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Boston AM News Links: Casino agreement reached with Suffolk Downs, Dorchester politics are complicated, Washington DC wants the Olympics

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Here's what we're reading in Boston this morning.

Here's what we're reading in Boston this morning.
The City of Boston and Suffolk Downs casino came to agreement on a plan that moves the construction of an East Boston casino forward. The agreement calls for the construction of a $1 billion casino resort and could generate as much as $80 million in revenue for the city annually.

Rolling Stone reports Aaron Hernandez was a regular user of the drug angel dust and spent significant time palling around with gangsters.

The politics of Dorchester are complicated, writes Chris Faraone.

The family of Jennifer Martel is actively trying to regain custody of her daughter, the Boston Herald writes. Martel's boyfriend, Jared Remy, has been charged with murdering her at their Waltham apartment Aug. 15. A private vigil for friends and family was held in Waltham Tuesday night.

Washington, D.C., like Boston, wants to host the 2024 Olympic games, too. Copycats.


California fire prompts unhealthy air warnings in Nevada

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The giant wildfire burning at the edge of Yosemite National Park has not only destroyed buildings and threatened water supplies, electricity and sequoias, it has also unleashed a smoky haze that has worsened air quality more than 100 miles away in Nevada.


BRIAN SKOLOFF, SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press

GROVELAND, Calif. (AP) — The giant wildfire burning at the edge of Yosemite National Park has not only destroyed buildings and threatened water supplies, electricity and sequoias, it has also unleashed a smoky haze that has worsened air quality more than 100 miles away in Nevada.

The plume from the Rim Fire in California triggered emergency warnings in the Reno and Carson City area. Schoolchildren were kept inside for the second time in a week, people went to hospitals complaining of eye and throat irritation and officials urged people to avoid all physical activity outdoors.

"It's five hours away," said 22-year-old bartender Renee Dishman in disbelief after learning that the source of the haze was more than 150 miles away. "I can't run. I can't breathe. It makes me sneeze."

The Rim Fire, so far, has burned through 280 square miles, destroyed 23 structures and threatened water supplies, hydroelectric power and giant sequoias. On Tuesday night, authorities said the blaze was 20 percent contained.

In Nevada, the biggest impact of the Rim Fire was on the air. The air quality index briefly surpassed the rare "hazardous" level east of Lake Tahoe before improving slightly. It hovered around the next-most serious stage of "very unhealthy" for all populations in the Reno-Sparks area 30 miles north.

Dennis Fry, a Reno auto body specialist for nearly 30 years, remembered smoke this thick when he worked on a logging crew and helped fight fires in Oregon during the 1970s.

"But never in Reno, not this bad," he said. "You could actually see the smoke inside my body shop."

Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors when the air quality index reaches "hazardous," considered "emergency conditions," the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection said on its website. "People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low."

Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno has experienced a "slight increase" in emergency room visits as a result of the smoke, said Jennifer Allen, the hospital's clinical nursing supervisor.

"Patients are experiencing shortness of breath, eye and throat irritation, cough and headache due to the heavy smoke and poor air quality," she said, adding that people with asthma and other respiratory ailments were most affected.

The pollution levels are among the worst ever recorded for small particulates around Carson City in the state's air monitoring records dating to 2000, according to JoAnn Kittrell, public information manager for Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. The air quality briefly moved into the "hazardous" level in some areas on Friday as well, she said.

"It's very unusual," she said. "We just happen to be in the direct path of the plume from Yosemite."

The previous peak reading in Reno came on Friday when the air quality index closed in on the "very unhealthy" stage. Schoolchildren were kept indoors during recess, high school football practices and scrimmages were canceled through the weekend and an annual air show at Lake Tahoe was canceled due to low visibility.

Carol Chaplin, executive director Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, said some hotels and motels reported cancellations earlier in the week, but so far there hasn't been any major impact for the upcoming Labor Day weekend. "I could lie and say it's not affecting anything, but it is," she said. She said visibility in the scenic Tahoe Basin ebbs and flows with the shifting winds.

"I still see people out on the lake," she said. "At least we're not on fire."

The fire caused air pollution problems in California cities far away from the fire, including those in the Sacramento region.

Two dozen competitors in the 25th annual Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-Off were taking it in stride as they prepped their grills for the barbeque festival running Wednesday through Labor Day in Sparks. The air around the event is usually filled with smoke, albeit a different kind when the barbeque festival's in town.

"You can't have too much smoke at a barbeque," said Mike Peters of Springfield, Mo., a member of the Kansas City Barbeque Society's Great American Barbeque Tour Team. "We're just going to add a little hickory smell to it."

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Associated Press Carson City correspondent Sandra Chereb contributed to this report.

Springfield Fire Department: Small early morning fire in High School of Commerce classroom caused by overheated air conditioner

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Firefighters were sent to the school at about 6:12 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD -- An overheated air conditioner caused a small fire in a High School of Commerce classroom before the start of classes Wednesday morning.

Firefighters were sent to the school at about 6:12 a.m. after smoke was spotted coming from the roof of the school at 415 State St., said Dennis Leger, aide to Commissioner Joseph Conant.

Leger said the unit’s wiring overheated, its filter caught on fire and the classroom filled with smoke. He estimated the damage at several thousand dollars.

springfield fire department logo 

North Adams man pleads guilty to crime spree

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A Massachusetts man who went on a crime spree that ended with a high-speed chase and crash in Vermont has been sentenced to up to four years in prison.


PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who went on a crime spree that ended with a high-speed chase and crash in Vermont has been sentenced to up to four years in prison.

Shawn Tripodes of North Adams was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges including motor vehicle theft, wanton destruction of property, larceny and receiving stolen property.

Prosecutors say the 19-year-old defendant and another man started their spree on April 5 when they stole a vehicle in North Adams. Over several days, they stole more vehicles, ditching the old ones when they either broke down or ran out of gas.

The men were arrested April 9 in Vermont after a chase and crash.

The Berkshire Eagle (http://bit.ly/1fiOlkI ) reports that Tripodes told a judge he did what he did because he was "young and dumb."

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Information from: The Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle, http://www.berkshireeagle.com

Washington DC to bid for 2024 Summer Olympics

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The inconveniences of the daily routine in the nation's capital will be a selling point as Washington, D.C., makes a push to host the 2024 Olympics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The inconveniences of the daily routine in the nation's capital will be a selling point as Washington, D.C., makes a push to host the 2024 Olympics.

"We are the safest and most secure city in the world," said Bob Sweeney, president of DC 2024. "The largest expense of any Olympic Games is security, and the fact that we've got it pretty built in to our everyday life here in Washington, we would leverage that asset tremendously to put on this high-profile event."

Sweeney announced Tuesday the formation of a nonprofit group aimed at making D.C. the first American city to host the Summer Games since Atlanta in 1996, and the first to host an Olympics since the Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City in 2002.

The bid has a long way to go. Washington was one of 35 U.S. cities to receive a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee to gauge interest, and Sweeney expects about 10 to step forward as serious candidates. The USOC hasn't even decided for certain that it wants to bid for the 2024 Games, which will be awarded by the International Olympic Committee in 2017.

"They need to make sure there is a strong horse to ride," Sweeney said. "And we certainly intend to be that."

Los Angeles, which hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, Philadelphia and Tulsa, Okla., have announced their interest. San Diego wants to host a cross-border Olympics with Mexican neighbor Tijuana. Other potential 2024 contenders from around the world include Paris; Rome; Doha, Qatar; and a city in South Africa.

Washington made a push for the 2012 Games a decade ago and was thought to be the favorite to be the U.S. representative, but the USOC chose New York instead. There was concern at the time that the D.C. bid was tainted by hearings held by Congress in connection with the Salt Lake City bribery scandal, the thought being that the IOC would not want to put the Olympics in the city where its then-president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, was grilled by lawmakers under oath.

New York went on to finish fourth in the international bidding, losing out to eventual winner London. Chicago made a bid for 2016 and suffered a stinging first-round exit, with Rio de Janeiro winning the games.

Chicago's defeat was blamed partly on a revenue-sharing feud between the USOC and IOC. The two sides have since resolved the dispute, and USOC leaders have worked hard to improve their standing in the international Olympic community.

"It's a different USOC than it was, certainly, for Chicago," Sweeney said.

Sweeney, a former president of the Greater Washington Sports Alliance, helped out with D.C.'s 2012 bid and said he has no concerns about the political problems that hurt that effort. He pointed out that Washington was recently chosen to host a major Olympic meeting — the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees — in 2015. D.C. is also making a push to host the 2017 fencing world championships, which would be timely if Thomas Bach, a former German fencer, is chosen as the next IOC president in an election next month.

Sweeney said he hopes to raise $3 million to $5 million to support the D.C. bid by the end of 2014. He estimates the cost of hosting the Olympics in D.C. would range from $3.5 billion to $6 billion, although he expected it would be toward the lower end because a good deal of the infrastructure is already in place.

There will be the need, however, for a new stadium to host the opening ceremony and track and field. Sweeney said he has met with the Washington Redskins, whose lease at their current stadium in Maryland expires in 2026. D.C. leaders will be pushing hard for the team to come back to the city at that time, so a stadium built for the Olympics could become an NFL stadium shortly afterward.

Otherwise, DC 2024 boasts that the area has "more sporting facilities in a 40-mile radius than any other city in the U.S." and "more than 100,000 hotel rooms." Sweeney said the events would stretch from Baltimore to Richmond, Va., but would be mostly concentrated around D.C.

"We are the only major capital city in the world," Sweeney said, "not to have hosted the games yet."

NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations

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The New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorism organizations, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorism organizations, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD has opened at least a dozen "terrorism enterprise investigations" into mosques, according to interviews and confidential police documents. The TEI, as it is known, is a police tool intended to help investigate terrorist cells and the like.

Many TEIs stretch for years, allowing surveillance to continue even though the NYPD has never criminally charged a mosque or Islamic organization with operating as a terrorism enterprise.

The documents show in detail how, in its hunt for terrorists, the NYPD investigated countless innocent New York Muslims and put information about them in secret police files. As a tactic, opening an enterprise investigation on a mosque is so potentially invasive that while the NYPD conducted at least a dozen, the FBI never did one, according to interviews with federal law enforcement officials.

The strategy has allowed the NYPD to send undercover officers into mosques and attempt to plant informants on the boards of mosques and at least one prominent Arab-American group in Brooklyn, whose executive director has worked with city officials, including Bill de Blasio, a front-runner for mayor.

The revelations about the NYPD's massive spying operations are in documents recently obtained by The Associated Press and part of a new book, "Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD's Secret Spying Unit and bin Laden's Final Plot Against America." The book by AP reporters Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman is based on hundreds of previously unpublished police files and interviews with current and former NYPD, CIA and FBI officials.

The disclosures come as the NYPD is fighting off lawsuits accusing it of engaging in racial profiling while combating crime. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the department's use of the stop-and-frisk tactic was unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups have sued, saying the Muslim spying programs are unconstitutional and make Muslims afraid to practice their faith without police scrutiny.

Both Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have denied those accusations. They say police do not unfairly target people; they only follow leads.

"As a matter of department policy, undercover officers and confidential informants do not enter a mosque unless they are following up on a lead," Kelly wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal. "We have a responsibility to protect New Yorkers from violent crime or another terrorist attack — and we uphold the law in doing so."

An NPYD spokesman declined to comment.

The NYPD did not limit its operations to collecting information on those who attended the mosques or led prayers. The department sought also to put people on the boards of New York's Islamic institutions to fill intelligence gaps.

One confidential NYPD document shows police wanted to put informants in leadership positions at mosques and other organizations, including the Arab American Association of New York in Brooklyn, a secular social-service organization.

Linda Sarsour, the executive director, said her group helps new immigrants adjust to life in the U.S. It was not clear whether the department was successful in its plans.

The document, which appears to have been created around 2009, was prepared for Kelly and distributed to the NYPD's debriefing unit, which helped identify possible informants.

Around that time, Kelly was handing out medals to the Arab American Association's soccer team, Brooklyn United, smiling and congratulating its players for winning the NYPD's soccer league.

Sarsour, a Muslim who has met with Kelly many times, said she felt betrayed.

"It creates mistrust in our organizations," said Sarsour, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. "It makes one wonder and question who is sitting on the boards of the institutions where we work and pray."

Before the NYPD could target mosques as terrorist groups, it had to persuade a federal judge to rewrite rules governing how police can monitor speech protected by the First Amendment.

The rules stemmed from a 1971 lawsuit, dubbed the Handschu case after lead plaintiff Barbara Handschu, over how the NYPD spied on protesters and liberals during the Vietnam War era.

David Cohen, a former CIA executive who became NYPD's deputy commissioner for intelligence in 2002, said the old rules didn't apply to fighting against terrorism.

Cohen told the judge that mosques could be used "to shield the work of terrorists from law enforcement scrutiny by taking advantage of restrictions on the investigation of First Amendment activity."

NYPD lawyers proposed a new tactic, the TEI, that allowed officers to monitor political or religious speech whenever the "facts or circumstances reasonably indicate" that groups of two or more people were involved in plotting terrorism or other violent crime.

The judge rewrote the Handschu rules in 2003. In the first eight months under the new rules, the NYPD's Intelligence Division opened at least 15 secret terrorism enterprise investigations, documents show. At least 10 targeted mosques.

Doing so allowed police, in effect, to treat anyone who attends prayer services as a potential suspect. Sermons, ordinarily protected by the First Amendment, could be monitored and recorded.

Among the mosques targeted as early as 2003 was the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge.

"I have never felt free in the United States. The documents tell me I am right," Zein Rimawi, one of the Bay Ridge mosque's leaders, said after reviewing an NYPD document describing his mosque as a terrorist enterprise.

Rimawi, 59, came to the U.S. decades ago from Israel's West Bank.

"Ray Kelly, shame on him," he said. "I am American."

The NYPD believed the tactics were necessary to keep the city safe, a view that sometimes put it at odds with the FBI.

In August 2003, Cohen asked the FBI to install eavesdropping equipment inside a mosque called Masjid al-Farooq, including its prayer room.

Al-Farooq had a long history of radical ties. Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian sheik who was convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks, once preached briefly at Al-Farooq. Invited preachers raged against Israel, the United States and the Bush administration's war on terror.

One of Cohen's informants said an imam from another mosque had delivered $30,000 to an al-Farooq leader, and the NYPD suspected the money was for terrorism.

But Amy Jo Lyons, the FBI assistant special agent in charge for counterterrorism, refused to bug the mosque. She said the federal law wouldn't permit it.

The NYPD made other arrangements. Cohen's informants began to carry recording devices into mosques under investigation. They hid microphones in wristwatches and the electronic key fobs used to unlock car doors.

Even under a TEI, a prosecutor and a judge would have to approve bugging a mosque. But the informant taping was legal because New York law allows any party to record a conversation, even without consent from the others. Like the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, the NYPD never demonstrated in court that al-Farooq was a terrorist enterprise but that didn't stop the police from spying on the mosques for years.

And under the new Handschu guidelines, no one outside the NYPD could question the secret practice.

Martin Stolar, one of the lawyers in the Handschu case, said it's clear the NYPD used enterprise investigations to justify open-ended surveillance. The NYPD should only tape conversations about building bombs or plotting attacks, he said.

"Every Muslim is a potential terrorist? It is completely unacceptable," he said. "It really tarnishes all of us and tarnishes our system of values."

Al-Ansar Center, a windowless Sunni mosque, opened in Brooklyn several years ago, attracting young Arabs and South Asians. NYPD officers feared the mosque was a breeding ground for terrorists, so informants kept tabs on it.

One NYPD report noted that members were fixing up the basement, turning it into a gym.

"They also want to start Jiujitsu classes," it said.

The NYPD was particularly alarmed about Mohammad Elshinawy, 26, an Islamic teacher at several New York mosques, including Al-Ansar. Elshinawy was a Salafist — a follower of a puritanical Islamic movement — whose father was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, according to NYPD documents.

The FBI also investigated whether Elshinawy recruited people to wage violent jihad overseas. But the two agencies investigated him very differently.

The FBI closed the case after many months without any charges. Federal investigators never infiltrated Al-Ansar.

"Nobody had any information the mosque was engaged in terrorism activities," a former federal law enforcement official recalled, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the investigation.

The NYPD wasn't convinced. A 2008 surveillance document described Elshinawy as "a young spiritual leader (who) lectures and gives speeches at dozens of venues" and noted, "He has orchestrated camping trips and paintball trips."

The NYPD deemed him a threat in part because "he is so highly regarded by so many young and impressionable individuals."

No part of Elshinawy's life was out of bounds. His mosque was the target of a TEI. The NYPD conducted surveillance at his wedding. An informant recorded the wedding and police videotaped everyone who came and went.

"We have nothing on the lucky bride at this time but hopefully will learn about her at the service," one lieutenant wrote.

Four years later, the NYPD was still watching Elshinawy without charging him. He is now a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit against the NYPD.

"These new NYPD spying disclosures confirm the experiences and worst fears of New York's Muslims," ACLU lawyer Hina Shamsi said. "From houses of worship to a wedding, there's no area of New York Muslim religious or personal life that the NYPD has not invaded through its bias-based surveillance policy."

Is MLK dream reality? In changed city of Birmingham, yes and no

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Has King's dream of equality been realized in Birmingham?

By SHARON COHEN
AP National Writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — When he boarded a Greyhound bus on his way to Princeton University, Glennon Threatt promised himself he'd never come back here. As a young black man, he saw no chance to fulfill his dreams in a city burdened by the ghosts of its segregated past.

Helen Shores Lee left Birmingham years earlier, making the same pledge not to return. A daughter of a prominent civil rights lawyer, she wanted to escape a city tarnished by Jim Crow laws — the "white" and "colored" fountains, the segregated bus seating, the daily indignities she rebelled against as a child.

Both changed their minds. They returned from their self-imposed exile and built successful careers — he as an assistant federal public defender, she as a judge — in a Birmingham transformed by a revolution a half century ago.

This week, as the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, there may be no better place than Birmingham to measure the progress that followed the civil rights leader's historic call for racial and economic equality.

This city, after all, is hallowed ground in civil rights history. It was here where children marching for equal rights were jailed, where protesters were attacked by snarling police dogs and battered by high-pressure fire hoses. And it was here where four little girls in their Sunday finest were killed when dynamite planted by Ku Klux Klan members ripped through their church in an unspeakable act of evil.

That was the Birmingham of the past. The city that King condemned for its "ugly record of brutality." The city where he wrote his impassioned "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," declaring the "moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." The city where the movement came together, found its voice and set the stage for landmark civil rights legislation.

The Birmingham of the present is a far different place. The airport is named after a fearless civil rights champion, the late Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. The city's website features a 'Fifty Years Forward' campaign, forthrightly displaying photos of shameful events in 1963. There are black judges and professors in places where segregation once reigned. And black mayors have occupied City Hall since 1979, in part because many white residents migrated to the suburbs, a familiar pattern in urban America.

So has King's dream of equality been realized here and has Birmingham moved beyond its troubled past?

For many, the answer is yes, the city has changed in ways that once seemed unthinkable — and yet, there's also a sense Birmingham still has a long way to go.

The legal and social barriers that barred black people from schools and jobs fell long ago, but economic disparity persists.

Blacks and whites work together and dine side by side in restaurants during the day, but usually don't mingle after 5 p.m.

Racial slurs are rare, but suspicions and tensions remain.

"I don't think any of us would deny that there have been significant changes in Birmingham," Shores Lee says. King would be proud, she adds, but "he would say there's a lot more work to be done. I think he would tell us our task is not finished."

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"I have a dream that one day down in Alabama. ... little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers ..." — King, Aug. 28, 1963.

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Amid the flowers and soothing fountain in Kelly Ingram Park, there are stark reminders of the ugly clashes. It was in this area, now known as the Civil Rights District, where the scenes of police brutality were captured in photos and TV footage that helped galvanize public opinion around the nation on behalf of demonstrators.

Today, the park has statues commemorating King and other leaders. There's a sculpture of a young protester, his arms stretched back, as a policeman grabs him with one hand and holds a lunging German shepherd in the other. (An Associated Press photographer had captured a similar image.) There are other sculptures of water cannons, more dogs, and a boy and a girl standing impassively with the words "I Ain't Afraid of your Jail" at the base.

To those who grew up here, these works are not just artistic renderings but reminders of the bravery of friends and neighbors.

"It's kind of like being in the movie 'The Sixth Sense' — everywhere you go you see ghosts," Threatt says of the statues. "It's probably like a person who served in World War II going back to Normandy. It's a place where something very, very real, very poignant happened to people that you knew."

Threatt was just 7 when King announced his vision of a colorblind society before hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the Washington Mall. Not long afterward, Threatt was one of three black gifted students enrolled in a white elementary school. He was spat on, beat up, called the N-word.

The experience is etched in his memory. Now 57, Threatt occasionally runs into a 6th grade classmate — a bank vice president — who had been among his tormenters. They always have a pleasant chat. But he never forgets.

"I like him," he says. "I don't think he's a racist. He was a kid caught up in a social situation like I was. .... You've got to get over that in order to survive in the South. ... Otherwise you just wallow in self-pity and hatred and you don't move forward."

Threatt graduated from Princeton, then Howard University Law School, worked in Denver and Washington, D.C., but returned to Birmingham in 1997. Both he and the city had changed, he says, with Birmingham becoming more progressive. He joined an established law firm — something that would have been unimaginable 50 years earlier.

Threatt had been inspired, in part, to be a lawyer by Arthur Shores, a Sunday school teacher at his church and a pioneering civil rights attorney who fought to desegregate the University of Alabama. Shores' home was bombed twice in 1963, two weeks apart. His neighborhood was nicknamed "Dynamite Hill" for the series of bombings intended to intimidate blacks.

Shores' daughter, Helen, grew up resisting the segregation laws, once drinking from a "white" fountain — a defiant act that resulted in a whipping when she got home. At 12, she aimed a Colt .45 at some white men driving by her family's house, spewing racial obscenities. Her father, she says, slapped her arm, the bullet discharged into the air and he quickly grabbed the gun.

She left Birmingham for 13 years, returned in 1971, later switched careers and in 2003 became a judge, only to confront lingering remnants of racism.

In her early years on the bench, she recalls, a few lawyers pointedly refused to stand as is custom when a judge enters a courtroom. And, she says, she occasionally sees lawyers who are disrespectful of their minority clients.

"Racism is still very much alive and well in the South," Shores Lee says. "The actions of men here can be legislated but not their minds and their hearts in terms of how they think and feel about blacks and Hispanics."

The judge says the same goals her father fought for remain at the center of court battles today. She points to the Supreme Court's decision in June to throw out the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act that had provided federal oversight of elections in several Southern states. It was based on a challenge by Shelby County in suburban Birmingham.

The judge also says when she gives speeches about voting rights, she sometimes cites her father. "How far have we come if he talked about this 60 plus years ago and I'm still talking about it today?" she asks.

Donna Lidge didn't speak for decades about her painful past. Every morning, she'd board a school bus, pass an elderly white woman standing on a corner, cursing and making an obscene gesture. Inside the predominantly white school, she and her younger sister were ostracized. "We despised that school," she says.

Lidge said her mother would console them, saying: "'I want you to get an education. That's how you will fight back.'"

She now tells her daughter, Ashley, a teacher, about those days. "I talk to her about respect. I say no matter who it is, respect others."

Fifty years ago, the struggle to end racism had white supporters. It still does.

James Rotch, a white lawyer, began addressing the issue in 1998 when he launched the Birmingham Pledge — a program to eliminate racism and prejudice.

The "pledge" has evolved into a foundation with conferences and a special week of events held around the September anniversary of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that killed four girls in 1963. The program's educational materials are used in every state and 21 countries.

The pledge itself — a mission statement — has popped up in places ranging from a public bulletin board outside the Taj Mahal in India to a job training center in Connecticut.

Rotch says the intent is to inspire beyond the city. "We knew that Birmingham was known all over the world and not necessarily in a particularly good way," he says. "We thought we could show ... that by Birmingham getting its act in order with regard to race, people might say, 'If they can do it given their history, surely we can.'"

Not everyone shares his interest in emphasizing race.

"There are a lot of very good, very well-intentioned people who say, 'Look if we stop talking about all this, it'll all go away.' I don't believe that," he says. "...If we pretend it's not there, then we'll never solve it."

In the last 15 years, Rotch says the two races have become more comfortable with one another. And for those 30 and younger, "they really don't understand why anyone would be prejudiced," he says. "They intermingle easily and they just don't see what the big deal is."

Still, there are limits to the socializing.

King's dream is "real during the day" in workplaces and restaurants, says Jim Reed, a white bookstore owner. "When people aren't thinking about it, it's coming true," he says. Once home, however, they aren't inclined to broaden their circles.

"People don't know how to jump that divide," even though some would like to, he says. "I see it as taking a long time to get there. Generations have to change."

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".... the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. ... the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land." — King.

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Victor Beard juggles two jobs as a cook and earns slightly more than minimum wage in each. Despite 70-hour weeks, he barely scrapes by.

For Beard — who was born the same year King gave his speech — economic equality for black people is still elusive.

"It's like after Dr. King died, they threw us a bone and we had to take whatever scraps were left on it," says Beard, who co-chairs a city homeless coalition that meets at the Church of the Reconciler. "A lot of us did that. But some of us here still believe it can be better."

The Rev. Matt Lacey, senior pastor at the church, sees people struggle every day. "If you're born poor in the city, it's tough to get on your feet and harder for blacks than whites."

About 95 percent of his church's homeless ministry is black. "I just don't see that as coincidental," says Lacey, who is white.

Nearly three-quarters of the city's residents are black, and they're disproportionately represented among the poor. In a period covering the Great Recession — 2007-2011 — nearly 31 percent of the black population in Birmingham lived in poverty, almost twice as high as the number of white residents, according to federal figures.

Even so, black entrepreneurs have made enormous gains over the decades. But they still face disadvantages starting businesses because they have less personal wealth, less access to capital and fewer social networks, says Bob Dickerson, director of the Birmingham Business Resource Center

King, he says, would understand these obstacles. "I don't know that he thought 50 years would be enough time even in a perfect society to take a race of folks who had been slaves and had nothing and grow to have an economic base that would be equal," Dickerson adds.

In the political arena, black people also have made huge strides but haven't been able to convert ballot box muscle to economic power, says George Bowman, a Jefferson County commissioner with a special memory of King's speech — he was a 15-year-old South Carolina kid in the crowd that day.

"We've learned how to get the vote out and we've found a way to elect our candidates to office but we do not have the wealth," he says.

There are instances where both races "are trying their best to work together to effect some change to show the world that the Birmingham of 2013 is not the Birmingham of 1963," Bowman says. Still, "there's still a vast gap between the haves and the have-nots" with black residents far more likely to be poor, and wealth amassed by a handful of people, most of them white.

"That," he said, "is why it hasn't changed."

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"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." — King.

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From the altar at the More Than Conquerors Faith Church, Pastor Steve Green preaches to a congregation that couldn't have existed in King's day.

There are graduates of once-segregated universities. A generation of kids comfortable with mixed-race relationships. And political activists who worked to get out the vote for the nation's first black president.

Yet there is one constant: Green's congregation is about 90 percent black, a reminder of King's frequently-quoted declaration that 11 a.m. on Sunday is "the most segregated hour of Christian America."

King, the pastor says, would turn to the Bible to explain that 50 years isn't all that long to transform an entire society.

"Being a preacher, I think he would use as the basis the scriptural principle of seedtime and harvest. I think a lot of the seeds have been planted," he says. "They're getting nurtured a little at a time. But I don't think it's harvest time yet."

One member of Green's congregation, Chastity McDavid, reflects the dramatic change.

Growing up poor in Florida, she says, "I expected prejudice and racism and if it didn't happen, I was pleasantly surprised."

Now she holds a doctoral degree and is a minority health disparity researcher at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

When visiting community centers, sometimes addressing elderly, largely white audiences, McDavid says she's approached those events, alert for signs of prejudice. "I'd go with an open mind and open heart but be prepared for whatever," she says. What she's generally found, she says, are people who've been "accepting, even welcoming."

From childhood on, McDavid, now 35, always participated in celebrations for King's birthday, often at school where someone would usually recite the dream speech.

"He was the greatest example of how one person could make a difference," she says. "It wasn't so much the speech itself. ... It was what the speech ignited in the people who heard it. I felt I could be anything I want because of Dr. King. Had his dream not been shared, I don't think I would be where I am today."

___

"Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" — King.

___

One recent summer night, Steve Sills, a member of Green's church, took his two daughters to a rally to motivate young people about the value of respect.

The setting was Kelly Ingram Park, ground zero for the turbulence 50 years ago.

Sill's older daughter, Makiyah, 12, had studied King in school but she didn't understand the sculptures of vicious dogs and water hoses.

As they drove home, Sills, a computer teacher at a middle school, explained the racial hostilities of that era. He noticed a tear forming in his daughter's eye.

"She couldn't relate," he says. "Her best friends are white. She couldn't imagine it being that way."

Makiyah, he says, then wondered about the need to erect monuments of a painful chapter of America's past.

"Why would they have this as a reminder?" she asked. "It's sad."

"Yes, baby, those were terrible days," he replied, "but through the years we've put those things behind us. ... This is a part of history. It's good to revisit these times to show how far we've come."

___

Sharon Cohen is a Chicago-based national writer. She can be reached at scohen@ap.org.

Shooting on Peer Street in Springfield's Pine Point neighborhood ruptures car's gas tank; no injuries reported

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The shooting was reported around 7:50 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD -- No injuries were reported in a shooting in the area of 135 Peer St. Wednesday morning that ruptured the gas tank of a parked car.

The shooting was reported around 7:50 a.m.

Firefighters were summoned to the scene to clean up spilled gasoline.

"All of a sudden I heard, 'boom, boom'," said the car's owner, who was inside the home at the time.

Police investigating the shooting cleared the scene at about 9:40 a.m.


This is a developing story. Details will be posted as our reporting continues.


Reports: Worcester police officer hit by car after driver loses control, crashes in Webster Square Plaza

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Emergency services are on the scene in Webster Square Plaza after a driver lost control of a vehicle, hitting at least two people, according to reports.

Emergency services are on the scene in Webster Square Plaza after a driver lost control of a vehicle, hitting at least two people, according to reports.

According to police scanner reports, one of the injured pedestrians is a police officer, who is being treated for a leg injury.

The driver is believed to have suffered a medical emergency while driving, according to the Telegram & Gazette. The car was in reverse and hit a brick pillar, then the Payless Shoe Store, the Telegram reported.

Jay DiRico, convicted of assault on Chicopee police officer, to be sentenced in October; judge requests pre-sentence report

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The judge said the state Supreme Judicial Court in its rulings has prohibited any judge from imposing a sentence 'to send a message', despite the victim's request.

Scenes from Day 1 in the Jay DiRico assault trialJay T. DiRico  

SPRINGFIELD -- Hampden Superior Court Judge Bertha D. Josephson said Wednesday she will sentence Jay DiRico, convicted of assault and battery on a police officer, on Oct. 15.

At the sentencing hearing Wednesday for DiRico, Josephson asked the Probation Department to prepare a pre-sentence report on the retired court officer to aid her in determining a sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Carey Szafranski asked Josephson to sentence DiRico to 2 ½ years in a House of Corrections, with 18 months to be served and the rest suspended with three years probation.

Defense lawyer J. Timothy Mannion asked Josephson to sentence DiRico to probation only.

"There is no need to incarcerate Mr. DiRico," Mannion said, noting that DiRico has no record and has medical problems.

Josephson said neither the defense or prosecution request is "beyond my consideration."

DiRico, 42, was convicted Tuesday of assault and battery of Chicopee Police Officer Jeffrey Couture by a Hampden Superior Court jury. He was acquitted on charges of assault with intent to murder (Couture), resisting arrest, and assault and battery and assault of Corrine Nelson, his estranged girlfriend, in connection with the April 15, 2012, incident.

Couture testified that he was dispatched to DiRico's Murphy Lane home to help Nelson get some belongings from the house, where she said she lived.

He testified he pushed DiRico to stop what he felt was a "pending attack" on Nelson once they were inside the house.

Couture testified DiRico punched him, choked him and hit his head against the floor.

Szafranski said the facts of the case are "egregious" given that DiRico, "a former member of law enforcement, would commit such an act."

She said Couture went without any other police officers into the home with "no reason to think he was walking into danger."

Couture gave a victim impact statement in court to Josephson saying, "When Corrine Nelson's safety was in jeopardy that day I stepped in to protect her without regard for my own safety."

"In the midst of the struggle for my life on April 15, I didn't know if I was going home at all," he said. "Unfortunately there is no need to look beyond Western Massachusetts to find incidents in the last two years in which local police officers have been attacked, assaulted and even killed answering calls for service."

He said he wanted Josephson to sentence DiRico to jail to send a message to "those who have no regard for police officers and the job they do."

Couture said he wants the judge's sentence to send a message that assaults on police officers will not be tolerated.

Josephson said the state Supreme Judicial Court in its rulings has prohibited any judge from imposing a sentence "to send a message."

Mannion, the defense attorney, said DiRico has already received some "street justice punishment" at the hands of the Chicopee police. He said DiRico sustained injuries during the incident, during his arrest and at the police station.

DiRico has been under house arrest and with an electronic monitoring bracelet for 15 months, living at his parents' Agawam home, Mannion said. The Murphy Lane home in Chicopee has been sold, he said.

DiRico got a second replacement for one hip earlier this year and needs physical therapy three times a week, Mannion said. He must inject himself each day with a blood thinner because he has a blood clot in his leg, Mannion said.

Josephson said as part of the pre-sentence report she wants to know what arrangements would exist for medical treatment for DiRico if he were incarcerated.


Crime on the mind of some Forest Park residents as Springfield officials, public discuss ways to reduce problems

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Residents met with city officials at a Sumner Avenue church to discuss ways to reduce crime in the neighborhood.

SPRINGFIELD — The sprawling, multi-ethnic Forest Park section of Springfield, home to some of the city's finest architecture and wealthiest streets, is a study in contrasts.

On the one hand, it's home to a burgeoning Asian population that lives alongside the neighborhood's long-established Jewish community and other ethnic groups. On the other, it's the community that leads the city in homicides this year.

Despite the well-preserved Colonial, Queen Anne and Tudor Revival homes in the Forest Park Heights Historic District, cited by "This Old House" as one of the "Best Old House Neighborhoods" in the Northeast, crime weighs heavily on the minds of some neighborhood residents.

On Tuesday evening, residents hoping to see their neighborhood lick its reputation as a hotspot for crimes ranging from shootings to armed robberies gathered at Faith United Church on Sumner Avenue for a discussion with city officials, including Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet and members of the city's public health and safety committee.

"This is our neighborhood and we need to take it back," Brenda Hodge told CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of The Republican/MassLive.com.

Hodge was among those who voiced concerns about crimes small and large, from simple quality-of-life issues to a spike in gunfire, which already has killed three neighborhood residents since late May.

Hodge, a 30-year resident of Forest Park, said she has no plans of abandoning her Riverview Street home, but she's seeking solutions from the officials and police who govern and patrol her neighborhood, respectively. "It's scary to wake up and look out your window and see something like that happening outside your house," she told the TV station.

Officials and residents discussed various crime-fighting options, from creating neighborhood watch groups to better harnessing technology to deter and solve crimes. The BADGE unit, a special police deployment in the neighborhood, has made its presence felt by conducting regular foot patrols in the business district, and about 20 new officers are expected to soon join the police force.

But more needs to be done, according to some crime-weary residents.

High-crime pockets include the stretch of lower Belmont Avenue heading toward the South End and streets surrounding the "X" commercial district, which is near the geographic center of the neighborhood. But even quieter sections of the community, including streets south and east of the "X," are now experiencing an uptick in gun crimes, upending conventional wisdom about what areas to avoid.

Recent shootings include back-to-back gunfire early Saturday morning on Johnson Street, about four blocks northwest of the "X." There were no reported injuries, but police found ample evidence of an apparent gun battle that damaged vehicles and a triple-decker apartment building near the corner of Johnson and Dickinson streets.

Last week, two people narrowly avoided injury when the car they were in was shot up on lower Belmont near Woodside Terrace.

"I love Forest Park," Hodge said, vowing to continue to attend community meetings about ways to reduce crime.

"I think it's a great neighborhood," she said. "Great people live here, it's very diverse and I like that about it, and I refuse to give it up."


Material from CBS 3 Springfield and The Republican was used in this report.

At arraignment, 2 suspects in beating and robbery of homeless man in Springfield's Riverfront Park held on $7,500 cash bail

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Both suspects denied their charges during their arraignments.

SPRINGFIELD -- Two city teenagers charged with beating and robbing a 33-year-old homeless man at knifepoint in Riverfront Park early Wednesday were each held in lieu of $7,500 cash bail following their arraignments in District Court.

The two 17-year-olds -- Anthony Rivera, 131 Leyfred Terrace, and Jonathan Cotto, 213 William St. -- denied charges of armed robbery, two counts of assault and battery, intimidating a witness and shoplifting.

Rivera had several outstanding default warrants for breaking and entering and carrying burglary tools.

Sgt. John M. Delaney said detectives are working to see if the pair can be linked to a similar attack at the park Sunday night.

The most recent incident occurred shortly after midnight, when the suspects approached their victim from behind and punched him repeatedly, Delaney said. One of the suspects then pulled out a large knife and demanded the victim’s belongings.

The two teens then stole the man’s shoes, backpack and other personal items and fled the park, said Delaney, aide to Commissioner William Fitchet.

The victim called police and refused medical treatment. A short time later, however, the two suspects allegedly jumped the victim again in the area of Gridiron Street, threatened him and warned him not to call police again.

Police spotted the suspects a short time later in Pride gas station parking lot and arrested them. The two, Delaney said, had allegedly stolen cookies from the store.

Pre-trial hearings for both suspects were set for Sept. 27.

Donor withdraws planned gift to Westfield State

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A donor who had planned a $100,000 gift to Westfield State University says he is withdrawing the offer in light of revelations that the college's president spent lavishly.

BOSTON (AP) — A donor who had planned a $100,000 gift to Westfield State University says he is withdrawing the offer in light of revelations that the college's president spent lavishly.

John P. Walsh, president of Elizabeth Grady cosmetics, told The Boston Globe in an email he is withdrawing his offer to the college's foundation, which raises money for scholarships and other educational programs, unless President Evan Dobelle either steps down or reimburses the college.

A report found that Dobelle billed the foundation for more than $200,000 in travel, meals and entertainment. Dobelle said the spending has been to promote the university and repaid some.

In reaction to the withdrawal of Walsh's gift, Dobelle said in a statement that Walsh never formally pledged the $100,000. He also invited Walsh to contact him.

Children's Hospital state's most profitable in 1Q

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Nine of the 10 Massachusetts hospitals owned by for-profit hospital chain Steward Health Care System lost money in the first quarter of this year, according to newly released state figures.

BOSTON (AP) — Nine of the 10 Massachusetts hospitals owned by for-profit hospital chain Steward Health Care System lost money in the first quarter of this year, according to newly released state figures.

Quincy Medical Center, which Steward acquired in 2011, reported the system's largest loss — $5.6 million. Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River was the only profitable Steward hospital, with earnings of $4.7 million.

The data were included in a report from the state Center for Health Information and Analysis.

The most profitable Massachusetts hospitals, according to the state, were Children's Hospital Boston, which earned $93.2 million and UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, at $70.7 million.

A Steward spokesman tells The Boston Globe the company is financially stronger than the state numbers suggest because they don't reflect other revenue streams.

Boston AM News Links: The collapse of WEEI, Mass. delegation wants Congress to approve Syria action, Palmer signs HCA for casino

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In four years WEEI, once thought to be untouchable, has been eclipsed by 98.5 The Sports Hub.

WEEI, a Boston radio juggernaut that some thought just a few years was untouchable, has been eclipsed by upstart 98.5 The Sports Hub in just four years reports The Boston Globe's Calumb Borchers. WEEI, unlike The Sports Hub, has a New England radio network, too. WEEI and NESN are in the midst of their annual fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund.

Just days after Boston signed a host community agreement for their casino, Palmer is on the verge of signing their HCA for a casino writes our own Conor Berry.

Opponents of the East Boston casino are downplaying the projected cash windfall from the casino and sounding the alarm about possible social ills the casino will create reports the Boston Herald's Richard Weir.

The Massachusetts congressional delegation is not in a hurry to intervene in Syria and wants President Obama to clear it with Congress first writes our own Shira Schoenberg.

Our great municipal debate standoff is over as NECN and the Boston Herald move their proposed mayoral debate from conflicting directly with a debate sponsored by artists. reports Boston Magazine's David Bernstein.


Firefighters use scissor-lift to rescue injured construction worker trapped in elevated, confined space at Springfield Technical Community College

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The victim reportedly suffered a head injury.

SPRINGFIELD – Firefighters used a scissor-lift Thursday morning to rescue a construction worker who suffered an apparent head injury while working in an elevated confined space at Springfield Technical Community College.

The accident was reported shortly before 7:45 a.m. in a utility room at One Armory Square, said Dennis Leger, aide to Commissioner Joseph Conant.

The victim, trapped some 15 to 20 feet above the floor, was conscious throughout the rescue, Leger said.

Rescue workers used a scissor-lift on the premises to get to the man, and they strapped him into the rescue basket to get him down.

Leger had no information on nature of the man’s injuries.

The building, Leger said, is undergoing extensive renovations.

Gun-toting, foul-mouthed police chief Mark Kessler won't back down

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Police Chief Mark Kessler expects to be fired for posting incendiary videos in which he ranted obscenely about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire with borough-owned weapons.

KESSLER BILLBOARDA billboard paid for by The Coaltion to Stop Gun Violence that says: "Gilberton Council: Fire Kessler Even The Oath Keepers Dumped Him" is on Rt. 924 in the northbound lane outside of the Gilberton, Pa. exit Tuesday evening, August 20, 2013. Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler was suspended for thirty days after videos showing him cursing and firing automatic weapons.  

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Associated Press

GILBERTON, Pa. (AP) — Police Chief Mark Kessler expects to be fired for posting incendiary videos in which he ranted obscenely about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire with borough-owned weapons.

But Kessler, whose pro-gun videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online, has no intention of going away quietly.

With an Internet radio show, speaking invitations to gun rallies around the country and a newly formed "Constitution Security Force" that he claims already has chapters in 45 states, the 41-year-old coal miner-turned-cop said his message - that the federal government is too big, too powerful and wants to grab guns - is resonating with a segment of the public that believes as he does.

"The support has been overwhelming, both national and international," he said. "I find it truly amazing how many people finally said, 'You know what? This guy's right.'"

Friday is the last day of Kessler's 30-day suspension over what the Gilberton council has said was unauthorized use of the weapons. The council could decide his fate Friday night.

But if Kessler's worried about losing job, he's not showing it.

"If that's the price I got to pay for standing up for what I believe in, apparently for what a lot of Americans believe in, I'm willing to pay that price," said Kessler, speaking to The Associated Press at a gun range near Gilberton in northeast Pennsylvania.

If anything, his rhetoric has grown even more menacing.

This week, Kessler posted another potty-mouthed video in which he displayed paper targets with scary-looking clowns on them, dubbed "Eric" and "Danny." Those happen to be the first names of Council President Daniel Malloy and Vice President Eric Boxer, whom he has attacked on his website.

Patting an assault rifle, Kessler said, "This is the friend that Eric's going to meet today." After firing a volley at the target, he said, "Eric got a couple rounds to the head."

In an earlier video, Kessler savaged Secretary of State John Kerry as a "traitor" over a U.S.-backed international arms treaty. "COME AND TAKE IT!" he screamed, firing a machine gun.

Kessler said he posted that video and others like it partly out of frustration, and partly in an effort to get people to pay attention to an issue he holds dear: the erosion of Second Amendment and other constitutional rights.

"It was shock and awe," he said. "I could have went out there and did a nice video ... and nobody would've gave it a second look."

Now that he's achieved a measure of notoriety for his obscenity-filled rants against government tyranny and people he calls "libtards," Kessler said he worries the federal government will try to silence him. He predicted chaos if that happens.

"God help them if something should happen to me," he said. "I believe that could spark the next American Revolution."

Kessler insisted he's "not calling for anybody to take up arms against our government."

But he also warned the government would be in a fight if it ever tried to take away his guns.

"I would resist," he said. "I'd fight for freedom, and if it cost me my life, then so be it."

The FBI said it's aware of the police chief and his videos.

Kessler said he decided to speak out after the Obama administration began a push for new gun laws in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Most Gilberton residents approached by the AP this week declined to speak on the record.

But some, like Bill Yohn, said it's hard to reconcile the lawman they know with the profane, provocative figure on the videos.

"If I had a problem, he was quick to come," Yohn said. "He was completely different from how he appeared on the videos. It was like night and day."

Kessler, who is married with four children and two grandchildren, acknowledged how the videos portray him.

"I kind of look scary," he said. "I've been labeled the scariest police chief in the country."

Man dies in cell at Salem police headquarters

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An investigation is underway after a prominent Salem businessman died after being found unresponsive in a cell at Salem police headquarters.

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — An investigation is underway after a prominent Salem businessman died after being found unresponsive in a cell at Salem police headquarters.

Hugh Kerr was found unresponsive in his cell at about 4 a.m. Tuesday, and was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The 61-year-old Kerr was being held overnight without bail on a charge of domestic assault and battery pending an arraignment scheduled for later in the day.

A spokesman for the district attorney's office tells The Salem News it is investigating and an autopsy is scheduled.

Kerr had been involved in several business ventures over the years, but was most known for Kerr Leathers, which manufactured leather motorc6yle gear.

Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz seeks candidates for advisory board to review elected officials' pay

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The job of city councilor, which once entailed going to two meetings month, is now a time-consuming position that some councilors treat as a full-time job.

NORTHAMPTON – City residents concerned about the money and benefits elected officials earn have an opportunity to make some adjustments as members of the Elected Officials Compensation Advisory Board.

A new element in the revised city charter approved by voters last year, the board is charged with reviewing the salaries, stipends and benefits allowed elected officials in Northampton and making recommendations about them.

Mayor David J. Narkewicz, one of those elected officials, announced earlier this month that he is looking for members to fill the board’s seven spots. His office said Tuesday that it will continue to take applications until Friday and that Narkewicz expects to make the appointments next week after interviewing candidates.

Narkewicz makes $80,000 a year as mayor, the City Clerk $65,000. While the City Council president earns $5,500, the other eight council members receive $5,000 each. The nine School Committee members receive $2,500, as do the three superintendents of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School.

The elector under the Oliver Smith Will is paid $10 per year. The two Community Preservation Committee members who are elected by the public and the trustees of Forbes Library do not receive any compensation.

The job of city councilor, which once entailed going to two meetings month, is now a time-consuming position that some councilors treat as a full-time job. Ward 2 Councilor Paul Spector believes the small stipend effectively eliminates potential candidates who need to work full-time jobs outside.

“It makes it prohibitive for them to be on the council,” he said. “I don’t want to see anyone not have the opportunity to sit on the city council.”

At-Large Councilor Jesse Adams, a lawyer, said $5,000 is small compensation for what councilors are expected to do.

“I think of it in many ways as volunteering,” he said. “You can spend hours and hours and hours talking to constituents and going to meetings.”

The advisory board will also take a look at how much health insurance coverage the city will provide for elected officials. It currently pays half the cost for councilors. Narkewicz hopes to announce his appointments at the next city council meeting.


Manhan River fish ladder in Easthampton on schedule to be installed by year's end

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The fish ladder on the Manhan River in Easthampton, designed to help species like shad, blueback herring and Atlantic salmon reach spawning waters upstream from the dam, has been in the pipeline for about a decade.

EASTHAMPTON — While attention has been on the Manhan River Bridge replacement this summer, another project has been progressing on the same river just out of sight – the completion of the long-planned fish ladder.

In March, the city awarded the contract to complete the Manhan River fish ladder to New England Infrastructure Inc. of Hudson, which was the low bidder.

The company has been at work on the project since June, although rain, which raised the water table, slowed progress, said Mayor Michael A. Tautznik.

But he said crews have been working ever since and have had “nothing unforeseen (happen.) We are confident the project will be finished by the end of the year.”

The ladder, designed to help species like shad, blueback herring and Atlantic salmon reach spawning waters upstream from the dam, was supposed to have been in place by the spring of 2011.

But the contractor, CRC Co., of Quincy, said in 2010 it would need an additional $447,600 to finish the job.

The project has been in the pipeline for about a decade.

Crews faced a series of problems, including the discovery of wooden timbers buried under sediment.


New England Infrastructure has taken over where CRC left off. The Fish & Wildlife Service had granted $750,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus money for the project but needed to find additional money so the work could be completed.

New England Infrastructure bid $465,000, but with a little less money available the contract was amended to $393,600 with some grading and fencing removed from the project, Tautznik said at the time.

The bridge project, meanwhile, is moving along with the deck recently installed. State officials said earlier this month that the bridge, which was closed June 3, should reopen to traffic in October.

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