The accident happened where Interstates 91 and 291 split. It is a location of frequent accidents.

 

SPRINGFIELD – One driver was injured in a two car accident that caused one one car to roll over on its roof Sunday night.

The driver of the red sedan that flipped over had to be extricated by city firefighters after the accident. He was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment of non life-threatening injuries, said Dennis G. Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.

The accident happened around 8 p.m. The driver of the sedan collided with a second car when he was heading west on Interstate 291 just below Chestnut Street where the highway splits to Interstate 91, Leger said.

The second driver was not injured in the accident, he said.

“It was raining and that is a difficult spot where people are going fast and they should use caution,” Leger said adding there are a lot of accidents in that area.

Massachusetts State Police are investigating the cause.

There are 158 members of the Class of 2013.

PALMER – The young men wore blue caps and gowns, the young women wore gold ones – the school colors at Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School – as they received their diplomas Sunday during afternoon graduation exercises at the school.

Concluding their high school years were 158 graduates. Twelve percent of the graduates are heading to four-year colleges while 29 percent are going to two-year schools. Three percent will participate in an apprenticeship program, and 9 percent will join the military. Twenty-six percent of the graduates were heading to jobs while 21 percent were seeking employment.

Among the graduates were 11 National Technical Honor Society members and 38 John and Abigail Adams Scholarship recipients.

The three student speakers were: Matthew Stafford, valedictorian, of Hardwick, from the machine shop program; Bernadette Dineen, salutatorian, of Monson, from the electronics program; and class president Dean Martin Jr., of Ware, from the horticulture program.

Superintendent Gerald L. Paist also addressed the gathering.

Stanley Kapinos, vocational coordinator, presented diplomas.

A special feature of the graduation was a musical interlude performed on violin by Ella Sinigur, a member of the graduating class from the cosmetology program.

Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School provides technical education in 14 fields with a service area of more than 25 communities.

96 percent of the Class of 2013 plan to attend college.

Joseph Gazaille, class valedictorian, speaks at the Palmer High School graduation, Sunday.Wyatt Aloiso 

PALMER – Palmer High School Principal Mary Lou Callahan presided over Sunday’s graduation ceremony in which an astounding 96 percent of the senior class will be going on to college.

Among those heading to college is Joseph Gazaille.

As the highest performing student in his class of 84 peers, he earned the Valedictorian address. His speech was a call to recapture the utility found in peace and quiet and reflection — as a means to self-progress.

“The current ‘go, go, go’ mentality of society is just being oriented to busyness,” Gazaille said. “Problems arise when busyness becomes too consuming and starts dominating one’s mind.”

The Valedictorian said: “Excessive busyness does not just occupy our physical lives but, more importantly, it takes over our mental lives. This ‘go, go, go’ mentality can . . . prevent the contemplative silence that is needed to truly come to terms with ourselves.”

Gazaille recalled the recent story about one of his friend’s he described as a ‘go, go, go’ person. Gazaille did not identify the name of his friend.

While waiting to pull out at an intersection, Gazaille’s friend asked his brother if it was safe to pull out.

“Go, go, go” his friend thought he heard his brother say, and was immediately pulled over by a policeman whom he had cut off.

While home that night, the friend asked his brother why, with an officer there, he said “go, go, go “? His brother responded, indicating he had actually said: “No, no no.”

“My friend was too caught up in the future that he missed what was happening in the moment,” Gazaille said. “We all should learn from his example — do not allow the future to detract from the present. Do not let the milestones of life emerge unforeseen. Do not let the hustle-and-bustle of life drown out a contemplative silence.”

2013 Class President Alex Sopollec spoke, as did Joe Roberts, the class Salutatorian. 

The Atlantic puffin population is at risk in the United States, and there are signs the seabirds are in distress in other parts of the world.

A dead puffin is found on a Cape Cod beach in Truro in January 2013. Other puffins were also found dead or weak along the shore of the Cape last winter. Scientists say the comical-looking seabirds have been dying of starvation and losing body weight, possibly because of shifting fish populations due to warming ocean temperatures.  

By CLARKE CANFIELD

PORTLAND, Maine — The Atlantic puffin population is at risk in the United States, and there are signs the seabirds are in distress in other parts of the world.

In the Gulf of Maine, the comical-looking seabirds have been dying of starvation and losing body weight, possibly because of shifting fish populations as ocean temperatures rise, according to scientists.

The survival rates of fledglings on Maine's two largest puffin colonies plunged last summer, and puffins are in declining health at the largest puffin colony in the Gulf, on a Canadian island about 10 miles off eastern Maine. Dozens of emaciated birds were found washed ashore in Massachusetts and Bermuda this past winter, likely victims of starvation.

Whether dead puffins will continue washing up on shore and puffin chick survival rates will stay low remains to be seen. But there are enough signals suggesting that puffins and other seabirds could be in trouble, said Rebecca Holberton, a professor at the University of Maine who has studied puffins for years.

"It's our marine canary in a coal mine, if you will," she said.

The situation has drawn the attention of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass., who are looking at how shifting fish populations can affect the productivity of puffins, as well as Arctic terns.

With its colorful striped beak, pear-shaped body and amusing waddle, the Atlantic puffin is sometimes called the clown of the sea. It's also held up as a poster child for successful seabird restoration.

An estimated 6 to 8 million puffins live across the North Atlantic, from Maine to northern Russia. But they almost disappeared from Maine after settlers hunted them in the late 1800s for food, eggs and feathers. By 1901, only one pair of puffins nested in Maine, on remote Matinicus Rock.

Steve Kress, director of the National Audubon Society's seabird restoration program, has worked to restore and maintain the puffin population off the Maine coast for the past 40 years. Puffins spend most of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to breed each spring before returning to the ocean in August. The chicks swim to sea about 40 days after hatching and typically return to the islands after two years.

More than 2,000 of the birds are now in Maine, the vast majority on three islands. But the chick survival rates on the two largest colonies took a dive last summer, possibly because of a lack of herring, their primary food source, Kress said.

On Seal Island, a national wildlife refuge 20 miles offshore that's home to about 1,000 puffins, only 31 percent of the laid eggs produced fledglings, down from the five-year average of 77 percent. Similar numbers were experienced at Matinicus Rock, a nearby island with more than 800 birds.

Instead of feeding their young primarily herring, puffin parents were giving them large numbers of butterfish, a more southerly fish that's becoming more abundant in the Gulf or perhaps more accessible to seabirds because they've moved higher up in the water column. But the chicks ended up starving to death because the butterfish were too big and round for them to swallow, Kress said. Piles of uneaten butterfish were found next to some of the dead birds.

Kress thinks the upward trend in Gulf of Maine water temperatures could be to blame, with last year's record readings causing butterfish to grow faster earlier in the season because of an early phytoplankton bloom, upon which they feed. With a low survival rate, unexplained die-offs and extreme ocean conditions washing away puffin burrows on Seal Island — something he's never seen before — Kress is concerned about what future years will bring.

The puffins in the Gulf of Maine are particularly vulnerable because they live on the outer edge of the bird's geographic range. Moreover, there are signs of distress elsewhere — die-offs in the North Sea and population declines in Iceland, home to more than half the world puffin population, and other places — that have raised fears that extreme weather and warmer ocean waters brought about by climate change may be affecting the birds.

"We don't know how the puffin will adapt to these changes — or if they'll adapt to these conditions," Kress said.

The Gulf of Maine's largest puffin colony — with more than 10,000 birds — is found on Machias Seal Island on the Maine-Canada border 10 miles off the eastern Maine coast. There, the average body weight of both adult and baby puffins has been on the decline, most likely because of a shortage of food, said Tony Diamond, a University of New Brunswick professor who studies puffins on Machias Seal. The amount of herring in the puffin's diet has been falling by about 5 percent a year, he said.

What's more, puffins on Machias Seal are breeding later this year than any time on record, another sign of stress, Diamond said.

Another big concern is the unprecedented puffin die-offs this past winter. More than 2,500 dead puffins were found washed ashore in Scotland, and about 40 of the birds (along with hundreds of razorbills) were found on the Massachusetts shore. More dead puffins were found in Bermuda.

For every bird found dead, there are probably tens or hundreds more that died and didn't wash ashore, scientists agree.

"That's a large number of birds for the Gulf of Maine," Kress said. "We don't have that many birds to spare."

Necropsies on the Cape Cod birds indicated they starved, said Julie Ellis, project director for The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network at Tufts University.

Diamond has seen other seabird colonies virtually vanish overnight. Machias Seal Island used to have more than 3,000 terns, the largest such colony in the Gulf of Maine. But since 2007, only small numbers have come back each summer, and those that have returned haven't been able to breed, Diamond said.

Nobody knows what the future holds for puffins, but anything's possible, he said.

"In the Gulf of Maine, we're on the southern end of the bird's range. It looks like the range might be set to contract northward," Diamond said.

Kress is hopeful the Gulf population will sustain itself. But he's concerned about what he's seeing.

"You never know what climate change will bring," he said. "Historic fish could move out and more southerly fish could move in, and puffins may adapt to the new fish. Only they will know how the story will unfold."

Gomez plans to stress his belief in climate change and his support for gay marriage, immigration reform and background checks for gun sales.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez plans to stress his independence from the Republican Party in remarks he will deliver on Monday.

“One of the things I am going to change in Washington is my own party,” Gomez will say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. “I am fully aware that in a few months from now, some in the Republican Party will consider me to be a pain in the butt. And I am okay with that.”

Gomez plans to comment on his relationship with the GOP at a campaign stop at The Wheelhouse Diner in Quincy on Monday morning, according to campaign spokesman Will Ritter.

Gomez is trying to fend off criticism from state Democrats that if elected, he will vote in lockstep with his party. He came under fire from Democrats this weekend after U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, sent out a fundraising email for Gomez through the National Republican Senatorial Committee. McConnell on Friday pledged to match donations, up to $32,000, made to Gomez’s campaign that day.

Gomez’s Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, used the fundraising email to tie Gomez to the national Republican Party. Markey released a web ad this weekend featuring McConnell’s email. “Mitch McConnell led Republicans creating gridlock in the U.S. Senate,” the ad states, calling attention to McConnell’s opposition to an assault weapons ban and several other positions. It urges voters not to “let national Republicans get their way,” and implies that a vote for Gomez would hurt Democratic President Barack Obama’s agenda.

Massachusetts is a heavily Democratic state, and Gomez, in a manner similar to former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, has been portraying himself as a moderate who is not beholden to his party.

In his remarks on Monday, Gomez plans to critique his own party, which, he says, “has promised more change than it has delivered and is sometimes stuck in the past.”

He will point to particular stances in which he has broken with many in the Republican Party, including his belief in climate change, his support for gay marriage, his support for immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and his support for background checks for gun sales.

“I think climate change is a real problem, and I believe that humans are a big part of the problem,” Gomez will say, according to his prepared remarks. Gomez will urge Republicans to support the Toomey-Manchin bill, a bill that would expand background checks for gun purchases that failed to gain Republican support in the Senate. He will say that he supports immigration reform, “bringing people in from behind the shadows, and developing a path for them to be participants in the American Dream.”

The speech fits in with Gomez’s theme throughout his campaign, that he is “a new kind of Republican” while Markey is a career politician and a partisan Democrat.

Meanwhile, Markey on Monday will campaign with Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former president John F. Kennedy. He also plans to attend a Disability Forum at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown.

Markey on Sunday held an event with his former rival in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch. Singer Carole King has also been campaigning for Markey this weekend.

New research provides some of the strongest evidence to date that near-daily sunscreen use can slow the aging of your skin.

This photo provided by the Annals of Internal Medicine shows a demonstration of how a silicon cast is applied to the back of the hand so researchers can measure fine lines in the skin. . If worry about skin cancer doesn't make you slop on sunscreen, maybe vanity will: New research provides some of the strongest evidence to date that near-daily sunscreen use can slow the aging of your skin. The new study, from Australia's Sunshine Coast, used a unique step to measure whether sunscreens really help that constant onslaught. Researchers compared fine lines on the hands of hundreds of people who, for more than four years, had been assigned to rub on sunscreen daily or only when they deemed it necessary.  

By LAURAN NEERGAARD

WASHINGTON — If worry about skin cancer doesn't make you slather on sunscreen, maybe vanity will: New research provides some of the strongest evidence to date that near-daily sunscreen use can slow the aging of your skin.

Ultraviolet rays that spur wrinkles and other signs of aging can quietly build up damage pretty much anytime you're in the sun — a lunchtime stroll, school recess, walking the dog — and they even penetrate car windows.

Researchers in sunny Australia used a unique study to measure whether sunscreens really help amid that onslaught. Participants had casts made of the top of their hands to measure fine lines and wrinkles that signal sun-caused aging.

The research found that even if you're already middle-aged, it's not too late to start rubbing some sunscreen on — and not just at the beach or pool. The study of 900 people under 55 compared those randomly assigned to use sunscreen daily to those who used it when they deemed it necessary.

Daily sunscreen use was tough — participants did cheat a little. But after 4½ years, those who used sunscreen regularly had younger-looking hands, with 24 percent less skin aging than those who used sunscreen only some of the time.

Both young adults and the middle-aged experienced skin-saving effects, concluded the study, financed by Australia's government and published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

"These are meaningful cosmetic benefits," lead scientist Dr. Adele Green of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research said in an email interview. More importantly, she added, less sun-caused aging decreases the risk of skin cancer in the long term.

Dermatologists have long urged year-round sunscreen use — especially for constantly exposed skin on the face, hands and women's neck and upper chest — but say too few people heed that advice. Women may have better luck, as increasingly the cosmetics industry has added sunscreen to makeup and moisturizers. Skin experts hope the new study draws attention to the issue.

"Regular use of sunscreen had an unquestionable protective effect," said Dr. Richard Glogau, a clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, who has long studied sun's skin effects. He wasn't involved with the Australian research.

The consumer message: "They can get a two-for-one with sunscreen. They can do something that will keep them healthier and also keep them better-looking," Glogau said.

In his clinic near Philadelphia, Dr. Eric Bernstein lectures patients who insist they're not in the sunshine enough for it to be causing their wrinkles, brown spots and dilated blood vessels. Even 15 minutes every day adds up over many years, he tells them — and if they're using one bottle of sunscreen a year, they're probably not using enough.

"No one thinks they're in the sun, and they're in the sun all the time," said Bernstein, also a clinical professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "I say, 'How did you get here — did you tunnel here?'"

The news comes just as tougher Food and Drug Administration rules for U.S. sunscreens are taking effect. For the first time, they ensure that sunscreens labeled "broad-spectrum" protect against both the ultraviolet-B rays that cause sunburn and those deeper-penetrating ultraviolet-A rays that are linked to premature wrinkles and skin cancers.

Sunburns, especially in childhood, have been linked to a greater risk for melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer. But overall UV exposure plays a role both in melanoma and in other skin cancers that usually are curable but can be disfiguring if not caught early.

Australia has one of the world's highest rates of skin cancer, and Monday's aging research actually stems from a larger cancer-prevention study done in the 1990s. Researchers tracked participants for a decade before concluding that regular sunscreen use indeed lowered their cancer risk.

Green's team dug back through old study files to examine what's called photoaging —using those casts that had been made of some participants' hands.

Skin stretches and recoils thanks to elastic fibers supporting it. UV rays damage that elasticity, something scientists previously have measured using biopsies of the tissue just under the skin's top layer. With enough damage, the skin on top starts to sag and wrinkle. Young people have very fine, barely visible lines on their skin. Sun-damaged fibers correlate with increasingly visible lines, in a sort of cross-hatch pattern. Hand casts allowed the Australian researchers to grade that amount of damage.

The researchers figured out who really used sunscreen by periodically weighing the bottles donated by a sunscreen maker. Green's team calculated that three-quarters of the people assigned to daily sunscreen use actually applied it at least three to four days a week. Only a third of the comparison group said they used sunscreen that often.

The study also tested whether a dietary supplement, beta carotene, might slow photoaging, and found no evidence that it helped.

Sunscreens aren't perfect, so don't forget dermatologists' other advice: Limit exposure during the peak UV hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and wear a hat, sunglasses and protective clothing when possible.

UCSF's Glogau noted that today's sunscreens are superior to those used two decades ago when the study started — meaning people who regularly use it now might see more benefit.

"I'm fond of telling people that if they start using sunscreen on a regular basis and don't do anything else, over a period of time they'll see an improvement in the appearance of their skin," Glogau said. "It's never too late."

Judge Bertha D. Josephson ruled there was little evidence there was a formal partnership between Picknelly and Northeast Gaming Group,.

SPRINGFIELD – A Hampden Superior Court judge dismissed a suit filed against city businessman Peter Picknelly which alleged he improperly walked away from a partnership in a proposed Palmer casino to join with a competing gaming group working in Springfield.

Judge Bertha D. Josephson ruled that there was little evidence filed that showed there was a formal partnership, joint venture or contract between Picknelly and Northeast Gaming Group Inc. and dismissed the suit in late May.

“I can say she was a very good and thorough judge and she made the exact right decision and wrote it out in a clear fashion,” said Jeffrey E. Poindexter, one of the lawyers with Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas who represented Picknelly.

The case, filed by Northeast Gaming Group Inc., which owns the land in Palmer where Mohegan Sun hopes to build a casino, alleged Picknelly had invested $500,000 in the Palmer venture in January 2008 and signed an agreement that would give him a return of that investment of 3 percent of the group’s net ventures from the development of the gaming, entertainment and retail complex. The agreement gave him a right to request a refund of his initial investment two years after the agreement.

In November 2011 he also began discussions to open a transportation center on an adjacent piece of the property if the casino opened.

But later Picknelly walked away from the deal and joined Penn National in a partnership and proposed building a casino in the North End of Springfield.

“Northeast is disappointed. We thought we had a good case,” said Stephen E. Spelman, the Springfield lawyer who represented Northeast Gaming Group.

He said there have been no immediate discussions on appealing the decision yet.

“The issue is moot given that Penn was not selected,” Spelman said.

He could not comment on whether that could change if the company proposed opening a casino in another location in the state, saying he only represented the company in the suit.

In April, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno selected MGM Resorts as the preferred casino developer in Springfield over the Penn National project. MGM wants to build a resort in the South End.

He could not comment on whether that could change if the company proposed opening a casino in another location, saying he only represented the company in the suit. Penn National completed an application and submitted a $400,000 fee to the state Gaming Commission to become an accepted developer and, under that, is eligible to propose opening a casino anywhere in the state.

In her decision, Josephson ruled there was no real partnership between Picknelly and Northeast Gaming therefore there was no breech of contract or breech of fiduciary duty as claimed in the suit.

“The agreement imposed no other obligations on Picknelly who invested the $500,000 and made an official request for a refund in 2012,” Josephson ruled.

The council president warned that without budget cuts, the result could be layoffs, depletion of emergency reserves or higher taxes.

Holyoke City HallThe Republican staff file photo 

HOLYOKE -- With a dozen police officers staring at him, City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said the city can't afford to keep paying them educational incentives and six-figure benefit buybacks at retirement.

Police Chief James M. Neiswanger, during Monday's budget hearing at City Hall, and Mayor Alex B. Morse later, disputed Jourdain's contentions.

Declining home values have choked the city's ability to raise additional tax revenue and cash reserves are projected to be lower than in recent years, Jourdain said, during the hearing attended by uniformed and plain-clothed police.

The options are unpopular and painful: laying off employees, raiding the stabilization, or rainy-day, fund, increasing taxes even more or seeking a tax override, he said.

'I'm 'the Grinch,' I'm the 'bad guy,' and that's OK, because I love the city and I want it to be fiscally solvent," Jourdain said.

Sacrifices are needed from all departments, he said, but especially the larger ones like the Police Department.

"This is what it's coming to," Jourdain said.

Morse has proposed a police budget for the year beginning July 1 of $11.66 million, compared to the $11.77 million he proposed a year ago.

The educational incentives paid to police for having college degrees, commonly known as the Quinn Bill, is a sensitive topic. Police view it as a basic part of their pay that supplements the lack of raises accepted in collective bargaining for years.

But Jourdain and others say the city has passed the point of being able to afford it. They cite the March 7, 2012 ruling of the state Supreme Judicial Court that municipalities aren’t responsible for 100 percent funding of police education benefits. That came after the state stopped reimbursing cities and towns for half the costs.

In Holyoke's case, such benefits cost $1 million a year. Jourdain said the court ruling means the city should pay its share, $500,000, but not the the remaining $500,000 that the state stopped paying.

Neiswanger said his department will deal with whatever cuts are made, but said officers deserve their pay and benefits for keeping the city safe.

"They put their blood, sweat and tears on the street," Neiswanger said.

Also, he said, the financial transfers the City Council has made recently from free cash to compensate retiring officers for unused benefits have been for superior officers, of which there are fewer than patrolmen.

"I think the city of Holyoke gets a good bang for its buck. And we can agree to disagree. I realize you're trying to be the fiscal conservative. I get that," Neiswanger said.

The proper place for discussions about cutting educational or other benefits is in collective bargaining, said Neiswanger, prompting Jourdain to criticize Morse for failing to do so.

"The mayor says, 'I'm not going to deal with it. You deal with it,'" Jourdain said.

Morse, who didn't attend the hearing, said his proposed budget is responsible.

"And anyone who says anything different is inaccurate or merely playing politics," Morse said.

The city can afford the educational benefits to police because he has cut the budget compared to a year ago and some vacancies are going unfilled, he said.

"We will continue to make strategic public investments, expand our tax base and hopefully see property values increase as a result," Morse said.

Of the 242 graduates, 185 will go on to college.

SPRINGFIELD - School Superintendent Daniel J. Warwick praised the 242 students who graduated from Springfield High School of Science and Technology Monday night.

“Continue your forward momentum,” he told the students at graduation ceremonies at Symphony Hall. “A high school diploma is not an ending, but a beginning. It is the minimum requirement of what is expected of you.”

Warwick said that of the 242 graduates, 185 are going on to college and 20 to the armed forces.

He said the members of the class have earned more than $500,000 in scholarships.

Warwick said the graduates are not so different than him, whose mother came to Springfield from Ireland “on borrowed money.”

Warwick, who said he grew up on Springfield’s Hungry Hill, told the graduates that “Education is the great equalizer.”

Warwick recognized Mayor Domenic Sarno whom he called “the education mayor.”

Warwick said he is pleased with the new teacher’s contract which he said makes the salaries of Springfield teachers more comparable with other teachers’ salaries in the area.

High School valedictorian John Nguyen, in his remarks to the class, quoted Steve Jobs, the late Apple CEO.

He jokingly called his iPhone his “best friend in high school,”

Quoting Jobs, Nguyen said: “Here’s to the misfits who see things differently.”

“The ones crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who can do so,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen, who will attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the fall, graduated with a 4.33 grade point average.

Salutatorian was Uttam Adhikari, who, with a grade point average of 4.28, also will attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the fall.

Democrats are claiming that the national Republican Party paid for the ad.

Massachusetts Republicans are spending $400,000 on a new ad buy supporting Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez.

According to a media tracker associated with Democratic candidate Edward Markey’s campaign, the new ad buy was made by Gomez in conjunction with the Massachusetts Republican Party. The ad buy is for $374,325 in the Boston media market and $22,600 in the Springfield media market for the week that begins on Wednesday.

This is the second time the state party has paid for a major ad buy for Gomez. The state party also paid for an ad buy in May, which also cost close to $400,000.

However, as of April 30, the Massachusetts Republican Party only had $360,000 in the bank, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.

Markey spokesman Andrew Zucker charged that the money is coming from the national Republican Party to the state party. That is allowed under campaign finance laws but contrasts with the image Gomez wants to project as a candidate who is independent of the national party.

"The national Republican Party is trying to use this election as part of their efforts to obstruct President Obama's every move while enacting a radical right-wing GOP agenda, and Gabriel Gomez's laughable claims of independence that come at the very moment he's launching a TV ad buy paid for with money from national Republicans have no credibility," Zucker said.

The Markey campaign is raising the question as Gomez has been trying to distance himself from his party. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, sent out a fundraising email for Gomez on Friday, offering to match donations made to Gomez’s campaign. Gomez spent Monday focusing on his independent stances and arguing that he will be a “pain in the butt” for national Republicans.

A spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee referred questions to the Massachusetts Republican Party, and an NRSC spokesman declined to tell Politico whether it had spent money helping Gomez. A Massachusetts Republican Party spokesman could not immediately be reached.

The Gomez campaign declined to comment on ad strategy. Gomez spokesman Will Ritter said only, “Stay tuned.”

Politico reported that the Markey campaign is spending $631,000 on an ad buy this week. The Markey campaign plans to unveil a new ad on Tuesday in a press conference with Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh, Boston City Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins and Bob McCarthy, past president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts.

As of their pre-primary fundraising reports, Markey had raised far more money than Gomez. Markey has since boasted of raising $600,000 from a single fundraiser with Democratic First Lady Michelle Obama. Gomez held a high dollar fundraiser with Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, but his campaign did not announce the fundraising total from that event.

The two candidates will meet for their first debate on Wednesday in Boston.

Leon attempted to run when approached by police.

SPRINGFIELD – A city man was arrested for possessing a gun and ammunition without a license and other charges after a resident alerted police to a man waving a gun in the air Sunday night.

Esteban Leon 

Officers Alex Ortiz and Juan Ocasio sped to the area of Oak Grove Avenue and Bay Street after receiving the information at about 9 p.m. They spotted a man taking a handgun from his waistband and locking it into the trunk of a car, Police Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Commissioner William Fitchet, said.

When the two officers approached the man, he pushed Ocasio and tried to run. They apprehended Esteban Leon, 27, of 11 Webster St. and arrested him, Delaney said.

They also recovered a loaded 9 mm handgun from the trunk. Records show it had been stolen during a house break in Westfield, he said.

Leon was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, possession of a firearm and ammunition without a license and receiving stolen property.

Studies suggest that HPV can be blamed for 60 to 80 percent of cancers of the upper throat.

Actor Michael Douglas poses for photographers as he arrives for the screening of Behind the Candelabra at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, in this May 21, 2013 file photo. The Guardian newspaper published an interview Monday, June 3, 2013, saying that Douglas attributed his throat cancer to the HPV virus from oral sex. A representative for Douglas now says the actor doesn't blame his throat cancer on oral sex.  

By MIKE STOBBE

ATLANTA — Doctors have known for some time that a sexually spread virus can cause some types of oral cancer. But actor Michael Douglas' comments on his own throat cancer in a newspaper story Monday threw a spotlight on a subject not often discussed.

And it raises a lot of questions:

The chase started at about 6:55 p.m. and ended after 8 p.m.

 

CHICOPEE – Police spend more than an hour chasing a man who had jumped in the Connecticut River and swam to Holyoke Monday in an attempt to evade officers.

Nicholas Hebert, 24, of Chicopee finally surrendered and climbed into a Fire Department rescue boat at about 8:05 p.m. He was arrested on charges of resisting arrest and will be held overnight without bail Police Capt. Lonny Dakin said.

The chase started around 6:55 p.m. when officers on Erline Street spotted Hebert, who had a default warrant for his arrest, and tried to stop him.

He ran, climbed over a couple of fences and jumped into the Connecticut River, Dakin said.

“He swam across and got to Holyoke and saw officers on that side and he jumped back in and floated down the river,” Dakin said.

Chicopee Police monitored the man from the banks of both sides of the river and Holyoke Police also assisted on their side, watching from the Springdale Park area on Main Street. The Chicopee Fire Department also launched a rescue boat and followed Hebert, in part for his safety, Dakin said.

He eventually accepted a life preserver the Fire Department offered, but refused to surrender for some time. After he surrendered he refused medical attention, he said.

Hebert will be arraigned Tuesday in Chicopee District Court on the resisting arrest charges and the warrant, which is also for resisting arrest, Dakin said.

The council passed a resolution, urging Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council on Monday voted to urge Congress to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill aimed at giving illegal immigrants an avenue for “earned legalization with a path toward citizenship.”

Zaida Luna 

In an unrelated vote, the council went on record urging the state Department of Youth Services to withdraw its proposal to locate a group home at 100 Green Lane in the Atwater Park neighborhood. There is also a petition opposed to the group home,” Ward 2 Councilor Michael A. Fenton said.

The council without any objections, passed a non-binding resolution to urge passage of the comprehensive immigration reform bill. A bipartisan bill under consideration in Congress “addresses (1.) earned legalization with a path to citizenship; (2.) updated future immigration of families and workers; and (3.) improved immigration enforcement and border security that is consistent with our nation’s values,” the council stated.

Councilor Zaida Luna, who co-sponsored the resolution with Council President James Ferrera III, said she will forward the resolution to Congress and discuss it with U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield.

The resolution states in part: “We believe in the human dignity of all residents, regardless of immigration status and recognize the importance of immigrants’ many contributions to the social and economic fabric of the city, and citizenship is an important symbol of full membership and participation in society that should be encouraged, not barred.”

In addition, the resolution states that comprehensive immigration reform “must update the legal immigration system so that future flow of immigrant workers more realistically match our nation’s labor needs and are structured to protect the wages and working conditions of U.S. and immigrant workers.”

Councilor Clodovaldo Concepcion said he immigrated decades ago from Cuba, adding “this country was built by immigrants no matter where they came from.”

Councilor Bud L. Williams said that Springfield’s greatest strengths is its diversity. He urged activists in the council audience to keep up the agitation for change.

Approximately 25 people, wearing T-shirts with the letters “SEIU,” for Service Employees International Union, or with “United We Care,” attended the meeting, with some speaking in favor of the resolution during the public speakout just prior to the regular meeting.

A judge set bail at $2,000 and continued the case until July 3.

SPRINGFIELD – A 32-year-old man with a history of arrests for breaking and entering and larceny was charged over the weekend with breaking into cars.

Carlos Vergara 

Carlos Vergara, 32, of 299 Morton St., was arraigned in Springfield District Court Monday on a variety of charges including two counts of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, two counts of larceny under $250, malicious damage, destruction of property and receiving stolen property, according to a spokeswoman for the Hampden District Attorney’s office.

A judge set bail at $2,000 and continued the case to July 3.

Vergara was arrested at about 2:40 a.m. Saturday after police officers Daniel Billingsley and Matthew Garcia stopped him on Worthington Street. He was carrying a pink shopping bag with items including a car stereo that they realized had been stolen. He was also carrying burglary tools, said Sgt. John Delaney, executive aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet.

Police believe Vergara, who has been arraigned 15 times for breaking and entering and larceny charges, is at least partly responsible for multiple car breaks in the area of Worthington, Magazine, Florida and Armory streets, Delaney said.

“There were over 35 car breaks in 30 days in this immediate vicinity. Officers and detectives have been working on this rash of car breaking and enterings in this small section of the city,” Delaney said.

Vergara was also charged in January 2012 with breaking in to a parked car on Maplewood Terrace and stealing a GPS device.

Springfield firefighters quickly extinguished the fires.

0.26.2012 | SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield Fire Department will purchase a new engine truck this year. The truck pictured above, participating in a parade, was purchased in 2011.The Republican [file] 

SPRINGFIELD — The Fire Department’s Arson and Bomb Squad is investigating a series of fires that were set Monday night along Main Street.

The first was reported at 8:52 p.m. at 644 Main St., where a clothing donation box was set on fire. That was followed in quick succession by fires in trash barrels at 715 Main St. and 838 Main St., and at a newspaper vending machine at 450 Main St., according to Dennis G. Leger, aide to fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.

Firefighters quickly extinguished all the fires, Leger said.

Plymouth residents Joshua Barber and Nicholas Kaiser are accused of secretly recording and selling a prank phone call involving two NFL general managers.

 

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two Massachusetts men accused of secretly recording and selling a prank phone call involving two NFL general managers are due in federal court in Buffalo.

Plymouth residents Joshua Barber and Nicholas Kaiser are scheduled to make an initial appearance on wiretapping charges Tuesday. Investigators say they arranged a March 8 call between then-Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix and Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik that wound up on the website Deadspin.com.

Prosecutors say Barber first called Nix posing as Dominik and then called Dominik and used the conference call function to link the calls for the conversation, recorded by Kaiser.

Neither man returned telephone messages seeking comment Monday.

The officer did not require medical treatment, according to Springfield Police Capt. Larry Brown.

 

SPRINGFIELD — A city police officer was shot in the head with a projectile as his cruiser came under fire in an apparent pellet gun assault Monday night in the North End.

"He wasn't injured," Springfield Police Capt. Larry Brown said of the officer, who wasn't publicly identified and didn't require medical attention.

The incident happened just before 10 p.m. as the officer patrolled near Plainfield and Orchard streets in the Brightwood section of the North End.

A BB or pellet passed through an open window in the car and struck the officer in the head, police said. Officers called for backup, but they were unable to immediately locate an assailant.

While it remains unclear if the cruiser was deliberately targeted, investigators cordoned-off the area where the shooting happened as they hunted for a suspect. No arrests had been made as of early Tuesday, Brown said, adding that police don't have a physical description of the person responsible.

The incident happened a day before the one-year anniversary of the killing of Springfield Police Officer Kevin Ambrose, who was shot to death while responding to a domestic call in the city's Sixteen Acres neighborhood on June 4, 2012.

Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchett is asking people to honor Ambrose today by placing blue lights in their windows, lamp posts or porch lights, or by tying blue ribbons around trees or poles in front of their homes.

Anyone with information about the North End incident is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355 or text the word "SOLVE," followed by a message, to CRIMES (274637).

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Police continue to probe the fatal shooting on Cabot Street in South Holyoke, the city's second homicide in less than a week.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall, however, was the Putnam Vocational Technical Academy prom photo gallery, at right.

1) Michelle Chamuel, one of six left on NBC's 'The Voice,' enjoys Amherst 'community' [Diane Lederman]

2) Scuderi Group cited, fined by Securities Exchange Commission; $3.2 million went to family members [Jim Kinney]

3) Holyoke police continue to probe Cabot Street homicide [Conor Berry]

4) Peter Picknelly, investors, add Duval Precision Grinding in Chicopee to portfolio [Jim Kinney]

5) Update: Boston Red Sox release statement regarding suicide on John Henry-owned yacht [Nick O'Malley]

The suspect is a young white man who was wearing a black Nike hoodie, according to Holyoke Police Lt. Larry Cournoyer.

The Burger King in the Kmart shopping plaza at the corner of Northampton Street and Whiting Farms Road was robbed Monday night, according to Holyoke police.Wikimedia Commons 

HOLYOKE — Police are investigating a robbery at Burger King, 2177 Northampton St., that was reported around 10:30 p.m. Monday.

"So, he walks in and orders a hamburg and all the money in the drawer," Holyoke Police Lt. Larry Cournoyer said of the suspect, whom he described as a young white man wearing a black Nike hoodie.

The robber never showed a weapon, but it was implied that he was armed as he kept his hands in his pockets, Cournoyer said.

After stealing an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect fled in a green 4-by-4 pickup truck with a missing tailgate. "The plate was covered," Cournoyer said of the pickup's license plate.

There were no reported injuries in the incident, which happened at the Burger King restaurant in the Kmart shopping plaza at the corner of Northampton Street and Whiting Farms Road.

Police are asking anyone with information about this crime to call them at (413) 322-6900.

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