A traffic stop on Interstate 80 in eastern Nebraska has led to the seizure of 30.5 lbs. of marijuana and the arrest of two men from Western Massachusetts.

SEWARD, Neb. (AP) — A traffic stop on Interstate 80 in eastern Nebraska has led to the seizure of 30.5 lbs. of marijuana and the arrest of two men from Massachusetts.

The Nebraska State Patrol says a trooper stopped an eastbound car near Milford Thursday afternoon on suspicion of following another vehicle too closely.

The patrol says the trooper searched the car after smelling an odor of marijuana coming from it, and found the drugs in the trunk.

The 42-year-old driver, from Westfield, Mass., and a 31-year-old passenger, from Springfield, Mass., were arrested and jailed in Seward County on suspicion of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Andover's Police Officer of the Year is under investigation for allegedly hitting another vehicle while driving drunk.

ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) — Andover's Police Officer of the Year is under investigation for allegedly hitting another vehicle while driving drunk.

Evan Robitaille is scheduled to appear at a clerk magistrate's hearing next week to answer a summons issued to him by State Police in connection with the March 11 accident.

The Eagle-Tribune (http://bit.ly/194Txap ) reports that the summons was for operating under the influence of liquor, leaving the scene of an accident causing property damage, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and other charges.

Andover Police Commander Charles Heseltine said Robitaille has been on paid administrative leave since the incident.

Robitaille was one of two Andover officers of the year honored by the Exchange Club of Lawrence in January for their on-duty heroics.

He could not be reached for comment.

___

Information from: Eagle Tribune (North Andover, Mass.), http://www.eagletribune.com

The fire was reported at 11:54 p.m.

 

SPRINGFIELD -- Someone torched a vehicle as it was parked in front of the owner's home on Edmund Wynne Circle shortly before midnight Thursday, and the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad is looking for help from the public as investigators probe the incident.

Fire Department spokesman Dennis Ledger said a Dodge PT Cruiser parked at 86 Edmund Wynne Circle was destroyed after someone poured a flammable liquid over the vehicle and lit it on fire at 11:54 p.m. Thursday.

Firefighters from the Bay Street Fire Station responded to the scene and put out the flames. Ledger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph A. Conant, said the 2002 vehicle was declared a total loss.

Leger asked that anyone with information about the incident to contact the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad at (413) 787-6370.

The 3 students were attending the camp as part of a team-building exercise sponsored by Somerville High School athletic department.

A scrap of police caution tape on Montgomery Street early Tuesday morning was the only evidence of Monday's tragedy involving a 7-year-old bicyclist who was struck and killed by a dump truck driver. (Conor Berry I The Republican) 

OTIS — Three teens from Somerville were arrested Friday and charged in connection with sexual assaults that were reported last weekend at an Otis campground during a school retreat, according to Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless.

The three teens, Galileo Mondol, 17, and two 16-year-old boys whose names were not released because they are juveniles, were arrested by state police detectives assigned to Capeless’s office.

Mondol is charged with aggravated rape of a child under 16 years, two counts of assault with intent to rape a child under 16, indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or older, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and three counts of intimidating a witness.

The two juveniles face similar charges, Capeless said.

Capeless said the sexual assaults are alleged to have happened at Camp Lenox in Otis on Sunday.

The city of Somerville had rented the facility for a team-building retreat for athletes with the Somerville High School athletic teams, Capeless said.

The three suspects, all juniors at Somerville High School, are alleged to have entered a cabin occupied by freshmen and assaulted three students, he said.

No information on any of the victims, including gender, was disclosed.

The investigation is being handled jointly by state police detectives assigned to the Berkshire and Middlesex district attorneys and Somerville police.

Somerville School Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi said in a Friday afternoon press briefing that 161 Somerville students were at the camp with 19 adult supervisors. He met with parents and athletes after the allegations were made and everyone associated with the schools is "horrified" by the allegations, he said.

Federal refugee administrator Barbara Day said the mayor's raised concerns about refugees will be considered as decisions are made on funding resettlement agencies.

SPRINGFIELD — As Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his top advisors have objected to the influx of new refugees in Springfield, alleging they are being “dumped” on the city’s doorstep without adequate guidance or services, a top federal official said Sarno’s concerns are being considered as her bureau evaluates future funding for agencies.

Barbara Day, domestic resettlement section chief for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, submitted a letter last week to Sarno, stating her bureau “applauds your efforts to convene meetings with the resettlement service providers and we look forward to learning the outcome of those discussions.” [read letter at end of this article]

Sarno asked the bureau recently to stop sending new refugees to Springfield, saying the influx is overburdening city services including the schools, code enforcement and police. Sarno and advisors say many refugees are being placed in substandard housing and have inadequate services to succeed, creating concerns about their safety and public safety.

Representatives of Lutheran Social Services of New England and the Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts, the two agencies responsible for refugee resettlement in the region, have defended their programs, saying they provide a myriad of services, advance inspections of housing, and other assistance, supported by public and private funds. Both agencies said they do not place refugees in substandard housing, and do not cut off services after three months, as some critics have alleged.

Day said she has spoken with a representative of the state’s refugee coordination office and with a city lawyer since receiving Sarno’s letter that asked for the freeze on new resettlements.

“We agree that refugees are best placed in safe and affordable housing in communities that have services to support initial resettlement and long-term integration,” Day said in her letter. “Local consultations with service providers and civic leaders are important vehicles for understanding the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and what it takes to successfully give refugees a new start in a new country.”

In fiscal year 2012, the two resettlement agencies resettled a total of 605 refugees in Western Massachusetts. Of that number, 589 were resettled in Hampden County including 275 in Springfield, according to state statistics. The current fiscal year does not end until Sept. 30, and final figures are not yet available.

Refugee advocates last week met with the mayor and other city officials, and the sides agreed to create a small task force to respond to the mayor’s questions and concerns and to consider improvements to the program to aid the refugees and city.

Sarno has asked for a greater description of services and funding received, saying there is a need for increased accountability and transparency.

The information provided by the mayor will be taken into consideration when decisions are made for the coming federal fiscal year regarding competitive funding requests from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Episcopal Mitigation Ministries, Day said.

“We can assure you that these proposals, including the abstracts for their affiliates in Springfield, will receive thorough consideration,” Day said.

Lutheran Social Services received $1,238,200 in refugee resettlement and refugee services funding in Hampden County in fiscal 2013. Of that amount, $362,500 goes directly to clients and $875,700 goes for operating the services, a spokeswoman said.

A significant portion of the funds, however, is not only for newly arriving refugees but for all refugees served, some for up to five years, the spokeswoman said. The grants include funding for services such as case management, education and employment efforts, according to a summary.

Robert Marmor, chief executive officer of Jewish Family Services, said his agency received $292,927 in refugee resettlement funds for Hampden County, through the Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants. About 60 percent of the federal funds targeted Springfield, he said.

Of the grant amount, $1,125 is awarded as direct aid to each refugee in a family, and the agency receives $750 per refugee for its own administrative and operational expenses, which is the same formula, he said.

Jewish Family Services also received a $105,961 grant from the city for English language services for employment efforts, and a $23,574 state Department of Public Health grant, among other public and private fund sources, he said.

Sarno and his advisors say they also need more information regarding how decisions are made to settle refugees in Springfield, alleging the city has borne an unfair burden of refugees. Twelve percent of the refugees that are settled in Massachusetts are placed in Springfield apartments, Sarno said.

Representatives of the refugee organizations stated last week that other communities also take in numerous refugees, such as West Springfield and Lowell. A key factor in locating refugees includes access to public transportation, services and affordable housing, they said.

Sarno said that West Springfield has a greater number of refugees who are from countries with higher education and colder climates, able to adapt more easily, and he questioned why communities such as Northampton, Greenfield and Pittsfield have few if any refugees each year.

Response to Mayor Sarno - August 28 by masslive

The team's full findings are expected to be known will be after they are sent to U.N. headquarters in New York.

By MIKE CORDER
The Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — They've endured repeated delays, unrelenting scrutiny and even snipers' bullets in Damascus. Now U.N. inspectors, who have been gathering evidence of a possible chemical weapons attack in Syria, are poised to return to the Netherlands in coming days, setting in motion a meticulous process of analyzing samples at specially accredited laboratories.

According to the team's U.N. mandate, the analysis will establish if a chemical attack took place, but not who was responsible for a deadly Aug. 21 attack that Doctors Without Borders says killed 355 people and included the use of toxic gas. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that Washington knows, based on intelligence, that the Syrian regime carefully prepared for days to launch a chemical weapons attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to get an initial briefing on the U.N. team's work this weekend from disarmament chief Angela Kane. The team is expected to leave Syria on Saturday, but it remains unclear exactly how long the process of examining samples will take.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said the team has concluded its collection of evidence, including visits to field hospitals, interviews with witnesses and doctors, and gathering biological samples and environmental samples — and is now packing up and getting ready to leave Syria.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which provided most of the 12-strong team of inspectors, has stringent guidelines for handling and testing samples at a chain of special labs around the world to ensure it delivers unimpeachable results — which could have far-reaching ramifications once they are reported at the United Nations in New York.

"It has to be accurate. The procedure has to be absolutely rigid and well-documented," former OPCW worker Ralf Trapp told The Associated Press on Friday.

Key to the procedure is a rock-solid chain of custody rules for the samples and analysis of each sample by two or possibly three different labs. The OPCW works with 21 laboratories around the world that have to pass a proficiency test each year to ensure their work meets the organization's standards.

Strictly documenting who has had custody of samples every step of their journey from the chaos of a Damascus war zone to the sterile serenity of a specially certified lab ensures that the material to be tested is what the inspectors say it is.

The labs, and even the inspectors themselves, will likely have been chosen from countries with a neutral stance on the Syrian conflict, experts say. Inspectors at the OPCW generally are analytical chemists and chemical weapons munitions experts.

Samples they gather are put in vials that are sealed and then put in a transport container that is also secured with a fiber-optic seal, said Trapp, who is now an independent disarmament consultant. Every time the container changes hands it is documented.

"A lot of stuff is built into the system to make sure nobody has tampered with the samples or replaced one with another," he said.

Once they have taken custody of the samples, chemists at the laboratories will test them for traces of chemicals banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The samples will be sent to two or three labs whose results will be cross-checked to ensure they match up, again reducing the chance of an inaccurate result.

The inspectors' mission has been shrouded in as much secrecy as is possible in Syria and will remain so once the team returns to the Netherlands.

There has been no official word on what type of samples they have gathered, but media reports suggest they collected soil that could be contaminated and swipes from munitions, along with blood and hair samples from victims and possibly even tissue from corpses, Trapp said.

Officials at the OPCW, headquartered in The Hague close to the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and the European Union's Europol police organization, say team members will make no comment on their return.

That means the first time their full findings are expected to be known will be after they are sent to U.N. headquarters in New York.

What remains unclear is when exactly that will happen. Trapp said the painstaking testing will take several days and the labs working on the samples won't sacrifice accuracy for the sake of quick results.

"In the current situation they would probably be pressed to speed up as much as they can, but there's always the risk if you speed it up too much that you will end up with results that could be contested by somebody," he said.

Other unemployment insurance claimants report filing out and clicking through a computerized questionnaire only to be told that it didn’t take, then being sent something in the mail, or calling on the phone only to get an endless computerized loop or a fast busy signal.

SPRINGFIELD — The jobless are still having a hard time navigating the state’s automated unemployment claims system despite two months of trial and error and the state’s best efforts to smooth their way .

“There are so many questions, it's difficult to understand,” said Sol Arias, a Springfield woman who tried claiming unemployment this summer after being laid off from her job as a school bus driver in the city. “Each form is the same questions, but with different words each time. You keep going in circles and they keep telling you they can’t help you.”

She said efforts to talk to a live operator or meet with someone in person at FutureWorks, a one-stop career center in Springfield, ended only in frustration. The whole process basically ended this week when she went back to work as school resumed.

“I tell them my electricity is about to be shut off,” Arias said. “All I get back is, 'Well, I can’t help you.'"

Other unemployment insurance claimants report filling out and clicking through a computerized questionnaire only to be told that it didn’t take, then being sent something in the mail, or calling on the phone only to get an endless computerized loop or a fast busy signal.

Interviewed this week, state secretary of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne F. Goldstein defended the system’s performance while admitting problems and saying the state has hired more staff to deal with the claims.

“Largely, the system is working,” Goldstein said. “That being said, even if one person is having problems, that is one person too many. If anyone is having problems, we’d like to address them.”

But Goldstein also said in a series of interviews this week that the new system is designed to efficiently weed out claimants for adjudication, either because the former employers are contesting the reason for termination or because the claimants themselves have something out of the ordinary about the claim.

That could be a failure to show that they are looking for work or part-time income which complicates the unemployment benefit.

Instituted in early July, the new automated system is the second phase in a $46 million technology upgrade launched in 2009.

Since the launch of UI Online, 47,720 initial claims have been filed and 60 percent of these claims were done through the new system without any staff assistance, Goldstein said.

State unemployment workers answer about 5,000 calls each day and the vast majority of calls are now focused on customer assistance rather than claims-taking.

For the week ending Aug. 24, approximately 97 percent of claimants requesting continued weekly claims were using the self-service modules including the Internet and automated phone options through UI Online and this has been a consistent trend since the launch of the new system. For the same week, system users processed more 115,000 weekly unemployment insurance extension requests, 97 percent of them doing so on their own either by phone or on the website, http://www.mass.gov/lwd/unemployment-insur/.

Goldstein said the state has advertised for 20 more temporary claims workers, emphasizing Spanish skills. That is on top of 20 temporary hired immediately after the system was implemented and 60 hired in advance of the new computer system on top of a pre-changeover staff of 150 who took many more claims with a personal phone call.

Goldstein said the new system will save $10 million to $15 million a year when it is up and running, including $1 million a year in postage alone. Some of the savings will come in eliminating claims that never should have been paid.

Greany was among 23 people from across the state to graduate from the state's firefighting training facility.

STOW - Easthampton firefighter Michael R. Greany was among 23 people from across the state to graduate Friday from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Stow.

The graduation ceremony marked the 200th class to graduate from the state-run facility in 47 years. The academy, part of the state Fire Marshal’s Office, trains fire recruits tuition- free prior to their reporting for duty at fire departments in Massachusetts.

Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and retired Marlborough Firefighter Lee Lively, a graduate of Recruit Class #1 in 1966 spoke at the ceremony. Eight other members of the first class were also present.

The 21 men and two women represented 17 separate departments including Attleboro, Burlington, Canton, Dudley, Haverhill, Holbrook, Lowell, Lynn, Milton, Norfolk, North Andover, Norwell, Randolph, Wakefield, Wellesley, and Westport.

Greany was the only graduate from Western Massachusetts

Mayor Alex Morse responded to the contender by saying research shows a casino's economic effects are negative.

HOLYOKE — Mayoral candidate Daniel C. Boyle said the city could have avoided increasing customers' sewer bills if Mayor Alex B. Morse had agreed to consider multimillion-dollar casino gambling proposals.

“Can you imagine what an additional $20 million to $30 million each year could do to revitalize the city of Holyoke? And that’s every year, not just a one-time lottery prize," Boyle said Thursday.

If Holyoke was to be the home of a nearly $1 billion gaming resort, like those being considered in Springfield, West Springfield and Palmer, the city's economic outlook would have improved to the point of reducing taxes, including the city's high commercial property tax, he said.

"This mayor’s short-sightedness and his intent on acting in behalf of his supporters with total disregard for the well-being of the greater good of Holyoke in general reflects negatively on the official office of the mayor," Boyle said.

Morse said the research that is important is that which shows casinos have a negative economic impact on a host community.

"Holyoke can do better and we are doing better. I can say with confidence that Holyoke has dodged a bullet on the casino issue, and we are working on a long-term, sustainable economic development strategy that is helping Holyoke make a comeback," Morse said.

Morse has been accused by Boyle and others of flip-flopping on issues, including casino gambling. He campaigned on an anti-casino platform in 2011. In November, he announced he had changed course and would consider proposals given the huge revenues projected.

But Morse changed again a few weeks later and said his own beliefs and outcry from Holyokers convinced him gaming was wrong here.

The City Council is considering increasing customers' sewer bills by 11 percent to cover a sewer fund deficit of $890,000.

Morse and councilors are considering seeking state Legislation that would let Holyoke Water Works end water service to customers that have failed to pay sewer bills as leverage to force delinquents to pay what is owed. That would come after a series of warnings, officials said.

"I'm focused on the future, not the past," Morse said. "I'm also running a positive campaign focused on my record and on my long-term vision for the city of Holyoke."

Boyle also criticized Morse for refusing to at least listen to Walmart's plan to open a "Supercenter" on Whiting Farms Road. Morse initially welcomed Walmart, but said his research, not just vocal opposition from some residents, showed him a Walmart would have a "negative impact" on existing businesses and the nearby residential neighborhood.

“This is just one of many errors committed by this mayor to the detriment of our city. Instead of re-electing Mayor Morse, it is too bad the residents can’t sue him for mayoral malpractice," Boyle said.

Boyle, Morse and three other candidates — Jim Santiago, Daniel J. Szostkiewicz and Jeffrey A. Stanek – are competing in the Sept. 17 preliminary election. The top two finishers will be on the ballot Election Day Nov. 5.

Elkins was accused of shooting the baby in the face after his mother refused to turn over money.

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia despite the defense's attempt to cast guilt upon several others, including the child's parents.

Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De'Marquise Elkins guilty of 11 counts, including two counts of felony murder and one count of malice murder in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.

De'Marquise Elkins faces life in prison when he is sentenced at a later date. At the time of the shooting he was 17, too young to face the death penalty under Georgia law.

His lead defense attorney, public defender Kevin Gough, vowed to appeal the verdict. A judge denied his request for the teen to be out on bond during the appeal.

"Marky Elkins and his family are confident that he will receive another trial in which he will be able to present fully his defense," Gough said. "Mr. Elkins will eventually be exonerated."

Karimah Elkins' attorney, Wrix McIlvaine, said he would talk to his client and that they would likely appeal.

Sherry West testified that she was walking home from the post office with her son the morning of the killing. A gunman demanding her purse, shot her in the leg and shot her baby in the face after she told him she had no money, she said.

Prosecutors, who declined comment after the verdict, said during the two-week trial that De'Marquise Elkins and an accomplice, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, are the ones who stopped West. Prosecutors say the older teen pointed a small .22-caliber revolver at West and demanded money. When West refused several times to turn over the money, Elkins fired a warning shot, shot the woman in the leg and the baby between the eyes, prosecutors said.

The killing in the port city of Brunswick drew national attention, and the trial was moved to the Atlanta suburb of Marietta owing to extensive publicity locally.

Prosecutors have said information from Elkins' mother and sister led investigators to a pond where they found the revolver. Elkins' sister also was charged with evidence tampering.

Lang, who was a key prosecution witness in Elkins' trial, is set to go to trial at a later date.

West told The Associated Press that she didn't want to say too much following the verdict because there are still other trials pending in the case and she will be a witness and she will testify at Elkins' sentencing.

"I knew why I was there and I knew that I didn't have my baby anymore," she said. "In the beginning I was in shock. Now things are kind of really setting in. But I'm hanging in there."

West spent hours on the stand during the trial and was grilled by the defense on her personal and medical history.

"I was a little nervous up on the stand and just being asked so many personal questions by the defense attorney," she said in a telephone interview. "It was embarrassing."

The defense tried throughout the trial to prove that the investigation was flawed and that police refused to consider other leads or investigate further once they had Elkins in custody the day after the killing

"They finished their case in 25 hours. Everything else they did after that they just sugarcoated," defense attorney Jonathan Lockwood said.

The prosecution's witnesses — many with criminal histories and some drug users — lied repeatedly and changed their stories throughout the investigation, Lockwood said. The defense also said several law enforcement agents backtracked in their testimony to make sure what they were saying fit the state's version of the story.

West made different identifications of the suspect and behaved strangely after the shooting, occasionally joking and laughing while being questioned by police and making other bizarre statements, Lockwood said. The baby's father, Louis Santiago, was in the vicinity when the shooting happened and showed no warmth toward the child's mother afterward, Lockwood said.

Lang testified that Elkins is the one who asked West for money and fired the shots, but admitted lying repeatedly, Lockwood said. And Lang's cousin, Joe Lang, was in the area on the day of the shooting and fits the description of the shooter.

But police never really investigated the baby's parents or the Lang cousins, Lockwood said.

The defense had strongly suggested in pretrial motions that the baby's parents were the killers. Gough made several suggestions to the same effect during the trial. But much of his questioning that seemed to be heading in that direction — including attempts to bring up details about the backgrounds of both of the baby's parents — was blocked by the judge after the prosecution objected.

Prosecutors said the defense presented a lot of theories and speculation but that the evidence and facts in the case proved Elkins' guilt.

Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson showed jurors a string of still images pulled from video cameras around Brunswick during her closing argument. They all showed Elkins in specific locations at specific times the day of the shooting.

Johnson also reminded jurors of the testimony of two young women — one who said Elkins walked her to school at 8:45 a.m. the day of the shooting and another who said she spent the night before with Elkins and ate with him later that morning, which was backed up by video stills of them at a convenience store.

The only person whose story didn't match the evidence in the case was Elkins, Johnson said.

Johnson also rejected the accusation that police stopped investigating once they arrested Elkins, noting that they pulled video from various cameras around town and went diving in a pond to recover the gun the following week.

Johnson also slammed the defense for picking on West and her behavior following the shooting: "Does anyone know what the protocol is for how you're supposed to act when you've just watched your child get shot in the face?"

___

Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum in Savannah contributed to this report.

Police say the boy was struck about 6 p.m. Friday near the end of First Street.

FITCHBURG, Mass. — A 10-year-old boy has suffered a leg injury after being hit by a train in Fitchburg, emergency officials say.

 

Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Desjean tells the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that the boy had a traumatic injury to his lower leg but was conscious, alert and talking when ambulances arrived. He was taken to HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster, then flown to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

The accident delayed the MBTA's Fitchburg/South Acton line. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the train that struck the boy was operated by Pan Am Railways.

The accident remained under investigation.

A woman was wounded by a bullet that passed through the wall of her Canon Circle home in the Outer Belt section of Sixteen Acres.

 

SPRINGFIELD — A Canon Circle woman sustained a gunshot wound to the lower back when an unknown gunman opened fire on her home early Saturday morning, police said.

Springfield Police Capt. Trent Duda confirmed that a round was fired at 72 Canon Circle at about 2:17 a.m. The bullet passed through a wall and struck the woman inside her apartment, Duda said.

Police had no immediate suspects in the shooting, which remains under investigation.

The victim told police she had no idea who would shoot at her. She was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment of a non life-threatening wound.

Canon Circle is a housing project off Cooley Street in the Outer Belt section of Sixteen Acres bordering East Longmeadow.

This story will be updated as information becomes available.

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An Indian Orchard man, arrested by Springfield police after a 16-year-old girl's mother complained he was allegedly stalking her daughter, was the victim of a burglary at his home while he was being held in the lockup, police said.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall was Neil Hawley's Stearns Square Bike Night concert, seen above.

1) Connecticut state prison employees help remove children from minivan after head-on collision in Enfield [Patrick Johnson]

2) NESN broadcaster Jerry Remy will not return to Red Sox games this season [Ron Chimelis]

3) Springfield Police: Indian Orchard man, arrested for stalking teen girl, has house burglarized while in custody [Dave Canton]

4) Nebraska traffic stop nets 30-plus pounds of marijuana; 2 Western Massachusetts residents arrested [Associated Press]

5) Source: New England Patriots release Stephon Morris [Nick Underhill]

The 2014 field for Mass. Governor may expand.

BOSTON (AP) — Decision time is fast approaching for several would-be candidates in Massachusetts' 2014 governor's race.

On the Republican side, former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care chief executive Charles Baker has suggested he'll make an announcement around Labor Day weekend.

Democrats are awaiting the decisions of several possible candidates, including Attorney General Martha Coakley, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.

Coakley is expected to announce a decision sometime in September. Capuano said this week that he'll have an announcement soon.

The field is wide open. Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, has said he's not running for a third term. Former Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray is also out of the running.

Several Democratic hopefuls have already jumped into the race, including state Treasurer Steven Grossman, former Obama administration health care official Don Berwick, former federal and state homeland security official Juliette Kayyem and former Wellesley selectman Joseph Avellone.

The candidacy of another Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, state Sen. Dan Wolf, is in flux pending the outcome of discussions with the state Ethics Commission over his ownership stake in Cape Air.

No Republicans have announced their candidacies, raising expectations that Baker — the party's 2010 nominee for governor — will make another run for the office next year. The recent announcement by former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown that he won't be a candidate has only increased anticipation among GOP activists that Baker could make his candidacy official in the next week.

Baker has done little to tamp down those expectations. During a recent interview on WGBH-FM, Baker ducked the question of a run for governor but said he'll have a decision soon, although he might "slip it till after Labor Day."

Coakley, the state's top law enforcement official, has said she's thinking about running for governor. Those close to her said she expects to announce a decision in September.

Coakley remains popular as attorney general, but she also lost a 2010 special U.S. Senate race to Brown to fill the seat left vacant by the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Capuano, a former mayor of Somerville, ran in the Democratic primary in the 2010 special Senate election, losing to Coakley. Capuano has been considering a run for governor and said this week that he's nearing a decision.

"You will hear soon," Capuano told reporters this week. When pressed, he added, "soon is soon."

Curtatone said last month that he's also considering a run, but is keeping an eye on which other candidates may jump into the race, including Coakley and Capuano.

"I'm going to make my decisions based on my own personal analysis, but to say you ignore the field, it would not be truthful," he said at the time.

Wolf's troubles stem from contracts Cape Air has with the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan Airport.

The commission had ruled that Wolf would have to choose between his political career and his continued ownership interest in the regional airline he helped create 25 years ago. The commission said the contracts with Massport violate the state's conflict-of-interest laws.

Another independent hopeful, Evan Falchuk, has also said he's running.

Peter Manfredi, 54, was arrested after he allegedly punched a woman in the face and assaulted two police officers at his Somers Road home.

 

EAST LONGMEADOW — Police said they arrested a Somers Road resident at his home Friday night after he punched a woman in the face and assaulted two officers who responded to the 10 p.m. call.

East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Daniel Bruno said 54-year-old Peter Manfredi was taken into custody and charged with single counts of assault and battery and resisting arrest and double counts of assault and battery on a police officer.

Bail was set at $25,000 cash and an arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday in Palmer District Court, which is closed Monday for Labor Day.

Bruno said officers responded to a report that Manfredi punched a woman during an argument at his Somers Road home. When police arrived to investigate, Manfredi became angry and threw a lava lamp at an officer, hitting him in the head, Bruno said.

Officers tried to arrest Manfredi, but he began throwing punches and fighting off their attempts to take him into custody, Bruno said.

Officers Michael Ingalls and Daniel Atwater eventually subdued Manfredi, who was taken to police headquarters and booked on the charges.

Bruno said neither officer required medical treatment.

Hard Rock New England President Tim Maland said that although the proposed casino is located on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds in West Springfield, the company would take a regional approach to developing meaningful partnerships. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD – Hard Rock International officials looking to win a public vote in favor of their $800 million West Springfield casino proposal continue to hammer home their message of the plan’s regional benefits.

The project must be approved by West Springfield voters Sept. 10 before becoming eligible for the sole Western Massachusetts license from the state Gaming Commission.

Hard Rock New England President Tim Maland said Friday during a Springfield meeting with The Republican editorial board that although the proposed casino is located on the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds in West Springfield, the company would take a regional approach to developing meaningful partnerships.

"We just completed a promotion with Six Flags (in Agawam) ... and it's my intention as operator of the facility to be cross-promoting that facility because it's a draw to the region. We see ourselves as partners and not competitors," Maland said. "We've met with representatives of Symphony Hall and other facilities considered impacted venues as defined by the gaming commission. It's our intention to cross promote - to use them as a hook for people outside the region to come to this area. We need reasons for them to come and it's my intention to assist with ticket purchases, et cetera, to benefit their facility as well as my own."

Hard Rock International CEO James Allen, who phoned into the editorial board meeting from Florida, said the path for the company to partner with the Eastern States Exposition was a long one, but that both sides feel they landed with the right colleague.

"Historically, I started looking at state of Massachusetts to apply for license four years ago. My first meeting was with George Carney at Raynham, then Holyoke, then Springfield. When we got wind they (exposition officials) were interested in talking with Hard Rock, it was an exciting day for our organization," Allen said. "The first thing that attracted us to the exposition was the size of the parcel and the history of what they had done for New England. With history of the Big E and our company coming together, it's a marriage made in heaven."

Despite his absence on Friday, Allen will join Maland and other Hard Rock team members this coming week as they hit the streets to try to win over as many people as possible ahead of the Sept. 10 referendum vote on the proposal in West Springfield.

Allen said that in his view, one of the factors distinguishing the Hard Rock pitch from its competitors in the region is the size of the parcel they have available for development. Mohegan Sun has an option to develop its $1 billion casino on a sprawling 150 acres in Palmer, while MGM Resorts International has just 10 to 15 acres in the South End of Springfield for its $850 million resort casino. Allen said the 38 acres it will lease from the Eastern States Exposition gives it enough room to grow horizontally and jive well with the adjacent fairgrounds.

"At the Big E, we have the space and opportunity to design it with some interesting points. And we don't have to go vertical," Allen said. "The campus environment of The Big E allows us to create a contained environment. If someone causes a situation, we can keep them on the grounds until arrested. In a downtown environment, they could just make their way out any egress door that spills out onto a city street."

Eugene Cassidy, the CEO of the exposition, reiterated that he, like many West Springfield residents, started out cold on the notion of a casino proposal in the city. But he said that once he came to terms with the fact that casino gaming is coming to Western Massachusetts and has the potential to affect his operation at the 17-day New England fair, he had to take action.

"Many people know, especially in West Springfield, that I was not a big fan of casinos or gaming. But who was the best match? By far, the Hard Rock organization, as an organization, is a partner that (we) felt would be the best partner for West Springfield or Western Mass.," Cassidy said. "Who knows what casino gaming is going to look like a half-dozen years or a generation from now, but Hard Rock is a diversified entity that I think they're the most responsible party, the most responsible player at the table."

Cassidy said that he, like many of the West Springfield residents they are hoping will turn out on Sept 10 for a yes vote on the project, had a change of heart after meeting company officials and eventually seeing more details of the project.

Maland said a big selling point with residents on the fence has been the company's $35 million traffic mitigation plan and its included projects. The company would completely redevelop Memorial Avenue, including expanded lanes, improved traffic control devices, sidewalks and pedestrian walkways as well as updated sewer lines and other unseen infrastructure improvements.

It would also create a new Route 5 interchange to allow a direct second path to the casino site and work with the state to enhance the Memorial Bridge Rotary and the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge to mitigate traffic congestion.

Maland said a common misconception he works to address one-on-one with residents in the remaining days ahead of the public vote is the amount of traffic expected at the proposed casino. He said the stand-still congestion experienced by Big E fair-goers as well as West Springfield residents for much of the 17-day annual fair does not represent what they anticipate at the facility in terms of attendance.

"Big E traffic is a third of the traffic we would see in an entire year," Maland said. "With our plan and improvements we would improve traffic flow in the whole area."

The company said Monday that a survey of likely voters in West Side concluded that support for the project is at 49.6 percent, with 41.4 percent opposed. Nine percent reported they are still undecided, and the poll, conducted by Fallon Research from Aug. 14-16, carried a 5 percent margin of error, according to Hard Rock officials.

Hard Rock International currently operates four casinos in the United States and three casinos in foreign countries, and plans to open an Ohio venture before the end of the year. Hard Rock is competing with MGM's Springfield casino proposal and Mohegan Sun's Palmer project to battle for the state's sole Western Massachusetts casino license.

Hard Rock’s plan includes a 12-story hotel with at least 250 rooms along with an approximately 100,000-square-foot casino with 100 table games, 2,500 slot machines and a Hard Rock Cafe. The resort is also expected to include a live music venue, a gallery of music memorabilia from the chain's extensive collection and several retail shopping and dining options.

The Sept. 10 city-wide vote comes just days before thousands flock to the fairgrounds for New England's largest fair.

 

SPRINGFIELD - Police say a woman was shot in the buttocks while sitting on her couch just before 2 a.m. Saturday morning. Sgt. Kenneth Murray said the victim did not see or hear anything before a single bullet struck her in her apartment at 72 Canon Circle. Police suspect she was not an intended victim, he said. Investigators found a...

SPRINGFIELD - Police say a woman was shot in the buttocks while sitting on her couch just before 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

Sgt. Kenneth Murray said the victim did not see or hear anything before a single bullet struck her in her apartment at 72 Canon Circle. Police suspect she was not an intended victim, he said.

Investigators found a single .40-caliber casing outside the apartment, and are processing the evidence but currently have no suspects, according to Murray. Police characterized the wound as superficial.

"We think it was a completely random and bizarre event, since she had no information for us and didn't report seeing or hearing anything outside the apartment before she was shot," Murray said.

An investigation is ongoing.

A meting will be held this week with the various public safety officials from the towns involved.

PALMER - The town has received a $1.5 million state 911 grant representing the latest development in a proposal to regionalize dispatch services for Palmer, Monson, Ware and Warren.

Though the initiative is still in the preliminary phase, officials were pleased the grant was awarded. However, it cannot be used until the regionalization plan is finalized by several of the towns.

The money would fund a project manager and equipment. If approved by the towns, the regional dispatch center would be housed in the new Palmer Police Station now under construction. The new building features an approximately 1,000-square-foot dispatch center, and could fit six dispatchers.

"We have already determined that the best location is Palmer, and we've planned the dispatch room accordingly," Palmer Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said on Friday.

The towns hired the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts at Boston to study the regionalization of dispatch services and are waiting for a report this November; the center also is helping the towns finalize an inter-municipal agreement, Frydryk said. He said the Collins center is updating information to reflect the inclusion of Ware.

Once the intermunicipal agreement is finalized, Frydryk said it will go before the selectmen in the other towns, so it could then be placed on town meeting warrants for final voter approval. In Palmer, the agreement would be approved by the Town Council.

Frydryk said the state 911 department supports regionalization, and makes grant money available to support efforts.

"Clearly there's a benefit to it. Collectively we can acquire more in terms of equipment," Frydryk said.

"I'm looking forward to working with the police and fire chiefs and administrators of the towns on how it's going to operate," Frydryk said, adding a minimum of three towns are needed to consider a regional dispatch center.

A meeting will be held with public safety officials, including fire department officials, from the towns this week.

Monson Police Chief Stephen Kozloski Jr. called the grant "an important next step in looking at if and how Monson can participate in a regional center." Kozloski said he was glad the project has entered a new phase.

"By consolidating resources, communities can provide a better product," Kozloski said.

"It doesn't take much more to provide a better service because our resources are already so thin. One of the primary goals was being able to pool resources and having multiple dispatchers so we can continue to provide a high level of service in those instances when one dispatcher is marginally enough to provide them," Kozloski said.

Palmer has five dispatchers (one recently was added during the fiscal year 2014 budget process and will be partially grant funded through state 911), while Monson has four full-time dispatchers and usually two or three part-timers.

Kozloski said the new combination Town Hall-Police Station in Monson still will have a dispatch center. Construction has not yet begun on that project.

Kozloski said a dispatch center would be needed in case a problem arose at the regional center, or in the event of extreme weather such as a tornado or snowstorm, where the town would want to man its own facility. And, if the town ever wanted to end its partnership with the other towns, it would still have a dispatch center to use, he said.

If Monson moved forward with the regionalization, its dispatch area would be unstaffed. Kozloski said he has not yet addressed how police would deal with walk-in traffic.

"If that's what our residents want, I personally feel that a regional center would greatly enhance our ability to provide a much higher level of dispatching services than what we're currently able to provide," Kozloski said.

He said one dispatcher can potentially be dealing with walk-in traffic, calls on the business line and emergency calls.

When a medical call comes in, dispatchers also must try to render medical assistance over the phone until an ambulance arrives. How many dispatchers would be needed in the regional center would be addressed in the Collins report.

Curran said the current courthouse is outdated and nearly 50 years old.

SPRINGFIELD – State Rep. Sean F. Curran has filed a bill, asking the Legislature to approve a study to determine if a new courthouse can be built in Springfield to replace the Hampden County Hall of Justice on State Street.

Curran, D-Springfield, said the current courthouse is outdated and nearly 50 years old.

In addition, the current courthouse is across from the proposed site of an $800 million casino project proposed by MGM Resorts International, and is near a raised section of Interstate 91 that is slated for a $400 million overhaul, Curran said.

With that investment of millions of dollars, “perhaps it’s time to rethink the entire area,” Curran said.

“With an ongoing construction of the 91-viaduct, as well as the casino project on State Street, now is the time to study the feasibility of constructing a new courthouse here in Springfield,” Curran said. “We are one of the busiest courthouses in the state and we need a facility that can meet those challenges.”

Sean F. Curran 

In the bill, Curran called for a study by the state Executive Office of Administration and Finance, beginning with the creation of a Hampden County Courthouse feasibility commission.

Curran said the study should consider several sites including, but not limited to the North End and South End, particularly, but not limited to: the U.S. Post Office building, the Peter Pan Bus Terminal and the current site of The Republican newspaper building, all on Main Street.

Curran said there have been new courthouses built in approximately the last decade in Boston, Fall River and Worcester. Hampden County also deserves a “state-of-the-art” courthouse, he said.

The study would also examine the cost impact of a new courthouse on the county and state, the impact of creating new construction jobs and other jobs, and ways to integrate the new courthouse with local colleges, he said.

He said his idea for a courthouse will need substantial political support from Western Massachusetts, and hopes it will be an issue for candidates for state office in the coming year.

Curran's bill proposes that the feasibility commission would include: three active or retired justices who served in Hampden County; a member of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce; two representatives from the Hampden County Bar Association; two members of the building trades; and various representatives from other county and state agencies. It should also include appointees of the Office of Administration and Finance, and individual members or appointees of the House and Senate, the bill states.

A report should be filed with the House and Senate by Jan. 6, 2015, the bill states.

Curran says in the bill that a new 21st-century courthouse would offer “up to date wireless technology, data storage, Internet streaming, and real time courtroom audio and visual technology.”

Curran also suggested the study consider the possibility of naming the new courthouse after Judge Roderick Ireland, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a Springfield native.

Obama dropped the question of Syria, the nation's credibility and the balance of government power in the very laps of lawmakers who had complained about his go-it-alone-style.

By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress, abruptly handed exactly the war powers many had demanded, grappled Saturday with whether to sign off on President Barack Obama's plan to punish Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack.

Now with a stake in the nation's global credibility, lawmakers were seeking more information about the possible consequences of striking a region without knowing what would happen next.

The debate over what action, if any, Congress might approve is in its infancy. But the first contours began emerging within hours of Obama's announcement.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he doesn't believe Syria should go unpunished for the Aug. 21 attack near Damascus. "But we need to understand what the whole scope of consequences is," he said by telephone. "What the president may perceive as limited ... won't stop there."

Arguing for a strategy that seeks to end Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a joint statement saying that any operation should be broader in scope than the "limited" scope Obama described.

"We cannot in good conscience support isolated military strikes in Syria that are not part of an overall strategy that can change the momentum on the battlefield, achieve the president's stated goal of Assad's removal from power, and bring an end to this conflict, which is a growing threat to our national security interests," the senators said.

"Anything short of this would be an inadequate response to the crimes against humanity that Assad and his forces are committing. And it would send the wrong signal to America's friends and allies, the Syrian opposition, the Assad regime, Iran, and the world - all of whom are watching closely what actions America will take," they said.

Lawmakers of both parties had, for days, demanded that Obama seek congressional authorization under the War Powers Act. Until Saturday, the president showed no willingness to do so and the military strike appeared imminent. Then, from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he would strike Syria in a limited way and without boots on the ground. But, he added, he would seek congressional approval first.

"All of us should be accountable as we move forward, and that can only be accomplished with a vote," Obama said. "And in doing so, I ask you, members of Congress, to consider that some things are more important than partisan differences or the politics of the moment."

With that, Obama dropped the question of Syria, the nation's credibility and the balance of government power in the very laps of lawmakers who had complained about his go-it-alone-style -- but were less clear about how they would want to deal with a horrific chemical attack that the administration said killed 1,429 people, including 426 children. Other estimates of the death toll were in the hundreds.

There's little doubt that Obama as commander in chief could retaliate against Syrian targets without approval from the American people or their representatives in Congress. He did it two years ago in Libya, but in that case, the U.S. led a NATO coalition.

Congress' constitutional power to declare war was refined and expanded by the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires a president to notify Congress within 48 hours of initiating military action and bars U.S. armed forces for fighting for more than a maximum of 90 days without congressional approval. President Richard Nixon vetoed that bill, but Congress overrode the veto.

Even with that power, Congress hasn't formally declared war since World War II.

Every subsequent conflict involving U.S. forces, including military conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Iraq, the Caribbean island of Grenada, Kosovo and Libya were undeclared, even though in most cases Congress did vote approval short of a war declaration -- sometimes after the fact. The Korean War was fought under the auspices of the United Nations, the one in Kosovo, by NATO.

With Syria, Israel's safety was a key concern. Dealing a blow to Iranian-backed Syria could mean a retaliatory strike against a key ally staunchly backed by many lawmakers, and some said that any president would need the weight of Congress behind him in such a situation.

"The potential for escalation in this situation is so great that I think it's essential that the president not be out there on his own," Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said Saturday in an interview.

But that's a different question than whether to carry out such a strike. Like Cornyn, Thornberry said he wanted to know what the goals would be-- and the consequences. In town halls held over the recess, he said, constituents asked him why what happened in Syria should matter to them.

"The president has to convince us," Thornberry said.

What to do about Syria is a politically perilous question for lawmakers, and one that has scrambled loyalties. Still uncomfortably fresh is the memory of the Iraq war and the Bush administration's justification -- since disproven -- that Saddam Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Liberals who voted in October 2002 against giving Republican President George W. Bush the broad authority to invade Iraq over weapons of mass destruction are echoing Obama's push for punitive strikes against Syria.

Republicans who in the past embraced Bush's military doctrine of pre-emptive action -- and repeatedly rejected Democratic attempts to end decade-plus conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan -- have rhetorically grabbed 1960s peace signs in warning against the implications of U.S. intervention in the Mideast conflict.

If Obama intended to make the debate less about his leadership and more about the policy, the move to seek authorization didn't work on Rep. Peter King.

King, a New York Republican and a member of the House's intelligence committee, suggested that the president was undermining the authorities of future presidents and seeking a political shield for himself by going through Congress.

"The president doesn't need 535 members of Congress to enforce his own red line," King said.