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Obituaries today: Thomas Collins Jr. was Springfield Police officer for 42 years

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Obituaries from The Republican.

 
071613-thomas-collins.jpegThomas Collins Jr. 

Thomas "Tom" F. Collins, Jr., 80, of Springfield, died on Saturday. He was born in Springfield, in "The Brick yard," and raised in the city. He graduated from Cathedral High School, received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University and a master's degree from American International College. He attended the FBI Training School in Quantico, Va. He was employed by the City of Springfield for 42 years as a police officer and retired in 1998. He served during the Korean War with the U.S. Army.

Obituaries from The Republican:


With casino referendum voting underway in Springfield, MGM executives and gaming opponents make their final pitches

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Polls close citywide today at 8 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD -- As voters headed to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to reject or support a casino proposed by MGM Resorts International in the South End, both supporters and their supporters made their final pitches.

MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren, and MGM Resorts President and Chief Marketing Officer Bill Hornbuckle, paid a visit to a polling place at the Rebecca Johnson School Tuesday morning as voting got underway, while casino opponent Michael T. Kogut of the group Citizens Against Casino Gaming was also making the rounds at polling places.

"We are just doing as much as we can to get the vote out today," Hornbuckle said at the Rebecca Johnson School, adding that the two plan to visit a number of polling places.

The two met with about a half-dozen casino supporters outside the school and a brief chant of "MGM, MGM" filled the air.

"We're all working together," Hornbuckle said as the two left the school grounds.

Rebecca Johnson is home to precinct 4B, and voters included Nim Donovan, who said she supported the proposal.

"The city needs an insurgence of positive energy," Donovan said. "I want Springfield to be an attraction, not a drive-through city."

Clive and Maureen Ryan, who said they are elders with the Basilica of Holy Apostle, said the project would harm the city, not enhance it.

"It's just like some thief coming into the city in the middle of the night and taking my stuff," said Clive Ryan. "If jobs come, they will not be for the city."

"We want something to help the city, not destroy it," said Maureen Ryan.

Precinct Warden Nancy Cintron said she's been doing the job for 6 years, said turnout has been steady, with about 29 voters as of 8:30 a.m.

"This morning it's been busy," she said, adding it was the busiest vote she's seen outside of presidential election.

Precinct 4F poll warden Marjorie Guess said morning poll traffic was slow at the American International College Karen Sprague Cultural Arts Center, though she said most voters will cast their ballots during the evening.

“We’ll just wait and see,” she said. 21 votes were cast by 10:09 a.m.

Precinct 4H, which also has its polling place is also at the center, had a higher ballot tally of 51 at 10:10 a.m.

Kogut, of the anti-casino group, stopped into the center this morning while monitoring the polls.

Kogut’s goal for the day is simple: “To win.” But, he added, even if Springfield votes in favor of the casino, “We feel we’ve done our job” if the vote is close.

“We feel we’ve gained momentum in the last seven to ten days,” Kogut said. He believes the vote will be close, but says citizens against the casino have a good chance.

Kogut said the city struggles to get 10 percent of its citizens out to polls, but believes the referendum will bring many out to vote. Though Kogut believes Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola’s turnout estimation of 25 percent is high, “I think we’ll certainly hit double digits,” he said.

Joanne Abel, who opposes the casino, was holding a sign reading “Just Vote No” outside of the Forest Park Library, where voters in precincts 6A and 6B were casting ballots. Abel, who had been stationed there since 7:45 a.m., said the library is seeing a steady stream of voters.

Over 300 ballots had been cast at the two precincts combined by 11 a.m.

Joining Abel was Wolter Witholt, also against the casino. “The city is too precious to depend on a casino to solve our problems,” Witholt said. “We’re a great city and if work together, we can solve our problems. We just have to believe in ourselves and be unified in working together,” he said.

Abel agreed that there are better ways to solve the city's problems, adding that she believes a casino would send bad messages to children in the city. She also argued that the jobs a casino would bring are not going to be “as grand and glorious” as they are said to be, noting that any construction jobs would only to be temporary.

“We got letters saying we have new friends,” Witholt said, referring to mailings that MGM sent to homes, “but friendship is built over time with trust.”

“They’re trying to buy our friendship,” Abel said.

Mike Blair and Ron King, proponents of the casino, were also outside the library holding signs that read “Vote Yes for Springfield.”

Blair, who had been out since 6 a.m., said the casino cannot hurt the city. “It’ll be all around better for Springfield,” he said. New and better entertainment, a stronger police presence and more jobs and revenue are among the benefits he said the casino would provide.

King mentioned how positive the Basketball Hall of Fame is for the city. “It’d be nice to think of both the hall of fame and the casino when you think of Springfield,” King said.

At 9:57 a.m., 39 ballots had been cast at the Mason Square Library, the precinct 4C polling place. Poll warden Camile Nelson-Campbell said she expected a pick-up in voter traffic around noon.

Polls close today at 8 p.m.


Intern Erin Corrigan contributed to this report.

Jurors in Daniel Leary's motor vehicle homicide trial view scene of accident in West Springfield that claimed life of David Laduzenski

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A mistrial was declared 4 months ago after jurors heard a videotape of Leary being booked at West Springfield police headquarters including a section that the judge ordered redacted.

SPRINGFIELD — Jurors in the Hampden Superior Court trial of a Southwick motorist accused of killing a man standing in a friend’s driveway toured the accident scene on Tuesday.

031813 daniel leary.JPGDaniel Leary, a defendant in a Hampden County Superior Court motor vehicle homicide case in the death of David Laduzenski. 

The 16-member jury visited 461 Dewey St., where Daniel Leary, 37, allegedly struck David Laduzenski in March, 2011, causing head injuries that led to his death.

Leary has pleaded not guilty to motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol.

Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled for Wednesday. A mistrial was declared in March after jurors heard a videotape of Leary being booked at West Springfield police headquarters including a section that Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page ordered redacted.

Laduzenski, 29, a West Springfield native living in Somerville, was back home visiting family and friends at the time of the accident.


Taking it to the streets: City residents to vote on MGM's downtown casino proposal

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If the Springfield casino plan is approved by city voters, it's still up to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to decide which of three regional casino plans will get the lone casino license reserved for Western Massachusetts.

SPRINGFIELD — Today's the day city voters get a chance to chime in on MGM's proposal to build an $800 million casino and entertainment complex straddling Metro Center and the South End.

Under state law, voting-age residents of Springfield must have a chance to cast a ballot in a local referendum before the Nevada-based casino company can officially apply for the state's sole casino license for Western Massachusetts. Two other permits have been reserved for other regions of the state.

Springfield polling sites are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, a day of reckoning for MGM, which has agreed to pay the city more than $25 million annually if the proposal wins approval from voters and the state Gaming Commission.

Casino fans, including Mayor Domenic Sarno, say the project will help revitalize the city by creating jobs and sparking economic growth and development, particularly in the tornado-ravaged South End.

Opponents argue casinos are magnets for crime that prey on gambling addicts, the elderly and low-income people. They believe the project isn't the right kind of economic investment for Springfield.

The project has momentum, however, with many residents voicing support for the plan and urging naysayers to not look an $800 million gift horse in the mouth. They point out that no one else has offered to invest hundreds of millions in the City of Homes, whose negative numbers – including steady crime, poverty and unemployment rates – don't bode well for the city's future.

Still, critics insist an urban casino won't draw the tourists predicted by MGM and its supporters. "Springfield is not a destination resort casino attraction. ... It will be a convenience casino; it will not attract tourists," said Michael Kogut, head of Citizens Against Casino Gaming. The group plans to place anti-casino sign-holders outside 90 percent of city voting precincts today.

Gladys Oyola, Springfield's commissioner of elections, has predicted voter turnout could reach 25 percent, though today's extreme heat and humidity might scare away some people.

In the meantime, two other casino operators also are vying for this region's state license. Mohegan Sun has proposed a resort casino near the Massachusetts Turnpike in Palmer, while Hard Rock hopes to build a facility on property at the Big E in West Springfield.

Votes on those proposals could be cast in September. The Gaming Commission could award the license by early 2014.


VOTING RESOURCES

Springfield police arrest 27-year-old Joshua Oquendo for 2010 murder of Ramon Leonardo-Cruz in Mill Street apartment

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Oquendo was indicted by a Hampden Superior Court grand jury for the murder.

Updates a story posted at 5:10 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD — A third suspect in the fatal shooting and stabbing of a 34-year-old man during a home invasion of a Mill Street apartment in December 2010 was arrested on a warrant Tuesday morning.

Joshua Oquendo, 27, of 52 Edendale St., Apt. 2, was indicted by a Hampden Superior Court grand jury on July 15 for the murder of Ramon Leonardo-Cruz.

Police arrested Oquendo at about 10 a.m. Tuesday at 10 Littleton St. in the Hungry Hill section of the city, according to Springfield Police Department records.

Oquendo was also indicted for three counts of home invasion (Leonardo-Cruz, his mother and his girlfriend were in the apartment) and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Oquendo was arraigned Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court, and a pre-trial hearing was set for Nov. 13. He is being held without bail.

Court documents state witnesses told police that three masked males entered the 3rd floor apartment at 265 Mill St. on the night of Dec. 14, 2010, demanded money from Leonardo-Cruz, shot and stabbed him and then fled in a car.

Juan BermudezJuan Bermudez

Leonardo-Cruz was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center. A short time later, police arrested Juan Bermudez, then 18, at his 24 Allen St. residence, and charged him with murder.

A murder trial for Bermudez, indicted and arraigned in Hampden Superior Court in March 2011, is slated to begin in September.

A second suspect, Demetrius Sanchez, 19, pleaded guilty last December in Hampden Superior Court to voluntary manslaughter – reduced from a murder charge – and was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in state prison followed by three years probation, according to a report published by The Republican and MassLive.com.

Sanchez was just 16 when he pulled the trigger of a .38 caliber revolver and shot Leonardo-Cruz, according to the report. Court documents state that Leonardo-Cruz died from trauma caused by both the stabbing and gunshot wounds.


Obituaries today: Raymond Chelte taught at Chicopee Comp, worked for Massachusetts Teachers Association

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Obituaries from The Republican.

 
071713-Raymond-Chelte.jpgRaymond Chelte  

Raymond J. Chelte, 81, passed away on Tuesday. Born in Minneapolis, he completed his high school education in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of the Korean War, where he earned a Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars. He received a bachelor of business administration and a master's degree in education from Westfield State University and a CAGS from the University of Minnesota. He taught business subjects for 15 years at Chicopee Comprehensive High School and was president of the Chicopee Education Association for three years. He then worked for the Massachusetts Teachers Association as a contract negotiator and labor consultant. He was named Chicopee Citizen of the Year in 1996. He served on numerous civic boards and received several honors for his service to the community.

Obituaries from The Republican:


Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown to headline another political event in New Hampshire

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As speculation continues to swirl about whether former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown will run for another elected office, the Wrentham Republican has been booked to headline another GOP event in New Hampshire.

As speculation continues to swirl about whether former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown will run for another elected office, the Wrentham Republican has been booked to headline another GOP event in New Hampshire.

As first reported by the Salem, N.H. Patch.com website, Brown, who lost his Senate seat in 2012 to Democrat Elizabeth Warren, will speak at the "Restoring Trust in Government" dinner on Aug. 9.

The event is being hosted by New Hampshire state Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, and tickets cost $50 a head. Sweeney, a 19-year-old former University of New Hampshire student, was elected in 2012.

Since losing to Warren in November, Brown has taken a gig as an on-air contributor for Fox News; joined the Kadant paper company board of directors; joined the Nixon Peabody law firm in Boston; joined CoachUp, a Boston-based company that helps connect private coaches with kids, as a senior adviser; and most recently took a position as co-chair of the Bipartisan Coalition for American Security.

Scott Brown New Hampshire flyerView full size 

Despite an unofficial absence from politics, Brown remains a popular potential candidate to challenge the myriad Democrats already running for governor of Massachusetts in the 2014 election. At the same time, Brown told reporters at an April event in Nashua, N.H., that he isn't ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate in that state.

"I don't think I'm done with politics," the Republican told the Associated Press after delivering the keynote address at a New Hampshire dinner commemorating the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. "New Hampshire's like a second home. I was born at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. My mom and sister and family live here. Spent summers here growing up. Have a house here. Been a taxpayer for 20 years."

For more information about Brown's latest speaking engagement, click here.


President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren praise Richard Cordray's long-awaited confirmation as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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Among those in attendance was Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who conceived the idea of a consumer agency while she was a Harvard Law School professor. Initially touted for the director's job, Warren was perceived as too polarizing and Obama instead chose Cordray for the post.

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed Richard Cordray's long-awaited confirmation as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying his installation gives consumers a stronger footing "for years to come" in dealings with banks and credit card companies.

"For two years, Republicans in the Senate refused to give Rich a simple yes or no vote, not because they didn't think he was the right person for the job, but because they didn't like the law that set up the consumer watchdog in the first place," Obama told an audience of about 60 people gathered in the White House's State Dining Room.

Cordray's confirmation and his swearing in by Vice President Joe Biden Wednesday morning culminate a drawn out fight between Obama on the one hand and the financial industry and GOP lawmakers on the other over the authority of the agency. Republicans have sought to alter the agency's structure and the means by which it is financed to give Congress greater control.

"For two years, Republicans in the Senate refused to give Rich a simple yes or no vote, not because they didn't think he was the right person for the job, but because they didn't like the law that set up the consumer watchdog in the first place," Obama told an audience of about 60 people gathered in the White House's State Dining Room.

Among those in attendance was Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who conceived the idea of a consumer agency while she was a Harvard Law School professor. Initially touted for the director's job, Warren was perceived as too polarizing and Obama instead chose Cordray for the post.

"The CFPB has won hundreds of millions in refunds from credit card companies that acted unscrupulously. Just a few weeks ago, it ordered auto lenders to refund millions of dollars to service members they had ripped off through deceptive practices," Warren said in a speech to the Democracy Journal Wednesday morning. "This is monumentally important week for the CFPB- one of the most historic in the young agency's history. But there's still a lot of work to be done."

Cordray and Warren embraced warmly Wednesday after Obama's remarks.

Barack Obama, Richard CordrayPresident Barack Obama, left, smiles as he stands with Richard Cordray, right, the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, during a statement in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 17, 2013. The Senate voted on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, to end a two-year Republican blockade that was preventing Cordray from winning confirmation as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 

Cordray thanked Obama and senators for his confirmation. "It's all I ever asked for, all I ever worked for was the chance to have an up or down vote on the merits," he said.

Creation of the bureau was one of the key features of a 2010 financial regulation law and it has long been a point of contention with Republicans.

Obama last year placed Cordray in the job through an appointment when the Senate was not fully in session. Republicans have challenged the appointment arguing that the Senate was not officially in recess to permit Obama to act on his own.

Obama, noting that he took matters into his own hands, said Wednesday that "without a director in place the CFPB would have been severely hampered."

Cordray's confirmation was part of a deal in the Senate to dislodge a number of Obama nominations that had faced Republican opposition. The Senate voted 66-34 to confirm Cordray, the first in a series of votes planned this week on a total of seven Obama nominees to various Cabinet departments and agencies.

On Wednesday, the chamber planned to vote on Fred Hochberg to be president of the Export-Import Bank. Votes on Labor Secretary-designate Tom Perez and Gina McCarthy, Obama's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, could also come by the end of the week.

The deal averted a pitched struggle over changing the Senate rules that effectively require 60-vote thresholds instead of the 51-vote simple majority to win confirmation.



Audit finds more than $300,000 in unpaid fees at Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation

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In the wake of the audit, the DCR has collected about $200,000 of the previously unpaid fees.

BOSTON — A state audit of longterm permits and leases at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation uncovered more than $300,000 in unpaid fees, failures to impose late penalties and use of properties with expired contracts or without any formal written agreement.

The department in 2011 had asked Auditor Suzanne Bump's office for the review of its long-term permit and lease programs. The department knew the unit suffered from flaws stemming from restructuring issues created by the merger of an old state commission and environmental department that resulted in creation of the conservation department.

bump2.JPGAuditor Suzanne Bump 

The department also attributed the problems to budget cuts in recent years.

"DCR's lease management staff has been gutted to the bare minimum over recent years, which led in part to the significant deficiencies identified in the audit," Bump said in a statement.

In the wake of the audit, the department has collected $198,111 of the $366,863 in outstanding fees pinpointed in the report, the audit said. Before the audit, the department was only aware that $49,620 of the unpaid fees were outstanding.

Bump said she was encouraged by changes established by the department before the 41-page audit was issued.

In the 2011 fiscal year alone, the audit found 58 instances of unpaid fees in use contracts and for employee housing, totaling $200,913. When auditors looked at these 58 instances back to 2004, they discovered an additional $165,950 in unpaid fees.

The audit found 20 instances of unpaid fees with concession agreements totaling $89,806; two instances in so-called high ground telecommunications permits, with unpaid fees coming to $165,091; five instances with leases with skating rinks, $27,800; one instance of an unpaid fee for employee housing for $4,624; and seven instances of unpaid fees for cottages, or $17,620.

The department issues short-term and long-term permits for a variety of activities at parks, beaches, forests and reservations. Permits are issued for purposes ranging from one-day walkathons to seasonal construction access to five-year commercial agreements, according to the department.

In an improvement, the department has also begun consolidating and reorganizing its permit and lease unit's filing systems, updating policies and procedures and improving tracking of payments and documents.

"The audit was a partnership with the goal of reinventing DCR's permits and leases program and eliminating the housing program," said Jack Murray, commissioner of the department.

Of the 12 employees who rented housing from the department, one did not always pay the $578 monthly rent for a home at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. The audit found that only 19 of 24 monthly rent payments were made during two recent fiscal years. The department executed a plan to obtain the payments, the audit said.

The department also abolished the employee housing program in April.


Bruce Springsteen dedicates song to Trayvon Martin

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Springsteen performed "American Skin (41 Shots)" to Trayvon Martin.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen dedicated his protest song "American Skin (41 Shots)" to teenager Trayvon Martin during a concert in Limerick, Ireland.

In a video posted online, the 63-year-old singer told the crowd Tuesday: "We'll send this as a letter back home for justice for Trayvon Martin" after noticing a fan's sign that read "American Skin (41 Shots)."

George Zimmerman was acquitted Saturday of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Martin's death. Zimmerman said he fired his gun in self-defense during a February 2012 confrontation with the 17-year-old in Sanford, Fla.

Lyrics in the song include "you can get killed just for living in your American skin." Springsteen wrote the song about the 1999 police shooting death of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo.

Home sales fall in Pioneer Valley, but median price climbs 8.1%

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In Hampden County, the region's largest housing market, sales were down 4.5 percent from 331 in June 2012 to 316 in June 2013. The median price was up 10.4 percent from $165,500 to $182,775.

SPRINGFIELD - The median price of a home in the Pioneer Valley rose 8.1 percent in June, from $185,000 in June 2012 to $200,000 last month in June 2013.

At the same time the number of homes sold fell 4.5 percent, from 508 in June 2012 to 485 last month, according to data released this week by the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley.

"It's not a surprise because our inventory is way down," said Patrick S. Nolan, an owner and broker at five Century 21 offices in Greater Springfield. "That is going to drive up prices. We have less homes available so that means we are going to sell less homes."

It also means that the move-in-ready homes sell quickly and command a good price. Nolan said he hosted an open house this weekend on Morgan Road in West Springfield and a potential buyer made an offer right then and there. Nolan said he hasn't seen such quick trigger pulling since before the real estate and credit markets crashed in 2008.

"We have been very busy, lots and lots of showings, a lot of people trying to find that right house," Nolan, who will be president of the Realtor Association in 2014, said.

HomeSalesJune.2013.jpg 

Overall, inventory in the region fell 12.3 percent from 3,157 single-family listings at the end of June 2012 to 2,769 at the end of June 2013. At the current rate of sales, it would take 5.7 months to run through that supply, the Realtor Association said.

Supplies of available homes are down because few builders put up spec homes after the market crashed. And many homeowners who bought at the top of the last market now find themselves owing more on their homes than those homes are worth. That situation can make it hard to sell even if the owners want to move.

Also, there are fewer mortgage foreclosures dumping discount-priced homes on the market.

Other owners have been holding back from selling, waiting for prices to come up. Five years ago, in June 2008, the median price was just $192,000, 4.2 percent less than today's median price.

Buyers had been encouraged by very low interest rates that are now creeping upwards. A 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.66 percent a year ago but has now gone up to 4.46 percent, according to FreddieMac.com.

Nolan said he hopes the Federal Reserve keeps taking steps to keep rates low. But a moderate increase may serve to spur buyers to act now before mortgage rates go up even more.

Statewide, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported that both its price- and its market-confidence surveys were up in June. The group's statewide market confidence index was 76.4, which was up 29 percent from the June 2012 score of 59.3.

The price confidence index was 75 in June, up 25 percent from the June 2012 when it was 60.06.

In Hampden County, the region's largest housing market, sales were down 4.5 percent from 331 in June 2012 to 316 in June 2013. The median price was up 10.4 percent from $165,500 to $182,775.

In Hampshire County, sales were down 5.6 percent from 126 to 119. The median sales price rose 8.2 percent from $245,000 to $265,000.

In Franklin County, sales were down 2 percent from 51 to 50. The median sales price rose 18.7 percent from $160,000 to $189,975.

Unmanned Air Force drone crashes, shutting down stretch of highway in Florida

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The incident, which shut down U.S. highway 98 through the base, was under investigation, according to the Air Force.

A stretch of highway in Florida was closed on Wednesday after an unmanned aerial drone operated by the U.S. Air Force crashed while taking off from Tyndall Air Force Base, about 12 miles east of Panama City.

The incident, which shut down U.S. highway 98 through the base, was under investigation, according to the Air Force.

According to a statement released by the Tyndall base Wednesday afternoon, a QF-4 drone crashed around 8:25 a.m. but it was unclear whether the self-destruct charge on board had detonated during the mishap. As a result, officials are keeping the stretch of road closed for the next 24 hours until the drone's battery will be full depleted.

"This closure is being done strictly as a precautionary measure due to fires resulting from the crash and a small self-destruct charge carried on board the drone," the statement said. "The charge is used to destroy the drone if it leaves its pre-approved flight plan."

Air Force officials recommended drivers traveling from Panama City to Mexico Beach, use Highway 22 east to Highway 71 south, and from Mexico Beach to Panama City, vice-versa.

No injuries were reported in the incident, according to the Air Force. According to WJHG-TV, this crash represents the second time in a week such a drone has been destroyed on the base.


Holyoke police: 3 Springfield women suspected of shoplifting at mall used foil-lined bags to spirit items out of stores

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Police said the women stole at least $2,000 worth of items from at least three stores.

HOLYOKE -- Three Springfield woman charged by police Monday night with stealing over $2,000 worth of clothing from at least three stores in the Holyoke Mall allegedly used foil-lined bags to foil security tags attached to the items.

Police arrested the three suspects after a security person at the mall spotted them taking items from American Eagle, Charlotte Russe and Finish Line, Lt. James Albert said.

The employee called police after seeing one of the women carry the items out to a car in the parking lot, place them in the trunk and then walk back into the mall.

After receiving consent for a search from the car owner, responding officers found the items in the trunk with the security tags still intact, Albert said. The women used foil-lined bags so the tags would not set off detectors as they were carried out the store doors.

“They knew what they were doing,” Albert said, adding that the use of foiled-lined bags is a common ploy among shoplifters. “They clearly planned it out.”

Arrested were Springfield residents Maria A. Maysonet, 25, 65 Kenwood Park; Jomaries Perez, 25, 30 Bancroft St., Apt. A; and Aracelis Rivera, 33, 461 Newbury St.

They were each charged with larceny over $250, two counts of receiving stolen property over $250, two counts of receiving stolen property under $250 and two counts of shoplifting by asportation.

Experts: Cuba arms shipment to North Korea explanation troubling

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Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said Wednesday that "any weapons transfers, for whatever reason, to North Korea would be a violation of the sanctions regime and therefore there are questions to be answered."

MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN,Associated Press
PETER ORSI,Associated Press


HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's explanation that it buried antiquated weapons systems under thousands of tons of sugar on a cargo ship and sent the arms back to North Korea for repair is potentially credible but leaves troubling questions unresolved, international arms experts said Wednesday.

Acting on intelligence it hasn't publicly described, Panama seized the rusting, 34-year-old North Korean freighter Chong Chon Gang on July 11 as it headed toward the Caribbean entrance of the Panama Canal on its way to the Pacific and its final destination of North Korea.

Hidden under some 240,000 white sacks of raw brown Cuban sugar, Panamanian officials found shipping containers with parts of a radar system for a surface-to-air missile defense system, an apparent violation of U.N. sanctions that bar North Korea from importing sophisticated weapons or missiles.

North Korea has not commented on the seizure, in which 35 of its nationals were arrested after resisting police efforts to intercept the ship in Panamanian waters, according to the Central American country's government. The captain had a heart attack and also tried to commit suicide, said Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli.

Nearly 24 hours after Panama announced the find and said it would continue searching the ship for more contraband, Cuba acknowledged late Monday that the ship's cargo included 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons": two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles "in parts and spares," two Mig-21 Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes. The equipment was meant to be repaired in North Korea and returned to Cuba, the Cuban government said.

North Korea has a robust capability to repair and upgrade Soviet-era military equipment, and the economically struggling, isolated nation has a track record of trading technical help for commodities such as sugar, experts said.

At the same time, North Korea is known to be seeking to evade sanctions and get spare parts for its own weapons systems, particularly Mig jet fighters. That raises the possibility that in lieu of cash, Cuba was paying for the repairs with a mix of sugar and jet equipment, experts said.

"We think it is credible that they could be sending some of these system for repair and upgrade work," said Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane's Intelligence. "But equally there is stuff in that shipment that could used in North Korea and not going back."

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said Wednesday that "any weapons transfers, for whatever reason, to North Korea would be a violation of the sanctions regime and therefore there are questions to be answered."

"If it is confirmed that the vessel was carrying arms and or related material and the shipment was part of a purchase or sale to or from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, then that would indeed be a breach of the sanctions regime relating to that country," said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky. "But ... it's up to the sanctions committee of the Security Council to pronounce itself on that matter."

U.N. diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue said that if Cuba wanted to send the weapons for repairs and have them returned, they would need to get a waiver in advance from the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea.

In 2010, the South African navy intercepted a shipment of upgraded tank engines that were being transported from North Korea to Congo-Brazzaville, said Hugh Griffiths, arms trafficking expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

"The North Koreans have a track record of actually doing this," he said. "Upgrading, servicing and repairing, that's what the North Koreans do."

He said the deals are part of a barter trade, where North Korea upgrades military equipment in return for commodities, like Cuban sugar or, in another documented exampled, Burmese rice.

"It looks like it was definitely a violation of the U.N. sanctions, and this is why there was an effort to camouflage and conceal it," Griffiths said. "It is military equipment prohibited under U.N. sanctions so whether payment is made in the form of barter trade or foreign currency it still constitutes a violation."

Soviet-built air-defense missiles, radar systems and MiG-21 fighter jets are complex enough to periodically require a factory repair in addition to regular maintenance.

North Korea has developed arms industries producing missiles and other weapons derived from old Soviet designs and has found customers in countries that can't afford more expensive modern arms.

Cuba wouldn't be unique in sending its weapons for repairs abroad. In June 2012, a Russian-operated ship carrying three Soviet-built Syrian helicopters after repairs in Russia was forced to turn back after a British insurer removed its coverage.

Alongside the repair and upgrade business for countries with less advanced militaries, North Korea also has a long history of aggressively buying, marketing and selling entire weapons systems around the world, especially in developing countries in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Much of that business was in sales of short- and medium-range missiles, but the market for full missile systems is thought to have dried up in recent years.

That's partly because of international pressure and sanctions banning weapons exports that followed North Korea's three nuclear tests conducted since 2006 and a string of long-range rocket launches. Sales may have also suffered because of the poor-quality, Soviet-type weaponry that Pyongyang has traditionally produced.

Panamanian authorities said it might take a week to search the ship, since so far they have only examined one of its five container sections. They have requested help from United Nations inspectors, along with Colombia and Britain, said Javier Carballo, Panama's top narcotics prosecutor.

Photos of the ship's cargo show a green tube that appears to be a horizontal antenna for the SNR-75 "Fan Song" radar, which is used to guide missiles fired by the SA-2 air-defense system found in former Warsaw Pact and Soviet-allied nations, Ashdown said.

"The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty," Cuba's Tuesday statement read.

It concluded by saying that Havana remains "unwavering" in its commitment to international law, peace and nuclear disarmament.

Under current sanctions, all U.N. member states are prohibited from directly or indirectly supplying, selling or transferring all arms, missiles or missile systems and the equipment and technology to make them to North Korea, with the exception of small arms and light weapons.

The most recent resolution, approved in March after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test, authorizes all countries to inspect cargo inside or transiting through their territory that originated in North Korea. It also lets countries inspect cargo destined for North Korea if a state has credible information the cargo could violate Security Council resolutions.

In early July, a top North Korean general, Kim Kyok Sik, visited Cuba and met with his island counterparts.

The Chong Chon Gang has a history of being detained on suspicion of trafficking drugs and ammunition, Griffiths said. Lloyd's List Intelligence said the 34-year-old ship, which is registered to the Pyongyang-based Chongchongang Shipping Company, "has a long history of detentions for safety deficiencies and other undeclared reasons."
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Weissenstein reported from Mexico City. Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Malin Rising in Stockholm, Foster Klug in Seoul, South Korea, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Juan Zamorano in Panama contributed to this report.

Lawyers dispute Daniel Leary's liability in West Springfield death of David Laduzenksi as 2nd motor vehicle homicide trial gets under way

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Leary faces one charge of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and negligent operation,

SPRINGFIELD - Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni told jurors Wednesday the law doesn't say a person has to be falling down drunk to be impaired by alcohol.

Daniel Leary horiz 2013.jpgDaniel Leary 

The law said characteristics of operating under the influence of alcohol are impaired ability, decrease in alertness, decrease in ability to respond properly and reduction in mental clarity or reflexes, he said.

Mastorianni delivered that message in his opening statement in the motor vehicle homicide trial of Daniel Leary, 37, of Southwick for the death of pedestrian David Laduzenski.

Laduzenski, 29, a West Springfield native living in Somerville, was in town to visit his parents and friends when struck by a truck driven by Leary in front of 461 Dewey St. in West Springfield.

Leary faces one charge of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and negligent operation,

Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page declared a mistrial at the request of the defense in the first trial in March.

Leary had also been charged with possession of cocaine at the time of his arrest. He pleaded guilty to that charge before the first motor vehicle homicide trial started and Page ruled there could be no mention of cocaine during that trial.

A part of the booking tape played to the jury did not have the mention of cocaine deleted, and although Page said it was not done on purpose by the prosecution it would prejudice the jury toward Leary. Page declared the mistrial.

Aaron W. Wilson, Leary's lawyer, told jurors in his opening statement Leary will testify Laduzenski jumped out in front of his truck and he swerved but couldn't help hitting him.

Wilson said by all accounts Laduzenski is "a decent man, a good man."

"But let me tell you Daniel Leary is a good man as well," Wilson said.

He said he understands the case has a lot of sympathy for the victim but that has no place in the courtroom.

Wilson said whenever a serious injury or death happens, people feel someone has to be at fault.

"Sometimes it's just an accident," he said.

He said West Springfield police were wrong in saying Leary failed two field sobriety tests. He said they did not follow proper procedure in administrating a breathalyzer test.

Evidence in the last trial showed Leary had a blood alcohol level of .19, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

Mastroianni told jurors they will hear about things the West Springfield police did correctly and what they didn't do correctly.

But, he said, the combination of evidence will show Leary was impaired by alcohol when he hit Laduzenski.

Mastroianni said Leary's truck ran up on to the lawn, knocked down two mailboxes, and hit Laduzenski who was by one of the mailboxes. He said evidence from the truck will show the front of the truck toward the passenger side hit Laduzenski.

The courtroom was crowded by Leary's relatives and friends on one side and Laduzenski's family and friends on the other.

The trial continues Thursday.


Massachusetts caps fiscal year with $1 billion surplus in tax collections

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Most of the annual surplus was driven by surges in capital gain taxes ahead of federal tax changes, better than expected corporate profits in 2012 and one-time tax settlements.

BOSTON -- State government ended the recent fiscal year with more than $1 billion surplus in collected taxes.

According to the state Department of Revenue, tax collections for the fiscal year ending June 30 finished at $22.123 billion, or $627 million more than projected and $1.009 billion, or 4.8 percent, more than a year ago.

The total was the most ever taxes collected by the state, topping the $21.1 billion collected for the fiscal year that ended June 30 of 2012.

amyp.JPGAmy Pitter 

Most of the annual surplus was driven by surges in capital gain taxes, better than expected corporate profits in 2012 and one-time tax settlements, the department said.

Amy A. Pitter, commissioner of the revenue department, urged caution in interpreting the numbers.

“We continue to be cautious about using those hard-to-predict revenue sources to make future budgetary decisions,” Pitter said in a statement. “We look more to withholding and sales tax revenues to reflect current economic trends and they grew very modestly in FY13 ending below our yearly expectations.”

For the third straight fiscal year, the state collected taxes that were well more than expected. The state reaped $600 million more than expected for the fiscal year that ended June 30 of 2012 and $1.9 billion more than anticipated for the fiscal year that ended June 30 of 2011.

Collections for June totaled $2.464 billion, a number $171 million or 7.4 percent more than the state received in June of last year. Better than expected corporate and business collections, income cash estimated payments, and strong estate tax payments offset a shortfall in withholding and income tax payments with returns to end the month $89 million more than the monthly projection.

Income tax collections of $1.296 billion for June were $61 million or 5 percent more than a year ago and $9 million over projections, ending the fiscal year at $12.831 billion, or $367 million more than anticipated for the fiscal year.

Withholding collections -- or income tax withheld from employee' wages and paid by the employer to the government -- for June totaled $859 million, up $25 million or 3.0 percent from last June and $2 million below the June benchmark. The FY13 withholding collections totaled $10.015 billion, up $248 million or 2.5 percent from the same period last year, but $21 million below expected for the year.

The state collected $454 million in sales tax for June, up $13 million or 2.9 percent from last June and $5 million above projections.

Sales tax collections totaled $5.164 billion for the fiscal year, up $105 million or 2.1 percent from last year, but $12 million below anticipated full year collections.

The state took in $491 million in corporate and business taxes for June, an increase of $56 million or 12.9 percent from a year ago and $38 million more than expected.

Full year collections of corporate and business taxes reached $2.262 billion, which is $58 million, or 2.5 percent, below last year but $225 million above projections for the year.

NSA spying under fire on Capitol Hill: 'You've got a problem'

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It was apparent Wednesday that one of the key oversight bodies in Congress remained unclear about the scope of surveillance, more than a decade after it was authorized.

By PETE YOST
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a heated confrontation over domestic spying, members of Congress said Wednesday they never intended to allow the National Security Agency to build a database of every phone call in America. And they threatened to curtail the government's surveillance authority.

Top Obama administration officials countered that the once-secret program was legal and necessary to keep America safe. And they left open the possibility that they could build similar databases of people's credit card transactions, hotel records and Internet searches.

The clash on Capitol Hill undercut President Barack Obama's assurances that Congress had fully understood the dramatic expansion of government power it authorized repeatedly over the past decade.

The House Judiciary Committee hearing also represented perhaps the most public, substantive congressional debate on surveillance powers since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Previous debates have been largely theoretical and legalistic, with officials in the Bush and Obama administrations keeping the details hidden behind the cloak of classified information.

That changed last month when former government contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents to the Guardian newspaper revealing that the NSA collects every American's phone records, knowing that the overwhelming majority of people have no ties to terrorism.

Civil rights groups have warned for years that the government would use the USA Patriot Act to conduct such wholesale data collection. The government denied it.

The Obama administration says it needs a library of everyone's phone records so that when it finds a suspected terrorist, it can search its archives for the suspect's calling habits. The administration says the database was authorized under a provision in the Patriot Act that Congress hurriedly passed after 9/11 and reauthorized in 2005 and 2010.

The sponsor of that bill, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said Wednesday that Congress meant only to allow seizures directly relevant to national security investigations. No one expected the government to obtain every phone record and store them in a huge database to search later.

As Deputy Attorney General James Cole explained why that was necessary, Sensenbrenner cut him off and reminded him that his surveillance authority expires in 2015.

"And unless you realize you've got a problem," Sensenbrenner said, "that is not going to be renewed."

He was followed by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who picked up where his colleague left off. The problem, he said, is that the administration considers "everything in the world" relevant to fighting terrorism.

Later, Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, asked whether the NSA could build similar databases of everyone's Internet searches, hotel records and credit card transactions.

litt.jpgRobert S. Litt, general counsel in the Office of Director of National Intelligence testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday, July 17, 2013.  

Robert S. Litt, general counsel in the Office of Director of National Intelligence, didn't directly answer, saying it would depend on whether the government believed those records — like phone records — to be relevant to terrorism investigations.

After the phone surveillance became public, Obama assured Americans that Congress was well aware of what was going on.

"When it comes to telephone calls, every member of Congress has been briefed on this program," he said.

Whether lawmakers willingly kept themselves in the dark or were misled, it was apparent Wednesday that one of the key oversight bodies in Congress remained unclear about the scope of surveillance, more than a decade after it was authorized.

The Judiciary Committee's senior Democrat, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, noted that the panel had "primary jurisdiction" over the surveillance laws that were the foundation for the NSA programs. Yet one lawmaker, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said some members of Congress wouldn't have known about the NSA surveillance without the sensational leaks: "Snowden, I don't like him at all, but we would never have known what happened if he hadn't told us."

Rep Randy Forbes, R-Va., said such a huge database was ripe for government abuse. When National Security Agency deputy director John C. Inglis said there was no evidence of that, Forbes interrupted:

"I said I wasn't going to yell at you and I'm going to try not to. That's exactly what the American people are worried about," he said. "That's what's infuriating the American people. They're understanding that if you collect that amount of data, people can get access to it in ways that can harm them."

The government says it stores everybody's phone records for five years. Cole explained that because the phone companies don't keep records that long, the NSA had to build its own database.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, asked why the government didn't simply ask the phone companies to keep their data longer. That way, the government could ask for specific information, rather than collecting information on millions of innocent people.

Inglis said it would be challenging, but the government was looking into it.

Near the end of the hearing, Litt struck a compromising tone. He said national security officials had tried to balance privacy and security.

"If the people in Congress decide that we've struck that balance in the wrong place, that's a discussion we need to have," he said.

Obama, too, has said he welcomes the debate over surveillance. But his administration never wanted the debate to be quite so specific.

That was obvious when Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., asked Litt whether he really believed the government could keep such a vast surveillance program a secret forever.

"Well," Litt replied, "we tried."

New US Sen. Markey receives committee assignments

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Markey has been appointed to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Commerce, Science and Transportation and Foreign Relations committees.

BOSTON (AP) — Newly elected U.S. Sen. Edward Markey has found out which committees he will serve on in the Senate.

Markey has been appointed to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Commerce, Science and Transportation and Foreign Relations committees.

Markey's predecessor — former Sen. John Kerry — spent his entire congressional career on the Foreign Relations Committee, including six stints as chairman.

Markey was sworn in Tuesday as the newest member of the Senate and the state's junior senator.

The state's senior senator, Elizabeth Warren, serves on the Aging, Banking, and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees.

Markey defeated Republican Gabriel Gomez in a special election last month to fill the seat left vacant by Kerry's resignation to become secretary of state.

Warren has served in the Senate since January, after defeating Republican Scott Brown last year.

State police divers suspend search of Becket's Greenwater Pond without finding trace of murder victim James Lusher of Westfield; another attempt planned Thursday

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State police divers will search the pond one more time on Thursday. If unsuccessful, searches will be done on a periodic basis.

This is an update of a story first posted at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday.

BECKET – State police divers from Massachusetts and New York on Wednesday concluded their second day of searching Greenwater Pond for the body of James “Jamie” Lusher without finding any trace of him.

“We are trying our hardest. We are fully committed to finding anything at all,” said Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio.

If the Thursday search also turns up nothing, he said, state police divers will continue to return to the pond on a periodic basis.

“The fact that nothing has been found yet has not caused us to question our intelligence,” Procopio said of information provided by investigators.

Eighteen divers wrapped up the operation at about 2 p.m. after launching boats into the water at about 8:30 a.m.

The 16-year-old Lusher was last seen in Westfield on Nov. 6, 1992. Officials announced on Monday that convicted serial child murderer Lewis S. Lent Jr., who is serving a life sentence in New York, has admitted to killing Lusher.

Lent told authorities he left the boy's body in the Becket Pond.

New York State Police diving division officer Thomas N. Barden said divers were conducting a "line search." Using weighted lines 100 to 150 feet long, divers move along the line at the bottom of the pond, and then move line forward 1 to 2 feet.

"It is a hand search; there is no visibility down there," Barden said. Divers were working at depths of 20 to 30 feet, and had covered about one third of the targeted area by mid-morning Wednesday.

Divers were working in teams of four, staying underwater for 30 minutes at a time.
Even with the assistance of spot sonar, which gives a 360 -degree image of an area, visibility continued to be an issue.

"Twenty-one years of sediment down there is a lot," Barden said.

Procopio said members of the Lusher family continued to stand vigil at the pond.

"They are determined to see the search through," Procopio said. "They have indicated they will be here every day."

Search for James 'Jamie' Lusher continues at Greenwater Pond in Becket

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Divers are expected to search until about 4 p.m. again today.

BECKET – State police divers from Massachusetts and New York resumed the search Wednesday for James "Jamie" Lusher at Greenwater Pond.

The 16-year-old Lusher was last seen in Westfield on Nov. 6, 1992, and convicted serial child murderer Lewis S. Lent Jr. has admitted to killing Lusher. Lent told authorities he left the boy's body in the Becket Pond.

The search, which began Tuesday, was scheduled to last for three days.

Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said police began putting boats into the pond about 8:30 Wednesday, with 18 divers expected to search the pond along Route 20.

Divers ended their search around 4 p.m. Tuesday without finding any trace of the teenager.

"Leaves are so thick in some parts of the lake, side-sonar has not been as effective as hoped," Procopio said.

The divers are expected to search until about 4 p.m. again today.

New York State Police diving division officer Thomas N. Barden said divers were conducting a "line search". Using weighted lines 100 to 150 feet long, divers move along the line at the bottom of the pond, and then move line forward 1 to 2 feet.

"It is a hand search; there is no visibility down there," Barden said. Divers were working at depths of 20 to 30 feet, and had covered about one third of the targeted area by mid-morning Wednesday.

Divers were working in teams of four, staying underwater for 30 minutes at a time.

Even with the assistance of spot sonar, which gives a 360 -egree image of an area, visibility continued to be an issue.

"Twenty one years of sediment down there is a lot," Barden said.

Procopio said members of the Lusher family continued to stand vigil at the pond.

"They are determined to see the search through," Procopio said. "They have indicated they will be here every day."

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