Debris littered the adjacent southbound side of Interstate 91, blocking several lanes of traffic. Hours after the storm, remnants of the dome hung from trees along the highway.

EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — Moments before a severe storm tore apart a dome over a soccer field at Sports World on Monday, manager Kathy Russotto, director of the facility's Fun Time Summer Camp, received a tornado warning alert on her phone.

Russotto said she blew a whistle to bring the 29 students and 5 councilors who were in the dome at the time to attention. Then, she ushered them into the facility's main building, where she directed the campers to take shelter under tables.

"As soon as they were under the tables, I turned around, and the dome just was – gone," Russotto said.

There were no injuries. "The timing of events was just so sequential and quick – I'm glad I had the alert, let's just put it that way," Russotto said.

Debris littered the adjacent southbound side of Interstate 91, blocking several lanes of traffic. Hours after the storm, remnants of the dome hung from trees along the highway.

Across Interstate 91 from Sports World, the storm swept through a Walmart parking lot, uprooting several trees and knocking a large box truck onto its side.

Bystanders gathered to watch as crews from a towing company worked to haul the truck back onto its tires.

 

The NWS said numerous trees were downed, including some onto cars and houses. As the tornado traveled northeast, it ripped tobacco tents from fields.

07.01.2013 | EAST WINDSOR, Conn. -- A portion of the field and damaged equipment that was under the inflatable dome at Sports World when it the dome was destroyed during a storm early this afternoon. 

EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — The National Weather Service is confirming a tornado occurred near Windsor Locks.

In a statement released Monday evening, the service said an EF1 tornado, with estimated maximum wind speeds of 86 miles per hour, traveled 2.5 miles from Windsor Locks, across the Connecticut River and ended in East Windsor. The scale for tornadoes ranges from an EF0 to and EF5.

The tornado occurred between approximately 1:30 p.m. and 1:35 p.m. No injuries have been reported.

The NWS said numerous trees were downed, including some onto cars and houses. As the tornado traveled northeast, it ripped tobacco tents from fields. Some eyewitnesses reported seeing debris thrown into the air and hearing what sounded like a freight train.

The storm knocked down the Sports World bubble dome and overturned an 18-wheeler in a shopping center parking lot.

The mayor would like to buy the Elks Lodge property for possible use as playing fields of for public safety buildings.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Town Council has paved the way for the mayor's plan to acquire the vacant West Springfield-Agawam Elks Lodge property, now that it has freed up $100,000 toward the purchase.

The council voted 7-1 to allow the mayor to tap $100,000 in free cash as well as to seek $400,000 in city Community Preservation Act funds for the purchase.

Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger had sought to use $500,000 in free cash to buy the Morgan Road property: $460,000 for the purchase and $40,000 for related expenses.

Neffinger has said he would like to have the 20.96-acre site available for such uses as playing fields, or for a police-fire public safety complex, or as headquarters for the Morgan Road and Mittineague Fire Department substations.

The council wrestled with the issue for about two and a half hours Thursday before adopting a proposal by Town Council George R. Kelly to appropriate $100,000 in free cash.

Kelly said Monday that he approves of buying the site but did not want to tap so much free cash as the mayor wanted to use. He said he wanted more of it available to reduce property taxes in the fall.

West Springfield Town Councilor George R. KellyRepublican file photo 

“We are cutting all the cushions,” Kelly said. “There were no political legs for spending that much free cash.”

As of June 30, the end of the fiscal year, there was $2,576,829 in the city’s free cash account.

However, none of that will be available until the fall when state certifies the amount.

The city also has a total of $1.3 million in Community Preservation money that could be used to help acquire the Elks property, according to Chief Financial Office Sharon Wilcox.

Community Preservation money is collected locally through a property tax surcharge that gets some matching money from the state and may be used for such purposes as preserving open space and historic preservation.

Kelly criticized the way Neffinger went about seeking the funding, saying he should have sought study sessions with the council on his proposal rather than have the council have to ask questions and deliberate Thursday.

Neffinger had sought to have the issue taken up by the council several weeks ago without being placed on its agenda, arguing that the matter needed to be voted on right away because free cash would be available only through June 30.

Memorial Bridge is closing Wednesday at 11 p.m., and reopening at approximately 11 p.m. on Thursday.

SPRINGFIELD — The Memorial Bridge will close to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Wednesday at 11 p.m., to allow for the set-up of the Star Spangled Springfield Fourth of July fireworks display.

The bridge, connecting Springfield and West Springfield, will reopen at approximately 11 p.m., on July 4, after the fireworks.

On Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., the Police Department will begin to close roads in the vicinity of the Memorial Bridge, and the state police will close Exit 7.

Festivities will begin on July 4th at 6:30 p.m., in Riverfront Park with performances by Dan Kane’s Rising Stars and The Commodores, followed by a fireworks display from the Memorial Bridge at 9:30 p.m. MIX 93.1 FM will broadcast a musical simulcast for the 20-minute display.

Star Spangled Springfield is sponsored by MassMutual Financial Group, Tower Square, MGM Resorts, Balise Motor Sales, WWLP-22News, Mix 93.1FM, The Republican, Springfield Parking Authority, Elegant Affairs, Michael’s Party Rentals, 90 Meat Outlet, Charlie Arment Trucking, Joseph Freedman Company, United Tractor Trailer School, Allied Waste, Friendly’s, People’s United Bank and the city of Springfield.

For more information about Star Spangled Springfield contact the Spirit of Springfield at (413) 733-3800 or visit www.spiritofspringfield.org.

The tobacco field tents can be seening hanging in the trees along Interstate 91. Watch video

Violent storms tore through Western Massachusetts and Connecticut and spawned a tornado in Windsor Locks and East Windsor Monday.

The tornado, with winds of 86 miles per hour, traveled 2.5 miles from Windsor Locks, across the Connecticut River, and into East Windsor, according to the National Weather Service.

In East Windsor, the tornado, classified as an EF1, tore apart a dome over a soccer field at Sports World, said manager Kathy Russotto, director of the facility’s Fun Time Summer Camp.

Russotto said she received a tornado warning alert on her phone and blew a whistle to bring the 29 students and five counselors who were in the dome to attention.

Then, she ushered them into the facility’s main building, where she directed the campers to take shelter under tables.

“As soon as they were under the tables, I turned around and the dome was just —- gone,” she said.

There were no injuries. “The timing of events was just so sequential and quick - I’m glad I had the alert, let’s just put it that way,” Russotto said.

Debris littered the adjacent southbound side of Interstate 91, blocking several lanes of traffic. Hours after the storm, remnants of the dome hung from trees along the highway.

Across Interstate 91 from Sports World, the storm swept through a Walmart parking lot, uprooting several trees and knocking a large box truck onto its side.

Bystanders gathered to watch as crews from a towing company moved to haul the truck back onto its tires.

The driver of the tractor trailer truck was able to climb out of the truck.

Traffic in the southbound lanes of Interstate 91 in Connecticut, about a half mile north of Exit 45, was heavily backed up, but the road remained open.

The tornado which was 200 yards wide, ripped off some tents off tobacco fields which could be seen hanging in the trees along Interstate 91.

Heavy storm damage was reported in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut Monday afternoon, including trees on cars and homes, in the wake of a line of thunderstorms that moved through the region.

In Agawam, fallen trees crushed seven cars in the side parking lot at Employers Association of the Northeast on Hunt Street.

Meredith Wise, the company’s president, said seven employees’ cars were crushed by downed trees or limbs that came crashing down around noon.

“I think we are just kind of speechless with the devastation that happened,” she said.

There was also heavy tree damage in Agawam on Main Street, Kirkland Street, Meadow Street, Regency Park Drive and Harvey Johnson Drive.

Debris littered the adjacent southbound side of Interstate 91, blocking several lanes of traffic. Hours after the storm, remnants of the dome hung from trees along the highway.

Across Interstate 91 from Sports World, the storm swept through a Walmart parking lot, uprooting several trees and knocking a large box truck onto its side.

Bystanders gathered to watch as crews from a towing company moved to haul the truck back onto its tires.

The driver of the tractor trailer truck was able to climb out of the truck.

Traffic in the southbound lanes of Interstate 91 in Connecticut, about a half mile north of Exit 45, was heavily backed up, but the road remained open.

Heavy flooding was reported in Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, West Springfield and Westfield.

Several inches of rain pounded Boston Road in Springfield, a tree was down on Sheldon Street and portions of Federal and Worthington Streets were blocked because of flooding.

There also reports of flooding along Route 20 in West Springfield.

Flooding also was reported along Route 20 in Westfield.

“Things are slowly getting back to normal,” said Westfield Police Sgt. Paul Beebe. “We might have a couple of washed out areas, but other than that we are good.”

Chicopee Police Lt. Michael Prznadel said the flooded areas included the Prospect Street underpass in the Willimansett neighborhood.

Rainfall rates of 1.4 inches per hour were recorded in Westfield and Southwick shortly before noon Monday, with weather forecasters saying similar rainfall amounts continue to be likely.

View full size 

Areas of fog were likely for Tuesday morning. Periods of rain with high temperatures in the upper 70s were predicted for today.

CBS3 Meteorologist Mike Skurko was predicting the possibility of another heat wave towards the Fourth of July.

The weather forecast called for continued heat and humidity with high temperatures topping out at 90 degrees in Springfield on the Fourth of July.

With a hot, humid airmass remaining in place, late-day thunderstorms were expected throughout the week, Skurko said.

Staff writers Greg Saulmon and Sandy Constantine contributed to this report .

Almost overnight, coal is back on the defensive, scrambling to stave off a dark future amid President Barack Obama's renewed push to rein in climate change.

By MATTHEW BROWN

COLSTRIP, Mont. — After several years of taking a beating from the poor economy, new pollution rules and a flood of cheap natural gas, the coal industry was on the rebound this year as mining projects moved forward in the Western U.S. and demand for the fuel began to rise, especially in Asia.

But almost overnight, coal is back on the defensive, scrambling to stave off a dark future amid President Barack Obama's renewed push to rein in climate change.

The proposal, with its emphasis on cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants, would put facilities like the 2,100 megawatt Colstrip electricity plant in eastern Montana in regulators' cross hairs. That has profound spin-off implications for the massive strip mines that dot the surrounding arid landscape of the Powder River Basin and provide the bulk of the nation's coal.

Montana's sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives bluntly declared that the administration had decided to "pick winners and losers" in the energy sector with its plan.

"He wants to move toward shutting down the coal industry," Republican Rep. Steve Daines said of the president.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency rejected claims that the administration's plan would exclude coal. They pointed to billions of dollars being spent by the government on technologies to decrease emissions by capturing and storing carbon dioxide from coal plants.

Yet widespread application of those technologies is years away, and Obama made clear in announcing his proposal that he intends to halt the "limitless dumping of carbon pollution" from power plants. He directed the Environmental Protection Agency to craft rules to make that happen.

The Colstrip plant, which dominates the skyline of a 2,200-person coal-centered town by the same name, burns about 10 million tons of coal a year from a nearby mine and provides power to customers as far away as Seattle.

It also churns out an estimated 17 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. That's roughly equivalent to the emissions from 3 million cars running for a year.

On Monday, as Colstrip's 700-foot-tall smokestacks poured out a constant plume of carbon dioxide, smoke and steam into otherwise blue skies, pipefitter Joe Ashworth, 60, was nearby packing up his RV. He spent the past two months working on a maintenance project at the plant. The traveling union worker said people in the coal industry were nervous that efforts to curb emissions could cost jobs and drive up electricity prices.

"Go green sure. But do you have an electrical vehicle that will pull my trailer so I can make a living?" he asked.

Despite a frequently heard boast that the state has more coal than anywhere else in the U.S., antipathy toward the administration's plan is not universal in Montana. One of Daines' predecessors, former Rep. Pat Williams, said last week that warming temperatures pointed to a "doomsday" scenario if carbon emissions were not addressed.

Others maintain that the worries over lost jobs in the coal industry are overstated. On Tuesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council plans to release a report detailing new jobs that would be created because of all the work needed to retrofit plants such as Colstrip and other measures taken to reach the administration's goal. The environmental group said its analysis of the administration's plan shows 3,600 jobs in Montana alone.

Among utilities elsewhere in the country, the trend away from coal has been well underway over the past several years. Rock-bottom natural gas prices — coupled with huge price-tags to clean up mercury and other pollutants from burning coal — drove many utilities to simply switch fuels, said Michael Britt, a utility industry expert with the consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

Those pressures finally started to ease this year: Demand from utilities started to rise as coal stockpiles dwindled. Proposals for major new mines by Cloud Peak Energy and Arch Coal, Inc. gained traction. And coal finally started to reclaim its competitive edge as gas prices rose.

Colstrip is among those plants that remained open, in part due to heavy capital investments. That includes $88 million spent on air pollution controls since 2000, according to PPL Montana, which co-owns the 388-employee plant and operates it on behalf of five other utilities.

Carbon dioxide controls would cost far more: $430 million to install the equipment, plus annual operating and maintenance costs of $900 million because the plant would need to devote 30 percent of its energy to run the carbon-capture equipment, according to a PPL study from several years ago.

That would equate to $53 for every ton of coal burned, the company said. That's about five times the price of the fuel itself in the nearby Powder River Basin, according to pricing information from the Energy Information Administration.

If the administration pushes forward and the cost of retrofitting Colstrip does not pencil out, life in the surrounding town would be far different. "Go back to 1960 Colstrip, when we had fewer than 200 people," said Colstrip's mayor, Mayor Rose Hanser, adding that there is not much to draw people to her remote corner of southeastern Montana other than coal.

Still, PPL representatives and others in the industry see room for maneuvering before carbon capture becomes mandated. Key details of the administration's plan still must be worked out, including the scope of emissions cuts and their timetable. The broad goal is to achieve a 17 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020.

Assuming the goal doesn't shift, the key question will be how those reductions are spread among different sectors of the economy, from transportation and power production, to manufacturing.

Even without the president's latest announcement, the Supreme Court ruled five years that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that the government must regulate, said Quin Shea, vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities in the U.S. and has worked with the administration on the climate issue.

"A lot of our friends in other industries and states and on (Capitol) Hill miss the fact that this isn't optional," Shea said. "At the end of the day, we will be protecting as much coal as we can."

Bowe Principal David Potter resigned for personal reasons; Jonathan Endelos, vice principal of Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle School will take over as principal of Barry School.

David T. DruganRepublican file photo 

CHICOPEE — The principal of the highest-performing school in the city will take over the helm of the lowest-performing school following the resignation of its principal.

David T. Drugan, who has been principal of Anna E. Barry School since the summer of 2008, will replace David M. Potter, who served as principal of Patrick E. Bowe School for three years.

Potter resigned for personal reasons, Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. said.

Rege said he did not seek out Drugan for a transfer, but said Drugan approached him and offered to move. He currently earns $92,642 a year and no new salary was set with the transfer.

“David came to me and volunteered to move and said he wanted to accept the challenge,” Rege said. “It makes sense. If you are going to take your highest-performing principal, put him in the lowest-performing building.”

Under Drugan’s leadership, Barry’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems scores have slowly improved and the school is the only one in the city rated in the highest Level 1 category by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Bowe teachers have long struggled to boost performance of its students. In the most recent MCAS scores, 39 percent of students scored proficient above in English and 24 percent were proficient in math. As compared to Barry School, 75 percent of children were proficient in English and 70 percent were proficient in math.

Bowe does have a more challenging population with 73.6 percent of students considered low-income while 57 percent of students at Barry School are poor. Barry school has a slightly higher special education population, 13.1 percent compared to 11.3 percent and there are more students who speak limited English with 13.8 percent at Barry compared to 12 percent at Bowe. Several schools in the city which have higher poverty rates have better scores.

“He has proven he can do the job,” Rege said. “I have a guy who is not afraid of a challenge and he had confidence that his program of turnaround would work.”

Rege also recently hired Jonathan Endelos, vice principal of Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle School, to take over as principal of Barry School. He will earn $91,734 a year.

Endelos, who is certified to be a principal, was the first choice of an interview team made up of a dozen people including educators, School Committee members and a parent, which interviewed six finalists. There were originally 27 people who applied for the job, Rege said.

“He is a fair person, level-headed and he makes good decisions and he is committed to Chicopee,” Rege said.

Endelos has worked at Fairview for seven years and knows the district’s policies and protocols. While there are challenges of having a middle school vice principal move to an elementary school, he will also have unique knowledge of what skills students need to have to be ready for sixth grade, Rege said.

Now there are two vacancies for vice principals at Fairview Middle School which officials will fill this summer. One position was already vacant and being filled by an acting vice principal, Rege said.

Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, based in Prescott, Ariz., were killed Sunday when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix.

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, based in Prescott, Ariz., were killed Sunday when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix. It was the deadliest single day for U.S. firefighters since Sept. 11. Fourteen of the victims were in their 20s. Here are the stories of some of those who died:

KEVIN WOYJECK: FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS

For 21-year-old Kevin Woyjeck, the fire station was always a second home. His father, Capt. Joe Woyjeck, is a nearly 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Keith Mora, an inspector with that agency, said Kevin often accompanied his dad to the station and on ride-alongs, and always intended to follow in his footsteps.

"He wanted to become a firefighter like his dad and hopefully work hand-in-hand," Mora said Monday outside of the fire station in Seal Beach, Calif., where the Woyjeck family lives.

Mora remembered the younger Woyjeck as a "joy to be around," a man who always had a smile on his face. He had been trained as an EMT and worked as an Explorer, which is a mentorship training program to become a professional firefighter.

"He was a great kid. Unbelievable sense of humor, work ethic that was not parallel to many kids I've seen at that age. He wanted to work very hard."

As he spoke, Mora stood before an American flag that had been lowered to half-staff. His own fire badge was covered with a black elastic band, a show of respect and mourning for those lost in the line of duty.

CHRIS MACKENZIE: 'JUST LIKE HIS DAD'

An avid snowboarder, 30-year-old Chris MacKenzie grew up in California's San Jacinto Valley, where he was a 2001 graduate of Hemet High School and a former member of the town's fire department. He joined the U.S. Forest Service in 2004, then transferred two years ago to the Prescott Fire Department, longtime friend Dav Fulford-Brown told The Riverside Press-Enterprise.

MacKenzie, like at least one other member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, had followed his father into firefighting. Michael MacKenzie, a former Moreno Valley Fire Department captain, confirmed that he had been informed of his son's death.

"I can't talk about it," he said.

Fulford-Brown, also a former firefighter, feared for the worst as soon as he heard the news of the Arizona firefighters. "I said, 'Oh my God, that's Chris' crew.' I started calling him and calling him and got no answer," he told The Press-Enterprise. MacKenzie, he said, "lived life to the fullest ... and was fighting fire just like his dad."

"He was finishing his credentials to get promoted and loved the people. It's an insane tragedy.

BILLY WARNEKE: 'DOING WHAT HE LOVED'

Billy Warneke, 25, and his wife, Roxanne, were expecting their first child in December, his grandmother, Nancy Warneke, told The Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, Calif. Warneke grew up in Hemet, Calif., along with his fellow Granite Mountain hotshot, Chris MacKenzie. He was a four-year Marine Corps veteran who served a tour in Iraq and had joined the hotshot crew in April, buying a property in Prescott, near where his sister lived, the newspaper reported.

Nancy Warneke said she called her sister after seeing the fire on the news.

"She said, 'He's gone. They're all gone,'" Nancy Warneke told The Press-Enterprise. "Even though it's a tragedy for the whole family, he was doing what he loved to do. He loved nature and was helping preserve nature."

SCOTT NORRIS: THE 'IDEAL AMERICAN GENTLEMAN'

Scott Norris, 28, was known around Prescott through his part-time job at Bucky O'Neill Guns.

"Here in Arizona the gun shops are a lot like barbershops. Sometimes you don't go in there to buy anything at all, you just go to talk," said resident William O'Hara. "I never heard a dirty word out of the guy. He was the kind of guy who if he dated your daughter, you'd be OK with it.

"He was just a model of a young, ideal American gentleman."

O'Hara's son Ryan, 19, said Norris' life and tragic death had inspired him to live a more meaningful life.

"He was a loving guy. He loved life. And I've been guilty of not looking as happy as I should, and letting things get to me, and Scott wasn't like that at all."

ANDREW ASHCRAFT: AN ATHLETIC, GO-GETTER

Prescott High School physical education teacher and coach Lou Beneitone taught many of the Hotshots, and remembered 29-year-old Andrew Ashcraft as a fitness-oriented student.

"He had some athletic ability in him and he was a go-getter, too. You could pretty much see, from young freshman all the way, he was going to be physically active."

Beneitone said athletic prowess was a must for the Hotshots. "That's what it takes. You gotta be very physically fit, and you gotta like it, gotta like the hard work."

CLAYTON WHITTED: HE'D 'LIGHT IT UP'

Full of heart and determination, Clayton Whitted, 28, might not have been the biggest guy around, but he was among the hardest-working. His former Prescott High School coach, Lou Beneitone, said Whitted was a "wonderful kid" who always had a big smile on his face. Whitted played for the football team as an offensive and defensive lineman.

"He was a smart young man with a great personality, just a wonderful personality," said Beneitone. "When he walked into a room, he could really light it up."

Beneitone said Whitted loved being a firefighter and was well-respected among his crew. He says he ran into Whitted about two months ago and they shook hands and hugged, and talked about the upcoming fire season.

"I told him to be careful," Beneitone said.

ERIC MARSH: HOOKED ON FIREFIGHTING

Eric Marsh, 43, was an avid mountain biker who grew up in Ashe County, N.C., but became hooked on firefighting while studying biology at Arizona State University, said Leanna Racquer, the ex-wife of his cousin. Marsh lived with Racquer and her then-husband during the winters from 1992 through 1996 in North Carolina, but kept returning to Arizona during fire season.

After college, he kept working as a firefighter, eventually landing a full-time job and settling in northern Arizona. He even moved his parents to the state, she said. Marsh was superintendent of the Hotshot crew and the oldest of the 19 who died.

"He's was great — he was the best at what he did," Racquer said. "He is awesome and well-loved and they are hurting," she said of his family.

The city solicitor said that she expected the criticism but that she isn't trying to disqualify rivals of her boss.

Holyoke City Solicitor Heather G. Egansubmitted photo 

HOLYOKE — City Solicitor Heather G. Egan said Monday she will issue an opinion Tuesday about a residency rule that could pose a problem for two of the candidates running against Mayor Alex B. Morse, who appointed Egan.

Egan's opinion also will show how challenges can be made regarding someone who is elected mayor but who violated the residency rule, she said at a meeting of the Board of Registrar of Voters at City Hall.

She has anticipated the criticism that has, in fact, materialized from those who say she is providing such an opinion to disqualify rivals of her boss, Morse – but such assertions are untrue, she said.

" 'This is an appointment of the mayor trying to pick off his (opponents),' and that is clearly not the case," Egan said.

Such criticism has come from mayoral candidate Daniel J. Szostkiewicz, a former two-term mayor here, and City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain, among others.

The city solicitor is appointed by the mayor subject to City Council confirmation. The council approved Egan's appointment 15-0 in March.

Egan's opinion will be based on her interpretation of Section 45 of the city charter, which states:

"Eligibility to hold office. No person shall be eligible to any of the offices of the city government, except superintendent of schools, unless he is a citizen and has been a resident of the city for at least two years."

"Clearly, that means the last two years," Egan said.

Residents can still take out papers to run for the office, under this interpretation, but if elected could be subject to a challenge on the residency standard, she said.

Egan said that Michelle K. Tassinari, director and legal counsel with the Election Division of the state Secretary of State's office, supported her interpretation that the reasonable finding was that the two years in Section 45 referred to the period directly prior to someone taking office.

But Tassinari, who didn't return a call seeking comment, told Egan she wouldn't issue a written opinion backing Egan's interpretation because such issues must be determined by the city solicitor, Egan said.

Egan's interpretation has been called wrong by Szostkiewicz, a lawyer, who could be disqualified under the solicitor's interpretation of the rule.

Preston Macy, chairman of the Board of Registrar of Voters, and Jourdain also disputed Egan's interpretation of the residency rule.

Szostkiewicz and Jourdain said Section 45 doesn't say that the two years of residency be the two years directly before the candidate took office.

Macy said that in his opinion, the applicable law is a special state act of 1957 that permits the holding of primary elections and fails to require a two-year residency requirement.

Under Egan's interpretation, the residency rule could affect Szostkiewicz and businessman Jeffrey Stanek. Both were born and raised here but have lived elsewhere, with Szostkiewicz returning here, at 148 Westfield Road, in January or February, and Stanek, to 11 Lindberg Ave., in August.

Jourdain, a lawyer, said the city leaves itself vulnerable to lawsuits if Egan's interpretation is followed because case law has struck down such durational residency requirements. The reason is such requirements violate the fundamental rights of equal protection and the right to travel, he said.

The board voted 4-0 to let the election process play out instead of taking a position on the residency issue.

The other board members are Hayley Dunn, Timothy W. Purington and Suzanne Mead, who is the city clerk and registrar of voters.

Besides Szostkiewicz and Stanek, Morse is opposed for reelection by Jim Santiago, a U.S. Air Force veteran who has worked in real estate and image processing, Daniel C. Boyle, who writes for the Holyoke Sun and was co-owner of the former Diamond Fiber Products Co., in Palmer, and William P. Moran, a former provisional fire chief.

The top two vote-getters in a preliminary election Sept. 17 will compete on Election Day Nov. 5.

A suburban mother charged with growing thousands of marijuana plants worth millions of dollars was freed on $500,000 bond on Monday despite a federal magistrate judge's misgivings about her finances and about the friends who stepped up to co-sign for her.

Andrea Sanderlin, a New York mom who allegedly ran a $3 million marijuana operation out of a New York City warehouse, leaves federal court after making bail, Monday, July 1, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Sanderlin, 45, was arrested on May 20 and indicted two weeks later on charges that she grew thousands of marijuana plants in a warehouse, shuttling back and forth between her house in Scarsdale and the grow site in a Mercedes.  

By TOM HAYS

NEW YORK — Authorities say that since Andrea Sanderlin's arrest she has refused to answer questions about how she bankrolled an upscale lifestyle in Westchester County, just north of New York City, before she was arrested and jailed in May. The case immediately drew comparisons to the recent Showtime series "Weeds," about the exploits of a California woman who supported her family by dealing pot.

"For all I know, she has millions of dollars or she could have a couple hundred dollars," Judge Steven M. Gold said at the bail hearing in federal court in Brooklyn. "She hasn't worked, but she's living in Scarsdale and driving a Mercedes. I can't add that up."

The judge also complained to Sanderlin's attorney that four friends who co-signed her bond, including a hair stylist and a hair colorist who said they last saw her at a party six months ago, "don't have a heck of a lot of moral impact on your client." He told the lawyer he would have to get the signatures of her mother and other relatives by Wednesday if she wants to stay free.

Sanderlin, 45, left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

She first came under suspicion after U.S. Drug Enforcement agents found that a Consolidated Edison utility account linked to her was being used to power lighting, irrigation and ventilation at a Queens warehouse, court papers said. The operation was listed under the name Fantastic Enterprises.

The agents tailed the mother of three driving from Scarsdale to Queens and back and stopped her May 20, the complaint said. After getting a warrant, they searched the warehouse and found more than 2,800 pot plants and large amounts of dried marijuana, officials said. The plants were worth an estimated $3 million on the street.

Sanderlin pleaded not guilty last week to charges of manufacturing and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and maintaining a drug-involved premise. She's expected to live at the Manhattan apartment of the grandmother of one of her children while out on bond.

If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison, though the term could be shorter under federal sentencing guidelines.

Estimated winds were 80 miles per hour.

AGAWAM - The National Weather Service confirmed that a wind storm that did heavy damage in Agawam Monday afternoon was a microburst, a straight line wind storm.

There were two areas of straight line wind damage in Agawam.

The first was in the area of Harvey Johnson Boulevard where several trees were downed, a few on houses.

The more significant area of damage was the area around Meadow Street where 40 to 50 trees were uprooted and six to eight vehicles were crushed by fallen treees.

There were no reports of significant structural damage and no reported injuries or fatalities.

Estimated winds were 80 miles per hour.

A microburst is a localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds. They are distinguishable from tornadoes which have convergent damage.

"This is an experience that is unrivaled. We are creating an experience from the ground up . . . This is intended to draw from hundreds of miles away," Todd Finard, who is handling the project's retail component, said. Watch video

PALMER — Mohegan Sun representatives unveiled the latest design for their $1 billion Mohegan Sun Massachusetts resort casino project off Thorndike Street (Route 32) Monday night, and said they plan to release the details of a host community agreement with the town in two weeks.

Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority chief executive officer Mitchell G. Etess said he thinks the project more than delivers the "wow factor" the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is seeking in a casino license.

"Between the retail and the types of restaurants, the aqua adventure water park, and gaming of course, it's the moment you experience when you come up and have that sense of arrival. I think when you walk in, the interiors, the exteriors, the location on top of the hill, it's really going to be a lot," Etess said during a media briefing Monday night.

Etess said they are eying a referendum for Sept. 15. The project cannot move forward with a vote of support from the community.

The new design abandons the previous railroad theme and shows a futuristic building set atop the hillside, surrounded by amenities including an outdoor pavilion, 70,000-square-foot aqua adventure park, 300,000 square feet of retail, a 250-room hotel and a 40,000-square-foot cinema. A second hotel also will be built near the aqua park.

A. Eugene Kohn, chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in New York City, the project architect, said the beauty - and challenge - of the project, is that visitors will not see everything at once.

As they travel up the hillside, the resort will appear. He said the project will look similar to what one might find in an Italian hill town. Representatives said this project is providing the opportunity to extend Palmer visually. Kohn said he built upon the hillside's natural terrain to create the design.

Etess said in reviewing the design, they wanted to see if they could do something a little more spectacular, while meeting the needs of the Gaming Commission and what it is trying to accomplish. Mohegan also is competing with Hard Rock International in West Springfield and MGM Resorts International in Springfield for the lone casino license in Western Massachusetts. By law the state may grant up to three licenses in Massachusetts.

Project representatives said the amenities like the water park will attract families to the site to engage in activities other than gaming.

Mohegan Sun officials brief the media on details of their proposed $1 billion resort casino project. Here, Todd Finard, chief executive officer of Finard Properties, talks about the project in Mohegan's Main Street office. Others, from left, are Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum, chairman, Mohegan Tribal Council, Mitchell Grossinger Etess, chief executive officer, Mohegan Gaming Advisors, and Paul Brody, vice president of development for Mohegan Gaming Advisors.Don Treeger / The Republican 

Paul I. Brody, Mohegan Sun's development coordinator, said three proposals have been given to the state Department of Transportation regarding access into the property.

While Brody said Mohegan prefers having a "flyover" ramp into the facility from the Massachusetts Turnpike, the state has asked for two additional access proposals. Brody said one alternative would be a partial flyover which would have drivers travel onto the facility grounds through a ramp from the turnpike, but exit out to Thorndike Street. The other alternative would be to use only Thorndike Street, which would mean more traffic lanes, he said. He said all three proposals require improvements to the turnpike interchange.

A state Department of Transportation spokesman previously said that any interchange must connect to a public way.

Douglas Pardon, head of high yield research for Brigade Capital Management, said his company has committed $110 million toward the project.

Todd B. Finard, chief executive officer of Boston-based Finard Properties, said he could not reveal specifics about retail partners until the license is awarded, but said restaurants will range from fast food to fine dining, and stores will sell jewelry and clothing. A bowling alley also is planned.

"This is an experience that is unrivaled. We are creating an experience from the ground up . . . This is intended to draw from hundreds of miles away," Finard said.

Mohegan representatives were scheduled to pitch the project at the Town Council meeting at the high school later Monday night. Mohegan is based in Connecticut, where it operates its flagship casino.

A 23-year-old Worcester man was arrested by police after fleeing police's attempt at a traffic stop at more than 80 mph early Tuesday morning, report police.

WORCESTER - A 25-year-old Worcester man was arrested by police after fleeing police's attempt at a traffic stop at more than 80 mph early Tuesday morning, report police.

According to police, officers heard tires screeching and saw a red Chevrolet TrailBlazer round the corner of Lincoln Street and Salisbury Street. Officers attempted to make a traffic stop but the vehicle did not stop. Instead the vehicle accelerated to a speed of more than 80 mph and passed through multiple stop signs without stopping. Police backed off the pursuit because it believed a chase posed a risk to the public.

Police report finding fresh tire tracks in the grass at 188 Institute Road a short time after the Chevy Trailblazer fled the traffic stop. Officers followed the tracks into the behinds behind the home and found the suspect's vehicle overturned in the woods. The suspect, identified as William Reyes, 25, of 37 Abbott Street, Apt. 3, Worcester, fled the vehicle but was found hiding in the woods. Reyes struck an officer before eventually being apprehended by officers.

Reyes was charged with failure to stop for police, failure to use care in starting, operating negligently so as to endanger, resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer.

Arson investigators determined clothing that had been exposed to some kind of flammable liquid caught fire inside the dryer.

SPRINGFIELD - A batch of clothing caught fire in a clothes dryer at a Boston Road coin-operate laundry Tuesday afternoon, filling the business with smoke and sending one woman to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, a fire official said.

The fire at Laundromax, 315 Boston Road, was confined to the one machine and did not spread to the building itself, said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant

The fire caused the glass window on the machine to be blown out, he said.

The fire, reported just after noon, was extinguished before firefighters arrived on scene, he said. Someone doused the flames with a bucket of water, he said.

A woman who was inside the laundry was taken to Baystate Medical Center as a precaution after she complained of being affected by the smoke, Leger said.

Arson investigators determined the fire was blamed on the clothing tossed into the dryer, Leger said.

Investigators found the residue of some kind of flammable liquid on the burned clothing, he said. They believe the clothing was somehow exposed to the liquid and placed in the dryer to be dried off without having first gone through the wash, Leger said.

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The state began improvements to Route 116 in December of 2012.

AMHERST – While the work at Atkins Corner had been the center of attention last summer, the state has been engaged in another project just a stone’s throw away, the straightening and widening of Route 116 just south of the market.

The $3.1 federally funded project was first suggested in 2003, according to state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Sara Lavoie. But the project “gained steam in 2009.”

In an email she wrote that the 1.2-mile stretch near the Mount Holyoke Range State Park Notch Visitors Center has been a concern because of the steep slope and curvy terrain of the current alignment.

According to an environmental notification form, the existing roadway varies in width throughout the project corridor, but is generally 20 feet wide. “There are no roadway shoulders or sidewalks. In some areas, there are guardrails lining the roadway. The roadway surface is in a deteriorated condition.”

This project is intended to improve the roadway alignment, and will include two new left-turning lanes, and provide two four-foot shoulders and a complete drainage system. The work will make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Crews will clear trees on the slope, remove some rocks and rock debris and construct a rock fall containment barrier. The trimming of the rocks will provide better visibility, Lavoie wrote.

The contract was awarded to the Ludlow-based C & A Construction Co. and crews began work in December. She said the project is expected to be finished in April. According to the state website, the project is 35 percent complete.

Throughout the project, she said motorists will see normal construction delays with one lane of alternating traffic at times. No detours, however, are called for and one lane will remain open.

Last year, the Atkins Corner project detour caused traffic delays and hurt business at the Atkins Country Farms Market. The redesign was also intended to improve safety and traffic flow with roundabouts at Route 116 and West Bay Road and at Route 116 and Bay Road. The road is slightly wider and includes a multi-use bicycle lane.

The study, prepared by economists at the National Association of Realtors at the request of the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley, calls the impact of casinos on a housing market "unambiguously negative."

Brian Sears, a partner at Sears Real Estate and president of the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley, says local real estate agents are running out of homes to show potential buyers.Mark M. Murray / The Republican file 

SPRINGFIELD — Whichever Western Massachusetts community ends up getting a casino, sharing the town with a gambling mecca would cost homeowners from $1,650 to $3,300 in lost value, according to a study released Tuesday by the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley.

The study, prepared by economists at the National Association of Realtors at the request of the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley, calls the impact of casinos on a housing market "unambiguously negative." A casino would sap 1.1 to 2.3 percent of home values in the host community. In Palmer, Springfield and West Springfield, where casino compaines are vying for the lone Western Massachusetts license, that works out to $64 million to $128 million in lost home value.

The reason in plain words is nuisance value: traffic noise and the general bother created by living near an attraction expected to draw thousands of people.

"The further away you get from a casino, the less impact it would have," said Brian P. Sears, an owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield and president of the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley.

Sears said he'd noticed that casino proponents were making a number of claims about an improved local economy. He wanted there to be an independent voice, especially when it comes to home values.

"For most people, it is their single biggest asset," he said. "We don't have an opinion one way or the other. The data is the data."

Carole Brennan, spokeswoman MGM Springfield, the proposed $800 million project on the city’s South End, said the Springfield proposal is unique because it would include 56 market-rate condominiums.

“MGM Springfield is an urban gaming-resort proposal designed to do quite the opposite of what this study suggests,” Brennan wrote in an an email. "In fact, its unique design includes residential housing and is expected to spur additional residential in the area, along with collateral business development.”

In addition to a decrease in home values, the National Association of Realtors economists estimate personal bankruptcies would increase by 250 a year for the Springfield area and there would be 125 additional home foreclosures each year. Just the foreclosures alone would represent $5 million in lost home value.

The National Association of Realtors also casts doubt on a casino's ability to draw patrons from afar to a destination casino. The market is already saturated with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Twin Rivers in Rhode island and other destinations in Massachusetts and New York yet to be built.

"Distances between casinos appear to be important," the report said. "Casinos that are close to one another tend to split the available business, reducing profitability."

Indian casinos in "very rural" areas sometimes have positive impacts due to the depressed condition of the economy, according to the report. The same is not true of urban casinos.

Sears said he wanted to get the report in the hands of voters prior to Springfield's July 16 casino vote. Votes in West Springfield and Palmer have not yet been scheduled.

It’s not just casinos that impact home values. Any large infrastructure project can also have an impact on housing prices averaging about 5 percent, economists said in the report, citing recent case studies.

The presence of a Walmart or other big-box retailer tends to slow down home sales, but because some families are drawn to the convenience, overall values rise by 2 to 3 percent within half a mile. Cemeteries have mixed impacts – some people like the open space – while traffic around sports stadiums can drop home values 1.5 percent.

Rail transportation tends to help the economy so railroads help home values. Same with colleges. But office buildings and shopping centers have mixed effects.

Frontage on a golf course can mean an 8 percent increase in home values, but a home about a tenth of a mile away from a newly built set of links loses an average of 3.7 percent of its value.

NAR Casino Research by masslive

One resident of Main Street got an estimate of $7,000 to take away the huge oak tree was uprooted from her side yard.

AGAWAM – Victims of the microburst that hit the region gathered estimates Tuesday to repair damage, but sounded the same refrain.

They were thankful no one was hurt in the violent rainstorm that hit about 12:30 p.m. on Monday. It whipped around trees and downed power lines mostly on Hunt Street and Harvey Johnson Drive, according to Fire Chief Alan C. Sirois. There was also damage on Main Street, Kirkland Street and Regency Park Drive.

“Nobody likes to have to pay for damage. You have to look at the positive side that no one got hurt. That is most important. You can always plant another tree,” said Carole J. Calabrese, 74, of 425 Main St.

The two sections of the large maple tree in her front yard were twisted around starting about 20 feet from the base.

Calabrese got estimates of $560 to $1,200 to clean up the tree.

Across the street at 458 Main St., Vera Sidoryuk said she has gotten an estimate of $7,000 to remove the huge oak tree that fell on her side yard smashing down on her BMW.

“It is totaled. The roof is smashed,” Sidoryuk said of the 12-year-old vehicle.

“It is expensive,” Sidoryuk said of the tree removal estimate, adding that she will be looking for a lower price to take it away. “We can’t afford it. We barely pay our mortgage.”

The 57-year-old Sidoryuk said some of the shingles were also blown off her house’s roof and the roof over the living room was lifted a little, letting in rainwater.

“We’re still so shocked. Unpredictable. Our life is the wind. It can be gone in a second,” she said, adding that it is more important than anything that no one was injured.

Paul R. Correia, chief financial officer of Employees Association of the Northeast, lost a new 2013 Honda Accord for which he paid $30,000. A tree crashed down on it while it was parked to the side of his office on Hunt Street. It was among seven vehicles that were parked there that were damaged.

“I’ve had it three months,” Correia of his car. “At least nobody is hurt and everybody is okay.”

“The tree could have come this way so I feel lucky,” Correia said during an interview in his office, which overlooks the devastated parking area.

“I normally park there, but I was late for work yesterday and did not park there,” Tara L. Winiarski, 41, of Southwick, said while looking over the parking area outside Correia’s office.

A software tester with nearby Financial Partners, Winiarski said she and her coworkers watched the microburst from a window at work.

“It was maybe two minutes and it was over. It just got dark and rainy very quick and it was very quick,” Winiarski said, explaining that she could hear the whipping of the wind and the cracking of trees.

Sirois said there were some short power outages and a few downed power lines, but that Western Massachusetts Electric Company restored power in short order.

The fire chief said that the storm traveled almost a straight path west to east. Police Lt. Eric P. Gillis said the most affected area was the woods and fields between Meadow Street and the Westfield River.

He said five to 10 vehicles on Hunt Street alone were damaged as well as a number on Harvey Johnson Drive.

Meanwhile, nearby Connecticut was hit by a tornado the same day. The twister's winds reached speeds of 86 miles per hour. The tornado traveled 2.5 miles from Windsor Locks across the Connecticut River into East Windsor.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday signed a Declaration of Civil Preparedness Emergency to assist the state and its municipalities with debris removal in East Windsor, Greenwich, Stamford, Windsor and Windsor Locks.

The declaration allows the state to assist with debris and wreckage removal that may threaten public health or safety from publicly or privately owned land.

Malloy said, “While yesterday’s tornadoes in Hartford County and Fairfield County caused property damage, we are most of all grateful that no lives were lost during these flash storms. This declaration will help the residents in the impacted towns to expedite debris removal.”

The National Weather Service is predicting the possibility of sudden thunderstorms Wednesday that could lead to flooding.

A flash flood watch is in effect through Wednesday morning.

Runoff from the rain Monday is bringing the Connecticut River in Northampton and Montague to approach flood stage.

There is a slight chance of rain early Thursday but skies may clear by the afternoon and temperatures may reach 90 degrees.

Meteorologist Mike Skurko of CBS3, media partner for The Republican and Masslive.com, said the rain will likely clear out Wednesday just in time for the start of another heat wave on Thursday.

“High temperatures start topping out at 90 degrees in Springfield on the 4th of July, and may hold there through the weekend. An isolated, late-day thunderstorm is also possible on Thursday and Friday, he said.

Aponte is due back in court on Aug. 1 for a bind-over hearing to determine if his trial should proceed in superior court or district court

Samuel AponteSpringfield police photo 

SPRINGFIELD – A 36-year-old Springfield man arrested Sunday and accused of raping a woman and holding her son hostage has been ordered held with out the right to bail.

A dangerousness hearing for Samuel E. Aponte, 36, of 70 Harrison Ave. was held on Tuesday in Springfield District Court. Aponte was denied the right to bail, meaning he will remain in custody at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow until his trial.

Aponte is due back in court on Aug. 1 for a bind-over hearing to determine if his trial should proceed in superior court or district court.

Aponte is charged with aggravated rape, armed burglary, kidnapping, threat to murder, assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

According to police, Aponte broke into the residence of a woman he knew at around 3 a.m. Sunday and raped her at knifepoint. When the woman’s son tried to come to her aid, Aponte threatened him with the knife and then tied him to a chair with an electric cord.

A man police were preparing to interview in connection to the Aaron Hernandez murder case was killed Sunday in a car accident.

A man police were preparing to interview in connection to the Aaron Hernandez murder case was killed Sunday in a car accident.

The man, identified by the Hartford Courant as Thaddeus Singleton III of Bristol, Conn., was killed early Sunday when the vehicle he was driving flew off the road and split a pole in half.

Police told the Courant that the vehicle Singleton was driving was registered to Hernandez’s uncle, who is Singleton's father-in-law. The crash was ruled an accident.

Hernandez was charged last week with the murder of Odin Lloyd and is currently being held in Bristol County Jail without bail. Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, both of Bristol, have also been arrested in connection with Lloyd’s murder.

Boston police are also investigating Hernandez for a possible connection to an unsolved 2012 double murder. Police searched the Bristol home of Hernandez’s uncle and removed a silver Toyota SUV that may have been connected to the unsolved crime.

The former New England Patriots tight end is also facing a civil suit filed by a former friend, Alexander Bradley, who claims Hernandez shot him in the face following a February altercation.

Bradley’s lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, told MassLive.com that Hernandez was served with the papers Friday.

A defense lawyer for Hermida said that in 2011 in the port of Veracruz authorities recovered more than 1,000 bodies, many of which were rendered unidentifiable due to dismemberment.

Julio Vidal Hermida was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a Mexico-to-Texas-to Hampshire County cocaine trafficking ring. Republican file photo 

SPRINGFIELD - A conspirator in a cocaine dealing ring intended to flood Hampshire County with kilos of the drug was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison.

A three-year investigation focused on Joaquin "Chito" Carrillo and Pablo "Pete" Drullard, who were trafficking drugs from Texas and Mexico to Hadley, Easthampton and Northampton, according to court records.

Carrillo and Drullard already were sentenced in the case to eight and 10 years, respectively. Julio Vidal Hermida, an illegal immigrant from Veracruz, Mexico, a region riddled with drug trafficking and largely ruled by violent drug cartels, also pleaded guilty in the case - opting to stay mum to government officials lest he return to his country and be killed by drug lords, according to statements made in court.

All three defendants had ties to Mexico; Carrillo is portrayed in court records as the ring-leader. A driver unnamed in the criminal complaint behind the wheel of a green Ford Taurus registered to Carrillo was stopped by the Texas Highway Patrol in 2010. Police there recovered 10 kilos of cocaine bound for New England.

The three local defendants were arrested the following year as the investigation unfolded. Police and federal agents recovered three kilos of cocaine from a large safe in Hermida's Easthampton home. A lawyer for Hermida, 26, said his client was a low-level player who made a number of sales to an undercover informant and allowed Carrillo to use his apartment.

Hermida stopped "doing favors" for his co-defendants months before the federal indictment was issued and spent many hours working in local pizza shops, sending money back to his family in Mexico, according to defense lawyer Raymond A. O'Hara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Regan told U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor that Hermida declined a chance at a so-called "safety valve" concession in federal law, a very narrow loophole around a mandatory minimum sentence. Primarily, it requires that the defendant has no prior criminal record and tells investigators about his or her role in a given conspiracy and what he or she knows.

Hermida declined even to meet with investigators to consider the option, O'Regan said, a rarity among criminal defendants facing mandatory sentences who qualify for safety-valve departures.

The prosecutor told Ponsor that he had been trained in the strategies of drug lords in Latin American countries seeking to squelch cooperation with law enforcement officials. O'Regan said he had seen photos related to killings of police witnesses that were "shocking and horrific."

"In recent years the tentacles of narco-trafficking have reduced Veracruz and its
surroundings to what one journalist describes as the 'Black Hole' of Mexico," O'Hara wrote in a pre-sentencing memo.

He added that in 2011 in the port of Veracruz authorities recovered more than 1,000 bodies, many of which were rendered unidentifiable due to dismemberment.

Hermida had hoped to remain in the United States pending certain immigration reforms, his lawyer noted, but will be deported back to Mexico upon serving his sentence.