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Square One celebrates new Springfield South End location in recovery from 2011 tornado

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Square One has reopened in the South End following the loss its nearby building in the tornado of June 1, 2011.

SPRINGFIELD — Square One, an organization that provides early childhood and family services in Springfield, officially returned to its roots in the South End on Wednesday by opening a new center on Main Street more than two years after a tornado destroyed its nearby pre-school and administrative offices.

Square One staff and supporters, including business leaders and local officials, gathered at the new “Family Square” center at 1095 Main St., for a grand opening ceremony.

The building will initially house all of Square One’s parenting programs and family services, along with a pre-school classroom for 22 children on the first floor, said Joan Kagan, president and chief executive officer of Square One. The organization, which has been in Springfield for 130 years, has plans to expand to the second floor in the spring to locate its new headquarters, she said.

Kagan said Square One’s recovery from the tornado of June 1, 2011 was a bit like the challenges faced by Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz." Whereas Dorothy was knocked off her feet and then was able to return home by clicking her heels, Square One was “knocked off its foundation,” and was helped by its supporters in its ongoing recovery, Kagan said. Square One also lost a program site on Worthington Street, destroyed in a downtown gas explosion last November.

“We really did it,” Kagan said of the recovery. “And while Dorothy said, ‘Oh Aunt Em, there is no place like home,’ we at Square One are saying, ‘Oh Springfield, there is no place like our new home.’ ”

A dozen children stood by with blue T-shirts that proclaimed “There’s no place like our new home” on the front.

The organization chose to expand upon its family services in the new site, rather than just replicate what it offered, Kagan said.

Local officials at the ceremony included Mayor Domenic J. Sarno; state Sens. Gale Candaras, D-Wilbraham, and James Welch, D-West Springfield; state Reps. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera and Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield; and City Councilor Kateri Walsh.

In addition, there were representatives of many of the business sponsors in attendance. Nicholas Fyntrilakis, representing MassMutual Financial Group, was among the speakers.


The story will be updated as reporting continues

Baystate Franklin nurses call for binding arbitration on long-running contract talks

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The union wants an arbitrator to settle the dispute which centers on how overtime is figured.

GREENFIELD - Nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center voted on Sept. 3 to submit their proposals to a neutral arbitrator for resolution of the contract negotiations which have been ongoing for nearly two years, according to a news release from the union.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association and Baystate have had 38 negotiating sessions since the old contract expired.

" Binding arbitration for the resolution of negotiations is a well-tested procedure commonly used to resolve firefighter and police negotiations," according to the release. "An arbitrator takes into consideration such factors as industry standards, comparability within the profession, the employer’s financial standing, along with both parties’ arguments supporting their respective positions."

The Massachusetts Nurses Association represents 209 nurses at Baystate Franklin and another 47 nurses at Baystate Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice in Springfield.

Negotiations are scheduled to resume on Sept. 25 when the nurses will hear from Baystate about the proposal to resolve negotiations through binding arbitration.

A 24-hour strike in October didn’t resolve anything. Central to the dispute are overtime rules.

Now, nurses at Baystate Franklin earn their overtime by the day. If a nurse is scheduled to work eight hours and works 10, that’s two hours of time and a half regardless of how many hours that nurse works during the week. Baystate wants overtime to start after 40 hours a week, a move officials there say will save $80,000 from a $180,000 annual overtime bill.

Baystate countered with an offer of figuring overtime by the week, but with increase the proposed general wage increase plus steps for longevity. Since each step is worth approximately 3 percent, the actual total increases for those who are due for a step would be 4 percent in year one; 3.5 percent or 4.25 percent in year two; and 4 percent in year three, according to Baystate.

In July, Baystate announced layoffs that could involve in some way 13 employees and idle as many as 10 nurses, nine in the medical surgery unit.

Jury awards $280,000 in case over N-word abuse

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The case put a legal microscope to the concept that the word that is a degrading slur when spoken by whites can be used without retribution and sometimes affectionately among blacks.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The lawyer for a black woman whose hostile workplace claim against a black boss's N-word rant produced a $280,000 jury award says she hopes the case teaches society something.

"It's the most offensive word in the English language," attorney Marjorie M. Sharpe said outside federal court in Manhattan after a jury Tuesday added $30,000 in punitive damages to go with a $250,000 compensatory damages award it imposed last week against STRIVE East Harlem and founder Rob Carmona.

Sharpe stood with her client, 38-year-old Brandi Johnson, after a jury of six men and two women determined Carmona owes her $25,000 and STRIVE $5,000 in additional damages in a case that put a legal microscope to the concept that the word that is a degrading slur when spoken by whites can be used without retribution and sometimes affectionately among blacks, even in the workplace.

Sharpe said the double standard had persisted far too long as "people have tried to take the sting away from the N-word."

Johnson said she hopes the word now "won't be tolerated no matter what your race is."

Carmona, a 61-year-old black man of Puerto Rican descent, had testified at the trial that he was dispensing tough love in language he faced from counselors who turned him from a drug addict with an arrest record into the creator of an often-praised organization that has helped nearly 50,000 hard-to-employ people find work since 1984.

Johnson had recorded the March 2012 tirade about inappropriate workplace attire and unprofessional behavior that was aired for the jury and described by both sides as the trial's centerpiece. She said she cried for 45 minutes in the restroom afterward.

"I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed," Johnson testified.

Outside court after her victory, Johnson said she was "very happy" and rejected Carmona's claims from the witness stand Tuesday that the verdict made him realize he needs to "take stock" of how he communicates with people he is trying to help.

"I come from a different time," Carmona said hesitantly, wiping his eyes repeatedly with a cloth. Sharpe told jurors they were "ghost tears."

"So now, now you're sorry?" Johnson said outside court, adding she doubted his sincerity and noting Carmona had refused to apologize to her in court last week. She said he should have been sorry "the day when he told me the N-word eight times."

Carmona left the courthouse without immediately commenting, as did all eight jurors. When he testified last week, he tried to defend his use of the word, saying it had "multiple contexts" in the black and Latino communities, sometimes indicating anger, sometimes love.

In a statement, STRIVE said it was disappointed but was exploring options, including an appeal and looking forward to the "judicial process taking its entire course." A STRIVE executive testified Tuesday that the organization already has changed because of the verdict with plans to provide its staff additional diversity, discrimination and anti-harassment training.

It also cited Johnson as a "prime example of the second chances that STRIVE provides to both its participants and nonparticipants alike."

It noted that Johnson, who was never a STRIVE participant, was employed there despite a previous conviction for grand larceny that required her to pay about $100,000 in restitution. The judge barred lawyers from telling jurors about the conviction.

Springfield's Mattoon Arts Festival slated for this weekend

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The street is closed to traffic while more than 100 exhibitors set up shop along the famous block in downtown Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — Mattoon Street is a good-looking street on the worst of days. But when it's decked out for a party, it's a really good-looking street.

That will be the case on Saturday and Sunday, when the annual Mattoon Street Arts Festival takes over the handsome block of well-preserved, Victorian-era brick rowhouses.

The 41st edition of the festival, among the longest-running arts festivals in the Pioneer Valley, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days and will feature more than 100 exhibitors, food vendors and strolling musicians.

Another good thing about the festival: It's totally free. That includes free parking at the TD Bank lot for festivalgoers.

Among the items expected to be a hot commodity this year is "The Dogs of Downtown" 2014 calendar, which, as its name suggests, is a monthly calendar featuring dogs and their owners. The calendars go for $10 and proceeds benefit the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association.

More information is available at www.mattoonfestival.org

President Obama heads into the lion's den in Russia

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Obama on Thursday began a two-day visit to St. Petersburg for the Group of 20 economic summit.

JOSH LEDERMAN
Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Barack Obama is heading into the lion's den of Russia, confronting Syria's key patron as well as foreign leaders skeptical of his call for an international military strike against Bashar Assad's government.

Obama on Thursday began a two-day visit to St. Petersburg for the Group of 20 economic summit, putting him in the same country as Edward Snowden for the first time since the American fugitive fled to Moscow earlier this year. Both Syria and Snowden have been sore points in an already strained U.S.-Russian relationship, fueling the notion that Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin just can't get along.

The White House went out of its way to say Obama, who arrived Thursday after a quick flight from Stockholm, would not meet one-on-one with the Russian leader while in St. Petersburg. Instead, Obama will meet on the summit's sidelines with the leaders of France, China and Japan.

Still struggling to persuade dubious lawmakers at home on Syria, Obama in Russia will seek to win over world leaders reluctant to get drawn in to yet another U.S.-led sortie in a Mideast nation. Although Syria wasn't formally on the agenda for the economy-focused summit, U.S. officials were resigned to the fact that the bloody civil war there surely would overwhelm any talks about global economics, just as it did three months ago when many of the same leaders convened for a Group of 8 summit in Northern Ireland.

In June, it was weapons and ammunition Obama wanted leaders to send to struggling rebels fighting Assad's regime. Obama's far more daunting goal now will be to persuade his counterparts to put their own militaries on the line.

In an ironic twist for Obama, the nation hosting the summit is also the nation most forcefully obstructing Obama's path to an international consensus. Russia has provided critical military and financial backing for Assad and has leveraged its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to keep a resolution condemning Syria from getting off the ground. At the same time, Obama has had little success enticing individual nations to join the effort.

Further complicating Obama's efforts to present a united front is the raging debate in Congress over whether to approve a strike — a debate Obama invited when he abruptly decided Saturday to seek congressional approval amid deep concerns from both parties. Some lawmakers view Obama as trying to preserve his own credibility after issuing an ultimatum to Assad last year against using chemical weapons.

"My credibility is not on the line. The international community's credibility is on the line," Obama said Wednesday at news conference in Stockholm.

While insisting Obama has yet to prove his case, Putin appeared to temper his rhetoric slightly in a pre-summit interview with The Associated Press, saying he wouldn't rule out backing a U.N. resolution if it can be proved Assad gassed his own people with chemical weapons, as the U.S. has alleged.

He also played down any personal tensions with Obama while acknowledging the parsing of the body language that's become a geopolitical parlor game every time the two leaders meet.

"President Obama hasn't been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia," Putin said. "And your humble servant hasn't been elected by the people of Russia to be pleasant to someone either."

Such an admission revealed a remarkable lowering of the bar from the summer of 2009 when Obama, on his last visit to Russia, trumpeted a "reset" in relations between the former Cold War foes.

"This will not be easy," Obama said in Moscow. "It's hard to change habits that have been ingrained in our governments and our bureaucracies for decades."

Indeed, it hasn't been easy. The crisis in Syria joins a long list of contentious issues that have made cooperation between the countries a trying endeavor, even though Obama points to successes early in his presidency on nuclear stockpile reduction and trading regulations. More recently, the two have butted heads over missile defense, human rights and other issues.

Obama will call attention to one such area of disagreement — gay rights — when he meets Friday in St. Petersburg with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists.

The lead-up to Obama's arrival at the G-20 was notable not for what he did, but for what he didn't do: visit Moscow. The president had been set to go to the Russian capital for a face-to-face with Putin but dramatically abandoned those plans last month after Russia granted asylum to Snowden, flouting Obama's requests that he be returned to the U.S. The former National Security Agency systems analyst faces espionage charges after absconding with a trove of documents detailing secret U.S. surveillance programs and leaking them to the media.

"However people in the West look at Snowden, the Russians saw him as a defector," said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador and Russia expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "And the rules of the game are, you don't return defectors."

After calling off the meeting with Putin, Obama decided instead to visit Sweden, where he met Wednesday with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other Nordic leaders. He wrapped up his visit Thursday with a meeting with King Carl XVI Gustaf at Sweden's Royal Palace.

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AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace in Stockholm contributed to this report.

New 'Amherst Live' magazine show to explore all aspects of Pioneer Valley life

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The show is modeled after TED talks, The Moth Radio Hour and "This American Life."

AMHERST - Think of “This American Life,” NPR’s radio magazine, “A Prairie Home Companion” and Technology, Entertainment, Design the so-called TED talks “ and you have some idea of what the creaters of Amherst Live, a new quarterly live magazine show, are hoping to create.

Amherst Live “is what happens with Ted Talks (when you) put a local twist on it,” said editor and writer Oliver Broudy who came up with the concept for the show to have its Valley debut Sept. 19 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

The premier is already sold out, Broudy said.

Broudy moved to the valley with his family from New York because he felt “New York was failing as a community.”

And like others who have come to the valley from New York City, he was looking to find “inspiration and exposure to new ideas” here.

Broudy is the former editor of the Paris Review and has written for such publications’ as Men’s Health and Mother Jones.

While there are concerns about print dying, he said, “Spoken media is doing really well. Radio is doing very well. An enormous burst of creativity has gone into radio,” he said. He cited "The Moth Radio Hour," another NPR program that first started in the founder’s living room and is now a weekly program.

“We try to take some of that energy and turn it around” to focus on local issues, Broudy said.

They want to explore ideas and look at “how can we improve our lives.

“Personal stories are always bringing you back to that place.

He thinks that the “town is not as vital as it could be… the energy in this town needs a shot in the arm.”

The show will combine all aspects of Valley life and according to its mission statement on its website, Amherst Live “collects the best in local politics, poetry, nature, and music—together with three terse but edgy talks that will change the way you view the town you thought you knew.

“We’ll bring you the snap and sparkle of the city combined with the whiff of fertilizer from Hadley, intellectual vigor combined with back-fence gossip, the bright colors of local artists combined with municipal bond issues. We’ll talk lesbian murder, the subculture of poop, and of course, the moose. What happened to that moose? Amherst may be small, but it’s not boring.”

Besides Brody, the troupe includes software entrepreneur Baer Tierkel, filmmaker Liesel de Boor, musician Henning Ohlenbusch and Tony Maroulis, head of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce among the many.

 

Chobani recalls some Greek yogurt cups due to mold

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The move comes about a week after the company first started asking retailers to pull the products from shelves.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chobani says it's issuing a recall of some its Greek yogurt cups that were affected by mold after some customers reported claims of illnesses.

The move comes about a week after the company first started asking retailers to pull the products from shelves. Chobani had previously said it wasn't issuing a formal recall.

But the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it was in talks with the company about the matter.

Chobani says that most the affected products have already been pulled from shelves.

Dave Chappelle: 'If North Korea ever drops a nuclear bomb on this country, I hope it lands in Hartford'

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Chapelle described the Connecticut audience as "young, white alcoholics."

Comic Dave Chappelle told a Chicago audience on Tuesday night that he stopped his show in Hartford last week because the audience was a bunch of "young, white alcoholics."

"I don't want anything bad to happen to the United States," Chappelle said, "but if North Korea ever drops a nuclear bomb on this country, I swear to God I hope it lands in Hartford, Connecticut."

He said he would never return to Hartford, calling the audience evil.

Chappelle had a confrontation with the Hartford crowd after several patrons heckled him during his Aug. 26 set at the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford.

"I wanted to pull a reverse Kramer and call them all crackers or something crazy like that," he told the Chicago crowd.

He was referring to Michael Richards, who played Kramer on "Seinfeld" and drew criticism for a N-word tirade at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles in 2006.

Chappelle's comments in Chicago were recorded and uploaded to YouTube by tmz.com



Egypt: Interior minister survives bomb attack

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The assassination attempt against Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police force, signaled the arrival in the capital of the sort of insurgency-style attacks that have been escalating in the Sinai Peninsula.

HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — A bomb targeted the convoy of Egypt's interior minister Thursday in Cairo in the first attack on a senior government official since the country's Islamist president was toppled in a coup two months ago, raising concerns over a possible campaign of violence by his supporters.

The assassination attempt against Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police force, signaled the arrival in the capital of the sort of insurgency-style attacks that have been escalating in the Sinai Peninsula.

Sinai has been roiled in unrest and lawlessness for years, but Islamic militants have carried out more frequent and deadlier attacks on security forces there since the July 3 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.

The bombing also harkened back to the insurgency waged by Islamic militants in the 1980s and 1990s against the rule of now-ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. At that time, militants targeted several senior officials, killing the parliament speaker and nearly killing the then-interior minister. Mubarak himself survived an assassination attempt in 1994, when militants attacked his convoy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Some of Morsi's more hard-line supporters have publicly threatened to wage a campaign of assassinations and car bombings against officials of the military-backed government until the former president is reinstated.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's blast, which went off in the late morning as Ibrahim's convoy passed through Nasr City, an eastern district of Cairo. The ministry did not immediately say where the bomb was planted.

Ibrahim survived the attack, but at least 22 people were wounded, including two policemen and a child seriously. There were no fatalities.

Clearly shaken but unscathed, Ibrahim said on state television that his car, a black SUV, was directly hit by a "large-size explosive device" that badly damaged it along with four other vehicles in the convoy.

"It was a heinous (assassination) attempt," he later told reporters at the Interior Ministry in central Cairo. The explosive device, he added, likely was detonated by remote control. His comments were carried live on state television.

"Even if I am martyred, another minister of interior will come and continue the war on the evil terror until we secure the country," Ibrahim said.

The blast damaged stores and several cars parked on the street and shattered the windows of several nearby apartment buildings. The aftermath of the blast suggested a powerful explosion, with three badly damaged SUVs, including the minister's, and a small raging fire. The blast site was littered with debris, including tree branches severed by the explosion.

Police were searching for suspects in the area but no arrests had been made, security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Gamaa Islamiya, the radical Islamist group behind the 1980s and 1990s insurgency, said it had nothing to do with the attack, which it condemned. Amr Darrag, a senior Brotherhood official, also condemned the attack in comments made to Al-Jazeera television.

Nasr City is a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which the ousted Morsi hails. It was also the site of a sit-in protest by his supporters that was stormed by police on Aug. 14, killing hundreds.

Ibrahim said in a television interview last week that he had received death threats. Ibrahim was appointed to his post by Morsi and came under sharp criticism at the time even by some in the police as too beholden to the Islamist president. But since the coup, he has fully embraced the new military-led leadership and has participated in a heavy crackdown on the Brotherhood and other Islamists.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was toppled after days of protests by millions of Egyptians who demanded his departure after a year in office. During the six-weeklong sit-in protest in Nasr City, many of his supporters said they would fight the military-backed government al-Qaida-style, with suicide bombings, roadside bombs and assassinations.

Morsi has been held in an undisclosed location since his ouster. Hundreds of Brotherhood leaders and supporters have been detained since the coup, including the group's supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, and his powerful deputy, Khairat el-Shater.

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Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.

Last person to register to vote in Boston mayoral race says she's voting for Felix Arroyo

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The last person to register to vote for the Boston's citywide elections this fall was a 27 year-old mom from Jamaica Plain. She plans on voting for Felix Arroyo.

BOSTON – With just minutes to spare before the 8 p.m. deadline, Karen Gonzalez of Jamaica Plain became the last person to register to vote for Boston's upcoming citywide election.

Fifteen minutes before the deadline on Wednesday night, Gonzalez, 27, was frantically walking around Boston City Hall with her daughter Gabriella trying to find the Congress Street entrance to the building. The entrance was partially obscured by some large vehicles, so she walked by it once before circling back and entering.

She moved to the United States from El Salvador when she was four years old and became a U.S. citizen three weeks ago. This will be her first time voting in any American election. "I need my voice heard," said Gonzalez.

She said she waited until the last minute to vote because she had a "crazy month of August."

"I am a mother and I have a busy life," she said.

Gonzalez, the director of extended learning and community partnerships at the Hurley School in the South End, plans on voting for Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo for mayor because she likes his ideas on education, an issue near and dear to her as she has a young daughter in Boston schools. Her daughter was even a student of Arroyo's wife, Jasmine Acevedo, a second grade teacher at the Boston Teachers Union School in Jamaica Plain.

Marty Kain, a senior administrative assistant at the Boston Election Commission, said that Gonzalez was lucky she got in before the 8 p.m. deadline. Unless there is a line out the door at that time, they are required by law to close and stop in-person registrations.

Registration by mail is still accepted as long as the envelopes are postmarked before Wednesday.

"It's the same as paying your taxes at the last minute. If we get it postmarked, it qualifies," said Kain.

Kain said that the excitement around the race reminds him of the 1983 mayoral election to replace then-mayor Kevin White. The 1983 contest featured State Representative Mel King and Boston City Councilor Ray Flynn. Flynn won with 65 percent.

It was Kain's first election at the Commission.

The Commission said approximately 750 people had registered in time for the citywide election.

Milford approves host agreement with Foxwoods

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Milford selectmen have voted 2-1 to approve a host community agreement with Foxwoods for a resort casino in town.

MILFORD, Mass. (AP) — Milford selectmen have voted 2-1 to approve a host community agreement with Foxwoods for a resort casino in town.

The agreement approved Wednesday is expected to be formally signed on Monday. It calls for Foxwoods to pay the town $32 million up front, with a regular payment of $31 million a year after that.

Connecticut-based Foxwoods Resort Casino is proposing a 980,000-square-foot development, up from 660,000 square feet, with more hotel rooms, gambling space and restaurants than initially proposed.

Board Chairman William Buckley, voted no, saying the town is moving too quickly.

President and Chief Executive Scott Butera said Foxwoods made "fairly modest adjustments" to come up with a host agreement that would be financially beneficial for both parties. He said the new plan does not change the project's footprint.


Boston AM News Links: Markey votes present on Syria, Walsh and Barros profiled, Chappelle hates Hartford

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Ed Markey votes present on Syria, great candidate profiles of Boston mayoral hopefuls John Barros and Marty Walsh, and Dave Chappelle wants to nuke Hartford.

Yours truly covered the Massachusetts Gaming Commission hearing Wednesday and watched as the Commission urged the two sides in a dispute over the proposed Wynn casino in Everett to resolve their differences.

Low wage workers react to Attorney General Martha Coakley approving 2014 ballot question that calls for an increase in the minimum wage writes our own Conor Berry.

Senator Markey votes present on committee vote authorizing use of force in Syria writes our own Shira Schoenberg. Here's Reason's Nick Gillespie on how much military action in Syria could cost United States taxpayers.

The Boston Globe's Akilah Johnson profiles Boston mayoral candidate John Barros.

David Scharfenberg of WBUR profiles Boston mayoral candidate State Rep. Marty Walsh

And Dave Chappelle doesn't care for Hartford writes our own Ray Kelly.

Observers say a more positive message can help Charlie Baker appeal to moderate Democrats

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In launching his campaign, Baker asked voters to "aim high."

By Colleen Quinn, STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

WATERTOWN — Republican candidate for governor Charlie Baker has a shot of capturing more moderate Democrats than he did in the 2010 race if he projects a more positive message, according to one Democrat who is the type Baker hopes to attract.

Former state Sen. Steven Baddour, a Democrat from Methuen known for his moderate leanings, described Baker's previous campaign as "very negative" but said there's room for him to attract more voters with a positive message. A negative campaign doesn't work, Baddour said.

"He's got to change," Baddour told the News Service Wednesday. "It's got to be a completely different race than he ran the last time in order to get those Democrats who sort of gave him a look, and then turned away, to give him a second look and say maybe give him a chance this time."

Baddour said Baker was in a "much better position" in this race.

"It's a different race altogether in terms of who's running and I think he's starting off on the positive and I think that makes a difference," Baddour said at an event in Watertown.

"The last time was a very negative campaign. I don't think that worked. It hasn't worked in the past and I think, going forward, if he stays positive, hopefully from his perspective, he'll try to attract more Democrats in order to get to that 50-plus-one," he said.

Baddour said voters are prone to give candidates a second chance.

"People always give you the second bite of the apple. And I think Charlie's going to get out there, but he has to give them a reason. If he doesn't give them a reason to give him a second look, then no," he said. "But if he comes out, he's talking positive, he's talking aspirationally; he's talking about the future of Massachusetts, that's a different story."

In launching his campaign Wednesday in a 90-second video announcement, Baker attempted to change his political image by painting himself as a positive candidate, asking voters to "aim high." In 2010, he asked voters if they had "Had Enough?"

Baker also pledged "bipartisan leadership" as a Republican governor who needs to work with a Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Steering clear of attacks, Baker talked about growing the economy, helping small businesses and creating better schools and safer neighborhoods. He said he would work to make "Massachusetts prosperous with a quality of life second to none."

Other Democrats said Baker, a former state budget chief and health care executive, will not be able to recast himself because there is no way for him to get away from his political past.

Repeating attacks launched during the 2010 campaign, Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh blamed Baker for the Big Dig financing plan, calling it "fiscal shell games" that Massachusetts residents are still paying for today.

Walsh told reporters Wednesday it will be easy to get voters in 2014 to connect Baker with the 1990s Big Dig problems because it still affects their lives today. Repairs to decrepit bridges and crumbling roads were postponed because of the financing plan Baker authored when he was finance secretary under Gov. William Weld, Walsh said. During the 2010 campaign, Baker downplayed his role, describing himself as one of many voices in the process.

"This plan has had impacts on Massachusetts since the day Charlie Baker wrote it, and none of them are positive. And most of those impacts we're still digging out from today," Walsh said. "So I think the people who have hundreds of structurally deficit bridges, which we're catching up on but we're still not there, are curious why those bridges weren't fixed back when they first needed to be fixed."

When Republicans governors Weld and Paul Cellucci dealt with Big Dig cost overruns, they depended on Baker to come up with solutions, Walsh said.

"Their solution was to hide the costs, and to push those costs into the future, with what may have seemed like creative financing plans, but in fact they crippled our transportation infrastructure for decades, and we are still working out from underneath and we're still paying the bill that Charlie Baker's plan laid on top of the taxpayers. So I think it's relevant."

State Treasurer Steven Grossman, one of the five Democratic candidates for governor, said he expects Baker to echo themes from his previous campaign.

"We know what Charlie's message will be, the same message that voters overwhelmingly rejected in 2010: government can never work for the middle class," Grossman said in a statement. "I'm running on a proven record of progressive leadership that it can."

Weld, who said Baker was the best candidate and a "born executive," predicted his former secretary of administration and finance might have an easier time running in 2014 than he had running against then-Treasurer Tim Cahill and Gov. Deval Patrick in 2010.

"I don't know that he has to do anything differently. I thought he was great the last time around. It was a three way race and maybe having it be a two-way race would be a good start," Weld said. He said, "Certainly Gov. Patrick hit his stride during that campaign."

Weld, who challenged Francis Bellotti for attorney general in 1978 and lost, before winning the governorship in 1990, said Baker might benefit from the experience of running for the seat before.

"The second time around sometimes is a little easier. First time I ran, I lost 80-20 to Frank Bellotti, and the next time out, I won," Weld said.

Walsh predicted the lack of a well-known independent candidate, like Cahill, will have little impact on the race. Polling in the 2010 race showed votes for Cahill were split evenly among the other two candidates, Walsh said. Evan Falchuk, a former executive with a diagnostic health company, is running as an independent in 2014.

"I think most people who analyze polls, which is not me, say that Cahill's vote wouldn't have impacted the race either way. If somehow they spilt three to one to Baker, Deval Patrick would have still had a majority of the vote," Walsh said.

Republican Governors Association Chairman Bobby Jindal said Baker is a strong candidate with a business background that will make the economy and jobs his top priority.

"His clear record of bipartisan leadership, promoting small business, and education reform proves he has the experience to be ready to govern on day one," Jindal said in a statement. "Charlie is running for governor determined to make Massachusetts great again, and we have no doubt he will make the Bay State a great place to raise a family and start a business. The Republican Governors Association welcomes Charlie Baker to the Massachusetts governor's race."

Andy Metzger and Mike Deehan contributed reporting

Politics Links: John Kerry leaves Russia option to change mind on Syria strike; Obama struggles to convince some in Congress that Syria push isn't political; and more

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A look at the political news making headlines across the country.

Here's a look at the politics stories making headlines in the U.S. and around the world.

Longmeadow residents to consider anti-casino vote in November regarding MGM and Hard Rock projects

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Longmeadow Selectman Alex Grant said a town vote on casino projects in Springfield and West Springfield would urge the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to reject both proposals.

LONGMEADOW – Town residents are scheduled to vote Nov. 5 on a resolution that would urge the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to reject proposed casinos in Springfield and West Springfield.

The vote is the result of a signature petition drive organized by the group “No Casino Springfield,” said Selectman Alex Grant, a member of the group. The group gathered the required 100 signatures to place the anti-casino resolution on Longmeadow’s Fall Town Meeting warrant, he said.

Casinos are proposed in the South End of Springfield by MGM Resorts International, and on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield by Hard Rock International.

Grant, in a prepared release, said he is convinced that the Springfield casino would be particularly harmful because it would be 2.5 miles away from Longmeadow. He said he heard concerns while speaking to senior citizens, saying they are concerned “that increased traffic could make it difficult for sick and injured people to reach the hospital in an emergency,” he said.

"If I-91 becomes a parking lot during certain times of the day due to heavy northbound traffic, how exactly is an ambulance going to make it to Baystate?" Grant said.

The lead petitioner, Michele Steger delivered the signatures to the town clerk on Wednesday, he said. The state Gaming Commission has stated that support and opposition from surrounding communities will be among its considerations in granting one casino license in Western Massachusetts, and up to three casinos statewide, along with one slots parlor in the state.

Grant said he is also sponsoring an anti-casino resolution to be considered by the board’s Board of Selectmen.

There is also a casino proposed in Palmer by Mohegan Sun, that was not included in the Longmeadow November Town Meeting vote.


The story will be updated as our reporting continues.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence falls

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Both business confidence and hiring look poor in new survey.

SPRINGFIELD - Employer uncertainty in the economy grew in August according to new survey from Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Associated Industries Business Confidence Index fell 3.8 points in August to 48.7 points on a 100-point scale where 50 is neutral. The index was at 52.5 points in July and 48.9 points in June, according to Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts is a statewide business group that does lobbying and education.

The survey also reflects a slowing labor market, with 29 percent of survey respondents in the last six months reporting staff reductions while 19 percent reported adding positions. in the next six months, 19 percent plan to add staff and 16 percent foresee staff cuts. The survey's employment index was down 4.5 points to 48.7 points.

To blame, economists told Associated Industries, is continued uncertainty in Washington with another fiscal cliff looming this fall and recent uptick in interest rates that slowed the recovery of the housing markets.

Massachusetts manufacturing doesn't grow with the auto industry and is more tied to European trade, according to the release. But the European economies are still in trouble.

Business confidence was lower outside of Boston, at 46.8 points, compared with Boston at 50 points on the nose.

Obituaries today: Craig Dinnie was English teacher at Van Sickle, Classical and Central in Springfield Public Schools

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Obituaries from The Republican.

 
090513-Dinnie-Craig.jpgCraig Dinnie 

Craig D. Dinnie, 64, passed away Friday. He was born in Springfield, was a 1967 graduate of Classical High School, received a bachelor's degree from WNEC and a master's degree from Springfield College. He was employed by the Springfield Public Schools for 36 years as an English teacher at Van Sickle Middle School and Classical and Central high schools. He was Central's yearbook advisor. After his retirement he worked as a substitute teacher at Sabis International Charter School. He was an active member of Faith United Church, where he sang with the choir.

Obituaries from The Republican:


Stocks edge higher after encouraging jobs reports

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Stocks edged higher Thursday after a pair of reports provided more evidence that the U.S. is maintaining a slow but steady economic recovery.

Wall Street Premarket_Roya copy.jpgIn this Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 photo, trader Todd Ingrilli, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stock futures were mixed, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, in very light trading amid a flurry of reports on jobs, retail sales and the industrial and services sectors. The numbers that roll out Thursday and Friday may determine if or how much the U.S. Federal Reserve pulls back on the asset purchases that have kept international markets flush with cash. 
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks edged higher Thursday after a pair of reports provided more evidence that the U.S. is maintaining a slow but steady economic recovery.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week and is near the lowest level since June 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday. Weekly applications are just 1,000 above a five-year low reached last month.

Also, a survey from the payroll company ADP showed that American businesses added 176,000 jobs in August, fewer than in June and July but roughly in line with the monthly average for the year.

The encouraging reports came one day before the government releases its closely watched employment survey for August. Many investors believe that a strong report will ensure that Federal Reserve policymakers will decide to reduce, or "taper," economic stimulus at their meeting later this month.

The U.S. central bank is buying $85 billion in bonds a month to keep long-term interest rates low and to stimulate the economy. Fed stimulus has helped drive a bull market in stocks that has lasted more than four years.

"The data is shaping up that the Fed probably lays out a tapering schedule in September," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors.

Ultimately, investors will regard the cut in stimulus as a positive sign because it means that the economy is strengthening, Orlando said. "It should leave stocks in great shape."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,948 as of 1:40 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,655. The Nasdaq composite gained nine points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,657.

Some retail stocks were among the biggest gainers.

Costco rose $2.34, or 2.1 percent, to $113.80 after the discount store chain said revenue at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent in August, slightly faster than Wall Street's expectations. Walgreen's also gained after reporting a strong rise in sales last month. Walgreen's rose 66 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $50.15 after reporting a 4.8 percent increase in sales.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed after the jobs reports. It also edged higher after a private survey showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the fastest pace in nearly 8 years last month as sales and orders grew and employers ramped up hiring.

The yield on the 10-year note rose to 2.98 percent from 2.90 percent late Wednesday. The yield has climbed 1.3 percentage points in four months and is at its highest since July 2011 as bond traders anticipate that the Federal Reserve will cut back on its economic stimulus.

Rising yields on Treasury notes matter for the economy because they are used to set mortgage rates and other key interest rates. Average fixed rates on U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose to 4.57 percent this week, close to their highest of the year.

It appears, however, that investors are getting more comfortable with higher borrowing costs.

"We don't anticipate that a gradual rise in rates will choke off the economy," said Dave Roda, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. "We are still looking at very low rates historically."

In commodities trading, the price of oil rose 94 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $108.07 a barrel. Gold fell $18, or 1.3 percent, to $1,371 an ounce.

Among other stocks making big moves:

— Conn's, a consumer finance company, fell $6.34, or 9.3 percent, to $61.82 after the company reported second-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations.

— Groupon rose 49 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $10.80 after Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on the stock to "overweight" as the company tweaked its business model.

— Louisiana-Pacific, a building products company, rose $1.81, or 12 percent, to $17.08 after the company said late Wednesday that it is buying Ainsworth Lumber of Canada for $1.1 billion.

Scott Brown slams Sen. Ed Markey for 'present' vote during Foreign Relations Committee vote on military strike in Syria

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Turning to his public Facebook page, Scott Brown took aim at Ed Markey, calling his decision to abstain from taking a position on a resolution authorizing a military strike on Syria "unreal."

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., drew fire from political observers and political opponents like former Republican Sen. Scott Brown on Wednesday for his decision to vote "present" when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on which he sits took up the issue of authorizing a military strike on Syria.

Although the committee ended up approving the resolution, granting President Barack Obama the authority to use military force in response to Syria allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians, Markey said that he decided not to take a stand because he wanted more information.

"Before casting such a monumental vote, I need to review all of the relevant classified materials relating to this matter before I make a decision as important as authorizing the use of military force," Markey said in a statement. "The people of Massachusetts expect their representatives to have analyzed all of the facts prior to making a decision of this magnitude."

Markey's full statement and explanation of his vote can be read below.

As news of Markey's action reverberated around the Internet, criticism came from a variety of sources, including Brown, who lost his Senate seat to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in November.

Turning to his public Facebook page, Brown took aim at Markey, calling his decision to abstain from taking a position "unreal."

Brown wrote:

"If you saw the new Senator from MA - Sen. Markey, he voted 'present' in the Committee on Foreign Relations vote today. Please let him know that the people of MA did not send him down there to vote 'present', they sent him down there to at least vote. He gets a check, he should vote. I did not agree with John Kerry on much, but at least he would have had the guts to vote. Markey said he needs more time to analyze the information. He sits on the Committee that gets all the information. Unreal. Let's see who covers for him."

The man who lost to Markey in the recent special U.S. Senate election, former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez, also questioned the Malden Democrat's vote.

"Markey says new language in Syria resolution overnight broadened authorization too much," Gomez wrote on Twitter. "If so, then at least have courage to vote no."

The Massachusetts Republican Party, in a press dispatch titled "Profiles in Courage: On Syrian Military Action Markey Votes Present," also criticized the longtime politician.

"It seems Ed Markey has decided that instead of continuing to flip-flop on matters of national security, he simply won't vote," the party's new Executive Director Rob Cunningham said in the statement. "Massachusetts voters already have a reason to regret choosing Markey to fill John Kerry's shoes."

Markey was the only member of the powerful committee who decided to not take a position. Ten U.S. senators sitting on the committee voted for the resolution while seven voted against it.

Warren, the state's senior U.S. senator, has not said yet how she will vote on the resolution when it reaches the full Senate.

Warren attended a confidential briefing in Washington on Sunday and has said she wants to hear the discussion in Congress before making a final decision.


Staff writer Shira Schoenberg contributed to this report.

Markey Statement on Voting Present on Military Strike on Syria


New Springfield Police K-9s get names from Sabis International Charter School 5th graders

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5th graders Ailani Brace and Alexis Johnson won an essay contest, and the name "Chase" was chosen by Alexis for the dog handled by Officer Dan McKay, and the name "Ares" was chosen by Ailani for the dog handled by Officer Tony Tyler.

SPRINGFIELD — Members of the fifth grade classes at the Sabis International Charter School were chosen to take part in an essay contest to come up with names for the Springfield Police Department's two new K-9s.

Fifth graders Ailani Brace and Alexis Johnson were the winners. The name "Chase" was chosen by Alexis for the dog handled by Officer Dan McKay, and the name "Ares" was chosen by Ailani for the dog handled by Officer Tony Tyler.

Members of the department's K-9 unit were on hand during a ceremony held at the school Friday afternoon at which the winning essays were announced, with the writer of the essay being recognized during the assembly.

The police department provided refreshments for all members of the fifth grade class following the ceremony.

The police department says that Chase and Ares will be in service to the city for the next 10 to 12 years.

The new K-9's will start extensive training on Monday. When they finish they will join the other seven K-9's already in service.



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