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2 remain in critical condition SUV rolls over, striking oncoming truck in Boston

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A 14-year-old passenger in the SUV and the driver of the pickup are in critical condition. Two 14-year-old passengers are in pediatric intensive care.

BOSTON (AP) — Authorities say two people remain in critical condition one day after an 18-year-old driver apparently lost control of an SUV that eventually crossed the center line, began to roll over and struck an oncoming pickup truck in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said on Saturday that investigators are working to figure out the cause and circumstances that caused the teen driver to lose control of the vehicle on the Arborway on Friday afternoon. The crash injured six people, including four teens between the ages of 14 and 18.

Police said four teens were in the small sport utility vehicle. Two adults were in the pickup.

A 14-year-old passenger in the SUV and the driver of the pickup are in critical condition. Two 14-year-old passengers are in pediatric intensive care.



AllCare Pharmacy in Worcester to pay $1.6M for automatically refilling meds not requested by MassHealth patients

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Prosecutors say a Worcester pharmacy will pay $1.6 million to settle allegations that it broke state laws by automatically refilling prescription medications that were not requested by MassHealth patients.

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Worcester pharmacy will pay $1.6 million to settle allegations that it broke state laws by automatically refilling prescription medications that were not requested by MassHealth patients.

Attorney General Martha Coakley says AllCare Pharmacy has agreed to return $1.6 million to Massachusetts state coffers and be subject to additional reporting requirements to ensure that it complies with state laws in the future.

The business describes itself on its website as a "full service retail pharmacy... specializing in medication management of chronic diseases."

The attorney general's office said Friday that the settlement is the first case in the state to crackdown on a pharmacy that automatically refills prescriptions for MassHealth members.

Authorities alleges automatic refill programs cause MassHealth patients to obtain medications far in excess of what was used or needed, leading to wasted government resources.


Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick heading to Canada for alternative energy conference

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Patrick leaves Sunday to attend the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers' Annual Conference in Quebec.

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is heading to Canada to discuss alternative energy sources, including hydropower.

Patrick leaves Sunday to attend the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers' Annual Conference in Quebec.

Patrick said the conference is an opportunity to strengthen regional partnerships to build on Massachusetts' leadership in creating renewable energy while exploring collaborative approaches to expand hydropower and other alternative energy sources.

Other topics include climate change challenges, energy supply, natural gas expansion, commercialization of electric vehicles and regional transportation issues.

Patrick said expanding reliance on hydropower has the potential to lead to lower costs for ratepayers and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Massachusetts has seen a steady increase in solar and wind energy production in recent years.

Patrick returns to Massachusetts on Monday.


Vatican: 100,000 attend Syria peace vigil

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The Vatican estimates about 100,000 took part in the four-hour peace vigil, making it one of the largest rallies in the West against proposed U.S.-led military action against the Syrian regime.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Tens of thousands of people filled St. Peter's Square for a four-hour Syria peace vigil late Saturday, answering Pope Francis' call for a grassroots cry for peace that was echoed by Christians and non-Christians alike in Syria and in vigils around the world.

The Vatican estimated about 100,000 took part, making it one of the largest rallies in the West against proposed U.S.-led military action against the Syrian regime following the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.

Francis spent most of the vigil in silent prayer, but during his speech he issued a heartfelt plea for peace, denouncing those who are "captivated by the idols of dominion and power" and destroy God's creation through war.

"This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: Violence and war are never the way to peace!" he said.

"May the noise of weapons cease!" he said. "War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity."

In Damascus, a few dozen Syrian Christians attended a service in the al-Zaytoun Church, joining Francis' invitation for a global participation in the day of fasting and prayer and to oppose outside military intervention in the conflict.

Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham of Antioch and All East presided, saying most countries supported a political solution to the crisis in Syria and few wanted military action. "This is the start of the victory," he told the Damascus faithful. "No to war. Yes for peace."

Francis announced the day of fasting and prayer Sept. 1, alarmed at the acceleration of U.S. threats to strike Syria after the chemical weapons attack.

Since then, the Vatican has ramped up its peace message, summoning ambassadors for a briefing by the Holy See foreign minister. Francis appealed directly to world powers at the Group of 20 meeting in Russia, urging them this week to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria and work instead for a negotiated settlement.

Bishops around the world joined Francis in the daylong fast and organized similar vigils in their home dioceses. In Francis' native Argentina, human rights and religious groups held a vigil in Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo and in cities across the country. Vatican Radio reported similar initiatives were taking place throughout Italy, in Cuba and elsewhere. Even the grand mufti of Damascus, who thanked the pope for his initiative in a letter earlier this week, invited Muslims to join the fast in solidarity.

Vatican officials have stressed that Saturday's event was thoroughly religious, not political. But the gathering nevertheless took on the air of an anti-war rally, with protesters holding up Syrian flags and banners in the square reading "Don't attack Syria" and "Obama you don't have a dream, you have a nightmare." A few rainbow "Peace" flags fluttered in the breeze.

But by the time the vigil got under way, the posters and flags had mainly disappeared as a more religious tone took over, with leaders from a variety of Christian and non-Christian denominations joining cardinals, politicians and ordinary folk for the evening of prayer, hymns and meditation.

"This is already a success, the fact that all of us are here, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, atheists," a Hindu believer named Anata said. Pilgrims "made an effort to fast, not to do many things, and come here from all over Italy and Europe. This is already a success."

The pope entered the square from the basilica steps, foregoing his usual high-spirited drive through in his open car — an indication of the sobriety of the evening, which capped a day of fasting for the pontiff.

The peace vigil marked something of a novelty for the Vatican: Nothing of its kind has ever taken place in St. Peter's Square, though popes past have participated in daylong peace prayers in places like Assisi, known for its peace-loving native son and the pope's namesake, St. Francis.

That's not to say popes haven't taken vigorous anti-war positions in the past: Pope Paul VI famously uttered the words "War never again, never again war" at the United Nations in 1965 as the Vietnam War raged, a refrain that has been repeated by every pope since. Pope John Paul II sent an envoy to President George W. Bush on the eve of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq urging him to stand down — to no avail.

Francis has condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, but has been careful not to lay blame on any one side, exhorting world leaders instead to focus on the plight of Syrian civilians and the need in general to end the violence.

Other church officials, both at the Vatican and in dioceses, have been more pointed in their criticism of any internationalization of the conflict, saying U.S.-French military strikes will only exacerbate the situation for civilians, particularly Christian minorities.


Syrian regime shelling near Damascus kills 16

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Heavy government shelling of rebel positions near the Syrian capital killed 16 people on Saturday, activists said, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lobbied European allies to back Washington's proposed military action against the ruling regime.

BEIRUT (AP) — Heavy government shelling of rebel positions near the Syrian capital killed 16 people on Saturday, activists said, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lobbied European allies to back Washington's proposed military action against the ruling regime.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the mortar and artillery fire on the Moldokhiya agricultural area south of Damascus killed 14 rebels. A child and another civilian also died in the shelling, it added.

The group also reported heavy fighting between rebels and troops loyal to President Bashar Assad around the Christian village of Maaloula northeast of Damascus. The rebel advance into the area this week was reportedly spearheaded by al-Qaida-linked fighters, exacerbating fears among Syrians and religious minorities in particular that Islamic extremists are playing an increasingly important role in the rebellion.

Fighters from the Western-backed Free Syrian Army also have participated in battles around Maaloula, destroying two government checkpoints near the town earlier this week, according to a statement by the main opposition coalition on Friday.

The fighting comes as President Barack Obama's administration pressed ahead with efforts to win congressional backing and international support for military strikes against Syria over an alleged chemical attack in August outside Damascus. The U.S. says Assad's forces fired rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin on rebel-held areas near the capital before dawn on Aug. 21, killing at least 1,429 people. Other estimates put the death toll from the attack at more than 500.

Syria Kerry France_Boot.jpgSecretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, right, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013.

Obama, back in Washington after a trip to Europe that included a two-day visit to Russia to attend a Group of 20 summit, will intensify his efforts to sell a skeptical Congress and a war-weary American public on a military strike against Syria.

A passionate debate is already underway in Congress and the administration's lobbying campaign culminates Tuesday, the evening before a critical vote on the possible Syria action is expected in the Senate. Obama will address the nation from the White House that night to make his case for military action.

In Lithuania, Kerry met with European leaders, who have been skeptical about whether any military action against Assad's regime can be effective.

In a joint statement Saturday, European foreign ministers agreed with the U.S. that the Aug. 21 alleged chemical attack appears to have been the work of the Syrian regime. But, they added, any potential military attack against Syria should wait for a U.N. inspectors' report.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said that the available intelligence "seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for the attack."

The report from the U.N. inspectors, who collected evidence in the suburbs hit by the Aug. 21 attack, is expected later this month, although some European officials are asking the U.N. to speed up the probe or issue an interim report.

Later Saturday in Paris, Kerry pressed the administration's case further, saying "this is not the time to be silent spectators to slaughter."

France, which firmly backs the Syrian rebels and has strategic and historic interests in the region, had been ready to take military action last week but held off after Obama declared he would seek the backing of Congress first.

The prospect of a U.S.-led strike against Syria has raised concerns of potential retaliation from the Assad regime or its allies. On Friday, the State Department ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats to leave Lebanon over security concerns and urged private American citizens to depart as well.

The Shiite militant group Hezbollah, an Assad ally that has sent fighters into Syria, is based in Lebanon.

On Saturday, dozens of people protested outside the U.S. Embassy against military strikes on Syria. Some of the demonstrators carried placards reading "No War," and "Hands off Syria."

Syrian officials have been trying to capitalize on reluctance in Europe and the U.S., and both the government and state media accuse Obama of "supporting terrorism."

"Any US aggression against Syria has no explanation other than (that it's) supporting terrorism," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said in an interview with state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV broadcast late Friday. He challenged the international community to present evidence that Syria had used sarin, and said military action against his country would be "dangerous and might affect America's friends and the entire world."

At the Vatican, an estimated 70,000 people answered Pope Francis' call for a four-hour Syria peace vigil late Saturday, joining Christians as well as non-Christians in similar vigils around the world.

The turnout in St. Peter's Square was believed to be one of the largest rallies in the West against proposed U.S.-led military action.

Francis spent most of the vigil in silent prayer, but during his speech he issued a heartfelt plea for peace : "This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: Violence and war are never the way to peace!"


US-Mexico border groups want efficient crossings

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There is growing opposition to more agents and fences.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Under the watch of a Border Patrol agent, U.S. and Mexican pastors set up two small altars — one on each side of a towering border fence — for their Sunday service that spans two countries.

The priests then break bread simultaneously and hold up their challises to the tightly woven metal barrier. The guitar player is in Mexico, strumming a song led by clergy on the U.S. side. The buzzing of a passing Border Patrol officer on an all-terrain vehicle interrupts the music.

The religious service is one of myriad ways that life is seeping across the border post 9/11 as Congress considers spending billions on further fortification.

Ranchers, deputies and lawmakers from border states have long pleaded for federal help, saying their areas were overrun by people entering the U.S. illegally and armed smugglers.

But today there is growing opposition along the nearly 2,000-mile boundary to more agents and fences. They include U.S. ministers, business leaders and mayors who say those measures have reached their maximum effectiveness.

The crackdown in the past decade should be applauded for bringing detentions of illegal crossers to historic lows — but ports of entry have been overlooked, said former El Paso Mayor John Cook, the director of the Border Mayors Association, representing U.S. and Mexican mayors.

Hours-long waits and overtaxed officers have become the norm at crossings, costing the region billions by deterring Mexican shoppers and delaying U.S. shipments, border mayors say. They favor expanding "trusted traveler" programs that give passes to pre-vetted crossers, digital fingerprinting and other technology to make ports of entry more secure, though Congress hasn't addressed those ideas.

"We don't need more Border Patrol agents — we need more customs agents," Cook said. "Basically, we have 20th century infrastructure and for the most part, a 19th century policy, trying to facilitate trade in the 21st century."

A far-reaching bill passed by the Democratic-led Senate in June calls for an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents, 700 miles of fencing and high-tech detection devices. The proposed measures are tied to overhauling laws to address illegal immigration, including providing a path to citizenship for some.

The Republican-controlled House favors tackling immigration with single-issue bills — starting with border security. And Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, said that long stretches of the border "remain dangerously open" and need fences. No action is expected until late fall, at the earliest.

While billions have gone into securing remote sections, the crossings lag behind the booming trade from the North American Free Trade Agreement, said Jerry Sanders, San Diego's former Republican mayor who now heads the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

He points to the San Ysidro port of entry, the world's busiest, where 50,000 cars and 25,000 pedestrians cross daily. The crossing has been under construction for years as Washington slowly releases money.

"Better infrastructure means better security," Sanders said.

The congressional debate comes as border communities have started reviving old ties.

San Diego's former Mayor Bob Filner, a Democrat, made that a hallmark of his term, before he resigned amid sexual harassment allegations.

He lobbied for the first binational Olympic Games in the region and opened a city government office in Tijuana.

The federal government also has started accommodating cross-border life.

In Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in April re-established a remote crossing along the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park where people arrive to the U.S. via a small boat and scan passports at a visitor's center.

The unmanned crossing was closed after the Sept. 11 attacks. It was reopened to comply with a decades-old bilateral agreement that formed a binational park by linking Big Bend to Mexican wildlands, said CBP spokesman Bill Brooks.

The isolated Mexican community, Boquillas del Carmen, depended on the boat crossing for tourism and getting supplies in Texas. Its population dropped after the crossing closed. Some are now moving back, Brooks said.

Federal authorities in San Diego County started giving access to the last of three border walls for a few hours on Sundays.

Families unable to leave the U.S. while their immigration status is in flux talked through the barrier with deported loved ones standing on the Mexican side.

On a Sunday in July, a teenage boy with a Dodger's cap and baggy jeans cried as he touched his father's fingertip through minute holes in the fence's metal screen.

The pastors prayed nearby.

Along the same stretch, Daniel Watman helped plant a garden with U.S. and Mexican volunteers in 2007 spanning both sides. Border Patrol officials ripped out the U.S. section in January 2009 to make way for another fence, he said. The section was replanted 10 months later but no one cared for the plants. Watman said he was handcuffed trying to tend to them.

Today arrangements have been made and the garden flourishes, but only volunteer caretakers are allowed in because of security restrictions.

"Life at the border is way more difficult than it needs to be," Watman said.


Syria, budget and debt top congressional agenda

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Congress returns to work facing a momentous vote on whether the United States should attack Syria, a question that overshadows a crowded and contentious agenda of budget fights, health care, farm policy and possible limits on the government's surveillance of millions of Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress returns to work facing a momentous vote on whether the United States should attack Syria, a question that overshadows a crowded and contentious agenda of budget fights, health care, farm policy and possible limits on the government's surveillance of millions of Americans.

Back Monday after a five-week break, many lawmakers stand as a major obstacle to President Barack Obama's promised strikes against Syria amid fears of U.S. involvement in an extended Mideast war and public fatigue after more than a decade of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama insists the world must act. He blames Syrian President Bashar Assad for gassing his own people, killing 1,429 civilians, including 426 children. The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, and blames rebels.

On Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the first showdown Senate vote is likely over a resolution authorizing the "limited and specified use" of U.S. armed forces against Syria for no more than 90 days and barring American ground troops from combat. A final vote in the 100-member chamber is expected at week's end.

"I think we're going to get 60 votes. It's a work in progress," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Friday.

United StatesSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. makes his way to the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, to introduce a resolution to authorize military action to support President Barack Obama's request for a strike against Syria. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Support for the president is stronger in the Senate than in the Republican-controlled House. There, Obama faces a difficult path to victory despite the backing of Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California for military strikes.

The Syria vote poses a dilemma for Obama's Democratic allies in Congress. Many strongly opposed the war in Iraq but are reluctant to undercut a president from their own party. The crucial player is Pelosi, a proven vote-getter.

"A lot of members have constituents who have not been persuaded and I think a part of that inability to be persuaded is that they're thinking about Iraq," Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said Friday after one of many classified briefings for lawmakers. "That's what I'm hearing in my district even from people who are extremely supportive of the president."

Senior administration officials will speak to lawmakers in advance of the president's speech to the nation Tuesday night.

A House vote is likely the week of Sept. 16.

Even before Syria, Congress faced a busy and difficult fall packed with battles.

Obama and his allies in the Democratic-run Senate face fights from House Republicans over bills to fund government agencies and raise the ceiling on federal borrowing to avert a market-rattling government default. Then there are efforts by conservatives to cut off money for Obama's health care law, with open enrollment for health insurance exchanges beginning Oct. 1.

After Syria, Congress's most immediate task is passing a temporary spending bill to prevent much of the government from shutting down on the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year.

The stopgap measure would buy time to work out funding government programs over the next 12 months, but even its passage is in doubt.

Republicans are considering whether to use the measure as a last-ditch assault on Obama's expansion of federally subsidized medical care and new requirement that millions of people without health insurance either buy it or pay penalties to the Internal Revenue Service.

GOP leaders are eager to avoid an impasse and government shutdown. They had signaled earlier that they prefer a straightforward temporary spending bill that would keep agencies running at current budget levels, reflecting the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts in place for the past six months.

A grass-roots campaign over Congress' August recess has increased pressure on the leaders to attach the health care provision, but a Boehner spokesman said no decision has been made.

Congressional Democrats and the White House are eager to reverse the cuts, and many defense hawk Republicans would like to as well. But there have been no fruitful negotiations between the White House and House GOP leaders.

Negotiations between White House officials and a small group of Senate Republicans collapsed last month over familiar disagreements over tax increases and cuts to popular federal benefit programs.

Without a deal, those automatic spending cuts could become entrenched through all of next year and possibly into the next several years.

A 2011 agreement called for a total budget of $1.058 trillion next year to operate federal agencies. The automatic spending cuts triggered by failing to follow up with further deficit cuts by curbing benefit increases, raising taxes or both would pare that figure by $91 billion, to $967 billion for the 2014 budget year.

A comparable spending figure for the soon-to-be-completed 2013 budget year is about $988 billion. The additional cuts looming next year come almost entirely from defense.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., says many Republicans on his committee want to reverse the defense cuts as a condition for voting for the resolution authorizing military strikes on Syria.

Avoiding a shutdown is just one step.

The administration says the government's ability to fully pay all its bills, including interest payments to bondholders and Social Security benefits, will run out some time in October unless Congress raises the $16.7 trillion cap on its borrowing authority.

That legislation could be even more vexing because Boehner and tea party Republicans see it as leverage to force further spending cuts or other GOP priorities into law.

Obama agreed in 2011 to Boehner's demand that spending cuts equal the size of the debt limit increase, but the president says he won't do it again. Republican leaders say such a "clean" debt limit increase Obama wants is a nonstarter.

An immigration overhaul could get lost in the shuffle.

The Senate in June passed a broad bill that would allow millions of immigrants now in the country illegally to stay, work and eventually acquire citizenship. House Republicans reject what they call a special path to citizenship in the Senate bill and favor a piecemeal approach that begins with better securing U.S. borders before excusing most people who entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas from being deported.

Revelations this summer about the National Security Agency's spying prompted demands from some in Congress to rein in the programs; a series of hearings is scheduled. Leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees face pressure from lawmakers to make changes to NSA surveillance in the longstanding authorization bills.

Lawmakers also are pushing for major changes in how the military handles cases of sexual assault in their ranks. A significant number of lawmakers want to remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial.

The Pentagon and some senior lawmakers reject that idea. A showdown is expected later this year when the Senate debates a defense policy bill.

Congress also will have to finish a farm bill before the end of the year if lawmakers want to avert the threat of milk prices doubling for consumers. Most of current farm law expires at the end of September, but its effects won't be felt until the end of the year when dairy supports expire. Without the supports, milk prices are expected to rise.


Berkshire County program aims to help inmates find homes after jail

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According to Jason Cuyler, the re-entry case manager at the jail, the attitude and efforts Wood and other inmates display during their incarceration is what the transitional program looks for.

By JIM THERRIEN, The Berkshire Eagle

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Not every inmate at the Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction will turn his or her life around after they've served their time; that's what the statistics say, loud and clear.

Some, though, demonstrate a will to change, no matter the odds. For those, jail officials say, there is the Robbins Inn Transitional Program.

"In jail, this was the first time I'd ever been in trouble," said Greg Wood, 40, who recently completed a year at the Robbins Inn.

While serving 10 months at the House of Correction, "I took a hard look at myself and how I ended up there," Wood said. "I'm getting older, and I've had trouble with drugs and alcohol. I said, 'I'm tired of living this way.'"

According to Jason Cuyler, the re-entry case manager at the jail, the attitude and efforts Wood and other inmates display during their incarceration is what the transitional program looks for. Each man or woman has a service plan while in jail, he said, providing a record of behavior and progress toward personal or treatment goals during their term.

"They have to meet benchmarks here to be considered," Cuyler said.

Almost every inmate — the facility has about 300 at a given time — participates in work programs, group or one-on-one counseling sessions, educational or other programs, he said, and progress is assessed every 60 days.

"They are screened very thoroughly," he said of those in the Robbins Inn program. "We are not placing violent offenders or sex offenders, and we also see if they get along well with one another."

In most cases, Cuyler said, drugs and alcohol have played a major role in the inmate's criminal behavior — as it does with at least 88 percent of all inmates.

While in the facility — located in two houses off Robbins Avenue — they are free to come and go. However, they continue to participate in any substance abuse treatment programs they began while in the jail, and must adhere to details of a personalized pact they sign upon entering the program.

Other requirements are to be employed, pay rent to the program and volunteer at the Christian Center at 193 Robbins Ave., which owns the multi-unit dwellings.

The houses are located next to the Christian Center, which acquired them a number of years ago. The nonprofit service organization collaborates with the jail in providing meals and other services to the inmates.

"Jason and I had talked about what we could do," said Ellen Merritt, executive director of the Christian Center. "Stable housing is paramount in helping to break the cycle of recidivism."

The center provides meals, a food pantry, a free store with donated items and space for regular meetings involving those in the program, Merritt said, as well as opportunities for the participants to volunteer and give back to the community.

She said almost all of the funding for the transitional program comes from private donations and through the work of inmates in preparing the two multi-unit houses for use.

The dwellings were renovated by inmates in the Community Service program at the House of Correction, according to Mark Massaro, treatment manager at the jail. The construction materials were donated.

He said there now are five men in one house and a woman in the other home, where the plan is to renovate more units in the fall.

"We have never had the opportunity to do this before," Massaro said, crediting strong support from Berkshire County Sheriff Thomas Bowler in establishing the program. "He (Bowler) has been on board with this from day one."

"The goal," he said, "is to provide inmates with as many tools as possible to become productive members of the community."

Former inmate William "Willie" Simpson has been at the facility since mid-May. He said that like others in the jail, he sees the program as a great chance to change the course of his life.

"I worked in the kitchen at the jail, kept my nose clean," Simpson said, adding that he served a year and earned some time off his sentence. And now, at 58, he said, "I decided I can't do this anymore."

Simpson said that in his youth he "missed the boat on golf and baseball," having been a gifted athlete who once played in the Little League World Series. "But I didn't stay in school," he said. "I went with drugs and alcohol."

He said he appreciates the connection to services, although he is living on his own, and the presence of the Christian Center next door. "What the center does in this neighborhood is invaluable," Simpson said.

Both former inmates interviewed praised Cuyler, who meets with each on a regular basis, helps with finding employment and is a constant source for advice or support — especially during difficult times.

"He is amazing, an amazing person," Wood said. "Any problem you have, he's there."

After he moves on from the facility, he said, "I will always have Jason Cuyler in my phone."

Massaro said the program provides structure and support but also freedom for participants to learn to make good decisions. And participants are held accountable. Since the program began 18 months ago, he said, two were removed for infractions, such as failing to stay away from drugs or alcohol or failing to pay their modest rent.

At the jail, he added, "the word is out. They are buying into it. A lot of them want to go there."



Basketball Hall of Fame welcomes class of 2013

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The new members will be officially inducted Sunday afternoon in a ceremony at Symphony Hall in Springfield.

hof.JPG The Naismith Memorial basketball Hall of Fame held their Class of 2013 Enshrinement Press Conference Saturday. The Class of 2013 is Roger Brown, Russ Granik, Richie Guerin, Sylvia Hatchell, Dr. E.B. Henderson, Bernard King, Guy V. Lewis, Gary Payton, Rick Pitino, Oscar Schmidt, Dawn Staley and Jerry Tarkanian.  

SPRINGFIELD- Oscar Schmidt strode to the podium on the Jerry Colangelo Court of Dreams at the Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday afternoon wearing his official Hall of Fame inductee blue blazer and his Class of 2013 ring.

Schmidt, a 6-foot-9 Brazilian basketball legend and one of 12 members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2013, smiled to the crowd seated in wooden white folding chairs and paused momentarily.

“This is the best three days of my life,” Schmidt said, as the crowd erupted in laughter and applause.

The 10 living members to be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame Sunday afternoon at Symphony Hall, received their Hall of Fame blazers at the press conference and took some time to reminisce with reporters and feel “the nostalgia that fills you,” as inductee Richie Guerin said.

Schmidt and Guerin join Gary Payton, Bernard King, Dawn Staley, Rick Pitino, Jerry Tarkanian, Guy Lewis, Sylvia Hatchell, and Russ Granik, along with posthumous inductees Roger Brown and Dr. E.B. Henderson as members of the Class of 2013.

Some inductees, like Payton, King, and Staley, have etched their careers in the collective basketball conscious. Most contemporary basketball fans can envision Payton, aka “The Glove,” a nine-time NBA First Team All-Defensive honoree, stealing the ball from some poor point guard near halfcourt and finishing the play with a no-look alley oop to his running mate in Seattle, Shawn Kemp.

“We was the original Lob City. We don’t want to call it Lob City, we just call it the Rain Man and The Glove,” Payton said, referring to the nicknames given to him and Kemp. “I had so much confidence in (Kemp) that I could throw it up anywhere, and he would go get it. It was all chemistry.”

Staley, currently the women’s basketball coach at South Carolina, was a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and helped establish the legitimacy of the WNBA as a five-time All-Star.

King, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native, is remembered for his legendary scoring outbursts at Madison Square Garden and a dominant stretch of play for the New York Knicks before an ACL tear and other knee injuries ultimately derailed his career.

When King’s name was announced Saturday, one fan yelled out “King of New York!”, and that’s exactly what the hometown kid was to so many fans during that magical run with the Knicks in the mid 1980s. King averaged 34.8 points per game during the 1984 playoffs and was the NBA scoring champion in 1985.

Pitino, an assistant on Knicks coach Hubie Brown’s staff from 1983-1985, had a front row seat to King’s greatness.

“Hubie relied on me a lot,” Pitino deadpanned. “He’d ask me ‘kid, what should we run this time on offense?’ I’d say ‘Go to Bernard.’ Next time down the floor, ‘what should we do?’ Give it to B.’¦”

Pitino is another well-known inductee, especially in Massachusetts, as much for his seven Final Four appearances and two national championships, as for his ill-fated run as head coach of the Boston Celtics. Though Pitino is the only coach in men’s NCAA history to lead three different schools to the Final Four (Providence, Kentucky, Louisville) and has won more than 600 games in his collegiate career, in this state he’ll most often be remembered as the guy who said “Larry Bird is not walking through that door” and almost killed “Celtic Pride” during a disastrous run as the Boston Celtics head coach.

The legacy of some of the other inductees, like Guerin, Lewis, Tarkanian, and Brown, have faded from memory in the decades since their careers concluded. Guerin scored 14,676 points during a 13-year NBA career. A record-breaking college player at Iona College, Guerin was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1956 and averaged more than 20 points per game in a seven-season stint with the Knicks.

Roger Brown, who died of cancer in 1997, was one of the most influential players in the history of the American Basketball Association. He was a four-time ABA All-Star, three-time champion with the Indiana Pacers, and is considered one of the greatest one-on-one players of his era. Brown holds an ABA Finals single-game record with 53 points.

Lewis, 91, and Tarkanian, 83, are both in failing health and were led onto the stage in wheelchairs, but their impacts on the collegiate game is long-lasting.

Lewis, who wore a red University of Houston baseball cap throughout the ceremony, coached at Houston for 30 years sending 29 players to the NBA, including stars like Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Clyde Drexler. He was one of the first coaches in the South to integrate his team when he added African American players Hayes and Don Chaney in 1965.

Hayes, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990, had been boycotting the Hall of Fame until his coach was also inducted.

“That was a great wrong done and all of the sudden, it’s right,” Hayes told the Associated Press in April. “And once it’s right, it doesn’t even make any difference what happened in the past.”

Tarkanian recorded 990 wins during his career, but he will be most remembered for his UNLV Runnin’ Rebels teams that dominated collegiate basketball, winning the championship in 1990 and going undefeated before falling to Duke in the Final Four in 1991. The four-time National Coach of the Year also owns the highest junior college winning percentage of all-time at .891 and is widely credited as the first coach to recruit junior college players to four-year universities.

Chicopee School Committee to review firing policy for superintendent

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The School Committee said they fully support Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr., who has been in the position for eight years.

CHICOPEE – A clause added to the superintendent’s contract has sparked a debate on how the School Committee should fire its top administrator.

Recently the School Committee extended Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr.’s contract to 2018 and agreed to a clause that would require a two-thirds majority of the members to fire him.

The contract change left some committee members questioning their hiring and firing policy. Currently the School Committee needs a two-thirds majority of the 12 members to hire a superintendent but only needs a majority of the members who are attending to fire the superintendent.

Committee member Adam D. Lamontagne, chairman of the policy subcommittee, proposed changing the policy so it would take a two-thirds majority vote to fire a superintendent as well.

“I think it is good to keep it consistent across the board,” he said.

But other members argued that firing a superintendent is not the same as hiring one and argued they do not want to lose the power to remove a school leader who is failing to do a good job.

Member Sandra A. Peret argued in any situation the committee would have to have a solid reason to terminate the superintendent and argued to keep the policy with a simple majority.

“If it was proven that a person is not effective we should not keep them,” she said.

Repeatedly during the debate, members said they are not concerned about Rege, who has served as superintendent for eight years and has their full support. His contract will supersede any policy of the School Committee.

Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, who is also the School Committee chairman, pointed out there are flaws in the existing policy. One problem is it does not say that it calls for a majority of the full committee to vote so technically, since a quorum is seven members, just four of the 12 committee members could fire the superintendent.

“We have to look at the vagueness of the current policy,” said Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello, a committee member.

In addition, the state has changed the way the superintendent should be evaluated so that should be examined in the same policy, said Marjorie A. Wojcik, a committee member.

The committee agreed to examine the entire policy in subcommittee.

“We have the time to get it right. There shouldn’t be any politics around this,” Bissonnette said.

Hard Rock casino supporters, opponents make final push as West Springfield referendum vote draws near

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As the city-wide referendum on this town's proposed $800 million Hard Rock casino draws closer, supporters and opponents are hard at work to sway the undecided to their side. Watch video

WEST SPRINGFIELD - As the city-wide referendum on this town's proposed $800 million Hard Rock casino draws closer, supporters and opponents are hard at work to sway the undecided to their side.

Inside Hard Rock's local headquarters on Westfield Street, the company's top brass mingled with local supporters of the project on Saturday as they moved in unison with a common goal- land a "yes" vote on Tuesday.

Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen was among the top officials in West Side, working with his team to help persuade people on the fence to vote in favor of the company's project.

"We believe our project provides a tremendous opportunity for residents of West Springfield to have a minimum of $18 million increase in the tax roles that could translate to lower property taxes down the line and increased services," Allen said. "We are working to create an entertainment complex that has a gaming aspect to it- not the other way around. Our project would compliment the Eastern States Exposition and it's legacy and, as one of our colleagues says, it's a match made in heaven."

Hard Rock's plan centers on developing a resort style casino on a 38 acre parcel of land currently owned by the exposition. The proposal includes a 12-story hotel with an approximately 100,000-square-foot casino with 100 table games, 2,500 slot machines and a Hard Rock Cafe. The facility also is slated to include a live music venue, a gallery of music memorabilia from the chain's extensive collection and several retail shopping and dining options.

HARD_ROCK_PROTEST_4_12919515.JPG9/7/13 -West Springfield - Anti-Hard Rock casino demonstrators protest at the entrance of the busy Riverdale Shops at the intersection of Riverdale and Morgan streets. From the traffic island, Anne Milett and Kate Sady are seen holding signs. (Staff photo by John Suchocki) 

But not everyone is sold on the promises made by the Florida-based company in regard to local's reaping the benefits of having it as a neighbor. While Allen and his crew were working their angle on Saturday, anti-casino demonstrators spent much of the day standing outside the busy Riverdale Shops with the familiar CASI"NO" signs, gauging their support in the form of cars beeping their horns and drivers waving and yelling out their windows.

On that side of the argument, casino opponent and U.S. Army reservist Nathan Bech explained that his opposition to the project was so strong from the start that he traveled from Africa to return home to fight.

"When I first heard that Hard Rock wanted to build a casino in my town, it upset me a great deal," Bech said. "I was doing humanitarian aid in Djibouti when the sequester hit and my job was basically pulled out from under me. So since I no longer had a fight over there I returned home to battle against the casino."

HARD_ROCK_PROTEST_1_12919469.JPG9/7/13 -West Springfield- Anti-casino volunteer Nancy Misialek and Nathan Bech, president of "no Casino West Springfield Inc," coordinate as anti-casino demonstrators take to the entrance of the Riverdale Shops in West Springfield on Saturday. (Staff photo by John Suchocki) 

Bech, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully against now retired Democratic Congressman John Olver in 2008, said his opposition to the casino is based upon fears that it will negatively impact his city and the people living here. He said that it isn't necessarily just Hard Rock's $800 million casino proposal that irks him, but rather the whole gaming industry.

"By nature, casinos are a predatory business. Their whole goal is to get as much money as possible out of everyone who walks through the door," he said. "People can lose everything there and then they are on their own. There may only be a small percent of people who are problem gamblers, but when a casino opens up somewhere you will have more people who had never been to one before becoming addicts. It is terrible for a town to endure."

Allen said he is familiar with the views of most casino opponents and while he feels strongly that his company's project would serve as an economic engine to help propel the city forward into the 21st Century, he respects the opposition.

"Personally, I respect and would never try to change the mind of someone who's viewpoint is that gambling is morally wrong," Allen said. "But for anyone on the fence paying attention, we ask that you look at our project and consider the fact that casino gaming is coming to Western Massachusetts no matter what. With us, the people of West Springfield have a chance to see some significant benefits. If MGM wins, the people here get all the impacts with no benefit."

When asked what distinguishes their project from MGM Resorts International's Springfield casino proposal and Mohegan Sun's Palmer gaming pitch, Allen again mentioned the partnership with the Eastern States Exposition which holds the annual 17-day New England fair,The Big E.

Hard Rock's proposal comes with a commitment to spend around $35 million on traffic improvements including a new interchange on Route 5 to provide a designated entrance and exit for the casino. Part of the company's traffic mitigation plan is a complete reconstruction of Memorial Avenue, which includes upgrading everything from drainage, lighting and signage to wider lanes, new sidewalks and a bike path.

Hard Rock would also create a new Route 5 interchange to allow a direct second path to the casino site, allowing most visitors to avoid Memorial Avenue entirely. The traffic plan also calls for working with the state to enhance the Memorial Bridge Rotary and the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge to reduce traffic congestion in those areas.

Allen said a "common misconception" rests on the amount of traffic expected at the proposed casino and local fears that every day will be like the worst traffic days at the Big E.

"That is a worry which is unfounded and simply not based in truth," Allen said.

Allen said all three companies are spending large amounts of money in the battle to win the sole Western Massachusetts casino license.

"This is probably the most expensive competition I've seen in the past 20 years," Allen said. "So for whoever wins, it is money well spent. And for the other two, well, they will be quite sad at the end of it."

Allen reflected that in the world of casino gaming, there are a small number of players, and everyone knows the competitors. He said that based on his past tenure with Mohegan Sun and his dealings with MGM, he thinks the people of Western Massachusetts are in a unique position to benefit no matter which company is chosen to build a casino.

"I think that all three organizations looking to develop here are well respected and that shows as we haven't went negative. I think we all respect each other. If we lose, I know the people of Western Massachusetts are in good hands," Allen said. "But I believe we've told our story accurately and fairly, and now we are counting on our supporters to turn out on Tuesday and vote for our project."

Residents of West Springfield can expect to see and hear from both Allen and Bech's respective camps through the municipal vote on Tuesday. On Sunday, Hard Rock officials will continue their public outreach and are holding an event with Allen at campaign headquarters starting at 6 p.m. There are also rumors circulating in West Side that another town councilor may be endorsing the project ahead of the vote.

Bech's anti-casino group is also inviting the public to an event on Sunday where notable casino opponents will be discussing their research.

At the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 214 Elm St., from 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Amherst College graduate Robert Steele, who has written about how casinos have affected the state of Connecticut, will be joined by Robert Goodman, a Hampshire College professor and author of "The Luck Business," as well as Alan Cabot.

Cabot is a West Springfield-based financial planner and resident who will talk about the Hard Rock host community agreement with the city and point out what he's interpreting as loopholes and potential areas of concern for locals.

Springfield voters approved MGM's proposal in July, and Palmer will vote on Mohegan Sun's project on Nov. 5. The projects that are approved by their respective host communities will move on to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for further review, before one is ultimately awarded the casino license.


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National September 11 Memorial & Museum putting hallowed artifacts in place

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When completed in the spring, the September 11 Museum will transport people through time from events leading to the 9/11 attacks all the way to the current events of today.

By MEGHAN BARR

NEW YORK — Far below the earth where the twin towers once stood, a cavernous museum on hallowed ground is finally nearing completion.

Amid the construction machinery and the dust, powerful artifacts of death and destruction have assumed their final resting places inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

A vast space that travels down to the bedrock upon which the towers were built, the museum winds its way deeper and deeper underground, taking visitors on a journey to the very bottom.

Already on display are several pieces of mangled steel and metal recovered from the World Trade Center towers, each one telling a different story of the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The first relics that visitors will see are two massive pieces of structural steel that rose from the base of the North Tower. Now the rusty red columns soar above ground into the sunlit glass atrium that encloses the entrance to the museum.

"They're so large — about 70 feet tall — that we built the museum around them," explained Joseph Daniels, president of the memorial and museum.

Down a long ramp, visitors will peer down to glimpse the last piece of steel removed from ground zero in 2002, which sits inside a gaping silvery chamber that drops to the lowest level of the museum.

Further down the ramp, visitors will discover a mangled and twisted piece of steel that Daniels calls "impact steel." That's because this piece of the building was actually destroyed by the impact of Flight 11 slamming into the North Tower.

"You can see how, at the bottom, the columns are bent back," Daniels said. "That's because Flight 11's nose, when it pierced the building, it bent steel like that."

Perhaps the most chilling part of the museum, in its current form, is a battered staircase that leads down to bedrock, where the exhibits will be displayed. Sandwiched between an escalator and a staircase that will be used by museum visitors, the "survivor's stairs" provided an escape route for hundreds of people who fled from the towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

"You're literally following the same pathway that hundreds followed on 9/11 to survival, to safety," said museum director Alice Greenwald. "In some respects, what we're saying to our visitors is, we all live in a world now that was defined by this event. And in that sense, we're all survivors of 9/11."

There are more relics, some of them shrouded in plastic or white drapery, awaiting their public debut:

The "flag steel" shaped like a ribbon that resembled a flag blowing in the breeze. The T-shaped steel column and crossbeam that became known as the "World Trade Center cross," a piece of the rubble that became a symbol of hope to hundreds of recovery workers.

The fire truck from Engine Company 21, whose cab was destroyed while the rest of the truck remained intact.

When completed in the spring, the museum will transport people through time from events leading to the 9/11 attacks all the way to the current events of today. And even when its doors open, the museum will always remain a work in progress.

"This is a museum, I like to say, that's not about answers," Greenwald said. "It's a museum about questions. And we end with questions, and we then invite the public to participate in that dialogue."

Wildfire near Yosemite burns into fourth week

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As a gigantic wildfire in and around Yosemite National Park entered its fourth week Saturday, environmental scientists moved in to begin assessing the damage and protecting habitat and waterways before the fall rainy season.

908wildfire.JPGIn this photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service, fire crew members stand watch near a controlled burn operation as they release a very pistol, as they fight the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park in California.  

By TRACIE CONE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As a gigantic wildfire in and around Yosemite National Park entered its fourth week Saturday, environmental scientists moved in to begin assessing the damage and protecting habitat and waterways before the fall rainy season.

Members of the federal Burned Area Emergency Response team were hiking the rugged Sierra Nevada terrain even as thousands of firefighters still were battling the blaze, now the third-largest wildfire in modern California history.

Federal officials have amassed a team of 50 scientists, more than twice what is usually deployed to assess wildfire damage. With so many people assigned to the job, they hope to have a preliminary report ready in two weeks so remediation can start before the first storms, Alex Janicki, the Stanislaus National Forest BAER response coordinator, said.

Team members are working to identify areas at the highest risk for erosion into streams, the Tuolumne River and the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, San Francisco's famously pure water supply.

The wildfire started in the Stanislaus National Forest on Aug. 17 when a hunter's illegal fire swept out of control and has burned 394 square miles of timber, meadows and sensitive wildlife habitat.

It has cost more than $89 million to fight, and officials say it will cost tens of millions of dollars more to repair the environmental damage alone.

About 5 square miles of the burned area is in the watershed of the municipal reservoir serving 2.8 million people - the only one in a national park.

"That's 5 square miles of watershed with very steep slopes," Janicki said "We are going to need some engineering to protect them."

So far the water remains clear despite falling ash, and the city water utility has a six month supply in reservoirs closer to the Bay Area.

The BAER team will be made up of hydrologists, botanists, archeologists, biologists, geologists and soil scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, Yosemite National Park, the Natural Resource Conservation and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The team also will look at potential for erosion and mudslides across the burn area, assess what's in the path and determine what most needs protecting.

"We're looking to evaluate what the potential is for flooding across the burned area," said Alan Gallegos, a team member and geologist with the Sierra National Forest. "We evaluate the potential for hazard and look at what's at risk -- life, property, cultural resources, species habitat. Then we come up with a list of treatments."

In key areas with a high potential for erosion ecologists can dig ditches to divert water, plant native trees and grasses, and spray costly hydro-mulch across steep canyon walls in the most critical places.

Fire officials still have not released the name of the hunter responsible for starting the blaze. On Friday Kent Delbon, the lead investigator, would not characterize what kind of fire the hunter had set or how they had identified the suspect.

"I can say some really good detective work out there made this thing happen," he told the Associated Press.

Delbon said the Forest Service announced the cause of the fire before being able to release details in order to end rumors started by a local fire chief that the blaze ignited in an illegal marijuana garden.

Dive signals more treasure at U.S. pirate ship wreck off Cape Cod

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A dive by Barry Clifford off Cape Cod uncovered proof that a staggering amount of undiscovered riches from the pirate ship Whydah might be found there.

908treasure.JPGIn this Sept. 4, 2013 photo, explorer Barry Clifford, left, reviews an X-ray image of a concretion showing a cannon ball and coins that diver and conservator Chris Macort, right, had recorded in Brewster, Mass. The concretion is some of the new treasure recovered around the wreck of the Whydah, a pirate ship that sank during a ferocious storm off Cape Cod in 1717. Clifford located the Whydah site in 1984 and has since documented 200,000 artifacts. He only recently got indications there may be far more coins than the roughly 12,000 he’s already documented. (AP Photo/Cape Cod Times, Merrily Cassidy) 

By JAY LINDSAY

BOSTON — Fog was swallowing his ship's bow, the winds were picking up and undersea explorer Barry Clifford figured he needed to leave within an hour to beat the weather back to port.

It was time enough, he decided, for a final dive of the season over the wreck of the treasure-laden pirate ship, Whydah, off Cape Cod.

That Sept. 1 dive at a spot Clifford had never explored before uncovered proof that a staggering amount of undiscovered riches — as many as 400,000 coins — might be found there.

Instead of packing up for the year, Clifford is planning another trip to the Whydah, the only authenticated pirate ship wreck in U.S. waters.

"I can hardly wait," he said.

The Whydah was built as a slave ship in 1716 and captured in February 1717 by pirate captain "Black Sam" Bellamy. Just two months later, it sank in a ferocious storm a quarter mile off Wellfleet, Mass., killing Bellamy and all but two of the 145 other men on board and taking down the plunder from 50 vessels Bellamy raided.

Clifford located the Whydah site in 1984 and has since documented 200,000 artifacts, including gold, guns and even the leg of a young boy who took up with the crew. He only recently got indications there may be far more coins than the roughly 12,000 he's already documented.

Just before his death in April, the Whydah project's late historian, Ken Kinkor, uncovered a Colonial-era document indicating that in the weeks before the Whydah sank, Bellamy raided two vessels bound for Jamaica. "It is said that in those vessels were 400,000 pieces of 8/8," it read.

The 8/8 indicates one ounce, the weight of the largest coin made at that time, Clifford said.

"Now we know there's an additional 400,000 coins out there somewhere," he said.

The final dive may have provided a big hint at where. Diver Rocco Paccione said he had low expectations when Clifford excavated a pit about 35 feet below the surface and sent him down. But his metal detector immediately came alive with positive, or hot, readings.

"This pit was pretty much hot all the way through," he said.

The most significant artifact brought up by Paccione was an odd-shape concretion, sort of a rocky mass that forms when chemical reactions with seawater bind metals together.

X-rays this week revealed coin-shaped masses, including some that appear to be stacked as if they were kept in bags, which is how a surviving Whydah pirate testified that the crewmen stored their riches.

Clifford doesn't sell Whydah treasures and said he would never sell the coins individually because he sees them as historical artifacts, not commodities. But he has given coins away as mementos. Two have been sold at the Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC auction house in Florida, with the highest going for about $11,400. The price per Whydah coin would plummet if tens of thousands hit the market, but a retail price of $1,000 each is a reasonable guess, said Augi Garcia, manager at the auction.

Ed Rodley, who studied Whydah artifacts during graduate studies in archaeology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said the Whydah site keeps producing treasure decades after its discovery partly because it's so tough to work.

The site is on the edge of the surf zone, where waves start breaking toward shore. Clifford needs seven anchors to hold the boat in place and the murky ocean bottom is just as active underneath him. Rodley said any pits dug by archaeologists would collapse within hours.

What Clifford has gradually gotten to, three centuries after the Whydah went down, is impressive, Rodley said.

"It's crazy the stuff that's come out of that site and keeps coming out of that site, year after year after year," he said.

Connecticut lobstermen coping with 1st seasonal closure

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Connecticut lobstermen are removing their traps to comply with the first seasonal shutdown on Long Island Sound.

908lobster.JPGMike Theiler pulls lobsters he harvested out of a basket on a dock Oct. 28, 2011, in New London, Conn. Theiler is among about two dozen full-time lobstermen in Connecticut preparing for the first seasonal shutdown on Long Island Sound. The closure begins Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013, through Nov. 28. It aims to reduce the total lobster harvest by 10 percent this year to give the sound’s depleted lobster population a chance to rebuild. 

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Connecticut lobstermen have survived storms and struggled with poor prices, die-offs and a prolonged plunge in the population that they count on for a livelihood. Now the dwindling ranks of aging, full-time lobsterman are removing their traps to comply with the first seasonal shutdown on Long Island Sound.

The closure, which begins Sunday and lasts through Nov. 28, aims to reduce the total lobster harvest by 10 percent this year to give the sound's depleted lobster population a chance to rebuild. Amid skepticism it will reverse their fortunes, lobstermen are tightening their belts, shifting to other fishing, laying off crews, thinking about jobs on shore and wondering how they'll survive the latest challenge.

"You won't find a group of harder-working or more industrious guys," said Michael Theiler, one of about two dozen full-time lobstermen in Connecticut compared to more than 200 a decade ago. "If there is anyone who is going to survive something like this, it's going to be lobstermen. I couldn't tell you how we're going to do it or what it's going to take."

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission required New York and Connecticut to take steps to reduce the total lobster harvest by 10 percent in 2013. The timing was requested by lobstermen to coincide with a drop in wholesale prices to minimize the harm.

"The economic impact should be well less than 10 percent," said David Simpson, director of marine fisheries for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. "This is just another call for diversification. They've already had to diversify and not just depend on one resource."

Until a few years ago, lobsters represented about 90 percent of Al Schaffer's income. Now it's down to 50 percent, and he plans to do additional fishing beside lobsters because of the moratorium.

"It's going to financially hurt us," said Schaffer, who lives in New York and figures he'll have to cut back on his Florida vacation and eating out.

The fishery has been in decline for 15 years. Last year, 250,000 pounds of lobster was caught in Connecticut, down from 3.8 million pounds in the peak year of 1998, Simpson said.

A number of potential contributing factors have been cited, including higher water temperatures, pesticide residue, diseases and more predators such as striped bass, scup and other species seen as preventing the lobsters from rebuilding. Results from the latest study are expected in November, Simpson said.

Scientific experts had recommended a five-year ban, but a 10 percent reduction that led to the three-month closure was the longest time period that could be agreed on, Simpson said. Environmental conditions such as water temperature, predation and disease are playing a major role in the collapse, but there was no clear indication that any amount of conservation will bring the stock back to normal levels, he said.

Theiler and Michael Gimshaw, president of the Southern New England Fishermen & Lobstermen's Association, expect they'll have to lay off two crewmen each during the closure. Theiler isn't sure what he'll do but said he may do some other fishing and work on his boat.

"I don't think that anyone really believes that they are going to come out of this unscathed," Theiler said. "But if we want to bring lobsters back, the first step is leaving more lobsters in the water."

Theiler, a 47-year-old Waterford resident who has three children in college, was busy taking hundreds of traps out of the water this week. It's the first time in a quarter century he's taking all his traps out of the water.

Theiler, vice president of the Connecticut Lobstermen's Association, said lobstermen will take a financial hit but will find a way to persevere.

"I'm sure we'll all do what we need to do to get through it, but it's not going to be very easy. There's really nothing that is going to replace the lobster here," he said.

Theiler agreed that the three-month lobster moratorium is the best option. He predicted it would achieve the 10 percent goal but would not replenish the lobster population long term.

The lobster decline has affected southern New England and farther south, but Maine and Canada are continuing to do well. That has kept prices low for lobstermen, making it difficult to turn a profit.

The typical lobsterman in Connecticut is in his late 50s, Theiler said. A few may quit after the seasonal shutdown, he said.

"I think most of us will find a way to hang on," Theiler said.


Agawam motorcycle crash off Route 57 leaves operator in critical condition

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CBS 3 Springfield reported that the Route 57 westbound Mill Street off-ramp and a portion of Mill Street in Agawam were closed to traffic and remained closed at 11 p.m. following the single-motorcycle accident.

AGAWAM — A motorcycle operator remains in critical condition following an accident early Saturday evening at the westbound Mill Street exit ramp off Route 57.

Agawam Police said the crash, which was reported at about 6 p.m., involved only the motorcycle. The rider suffered serious injuries and was listed in critical condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Police said alcohol and speed appeared to be initial factors in the crash.

The off-ramp and a portion of Mill Street were closed to traffic and remained closed for several hours after the crash.

Accident reconstruction investigators from the Agawam Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section are investigating.

On Sunday police said the name of the operator was still not being released. There is no new information at this time.



This article was updated at 10:45 a.m. Sept. 8, 2013.

Freeman Farm in Brimfield will host woodland walk to highlight forestry efforts

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They hope that if those who attend have land themselves, they can discover something that they can apply to their own situation. Watch video

BRIMFIELD - John W. and Jane Freeman, of the Freeman Farm, at 228 Little Alum Road will open their 300-acre property to visitors on Sept. 11 for a woodland walk.

The brother-and-sister farming team have owned the property since 1975, but had been familiar with it while growing up as a family friend lived there. They purchased additional acreage over the years and were awarded the honor of being the 1997 Massachusetts Tree Farm of the Year.

They now have a sawmill on the property and sell firewood year-round. Their Freeman Farm stand also sells home-grown vegetables, flowers and maple syrup.

"We grow everything from tomatoes to trees," Jane Freeman, 56, said.

They got the idea to open their property to visitors after attending a "woodland ambassador" workshop at Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary in Wales.

They joined the tree farm program in the 1970s because they needed suggestions as to what to do with the property. It's their full-time job. And, with the help of friend Harrison Achilles, they are continuously tending to the land. Achilles also will attend the walk and will point out some of the bluebird boxes he's built and erected, along with several wood duck boxes.

"We want to hit on as many subjects as we can," John Freeman, 61, said.

Foresters and representatives of land trusts will also be on hand to answer questions, as well as a retired state entomologist.

The Freemans' land is in the Chapter 61 program with the state, a designation that restricts development while offering a tax incentive for landowners.

"Without Chapter 61, you could not keep a farm now," John Freeman said, adding he can answer questions about being involved in the program.

Another free woodland walk is planned at the home of Ray, Barbara and Maria Korny at 70 Allen Hill Road in Holland on Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. 2 p.m. Participants will look for signs of wildlife, identify the most prominent trees and shrubs, share tips for keeping woods healthy and highlight the trails system. The Kornys are certified tree farmers and own the pet-friendly Restful Paws Inn.

Ray Korny, who owns 30 acres of woods, will be the guide. A forester and land trust officials also will attend to answer questions.


John Freeman said he logs mixed hardwoods for the firewood, noting that clear cutting is frowned upon. Instead, reseeding is allowed to happen naturally. They have customers come from as far as Springfield for their firewood.

 

Freeman said they are still playing catch-up with reforesting the property as a result of storms that downed numerous trees on the property - those storms included the October 2011 snowstorm and the remnants of Hurricane Sandy last October. Luckily, they were spared the tornado in 2011 that damaged parts of Brimfield.

John Freeman said they did not consciously set out to be farmers: "I don't think we really chose it. It just kind of happened," he said.

Jane Freeman said their grandparents and great-grandparents were farmers. The job "keeps you hopping. It takes all your wits," she said.

"All your time," added John Freeman.

But, he added, "I think the property's priceless."

They've battled invasive species on the property, such as barberry and Asiatic bittersweet. Threats like the woolly adelgid, a pest which preys upon eastern hemlocks and is native to east Asia, also abound. John Freeman said an extremely cold winter is needed to kill off the adelgid, and last winter did not qualify. A woolly adelgid infestation appears like snow on the hemlock needles.

The Freemans previewed the walk on a recent weekday for some guests, including Katherine Blake, partnership coordinator for the Massachusetts-Connecticut Sustainable Forest Partnership, the walk's sponsor, along with the Southern New England Heritage Forest Partnership.

They passed by a beehive, kept by a friend and surrounded by a fence to keep bears out. In the woods, there is a vernal pool, dry from summer, and some vacant wood duck boxes.

John Freeman pointed out the different kinds of trees, from poplar and gray birch to hickory and sugar maple. Some of the trees have little signs in front of them announcing their type, a gift from Achilles.

Back in 1995, they became involved with the stewardship incentive program, which assists landowners with cost share incentives to improve forest productivity, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

They hope that if those who attend have land themselves, they can discover something that they can apply to their own situation.

"We want people to have a great time," John Freeman said.

"And learn something they can share, and think about," Jane Freeman said.

Those who would like to attend the free walk can RSVP to the Freemans at (413) 436-7621 or email Blake at kautumnblake@gmail.com. The rain date is Sept. 25.

Participants are advised to wear sturdy shoes and carpool, if possible, and to leave dogs at home. The walk starts at 4:30 p.m. and ends once it gets dark.

For the walk at the Kornys, dogs are welcome, but must be leashed. Rain date is Oct. 6, same time. To register, or for information, contact the Korny family by calling (413) 245-7792 or emailing info@restfulpaws.com. Directions to meeting location will be provided upon request. 

Former staffer plans documentary on House Speaker Tip O'Neill

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Tod O'Connor wants to make a movie and a documentary on O'Neill, a Massachusetts native who served as U.S. House speaker in the 1980s and played pivotal roles on issues ranging from the Vietnam War to Watergate.

BOSTON — Tod O’Connor only worked for former U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O’Neill for a year, but that experience helped lead O’Connor to his goal of nearly a decade: making a documentary film about the Massachusetts congressman’s life.

O'Connor hopes the film will influence today's political climate.

“After he retired, (O’Neill) had an 86 percent approval rating by the American people, which was higher than that of (President Ronald) Reagan when he retired,” O’Connor said recently. “The question is, given today’s political environment, the dislike the American people have for elected officials…What was Tip as a person that people liked him even though they didn’t agree with his political philosophy?”

Democrat O’Neill was among the most distinguished of Massachusetts’s political icons.

A Cambridge native, he graduated from Boston College and was elected to the state House of Representatives at age 24, in 1936. He worked his way up and had become speaker at the Statehouse by the time he left in 1952, with his election to Congress. He would serve in Congress for 34 years, eventually becoming majority leader, then speaker of the U.S. House.

O’Neill was a Democratic loyalist who was unafraid to break with his party. After first supporting the Vietnam War, during the presidency of Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson, O’Neill later broke with his party’s president to oppose the war, after hearing from his constituents as public opposition to the war grew.

O'Neill helped bring about the impeachment of Republican President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. He earned respect for his ability to work across the aisle during Republican President Ronald Reagan’s administration.

2013 tod o'connor.jpgTod O'Connor 

O’Connor, a Democrat, says he read “Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century,” a biography by former Boston Globe Washington editor John Farrell, which was published in 2001 as the Democrats were struggling to find a voice during the run-up to the Iraq War.

“I thought there were lessons in the book based on Tip’s life and the acts he actually did at the risk of political career,” O’Connor said, pointing to O’Neill’s opposition to the Vietnam War and his vote against a loyalty oath as a state legislator during the 1930s Red Scare.

O’Connor bought the movie rights to Farrell’s book in 2004 and engaged filmmaker Dimitri Logothetis, a writer, director and producer whose previous documentaries include Champions Forever, about heavyweight boxing champions, and “Momo,” about 1950s Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana.

Logothetis said he will only make a documentary about a person whose character he finds fascinating – which is why he agreed to the O’Neill film. “I get inspired, and I get myself worked up in a very positive way when I find something in someone’s character,” Logothetis said. “Tip O’Neill had a very admirable character for a politician. He did a number of things in his lifetime that would not have helped his career.”

dimitril.jpgDimitri Logothetis 

Logothetis pointed to O’Neill’s public break with Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War and his struggle to deal with the Watergate scandal without sullying the office of the presidency. Logothetis said O’Neill earned little money while in Congress. “All those things to me stood out,” Logothetis said. “It was more about the man than anything else.”

Logothetis said he and O’Connor plan to make both a movie and a documentary, and he has started drafting scripts for both.

O’Connor, 61, has no film experience, but is motivated by personal ties to his subject.

O’Connor grew up on the South Shore, and his parents and wife were all Boston area natives. He traces his ties to O’Neill to his grandfathers.

O’Connor’s maternal grandfather, Charles Hurley, was governor of Massachusetts from 1937 to 1939, when O’Neill was first elected as a state representative. His paternal grandfather, Austin O’Connor, helped run his father’s construction company, where O’Neill drove a truck in the early 1930s.

“My grandfather Austin was the older uncle he never had. They were close friends,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor was hired as a legislative aide to O’Neill in 1980 and 1981, doing work for the steering and policy committee. During his job interview, O’Neill told O’Connor about O’Connor’s family history.

O’Connor would spend nine years on Capitol Hill working for different politicians. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he now works as an energy consultant. He never lost interest in O’Neill.

O’Connor and Logothetis are fundraising through the crowdsourcing fundraising website Kickstarter, although they have raised less than $2,000 of their $44,000 goal that way. O’Connor said they are raising funds in that manner out of respect to O’Neill’s mantra “all politics are local,” although they are also seeking help from unions, corporations and major donors.

If they raise the funds, the film will be shot in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Ireland. O’Connor said O’Neill’s Boston roots played a large role in his life. O’Neill’s father was head of the Cambridge Department of Public Works during the depression.

“There were people coming to the door dressed in scarves and coats with holes, worn out boots, to try to get a day job to survive for a couple of days,” O’Connor said. O’Connor said that experience led O’Neill to become a “bread and butter liberal” who believed in providing access to health care, education and collective bargaining to give everyone a chance to get ahead.

He said O’Neill learned to work with Republican governors during his time in the Massachusetts Statehouse. He helped develop the system, which later became common, of raising money around the state to dole out to Democrats in contested elections.

While in Congress, O’Neill roomed in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Rep. Edward Boland, the Democratic congressman from Springfield. They were part of the “Tuesday to Thursday club,” O’Connor said, a group of congressmen who, as freshmen, would spend weekends in their home districts.

“They were very close friends, who had known each other in the state legislature early on,” O’Connor said.

Asked about the O’Neill’s relevance today, O’Connor points to a film clip, displayed on his fundraising website, in which Reagan says to O’Neill, “I’m grateful you have permitted me in the past, and I hope in the future, that singular honor, the honor of calling you my friend.”

“Think about that today,” O’Connor said. “Do you think (Republican House Speaker) John Boehner would say that about (Democratic President) Barack Obama?”

NFL kickoff: War against the read-option, Week 1 buzz, headlines and picks

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Here's a look at the top storylines and big matchups from around the nation as we near kickoff on the first Sunday of a new NFL season.

Here's a look at the top storylines and big matchups from around the nation as we near kickoff on the first Sunday of a new NFL season:

The Big Buzz: Weighing the options

The NFL is at the dawn of a new season, and already the read-option offense is all anyone can talk about. The league can thank (or blame, depending on your perspective) the likes of Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick for that.

Defenses had few answers for that trio of dynamic quarterbacks last season and they've spent much of the offseason formulating a counterattack. So, can the read-option weather the assault about to be launched by NFL defenders?

Today's battle between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers could very well determine who wins the war.

Packers Capers FootballIn this Aug. 3, 2013 file photo, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers gestures during the Family Night scrimmage of NFL football training camp, in Green Bay, Wis. Finally, the Packers have a chance to erase the lasting impression of last season _ the divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Capers plans to draw on experiences old and new to find a way to stop quarterback Colin Kaepernick.(AP Photo/Mike Roemer, File)

Green Bay was scorched by the 49ers' read-option attack in a 45-31 divisional playoff loss last season as San Francisco racked up 579 total yards of offense, including an astounding 181 rushing yards for Kaepernick.

The Packers get another crack at the 49ers today with a chance to show what they've learned in the offseason. If the Pack can stifle Kaepernick and Co., it could provide a blueprint for defenses across the league.

The Packers plan to punish Kaepernick whenever he pulls the ball down, forcing San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh to risk his quarterback's health every time he calls a read-option play. After looking completely lost against the read-option last season, the stakes are high for the Packers defense, writes ESPN.com's John Clayton:

One of the keys for the Packers is to try to get several good hits on Kaepernick, which is legal as long as he's executing a fake on the read-option. For those plays, the quarterbacks lose the protection given to throwers. With opening games against the 49ers and Redskins, the Packers better known how to stop the read-option, or they could get off to an 0-2 start.

How the officials call the hits on read-option quarterbacks will be one of the most intriguing things to watch this weekend, writes CBSSports.com columnist Pete Prisco:

This is going to be interesting. Will the read-option quarterbacks throw up their hands to avoid a hit? If they carry out the fakes, they will get blasted. Teams are planning to hit them and hit them a lot.

And make no mistake, writes Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports, the read-option will be stopped:

Undoubtedly the new solutions to the zone read will be revealed this weekend. What they are is still unknown because teams would not have unveiled them in the meaningless preseason. But already there have been hints. Defenses are going to be more disciplined. Coordinators are going to demand their linemen and linebackers to not commit early as dual-threat quarterbacks try to anticipate the defense’s intentions.

But not everyone expects the read-option to fade away, despite being dismissed as "the flavor of the day" by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin because of the increased threat of injury that it poses for quarterbacks. Tom Reed of Cleveland.com writes that the offense is here to stay:

Tomlin’s point about potential injury is valid, especially with the way Griffin’s season ended a year ago. But don’t expect the read-option to go the way of the Wildcat. NFL defenses are becoming too quick and high school and college programs are producing an increasing number of dual-threat quarterbacks. It’s part of the game’s evolution.

Watch NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman discuss the impact of the read-option on today's 49ers-Packers showdown and much more in this week's "Hot Reads":

Headlines

• Former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez pleads not guilty in murder case. (via MassLive.com)

• Eagles coach Chip Kelly says he's not concerned by the ugly practice altercation between players Riley Cooper and Cary Williams, which may have been fueled by Cooper's use of a racial slur this offseason. (via NJ.com)

• Browns rookie linebacker Barkevious Mingo has been ruled out of today's opener against the Dolphins. (via Cleveland.com)

• Jets cut quarterback Brady Quinn in a move to save money, but may bring him back after Week 1. (via NJ.com)

• Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (back) will not play in today's opener against Buffalo. (via MassLive.com)

• Lions rookie defensive end Ezekiel Ansah (concussion) is expected to play today against the Vikings. (via MLive.com)

• Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones could miss four to six weeks after injuring his knee in Thursday's loss to the Broncos. (via ProFootballTalk)

• Quarterback Tim Tebow, released by New England after the preseason, turned down an opportunity to catch on with another team at a different position, according to TheMMQB's Peter King. (via Yahoo! Sports)

• Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman is no longer a captain of the Buccaneers. (via NFL.com)

Who they're picking

ESPN.com's experts unanimously back the Buccaneers to top the Jets, the 49ers to beat the Packers and the Patriots to turn away the Bills.

Of the eight panelists at CBSSports.com, only one picks the Eagles to beat the Redskins in Chip Kelly's debut, and just two expect Adrian Peterson and the Vikings to top the Lions.

Over at USAToday.com, a Patriots victory over the Bills and a Colts triumph over the Raiders have been declared the "locks of the week."

SI.com's Don Banks predicts a 30-23 win for the Cowboys over the Giants, a 23-10 victory for the Browns over the Dolphins and a 34-27 decision for the Saints over the Falcons.

What they're saying

30 spgiants HINDASH.JPGShaun Rogers is one of several large additions to the Giants defensive line this season. (Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger)

• Asked how his defense will be different this season than in years past, Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell channeled Sir Mix-a-Lot: (via NJ.com)

"We've got bigger butts!"

He added: "We got Shaun Rogers in there, Cullen Jenkins is there, the butts are a lot bigger. So it looks different, yeah."

• Despite Peyton Manning's superhuman performance for the Broncos on Thursday, the Colts made the right decision in replacing him with Andrew Luck, writes Bob Kravitz of USAToday.com:

When you have a chance to draft and build with the best quarterback prospect to come out of college since John Elway, you take him and you never look back. I don't care if Manning wins two more MVPs and two more Super Bowls — and I hope he does — it was the right move to make.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seems baffled that "New York" still comes before the Jets and Giants names: (via NFL.com)

"Yeah, well, because they practice in New Jersey, they play in New Jersey; most of their players live in New Jersey," Christie said. "There's nothing left from New York about the Giants or the Jets, except for the name."

• New York Jets fans have a feeling of impending doom as today's season opener approaches, writes Grantland.com's Sean Fennessey:

From the inside — especially to the fans — this is the team of doom. An apocalyptic suck. The overcrowded, never-ending pain train rolling straight down a mountain with a one-way ticket into the valley of death. From the outside — to casual fans of football, and anyone with a sense of humor that leans toward anarchic slapstick — this crew is a well-paid gang of fools. Feel bad about your team? At least they're not the Jets.

• Sure it's only Week 1, but today's matchup with division rival Atlanta is a must-win for the New Orleans Saints, writes NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan:

The Saints have done a good job of turning the page on 2012, but the mental wounds from the ugly 7-9 campaign remain fresh. While first-year defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has instilled a renewed swagger in the defense, the confidence has to be tenuous after what happened a year ago. If the Falcons run roughshod through Ryan's refurbished 3-4 attack, who knows how the Saints' defense reacts. This is its third scheme in three years. A crisis of confidence could ensue.

Adrian PetersonAfter coming back from knee reconstruction to rush for more yards than everyone in history but one, and win the NFL MVP award, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has his sights on an even better season in 2013. Can he break Eric Dickerson's record this time? (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

• Detroit defensive end Willie Young sure sounds as if he's in awe of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson: (via ESPN.com)

"A lot of other backs, it’s almost like there’s a slight bit of hesitation when those running backs get the ball," Young said. "In this case, this scenario, as soon as [Peterson] gets it, there are instances where before I engage with the offensive tackle, he’s already got the ball and I’m already in pursuit.

"And I didn’t even touch the tackle yet."

• What ever happened to good old-fashioned trash talk? Listening to Miami wide receiver Mike Wallace talk about his head-to-head matchup with Browns cornerback Joe Haden in today's season opener, you'd think the rivals were competing in a beauty pageant rather than an NFL game: (via Cleveland.com)

He’s going to look sweet. He’s going to wear all white (Browns will wear brown jerseys this game). He’s going to wear orange shoes. He’s going to amp himself up. That’s half the battle. When you look good, you play good. He’s going to feel good about himself, but I’m going to come out even sweeter. I’m going to really wear all white. I’m going to have my swag out too so he better be ready on Sunday.”

Really, Mike? (sigh)


UMass Amherst student Evan Jones, 19, found dead in dorm room

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UMass police were conducting a wellness check when they found the sophomore in his room.

umass logo umass shield.jpg 

AMHERST — University of Massachusetts campus police found a college sophomore dead in his room on Saturday afternoon.

University spokesman Daniel Fitzgibbons said Evan Jones, 19, of Milton, was found in his fourth floor dorm room in Washington Tower in the Southwest dormitories around 1 p.m.

"His death is not considered suspicious and there was no foul play," Fitzgibbons said.

He said there was no criminal investigation conducted, however, campus police made sure the building was safe and secure.

Since Jones' death was unattended the state medical examiner will be conducting an autopsy, he said.

Counseling is available for students and faculty who may need assistance, Fitzgibbons said.


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