The League of Conservation Voters is one of two environmental groups that have worked to tie Gomez to Romney, who is unpopular in Massachusetts.

BOSTON - Mitt Romney is back.

Or at least that’s what the League of Conservation Voters wants you to think.

The organization, which has already spent $1.2 million helping Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey in the U.S. Senate race, is launching two satirical ads featuring a Romney impersonator.

The League of Conservation Voters is one of two environmental groups that have worked to tie Republican private equity investor and Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee. The anti-Keystone Pipeline group NextGen Committee also launched a campaign that includes web ads, signs and even airplane banners calling Gomez “Mitt Lite.”

Romney lost his liberal-leaning home state in 2012 by 23 points. Gomez is battling Markey in a June 25 special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

The new $50,000 online advertising campaign by the Leage of Conservation Voters will include ads on YouTube and in banners on popular news sites, targeting Massachusetts voters.

One of the ads, which will be released on Wednesday and was provided exclusively to The Republican and MassLive.com on Tuesday, opens with a clip of “Romney” in a car returning to Massachusetts.

Romney is Tim Warneke, a California-based Romney impersonator. On the day of the Senate debate in Springfield, Warneke visited Gomez’s campaign headquarters and the debate site on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters.

The ad shows Warneke, as Romney, greeting voters in Massachusetts. “I see a lot of Mitt Romney in Gabriel Gomez,” he says. “Endorsing him is like endorsing myself.” He criticizes Gomez for not wanting to take action against climate change, although Gomez has said he believes climate change is a problem. “We have a motto. We think people in China need jobs also,” Warneke tells one voter – referring to reports that Romney and Gomez, who both worked in private equity, were involved with investments in companies that sent jobs overseas. When Warneke tells one woman he and Gomez have a lot in common, she shoots back, “You’re losers.”

Navin Nayak, the League of Conservation Voters' senior vice president of campaigns, said, "Since Gabriel Gomez and Mitt Romney have identical positions on so many issues, we figured we'd get ‘Mitt’ out to campaign for Mr. Gomez. They both support Big Oil and refuse to support meaningful solutions to climate change."

01.06.2008, file photo, Republican presidential hopeful former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks with Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)The Associated Press 

Gomez has called himself a “green Republican” who believes in climate change and supports renewable energy projects. But environmentalists have criticized him for supporting the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Gomez also opposes the Cape Wind alternative energy project.

At a debate in Springfield, Gomez criticized Markey for thinking “every green project is a good project.”

When reporter David Bernstein, writing for Boston Magazine, asked Gomez how he would address climate change, the candidate provided few specifics. “I support a free-market approach to addressing global warming, incentivizing businesses to be environmentally responsible and encouraging research and development of green energy,” Gomez told Bernstein. “I refuse to believe that the only way to combat global warming is to raise taxes and costs for businesses, or raise prices on energy and fuel for consumers.”

Romney – the real one – has not gotten involved in the Massachusetts Senate race.

The League of Conservation Voters is among the biggest spenders of several Democratic, union, abortion rights and environmental groups that have spent more than $2.6 million supporting Markey in the general election campaign, in addition to money spent during the primary.

So far, fewer political action committees have entered the race to support Gomez. One group that made a $700,000 ad buy, Americans for Progressive Action, has staff who are connected with national Republican figures, but it is not clear who is backing the committee.

Gomez is also getting help from American Unity, a political action committee that supports pro-gay rights Republicans, and the Hispanic Leadership Fund, which supports Republican Hispanic politicians.

The suspect denied the charges during his arraignment in District Court.

 

WESTFIELD — An 18-year-old city man, charged with stabbing a man on Elm Street on Monday night, was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail during his arraignment Tuesday in District Court.

Angel Ortiz, of 11 Hanover St., Apt. 11, denied charges of armed assault to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Police Capt. Michael McCabe told the Westfield News* that the stabbing arose out of some kind of perceived slight that occurred when two pairs of bicyclists had an encounter near Chapel Street.

Police said the victim, a man in his 30s, was last known to be in serious but stable condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

A pre-trial hearing was set for July 12.

*Westfield News articles may require a subscription

Over the years, authorities have received various tips, leading the FBI to possible burial sites near and far.

Jimmy HoffaAssociated Press File Photo 

By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A search of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, an FBI agent announced Wednesday as authorities ended the dig.

"We did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa," said Robert Foley, head of the FBI in Detroit.

"I am very confident of our result here after two-days-plus of diligent effort," he said. "As of this point, we'll be closing down the excavation operation."

Authorities have pursued multiple leads as to Hoffa's whereabouts since his disappearance in 1975. He was last seen outside an Oakland County restaurant where he was to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit Mafia captain.

The latest tip about Hoffa's remains came from reputed Mafia captain Tony Zerilli, who, through his lawyer, said Hoffa was buried beneath a concrete slab in a barn in Oakland Township, north of Detroit.

The barn is gone, but FBI agents on Monday starting poring over the field where it used to stand.

On Tuesday, authorities used a backhoe to dig and move dirt around in the section of land. Authorities also called in forensic anthropologists from Michigan State University and cadaver dogs from the Michigan State Police.

Hoffa's rise in the Teamsters, his 1964 conviction for jury tampering and his presumed murder are Detroit's link to a time when organized crime, public corruption and mob hits held the nation's attention. Over the years, authorities have received various tips, leading the FBI to possible burial sites near and far.

In 2003, a backyard swimming pool was dug up 90 miles northwest of Detroit. Seven years ago, a tip from an ailing federal inmate led to a two-week search and excavation at a horse farm in the same region. Last year, soil samples were taken from under the concrete floor of a backyard shed north of the city. And detectives even pulled up floorboards at a Detroit house in 2004.

No evidence of Hoffa was found.

Other theories have suggested he was entombed in concrete at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, ground up and thrown in a Florida swamp or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant.

Zerilli, now 85, was in prison for organized crime when Hoffa disappeared. But he told New York TV station WNBC in January that he was informed about Hoffa's whereabouts after his release. His attorney, David Chasnick, said Zerilli is "intimately involved" with people who know where the body is buried.

Details are in a manuscript Zerilli is selling online.

George Zimmer appeared in many Men's Wearhouse TV commercials with the slogan "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it."

NEW YORK (AP) — Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.

In terse release issued Wednesday, Men's Wearhouse said it has fired the face of the company and its executive chairman, George Zimmer, who appeared in many of its TV commercials with the slogan "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it."

The timing was even odd —the announcement happened the morning the company's annual shareholder meeting had been set to take place. The company delayed the meeting but didn't give a new date.

Men's Wearhouse gave no reason for the abrupt firing of Zimmer, who built Men's Wearhouse from one small Texas store using a cigar box as a cash register to one of the North America's largest specialty men's clothiers with 1,143 locations. The company generated revenue of $2.48 billion in its latest fiscal year ended Feb. 2.

The company said the purpose of postponing the annual meeting is to re-nominate the existing board of directors without Zimmer. It said the board expects to discuss with Zimmer the extent, if any, and terms of "his ongoing relationship" with the company.

The news shocked analysts and corporate governance experts, who tried to speculate what happened.

"This is very rare to fire a founder. Founders are generally entrenched in the company," said Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance, a board advisory firm.

Zimmer, who handed over his CEO title to Douglas Ewert in 2011, was the company's personable, down-to-earth face, his slogan almost a cultural touchstone.

As of late morning, the company's website still prominently spotlighted Zimmer, calling him "The Man Behind The Brand" and linking to YouTube videos of "the man in action."

The abrupt departure comes a week after Men's Wearhouse reported that its fiscal first-quarter profit increased 23 percent, helped by stronger margins and an earlier prom season.

In 1971, fresh out of college, Zimmer made his first foray into the clothing industry, working in Hong Kong for six months as a salesman for his father's coat manufacturing business, according to the company website.

In 1973, he and his college roommate opened the first Men's Wearhouse store, which sold $10 slacks and $25 polyester sport coats, in Houston. His personal car was a van with the company logo on the side and clothing racks in the back.

The company launched its first TV commercial in the 1970s when commercials for clothing were rare. Zimmer starred in his first TV commercial in 1986, with the line "I guarantee it."

Men's Wearhouse kept expanding, focusing on large markets where business was sluggish to take advantage of lower real estate costs. It also expanded beyond sports coats and trousers to casual sportswear in the 1980s and then went into the tuxedo rental business in 2000.

Zimmer owned 1.8 million shares of Men's Wearhouse as of the company's May 9 proxy filing, a 3.5 percent stake in the company.

Shares of Men's Wearhouse fell more than 2 percent, or 80 cents, to $36.67 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $25.97 and $38.59 in the past 52 weeks, and ended Tuesday up about 20 percent since the start of the year.

The company, based in Fremont, Calif., also runs the Moores and K&G retail chains. It also sells uniform and work wear in the U.S. and U.K.

The IRS said it is negotiating with the union over the matter but did not dispute Grassley's claim that the bonuses are imminent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says his office has learned that the IRS is executing an agreement with the employees' union on Wednesday to pay the bonuses. Grassley says the bonuses should be canceled under an April directive from the White House budget office.

The directive was written by Danny Werfel, a former budget official who has since been appointed acting IRS commissioner.

"The IRS always claims to be short on resources," Grassley said. "But it appears to have $70 million for union bonuses. And it appears to be making an extra effort to give the bonuses despite opportunities to renegotiate with the union and federal instruction to cease discretionary bonuses during sequestration."

The IRS said it is negotiating with the union over the matter but did not dispute Grassley's claim that the bonuses are imminent.

Office of Management and Budget "guidance directs that agencies should not pay discretionary monetary awards at this time, unless legally required," IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge said in a statement. "IRS is under a legal obligation to comply with its collective bargaining agreement, which specifies the terms by which awards are paid to bargaining-unit employees."

Eldridge, however, would not say whether the IRS believes it is contractually obligated to pay the bonuses.

"In accordance with OMB guidance, the IRS is actively engaged with NTEU on these matters in recognition of our current budgetary constraints," Eldridge said.

The National Treasury Employees Union did not respond to requests for comment.

The IRS has been under fire since last month, when IRS officials acknowledged that agents had improperly targeted conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections. A few weeks later, the agency's inspector general issued a report documenting lavish employee conferences during the same time period.

Three congressional committees and the Justice Department are investigating the targeting of conservative groups. And key Republicans in Congress are promising more scrutiny of the agency's budget, especially as it ramps up to play a major role in implementing the new health care law.

Much of the agency's top leadership has been replaced since the scandals broke. President Barack Obama forced the acting commissioner to resign and replaced him with Werfel, who used to work in the White House budget office.

In a letter to Werfel on Tuesday, Grassley said the IRS notified the employee union March 25 that it intended to reclaim about $75 million that had been set aside for discretionary employee bonuses. However, Grassley said, his office has learned that the IRS never followed up on the notice. Instead, Grassley said, the IRS negotiated a new agreement with the bargaining unit to pay about $70 million in employee bonuses.

Grassley's office said the information came from a "person with knowledge of IRS budgetary procedures."

"While the IRS may claim that these bonuses are legally required under the original bargaining unit agreement, that claim would allegedly be inaccurate," Grassley wrote. "In fact, the original agreement allows for the re-appropriation of such award funding in the event of budgetary shortfall."

Werfel wrote the directive on discretionary employee bonuses while he was still working in the White House budget office. The directive was part of the Obama administration's efforts to impose across-the-board spending cuts enacted by Congress.

The spending cuts, known as "sequestration," are resulting in at least five unpaid furlough days this year for the IRS' 90,000 employees. On these days, the agency is closed and taxpayers cannot access many of the agency's assistance programs.

Werfel's April 4 memorandum "directs that discretionary monetary awards should not be issued while sequestration is in place, unless issuance of such awards is legally required. Discretionary monetary awards include annual performance awards, group awards, and special act cash awards, which comprise a sizeable majority of awards and incentives provided by the federal government to employees."

"Until further notice, agencies should not issue such monetary awards from sequestered accounts unless agency counsel determines the awards are legally required. Legal requirements include compliance with provisions in collective bargaining agreements governing awards."

Michael Hastings was best known for his 2010 Rolling Stone article, which effectively ended the career of U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

This undated photo provided by Blue Rider Press/Penguin shows award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings. Hastings, an award-winning journalist and war correspondent, died early Tuesday, June 18, 2013 in a car accident in Los Angeles, his employer and family said. AP/Blue Rider Press/Penguin 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings, whose unflinching reporting ended the career of a top American army general, died early Tuesday in a car accident in Los Angeles, his employer and family said.

Hastings, who was 33, was described by many of his colleagues as an unfailingly bright and hard-charging reporter who wrote stories that mattered. Most recently, he wrote about politics for the news website BuzzFeed, where the top editor said colleagues were devastated by the loss.

"Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered from wars to politicians," said Ben Smith, BuzzFeed's editor-in-chief.

Smith said he learned of the death from a family member.

Authorities said there was a car crash early Tuesday in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles that killed a man, but coroner's officials could not confirm whether Hastings was the victim.

Hastings won a 2010 George Polk Award for magazine reporting for his Rolling Stone cover story "The Runaway General."

His story was credited with ending Gen. Stanley McChrystal's career after it revealed the military's candid criticisms of the Obama administration.

Hastings quoted McChrystal and his aides mocking Obama administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, over their war policies.

At a Pentagon ceremony for his subsequent retirement in 2010, McChrystal made light of the episode in his farewell address. The four-star general warned his comrades in arms, "I have stories on all of you, photos of many, and I know a Rolling Stone reporter."

When he died, Hastings was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, where Managing Editor Will Dana was quoted Tuesday saying Hastings exuded "a certain kind of electricity" that exists in great reporters whose stories burn to be told.

"I'm sad that I'll never get to publish all the great stories that he was going to write, and sad that he won't be stopping by my office for any more short visits which would stretch for two or three completely engrossing hours," Dana said.

Hastings was also an author of books about the wars. "The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan" was published late last year and details shocking exploits of the military overseas.

In 2010, with the publication of "I Lost My Love in Baghdad," Hastings told the story of being a young war correspondent whose girlfriend died in Iraq.

In the summer 2013 issue of Vermont Life magazine, Hastings was quoted telling an audience at the Burlington Book Festival that he doesn't believe in objectivity in journalism.

"What I try to do is be intellectually honest in my writing," he said.

Hastings' family moved to Vermont when he was 16, a state he told the magazine was his "spiritual home." According to the magazine, he lived in New York with his wife.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Henry Lupa  

Henry C. Lupa, 66, of Ludlow, passed away on Monday. Born in Poland, he immigrated to the United States in 1965 and was a Ludlow resident for 48 years. He was a member of the Polish American Citizens Club of Ludlow and was presented with its Citizen of the Year award in 2009. He started a landscaping business and then a construction business, N.L. Construction, in Ludlow. But his dream was a zoo, and in 1996, he opened Lupa Zoo, a conservation and education institution demonstrating the value, beauty and interdependence of all living things.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Baliga, Sophie
  



• 
  Barsalou, George A.
  



• 
  Burke, Sean P.
  



• 
  Clark Sr., Don E.
  



• 
  Crosier, George T.
  



• 
  Daley, Winston A.
  



• 
  Duquette, Armand
  



• 
  Ferrero, Louis J.
  



• 
  Gomez, Gladys
  



• 
  Graves, Christian T.
  



• 
  Kisiel, Walter P.
  



• 
  Kowal, Thomas J.
  



• 
  Lamothe, Gertrude M.
  



• 
  Langlois, Marsha
  



• 
  Lapine Jr., Norman F.
  



• 
  Lisek, Zygmunt
  



• 
  Lupa, Henry C.
  



• 
  MacFadyen, Ann M.
  



• 
  Marchese Jr., Michael
  



• 
  Mulvaney, Mary C.
  



• 
  Podosek, Genevieve A.
  



• 
  Pylypow, Gladys
  



• 
  Roberts, Adele
  



• 
  Scher, Eleanor
  



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  Socha, Anna M.
  



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  Stachelek, James M.
  



• 
  Staley Sr., Lucius
  



• 
  Sulinski, Stephen G.
  



• 
  Tallman, Lynda L.
  



• 
  Visnaw, Norman E.
  

Karl and Michele Kimmell tossed the message into the waves off Tampa over 10 years ago.

REHOBOTH — The couple from Massachusetts had just finished off a bottle of champagne to celebrate their engagement on a Florida beach in August 2001 when they got a crazy idea.

They wrote a message, shoved the cork back into the bottle, and tossed it into the waves off Tampa.

The message read: "To whoever finds this bottle: may you be blessed as the two of us. May you find someone to love with as much compassion. May you find and keep someone who completes you. This is our message in a bottle."

They included their first names and a post office box in their hometown of Attleboro.

Karl and Michele Kimmell, now the parents of two children and about to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, say they occasionally wondered if anyone had found the bottle.

"It was just a regular cork in the bottle so I figured the cork would start leaking eventually," Karl, 36, told WLNE-TV.

Turns out someone had found it, on the opposite coast of Florida.

Michael Souvigny found the bottle in February while out hunting along the St. John's River in Green Cove Springs, Fla.

"It was very much a surprise," Michele, 35, told The Sun Chronicle newspaper.

He responded to the message, but his letter was returned because the post office box account was closed and Karl and Michele had moved to neighboring Rehoboth.

At the urging of a friend, Souvigny turned to The Sun Chronicle, which published a story about the bottle.

Michele's sister saw the story and recognized the handwriting on the letter, a copy of which was printed with the article.

She contacted the Kimmells, who plan on contacting Souvigny.

"It's neat that someone actually ended up finding it," Michele said.

The second suspect remains at large, police said.

CHICOPEE — Surveillance images of two males who allegedly robbed a Meadow Street convenience store last week and stabbed a clerk in the hand led to the arrest of one of the suspects on Monday.

Capt. Daniel Sullivan said a tipster saw surveillance images of the suspect that had been distributed to the media.

Jamar Munoz, 21, of 83 Eastern Drive, turned himself in at the police station on Church Street. He was charged with armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Munoz is the bare-headed suspect in the surveillance photos. The other suspect, who is wearing a hood, is still at large, Sullivan said.

Police said the two males robbed the Sam’s Convenience store, 810 Meadow St., shortly before midnight on June 12 and fled with an undetermined amount of cash.

The clerk was treated at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and released.

Sullivan praised detective James Gawron’s work on the case. “He really worked it really hard,” he said. The investigation is ongoing.

Those with information are asked to call the detective bureau at (413) 594-1730.

Worcester will receive $5 million from the rail company for the city's Neighborhood Improvement Fund.

WORCESTER - The relocation of CSX Rail Corp. freight yards from Allston and Westborough to Worcester is, according a message from City Manager Michael O'Brien to the city councilors on Tuesday, substantially complete and the city will receive $5 million from the rail company to put towards the city's Neighborhood Improvement Fund.

The $5 million will be distributed to three different types of projects:

• $3 million for neighborhood improvements which include upgrades at Holmes Field and East Park, including a spray park


• $1 million for open space acquisitions


• $1 million for improvements to the Canal District, Shrewsbury Street, and the Grafton Street Business District.

According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette*, the $1 million for open space acquisitions will also include improvements to Harrington Way Playground and Mulcahy Field. The $1 million for the Canal District, Grafton Street and Shrewsbury Street improvements will be split evenly among the three areas -- $333,333 for each.

The project to expand the CSX rail yard in Worcester cost $100 million and was funded through a private-public partnership. Part of the deal included the state acquiring the property rights to the Boston and Worcester rail line, which will allow the MBTA to run more trains between the cities on a daily basis.

*Worcester Telegram & Gazette articles may require a subscription.

Brown also said he has not seen much excitement in this year’s special election..

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told Fox 25 he could beat Congressman Ed Markey, who is currently running against Republican Gabriel Gomez in the June 25 special election for U.S. Senate. Brown looms large over both Democrats and Republicans in the run-up to the special election for the seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry, though he has kept a low-profile in the current campaign of his party-mate Gomez.

“Listen, I have obligations, obviously. I’m with Fox now,” said Brown, who joined the national TV network after his November 2012 loss to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, when asked why he hadn’t hit the trail for Gomez. “And I’m obviously here at Nixon Peabody, so I do have obligations, and when I can do things I’m happy to. But they have a different strategy, trying to do it and be his own person, and you know, show off what his credentials are and do it on their own.”

Brown boosted Gomez in a recent fundraising email. "A husband, father, and baseball coach with real world business and military experience, Gabriel Gomez will bring a fresh perspective to Washington," Brown wrote in his email. "Gabriel has big, bold ideas on how to break through the gridlock and get our government working for the people again."

Brown scored an upset victory in his January 2010 special election win over Attorney General Martha Coakley, and said he has not seen much excitement in this year’s contest.

“I haven’t noticed a lot of energy out and about, whether its sign placements, whether its people going door to door,” Brown said.

Gomez, a son of Colombian immigrants and a former Navy SEAL who previously supported President Barack Obama and claims he will give Republicans in the Senate a hard time has drawn comparisons to Brown, a National Guard officer with humble beginnings and a bipartisan voting record that he touted on the campaign trail.

“I’ve already voted for him. We’ve already done our absentee,” Brown said of Gomez. “I encourage everybody to get out and vote for him, because quite frankly, anybody but Markey. Bottom line is of a guy who’s hardly ever here. He’s lost touch with what’s happening in Massachusetts. He’s a complete Washington insider.”

Brown said he thought he could beat Gomez’s opponent, the longtime Democratic congressman from Malden. “Yeah, I do,” Brown said. “I think I could beat Ed Markey, absolutely.”

On his political ambitions, Brown told Fox, “Nothing’s off the table, quite frankly, and nothing’s necessarily on the table right now,” and said he is willing to help the Republican candidate in his election.

“Whenever he’s around and we’re around together, certainly I’m happy to help, but they have their own strategy, their own media team,” Brown said. Brown opted out of what would have been his third Senate campaign since the fall of 2009 on Feb. 1, opening up the Republican field to candidates Rep. Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk), former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Gomez, a newcomer to electoral politics.

Incumbent Mayor Michael Bissonnette previously announced he is running for re-election.

CHICOPEE — Former Mayor Richard J. Kos took out nomination papers Wednesday morning to run for the seat he held a decade ago.

Kos, accompanied by several supporters, took out papers from the City Clerk's office at about 10 a.m. He must submit them with 250 signatures from registered voters by July 30 to be placed on the November 2013 election ballot, City Clerk Keith W. Rattell said.

Incumbent Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette already has announced he will run for a fifth term and took out nomination papers. He has not returned them yet.

Kos, now a lawyer for Egan, Flanagan and Cohen, was first elected mayor in a special election in 1997. He served for seven years until January 2004. He is currently serving as co-chairman of the capital fund-raising campaign for the construction of the Chicopee Senior Center, was chairman of the Chicopee Chamber Board of Directors and sits on a variety of other boards.

This is a developing story and will be updated as our reporting continues

He self-published his first novel, "Term Limits," which went on to become a New York Times best-seller in paperback.

Best-selling author Vince Flynn.Associated Press File Photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. He was 47.

Flynn was supporting himself by bartending when he self-published his first novel, "Term Limits," in 1997 after getting more than 60 rejection letters. After it became a local best-seller, Picket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint, signed him to a two-book deal — and "Term Limits" became a New York Times best-seller in paperback.

The St. Paul-based author also sold millions of books in the international market and averaged about a book a year, most of them focused on Rapp, a CIA counterterrorism operative. His 14th novel, "The Last Man," was published last year.

"As good as Vince was on the page — and he gave millions of readers countless hours of pleasure — he was even more engaging in person," said Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of his publisher, Simon & Schuster. "Yes, we will miss the Mitch Rapp stories that are classic modern thrillers, but we will miss Vince even more."

Flynn died at a hospital in St. Paul, surrounded by about 35 relatives and friends who prayed the Rosary, said longtime family friend Kathy Schneeman. She said his deep Catholic faith was an important part of his character.

"That's what he would have liked. He talks about his faith just as much as he would talk about politics and current events with our group of friends," Schneeman said.

Flynn was born to an Irish Catholic family in St. Paul, the fifth of seven children. After graduating with an economics degree from the University of St. Thomas in 1988, he went to work as an account and sales marketing specialist with Kraft General Foods. That marketing background later came in handy as he promoted "Term Limits."

Wanting a new challenge, he quit Kraft in 1990 when he landed an aviation candidate slot with the Marine Corps, but he was later disqualified due to seizures he suffered following a childhood car accident. Thwarted from becoming a military aviator, he got the idea of writing thrillers.

"If (Tom) Clancy could do it, why can't I?" Flynn said in a 2005 interview with The Associated Press.

He went to work for the Twin Cities based commercial real estate company United Properties and started working on a book idea in his spare time. Two years later, he quit so he could devote more time to writing and moved to Colorado. He began working on what became "Term Limits," a story about assassins who targeted fat-cat congressmen.

Flynn was diagnosed with stage three metastatic prostate cancer in November 2010. The fatigue from his radiation treatments eventually made it difficult to focus on writing for more than an hour or two, and in October 2011, he reluctantly postponed publication for several months of his 13th book, "Kill Shot," which followed Rapp's adventures as he pursued those responsible for the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

Flynn is survived by his wife, Lysa Flynn, and three children.

___

Ference talked about his friend Lucas Carr of the Army Rangers who gave him the famous jacket awarded to the 'Player of the Game.'

BOSTON - By now, a lot of people are familiar with the Boston Bruins and the Army Ranger jacket that is awarded to the 'Player of Game,' which started at the beginning of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Defenseman Andrew Ference started the 'Player of the Game' tradition back during the team's 2011 Cup run with the vintage Bruins Starter jacket he purchased on eBay.

In 2012 it was "The Chain." The chain consisted of 20 links, which represented the 20 players. It was held together by a padlock with an engraved Bruins logo.

The Ranger jacket however brings out a whole new meaning and connection.

Ference met Army Ranger Lucas Carr through mutual friends while he was still serving.

Carr ran in this year's Boston Marathon and crossed the finish line a few minutes before the bombs went off.

After the Bruins won the Cup in 2011, Ference visited the Fort Benning base down in Georgia. It was there that he met a bunch of Carr's friends and his platoon.

"We've had a relationship with the rangers for number of years and I've been friends with Lucas for a number of years," Ference said. "Our last Stanley Cup run we were wearing the Rangers shirt, did a lot of stuff with them. They sent us a lot of pictures, texts, stuff like that, supporting us really well."

During his visit, Ference was able to put himself in the everyday lives of the Army Rangers, to see exactly what they go through in their training regiment.

Ference wasn't surrounded by any military presences in his peaceful country of Canada where he grew up in the city of Edmonton, so this was a whole new experience.

At the base they gave him the jacket and sewed on the various unique patches, which include the Spoked-B logo, but most importantly, according to Ference the Ranger tab, which "people go through hell to earn."

Not only did Ference leave with an amazing gift, but the trip also gave him another view on life.

"Seeing them leave for months and seeing him come back after losing friends, go through that, it makes it obviously a lot more personal and you see the emotional impact," Ference said. "That's when it kind of turns from talking about their bravery to understanding it. Seeing the real side of it for myself and a lot of the guys."

Heading into Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night at TD Garden, 12 different Bruins have donned the jacket.

All year round, the team is heavily involved honoring the United States Armed Forces.

At every home game during the regular and playoff season, a different military member is recognized with an "8-Spoked Salute" on the Jumbotron during a game break.

The sellout crowd of 17,565 always erupts in a gracious applause and standing ovation while the Bruins and their opponent do a stick tap. Sometimes the military member will have their children with them or it'll be a group from the same regiment, which sparks a higher level of emotion.

"Those guys I think appreciate the getaway that hockey gave them," Ference said. "To watch the games when they're serving, it's probably the best part of their day.

"We don't try to equate ourselves with what they're doing, but we know that we're a good source of entertainment and something that they can rally around and have fun with. They really appreciated us recognizing them and what they do."

Ference said that Carr attends the games regularly and they've been receiving messages from the guys down in Georgia and former rangers since the start of the playoffs.

"It's amazing when you hear from the guys...seeing they're excited," Ference added. "They are guys that deserve a lot more recognition than they get."

No fee hike will be needed if the university system receives $39 million increase in its state budget already approved by the state House of Representatives and the governor, the president said.

Robert L. CaretMark M. Murray/The Republican file 

LOWELL - Trustees for the University of Massachusetts voted to approve up to 4.9 percent increase in tuition and fees for the coming school year, depending on the amount of state funding approved for the university.

During a meeting at the university's Lowell campus, trustees voted 17-0, including two voting student trustees, to authorize the university president to impose as much as a 4.9 percent increase, but with hope that no increase will be needed.

No hike will be needed if the university system receives $39 million increase in its state budget already approved by the state House of Representatives and Gov. Deval L. Patrick, the president said.

"While the board has given me the authority to increase student charges, my preferred option would be to keep tuition and mandatory fees at current rates," Robert L. Caret, president of the five-campus UMass, said in a statement.

Students at the Amherst campus now pay an average $13,242 in tuition and fees. A 4.9 percent increase would mean an additional $649. Room and board comes to about an additional $10,000.

Caret has pledged to freeze tuition and fees if the proposed $34 billion state budget contains a $39 million increase for the university system to $478.6 million.

The state House of Representatives has approved that increase, but the state Senate only approved $16 million hike to $455 million for the fiscal year starting July 1.

A House-Senate committee is negotiating a compromise.

Henry M. Thomas III, chairman of the board of trustees, said Caret has been given the power to raise tuition and fees only if state funding comes in lower than the amount in the House version of the state budget.

In his version of the budget, Patrick also approved $39 million increase for the university.

The trustees' vote contains language noting Caret's intent to freeze tuition and fees for the next two years if the state provides sufficient funding in the fiscal 2014 and 2015 state budgets.

"This is a fallback mechanism," Robert P. Connolly, a vice president and spokesman for the university, said of the potential fee increase. "Hopefully, it's an increase students and their families will never see."

Last year, trustees approved 4.9 percent fee increase for students for the academic year that just ended last month. That increase added about $580 for in-state undergraduates.

The increase for the most recent academic year followed 7.5 percent, or $880 increase, approved in 2011 for the school year that ended in May of last year.

Ferd Wulkan, an adjunct faculty member at the Amherst campus and communications director for the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, said the organization opposes any fee increases, but recognizes the limited choices facing Caret and trustees.

"If the Legislature doesn't do the right thing and appropriate sufficient funds, then the university doesn't have a lot of choice if they want to maintain quality and adequate staffing and teaching levels," Wulkan said.

The network, a statewide organization of students, faculty, staff and alumni, opposes a fee increase because costs are already prohibitive and are forcing some students to drop out or take longer to complete studies for a degree, Wulkan said.

Senate Majority Leader Stanley C. Rosenberg said he is in the unusual position of pushing for the House budget for the university.

"The ball is in our court," Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat, said after the vote by trustees.

He said he and others are pushing "really, really hard" for the House budget. "We're lobbying very hard and doing everything we can to make that happen," Rosenberg said of the House budget.

Arillota was released on $1,000 cash bail and Santos was released on her own recognizance. Watch video

WILBRAHAM — A man and woman, arrested Tuesday morning after police allegedly uncovered a marijuana growing operation in the basement of their Highmoor Drive home, denied the charges later that day in Palmer District Court.

Dominic L. Arillotta, 43, of 6 Highmoor Drive, was ordered held in lieu of $1,000 cash bail. That bail has since been paid, court documents state.

Alison Santos, 42, of that same address, was released on her own recognizance, according to court documents.

Both were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana over an ounce. Arillotta also was charged with possession of metallic knuckles.

Wilbraham Police and members of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency executed the warrant at 6 Highmoor Drive shortly after 6 a.m., according to a release issued by Capt. Timothy Kane.

Police seized 42 marijuana plants, processed marijuana for sale, cash, grow lamps and sophisticated venting and filtration systems, Kane said. He said the growing operation was in the basement.

Kane said the marijuana had a street value of approximately $85,000 to $90,000.

A two-week investigation led to the raid, Kane said.

Santos was home at the time of the raid and Arillotta returned home shortly after the raid. Both were arrested without incident, Kane said.

There were two bull mastiffs on the property at the time of the raid, Kane said. “They didn’t bother us at all,” he said.

Both suspects were ordered to return to court on July 16 for pre-trial conferences.

Two Hispanic men are wanted in connection with the armed robbery in East Springfield.

 

SPRINGFIELD — Police are looking for two Hispanic men, one of whom was armed with a sawed-off shotgun, in connection with a Tuesday night armed robbery on Monrovia Street in East Springfield.

The victim was robbed of a cellphone just after 10 p.m., according to Springfield Police. Sgt. William Andrews said a department spokesman would likely have more details later Wednesday.

There were no reported injuries in the incident, and a precise location for the robbery was unavailable. Monrovia Street is bounded on the north by Lang Street and dead-ends south of Page Boulevard.

The armed suspect is believed to be about 18 to 20 years of age and no taller than 5 feet, 8 inches. He was carrying a sawed-off shotgun and wearing a blue ball cap, a gray T-shirt and cargo pants, police said. A description of the other suspect wasn't immediately available.

James Gandolfini was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Rome.

ROME (AP) — A friend of "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini said Thursday the actor was discovered by a family member in his hotel room in Rome before he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at a hospital.

Michael Kobold, who described himself as a close family friend, read a short statement to reporters, but said little more about the circumstances of Gandolfini's death on Wednesday night.

He did not say who discovered Gandolfini, 51, but NBC quoted Antonio D'Amore, manager of the Boscolo Excedra hotel, as saying it was the actor's 13-year-old son, Michael.

Gandolfini had appeared in advertisements for Kobold's company, Kobold Watches.

Gandolfini was pronounced dead at 11 p.m. Wednesday in Rome after being taken by ambulance to the Policlinic Umberto I hospital.

Dr. Claudio Modini, head of the hospital emergency room, said Gandolfini arrived at the hospital at 10:40 p.m. (2040 GMT; 4:40 p.m. EDT) and was pronounced dead after resuscitation efforts in the ambulance and hospital failed.

An autopsy would be performed starting 24 hours after the death, as required by law, he told The Associated Press.

The actor, known for his portrayal of the tortured Italian-American mob boss Tony Soprano was to have given a special class at the Taormina Film Festival, an annual festival that takes place against the backdrop of Taormina's spectacular Roman amphitheater. Actor Jeremy Irons gave a similar class earlier in the week.

Gandolfini was to have been given the "Taormina City Prize" on Saturday before attending the festival's closing ceremony alongside actress Marisa Tomei.

Festival organizers Mario Sesti and Tiziana Rocca said instead they would organize a tribute "to celebrate his great achievement and talent." They said they had heard from Gandolfini a few hours before he died and "he was very happy to receive this award and be able to travel to Italy."

The U.S. Embassy in Rome, which said it had learned about the death from the media, said it would be available to provide a death certificate and help prepare the body for return to the United States. The embassy said it can often take between four and seven days to arrange for it to be sent outside of Italy.

The embassy spokesman declined further comment, directing inquiries to the family.

It isn't yet known yet what caused his heart to stop beating. Sudden cardiac arrest can be due to a heart attack, a heart rhythm problem, or as a result of trauma. The chance of cardiac arrest increases as people get older; men over age 45 have a greater risk. Men in general are up to three times more likely to have a sudden cardiac arrest than women.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Linda Young 

Linda L. (Gay) Young, 49, of Enfield, passed away on Monday. She was born in New Britain, Conn. She had lived in the Enfield community for 20 years, and was a member of Hazardville United Methodist Church. She was formerly employed as a registered dietitian at Johnson Memorial Medical Center and previously was employed as a manager at JC Penney.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Barsalou, George A.
  



• 
  Beckett, Stephen R.
  



• 
  Clay, Mary T.
  



• 
  Crosier, George T.
  



• 
  Domingue, Roland R.
  



• 
  Kryla, Joseph M.
  



• 
  Lichwala, Roger T.
  



• 
  Lisek, Zygmunt
  



• 
  Lupa, Henry C.
  



• 
  Mikelk, Ruah E.
  



• 
  Podosek, Genevieve A.
  



• 
  Roberson, Joyce Peck
  



• 
  Staley Sr., Lucius
  



• 
  Young, Linda L.
  

Vicino says the Vivos Survival Shelter and Resort will be a fun place for members to take vacations and learn assorted survival skills to prepare them for whatever world-changing catastrophe awaits.

By BILL DRAPER

ATCHISON, Kan. — After most of the world's population is wiped off the map by a wayward meteorite or hail of nuclear missiles, the survival of the human race might just depend on a few thousand people huddled in recreational vehicles deep in the bowels of an eastern Kansas mine.

That's the vision of a California man who is creating what he calls the world's largest private underground survivor shelter, using a complex of limestone caves dug more than 100 years ago beneath gently rolling hills overlooking the Missouri River.

View full sizeA fence helps guard the entrance to the Vivos Shelter and Resort which is part of the Mo/Kan Underground facility in Atchison, Kan., Tuesday, June 18, 2013.AP Photo/Orlin Wagner 

Before it comes time to ride out Armageddon or a deadly global pandemic, though, Vicino says the Vivos Survival Shelter and Resort will be a fun place for members to take vacations and learn assorted survival skills to prepare them for whatever world-changing catastrophe awaits.

Jacque Pregont, president of the Atchison Chamber of Commerce, said some people think the shelter plan sounds creepy or that Vicino has "lost his mind," while others are excited because they will finally get a chance to tour the property.

Atchison is known as the birthplace of Amelia Earhart and one of the most haunted towns in Kansas, Pregont said, so the survival shelter is likely to add to the town's tourism draw.

"It's quirky, and quirky gets attention," she said.

View full sizeCoby Cullins stands next to a map of the Vivos Shelter and Resort during a tour of the facility in Atchison, Kan.AP Photo/Orlin Wagner 

Paul Seyfried, who belongs to a group that promotes preparing for manmade or natural disasters, said Americans have become complacent ever since the death of John F. Kennedy, the last president who urged people to build fallout shelters.

"There has been no war on our soil in over 100 years, so the horror of war is not stamped indelibly in Americans' minds," said Seyfried, a member of The American Civil Defense Association's advisory board.

Ken Rose, a history professor at California State University-Chico, is an outspoken critic of underground shelters. Though he acknowledged that interest in underground shelters is growing, he called projects like the Kansas facility a "colossal waste of time and money."

View full sizePaved roadways lead the way to the Vivos Shelter and Resort during a tour of the facility in Atchison, Kan.AP Photo/Orlin Wagner 

The Kansas caverns are 100 feet to 150 feet below the surface and have a constant natural temperature in the low 70s. They are supported by thick limestone pillars six times stronger than concrete and will have blast doors built to withstand a one-megaton nuclear explosion as close as 10 miles away, Vicino said.

Other than being surrounded by more than a mile and a half of 6-foot-high chain-link fence topped with sharp rows of barbed wire, the land above ground isn't distinguishable from expanses of hills and trees that surround it. The proposed shelter's entrances — nondescript concrete loading docks tucked discretely into the wooded hillside — are easily defensible against any potential intruders provided there's not a full-scale military attack, Vicino said.

View full sizePaved roadways lead the way to the Vivos Shelter and Resort during a tour of the facility in Atchison, Kan.AP Photo/Orlin Wagner 

Springfield, Mo., investor Coby Cullins submitted his winning $510,000 bid for the property in early April, and he immediately started looking for ways to use it. One of his ideas was to lease the land to a company that builds survival bunkers.

Vicino, whose company is based in Del Mar, Calif., said he received an email from Cullins and flew to Kansas two days later to check out the property. Vicino agreed to purchase 75 percent of the complex, rather than lease it, while Cullins retained the rest and is marketing it to local businesses.

View full sizeCoby Cullins stands next to a scale model of the Vivos Shelter and Resort during a tour of the facility. AP Photo/Orlin Wagner 

The shelter will have enough space for more than 1,000 RVs and up to about 5,000 people. Members will be charged $1,000 for every lineal foot of their RV to purchase their space, plus $1,500 per person for food. That means a person who plans to park a 30-foot vehicle in the shelter with four people inside will pay $30,000 for the space and $6,000 for food.

Actual sales won't begin until a "critical mass" of reservations are received and processed, Vicino said, which hasn't happened yet at the Kansas shelter.

Vivos also owns a shelter in Indiana with room for 80 people to live comfortably for up to a year. There, members pay $50,000 per adult and $35,000 per child, so a family with two adults and two children would have to come up with $170,000 to be part of the post-apocalyptic generation.

Purchasers will be required to pay for the full balance before taking possession of their shelter space, though the company has offered limited financing in the past with a sizable down payment.

Vicino says he won't say specifically where the Indiana shelter or any of his smaller facilities are located because he fears there would be anarchy in the event of a world-changing catastrophe.

And it doesn't matter who comes knocking at the "moment of truth," Vicino said, they're probably not getting in.

"I've heard people say, 'I will just show up at the door,'" he said. "Our response is, 'great, where is the door?' At our secret shelters, you don't know where to go, and your cash will be worthless at that time."