A look back at the coverage by The Republican and Masslive.com on the June 1, 2011 tornado that swept through the Pioneer Valley,

Saturday is the second anniversary of the June 1 tornado that swept through Hampden County and into Worcester County, killing three people, injuring dozens others and causing millions in damage to homes and businesses over a 39-mile path from Westfield to Charlton.

In observance of the anniversary, MassLive.com is reposting the work of Republican photographers to document the both the immediate aftermath of the destruction from the storm and the resiliance of area residents in the days and weeks that followed.

Below are some of the photos and stories on the tornado, beginning hours after it hit on June 1.

Tornado tears through Pioneer Valley, killing two, damaging homes in 9 communities and causing widespread power outages(June 1, 2011)

SPRINGFIELD - Two tornadoes ripped through Greater Springfield Wednesday, killing two, injuring dozens and carving a corridor of destruction from Westfield to Sturbridge.

In the region’s worst tornado outbreak in a century, 10 communities were battered by back-to-back storms that inflicted widespread damage and left 57,000 homes without power Wednesday night.

With emergency workers searching for people trapped in homes and cars, Gov. Deval L. Patrick declared a state of emergency, called up 1,000 National Guard troops, and traveled to Springfield late Wednesday night to view the storm damage.

West Springfield mother dies while shielding 15-year-old daughter from tornado(June 2, 2011)

WEST SPRINGFIELD – A mother died shielding her 15-year-old daughter in a bathtub as their three-story apartment building on Union Street collapsed into rubble during Wednesday’s tornado.

“There is no doubt she saved her daughter,” Police Chief Thomas E. Burke said during a press conference on Union Street Thursday.

He identified the 40-year-old mother as either Angelique or Angelica Guerrero. The tornado that ripped through and devastated the Merrick neighborhood also claimed the life of a 23-year-old man sitting in the driver’s seat of his 2005 Kia parked along Main Street at Hill.

Burke said Sergey Livchin of 15 LaBelle St. was pronounced dead at the scene, but that a passenger in his Kia survived after a tree fell on the vehicle. The call came in to police about 4:45 p.m.

National Weather Service confirms three separate tornadoes struck Hampden County
The tornado that ripped through Springfield was the second strongest ever recorded in Massachusetts, with wind speeds estimated at 136 to 165 mph, an official with the National Weather Service said Friday.

Meteorologist Eleanor Vallier-Talbot said preliminary investigations show that in areas hardest hit, the tornado was estimated as an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Damage Classification Scale.

The scale classifies tornadoes on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most intense. The tornado that flattened Joplin, Mo., last month was considered an EF-5, with winds in excess of 200 mph.

The highest rating recorded for a Massachusetts tornado was one that struck Worcester in July 1953, which was an EF-4, Vallier-Talbot said.

But she cautioned that the numbers for the Springfield tornado are preliminary figures.

“It could possibly go higher,” she said.

The National Weather Service has determined there were actually three separate tornadoes. The most severe one was the EF-3 that carved a half-mile-wide path for 39 miles from Westfield to Charlton, killing four people and injuring 200.

An EF-1 with speeds of 90 mph touched down in Wilbraham. It was 200 yards wide and traveled 3.6 miles. Another EF-1 touched down in North Brimfield. It was 100 yards wide and traveled 1.3 miles. Those two did not cause any fatalities or injuries.

Massachusetts tornado victim Virginia 'Ginger' Darlow remembered as 'unique, cheerful' artist (June 11, 2011.)

BRIMFIELD – Virginia “Ginger” Darlow loved nature, so it wasn’t surprising that she planned to camp all summer at the Village Green Campground.

Darlow, 52, who lived in the Three Rivers section of Palmer when she was not in Brimfield, was killed in the June 1 tornado that raced through the wooded campground, flipping 95 of the 97 trailers that were parked there, including her own.

Darlow was with her boyfriend, Richard Reim, 51, inside their Winnebago camper when the twister touched down. He was in good condition at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, where he was treated for several broken bones.

Springfield takes step closer to reopening Main Street in South End, while Hampden County officials wait for tornado relief aid

SPRINGFIELD – Sections of Main Street in the city’s South End reopened Wednesday for the first time since the area was devastated by a tornado that swept through Hampden County.

Main Street from State to Park streets reopened allowing businesses along that stretch to open for the first time in a week. A portion of Main Street south of Park Street remains closed while cleanup operations continue. The city is temporarily making Park Street a two-way street to allow traffic to flow into and out of the area.

The opening allows businesses to operate, including Red Rose Pizzeria and Appliance Plus. Other local businesses, such as La Fiorentina, Langone Florist, and Fenton’s Sporting Goods, have already reopened. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the reopening of Main Street is part of the city’s immediate object of getting the city’s business community running as quickly as is safely possible.

Tornado cleanup continues in Monson and Brimfield

Officials say cleanup efforts are continuing in Monson and Brimfield, with progress being made each day, after devastating tornadoes whipped through the eastern Hampden County towns, destroying and severely damaging homes and businesses in its way.

Monson Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers said there were a total of 51 homes that were "total losses," and another 67 with damage so significant that use is now restricted. A total of 224 homes in the tornado's path were inspected. The tornado, which struck June 1, ripped the roof off the Town Office Building, rendering it unusable.

"This has been very traumatic for the community. We're going to be there for them. We're not going to let them down," Neggers said."We are doing the best we can."

Stapleton received eight Emmy nominations and won three times during her eight-year tenure with "All in the Family." Produced by Norman Lear, the series broke through the timidity of U.S. TV with social and political jabs and ranked as the No. 1-rated program for an unprecedented five years in a row. Lear would go on to create a run of socially-conscious sitcoms.

Cast members of "All in the Family," from left, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, and Sally Struthers pose with their Emmys backstage at the 24th annual Emmy Awards in Hollywood, Ca., Sunday night, May 14, 1972. O'Connor and Stapleton won outstanding continued performance by an actor and actress in a leading role in a comedy series. Struthers tied in the category of outstanding performance by an actress in a supporting role in a comedy. Stapleton has died at the age of 90. John Putch said Saturday, June 1, 2013 that his mother died Friday, May 31, 2013 of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family. Associated Press 

By JAKE PEARSON

NEW YORK — Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker's far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV's groundbreaking 1970s comedy "All in the Family," has died. She was 90.

Stapleton died Friday of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family, her son, John Putch, said Saturday.

Little known to the public before "All In the Family," she co-starred with Carroll O'Connor in the top-rated CBS sitcom about an unrepentant bigot, the wife he churlishly but fondly called "Dingbat," their daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and liberal son-in-law Mike, aka Meathead (Rob Reiner).

Stapleton received eight Emmy nominations and won three times during her eight-year tenure with "All in the Family." Produced by Norman Lear, the series broke through the timidity of U.S. TV with social and political jabs and ranked as the No. 1-rated program for an unprecedented five years in a row. Lear would go on to create a run of socially-conscious sitcoms.

Stapleton also earned Emmy nominations for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 film "Eleanor, First Lady of the World" and for a guest appearance in 1995 on "Grace Under Fire."

Her big-screen films included a pair directed by Nora Ephron: the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romance "You've Got Mail" and 1996's "Michael" starring John Travolta. She also turned down the chance to star in another popular sitcom, "Murder, She Wrote," which became a showcase for Angela Lansbury.

The theater was Stapleton's first love and she compiled a rich resume, starting in 1941 as a New England stock player and moving to Broadway in the 1950s and '60s. In 1964, she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand. Others musicals and plays included "Bells Are Ringing," ''Rhinoceros" and Damn Yankees," in which her performance — and the nasal tone she used in "All in the Family" — attracted Lear's attention and led to his auditioning her for the role of Archie's wife.

"I wasn't a leading lady type," she once told The Associated Press. "I knew where I belonged. And actually, I found character work much more interesting than leading ladies." Edith, of the dithery manner, cheerfully high-pitched voice and family loyalty, charmed viewers but was viewed by Stapleton as "submissive" and, she hoped, removed from reality. In a 1972 New York Times interview, she said she didn't think Edith was a typical American housewife — "at least I hope she's not."

"What Edith represents is the housewife who is still in bondage to the male figure, very submissive and restricted to the home. She is very naive, and she kind of thinks through a mist, and she lacks the education to expand her world. I would hope that most housewives are not like that," said Stapleton, whose character regularly obeyed her husband's demand to "stifle yourself."

But Edith was honest and compassionate, and "in most situations she says the truth and pricks Archie's inflated ego," she added.

She confounded Archie with her malapropos — "You know what they say, misery is the best company" — and open-hearted acceptance of others, including her beleaguered son-in-law and African-Americans and other minorities that Archie disdained.

As the series progressed, Stapleton had the chance to offer a deeper take on Edith as the character faced milestones including a breast cancer scare and menopause. She was proud of the show's political edge, citing an episode about a draft dodger who clashes with Archie as a personal favorite.

But Stapleton worried about typecasting, rejecting any roles, commercials or sketches on variety shows that called for a character similar to Edith. Despite pleas from Lear not to let Edith die, Stapleton left the show, re-titled "Archie's Place," in 1980, leaving Archie to carry on as a widower.

"My decision is to go out into the world and do something else. I'm not constituted as an actress to remain in the same role.... My identity as an actress is in jeopardy if I invested my entire career in Edith Bunker," she told the AP in 1979.

She had no trouble shaking off Edith — "when you finish a role, you're done with it. There's no deep, spooky connection with the parts you play," she told the AP in 2002 — but after O'Connor's 2001 death she got condolence letters from people who thought they were really married. When people spotted her in public and called her "Edith," she would politely remind them that her name was Jean.

Stapleton proved her own toughness when her husband of 26 years, William Putch, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1983 at age 60 while the couple was touring with a play directed by Putch.

Stapleton went on stage in Syracuse, N.Y., that night and continued on with the tour. "That's what he would have wanted," she told People magazine in 1984. "I realized it was a refuge to have that play, rather than to sit and wallow. And it was his show."

Stapleton was born in New York City to Joseph Murray and his wife, Marie Stapleton Murray, a singer. She attended Hunter College, leaving for a secretarial stint before embarking on acting studies with the American Theatre Wing and others.

Stapleton had a long working relationship with playwright Horton Foote, starting with one of his first full-length plays in 1944, "People in the Show," and continuing with six other works through the 2000s.

"I was very impressed with her. She has a wonderful sense of character. Her sense of coming to life on stage — I never get tired of watching," Foote told the AP in 2002. He died in 2009.

Her early TV career included guest appearances on series including "Lux Video Theatre," ''Dr. Kildare" and "The Defenders."

She and Putch had two children, John and Pamela, who followed their parents into the entertainment industry.

Her post-"All in the Family" career included a one-woman stage show, "Eleanor," in which she portrayed the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stapleton spent summers working at the Totem Pole Playhouse near Harrisburg, Pa., operated by her husband, William. She made guest appearances on "Murphy Brown" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and even provided the title character's voice for a children's video game, "Grandma Ollie's Morphabet Soup."

For years, she rarely watched "All In the Family," but had softened by 2000, when she told the Archive of American Television that enough time had passed.

"I can watch totally objectively," she said. "I love it. And I laugh. I think, 'Oh,' and I think, 'Gee, that's good.'"

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

Some of Simpson's whirligigs stand as high as 50 feet and are constructed from recycled HVAC parts including motor fans and cotton spindles. They can weigh as much 3 tons.

In this Thursday, June 21, 2012 file photo, whirligig artist Vollis Simpson sits outside his shop in Lucama, N.C. Simpson, a self-taught artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, has died. He was 94. Simpson's wife, Jean, told the Wilson Daily Times that her husband died in his sleep Friday, May 31, 2013.Associated Press 

MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Where others saw trash, Vollis Simpson saw whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, creations with hundreds of moving parts that turned and twirled.

The whirligigs were made from recycled heating and air conditioning systems and reflector material Simpson patiently cut into thousands of tiny pieces that made the works shine when lights hit them in the dark. His work was featured in museums, backyards, dentist offices and the 1996 Olympics.

"I got caught with a lot of material, and I worked it out," Simpson said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press.

Simpson, 94, died Friday, Beth Liles of Joyner's Funeral Home said.

Folklorist Jefferson Currie, who began working with Simpson about three years ago to record stories about the whirligigs and their creator, said Simpson's daughter told him he died at his home in Lucama, about 40 miles east of Raleigh.

Simpson had a heart valve replacement in February and had returned home recently, Currie said.

Some of Simpson's whirligigs stand as high as 50 feet and are constructed from recycled HVAC parts including motor fans and cotton spindles. They can weigh as much 3 tons.

This Monday, June 25, 2012 file photo shows whirligigs by Vollis Simpson along the entrance to Fearrington Village near Pittsboro, N.C. Associated Press 

The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park is scheduled to open in November in Wilson, about 10 miles from his home.

People from across the world visited Simpson at his shop, and he would happily sit and talk with them.

"What Vollis was doing mechanically, creatively and artistically is unparalleled," Currie aid. "He worked on a scale that was a lot larger than anyone else. And even in that scale, he had a lot of intricacy. And I think that's one of the things people recognized.

"They also saw the whimsy and the happiness in his pieces. They told stories — stories of community, of his time in World War II, of his love of airplanes. . People who see them for the first time, there's this sense of wonder, and it's kind of overwhelming. It's hard to get your head around how one man could create all of this."

His first whirligig, which he built while he was overseas during WWII, was stolen. He came home from the war and married Jean, the mother of their three children. He farmed and moved houses with trucks before opening the machine shop that eventually became whirligig central.

He started on his first whirligig at home in the early 1980s and spent about 10 years building other large ones. "People would drive by here every day to see what I was working on — old, crazy man," he told AP.

Buyers included a shopping center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore and the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Four of them were also put on display at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Last month, the North Carolina House approved a measure making whirligigs the state's official folk art.

The whirligigs are known as outsider art, works created by someone without formal arts training.

Simpson didn't have an engineering degree, either, but that didn't stop him from constructing a motorcycle with a bicycle and a stolen motor when he was an Air Force staff sergeant on Saipan during WWII. He also built tow trucks to move houses.

In an interview last summer, Simpson told AP he was conflicted about the park in his honor. He said he knew he could no longer care for his creations if they stayed at home with him, but he felt lonely without them.

"I just hope I live to see it," he said of the park.

Interstates and roadways already packed with rush-hour traffic quickly became parking lots as people tried to escape the oncoming storm. Motorists were trapped in their vehicles — a place emergency officials say is one of the worst to be in a tornado.

A vehicle lies upside-down at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno Okla. on Saturday June 1, 2013 after tornadoes swept through central Oklahoma on Friday. Associated Press 

SEAN MURPHY
Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — It's a warning as familiar as a daily prayer for Tornado Alley residents: When a twister approaches, take shelter in a basement or low-level interior room or closet, away from windows and exterior walls.

But with the powerful devastation from the May 20 twister that killed 24 and pummeled the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore still etched in their minds, many Oklahomans instead opted to flee Friday night when a violent tornado developed and headed toward the state's capital city.

It was a dangerous decision to make.

Interstates and roadways already packed with rush-hour traffic quickly became parking lots as people tried to escape the oncoming storm. Motorists were trapped in their vehicles — a place emergency officials say is one of the worst to be in a tornado.

"It was chaos. People were going southbound in the northbound lanes. Everybody was running for their lives," said Terri Black, 51, a teacher's assistant in Moore.

After seeing last month's tornado also turn homes into piles of splintered rubble, Black said she decided to try and outrun the tornado when she learned her southwest Oklahoma City home was in harm's way. She quickly regretted it.

When she realized she was a sitting duck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Black turned around and found herself directly in the path of the most violent part of the storm.

"My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down," Black said. "The trees were leaning literally to the ground. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind.

"I'll never do it again."

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said the roadways were quickly congested with the convergence of rush-hour traffic and fleeing residents.

"They had no place to go, and that's always a bad thing. They were essentially targets just waiting for a tornado to touch down," Randolph said. "I'm not sure why people do that sort of stuff, but it is very dangerous. It not only puts them in harm's way, but it adds to the congestion. It really is a bad idea for folks to do."

At least nine people were killed in Friday's storms, including a mother and her baby sucked out of their car as a deadly twister tore its way along a packed Interstate 40 near the town of El Reno, about 30 miles from Oklahoma City.

"We believe all the victims were in vehicles when the storm came through," Canadian County Undersheriff Chris West said Saturday.

More than 100 people were injured, most of those from punctures and lacerations from swirling debris, emergency officials reported.

Oklahoma wasn't the only state to see violent weather on Friday night. In Missouri, areas west of St. Louis received significant damage from an EF3 tornado that packed estimated winds of 150 mph. In St. Charles County, at least 71 homes were heavily damaged and 100 had slight to moderate damage, county spokeswoman Colene McEntee said.

Tens of thousands were without power, and only eight minor injuries were reported. Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.

Northeast of St. Louis and across the Mississippi, the city of Roxana was hit by an EF3 tornado as well, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said it wasn't clear whether the damage in both states came from the same EF3 twister or separate ones.

Back in Oklahoma, Amy Williamson, who lives just off I-40 in the western Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon, said when she learned the tornado was moving toward her home, she piled her two young children, baby sitter and two cats into her SUV.

"We felt like getting out of the way was the best idea," Williamson said. "It was 15 minutes away from my house, and they were saying it was coming right down I-40, so we got in the car and decided to head south."

Williamson said she knows emergency officials recommend taking shelter inside a structure, but fresh in her mind was the devastation of the Moore tornado. Seeing homes stripped to their foundation made her think that fleeing was the best idea, she said.

"I'm a seasoned tornado watcher ... but I just could not see staying and waiting for it to hit," she said. She ended up riding out the storm in a hospital parking garage.

On Saturday, muddy floodwaters stood several feet deep in the countryside surrounding the metro area. Torrential downpours followed for hours after the twisters moved east — up to 7 inches of rain in some parts — and the city's airport had water damage. Some flights resumed Saturday.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office said a man was missing from a vehicle near Harrah, east of Oklahoma City. Roadways around the area were crumbling because of water, especially near an intersection in northeastern Oklahoma City and in Canadian County south of I-40, between Mustang and Yukon.

When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled down I-40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. Debris was tangled in the median's crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs and a giant oil drum. The warped remains of a horse trailer lay atop a barbed-wire fence less than 50 yards from the highway.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reported more than 91,800 homes and businesses across the state remained without power Saturday.

Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City and Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this report.

The fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest is burning just 25 miles from the city, prompting the Red Cross to set up an emergency shelter at a nearby high school.

A view of the Tres Lagunas Fire from Pecos, N.M., on May 31, 2013. Officials said the fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest more than doubled in size by Friday night and was still totally uncontained. That prompted New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez to declare a state of emergency in San Miguel County to free up state funds to fight the fire. Associated Press 

JEMEZ SPRINGS, N.M. — Fire crews in New Mexico on Saturday fought two growing wild blazes that have scorched thousands of acres, spurred evacuation calls for dozens of homes and poured smoke into the touristy state capital.

State officials said the uncontained blaze near Santa Fe had spread to 8 square miles, making it apparently the largest of several wildfires burning in the West as it placed the city under a blanket of haze. The thick smoke also covered the Gallinas Canyon and Las Vegas, N.M.

The fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest is burning just 25 miles from the city, prompting the Red Cross to set up an emergency shelter at a nearby high school.

Officials asked residents in about 140 summer homes to evacuate as crews battled the flames near the communities of Pecos and Tres Lagunas.

Crews also cleared out campgrounds and closed trailheads in the area as they worked to prevent the fire from moving toward the capital city's watershed and more populated areas.

Another New Mexico blaze, the Thompson Ridge fire near Jemez Springs, had grown to about 1 square mile, state forestry officials said. Between 40 and 50 homes in the area were evacuated as around 80 crew members and a helicopter arrived to help fight the blaze.

Elsewhere in the West, fire crews worked to beat several other fires, including one in California and another in southwest Colorado.

A fire in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest in Southern California threatened power lines Saturday after prompting mandatory evacuation orders in the community of Green Valley a day earlier.

The evacuation order was lifted later Friday. Firefighters continued to work toward gaining control on the 3,600-acre fire with high heat in the forecast Saturday.

In Colorado, Mike Blakeman, a spokesman for the Rio Grande National Forest, said a fire 15 miles southwest of the small town of Creede was reported at about noon Friday and the cause of it remained under investigation. No structures have been damaged, but three homes and several outbuildings were threatened Saturday.

John Parmenter, director of Scientific Services Division at the nearby Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico, told the Albuquerque Journal that the Thompson Ridge fire ignited Friday in dense territory that was scheduled for thinning in the next few years because it posed a fire hazard.

"The area that it's in is very steep terrain leading up to the Valles Caldera," he said. "It could burn a lot of forest . There's a lot of fuel in there."

As the furious protests entered its second day, police fired tear gas and turned on water cannons at angry demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks and bottles on their march toward Taksim. In an area normally abuzz with tourists, stores were shuttered and protesters fled into luxury hotels for shelter. There were hundreds of arrests and injured.

Turkish protesters clash with riot police at the city's main Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, June 1, 2013. Turkish police retreated from a main Istanbul square Saturday, removing barricades and allowing in thousands of protesters in a move to calm tensions after furious anti-government protests turned the city center into a battlefield. A second day of national protests over a violent police raid of an anti-development sit-in in Taksim square has revealed the depths of anger against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who many Turks view as increasingly authoritarian and dismissive of opposing views.Associated Press 

BULUT EMIROGLU
and SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

ISTANBUL — In a scene reminiscent of the Arab Spring, thousands of people on Saturday flooded Istanbul's main square after a crackdown on an anti-government protest turned city streets into a battlefield clouded by tear gas.

Though he offered some concessions to demonstrators, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained largely defiant in the face of the biggest popular challenge to his power in a decade in office, insisting the protests are undemocratic and illegitimate.

Public anger has flared among urban and secular Turks after police violently broke up an anti-development sit-in in the landmark Taksim Square, with protests spreading to dozens of other cities as demonstrators denounced what they see as Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian style.

As the furious protests entered its second day, police fired tear gas and turned on water cannons at angry demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks and bottles on their march toward Taksim. In an area normally abuzz with tourists, stores were shuttered and protesters fled into luxury hotels for shelter. There were hundreds of arrests and injured.

Turkish authorities later removed barricades and allowed thousands of demonstrators into the square in an effort to calm tension. Sounding defiant even as he bowed to protesters and pulled back police, Erdogan promised to stick to the government's redevelopment plans — which protesters fear will remove one of the few green spaces in the sprawling city.

He called the protesters a "minority" that was trying to forcefully impose demands and challenged the opposition that he could easily summon a million people for a government rally.

"I am not claiming that a government that has received the majority of the votes has limitless powers ... and can do whatever it wants," Erdogan said in a televised speech. "Just as the majority cannot impose its will on the minority, the minority cannot impose its will on the majority."

Under Erdogan's leadership, Turkey has boosted economic growth and raised its international profile, taking a central role in post-Arab Spring politics in the region. Though widely supported by rural and conservative religious Muslims, he remains a divisive figure in mainly secular circles and is criticized for his often abrasive style.

Hundreds of people were injured in the protests, including four people who permanently lost their eyesight after being hit by gas canisters or plastic bullets, Huseyin Demirdizen of Turkey's Doctors' Association told The Associated Press. He said at least two people injured in the protests are in life-threatening condition.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said more than 900 people were detained during the protests but some of them were released after questioning. He did not say how many were still in custody. The protest had spread to 48 cities, he added.

The mood at Taksim after Erdogan called off the police was cheerful. Protesters chanted "Tayyip resign!" Turkish celebrities joined the crowds, with thousands milling around the square, waving flags, and cheering and clapping at anti-government speeches. Many drank beer in protest of newly enacted alcohol curbs, singing "cheers Tayyip!"

Private NTV television reported that protesters built barricades at entrances to the square to prevent police from returning.

Sporadic clashes continued between police and a group of protesters who were trying to approach Erdogan's office in Istanbul, which is located at a former Ottoman palace. The Dogan news agency said the protesters had set an abandoned police vehicle on fire.

In Ankara, thousands congregated at a busy shopping street, jovially singing, waving Turkish flags, and frequently breaking into calls for Erdogan to resign. One group jokingly called on police to fire more tear gas at protesters suggesting they had grown addicted and "were going crazy" without it.

"We have had it up to here with him," said protestor Neslihan Yildirim, raising her hand to her chin. "Constant oppression... All the intervention in our lives."

Although scenes at the square brought to mind Cairo's Tahrir Square, the center of an uprising that ended Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek's rule, the protests were not likely bring down Erdogan's government, one analyst said.

The protests were more of a warning, according to Ahmet Cigdem, a professor of sociology and political science at Ankara's Gazi University.

"The people showed that the government's rule is not guaranteed just because they obtained some 50 percent of the votes and just because there is no powerful political opposition in Turkey," Cigdem said.

"These protests have clearly showed what the people reject. They are saying 'Don't force your political, sociological and cultural impositions on our lives. Don't try to shape my thoughts and my beliefs," he said.

In a surprise move last week, the government quickly passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks, alarming secularists. Many felt insulted when he defended the legislation by calling people who drink "alcoholics." He insists the new regulations are aimed at protecting Turkey's youth from the harms of alcohol.

Erdogan is frequently criticized as a meddler in all aspects of life, telling couples, for example, to bear a minimum of three children. He also berated producers of a popular television series on the life of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificient for depicting him as a figure who spends his time dwelling on his harem instead of fighting wars.

The government's policy on Syria also remains unpopular, with many believing its open support to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has put Turkey's security at risk. On May 11, twin car bombs at a border town the government blamed on Syria killed 52 and sparked anti-government protests.

At dawn on Friday, police violently rousted protesters who had camped out at Taksim to protest the planned removal of trees in the square. Officials are planning to rebuild a former Ottoman army barracks and put in a shopping mall.

"We can hardly believe that a small action caused by a tree or two has led to such an uprising," demonstrator Hande Topaloglu said.

The protest was also seen as a demonstration of the anger building toward Turkish police, who have been accused of using inordinate force to quash demonstrations and of using tear gas excessively.

In another gesture to placate protesters, Erdogan said that police may have used tear gas excessively. The Interior Ministry said police officers who abused their power would be punished.

Erdogan said the government was determined to revamp Taksim and rebuild the old army barracks but said no firm decision was made on building a shopping mall. He also spoke of government plans to tear down a cultural center to build an opera hall, in statements that could cause further controversy.

The protests broke out just days after Istanbul pitched its bid to host the 2020 Olympic games to sports and Olympic officials at a conference in St. Petersburg.

The United States, Britain and Sweden were among countries that asked citizens to stay away from areas where protests were held.

In Syria, Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Erdogan's suppression of the peaceful protests in Turkey was "illogical and reveals his detachment from reality."

Echoing words that Erdogan has used against Syrian leader Assad, Al-Zoubi said it is unjustified that Erdogan should defy his people.

Fraser reported from Ankara. Associated Press writers Ezgi Akin and Burhan Ozbilici in Ankara, Karin Laub in Beirut and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.

A potbellied pig's unusual condition has made him an international star and an inspiration to those with disabilities.

Potbellied pig "Chris P. Bacon," owned by veterinarian Dr. Len Lucero, moves around on a special harness, in Sumterville, Fla. The pig was born without the use of his back legs. Lucero, who adopted the pig when a woman brought him into his animal clinic, has fashioned and bought the special harness so it can move around.  

By TAMARA LUSH

SUMTERVILLE, Fla. — In many circumstances, a piglet without the use of its hind legs would be put down. But Chris P. Bacon's unusual condition has made him an international star and an inspiration to those with disabilities.

When Chris was born in January, a woman brought him into Dr. Len Lucero's veterinary office in central Florida. The piglet's two back legs were deformed because of a congenital defect that left the joints fused together. Lucero said the woman thought the animal would need to be euthanized.

But Lucero watched as the baby potbellied pig crawled out of the carrier.

"His front legs were down on the ground, his back legs were up in the air, and he was balancing and walking forward," said Lucero. "He was full of life. So I thought, there was no way I could put this thing down, I'd rather give him a fighting chance, at least if not at my home, I would find someplace for him."

Lucero, who lives on a farm in central Florida, brought the little pig home to his wife, two kids and menagerie of animals. The animal's official name became "Chris P. Bacon," but informally, they called him "Piggy." Lucero's kids loved him and snapped photos. The family dog, a black and white Australian Shepherd, became his protector.

The doctor wondered how he could help the pig move easier and considered a set of wheels attached to a harness, similar to what some lame dogs use.

His son had a set of K'nex toys — with wheels and other pieces that snap together — and Lucero built a small cart and cobbled together a tiny harness. At first, the pig didn't like the harness, but then the tiny animal got the hang of the contraption.

A couple of weeks later, Lucero was at a veterinary conference and met with a representative from handicappedpets.com, a Nashua, N.H.-based company that builds pet wheelchairs, harnesses and carts. That company built a special wheelchair for Chris and created a Facebook page for the pig.

Lucero videotaped one of Chris' first jaunts and put the video on YouTube, and a star was born.

That video, dubbed "Pig in a Wheelchair," has gotten 1.2 million hits. His Facebook page has 56,000 "likes."

Chris now has his own webpage, Twitter account, Pinterest site — and as of last week, a book deal.

Hay House, a publishing house that specializes in self-help and motivational media, has signed Lucero to write three books about the adventures of Chris, the disabled pig.

The first book, which is geared to children aged 4 to 10, will be out in the fall.

Chris, now 22 pounds and using a dog wheelchair, is seemingly oblivious to his new-found fame. He's been on the "Today" show and met Anderson Cooper.

Now nearly 6 months old, the pig knows his name, comes when called and is housetrained. Lucero and his family take him outside several times a day, where he uses his wheels. Inside, Chris has a pen with plush beds where he can scoot around or nap in air-conditioned comfort. During a recent interview, he scarfed down his favorite foods: grapes and Cheerios.

It's possible that people are drawn to the piglet's tiny, cute body, or to his soft "uff, uff, uff" noises as he pulls himself around with his front hooves.

But Lucero noticed something else: People were inspired by the little pig who wanted to walk and play. One commenter said her boyfriend had used a motorized wheelchair since 1988, telling Chris: "Keep chugging little man....keep chugging."

Lucero and Chris now appear at fundraisers for disabled children, and Lucero is looking to start a foundation that helps people with disabilities.

"I've actually gotten a lot of people on our Facebook site, people with disabilities, and people who have got recent disabilities. And they said that this little guy right here has inspired them to give it their all," Lucero said. "And that gives me the tingles in my arms every time I read something like that."

Online: www.chrispbacon.org

The home of the world's largest pork producer and maker of famous Smithfield hams is divided in its reaction to news that the company agreed to be bought by a Chinese company.

Hams and other memorabilia is displayed at a restaurant in Smithfield, Va. Smithfield Foods has agreed to be bought by Shuanghui International Holdings for about $4.72 billion. Residents in this southeastern Virginia town have mixed reactions to the idea that the maker of their famous cured hams may soon be owned by a Chinese company. 

By MICHAEL FELBERBAUM

SMITHFIELD, Va. — You can't go far in this historic southeastern Virginia town without seeing a pig.

A herd of life-size swine statues lines its downtown, an ornament of a piglet wearing a bandanna adorns a front lawn, hams hang in storefronts and a pickup truck flaunts the license plate "PIG TIME."

The home of the world's largest pork producer and maker of famous Smithfield hams is divided in its reaction to news that the company agreed to be bought by a Chinese company. The reception is as mixed as whether the locals favor salt-cured or sugar-cured ham.

Smithfield Foods Inc. agreed to a $4.72 billion offer from Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd., the majority shareholder in China's largest meat processor. The deal, which would be the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm, still faces a federal regulatory review and Smithfield shareholder approval.

Steps from the site where the company was founded in 1936, residents in the "Ham Capital of the World" greet each other on a main street lined with white picket fences and Victorian-style homes, and welcome a neighbor back from a recent trip out of town. Just down the road, workers shuffle into the company's packing plants for their shifts.

Looking out on the street that's lined with antique cars every weekend, locals frequent Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and Beanery, grabbing their morning coffee and pastry. Some are shocked that "China would own our Smithfield," said Carolyn Burke, a longtime resident who owns the eatery.

"It's Smithfield ham, it's not China ham," Burke said.

And she's right: Pork produced here for more than 300 years became so popular that many places in the 1930s tried to pass off their ham as Smithfield ham, which led to branding each ham so customers knew it was authentic. The state even passed a since-revised law in 1926, stating the "Smithfield ham" moniker could only be used for cuts of peanut-fed hogs processed and salt-cured in the town limits.

The town also is home to the world's oldest cured ham from 1902 at the Isle of Wight museum — complete with its own brass collar around the hock.

As important as the pork itself is Smithfield Foods, which employs about 3,800 people in Virginia. In its most recent fiscal year, it brought in sales of more than $13 billion and made a profit of $361 million.

The company, its founding family — the Luters — and those who work there donate time and money to the community, funding parks, public restrooms and other projects.

"You either have a family member who works there, or has worked there, or you had a summer job there. It's just such a part of our community," said Sheila Gwaltney, the director of a local arts center and a more-than-40-year resident whose husband's family has been in the area since 1666. "Smithfield has been so good for the town."

With its namesake and well-being on the line, Smithfield native and Mayor T. Carter Williams, 71, hopes the pending sale doesn't compromise the town's identity.

"They say that everything's going to stay the same, and we all just hope that it does," he said. His wife, Connie, works at Taste of Smithfield, a hometown restaurant the company opened about a year ago to showcase its products. "We'll just see where it ends up, time will tell."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Smithfield Foods CEO Larry Pope said the move showed "the globalization of the world and how it affects small-town America."

"But Smithfield, Virginia, has nothing to worry about," Pope said. "We're in a mature market ... and to continue to grow we have to look at opportunities outside the United States."

Bob Barnes, who worked as an accountant at Smithfield Foods for about 10 years before retiring, sees only "good things happening" for the company that has had its share of ups and downs over the years.

Pork producers such as Smithfield have been caught in a tug of war with consumers. The company needs to raise prices to offset rising commodity costs, namely the corn it uses for feed. But consumers are still extremely sensitive to price changes in the current economy. By raising prices, Smithfield risks cutting into its sales should consumers cut back or buy cheaper meats, such as chicken. In 2009, Smithfield Foods posted its first annual loss since 1975, and again in 2010, but has since rebounded. And one of its largest shareholders had been pushing Smithfield to consider splitting itself up in recent months.

"Somebody's gotta own it," Barnes said. "It's just money. It doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't change our philosophy, our life, our politics (and) it doesn't shut down places."

Gwaltney agreed: "When you think about it, that should be very good economically for the company ... and what's good for the company is good for us."

There is at least one drawback that residents note: They'll soon be unable to own Smithfield stock — a tangible piece of the company named after the town that pork built.

Patrolman Brian Summers, an officer with the department's community policing unit, said residents are the first line of defense against violence in their neighborhoods.

HOLYOKE -- Four days after the city recorded its first homicide in over 20 months, residents gathered at the corner of Dwight and Linden streets Saturday afternoon to make a stand against violence.

Billed on Facebook as "These are OUR streets, this is OUR neighborhood!", the demonstration drew about two dozen city residents who held signs bearing slogans such as "Standing united to protect our neighborhood" and "Stop the violence now".

Stephanie Jusino came from South Holyoke to participate in the rally.

"I want people to know that what's happening here -- it shouldn't happen," Jusino said, adding that she's witnessed drug dealing and shootings near her own home. "So, I want to make a change."

Her mother, Yesenia, holding a sign that read, "I love Holyoke," said violence is a problem no city resident can ignore, no matter where they live.

"Even though we are not living in this area -- we live in Holyoke," Jusino said. "It's everybody's problem, because there's only one Holyoke."

Hampden Street resident Danny Rodriguez, 35, was gunned down Tuesday afternoon near the corner of Beech and Dwight streets, about two blocks from the site of the demonstration. No arrests have been made in the killing.

The daylight shooting, which police said may have been committed by suspects using a scooter as a getaway vehicle, happened along a stretch of sidewalk only blocks from the city's busy YMCA branch, on a stretch of Route 202 commonly used used by commuters as a connector between Interstate 91 and the towns of South Hadley, Granby and beyond. In the nearby Avery Field park Tuesday afternoon, teenagers played basketball as city and state police investigators placed evidence markers in the street and photographed the bloody scene.

At least one of the rounds fired at Rodriguez struck the multi-family home at 815 Dwight Street, leaving a small scar in the building's yellow siding.

Linden Street resident Jossie Valentin said she organized the event in part because she's seen steady progress against crime in her neighborhood.

"I was just really disappointed and heartbroken when I found out about the murder," Valentin said. "I felt like it was important to send a strong message that was community driven in terms of saying, 'We're not afraid to be on the street. We're united'."

Later in the interview, she said: "When the murder happened just a block away, I wanted to send the message that we won't have tolerance for that."

Valentin attributed some of the progress in the neighborhood to the regular presence of the city's Mobile Community Policing vehicle, and to a general increase in police presence.

"We appreciate the leadership of our chief of police," Valentin said. Law enforcement actions over the past several months, she believes, seem to have helped diminish criminal activity.

The push back against the drug trade and violence, Valentin said, requires a partnership between residents and the police department.

"I think being vocal is definitely important," Valentin said. "And a lot of people have a fear about retaliation when it comes to that. So I think it's important that we collaborate with the police, and be present, and be vocal -- that can make some positive changes."

Patrolman Brian Summers, an officer with the department's community policing unit, said residents are the first line of defense against violence in their neighborhoods.

"The easiest thing to do is make a phone call. All you gotta do is pick up the phone, give us a call. You see suspicious activity, suspicious people coming in the building, being in and out in two minutes -- [residents] are the first step," Summers said.

He continued: "Without the community, we can only do so much. We can't see every block, all the time. People that live on these blocks, they know the ins and the outs, and they know who belongs there and who doesn't belong there. As much as they can help, and help us out -- it's greatly appreciated."

Stephanie Jusino, who lives on the South Summer Street block where the department operates one of its three community policing substations, said she believes chief James M. Neiswanger's emphasis on community policing has made a difference in her neighborhood.

"It has, big time," Jusino said, noting that she doesn't see as many people hanging around on the street corners as she used to. "You feel more safe."

Holyoke police and the Hampden County District Attorney's Office continue to investigate the murder of Danny Rodriguez. The police department has asked anyone with information about the killing to call the department at (413) 322-6900 or use the anonymous text-a-tip number: (413) 533-TIPS (533-8477).

As the final graduate, Brian Woods, walked away with his diploma, the rain stopped.

Graduate Kara Joubert gets a hug from Christine Swelko, South Hadley assistant school superintendent, at South Hadley High School's graduation ceremony, Sunday.Don Treeger/MassLive 

SOUTH HADLEY -- Friends and families gamely weathered a downpour as 138 graduates of South Hadley High School received their diplomas Sunday afternoon in the outdoor amphitheater at Mount Holyoke College.

The new principal of South Hadley, Diana Bonneville, presided over her first graduating class at the high school, and superintendent Nicholas Young had the privilege of handing a diploma to his own daughter Melissa, one of 26 members of the National Honor Society in the class.

No sooner had the superintendent taken the podium to address the crowd than a rumble of thunder was heard. The crowd cheered repeatedly as Young described the the school's many accomplishments, including a Washington Post article that named South Hadley High one of the 25 most rigorous schools in Massachusetts.

Young said 81 of this year's graduates planned to enter four-year colleges this fall and 35 would enter community colleges. He also paid special tribute to the members of the class who planned to enter the military after graduation.

He was in the middle of an allegory about the "miracle on the Hudson" and the flight attendants' calls to "brace, brace, brace!" when the rains came.

"We're bracing, all right!" called a good-natured male voice from the crowd. Students and officials rushed to move the table stacked with diplomas out of the rain, and the principal announced that speeches would be delayed to make sure the most important part of the ceremony, the handing out of diplomas, was finished.

As white-robbed girls and black-robed boys stepped up to get their certificates, the crowd cheered every single one in spite of the rain. Twice, little children darted onto the stage to present bouquets of flowers to girl graduates.

The students were also in high spirits, pumping fists, high-fiving and shaking hands as they crossed the stage. As the last student, Brian Woods, walked away with his diploma, the rain stopped, though it returned later.

Valedictorian Tess Gauthier, winner of several scholarships, began her address by wishing a happy birthday to her father, "the most important man in our life." She talked about the mixed effects of technology, saying that in some respects it proved a distraction to students.

She also said her classmates often had to overcome public and private struggles to reach this triumphant day. Gauthier quoted Ernest Hemingway: "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places."

The graduation mainly featured student speakers.

EAST LONGMEADOW – Nicholas D. O’Brien told his fellow graduates it is possible and healthy to combine hard work with good fun and he should know, since he finished his four years at East Longmeadow High School at the top of his class.

O’Brien, the class of 2013 valedictorian, told the 228 graduates Sunday that he did not spend all his time studying and said some of the most important lessons learned did not come from a text book or a lecture.

“You have to go out and make friends and do the most ridiculous things possible,” he said.

While principal Gina E. Flanagan and School Committee chairman Gregory Thompson spoke briefly, most of the graduation ceremony held outside on the school fields, featured student speakers.

Michael W. Welch, the class president, told the graduates it is fine to reminisce and to look forward to the future, but as they move ahead they should remember to enjoy whatever they are doing in the present.

“Remember the past without letting the past consume your thoughts,” he said.

Also speaking were Paige A. Dutko, Matthew S. Plifka and Jade M. Neves, who all graduated with honors.

Dutko talked about the importance of family and told her fellow graduates to remember to thank those who supported them.

She then told graduates she considered all the staff and her classmates to be one big family.

This year East Longmeadow High School was named the 590th best high school in the country by Newsweek, and Flanagan, the principal, said that is due to the students and the faculty.

While scores on the SAT and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems exams are important, even more important is students have learned to show kindness, compassion and integrity every day, she said.

“This honor also highlights that our students work really hard,” she said.

Class of 2013 co-presidents Emma West and Heather Giguere shared the podium, recalling the past year’s athletic and academic achievements. They expressed appreciation for the dedication from the school staff.

Northampton High School's Co-Presidents Heather Giguere, left, and Emma West address those attending the school's 147th Commencement at John M. Greene Hall, SundayDavid Molnar 

She said the school’s excellence stems from a curriculum that includes study of the visual and performing arts.

“Each is a component of the whole,” Todhunter said.

A history teacher, Todhunter also invoked 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant to encourage the necessity of approaching issues and looking at the world “from all the angles.”

“’Dare to know,’” she said. “Have the courage to think for ourselves.”

She concluded by saying: “Keep climbing trees – congratulations class of 2013, love you!”

Class of 2013 co-presidents Emma West and Heather Giguere shared the podium, recalling the past year’s athletic and academic achievements. They expressed appreciation for the dedication from the school staff.

“Before you take off too quickly, put one foot in front of the other,” West said. “Leave the world better and stronger than when we arrived.”

School principal Nancy Athas reminded the audience she is in her 37th year, and also commented on the weather.

“Thank you for believing in me,” she said.

She said characterized the conditions as "this horrible hot day.”

Athas discussed a tale about good and evil involving a wise old wolf sharing a story with a young wolf.

At the end of the story, the young wolf wanted to know if the good wolf or the evil wolf prevailed.

“The one you feed” determines which choice become dominant, Athas said.

Senior Alessandria Schumacher spoke about “This is not the Destination” and Asher Gryska and Elijah Lucey delivered a speech titled “Just a Speech.”

In his commencement address, physical education teacher and football coach Chad LaBonte called the graduates 21st century learners and role models for underclassmen and offered seven tips for success.

West Springfield High School graduate Tiffany B. Mattson moves her tassle from the right side to the left at the conclusion of the Class of 2013 commencement ceremony held Sunday afternoon at the coliseum on the Big E fairgrounds. Manon L. Mirabelli 

She also told all those gathered in the coliseum building on the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds that they are never alone as long as they open themselves up to others.

“You are not alone when you are reaching out to someone,” she said, and added that her hope for her classmates is that they find strength within themselves when faced with obstacles.

“I hope you can all be grateful despite challenges in life,” Wang said. “When faced with challenges, instead of finding a way out, find a way through.”

Wang was followed on stage by Valedictorian Jacob S. Link who pointed out that the class is the final one to graduate from the old high school building before the new one opens in the fall.

“We’re the last class to graduate from that ancient building,” he said.

In his commencement address, physical education teacher and football coach Chad LaBonte called the graduates 21st century learners and role models for underclassmen, and offered seven tips for success.

“You have to wake up and want to be successful every day,” LaBonte said.

In striving for success, the graduates should also have a desire for it and not just go through the motions; should not settle for mediocrity; cannot let themselves be distracted; should not worry about what others think of them; recognize that everyone is entitled to their opinion and “be honest and tell the truth.”

“Moving into the future you will find many opportunities to find success,” LaBonte said.

“Use what you know to achieve it. Remember the lessons that you have learned from people that you respect, and also remember what you have learned from people that you are not a big fan of, because that helps, too.”

Most of all, he said, being a good person makes the road to success an easier, more rewarding journey on which the graduates will learn they can put others before them without allowing others to take advantage of them.

Superintendent of Schools Russell Johnston also offered brief words of advice before diplomas were awarded and relied on the band Journey to impart a message from the 1980s.

“The road ahead will be long and bumpy, but you have the power to believe in yourselves. Don’t stop believing.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who led the six-member delegation, described discussions with Russian parliament members and security officials as productive

By LYNN BERRY and MAX SEDDON

MOSCOW — The head of a U.S. congressional delegation said Sunday that its meetings in Russia showed there was "nothing specific" that could have helped prevent the Boston Marathon bombings, but that the two countries need to work more closely on joint security threats.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who led the six-member delegation, described discussions with Russian parliament members and security officials as productive. Some of the meetings, he said, were made possible by American actor Steven Seagal.

Seagal, who attended the news conference in the U.S. Embassy, is well connected in Russia. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, and last week paid a visit to Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman who rules Chechnya, a province in southern Russia that has seen two brutal wars between federal troops and Chechen separatists since 1994.

Those wars spawned an Islamic insurgency that spread across the Caucasus region, including to neighboring Dagestan, now the center of the violence. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who is accused of carrying out the Boston bombings with his younger brother, spent six months in Dagestan last year. Investigators have been trying to determine whether he had contacts with the militants there.

Rep. Steve King said Russian security officials told the delegation they believed that Tsarnaev and his mother had been radicalized before moving to the United States in 2003. "I suspect he was raised to do what he did," said King, a Republican from Iowa.

His account of the meeting at the FSB, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, was disputed by Rep. Steven Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat, who said he understood that the radicalization took place much later, when the family was living in Boston.

Rohrabacher said a higher level of cooperation between the United States and Russia is necessary to keep people safe in both countries. "Radical Islam is at our throat in the United States, and is at the throat of the Russian people," he said.

The congressman repeatedly thanked Seagal, who took credit for arranging the congressmen's meeting at the FSB, and said it helped avoid the experience of past foreign trips when all of the meetings had been arranged by the U.S. Embassy.

"You know what we got? We got the State Department controlling all the information that we heard," Rohrabacher said. "You think that's good for democracy? No way!"

The action movie star escorted the congressmen on a trip Saturday to the site of a terrorist attack in the Caucasus town of Beslan, where militants seized a school in 2004 and took more than 1,000 people hostage, most of them children. More than 330 hostages died, most of them when federal troops stormed the school.

Seagal had invited the delegation to visit Chechnya, but the trip was called off in part because U.S. House rules would have prevented the congressmen from flying on his private plane, Rohrabacher said.

The Kremlin has given Kadyrov lavish funding and political carte blanche to fight terrorism since he came to power in 2005. Activists accuse him and his feared security forces of staggering abuses, including torture, kidnappings and murder.

"All these accusations are thrown around," said Seagal, who was given a lavish welcome in Kadyrov's palace. "Is there any evidence? Has he been indicted?"

Cohen said he had refused to go to Chechnya for these reasons. But Rohrabacher, who chairs the U.S. Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, said the United States should be more understanding of the threats facing Kadyrov and Putin.

"If you are in the middle of an insurrection with Chechnya, and hundreds of people are being killed and there are terrorist actions taking place and kids are being blown up in schools, yeah, guess what, there are people who overstep the bounds of legality," he said.

While the rule of law is important, Rohrabacher added, "We shouldn't be describing people who are under this type of threat, we shouldn't be describing them as if they are Adolf Hitler or they're back to the old Communism days."

Rohrabacher and King were full of praise for Russian Orthodox Christian traditions after attending a service at Moscow's main cathedral on Sunday morning. The cathedral became a rallying point for Putin supporters and the opposition alike last year when punk group Pussy Riot staged an impromptu protest against Putin's merging of church and state, earning them worldwide notoriety and a two-year prison sentence for "hooliganism."

"It's hard to find sympathy for people who would do that to people's faith," King said.

The United States and European Union have condemned the jailing of the Pussy Riot members.

Rohrabacher, however, lamenting the "sinister way" U.S. politicians discuss Russia and Putin, said he wished they would have more appreciation for the changes that have taken place.

"Most of my friends in Congress don't even know that the churches are open now," he said.

The congressional delegation also included Michele Bachmann, but she made no public appearances and left before Sunday's news conference. The Minnesota Republican arrived in Russia last week shortly after announcing that she would not seek reelection in 2014.

Erratic wind are spreading the flames of the California wild fires triggering the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

Leon Worden, with Santa Clarita TV, takes a picture of the haze over the town of Lake Hughes on Sunday. Erratic winds fanned a blaze in the Angeles National Forest to nearly 41 square miles early Sunday, after fast-moving flames triggered the evacuation of nearly 1,000 homes in Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth, officials said.Associated Press Photo 

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER

LOS ANGELES — A fire that destroyed six homes and threatened hundreds of others exploded in size over the weekend as it burned dangerously close to two communities north of Los Angeles and into unoccupied desert wilderness.

Erratic wind spread the blaze in the Angeles National Forest to nearly 41 square miles early Sunday, triggering the evacuation of hundreds of homes in Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth, officials said.

Crews continued to protect more than 1,000 homes at the edge of the rural hamlets of Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth in Angeles National Forest.

Nathan Judy of the U.S. Forest Service told The Associated Press that six homes burned overnight, and teams were waiting to assess at least 10 more structures that may have been damaged.

At least 10 other structures were damaged.

Patty Robitaille, 61, grabbed personal photos and documents before fleeing her Lake Hughes home with her pit bull, Roxie, as flames approached Saturday night. She said her home was among the first in the direct path of the fire.

"Driving away, you could see the town burning up," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I don't think there's going to be much left."

Mark Wadsworth, 64, said he was confident his house in Lake Elizabeth survived. He spent Sunday parked in his truck atop a ridge, watching plumes of smoke rise from the canyons below.

"I've got nowhere to go, so I'm just waiting for them to open the roads again and let me back in," said Wadsworth. "I didn't want to go to a shelter."

The Red Cross opened evacuation centers in Palmdale and Lancaster. At Palmdale's Marie Kerr Park Recreation Center, more than 100 residents awaited word on when they could return home.

The fire chewed thick brush that hadn't burned in about a dozen years as wind pushed flames up and down steep slopes. The fire was 20 percent contained.

A huge plume of smoke could be seen from much of various parts of northern Los Angeles County throughout Saturday, and air-quality officials warned against strenuous outdoor activity.

The blaze broke out Thursday just north of Powerhouse No. 1, a hydroelectric plant near the Los Angeles Aqueduct, forcing about 200 evacuations in the mountain community of Green Valley.

Evacuations remained in effect for several campgrounds and two youth probation camps. Several roads were closed.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Elsewhere in the West, crews fighting two large uncontained wildfires in New Mexico focused Sunday on building protection lines around the blazes amid anticipation that a forecast of storms could bring moisture to help reduce the intensity of the fires.

Still, the forecast thunderstorms also bring the possibility of lightning that could start new fires and gusty winds that could help spread the blazes.

A fire burning in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest 25 miles from Santa Fe had grown to more than 11 square miles by Sunday morning.

Thick smoke from the fire covered Gallinas Canyon and Las Vegas, N.M.

The fire near the communities of Pecos and Tres Lagunas had prompted the evacuations of about 140 homes, most of them summer residences.

Crews also cleared out campgrounds and closed trailheads in the area as they worked to prevent the fire from moving toward the capital city's watershed and more populated areas.

Three veteran storm chasers died doing what they loved: roaming the Great Plains in search of dangerous storms like the one in Oklahoma that ended their final pursuit.

This photo provided by The Discovery Channel shows Carl Young, left, and Tim Samaras watching the sky. Jim Samaras said Sunday, June 2, 2013, that his brother storm chaser Tim Samaras was killed along with Tim’s son, Paul Samaras, and another chaser, Carl Young, on Friday, May 31, 2013 in Oklahoma City. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the men were involved in tornado research. 

By KELLY P. KISSEL and THOMAS PEIPERT

Three veteran storm chasers died doing what they loved: roaming the Great Plains in search of dangerous storms like the one in Oklahoma that ended their final pursuit.

Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young, who through the years had shared dramatic videos with television viewers and weather researchers, died Friday night when an EF3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph turned on them near El Reno, Okla. They were among 13 people who died in the storm in Oklahoma City and its suburbs.

Their deaths in pursuit of the storm are believed to be the first among scientific researchers while chasing tornadoes, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said.

"They put themselves in harm's way so that they can educate the public about the destructive power of these storms," said Chris West, the undersheriff in Canadian County, where the men died.

Tim Samaras, 54, and Paul Samaras, 24, both of Bennett, Colo., were trapped in their car along with Young, 45, of South Lake Tahoe, which straddles the California and Nevada border.

Many times before, Tim Samaras had told anyone who would listen that tornadoes were unpredictable.

"I don't know if I would say I worried about it because one of the biggest things he stressed was safety," said Tim's brother, Jim Samaras, who confirmed the deaths to The Associated Press. "He knew what to look for. He knew where not to be and in this case, the tornado took a clear turn toward them."

Tim Samaras and his Twistex tornado chase team had been featured on the Discovery Channel and given grants by the National Geographic Society. They also were regular presenters at conferences dedicated to advances in meteorology.

The Oklahoma storm that killed the three chasers developed before their eyes Friday.

Tim Samaras tweeted a photo of clouds rising through a volatile atmosphere and noted: "Storms now initiating south of Watonga along triple point. Dangerous day ahead for OK — stay weather savvy!"

It was his final tweet.

"He looked at tornadoes not for the spotlight of TV but for the scientific aspect," Jim Samaras said. "At the end of the day, he wanted to save lives and he gave the ultimate sacrifice for that."

The tornado in the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz" fascinated a then-6-year-old Tim Samaras, his brother said.

"He didn't give a crap about Toto, he didn't give a crap about the munchkins," Jim Samaras said.

The Storm Prediction Center said in a statement Sunday that it was saddened by Tim Samaras' death.

"Samaras was a respected tornado researcher and friend ... who brought to the field a unique portfolio of expertise in engineering, science, writing and videography," the center said.

The storm arrived during Friday night's rush hour, when roads were clogged with commuters and others trying to flee the storm. Video taken by a number of storm chasers showed debris pelting vehicles.

Winds swept one vehicle with a crew from The Weather Channel off the road, tossed it 200 yards and flipped it into a field. The crew members escaped without any serious injuries.

"This is a very sad day for the meteorological community and the families of our friends lost. Tim Samaras was a pioneer and great man," Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore tweeted Sunday.

The Discovery Channel, which featured Tim Samaras on "Storm Chasers" until last year, planned to dedicate a show Sunday evening to the three men, noting they died "doing what they love, chasing storms."

The National Geographic Society called Tim Samaras a "courageous and brilliant scientist" and posted on its website an interview conducted with him last month.

"Being close to a tornado is one of those incredible, fleeting moments that sometimes you have to take a couple of seconds to take in," he said in the interview, which went on to describe his engineering background and the need for tornado research.

"We still don't know why some thunderstorms create tornadoes while others don't," he added. "We're trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside. If we better understood some of the final mechanisms for tornado genesis, our forecasting will be greatly improved."

He told the magazine that there are probably fewer than five storm chasers who pursue tornadoes for data, while many do it for other reasons.

"On a big tornado day in Oklahoma, you can have hundreds of storm chasers lined up down the road," he said. "Oklahoma is considered the mecca of storm chasing. We know ahead of time when we chase in Oklahoma, there's going to be a traffic jam."

The Storm Prediction Center said scientific storm chasing is performed as safely as possible, with trained researchers using appropriate technology. It encouraged all, including the media and amateurs, to chase safely to avoid a repeat of Friday's deaths.

Kissel reported from Little Rock, Ark., and Peipert from Denver. Associated Press writer Lynn Elber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

A simple vinegar test slashed cervical cancer death rates by one-third in a remarkable study of 150,000 women in the slums of India, where the disease is the top cancer killer of women.

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE and MUNEEZA NAQVI

MUMBAI, India — A simple vinegar test slashed cervical cancer death rates by one-third in a remarkable study of 150,000 women in the slums of India, where the disease is the top cancer killer of women.

Doctors reported the results Sunday at a cancer conference in Chicago. Experts called the outcome "amazing" and said this quick, cheap test could save tens of thousands of lives each year in developing countries by spotting early signs of cancer, allowing treatment before it's too late.

Usha Devi, one of the women in the study, says it saved her life.

"Many women refused to get screened. Some of them died of cancer later," Devi said. "Now I feel everyone should get tested. I got my life back because of these tests."

Pap smears and tests for HPV, a virus that causes most cervical cancers, have slashed cases and deaths in the United States. But poor countries can't afford those screening tools.

This study tried a test that costs very little and can be done by local people with just two weeks of training and no fancy lab equipment. They swab the cervix with diluted vinegar, which can make abnormal cells briefly change color.

This low-tech visual exam cut the cervical cancer death rate by 31 percent, the study found. It could prevent 22,000 deaths in India and 72,600 worldwide each year, researchers estimate.

"That's amazing. That's remarkable. It's a very exciting result," said Dr. Ted Trimble of the National Cancer Institute in the U.S., the main sponsor of the study.

The story of research participant Usha Devi is not an unusual one. Despite having given birth to four children, she had never had a gynecological exam. She had been bleeding heavily for several years, hoping patience and prayers would fix things.

"Everyone said it would go away, and every time I thought about going to the doctor there was either no money or something else would come up," she said, sitting in a tiny room that serves as bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room for her entire family.

One day she found a card from health workers trying to convince women to join the study. Devi is in her late 40s and like many poor Indians doesn't know her date of birth. She learned she had advanced cervical cancer. The study paid for surgery to remove her uterus and cervix.

The research effort was led by Dr. Surendra Shastri of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. India has nearly one-third of the world's cases of cervical cancer — more than 140,000 each year.

"It's just not possible to provide Pap smear screening in developing countries. We don't have that kind of money" or the staff or equipment, so a simpler method had to be found, Shastri said.

Starting in 1998, researchers enrolled 75,360 women to be screened every two years with the vinegar test. Another 76,178 women were chosen for a control, or comparison group that just got cancer education at the start of the study and vouchers for a free Pap test — if they could get to the hospital to have one. Women in either group found to have cancer were offered free treatment at the hospital.

Still, this quick and free cancer screening was a hard sell in a deeply conservative country where women are subservient and need permission from husbands, fathers or others for even routine decisions. Social workers were sent into the slums to win people over.

"We went to every single house in the neighborhood assigned to us introducing ourselves and asking them to come to our health talks. They used to come out of curiosity, listen to the talk but when we asked them to get screened they would totally refuse," said one social worker, Vaishnavi Bhagat. "The women were both scared and shy."

One woman who did agree to testing jumped up from the table when she was examined with a speculum. "She started screaming that we had stolen her kidney," Bhagat said. Another health worker was beaten by people in the neighborhood when women realized they would have to disrobe to be screened.

"There was a sense of shame about taking their clothes off. A lot of them had their babies at home and had never been to a doctor," said one health worker, Urmila Hadkar. "Sometimes just the idea of getting tested for cancer scared them. They would start crying even before being tested."

But screening worked. The quality of screening by health workers was comparable to that of an expert gynecologist, researchers reported. The study was planned for 16 years, but results at 12 years showed lives were saved with the screening. So independent monitors advised offering it to the women in the comparison group.

An ethics controversy developed during the study. The U.S. Office for Human Research Protections faulted researchers for not adequately informing participants in the comparison group about Pap tests for screening. A letter from the agency in March indicated officials seemed to accept many of the remedies study leaders had implemented.

Others defended the study.

"We looked at the ethics very carefully" and felt them to be sound, and visited the project in India, said Trimble of the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Sandra Swain, a cancer specialist at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, also defended the research. She is president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the research results were presented at that group's meeting in Chicago on Sunday.

"There really was no wrongdoing there," she said. "They have no screening anyway," so there is no standard of care now.

Officials in India already are making plans to expand the vinegar testing to a wider population.

Many poor countries can't afford mammograms for breast cancer screening either. The India study also has been testing breast exams by health workers as an alternative. Preliminary results suggest breast cancers are being found at an earlier stage, but it's too soon to know if that will save lives because not enough women have died yet to compare the groups, said Trimble of the National Cancer Institute.

More progress against cervical cancer may come from last month's announcement that two companies will drastically lower prices on HPV vaccines for poor countries. Pilot projects will begin in Asia and Africa; the campaign aims to vaccinate more than 30 million girls in more than 40 countries by 2020.

The Sunday ceremony was held at Greenfield Community College

Greenfield High School graduates Elise Brown and Kelly Beres, Sunday.Jeff Brown 

GREENFIELD – Greenfield High School sent 73 graduates out into the world Sunday.
There was no keynote speaker at the 4:15 p.m. ceremony at Greenfield Community College, but class valedictorian Michael Duclos and salutatorian Daniel Larvey were on hand to receive their diplomas.
Larvey was one of 30 high school seniors chosen this year by Berkshire Bank to receive a $1,500 scholarship through its Berkshire Bank Foundation Scholarship Awards Program.
Principal Donna Woodcock called this year’s crop a bunch of high achievers.
“They really tried to stretch themselves into taking on some pretty challenging academics,” she said. “This class for them is like a second family. They really try to support each other.”

The keynote speaker at the graduation was Franklin Country Sheriff Christopher Donelan.

Mohawk Regional High School graduated 89 students Sunday in a ceremony at the high school featuring keynote speak Christopher Donelan, the sheriff of Franklin County.

“I knew you wanted Jay-Z to be your speaker,” Donelan said, referring to the popular rapper. “I have no idea how you ended you with me.”

Donelan told the graduates that he deals every day with inmates at the Franklin County House of Correction who have a range of problems and have suffered various forms of abuse. Most, he said, never finished high school.

“You do not find values,” Donelan said, “you form them. You do not find character, you build it.”

Donelan asked the graduating seniors to consider public service as a path in life and told them the story of the late state senator Ralph C. Mahar, after whom Mahar Regional High School in Orange is named. Legally deaf, Mahar needed braces to walk, Donelan said. Nevertheless, he served 18 years in the Massachusetts Senate.

The class valedictorian was Kaitlin Grant, the salutatorian Aliza Sassler. According to the school, 37 percent of the class is going on to four-year colleges, 33 percent to two-year college and 3 percent to technical schools. Another 3 percent are enlisting in the U.S. military and 18 percent are going into jobs.

It's been two long weeks since the small city of Zephyrhills learned that a $590 million Powerball ticket was sold at a supermarket here.

The highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold recently at this Publix supermarket located in Zephyrhills, Fla.  

By TAMARA LUSH

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — It's been two long weeks since the small city of Zephyrhills learned that a $590 million Powerball ticket was sold at a supermarket here.

No one expected the winner to come forward in the first days after the announcement. After all, curious residents reasoned, the person might need a few days to absorb the shock, or to consult with financial advisers.

But then a week passed, and more, and now folks are so anxious to know the winner's identity they could jump out of their skin.

"Being in a small town, everybody knows everybody and in some cases, everybody's business," said Dave Walters, a longtime reporter at the Zephyrhills News community newspaper. "It's hard to keep a secret in this town, but this is one of the biggest mysteries we've had in a long, long time."

Zephyrhills, population 13,337, is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Like many Florida communities, it features a small, old-timey downtown strip where restaurants, gift shops and clothing stores sit under a canopy of oak trees. Around the city's perimeter, there's the suburban sprawl of big box stores. It was in that sprawl, at a Publix supermarket, where the winning ticket was sold.

Rumors were swirling about who the winner could be: Publix deli employees, single moms working at Wal-Mart — even the cousin of a friend of a guy who lived clear in another county.

"Anybody who did not show up for work on that Monday was considered to be the lottery winner," Walters said. "If you had the flu and didn't show up for work, everyone thought you were the lottery winner. If you took a personal day or a sick day, they thought you had won the lottery."

The city is known around the Tampa Bay area for a few things: as the source for bottled spring water, as an area where people like to skydive and as the home to several mobile home parks that cater to the elderly.

Joe Abed, who owns Manolo's Italian restaurant in the historic downtown, thinks the ticket was sold to a senior citizen.

"It's a conspiracy theory," he said, using his hands to make quote marks. "I believe it's a senior citizen that purchased the ticket and they just have no idea that they won the ticket."

Marsha Decena, a Zephyrhills clothing store owner, said she's anxious to find out who won.

"I've heard so many different rumors through town, from it being a 23- or 26-year-old woman to somebody might have washed it in their pocket, the ticket is just lost and they don't know that they won," she said. "It's crazy."

The winner has 60 days from the date of the May 18 drawing to claim a lump-sum payment, and until mid-November to claim annual cash payments.

Zephyrhills resident Don Lawrence thinks the winner is just lining up legal and accounting staff.

"Lost the ticket or something like that? No, I don't think so," he said. "I think somebody's taking their time, doing it the right way."

Newly elected Mayor Danny Burgess — who turned 27 on Saturday — said he hopes it's a resident.

"Just because one person won the lottery, we all feel like we won, that's the kind of community this is," Burgess said. "I absolutely hope for the lottery winner that this is a positive, life-changing event. Only in America can you go to bed with a lottery ticket and wake up a mega-millionaire. I hope that they understand, appreciate and recognize the significance of this."

Abed wonders if the ticket eventually is "just going to go back into the system" so the country can have "another huge lottery."

But that's wishful thinking. According to the Florida Lottery website, if a Powerball jackpot isn't claimed within 180 days from the draw date, "the funds to pay the unclaimed jackpot will be returned to the lottery members in their proportion of sales for the jackpot rollover series."

In other words, state coffers will claim the jackpot, and the people of Zephyrhills will be left to wonder.