Police arrested three people on drug charges on Thursday and found $1,186 in cash, 52 grams of heroin, 299 individually packaged 1/2 grams of heroin, and a hiding device containing an additional 31 individually packed 1/2 grams of heroin, packaging materials, a digital scale and other drug paraphernalia in a Beacon Street apartment connected to the arrests during a search on Friday, report police.

WORCESTER - Police arrested three people on drug charges on Thursday and found $1,186 in cash, 52 grams of heroin, 299 individually packaged a half grams of heroin, and a hiding device containing an additional 31 individually packed half grams of heroin, packaging materials, a digital scale and other drug paraphernalia during a search Friday of a Beacon Street apartment connected to the arrests .

According to police, members of the Worcester Police vice squad were undercover in the Green Street area when they saw a woman, later identified as Ashley Rucci, 25, of 50 Stone School Road, Sutton, use a pay phone and drive off in a Toyota Celica. Officers decided to follow Rucci to Beacon Street.

Rucci stopped the Toyota on the side of the road and officers position themselves for surveillance, report police. Rucci then drove around the block and parked in the same spot she had pulled over in before. When she returned, a man, later identified as Rene Cordero, 34, of 111 Beacon St., Worcester, walked up to Rucci’s vehicle. Officers noticed Cordero place his hand in his mouth and spit an object into it when he reached the vehicle. Then he reached his hand with the item into Rucci's vehicle, placed his hand back into his pocket and walked away. Rucci drove off towards Hammond Street.

According to police, the undercover officers believed they had seen a street level drug deal and radioed for assistance and asked for a marked police vehicle to stop and hold Codero. But officers were unable to locate him.

The undercover officers followed Rucci to a gas station on Southbridge Street and approached her vehicle. Rucci was startled when she realized police were approaching and attempted to conceal an item in her hand. Officers grabbed her hands and found a small bag of heroin.

Rucci was placed under arrest and charged with possession of Class A substance and conspiracy to violate controlled substance laws.

According to police, officers used Rucci’s phone and called the suspected drug dealers. Officers made arrangements with a man for a drug deal at the same location officer saw Rucci buy her ion. Undercover officers arrived back at Beacon Street and met with a man identified as Douglas Valdez, 22, of 111 Beacon St.. Valdez leaned into the window and pulled a knotted bag of heroin from his mouth and handed it to the officer. As Valdez walked away officers nearby arrested him.

Valdez was charged with distribution of Class A substance, trafficking heroin and conspiracy to violate controlled substance laws. Valdez also had an outstanding arrest warrant for motor vehicle offenses.

According to police, officers went to 111 Beacon St. and knocked on the door, which was answered by Cordero, the man seen selling Rucci heroin earlier. Officers placed him under arrest and charged with possession of Class A with the intent to distribute, distribution of Class A substance, trafficking in heroin and conspiracy to violate controlled substance laws. Cordero was searched and police discovered nine small bags of heroin on him.

Police report Cordero also had an outstanding arrest warrant for motor vehicle offenses.

Officers secured the apartment and police obtained a search warrant, report police. On Friday officers executed the search and discovered $1,186 in cash, 52 grams of heroin, 299 individually packaged ½ grams of heroin, and a hiding device containing an additional 31 individually packed ½ grams of heroin, packaging materials, a digital scale and other drug paraphernalia.

All three individuals were arraigned at the Worcester County District Courthouse on Friday.

Every six months WMECO receives bids from wholesale electricity suppliers and is required to take the lowest bid offered. New rates are set on July 1 and Jan. 1.

SPRINGFIELD - Just as peak summer air conditioning season hits, Western Massachusetts Electric Co. has announced the average residential customer's bill will rise about $6.35 per month, or 7.6 percent, effective July 1.

A recent decrease in the delivery portion of electric bills, effective in June, had lowered the bill by about $1.34 per month for the average residential customer.

The average bill is based on a usage of 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Starting July 1, WMECO's new residential electricity supply rate will increase from 7.315 cents per kilowatt-hour to 8.317 cents.

"The price in natural gas has been going up a little bit, so that is the biggest impact on the cost this time," said WMECO spokesman Priscilla Ress.

Small commercial and industrial customers will also see a slight rise in prices as their supply rate rises from 7.568 cents per kilowatt-hour to 7.775 cents.

Every six months WMECO receives bids from wholesale electricity suppliers and is required to take the lowest bid offered. New rates are set on July 1 and Jan. 1.

"This time the bid was slightly higher than it was the last time," Ress said.

"WMECO does not make any money off of this electricity. We buy it for a dollar, we sell it for a dollar," said Ress.

WMECO purchases electricity from suppliers whose generators are powered by a variety of fuels, including natural gas, coal and oil. Recent rises in the price of natural gas are one of the leading causes for the rise in wholesale electricity prices.

"The price is still so much lower than it was a few years ago, though, because of the abundance in natural gas at this time," said Ress.

In July of 2008 WMECO customers were paying over 12 cents per kilowatt-hour on the supply side of their bill.

"Even with the increase on Monday, our customers are paying $20 less then they were paying 5 years ago," said Ress.

A National Grid spokesman said its prices were set two months ago and will not change at this time.

Customers of both companies are encouraged to lower their bills by being energy-efficient.

"Use energy star efficient machines, check filters, turn hot water heater lower, and don’t stand in front of open refrigerators," advised Ress.

For information about all of the energy efficiency programs WMECO offers, visit www.wmeco.com.

The overall goals include boosting graduation rates while lowering the number of students dropping out, Warwick added.

SPRINGFIELD – School officials have unveiled a five-year initiative designed to boost student performance and close the achievement gap at city schools.

Superintendent Daniel J. Warwick presented the plan to the School Committee Thursday as the work of hundreds of teachers, administrators, early childhood providers and members of the business community over the past year.

Entitled “The Springfield Promise: A Culture of Equity and Proficiency,” the report calls for recruiting and retaining skilled teachers; strengthening academic and emotional support for students and families; using expanded data collection to analyze trends and make decisions; and establishing a common curriculum with an emphasis on literacy, especially in early grades.

“We set ambitious targets,” Warwick said, adding that each priority has specific steps and goals.

“We will ensure that effective instruction occurs in every class, every day, that there are shared high expectations for all students, that students achieve grade level proficiency and that students graduate college and career ready,” he added.

The overall goals include boosting graduation rates while lowering the number of students dropping out, Warwick added.

A 75-member steering committee helped to draft the plan, which included findings from surveys submitted by 600 community members. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and School Committee Vice Chairman Peter M. Murphy served on the steering committee.

V. James Marini, a member of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents who also advises area school districts, said the plan was both ambitious and realistic.

“This plan is aggressive. It breaks complex and complicated objectives into pieces of a puzzle that are separate yet interrelated and clearly laid out,” Marini said.

Warwick said the plan builds on priorities identified in the district’s previous long-range plan, which covered 2009 to 2012.

“We have a very strong foundation that we are continuing to build upon,” said Warwick.

“Our priorities haven’t changed, but we’ve outlined clear-cut ... results we know our students, staff and community are capable of producing,” he added.

Springfield City Solicitor Edward Pikula said the casino ballot question for July 16, includes a concise summary of the casino agreement with MGM Resorts International ranging from a description of the project to details on jobs and payments to the city.

SPRINGFIELD – The city has finalized the ballot for the July 16 referendum that asks voters if they support a casino in the downtown, with the ballot including a four-page summary of the casino agreement.

Edward M. Pikula 

While the ballot is long, with both English and Spanish translations, it leads with a single question and voters have already received the city’s casino summary in the mail, according to city officials.

The question reads as follows:

“Shall the city permit the development and operation of a gaming establishment licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to be located in the downtown area of Springfield generally bounded by Main Street, Union Street, East Columbus Avenue and State Street?”

Springfield Casino Referendum Sample Ballot by masslive

Staff writer Dan Ring contributed to this report.

Friends and family members gathered at the church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan Saturday to pay their respects to Odin Lloyd, who was found dead nearly two weeks ago.

Friends and family members gathered at Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan Saturday to pay respects to Odin Lloyd, who was found dead nearly two weeks ago.

A 27-year-old Dorchester native, Lloyd was shot and killed in a North Attleborough industrial park around 2:30 a.m. on June 17. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been charged with the murder.

Lloyd became acquainted with Hernandez nearly two years when he began dating the sister of Hernandez’s finance.

Observers said members of Lloyd’s football team, the Boston Bandits, gathered in a huddle outside the church before making their way inside for the funeral services. The player's then chanted Lloyd's name as pallbearers placed his casket in a hearse outside of the church.

The crowd was so large that some were forced to stand outside the church for the two-hour service.

Carlos Ortiz, 27, and Ernest Wallace, 41, have also been arrested in conjunction with Lloyd's murder.

During Hernandez's arraignment hearing, prosecutors said that the football player summoned the two men from Connecticut to join him at his North Attleborough home. The three men then picked up Lloyd and allegedly drove him back to North Attleborough, where he was shot five times in an industrial park. His body was found the next day by a jogger.

Prosecutors did not say who fired the shots.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

This meeting is expected to be more revealing than past meetings Mohegan has held in town about the proposed casino project.

PALMER - Mohegan Sun representatives will visit Palmer on Monday to reveal more details about their nearly $1 billion proposed resort casino for Thorndike Street.

"This will be much more elaborate and much more detailed," Paul I. Brody, Mohegan Sun's development coordinator, said on Friday. "This will be a substantially more complete presentation than we've ever put on in Palmer."

Brody said the presentation will make good on a promise Mohegan made to the Town Council and Palmer residents to bring more information forward.

He said there will be floor plans of the proposed casino so people can get an idea of the size and scope of the project. Gaming floor sketches will be released, as well as details about slot machines and table games, and information regarding the two hotels on the property. Details about transportation, finance and retail and entertainment amenities also will be discussed at the meeting.

"It's the beginning of the campaign and really the kickoff for the referendum this fall," Brody said.

The Connecticut-based casino operator has faced criticism at past meetings with town officials and residents for not being forthcoming enough about the proposal. Mohegan is competing with Hard Rock International in West Springfield and MGM Resorts International in Springfield for the lone Western Massachusetts casino license.

Mohegan representatives are meeting with the Town Council at 7 p.m. at Palmer High School. The public is invited.

In addition to Brody, Mitchell G. Etess, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's chief executive; Todd Finard, Finard Properties' chief executive; and representatives from Brigade Capital Management and project architect Kohn Pedersen Fox, along with Bruce “Two Dogs” Bozsum, Mohegan Tribal Council chairman, will attend.

Last month, Mohegan announced the partnership with Finard Properties of Boston for the retail end of the project. Brody said exact retail partners are not expected to be revealed on Monday.

And earlier this month, Mohegan announced the addition of an outdoor water entertainment park on the property, to make the project even more of a destination, and give it a boost over the competition.

A host community agreement between the town and Mohegan is expected to be completed sometime in July, according to Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard.

Mohegan wants to build the resort casino on 152 acres off Thorndike Street (Route 32) on a wooded hillside across from the Massachusetts Turnpike exit 8.

The amendment, proposed by Welch, D-West Springfield, was one of 51 amendments to the supplemental budget that were approved on Thursday.

Republican file photo

State Sen. James Welch D-West Springfield 

The amendment, proposed by Welch, D-West Springfield, was one of 51 amendments to the supplemental budget that were approved on Thursday.

Welch said the legislation is intended to give the state police resources for additional patrols in the city beyond what is already being done with the state police Community Action Team and with the state police Special Projects Team that has been employing “counter criminal continuum” or C3 policing in the city in the city’s North End.

The amendment that was approved calls for the money to be allocated during the summer months, when there seems to be an uptick in activity, or whenever the commander of the state police deems it is necessary.

Passage of the amendment does not mean it has been given final approval. The Senate approved its supplemental budget, but the House needs to pass its own version. The Senate and House must then deliberate and compromise on a joint version of the bill which must be approved and then sent to Governor Patrick for ratification.

“We’re still in the middle of the process, but it’s still in there,” he said.

Welch, whose district includes about half of Springfield including the North and South ends and downtown, said increased police patrols will help the city by making people who go downtown feel safer.

The community action team is a deployment of state troopers that has for the past few years has been regularly been dispatched to aid Springfield police in routine patrols.

The C3 policing program is a modification of counterinsurgency methods used by U.S. Army Special Forces and adapted for use by civilian law enforcement agencies to reduce crime. It has been credited with reducing crime in the North End.

Martha Barrett can practically walk the maze of corridors at Frontier Regional blind-folded. Her four grown children all went through the system and she knows virtually all of the teachers.

DEERFIELD – When the school committees in the Frontier Regional and Union 38 School Districts went searching for a superintendent to replace the retiring Regina Nash this year, they didn’t have to look far. Frontier principal Martha Barrett was right under their noses.

She will take over the job on Monday.

“There was only one internal candidate,” said Barrett, who was named for the job in March. “They decided to take that route first.”

Barrett, who lives across the street from Frontier Regional in South Deerfield, knows the district well. Not only has she served as principal of the Grades 7 through 12 school for the past 11 years, she also did stints as principal of the elementary schools in Sunderland and Deerfield. The towns of Whately and Conway round out the 1,700-student district.

Barrett, 61, can practically walk the maze of corridors at Frontier Regional blind-folded. Her four grown children all went through the system, and she knows virtually all of the teachers.

“It’s really been an advantage,” she said of her familiarity with the district. “Right now I’m assessing what’s going well and what areas to improve.”

Barrett is already in the thick of teacher evaluations and has an eye toward improving classroom technology in the district.

“I’m trying to look with fresh eyes and hear people’s concerns,” she said.

Although education has taken up nearly all of her professional life, Barrett started out as an actress. She even moved to London to work in theater.

“I found out I was mediocre and came home,” she said.

One hitch for Barrett is that, as superintendent, she will no longer be able to walk to work. The district’s administrative offices are in Whately.

“I have to commute now,” she said.

Barrett will be replaced at Frontier by assistant principal Darius Modestow.

LaValley said the Historical Commission still has a request for proposals out on the fountain project and does not know how much it will cost to restore it.

Old Main.Bob Stern 

NORTHAMPTON – If you’ve ever wanted a urinal or a shower head from the former Northampton State Hospital, now is the time.

These and other mementos from the 19th century complex once called the Northampton Lunatic Hospital are currently up for bid, courtesy of the city’s Historical Commission. Proceeds from the on-line auction will go towards restoring the fountain that once sat in front of Old Main, the administrative building on the 500 acre campus that stood upon Hospital Hill.

Built in the 1850s, Northampton State Hospital housed 2,500 patients, employed 500 workers and operated out of 70 buildings at its height. It included a piggery, a bowling alley and underground tunnels linking the buildings. Former patients are reportedly buried in unmarked graves on the grounds.

The thriving hospital began downsizing in the 1970s as the state deinstitutionalized, placing people with mental health issues in community homes instead. It closed for good in 1993, and the long process of turning the land over to the city began.

MassDevelopment, a quasi-public agency, was chosen to market the land for commercial and residential use. One by one, the buildings were razed. In their place, a range of housing has been built. Defense contractor Kollmorgen, now called L3-KEO, moved its headquarters from King Street onto the former hospital campus and now occupies the lion’s share of the commercial and industrial space.

Even the name of the hill was changed by developers, who thought Village Hill would be more attractive than Hospital Hill. All that remains are the fountain, the reported graves and a bunch of artifacts that MassDevelopment turned over to the city. These include a urinal, an old clock, a cupola, auditorium chairs, window bars, doors and some game tables.

“It’s like they grabbed everything they possibly could,” said Sarah LaValley, a Planning Department staff member who serves as liaison to the Historical Commission. “We ended up with what could be salvaged.”

The commission has kept the potpourri of odds and ends in storage for a decade. Now everything is up for sale. The auction began June 25 and will end between July 14-17. To view and bid on items go to www.municibid.com/storecatalog.asp?userid=9056, or go to www.municibid.com and enter “Northampton State Hospital” in the search box.

To date, the copper filial that once sat atop one of the building has garnered the most bids, 19, and stands to sell at $310. Other items have few or no bidders and can be had for $1. This includes some cartons of Domino cigarettes, which LaValley recommends the winning bidder not smoke.

LaValley said the Historical Commission still has a request for proposals out on the fountain project and does not know how much it will cost to restore it. The city has already committed $75,000 in Community Preservation Funds. The fountain will sit in a small memorial park.

Some City Councilors have balked at the project, saying the fountain will be in a location out of sight of the general public. LaValley said the hope was to place it as near as possible to its original location outside Old Main.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Pierre Gaudet  

Pierre J. "Pete" Gaudet, 73, of Chicopee, passed away on Wednesday. He was born in Chicopee, raised in the Willimansett section of the city and graduated from the former Mount Carmel Elementary School. He attended the former Precious Blood High School before graduating from Cathedral High School. He moved to the Aldenville section of Chicopee in 1965. He was a well-known meat cutter for over 30 years and was employed at many stores in the Pioneer Valley. He was best known in Aldenville as the custodian for Sainte Rose de Lima Parish, where he worked at the rectory, Sainte Rose de Lima Church and the parish school, Saint Joan of Arc, where he was affectionately known by all of the school children as "Uncle Pete."

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Beggs-Sheperd, Rita E.
  



• 
  Burke, Sheila M.
  



• 
  Gaudet, Pierre J.
  



• 
  Harrison, Richard E.
  



• 
  Hauschild, Keith
  



• 
  Kwasnik, Sherrie J.
  



• 
  Malloy, Mary L.
  



• 
  Marshall, Hal Wells
  



• 
  Plankey, Alan J.
  



• 
  Shaw, Elizabeth A.
  



• 
  Stratos, George
  



• 
  Zapasnik, Leonard W.
  

Ninth Circuit spokesman David Madden said Friday that the panel's decision to act sooner was "unusual, but not unprecedented."

SAN FRANCISCO — Same-sex marriages that were outlawed in California 4 1/2 years ago resumed in a rush after a federal appeals court took the "unusual, but not unprecedented," step of freeing couples to obtain marriage licenses, before the U.S. Supreme Court had issued its final judgment in a challenge of the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban.

Within hours of the appeals court's action Friday, the four plaintiffs who in 2009 sued to overturn the ban had exchanged vows during hastily arranged ceremonies that drew crowds of well-wishers as the news spread that the weddings were back on.

"I was at work," lead plaintiff Kristen Perry said, adding that she rushed home to Berkeley to change into a gray suit so she could marry her now-wife Sandra Stier at San Francisco City Hall.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris declared Perry and Stier "spouses for life" as hundreds of supporters looked on and cheered from the balconies ringing the couple's perch under City Hall's rotunda. The other couple in the Supreme Court case, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, was married at Los Angeles City Hall 90 minutes later wearing matching white rose boutonnières and with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presiding.

"Your bravery in the face of bigotry has made history," said Villaraigosa, who was pulled from his last day in office tour of the city to officiate the impromptu wedding.

Although the couples fought for the right to wed for years, their nuptials came together in a flurry when a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order Friday afternoon dissolving a stay it had imposed on gay marriages while the lawsuit challenging the ban advanced through the courts.

The legal fight concluded Wednesday when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Proposition 8's sponsors lacked standing in the case after Harris and Gov. Jerry Brown, both Democrats, refused to defend the ban in court. The decision lets stand a trial judge's declaration that the ban violates the civil rights of gay Californians and cannot be enforced.

The high court said, however, that it would not finalize its ruling "at least" until after the 25 days the ban's backers have under the court's rules to seek a rehearing. The 9th Circuit was widely expected to wait until the Supreme Court's judgment was official before clearing the way for same-sex marriages to start again.

The ban's sponsors, who like gay marriage supporters were caught off-guard, complained that the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit's swift action made it more difficult for them to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.

"The resumption of same-sex marriage this day has been obtained by illegitimate means. If our opponents rejoice in achieving their goal in a dishonorable fashion, they should be ashamed," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for a coalition of religious conservative groups that sponsored the 2008 ballot measure.

"It remains to be seen whether the fight can go on, but either way, it is a disgraceful day for California," he said.

Ninth Circuit spokesman David Madden said Friday that the panel's decision to act sooner was "unusual, but not unprecedented," although he could not recall another time the appeals court acted before receiving an official judgment from the high court.

The panel — Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was named to the 9th Circuit by President Jimmy Carter and has a reputation as the court's liberal lion; Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, an early appointee of President Bill Clinton; and Judge Randy Smith, the last 9th Circuit judge nominated by President George W. Bush — decided on its own to lift the stay, Madden said.

Its order read simply, "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately."

Vikram Amar, a constitutional law professor at the University of California, Davis, said the Supreme Court's 25-day waiting period to make its decisions final isn't binding on lower courts.

"Some people may think it was in poor form, But it's not illegal," Amar said. "The appeals court may have felt that this case has dragged on long enough."

The same panel of judges ruled 2-1 last year that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, but it kept same-sex marriages on hold while the case was appealed. But when the Supreme Court decided Proposition 8's backers couldn't defend the ban, it also wiped out the 9th Circuit's opinion.

Proposition 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008, 4 1/2 months after same-sex marriages commenced in California the first time. The Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimates 18,000 couples from around the country got married in the state during that window.

Shortly after the appeals court issued its order Friday, the governor directed California counties to resume performing same-sex marriages. A memo from the Department of Public Health said "same-sex marriage is again legal in California" and ordered county clerks to comply by making marriage licenses available to gay couples.

Robert Meadows and his partner, Craig Stein, were among those who hurried to City Hall to see Stier and Perry tie the knot. They ended up deciding to get married themselves on the spot.

"We came down here just to watch when we heard the news," Meadows said. "But then we saw the lines weren't too long and we went for it. We've been wanting to get married forever."

Hours before Pam Shaheen and Mary Beth Gabriel said "I do" in front of throngs of onlookers and media late Friday afternoon, they were having drinks at a nearby cafe, not expecting marriages to resume so quickly. Twenty years ago they met in New Orleans. Days ago they were on the steps of city hall, awaiting the Supreme Court's decision.

After holding her marriage certificate in the air, Shaheen said she hoped California's example would spread to other states.

Given that word did not come down from the appeals court until mid-afternoon, most counties were not prepared to stay open late to accommodate potential crowds. The clerks in a few counties announced that they would stay open a few hours late Friday before reopening Monday.

A jubilant San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced that same-sex couples would be able to marry all weekend in his city, which is hosting its annual gay pride celebration.

Some say the search is overshadowing the important debate over the government's power to seize the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans to help in the fight against terrorism.

Edward Snowden's continent-jumping, hide-and-seek game seems like the stuff of a pulp thriller — a desperate man's drama played out before a worldwide audience trying to decide if he's a hero or a villain.

But the search for the former National Security Agency contractor who spilled U.S. secrets has become something of a distracting sideshow, some say, overshadowing the important debate over the government's power to seize the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans to help in the fight against terrorism.

"You have to be humble on Day 1 to say, 'This isn't about me. This is about the information.'... I don't think he really anticipated the importance of making sure the focus initially was off him," says Mike Paul, president of MGP & Associates PR, a crisis management firm in New York. "Not only has he weakened his case, some would go as far as to say he's gone from hero to zero."

Snowden, he says, can get back on track by "utilizing whatever information he has like big bombs in a campaign," so the focus returns to the question of spying and not his life on the run.

Snowden's disclosures about U.S. surveillance to The Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post have created an uproar in Washington that shows no signs of fading.

A petition asking President Barack Obama to pardon Snowden has collected more than 123,000 signatures.

But the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., meanwhile, has called Snowden's disclosure of top-secret information "an act of treason." House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is among those who've called Snowden a "traitor."

The president has dismissed the 30-year-old Snowden as a "hacker" and he had pledged that the U.S. won't be scrambling military jets to snatch Snowden and return him to the U.S., where he faces espionage charges.

Snowden is possibly holed up in the wing of a Russian airport hotel reserved for travelers in transit who don't have visas to enter Russia. He might be waiting to hear whether Ecuador, Iceland or another country might grant him asylum. He fled Hong Kong last weekend after being charged with violating American espionage laws.

Some say Snowden is losing ground in the battle for public opinion by cloaking his travels in secrecy, creating more interest in his efforts to elude U.S. authorities than his allegations against the government.

By disappearing in Russia, he loses "access to rehabilitate himself in the public's mind," says William Weaver, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who has written about government secrecy.

"You have to keep selling yourself, if you will, and do it in a smart way so people don't get tired of you. ... His only hope was to hit a grand slam home run with the public and make it stick. For every hour that he's not doing something like that, he's in trouble."

Others say Snowden's personality is irrelevant and doesn't change his major argument — that U.S. intelligence agencies have lied about the scope of its surveillance of Americans.

Gene Healy, a vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, recently wrote an essay denouncing pundits who've labeled Snowden a "grandiose narcissist" and a "total slacker." He maintains that the former contractor's revelations are all that matters. "The content of the message is far more important than the character of the messenger," he wrote in the Washington Examiner.

Healy said "the most disturbing" part of Snowden's disclosures was the massive amounts of data collected on citizens. "The potential abuse of that information represents a grave threat to American liberty and privacy regardless of Snowden's character and motivations," he wrote.

David Colapinto, general counsel at the National Whistleblowers Center, says it's not surprising Snowden has become an "easy target'" facing harsh criticism from those at the highest levels of government — people "who have a bigger megaphone than he does."

"The name-calling and whatever may happen in the future — we don't know what he's going to do," he adds. "We don't know what the government is going to do. ... It's pretty hard to pull out a crystal ball."

So far, America seems to be divided, according to polls taken in the first days after Snowden's leak of top-secret documents. Many people initially applauded the former contractor for exposing what they saw as government spying on ordinary Americans. Since then, though, government officials have responded with explanations of the program and congressional testimony attesting to the value of surveillance in thwarting terrorist attacks.

In one poll, a June 12-16 national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA Today, 49 percent of those surveyed said the release of classified information about the NSA program serves the public interest, while 44 percent found it harmful. For those under 30, the gap was dramatically larger. That group said it's good for the public by a 60-34 percent margin, according to the survey.

Still, 54 percent also said the government should pursue a criminal case against someone who leaked classified information about the program.

A second survey taken in that same five-day period found a similar split. The Washington Post-ABC news poll found that 43 percent support and 48 percent oppose criminally charging Snowden. But the survey also reported that 58 percent of Americans support the NSA's sweeping surveillance program.

Snowden has acknowledged taking highly classified documents about U.S. surveillance and sharing the information with the papers in Britain and Washington. He also told the South China Morning Post that the NSA hacked Chinese cellphone companies to seek text message data.

At this point, Snowden's main job is to stay out of prison and he has both a "powerful narrative" and major disadvantages, says Eric Dezenhall, head of a crisis management firm in Washington.

"The biggest thing on the asset side is the concern people have about government surveillance — it's very legitimate," Dezenhall says. "The weaknesses are having betrayed secrets he was entrusted with and the fact he ended up in these hostile countries. .... Public opinion doesn't move on nuance. (People think) You're a whistle-blower who's in Russia or China. So you think they have an answer to this problem? It's not very intelligent."

Gerald R. Shuster, a professor of political communication at the University of Pittsburgh, says if Snowden had remained in the U.S. and "stood his ground, he would have remained more heroic" and lawyers would have lined up to represent him.

But if he's brought back to face charges and "he's shown in handcuffs, the aura of idealism is over," Shuster says. "He's more and more perceived as a criminal."

Colapinto, the lawyer for the whistle-blower group, says it's too soon to know how Snowden's plight will play out.

"This is like a moving river," he says. "We're maybe midstream. We don't know where this will end up. I think history will judge him as things develop. But we just don't know the end of the story."

The casino referendum is July 16.

SPRINGFIELD - With just over two weeks to go until voters head to the polls to vote on the proposed MGM Resorts International casino project, supporters gathered Saturday to canvass city neighborhoods to push a “yes” vote.

More than 70 supporters of the MGM project gathered at MGM headquarters downtown before hitting neighborhoods in wards 1, 4 and 7. Many donned blue T-shirts advertising the July 16 casino referendum with the slogan “Vote Yes for Springfield.”

“We’re not letting up these next couple of weeks,” Kelly Tucky, MGM’s vice president of community relations and public affairs, said before the kickoff.

Telling the group that there are only 16 days to go until the vote, Brian Bass, MGM’s community outreach director, told the crowd that “every voter counts.”

“We have 410 to 430 hours until the polls open . . . Every single hour counts,” Bass said. “We’ve knocked on 20,000 doors since June 1 and called 30,000 people on the phone.”

Tucky, who also goes door to door to pitch the project, told the group to tell residents why they support the project.

“Why is it that you want this for Springfield?” Tucky said. “We want to knock this out of the park. We want to send the message to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that Springfield wants it, Springfield needs it and Springfield deserves it.”

She highlighted what the city will receive if it does win the lone casino license for Western Massachusetts - $25 million in annual payments, plus money for more police officers, and jobs.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno thanked members of the group for taking time out of their day to go door-to-door and campaign for the project.

“You deserve a round of applause . . . Why are you here? Because you believe in the city and believe in this project,” Sarno said.

Sarno said MGM will bring thousands of good-paying jobs to the city, something that will help knock down poverty. He said Springfield, as the capital city of Western Massachusetts, is the place for this economic development project to land.

“This is the game-changer,” Sarno said.

Calvin K. Feliciano, 28, political organizer for the Service Employees International Union, said he has a “million reasons” why he supports the project, but jobs are the main reason. The father of an 18-month-old, Feliciano said he thinks a casino will bring opportunities to the city.

“I want to live here for the rest of my life,” Feliciano said, adding he has been out every weekend pushing for a yes vote for the project. “We need a shot in the arm. I think we need this.”

It was Jeremy Rodriguez’s first time hitting the streets in support of the project. He brought along his 6-year-old son, Jeremy Rodriguez Jr.

“I think (a casino) will create opportunities for people and hopefully eliminate some of the violence,” he said.

Ward 1 City Councilor Zaida Luna said she thinks a casino will open up more opportunities for minorities in the city.

Tucky, who headed to Gillette Avenue in East Forest Park to make the pitch for the project, said “by and large people are with us.”

“We’re getting a positive reaction when they finally see us face to face,” Tucky said.

Armed with literature, Tucky and two supporters hit the neighborhood. But John Sullivan told them he was concerned about the proposal, and cited problems with casinos in Atlantic City, N.J. Tucky replied that Atlantic City did not have a host community agreement - one of the requirements for a gaming license to be awarded in Massachusetts. Voters also must endorse a project for it to proceed.

They left him with information about the casino. Sullivan said after that he is still leaning against the project, and plans to vote on July 16.

MGM Springfield, an approximately $800 million resort, is proposed for 14.5 acres of land between Union and State streets, and Columbus Avenue and Main Street in the downtown-South End area.

MGM is competing against Hard Rock International in West Springfield and Mohegan Sun in Palmer for the Western Massachusetts casino license.

The male victim is expected to live, police said.

File photo | The Republican 

SPRINGFIELD - Police are investigating a shooting in the area of 743 Carew St.

Police Sgt. Robert Tardiff said a man was shot just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and brought to Baystate Medical Center for what appears to be a non-life-threatening injury. He said the man was shot once in the lower half of his body.

The victim told police that he did not see the shooter, but police were looking for a male suspect described as heavy-set and short. Tardiff said the victim was not being cooperative with police.

Shell casings were found at the scene, police said. The department's "shotspotter" activation system did not go off, police said.

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The $8.7 million project has been under way for a year.

The deck of the William F. Davitt Bridge is down and the $8.7 million project to complete the bridge should be finished in July.

Photo by John Suchocki / The Republican 

CHICOPEE - Mayor Michael Bissonnette said that “there is a good chance” that the William F. Davitt Bridge will open on Monday.

Bissonnette wrote about the project's progress on his Facebook page on Saturday, noting that paving is being done. He also wrote that the temporary lights on Center Street at Interstate 91 and 391will remain until traffic patterns are reassessed after reopening. He wrote that he hopes they can be made permanent.

The project has been under way for a year.

The bridge closed in May 2012 and the structure is being rebuilt at a cost of about $8.7 million. Bissonnette’s announcement means the project will be completed even earlier than originally thought.

Back in April, it was announced that construction should be finished by the end of July, which was on track to be finished 13 months earlier than expected.

The contractor is Northern Construction Service, LLC, of Weymouth. The bridge was not supposed to re-open until August 2014.

Channel 22 however was reporting that the bridge will be open by July 4.

Dan Kail was vacationing in Las Vegas when he heard that the temperature at California's Death Valley could approach 130 degrees this weekend. He didn't hesitate to make a trip to the desert location that is typically the hottest place on the planet.

The Furnace Creek Visitor Center features a digital thermometer in Death Vally National Park Friday, June 28, 2013 in Furnace Creek, Calif. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona.Associated Press 

BRIAN SKOLOFF
and CHRIS CARLSON
Associated Press

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. — Scorching heat blistered the Southwest on Saturday, where highs between 115 and 120 degrees were expected for parts of Arizona, Nevada and California through the weekend.

Forecasters said temperatures in sunbaked Las Vegas could match the record of 117 degrees Saturday. Phoenix also was expected to hit that mark, matching the record for June 29 set in 1994. And large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night — and maybe even longer.

Dan Kail was vacationing in Las Vegas when he heard that the temperature at California's Death Valley could approach 130 degrees this weekend. He didn't hesitate to make a trip to the desert location that is typically the hottest place on the planet.

"Coming to Death Valley in the summertime has always been on the top of my bucket list," the 67-year-old Pittsburgh man said. "When I found out it might set a record I rented a car and drove straight over. If it goes above 130 I will have something to brag about."

The forecast called for Death Valley to reach 128 degrees Saturday as part of a heat wave that has caused large parts of the western U.S. to suffer. Death Valley's record high of 134 degrees, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

A couple hours south in Baker, the temperature was expected to peak at 120 degrees in the road tripper's oasis in the Mojave Desert on Interstate 15. The strip of gas stations and restaurants between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is known by travelers for the giant thermometer that often notes temperatures in the triple digits.

At the Mad Greek restaurant there, a waitress called out orders for "Chocolate shake! Strawberry shake!" while the temperature hovered at 112 degrees during the lunch rush.

Downtown Los Angeles was expected to hit 91 degrees, 7 degrees shy of its record.

To make matters worse in California, National Weather Service meteorologists John Dumas said cooling ocean breezes haven't been traveling far enough inland overnight to fan Southern California's overheated valleys and deserts.

Burbank set a record overnight low with temperatures dipping to 74 degrees overnight, much warmer than the previous record of 68 degrees for Saturday's early hours.

In Northern California, temperatures Saturday were expected to reach the 80s in San Francisco, upper 90s in San Jose and into the triple digits inland, about 20 degrees above typical highs in the Bay area.

Farther north, triple-digit temps were expected in Sacramento on Saturday and Sunday.

Health officials warned people to be extremely careful when venturing outdoors. The risks include not only dehydration and heat stroke but burns from the concrete and asphalt. Dogs can suffer burns and blisters on their paws by walking on hot pavement.

Cooling stations were set up to shelter the homeless and elderly people who can't afford to run their air conditioners. In Phoenix, Joe Arpaio, the famously hard-nosed sheriff who runs a tent jail, planned to distribute ice cream and cold towels to inmates this weekend.

Officials said personnel were added to the Border Patrol's search-and-rescue unit because of the danger to people trying to slip across the Mexican border. At least seven people have been found dead in the last week in Arizona after falling victim to the brutal desert heat.

Temperatures are also expected to soar across Utah and into Wyoming and Idaho, with triple-digit heat forecast for the Boise area. Cities in Washington state that are better known for cool, rainy weather should break the 90s next week.

The heat was so punishing that rangers took up positions at trailheads at Lake Mead in Nevada to persuade people not to hike. Zookeepers in Phoenix hosed down the elephants and fed tigers frozen fish snacks. Dogs were at risk of burning their paws on scorched pavement, and airlines kept close watch on the heat for fear that it could cause flights to be delayed.

Skoloff reported from Phoenix. Also contributing were Robert Jablon and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles, Julie Jacobson and Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City, Cristina Silva and Bob Christie in Phoenix, and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M.

The demonstrations planned for Sunday reflect the growing polarization of the nation since Morsi took power, with the president and his Islamist allies in one camp and seculars, liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians on the other.

An opponent of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi sleeps in a tent as he and others camp outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of Morsi rallied Friday in Cairo, and both sides fought each other in the second-largest city of Alexandria, where a few people were killed — including an American — and tens were injured while at least five offices of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood were torched, officials said. Associated Press 

SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press

CAIRO — Organizers of a mass protest against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi claimed Saturday that more than 22 million people have signed their petition demanding the Islamist leader step down, asserting that the tally was a reflection of how much the public has turned against his rule.

The announcement adds to a sense of foreboding on the eve of opposition-led mass demonstrations that many fear could turn deadly and quickly spin out of control, dragging the country into a dangerous round of political violence.

The demonstrations planned for Sunday reflect the growing polarization of the nation since Morsi took power, with the president and his Islamist allies in one camp and seculars, liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians on the other.

There is a sense among opponents and supporters of Morsi that Sunday's rally is a make or break day. The opposition feels empowered by the petition, known as Tamarod, or Rebel, but it offered no proof regarding the figures. If verified, it would mean that nearly double the number of people who voted for Morsi a year ago are now calling for him to step down.

"Honestly, if (Sunday) is not a game changer, we might all just pack up our bags and leave," said Mahmoud Salem, a prominent blogger known by his blog's name Sandmonkey and a vocal critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails.

While violence is likely in such a tense atmosphere, Salem said it would not play out in favor of Morsi supporters because they will be outnumbered.

"They have alienated everybody," he said. Even if no violence breaks out, Salem said civil disobedience is expected in a movement designed now to "save the country."

Morsi's supporters, on the other hand, question the petitions, saying his opponents are led by members of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak who are trying to orchestrate a comeback and are instigating violence.

"Today and tomorrow will be the real birth of this nation," said Hani Salaheddin, a presenter on the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated TV station Misr 25, predicting that Sunday will bring an end to the questioning of Morsi's mandate.

"Tomorrow is the end of every corrupt person," he said, as the slogan "legitimacy (of the ballot box) is a red line," appeared on the screen.

Already, clashes across a string of cities north of Cairo over the past week have left eight people dead, including an American and a 14-year old, and hundreds injured. Clashes broke out outside offices of the Muslim Brotherhood and its party in at least five different governorates, and rival protests turned into violent confrontations.

Thousands are still taking part in rival sit-ins, in place since Friday in Tahrir Square for opponents and in an east Cairo suburb, Nasr City, for supporters of Morsi.

An Associated Press reporter saw Morsi supporters at a Cairo sit-in doing military-style fitness drills, with some wearing homemade body armor and construction helmets and carrying sticks. They said they had no intention of attacking opposition protesters, and would only act in self-defense or to protect the nearby presidential palace.

Highlighting the nervousness over Sunday's protests, President Barack Obama said the U.S. is working to ensure its embassy and diplomats in Egypt are safe after the 21-year old American was killed in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city. He urged all parties to refrain from violence and the police and military to show appropriate restraint.

Adding to the tension, eight lawmakers from the country's interim legislature announced their resignation Saturday to protest Morsi's policies. The 270-seat chamber was elected early last year by less than 10 percent of Egypt's eligible voters, and is dominated by Islamists who support Morsi.

A legal adviser to Morsi also announced his resignation late Saturday in protest of what he said was Morsi's insult of judges in his latest speech.

With a sense of doom hanging over the country, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi last Sunday gave the president and his opponents a week to reach a compromise and warned that the military would intervene to prevent the nation from entering a "dark tunnel."

Morsi had called for national reconciliation talks but offered no specifics. Opposition leaders dismissed the call as cosmetics.

Exchange of accusations was running high Saturday, in a rivalry that has increasingly been portrayed by Morsi supporters as an attack on Islamists in power.

The Tamarod youth movement claimed its petition is evidence of what it says is widespread dissatisfaction with Morsi's administration, and has used the signature drive as the focal point of its call for millions of people to take to the streets to demand the president's ouster.

Mahmoud Badr, a Tamarod leader, told reporters Saturday a total of 22,134,460 Egyptians have signed the petition. He did not say whether there had been an independent audit of the signatures.

Badr blamed Morsi supporters of dragging the peaceful movement toward violence to "terrorize" the public and avert a mass turnout in the streets.

On Tamarod's Twitter account, the movement appealed to supporters to gather in every street in their hometowns instead of converging to the main rallies planned in Tahrir square and outside Morsi's palace.

At a press conference organized by Morsi supporters late Saturday for their members killed in recent violence, organizers showed multiple videos of previous protests where violence raged, showing images of attacks on the Brotherhood offices and blaming "paid thugs" for it.

"Tamarod are thugs," the crowd chanted at the conference held at the pro-Morsi sit-in.

Assem Abdel-Maged, leader of the formerly militant Gamaa Islamiya group, told the crowd that the Tamarod campaign was a "crusader war" against Islamists, led by extremist Christians to liberate Egypt from Islam. He added that his supporters collected 26 million signatures in support of Morsi.

"The issue now is war," he said. "Sunday's march is decisive."

Morsi's supporters have long doubted the validity and authenticity of the collected signatures.

"How do we trust the petitions?" asked Brotherhood member Ahmed Seif Islam Hassan al-Banna. "Who guarantees that those who signed were not paid to sign?"

But opponents of Morsi say the petition has already served its purpose, dealing a symbolic blow to Morsi's mandate and putting in stark terms the popular frustrations with an administration that critics say has failed to effectively deal with the country's pressing problems, including tenuous security, inflation, power cuts and high unemployment.

In a statement ahead of the protests, opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei said massive turnout is expected Sunday, calling for it to be peaceful and civilized. He called on Morsi to listen to the masses, and accept early elections.

"All of Egypt should go down tomorrow to say that we want to go back again to the ballot box," ElBaradei said in his recorded message sent to reporters. "We gave (Morsi) a driving license but he couldn't drive the car."

He added: "We all feel the country is collapsing, not because the president is from the Brotherhood ... But because the ruling system has failed completely."

On Saturday, Morsi met with the defense and interior ministers to review preparations to protect the protesters and vital state facilities during Sunday's demonstrations.

The focus of Sunday's protests is Morsi's Ittihadiya palace in Cairo. As a precaution, the president and his family are reported to have moved into the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard, the branch of the army tasked with protecting the president and presidential palaces.

With expectations of violence running high, the military has dispatched troops backed by armored personnel carriers to reinforce military bases on the outskirts of cities expected to be flashpoints.

In Cairo, additional forces were deployed to military facilities in the suburbs and outlying districts. Army troops are also moving to reinforce police guarding the city's prisons to prevent a repeat of the nearly half dozen jail breaks during the chaos of the 2011 uprising.

Many Egyptians fear the new round of unrest could trigger a collapse in law and order similar to the one that occurred during the 2011 revolt. Already, some residents have increased security around their homes, erecting metal fences and installing barbed wire. Residents in some of the residential compounds and neighborhoods to the west of the city are reporting gunmen showing up to demand protection money or risk being robbed.

The police have stepped up patrols on the outskirts of the city, ostensibly to prevent weapons and ammunition from coming into the city to be used in case of an outbreak of violence. The army is advertising hotlines for civilians to call if they run into trouble.

Associated Press writer Maggie Michael and Hamza Hendawi contributed to this report.

Kerry canceled a visit to Abu Dhabi on his two-week swing through Asia and the Mideast because of his extended discussions on the Mideast peace process in Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan. And just the sheer number of meetings Thursday, Friday and Saturday — three with Netanyahu and two with Abbas — could indicate that the two sides are at least interested in trying to find a way back to the negotiating table.

Palestinian Ambassador to Jordan Attallah Khairy, left, Saeb Erekat, Palestinian chief negotiator, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas say goodbye to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, unseen, after Abbas' second meeting with Kerry in Amman, Jordan on Saturday, June 29, 2013. Kerry kept up his frenetic Mideast diplomacy Saturday, shuttling again between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in hopes of restarting peace talks.Associated Press 

DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press

JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry kept up a frenetic pace of shuttle diplomacy Saturday to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks. America's top diplomat was prepared to meet a third time in as many days with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas even if it could delay Kerry's departure to an Asian conference.

U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials have all declined to disclose details of the talks or say if progress has been made.

"Working hard" is all Kerry would say when a reporter asked him at a photo-op whether progress was being made. Still, there are several clues that the meetings have been more than routine chats.

Most of Kerry's meetings have lasted at least two hours — his initial dinner meeting Thursday night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clocked at four. Legal, military and other officials accompanied Netanyahu at his meeting with Kerry in a hotel suite Saturday night, perhaps an indication that discussions had reached a more detailed level.

Kerry canceled a visit to Abu Dhabi on his two-week swing through Asia and the Mideast because of his extended discussions on the Mideast peace process in Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan. And just the sheer number of meetings Thursday, Friday and Saturday — three with Netanyahu and two with Abbas — could indicate that the two sides are at least interested in trying to find a way back to the negotiating table.

A U.S. State Department official said Kerry was ready to meet with Abbas a third time on Sunday if the secretary thought it would be "useful" to the Mideast peace process. The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the negotiations by name and requested anonymity.

Meeting Abbas on Sunday, however, would cut into Kerry's itinerary. He's supposed to leave on Sunday to attend a Southeast Asia security conference in Brunei. On the sidelines of the conference, Kerry is to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an exchange that likely will focus on National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. Kerry also is to have a trilateral discussion with Japanese and South Korean officials that likely will include the topic of North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

For now, however, Kerry has his head in the Middle East. Mostly, he's been holed up on the upper floors of a hotel near Jerusalem's Old City engaged in deep, serious conversations about the decades-old conflict. On other floors, the hotel has been hosting large family gatherings, and noisy children in party clothes have been running up and down the hallways, oblivious to Kerry's presence.

There is deep skepticism that Kerry can get the two sides to agree on a two-state solution. It's something that has eluded presidents and diplomats for years. But the flurry of meetings has heightened expectations that the two sides can be persuaded to restart talks, which broke down in 2008, at the least.

So far, there have been no public signs that the two sides are narrowing their differences.

In the past, Abbas has said he won't negotiate unless Israel stops building settlements on war-won lands or accepts its 1967 lines — before the capture of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in a Mideast war that year — as a starting point for border talks. The Palestinians claim all three areas for their future state.

Netanyahu has rejected the Palestinian demands, saying there should be no pre-conditions for talks.

Abbas made significant progress with Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, in talks in 2007 and 2008, but believes there is little point in negotiating with the current Israeli leader.

Netanyahu has adopted much tougher starting positions than Olmert, refusing to recognize Israel's pre-1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks and saying east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital, is off the table. Abbas and his aides suspect Netanyahu wants to resume talks for the sake of negotiating and creating a diplomatic shield for Israel, not in order to reach an agreement.

Abbas has much to lose domestically if he drops his demands that Netanyahu either freeze settlement building or recognize the 1967 frontier as a starting point before talks can resume. Netanyahu has rejected both demands. A majority of Palestinians, disappointed after 20 years of fruitless negotiations with Israel, opposes a return to talks on Netanyahu's terms.

While details of the ongoing discussions have remained closely held, it has not quelled speculation. Midday Saturday, news reports said a four-way meeting was going to be held in coming days with the U.S. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians at the table.

"They're saying a four-way summit, did you hear that?" Netanyahu asked Kerry during a photo-op before his latest meeting with Kerry.

"I did," Kerry replied.

There is speculation that talks are going well and that they're headed nowhere.

Asked if the two sides were close to resuming negotiations, Israeli Cabinet Minister Gilad Erdan told Channel 2 TV: "Regrettably, so far, no."

Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

As Nelson Mandela lingers in a hospital, yet another remarkable moment is helping to seal his legacy: Millions of people around the world, united by respect and gratitude, are preparing for this beloved man to die.

As Nelson Mandela lingers in a hospital, yet another remarkable moment is helping to seal his legacy: Millions of people around the world, united by respect and gratitude, are preparing for this beloved man to die.

The preparations take many forms: Prayers and vigils, pictures and candles, headlines and YouTube videos. All are measurements of his legend, and yet as the 94-year-old Mandela's hospitalization continues, the anticipation has left many caught in an awkward limbo, sharing on a global scale what is usually a private scenario.

There is no one in the world like Mandela — a victim who both governed and forgave his tormentors, a figure so universally admired that his countless honors include both America's Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Soviet Union's Order of Lenin.

So as the days have passed since his hospitalization on June 8 — the slow decline of a giant broadcast everywhere with the speed, detail and distortion that are hallmarks of the Internet age — his vigil, too, has been unique.

The world is waiting to honor the man who proved the power of unity and forgiveness, said Lori Brown, a sociology professor at Meredith College in North Carolina.

"It is possible to honor him while he is alive, but the massive funeral, the media focus on his entire life, the showing of video clips of his speeches, the reading of his writings, these are all part of what we sociologists call rites of passage," she said.

"His death will allow for not only global grieving of his passing but a global celebration of his life," she said. "The world will own his memory, while right now his illness and life are more private and 'owned' by his family."

Everywhere, families know this type of personal experience. They grapple with the belief that the end is near and with reluctance to speak of it. They measure their respect for life against the desire for an incapacitated loved one to be freed from it.

Now this struggle is playing out for members of the world family who treasure Mandela's story.

"There's something very uncomfortable about the waiting," said Robert Kraft, a psychology professor at Otterbein University in Ohio and author of an upcoming book on South Africa.

Even thinking about "closure" at a moment like this, he said, "is extremely uncomfortable for someone we love."

Actor Dennis Haysbert, who portrayed Mandela in the film "Goodbye Bafana," has felt deep emotions since Mandela entered the hospital with what the South African government said was a lung infection.

"I am not waiting for his death. I am celebrating him as he lives," Haysbert said.

Still, it's hard to discuss. "We're still talking about a living, breathing human being, talking in anticipation of his demise, of his passing. That's hard, but I understand it. I understand the need to do it. It's a matter of preparation."

"I would imagine he's preparing himself," Haysbert continued. "And I think that everyone who loves him, who respects him, who truly honors him are preparing themselves for it."

Those preparations are most difficult and visible in South Africa, where Mandela led a peaceful transition from racist white rule to a democratically elected government, which he headed. There have been nationwide prayers, tokens of support left in makeshift shrines — and throngs upon throngs of media.

Said Makaziwe Mandela, one of Mandela's daughters, of the media glare: "It's like truly vultures waiting when a lion has devoured a buffalo, waiting there for the last carcasses. That's the image that we have, as a family."

Later, Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, said: "If we sometimes sound bitter, it is because we are dealing with a very difficult situation. You can understand our emotions."

The intense interest in Mandela's decline is due to his resonance around the world.

In Britain, the Archbishop of York issued a special prayer for Mandela.

A YouTube "Pledge for Peace: I Am Nelson Mandela" campaign inspired videos from Japan, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Italy, and India.

In Bangladesh, the popular actor Hasan Masood wrote on Facebook: "Nelson Mandela, please get well soon. May God give you the strength to come back."

A headline in a Malaysian newspaper read: "Everyone's Hero."

"I am very angry," said Mariana Alves in Madrid, who believes Mandela's illness stems from harsh treatment during his 27 years in prison. "But you have to admire that he was able to forgive those who treated him so badly and finally condemned him to die this way, breathless."

In Australia and the Netherlands, there were false reports of Mandela's death — the latter prompting an Amsterdam neighborhood council to observe a minute of silence in his honor.

"I think we just have to leave him peacefully," said Ramesh Pasupuleti, parking his car in north London's Mandela Street, one of several so named. "If the time comes, the time comes. We are all grateful for what he has done."

People feel as if they know Mandela, said Kraft, the psychologist.

"He was not secretive. When he experienced joy he smiled, he danced, he hugged, he embraced. He put himself and his emotions out in public. We also saw his struggles," he said.

"I think he is one of the truly great people of the last 100 years. It's not as if a somewhat lesser person is dying, or a beloved celebrity is dying. We are aware that greatness is going to be gone," Kraft continued. "It's a little different than someone else who is simply well known and accomplished."

And when the end does come, whenever that may be, it too will be different.

"I don't think you can really prepare for it," said Haysbert, the actor. "What does that mean, you're not going to feel the emotion of it?"

"You're thinking that you prepared yourself for it until it happens," he said. "Then it just sort of smacks you."

Lloyd played for the Boston Bandits and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. Members of Lloyd's team showed up for the funeral in their uniforms and chanted his name as pallbearers placed his casket in a hearse outside Church of the Holy Spirit in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. The crowd of mourners was so large that some could not find room inside the church for the two-hour service.

 

By RODRIQUE NGOWI
Associated Press

BOSTON — Hundreds of relatives, friends and teammates wept together and hugged Saturday at the funeral of a semi-pro football player whose killing led to murder and weapons charges against former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez.

The body of Odin Lloyd was found June 17 near Hernandez's home. Police arrested Hernandez on Wednesday and charged him with orchestrating the execution-style shooting.

Lloyd played for the Boston Bandits and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. Members of Lloyd's team showed up for the funeral in their uniforms and chanted his name as pallbearers placed his casket in a hearse outside Church of the Holy Spirit in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. The crowd of mourners was so large that some could not find room inside the church for the two-hour service.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. Two other men are also in custody. Prosecutors say the three were in a car with Lloyd shortly before his death.

Authorities have said trouble that led to Lloyd's killing happened June 14, when Lloyd went with Hernandez to a Boston nightclub. Hernandez became upset when Lloyd began talking with people Hernandez apparently didn't like, prosecutors said.

On June 16, the night before the slaying, a prosecutor said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut.

A few minutes later, he texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, prosecutors said. Authorities say Hernandez, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace picked up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. June 17, drove him to an industrial park near Hernandez's home and shot him five times. They have not said who fired the shots.

Prosecutors said an ammunition clip found in Hernandez's Hummer matched the caliber of casings found at the scene of Lloyd's killing.

Hernandez's lawyer argued in court that the case is circumstantial. He said Hernandez, who was cut by the Patriots the day he was arrested, wanted to clear his name.

Ortiz's attorney, John Connors, said he will seek bail for his client at the July 9 hearing. He described Ortiz as a "gentle person" and said he will advise Ortiz to plead not guilty to the gun charge he is facing.

Wallace surrendered in Miramar, Fla., on Friday, police said. Authorities had been seeking Wallace on a charge of acting as an accessory after Lloyd's murder. Details of that allegation weren't released.

Hernandez was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 and signed a five-year contract worth $40 million last summer. He could face life in prison if convicted.