side by side Christie, a fiscal conservative who has shown no patience for massive government spending - except when it comes to billions in federal aid for his state after Superstorm Sandy. In fact, it was Christie and other Northeast Republicans who blasted members of their own party for insisting that Federal Emergency Management Agency aid be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. 

By JOSH LEDERMAN

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says a government that works properly can help and protect the public. Republican believers in a less-is-more government generally disagree.

Yet on a variety of policy fronts, pressing financial and other needs are forcing Republicans to concede more publicly than usual that minimalist government isn't necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution.

Natural disasters batter states. Security threats highlight the need for a robust defense apparatus. Offers of federal dollars for health coverage are tough to reject.

Conservatives have played up Obama's health law, various bailouts, stimulus spending, universal pre-kindergarten and environmental rules as examples of what they see as overreach and bloated governing.

The perception of an out-of-control government has gained steam in the early months of Obama's second term. His foes cite the Justice Department's snooping on reporters in leak investigations and an admission by the Internal Revenue Service that agents unfairly targeted conservative groups.

"You've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems," Obama recently told graduates at Ohio State University. "You should reject these voices," he added, promoting the positive role government can play.

This past week saw the president on a New Jersey shore tour with GOP Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a fiscal conservative who has shown no patience for massive government spending, except when it comes to billions in federal aid for his state after Superstorm Sandy.

It was Christie and other Northeast Republicans who criticized members of their own party for insisting that Federal Emergency Management Agency aid be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

"Republicans, Democrats, independents — we all came together, because New Jersey is more important and our citizens are more important than any kind of politics at all," Christie said on Tuesday.

Two days earlier, it was Mary Fallin, another Republican governor with a distaste for over-the-top government spending, who welcomed Obama and the post-tornado aid his administration brought.

In Arizona, GOP Gov. Jan Brewer is in a fight to force lawmakers in her conservative-leaning state to embrace a dramatic expansion of Medicaid made possible by an infusion of federal dollars under Obama's health care law.

Although she joined other Republican governors in suing the Obama administration over the law, she's now told the Republican-controlled Legislature that she'll veto every bill sent to her until lawmakers approve the expansion.

Brewer's administration in recent years installed a Medicaid eligibility freeze to help balance the state budget. But rejecting the Medicaid dollars under the new law, with Washington offering to pay 100 percent of the cost for the first three years, meant telling about 300,000 poor Arizonans they're out of luck while their counterparts in other states get coverage.

"I never liked the Affordable (Care) Act," Brewer said this year. "But, we don't cut off our nose to spite our face."

So Brewer joined eight other Republican governors, including Christie, in calling for the expansion to go forward. Six of those governors have received legislative approval or appear on track to do so.

"I think governors who take that are being expedient," said Chris Chocola, the president of the fiscal conservative group Club for Growth. "They're certainly not limiting the size of government."

White House officials say it's consistent with a Republican pattern of railing against the government until something happens in their state or district that merits assistance or rescue.

"It's reverse NIMBY politics in a way," said Dan Pfeiffer, a senior White House adviser. "Instead of not in my backyard, the GOP philosophy is only in my backyard, not anyone else's."

Republicans say that while there are some exceptions among their ranks, the differences are generally small and the overarching philosophy remains intact and widely embraced. On disaster aid, for instance, they say Republicans have consistently supported it as a concept; the key question is how to pay for it.

"The conservative movement and the Republican Party is not arguing for a government the size of zero. It's arguing for a government that acts responsibly and makes decisions about priorities," said Dan Hazelwood, a Republican strategist whose clients have included President George W. Bush. "The binding of the coalition is generally, we want the trajectory down."

He contrasted that to the position of Democrats, who he said "want to just increase everything."

Other fractures in the opposition to a strong central government have been highlighted by the renewed look at how the U.S. protects itself against security threats abroad.

Obama recently proposed closing the costly Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba and allowing greater oversight and limitations on when and how the U.S. can assert itself militarily overseas.

Those ideas were met with doubts from some prominent Republicans, who suggested the military needs broad latitude to fight terrorism threats. Other conservative Republicans supported making some of those changes.

Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Peter Imelio 

Peter J. Imelio, 80, of Springfield, died on Thursday. Born in Agawam, he grew up in Agawam and resided in Springfield for the remainder of his life. He was a Navy veteran and served during the Korean War. He spent his entire career with The New England Telephone Company, retiring as a district manager in 1984. His lifelong passion for golf earned him six holes-in-one.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Abdow, George T.
  



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  Balut, Raymond V.
  



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  Barker, Mary T.
  



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  Barney, Janet F.
  



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  Bessette, Norman E.
  



• 
  Boze, Kathyleen F.
  



• 
  Bryant, Georgette
  



• 
  Corbett, Dorothy R.
  



• 
  Denning, Joan E.
  



• 
  Eno, Joseph J.
  



• 
  Hart, Madison L.
  



• 
  Holt, Alan F.
  



• 
  Imelio, Peter J.
  



• 
  Lefebvre, Ann S.
  



• 
  Manuel, Elaine
  



• 
  McGrady, David E.
  



• 
  Morales, Carlos R.
  



• 
  Moses, Joseph M.
  



• 
  Murphy III, Harold P.
  



• 
  Osborne, Johanna Viehe-Naess
  



• 
  Pelletier, Cecile J.
  



• 
  Percy, Robert L.
  



• 
  Pilch, Stanley
  



• 
  Poole, William L.
  



• 
  Rzeznik Sr., Ernest A.
  



• 
  Sadowski, Stanley Arlen
  



• 
  Waldron, Thomas A.
  



• 
  Whalen, Michael A.
  

Headmaster Timothy Duff congratulated the senior and their parents, and singled out Scott and Diane Hodges, whose son Zachary was their fourth child to graduate from the Plumtree Road school.

AGAWAM - Twenty seniors at the Pioneer Valley Christian School received diplomas, applause and advice during a graduation ceremony Friday at Bethany Assembly of God.

“Refuse to be ordinary; be extraordinary in everything (you) do,” said senior class valedictorian Samuel S. Wenninger, urging his classmates to excel academically and spiritually.

The class was the 34th to graduate from the Springfield-based Christian school; all 20 graduates are bound for college, from Valley Forge Christian College and Full Sail University to Lincoln Culinary Institute to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Headmaster Timothy Duff congratulated the senior and their parents, and singled out Scott and Diane Hodges, whose son Zachary was their fourth child to graduate from the Plumtree Road school.

“Just think, Scott, you won’t have those endless tuition payments, and driving those endless miles; what will you do with all your time and money?” the headmaster asked.

“College,” somebody in the congregation answered.

Also offering remarks were Matthew Andre, class salutatorian, and Lynn Jefson, senior class advisor. Seniors Daniel Bellerose and Zeanea Charland also offered reflections their class.

Early in the ceremony, the senior class stood and applauded teachers, parents and others who helped them during their high school career.

Northern Tree donated 150 saplings for the planting event.

MONSON - Volunteers braved the heat and took to Rogers Field at Flynt Park on Saturday to help restore the tornado-stripped hillside with trees and shrubs on the second anniversary of the day the twister whipped through the town.

Sponsored by the Replanting Monson Tree Committee, approximately 30 volunteers congregated at 9 a.m. at the slope of Mt. Ella to plant 150 saplings, 79 shrubs and 55 trees.

Replanting Monson Tree Committee Chairwoman Valerie Bogacz-Beaudoin said the committee wanted to hold an event to show the community is still “Monson Strong,” the phrase coined in the days after the tornado, and to do work on a sizable piece of public land.

“Homes are being rebuilt. Businesses are coming back, but it’s still very obvious that there are missing trees,” she said. “We’re coming together as a community to try and put the trees back.”

A variety of native trees – oaks, maples, dogwoods and pear – as well as azalea and blueberry bushes were planted. There were boy scouts, high school students looking to meet their community service requirement, church representatives, the Street Angels tornado disaster team and residents who just wanted to help out, or pay it forward because they received assistance after the tornado.

David A. and Tara S. Parker, who live on East Hill Road, fall into the latter category. They said they lost every tree on their property due to the tornado, and got some new ones through the tree committee. So they wanted to be on hand to help with the public planting at Rogers Field.

“We’re here to plant some trees,” announced Jacinthe M. Bilodeau, who was with her husband, Denis C. Duquette. The couple said the tornado just missed their home, but they lost trees and a car to the damage. They consider themselves lucky the damage wasn’t worse.

“We’re volunteer-aholics so we thought we’d take some time and help out. It’s the second anniversary and we wanted to be part of it,” he said.

Scoutmaster Daniel A. Chalue brought members of Boy Scout Troop 776. Daniel Crocker, 12, said it was fun to help plant.

“It’s just nice to help the community,” Crocker said.

Members of the First Church of Monson, which had its steeple ripped off by the tornado, also were on hand, along with some members of the church’s youth group, tMAC, which stands for Teens Making a Change. Lisa M. Borlen, the church’s Sunday school superintendent, said the people of Monson make the town special, and marveled at the number who came out to plant.

“Every little bit that we can do to try and bring things back is good,” said Rev. Robert Marrone of First Church. “It’s going to be years before the town is back, but every little step, every little piece that gets done helps people to feel as if they are moving forward, like we’re going to be OK.”

Marrone said pre-tornado, the hillside was covered with deep woods, and it remains difficult to recognize landmarks two years later.

“Another 10 years and this will be a beautiful path with gorgeous little trees growing. Fifty years from now, it will be spectacular,” Marrone said.

Bogacz-Beaudoin said the trees were funded through a state grant, and the 150 saplings were donated by Northern Tree. Prior to Saturday’s event, the committee was responsible for the planting of 524 trees, 150 bushes and 300 saplings around town.

In Springfield, a Founder’s Day Banquet was held Saturday morning at the Carriage House in Forest Park. Special tribute was given to numerous organizations and individuals who aided Springfield’s tornado recovery - several city neighborhoods suffered widespread damage.

The project was originally slated for June 3, but due to a problem with the contrator it had to be rescheduled.

Conor Berry, The Republican 

MONSON — Highway Surveyor John R. Morrell said Moulton Hill Road will be closed on June 10 for stone seal work, and motorists should seek alternate routes that day.

The road will be open only to residents and school buses. The project is being funded through $75,000 in state chapter 90 road repair funds. Work will be done from the Connecticut line to Wales Road.

The project was originally slated for June 3, but due to a problem with the contractor, it had to be rescheduled.

The Springfield City Council has debated changes to the residency requirement for many years, with some members saying that a stronger law is needed.

01/14/13-Springfield-Staff Photo by Dave Roback- Springfield City Council president James J. Ferrera III, center, announces the new committee chairs and committees at Springfield City Hall on Monday. From left, city councilors Zaida Luna, Tim Allen, Ferrera, Clodo Concepcion and Bud L. Williams.  

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council on Monday will consider approving changes in the residency requirement for newly hired employees, aimed at reducing the number of new waivers granted.

Michael Fenton 

As proposed by several councilors, additional steps will be required by the director of labor relations before any waivers of the residency requirement are considered by the mayor in new hires.

“It makes the process more transparent and more fair to the Springfield taxpayer,” said Councilor Michael Fenton, chairman of the Special Committee on Residency.

In addition, any new department head or deputy director hired shall not be eligible for a waiver of the residency requirement, under the proposed ordinance amendments.

The council meeting begins at 7 p.m., in the council chambers at City Hall.

Some councilors have been calling for changes in the residency ordinance for many years, saying that many employees are exempt from the requirement and the law has been largely unenforced since being adopted in 1995.

Among the changes proposed Monday, no new waivers can be granted until a request for a waiver is submitted in writing by the director of labor relations to the mayor and council. Currently, the council gets no notification of waivers in advance.

While the mayor retains his executive power to grant waivers, the labor director must first follow a number of steps aimed at promoting the hire of Springfield residents, under the proposal.

The council must be notified of the date the job was posted, the number of applicants, and the number of Springfield residents who applied, the ordinance amendments state. After the waiver request is forwarded, the job posting must be opened a second time for not less than seven days, and publicly posted on the city’s website, to encourage qualified Springfield applicants, Fenton said.

If no Springfield resident applies for the position who meets the minimum qualifications, then the mayor, “in his sole discretion, may grant the waiver,” the proposed ordinance states.

The council must also be notified in writing of all waivers granted. The council has not been notified regularly of waivers, but received a list of names and positions when requested.

The ordinance would not affect any waivers granted before January 2014, by the mayor or by the former Springfield Finance Control Board, under the new proposal.

The council last year considered changes to the residency ordinance that included a proposal to grant annual bonuses ranging from $250 to $1,000 to municipal employees who live in Springfield or agree to move to Springfield, The proposal failed, and the residency issue went back to committee review.

The council is also considering a proposal to require new Springfield school principals, vice principals and directors to live in Springfield, under a home rule bill needing local and state approval.

Spanish professor Monica Torregrosa, who was honored for her teaching excellence, was greeted by whoops and cheers as she approached the microphone to deliver the commencement address.

Holyoke Community College graduate Torrie Shaugnessy is joined by her nephew, Logan Jeffroy, at HCC graduation ceremonies Saturday.Dave Roback 

HOLYOKE -- At the Holyoke Community College commencement on Saturday, professor Monica Torregrosa asked 978 graduates to "keep the joyful spirit" of the day, even In a year when the tragedies in Newtown and Boston made it easy to be cynical and discouraged.

Torregrosa, who was honored for her teaching excellence, was greeted by whoops and cheers as she approached the microphone to deliver the commencement address.

She told the crowd of her own college education in her native Chile, at a time when the country was under a "cruel dictatorship," when 20 percent of its people were unemployed and when one of her own classmates turned out to be a government spy. None of this could destroy the thrill of learning, she said, or the caring of a professor who guided her to pursue a master's degree in the United States.

Torregrosa said HCC had given its students a professional and ethical foundation, and now it was their turn to remember and pass on what they had learned.

The two "student orators" at the ceremony also told of overcoming hardship on their way to graduation. Matt Cunningham, of Easthampton, battled addiction, and Samantha Melendez, of Springfield, was a victim of domestic violence.

Both expressed a deep gratitude to the college in their speeches. The school "never turned its back on me," said Cunningham, who at one point had to clear his throat as emotion overcame him. He began his studies at HCC 19 years ago, dropped out twice, finally buckled down, and has now been accepted at Westfield State University to major in social work.

Melendez, who has been accepted at both Amherst College and Mount Holyoke College, called her teachers and mentors at HCC "saints." The staff at the college are "our soldiers on the front lines and our safety nets," she said.

Several students graduated with 4.0 grade point average, including 57-year-old Richard Harper, of South Hadley; liberal arts majors Tristan Collin, of Warren; Sarah Byrne, of Northampton; and deaf studies major Cora Baker, of Monterey. Baker is so tiny that HCC's tall and genial president, Bill Messner, almost had to bend over double to hand her a well-deserved diploma.

Also graduating this year was Melissa Tracy of East Longmeadow, who is deaf and blind. "Just because I have a disability, that doesn't mean I can't be successful," said Tracy, who just turned 33 and majored in human services.

Distinguished service awards were granted to former HCC trustee and businessman James Carey of South Hadley; to schoolteacher Lydia Petoskey, of Holyoke, for her work to end discrimination against gays; and to businessman Greg Schneider, of Longmeadow, who established a scholarship in honor of his late mentor at HCC, professor Miriam Sajkovic..