Nominations will be accepted through Sept. 1 for the competition, which will honor workers in the categories of bartender, bus person, host/cashier, cook, dish washer, prep cook, waitperson, parking valet, "unsung hero" and "exemplary service."

RANDOLPH — The Massachusetts Restaurant Association is searching for nominations for its Stars of the Industry Gala.

The event, set for Oct. 28 at Lombardo's, 6 Billings St., Randolph, honors top employees in the restaurant industry including bartender, bus person, host/cashier, cook, dish washer, prep cook, waitperson, parking valet and a few catch-all categories including "unsung hero" and "exemplary service."

Massachusetts Restaurant Association members are asked to submit nominations online now through Sept. 1. The three finalists in each category will win $100; winners will be awarded $250, a trophy and a plaque to hang in the restaurant . Nominations can be found at www.massrestaurantassoc.org

Tickets for the event are $85.

Xlerator hand dryers dry hands three times faster and use 80 percent less energy than other dryers; delivers a 95 percent cost savings when compared to paper towels and creates a more hygienic restroom.

EAST LONGMEADOW — Excel Dryer Inc., manufacturer of the high-speed, energy-efficient Xlerator hand dyer, recently announced its role as a partner of Green Apple, an initiative from the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.

 

Green Apple is a global movement to put all children in schools where they have clean and healthy air to breathe, where energy and resources are conserved and where they can be inspired to dream of a brighter future. Through this partnership, Excel Dryer will help educate a new generation about the importance of sustainable buildings and environmental stewardship.

As part of its collaboration with Green Apple, Excel Dryer has announced availability of the Green Apple Xlerator (XL-SI-1.1) custom cover hand dryer. The Green Apple Xlerator features the new Certified HEPA Filtration System making it the most hygienic, sustainable and cost effective way to dry students' hands. It is also available with many other Xlerator accessories including a noise reduction nozzle, speed and sound controller, antimicrobial wall guards and the XChanger paper towel dispenser retrofit kit. A portion of the proceeds from each Green Apple Xlerator sold will be donated to Center for Green Schools' programs, which are aimed at transforming schools into sustainable places to learn and play.

 

For nearly a decade, Xlerator high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers have helped school facilities become high-performance green buildings. Unlike conventional hand dryers, Xlerator completely dries hands three times faster (in 10-15 seconds) while using 80 percent less energy. Xlerator also delivers a 95 percent cost savings when compared to paper towels, eliminates their maintenance and waste, while creating a more hygienic restroom environment.

“Green Apple Xlerator hand dryers provide our customers with a simple and effective way to support the development of green schools while helping to meet sustainability, hygiene and cost saving objectives in their own facilities,” said William Gagnon, vice president of marketing, Excel Dryer.

To learn more about Green Apple or to get involved in the Green Apple Day of Service, visit mygreenapple.org, follow the Center for Green Schools on Facebook and Twitter (@mygreenschools) and join the conversation by using the #greenapple

The decision by the company to become Non-GMO Project Verified marks an aggressive strategy to increase brand presence and coincides with the brand’s new line of Organic Selects.

GREENFIELD – New England Natural Bakers has achieved verified status on selected items in their line of granola and mueslis from the Non-GMO Project.

“We are absolutely thrilled with this development; we are proud to be able to offer products that meet the highest of standards while addressing consumers’ concerns related to food safety,” VP of Sales and Marketing Pam Clark said in a news release. “The security that the Non-GMO Project carries as the recognized industry certifier makes our products more appealing to consumers and retailers alike.”

 

While the company has always been committed to producing products using non-genetically modified organisms, it wasn’t until recently that they made the decision to become Non-GMO Project Verified. The decision by the company, which became 100 percent employee-owned in January, marks an aggressive strategy to increase brand presence and coincides with the brand’s new line of Organic Selects, which features three new products. The Non-GMO Project Verification creates an additional benefit that New England Natural Bakers can offer their growing branded customer base.

The Non-GMO Project is committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices. The Non-GMO Project offers North America’s only third-party verification and labeling for non-GMO food and products. Find out more at www.nongmoproject.org

Shootings last year at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and a school in Newtown, Conn. have breathed new life into the debate over gun control nationally and in Massachusetts. Those involved in shooting sports and gun clubs around the state say the discussion has made some people eager to get their gun licenses and learn to shoot before new restrictions are passed. Watch video

BOSTON — Since President Barack Obama was elected, membership at the Harvard Sportsmen’s Club in central Massachusetts has doubled. The club now has 1,700 members.

The club's president, Dan Hurley, says there was an immediate increase as soon as Obama took office in 2009, and that growth has continued.

Although Obama was cautious on gun control as a presidential candidate in 2008 and did not make it a signature issue, Hurley believes the election of the Democratic president unnerved some gun owners. “There were certainly some people who said they were looking to exercise their rights, acquire their licenses before it became more difficult to do so,” Hurley said.

Since then, deadly shootings last year at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and a school in Newtown, Conn., have breathed new life into the debate over gun control nationally and in Massachusetts.

The U.S. Senate earlier this year narrowly defeated a proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers, as Obama and some Democrats pushed for stronger measures, including reviving a ban on assault weapons. Massachusetts legislators are holding a series of statewide hearings on gun laws as the Bay State considers a range of measures, including a proposal by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick to restrict individuals from buying more than one firearm per month.

Those involved in shooting sports and gun clubs around the state say the discussion of firearms laws has made some people eager to get their gun licenses and learn to shoot before new restrictions are passed.

“People who were maybe not too interested before now see there’s a possibility they may be unable to receive their license to carry and have become interested,” said Robert Draper, president of the Hopkinton Sportsmen’s Association. The club has grown by around 100 members a year for four or five years, Draper said, and now has over 600 members.

By several measures, interest in guns in Massachusetts has increased over the last year and the last several years.

In 2012, according to the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the number of gun licenses issued each month ranged from 4,700 to 8,500, with an average of around 6,900 a month. Between January and July 30 of this year, the state granted between 7,500 and 10,500 gun licenses a month – or an average of 8,700 a month.

The number of sales by gun dealers has also grown.

Between 2006 and 2008, the number of transactions by licensed gun dealers ranged from 41,000 to 47,000, according to the state’s Firearms Records Bureau. The number of transactions jumped to 57,000 in 2009, 72,000 by 2011 and 98,000 in 2012.

This year, as of July 30, there were 66,800 sales and transfers by licensed gun dealers – putting the state on a pace to hit 114,000 by the end of the year.

FBI background checks conducted on gun buyers in Massachusetts also show an increase over the last two years. According to FBI statistics, the number of background checks conducted on Massachusetts gun buyers fluctuated, but ranged between 94,000 and 165,000 a year between 2002 and 2011. Last year, the FBI conducted 210,400 background checks in Massachusetts. In 2013, the FBI conducted 135,800 background checks during the first half of the year alone.

It is difficult to trace the growing interest to any one factor.

James Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners’ Action League, a gun rights advocacy group, says there have been increasing numbers of young people getting interested in shooting sports. Wallace traces the rise in interest to the days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as more people became interested in self-protection.

“People realized how cut off they could be even if they were in a pretty much urban area,” Wallace said.

But, Wallace added, political climate also matters when it comes to gun ownership trends.

Gun ownership in Massachusetts dropped dramatically after the Bay State passed its 1998 gun control act, one of the toughest in the nation, Wallace said. That law banned certain weapons, including some semiautomatic assault rifles, required firearms to be stored in a locked container, added an education requirement for gun licensing and made other changes to gun laws.

Now, Wallace said, people fear new requirements could be implemented either federally or in Massachusetts to further limit gun owners' rights. “They want to become grandfathered in…should legislation come down,” Wallace said.

Sportsmen's clubs list a number of factors which they see as having contributed to their growth: recruiting, an increased use of social media, growing interest by women in using guns both for self-defense and for shooting sports, as well as political factors. Yet more than half a dozen club presidents or instructors interviewed around the state all agree that interest in guns is growing.

Jimmy Recore, president of the Conway Gun Club in rural Western Massachusetts, said a decade ago, the club was holding steady with less than 100 members. Two years ago, it had around 150 members, and it is now up to nearly 200.

Recore attributes the growth to a number things, including the club’s thrice yearly sporting clay shoots, new state-run turkey and pheasant hunts for youth and more archery programs in schools, as well as the debate over using guns for protection in schools after the Newtown shooting.

“People are thinking and talking more about guns for protection than I’ve heard in a long time,” Recore said.

Robert Smith, vice president of the Springfield Sportsman’s Club, said enrollment there doubled from 300 members five or six years ago to 600 today. Smith attributes the shift mainly to increased recruiting and advertising by the club. Some people also come to the club to take a state-approved safety course, which is required to get a license, he noted.

Al Bonofiglio, president of the Worcester Pistol Rifle Club, said the club had a membership cap of 300 around three years ago. The cap was lifted to raise money for renovations, and applications surged until the club got 750 members and had to reinstate the limit on membership.

“I think one of the biggest reasons is because of all of the negative anti-gun stuff that’s going on, more legislation, (talk of) a ban on certain firearms,” Bonofiglio said. “People are just getting nervous, and I think they’re getting their licenses and joining gun clubs and feel comfortable having someplace they can go and shoot.”

Mark Gentile, president of the Westwood Gun Club in eastern Massachusetts, said his club’s membership went from 160 members to 300 in the last 18 months, before the club capped its membership. Gentile said he thinks people are worried about anti-gun legislation.

And, he said, in light of the recent gun violence, “People are just looking more to protect themselves.”

Related:

» Smith & Wesson reaches out to tell story as gun debate rages

Smith & Wesson will continue its local advertising campaign, saying it's a "passion issue" for its customers.

SPRINGFIELD — I know what you’re thinking. Did Smith & Wesson send out six Tweets or only five?

To tell you the truth, it's easy to forget with all the billboards, newspaper ads and radio and television messaging the iconic Springfield gunmaker has been up to lately. But you gotta ask yourself a question: “Do I feel engaged with as a consumer in the burgeoning world of social media and the political tricky intersection of job-creation, gun control and devotion to the Second Amendment?” Well, do ya, punk?

Smith & Wesson, the 161-year-old Springfield gunmaker well known for making the revolver Clint Eastwood used in "Dirty Harry," has been on a public-relations push of late with a two-page advertisement in The Republican; billboards, including one on Interstate 291 within sight of the plant; radio and television ads along with Tweets (messages on the microblogging site Twitter); Facebook posts; and videos posted to the brand’s own Youtube channel.

@SmithWessonCorp would like to thank everyone who attended the hearing at American International College on Friday. pic.twitter.com/Du0twInBjU

— Smith & Wesson Corp. (@SmithWessonCorp) August 5, 2013

“At the end of the day, it’s a passion business,” James Debney, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson, said about social media. “It’s where our customers are. It’s where our customers go to talk about our products and about their passion for them.”

All of this is playing out as Massachusetts lawmakers consider a raft of post-Newtown gun legislation that could make Massachusetts even tougher on gun purchases, and gun purchasers, than it already is. Smith & Wesson generated a large turnout for a recent state legislative hearing on new gun and public safety laws that had lawmakers praising the company for its growth as a job creator.

“They have to walk a tightrope,” said Douglas L. Battema, associate professor of communication at Western New England University. “On one hand, Smith & Wesson is going to stress the rights issue. At the same time they need to talk about law and order, as long as that law and order is framed in terms of the Second Amendment. They need to show respect for the government and not speak to those elements in their customer (base) who have an outright hostility toward what they see as government intrusion.”

He said Smith & Wesson will always stay away from any image or message that might be controversial. Expect to see a lot of happy families target shooting and hunters posing with game. There aren’t going to be a lot of urban images, he said.

“They’ll be smart about it,” he said.

And expect to see more local advertising touting Smith & Wesson as a corporate citizen.

James Debney, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson, said it was time for the company to start telling its story and the story of the 1,500 people who work at the company with an annual payroll of $77.5 million. The local ads also explained that Smith & Wesson doubled the size of its work force since 2007 and spends $63 million a year on goods and services with other Massachusetts employers.

James Debney, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson, speaks to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security during a gun control hearing Friday at Griswold Theatre on the campus of American International College.The Republican / Mark M. Murray 

“Employees have told us that they are proud to work for Smith & Wesson and pleased that the company is reaching out to the local residents to make our presence known,” Elizabeth A. Sharp, Smith & Wesson vice president for investor relations, said in an email response to questions. “We have also been hearing from the community as well, more than ever before. Many reach out to tell us that our presence is appreciated, and that they were previously unaware of the size of the company and its impact on the local economy.”

Smith & Wesson’s local advertising represents a significant break with recent tradition at the company. Smith & Wesson spent $14.7 million in advertising and promotion in 2012, $15.1 million in 2011 and $13.9 million in 2010, according to its annual report. But until this summer, most Smith & Wesson ads appeared in one of more than 240 outdoor magazines like Guns & Ammo or the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman. Smith & Wesson also spends money attending and sponsoring the annual SHOT, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade show, each winter in Las Vegas.

It makes sense for a firearms maker to focus its advertising on its specific market, said Bill Demody, director of marketing for Savage Arms.

Savage Arms is one of the world’s largest makers of rifles and shotguns for hunting and target shooting. Savage has 700 employees, including 400 at its Westfield plant and headquarters.

“Who is your target audience and how can I reach them?” Dermody said.

Happy Friday! Anyone have any hunting plans for this weekend maybe some range time while its still warm?

— Savage Arms (@SavageArms) October 5, 2012

"That question is easily answered when you are in an enthusiast market like hunting. There are whole hunting magazines and television networks. it’s where we focus our advertising.”

At this point, there are no plans at Savage to do a broader corporate-image campaign like Smith & Wesson’s, Dermody said. But that could change.

Earlier this year, defense contractor ATK, also known as Alliant Techsystems, bought Savage for $315 million. While it didn’t already make guns before buying Savage, ATK has long been in the outdoors and shooting accessory business and owns ammunition makers including Federal Premium ammunition.

“Historically, we have focused on product marketing,” Dermody said. “But it might be premature to say what is going to happen. We are still in the integration process with ATK.”

ATK already features Savage Arms’ Twitter feed and Facebook posts on the “Social Media” section of its website.

Savage didn’t really change its marketing as gun control rhetoric heated up in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., in December.

“You get together and you talk about what you are doing,” Dermody said. “We felt comfortable with the way we market our hunting products.”

Savage Arms has 2,000 Twitter followers and 333,000 Facebook likes.

Smith & Wesson’s social-media footprint is mach larger, with 617,000 Facebook likes and 44,000 Twitter followers.

Smith & Wesson, like Savage, shares product reviews and photos of people using its firearms. Smith & Wesson also shares the corporate branding information Debney spoke of.

And it doesn’t take more than a cursory look at the social-media comments Smith & Wesson generates to see that passion and learn that some members of the firearm social-media community have short fuses and long memories.

Many commenters reference Smith & Wesson’s cooperation with Clinton-era gun-control measures. The backlash back then nearly took down the company and the mistake will not be repeated.

Others urge Smith & Wesson to leave “CommieChusetts” and move to “gun friendly states.” Debney said Smith & Wesson isn’t going to move and probably couldn’t given the investments made at the factory here.

Related:

» As gun control debate continues, sportsmen's clubs see growing interest

Paul Pierce said that "without question," Rajon Rondo is ready to become the leader of the Boston Celtics.

These were the most-read stories on MassLive.com over the weekend. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) New England Patriots vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers review: Chandler Jones appears unstoppable in win [By Nick Underhill]

2) Paul Pierce: 'Without question,' Rajon Rondo ready to become Boston Celtics leader [By Jay King]

3) Jerry Remy post: 'We are heartbroken' [By Ron Chimelis]

4) Car crashes send power crews to Springfield and Ludlow [By Dave Canton]

5) Gruesome testimony in mob boss Whitey Bulger's trial prompted some jurors to load guns at night [By The Associated Press]

Photos: A slideshow of photos from one of the top stories in entertainment over the weekend, the Dropkick Murphys concert at Mountain Park in Holyoke.

By empowering citizens and business owners to keep their money circulating within the region, BerkShares reclaims currency as a tool for local economic development.

GREAT BARRINGTON — BerkShares, the region’s local currency, will celebrate its seventh anniversary on Sept. 22 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle St., Great Barrington, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 or 10 BerkShares, available through the Mahaiwe box office (www.mahaiwe.org). Admission is free to owners of BerkShares businesses and to members of BerkShares Inc.

Since the launch of BerkShares in 2006, the Berkshire region has gained international attention for this innovative approach to strengthening the local economy. By empowering citizens and business owners to keep their money circulating within the region, BerkShares reclaims currency as a tool for local economic development.

Consumers using Berkshires exchange U.S. dollars for them. The exchange rate is 95 cents per BerkShare. Ninety-five federal dollars will yield 100 BerkShares. BerkShares are printed in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 BerkShares.

The BerkShares website explains what happens when a consumer takes those 100 BerkShares to a restaurant.

"Therefore, you've spent 95 federal dollars and received a $100 meal - a five percent discount for you. The owner of the restaurant now has 100 BerkShares. They decide that they need to deposit them for federal dollars and return them to the bank. When they bring them to the bank, the banker deposits the 100 BerkShares you spent on dinner and gives the restaurant $95 federal dollars, the same 95 dollars that you had originally exchanged for BerkShares."

Over the past seven years, the BerkShares community has grown to include more than 400 businesses. Thirteen branches of five different local banks — Salisbury Bank & Trust, Pittsfield Co-op, Berkshire Bank, Lenox National Bank and Lee Bank — act as exchange points, making BerkShares easily accessible within Berkshire County.

The anniversary event at the Mahaiwe will be hosted by David Brancaccio, currently the voice of public radio’s Marketplace Morning Report and formerly the co-host of NOW with Bill Moyers on PBS. The evening’s festivities will celebrate all the businesses, banks and citizens that have been working together to build a more diverse, vibrant, and resilient regional economy. In addition, state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli will give special recognition to an outstanding citizen of Berkshire County.

After the event at the Mahaiwe, everyone is invited to continue the celebration with live music by the BTUs next door at Castle Street Cafe.

This event has been made possible by the sponsorship of the Berkshire Bank Foundation, Jane Iredale Cosmetics, The Red Lion Inn and Joe Wilkinson Excavating Inc.

Businesses can sign up for free to accept BerkShares at www.berkshares.org To become a member of BerkShares Inc., mail 25 B$ or $25 to BerkShares, Inc. P. O. Box 125, Great Barrington, MA 01230.

The credit union is continuing its Coins For A Cause program that will benefit Dakin Humane Society, Stavros, Solider On and Neighbors Helping Neighbors The South Hadley Food Bank.

 

CHICOPEE - Alden Credit Union has opened three new branches in four months. In April, Alden Credit Union opened its second location, at 30 Main St. in Amherst Center; in July, the Chicopee Big Y branch opened; and on Aug. 14, the South Hadley Big Y branch opened.

The South Hadley Big Y branch will continue the Coins For A Cause program that is currently taking place at the Chicopee Big Y and the main office on Grattan Street in Chicopee.

With every new membership, the member will receive a coin symbolizing $10; additionally, for every loan, credit card or savings account that is opened, the member will receive a coin symbolizing $5. The member can donate the coins back to one of four local nonprofits: Dakin Humane Society, Stavros, Solider On and Neighbors Helping Neighbors The South Hadley Food Bank.

At the end of the program the credit union will double the amount of coins in each bin. The coins are at no cost to the member, just a donation on behalf of Alden Credit Union.

Police records indicate Anthony Charles Santinello, 25, of 28 Cross St., Westfield, was charged with speeding, driving with a suspended license and operating under the influence of alcohol, second offense.

 

EAST LONGMEADOW — Police here said they pulled over a speeding motorist early Sunday and charged him with operating under the influence of alcohol and other offenses.

Anthony Charles Santinello, 25, of 28 Cross St., Westfield, was cited for speeding, driving with a suspended license and OUI-second offense following a 2:34 a.m. traffic stop on Chestnut Street, according to East Longmeadow police records.

Santinello was expected to be arraigned on the charges, but it was not immediately known when that hearing might be held. Additional information was unavailable.

More than 70 tech executives got together last week to discuss the sales stax on computer software.

SPRINGFIELD — Paragus Strategic IT of Hadley hires a new employee making at least $30,000 a year every six months and had been thinking of opening a branch office in Springfield to handle its growing workload.

But that branch office and the jobs associated with it are now more likely to go to Nashua, N.H., or Hartford because Massachusetts has imposed a sales tax on computer software services, said Delcie Bean, the 27-year-old CEO of Paragus who founded the company when he was still a high-school student in Amherst.

“It certainly does put pressure on future expansion,” Bean said. “Most state’s don’t have anything like this.”

Besides creating an unleveled field of competition, Bean said the state’s new “tech tax” expansion of the state 6.25 percent sales tax to computer and software services is also vague.

So vague that no one agrees on how much it will raise. The state estimates $160 million a year, but opponent Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates $500 million. Widmer, in an essay published online, calls the tax the gravest threat imaginable to a tech sector that is producing jobs.

Techies are even finding it hard to tell what is taxed and what isn’t , Bean said.

“We are not able to comply with the law the way they have drafted it,” Bean said.

Scott W. Foster, a partner at the law firm Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas in Springfield, said he thinks the sales tax law may be too vague to survive a lawsuit challenge brought by affected businesses.


Foster, who also is a a co-founder of Valley Venture Mentors, a nonprofit that helps tech companies get going, said he’s personally undertaking an educational effort to let tech startups know what their rights are.

He spoke to about 70 technology executives at a meeting last week.

A lawsuit isn’t the only way to overturn the tax. A bill has been fielded in the legislature to rescind it. Another group also has started an effort to get a question on the ballot to rescind the tax.

But political consultant Anthony Cignoli, who is working with Foster, said both those efforts would take time. A referendum won’t even go on a ballot before November 2014.

Cignoli said he’s even hearing rumblings that computer people from neighboring states would campaign against the ballot question in hopes of keeping the tax, and their competitive advantage, in place.

Foster said a lawsuit isn’t a slam dunk. The state will fight. Even if the industry wins, it has little chance of getting its attorneys’ fees paid by the state.

Those fees could run $50,000 to $100,000.

Part of the difficulty is figuring out where the non-taxable professional service ends and the taxable product begins.

Rachel Frank, a strategist and "happiness facilitator" at Gravity Switch, a tech company in Northampton, explained that the law’s wording is counterintuitive and displays a lack of knowledge about how the industry works. She said creating something totally new and never used before is not taxable. But if a company customizes existing computer programs, that is taxable.

The problem is, pretty much every computer application uses chunks of code that already have been written.

“We are in an industry that doesn’t like to reinvent the wheel,” she said. “For example, if we install Wordpress and we check a dialogue box, is that “configuration or is it not?"

What if Gravity Switch employees sit down with a client, a pad and paper and sketch out what a client’s website might end up looking like? The drawing is not taxable, but if they build the website, it is taxable. She thinks.

“This is a big pain in our butts,” she said.

Gravity Switch’s founder, Jason Mark, has written in opposition to the tax and Frank said the company is considering legal action.

But in the meantime, Gravity Switch is working to raise awareness and keeping up with instructions as they get posted to the state Department of Revenue’s website.

A full set of rules won’t be completed until October, the state says. Companies were supposed to start collecting the tax on Aug. 1.

“We don’t know what we are doing,” Bean said.

The airline says Flight 827 landed just before 6 p.m. and 95 passengers and four crewmembers were safely evacuated. No injuries were reported.

PHILADELPHIA — A Baltimore-bound JetBlue flight out of Boston was diverted to Philadelphia on Sunday evening after smoke was reported in the cabin.

The airline says Flight 827 landed just before 6 p.m. and 95 passengers and four crewmembers were safely evacuated. No injuries were reported.

A JetBlue statement says the captain elected to divert out of "an abundance of caution" after the crew reported the odor of smoke while en route to Baltimore Washington International Airport.

Philadelphia airport officials did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

JetBlue says the passengers are being put on a later flight.

Selectmen have not yet made a decision regarding an interim town clerk.

MONSON - After 23 years on the job, Town Clerk Nancy C. Morrell plans to retire Oct. 31.

"It's time to let some younger blood in," Morrell said on Friday. "I gave it a lot of thought and I'm ready."

Morrell, 63, said she was asked to run for the elected position by two former selectmen.

"I said, 'I'll give it a try and see what happens,'" Morrell said.

She ran unopposed and won the post. She said she has never faced any opposition over the years.

Morrell said she has enjoyed the job, and will miss the camaraderie she has with her fellow town employees the most.

"Everyone I worked with was great, and the townspeople are wonderful," Morrell said.

She said she liked the unpredictable nature of her job. Morrell, who is married to Highway Surveyor John R. Morrell, said she may volunteer once she retires.

A Monson native, she said she has lived in town all her life.

"I love this town. It's given me so much. Hopefully I've given it back what it's given me," Morrell said.

Morrell, who has two daughters, coached recreational basketball and softball in town. She and Diana Roberts started the softball program because there were no organized sports for girls to play.

Morrell recommended to selectmen that they appoint assistant town clerk Mary F. Watson as interim town clerk until the June election. Selectmen have not taken any action yet to appoint a replacement. Morrell's post paid $45,172.

Selectmen Edward S. Harrison thanked Morrell for her service, and her diligence.

"I appreciate the effort she takes to keep us politicians on the straight and narrow in terms of regulations for campaign finance law. I think she does an excellent job of fulfilling the duties of the town clerk's office," Harrison said.

Selectmen Chairman Edward A. Maia said the days of "people spending 20 or 30 years doing the same thing are few and far between." Morrell, Maia said, is retiring doing something she loves to do.

"Good for her," Maia said.

The override failed to get the nine votes needed to pass.

SPRINGFIELD - The City Council on Monday failed to override Mayor Domenic J. Sarno’s veto of a City Council vote in which the council sought to alter the mayor’s powers to grant new waivers to the city’s residency requirement for city employees.

Michael A. Fenton 

The City Council needed nine votes for the two-third majority required to override the mayor’s veto, but only eight voted to support the override motion introduced
Councilor Michael A. Fenton.

The City Council voted 9-3 on July 15 to change the city’s residency ordinance so the mayor could not grant new waivers to department heads and deputy directors, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

Sarno said he appreciates the “due diligence” by the council on residency, but was vetoing the changes based on a legal opinion from City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula.

“I understand the issue clearly,” Sarno said. “As in past practice and in moving forward, I do not intend to grant waivers, unless there are extenuating circumstances in which, as always, we need to hire the most qualified and competent individual to provide the best possible services to our taxpayers.”

Under state law, the 13-member City Council could override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote, needing nine votes to override.

Pikula’s legal opinion stated in part: “Eliminating existing waivers as well as the Mayor’s discretionary authority to grant future waivers is not an effective means of managing residency in the City as it interferes with the Mayor’s inherent authority under the City’s charter and would expose the City to lawsuits and a likelihood of substantial damages.”

In addition, Pikula cited “the lack of data to justify a blanket policy applicable to the small number of employees at issue here,” Sarno said.

Most employees, including, police, firefighters and teachers, are exempt from the residency requirement either through state law or collective bargaining, Sarno said.

Council President James J. Ferrera III said he would vote against overriding the veto because he said the new council regulation would “grandfather in” department heads who already have residency waivers.

Ferrera said he supports requiring all employees to move to the city of Springfield.

The City Council on Monday also approved a motion by Fenton which would give newly hired employees a year to move to the city.

The mayor also will have the opportunity to veto that legislation.

Westfield University spokesperson Molly Watson said the spending was designed to promote the school, to provide opportunities for faculty, and to give students the best education possible.

WESTFIELD – Westfield State University should disclose details of President Evan S. Dobelle’s globe-spanning travel as quickly as possible to avoid damaging the school’s reputation, state Rep. Donald F. Humason said Monday.

Donald F. Humason 

“You don’t want people wondering if there’s something (the university) is trying to hide,” said Humason, who praised Dobelle for boosting the school’s stature during his 5½-year tenure.

“It would be a shame to tarnish what he’s worked so hard to build,” Humason added.

Dobelle’s spending has drawn scrutiny from the state Attorney General’s office and state Inspector General’s office, and provoked the ire of some faculty members.

Citing leaked university documents, the Boston Globe reported Sunday that Dobelle took 76 out-of-state trips during past 68 months.

Among other expenses, Dobelle paid $8,000 for a four-night stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok; $10,000 for tickets to shows at Tanglewood; more than $4,000 for limousine rides.

The president also billed more than $200,000 in travel, meals and entertainment for himself and others to the Westfield State Foundation, a non-profit group that raises money for scholarships and educational programs. Dobelle later agreed to repay more than $20,000 to the foundation, the Globe stated.

He also ran up expenses on the university credit card of his former assistant, Nanci Salvideo, including $875 for a 2011 stay at a five-star London hotel he eventually repaid, according to the Globe.

Westfield University spokesperson Molly Watson said the spending was designed to promote the school, to provide opportunities for faculty, and to give students the best education possible.

“It’s important for people to understand that President Dobelle wants to assure that every kid, whether they’re at a public school or a private school, is entitled to the same opportunities - and that drives the work he does the on behalf university,” she said.

An audit of Dobelle’s expenses commissioned last fall by the university’s Board of Trustees will be released by the end of the month, Watson said.

The board voted on Aug. 1 to turn over Dobelle’s expense documents in response to a request from the Inspector General’s office.

In response, Dobelle said he welcomed the scrutiny and would be vindicated by the findings.

Dobelle, a former mayor of Pittsfield and staffer for President Jimmy Carter, left his post as president of the University of Hawaii amid questions about his travel and other expenses.

During the 1980s, two Westfield State presidents - Francis J. Pilekci and Irving Buchen - lost jobs within a four-year period. Pilecki was fired after the school paid $10,000 to a student who claimed Pilecki molested him, while Buchen lost his job for submitting false expense reports for travel, meals and entertainment.

As an alumnus, Humason said he was pleased to see the university “in the news for all the good things that happened” during Dobelle’s tenure.

“Now there’s a sense that there’s blood in the water,” said Humason, now running for the state senate seat recently vacated by Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield. “I think he’ll (Dobelle) be borne out in the end,” he added.

Westfield State Communications Professor Thomas N. Gardner said Dobelle’s ambitious vision has brought excitement to the campus.

“It’s an exciting place to teach - what that means for the faculty is that it makes you want to stay,” Gardner said.

“Clearly, he has a vision for making this a university, not a small public community college-plus,” he said. “And that takes money.”

Sperry was charged with indecent assault and battery, enticing a child under 16 and assault and battery.

HATFIELD – A volunteer who has been filming Smith Academy boys’ basketball games is being accused of inappropriately touching a student and sending the youth harassing text messages.

 

Lee Sperry, 66, of 66 Prospect St., Hatfield, was arraigned in Northampton District Court on Aug. 16 on two counts of indecent assault and battery, one count of enticing a child under 16 and one count of assault and battery, said Mary Carey, spokeswoman for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

He was released on $5,000 bail with conditions that he stay away from the victim and the victim’s family, have no unsupervised contact with children under 16 and wear a monitoring bracelet. Sperry was also banned from doing any volunteer or paid work with Smith Academy until the case is tried, Carey said.

His arrest came after an investigation by Hatfield Police and the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit, she said.

Sperry met the victim while filming Smith Academy boys’ basketball games but the allegations of improperly touching the child happened outside the school.

“Sperry, who has volunteered for many years to film Smith Academy boys’ basketball games to be broadcast on community television, is alleged to have inappropriately touched a juvenile on several occasions and sent the juvenile harassing text messages after hiring the juvenile to work on Sperry’s properties,” said Assistant District Attorney Caleb Weiner.

It did not specify the community television station. The manager of Hatfield Community Television did not respond to a request for comment.

Officials at Smith Academy learned about the investigation this summer when they were contacted by police and the youth’s parents, Hatfield School Superintendent John Robert said.

“I will be discussing this matter with the police to make sure he is kept away from the school,” he said. “We will fully cooperate with the police.”

Sperry is not employed or associated with the school but Robert said he will take all measures necessary to protect students.

As far as he is aware, there was only one child involved in the alleged incident.

State police and the Northwestern District Attorney’s office is continuing to investigate and is encouraging anyone with information related to this case or Sperry’s involvement with juveniles to contact the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit at 586-9225 or text an anonymous tip PROTECT by dialing 274637 on a cell phone, and typing the keyword PROTECT in the subject line followed by a message.

The fire caused about $150,000 in damage to the home.

Updates story published at 6:50 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19.

SPRINGFIELD — One man was rescued from the second floor of a Wilbraham Road home by firefighters after a blaze trapped him in his apartment Monday.

The man and a 4-month-old baby were brought to the hospital by ambulance. The man was suffering from smoke inhalation and the baby was brought as a precaution, said Dennis G. Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph A. Conant.

The fire started at about 6:15 p.m. in a three-family home at 318 Wilbraham Road. The nine adults and two babies were left homeless when the fire mostly destroyed the home, causing about $150,000 in damages, Leger said.

When firefighters arrived they were told one second-floor resident was trapped. They rescued him from a window using an aerial ladder, Leger said.

The blaze is believed to have started on the first floor. The cause is still under investigation, he said.

The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting some of the victims.

The fire destroyed the garage and its contents.

HOLYOKE — A detached garage at the rear of 49 East Dwight St. was destroyed in a fire reported at 9:15 p.m. Monday.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, which destroyed the building and its contents, Holyoke Fire Lt. Thomas Paquin said.

No one was injured.

Paquin said it was not immediately known if the cause was suspicious. The arson squad is investigating.

Granville Road was closed while police investigated the crash.

File photo 

GRANBY, Conn. — The driver of a motorcycle was flown to Hartford Hospital with serious injuries after he collided with a car on Granville Road Monday.

The accident happened at about 5:50 p.m. near the intersection of Northwoods Drive. The motorcycle operator suffered life-threatening injuries. Granby Police Capt. William Tyler did not say if the driver of the car was injured.

The accident was under investigation by Granby police, with assistance from the North Central Accident Reconstruction Team. The road had to be closed, Tyler said.

President Barack Obama met privately with the nation's top financial regulators on Monday to prod them to act more swiftly to implement a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules.

President Barack Obama met privately with the nation's top financial regulators on Monday to prod them to act more swiftly to implement a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules. 

By JIM KUHNHENN

WASHINGTON — Three years after President Barack Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules, execution of the law is behind schedule with scores of regulations yet to be written, let alone enforced. Meeting privately with the nation's top financial regulators on Monday, Obama prodded them to act more swiftly.

The president's push comes as the five-year anniversary of the nation's financial near-meltdown approaches. The law when passed in 2010 was considered a milestone in Obama's presidency, a robust response to the crisis, which led to a massive government bailout to stabilize the financial markets.

But the slow pace of implementation has prompted administration concern that banks could still pose potentially calamitous risks to the economy and to taxpayers. Obama hoped to convey "the sense of urgency that he feels," spokesman Josh Earnest said before the president convened the meeting with the eight independent regulators in the White House Roosevelt Room.

Lehman Brothers collapsed into bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008, and the administration has wanted to use that dubious milestone to look back on the lessons of the crisis and progress so far to prevent a recurrence. In a statement at the conclusion of the meeting, the White House said Obama commended the regulators for their work "but stressed the need to expeditiously finish implementing the critical remaining portions of Wall Street reform to ensure we are able to prevent the type of financial harm that led to the Great Recession from ever happening again."

Not everyone feels that way about the law, known as Dodd-Frank after its Democratic sponsors, Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Christopher Dodd.

Republican House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, an early opponent of Dodd-Frank, dismissed Obama's meeting with the regulators, saying, "Much like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank is an incomprehensively complex piece of legislation that is harmful to our floundering economy and in dire need of repeal."

Three years after passage, many other Republican lawmakers also see the law as more negative than positive.

The law set up a council of regulators to be on the lookout for risks across the finance system. It also created an independent consumer financial protection bureau within the Federal Reserve to write and enforce new regulations covering lending and credit. And it placed shadow financial markets that previously escaped the oversight of regulators under new scrutiny, giving the government new powers to break up companies that regulators believe threaten the economy.

But because of the complexity of the industry, the law gave regulators extended time to write the new rules that would enforce its provisions.

So far, regulators have missed 60 percent of the rule-making deadlines, according to an analysis by the law firm of Davis Polk, which has been tracking progress on the bill. Even so, the rules are so complicated, that the ones already written have filled about 13,800 pages of regulations, compared to the 848 pages it took to write the law itself.

"I would have to give it a mediocre grade at this point," said Sheila Bair, the former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "Most of the rules have not been finalized. A lot of them haven't even been proposed yet. When some of the rules have been proposed, they 're highly complicated, they're riddled with exceptions, they're watered down."

Dennis Kelleher, president Better Markets Inc., a bank watchdog group, said Obama needs to hold monthly meetings with regulators and fight for more money for the financial regulators to do their job.

"Only that level of consistent presidential leadership and involvement will turn the tide against Wall Street's relentless attacks, which is what has killed, weakened and delayed so much of financial reform," Kelleher said.

A key goal of the legislation was to prevent a rebuilding of a financial system that would permit banks to become so huge and intertwined that they would be "too big to fail." But the nation's top banks today are bigger than they were in 2008. A key proposal in the law would restrict banks from trading for their own profit, a practice known as proprietary trading. That rule, named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, has yet to take effect and the current proposal has been weakened from what the law initially envisioned.

Annette Nazareth, a former Securities and Exchange commissioner now a partner at Davis Polk, said that when it comes to the Volcker rule, the law requires that various regulators write a single rule that applies to all the regulated financial entities. "So to some extent it's not surprising that it has taken longer when they have had to reach consensus on some very tough issues," she said.

Overall, she added, "we are in a better position than we were before the financial crisis." She said banks have stronger capital positions, regulators are more aggressive and failing banks can be dismantled in ways they couldn't before. "We have the building blocks for a better, more stable financial system."

Some central elements of the law have fallen into place.

The Senate last month confirmed Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the law. Republicans had been blocking his confirmation and demanding broad changes in how the bureau was configured and how it obtained its finances. But a number of Senate Republicans withdrew their opposition, putting Cordray in place and removing one element of uncertainty that had clouded the bureau's work.

The Federal Reserve last month raised the amount of capital that big banks must hold to reduce the threat they might pose to the broader financial system. The requirements, which meet international standards agreed to after the downturn, have met some resistance from financial institutions as being too high, but have also been criticized for not being high enough.

"There is a trade-off between holding capital and the ability to lend," said Scott Talbott, a senior lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable. "Our concern is that as you take a look at all the regulations in totality, you will decrease the banks' ability to help the economy."

The Fed on Monday said that while big banks have made progress in preparing for strains like those brought by the 2008 financial crisis, they also need do a better job determining how much capital they need to cushion against a future crisis. The Fed's report, based on stress tests applied to the banks, coincided with Obama's meeting with regulators.

Associated Press Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed to this article.

Coastal communities should assume floods are going to happen more frequently and realize that spending now on protective measures could save money later, according to a report issued by a presidential task force.

In this Oct. 30 2012 file photo provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the South Ferry subway station in New York City is filled with seawater and debris from Superstorm Sandy. A presidential task force charged with developing a strategy for rebuilding coastal areas damaged by Sandy will issue a report on Monday, Aug. 19, 2013, recommending 69 measures that might help ensure that coastal areas aren't as vulnerable to future storms in an age of rising sea levels.  

By DAVID B. CARUSO and MEGHAN BARR

NEW YORK — Coastal communities should assume floods are going to happen more frequently and realize that spending now on protective measures could save money later, according to a report issued by a presidential task force charged with developing a strategy for rebuilding areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

Most of the report's 69 recommendations focus on a simple warning: plan for future storms in an age of climate change and rising sea levels. It calls for development of a more advanced electrical grid and the creation of better planning tools and standards for storm-damaged communities.

"If we built smart, if we build resilience into communities, then we can live along the coast. We can do it in a way that saves lives and protects taxpayer investments," said Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, who discussed the report Monday with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Donovan was appointed chairman of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force by President Barack Obama.

Some of the group's key recommendations are already being implemented, including the creation of new flood-protection standards for major infrastructure projects built with federal money and the promotion of a sea-level modeling tool that will help builders and engineers predict where flooding might occur in the future. It strongly opposes simply rebuilding structures as they were before they were devastated by October's historic storm.

The task force also endorsed an ongoing competition, called "Rebuild by Design," in which 10 teams of architects and engineers from around the world are exploring ways to address vulnerabilities in coastal areas.

"We're always going to have people, I think, want to live in areas that are problematic from an environmental point of view," Bloomberg said at Monday's news conference, which was held overlooking a Brooklyn water treatment plant that stayed online during the storm.

"We still want to leave it to you, the individual, to make your decisions, but the federal government has some economic incentives," he said, noting that rescue crews are needed to save flooded-out residents, "because if you do get in trouble, we're going to have to come to your aid anyway."

Earlier this year, Bloomberg unveiled a sweeping $20 billion proposal that would create floodwalls and marshes and stormproof vulnerable neighborhoods. It is not clear how much funding the city will receive to enact the changes.

The presidential task force report didn't delve deeply into what types of infrastructure might be best suited to protect the shoreline. It endorsed a greater use of natural barriers such as wetlands and sand dunes, but it said better tools were needed to help planners evaluate what works and to quantify the long-term benefits of those types of projects.

It said the government should find ways to encourage the private sector to develop fuel distribution and telecommunications systems that are less likely to be crippled by extended power outages. After Sandy, drivers in New York and New Jersey had problems finding gas stations that still had fuel because of a series of problems that rippled through the distribution system. Cellphone networks were snuffed out in some areas because of equipment that lacked adequate battery power, or other backup electrical supplies.

A large section of the report dealt with how federal authorities should respond once a storm has struck.

Among the recommendations: