Police have not released the names of the victims yet.

HOLYOKE – City police are interviewing witnesses and examining evidence following a double homicide early Saturday morning.

Police said they have not released the names of the victims because they are still trying to reach some of their family members. They said both are male in their early 20s and Hispanic.

“We are sorting through leads and tips and interviewing people,” said Lt. James Albert, public information officer for the Holyoke Police Department.

He police have been releasing little information because they are concerned it may hinder the investigation.

The shooting happened shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Sargeant and Chestnut streets. The first officers on the scene found two victims in the alleyway running next to Chestnut Park between Sargeant and Hampshire streets.

Albert would not say how many times each had been shot. At least one victim was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Multiple weapons were used in the shooting, but police have not said how many, or whether weapons were found with the victims. Ballistic evidence was collected at the scene, Albert said.

Residents interviewed in the neighborhood said they were sleeping at the time and did not know the victims.

But family and friends of the victims did set up a shrine with more than a dozen candles, a bouquet of fresh flowers with a message saying "We log you and we miss you" and a balloon with "I love you papa" written on it in Spanish.

People had also written messages to the victims in white paint on the sidewalk in the park.

The State Police Detective Unit attached to the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office is assisting the Holyoke Criminal Investigation Bureau with the investigation.

Albert said officers have been assisted by some witness tips and are asking anyone with information is to contact police at 413-322-6940, or to text anonymously on the Text-A-Tip line at Solve 274637.

The 85-year-old longtime autocrat's previous conviction for failing to stop the killings was overturned on appeals earlier this year, leaving still open questions about who ordered the use of deadly force against protesters and who carried out those orders.

Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi hold a huge representation of the national flag decorated with a sign of open palm with four raised fingers, which has become a symbol of the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where Morsi supporters were violently dispersed in August, during a protest in Cairo, Egypt. Clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of Egypt's ousted president during nationwide protests Friday, a day after Egypt's military-backed interim government extended a nationwide state of emergency by two months, citing ongoing security concerns.Associated Press 

AYA BATRAWY
Associated Press

CAIRO — An Egyptian judge on Saturday named top security officials to testify in the retrial of former President Hosni Mubarak on charges related to the killings of around 900 protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster.

The 85-year-old longtime autocrat's previous conviction for failing to stop the killings was overturned on appeals earlier this year, leaving still open questions about who ordered the use of deadly force against protesters and who carried out those orders.

The naming of former prison and top intelligence officials in the case appeared to intertwine Mubarak's trial with accusations facing his successor, Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted in a popularly-backed coup July 3 just one year after his election.

Morsi has been held since at an undisclosed military facility and is being investigated on allegations that he and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders conspired with the Palestinian Hamas group in the neighboring Gaza Strip to escape from prison during the anti-Mubarak uprising.

That allegation was raised again in court Saturday by defense lawyers who suggested that Hamas militants were behind the attacks on prisons and police stations in the northern Sinai Peninsula, which borders Gaza.

As the trial resumed, the army continued its largest offensive in years against militants in northern Sinai. Security officials said Saturday they uncovered explosives aimed at an Egyptian border post near a tunnel from Gaza, with a detonating wire leading back through a tunnel to Gaza.

Military intelligence officials said the discovery was another sign that Gaza-based militants are involved in attacks on Egyptian security forces. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Over the past weeks, the military has bulldozed homes along the Gaza border and caved in tunnels beneath them in preparations for creating a buffer zone to reduce weapon smuggling and militant crossings.

Brotherhood and Hamas officials have long denied any connection to the prison breaks or attacks on security forces in Sinai. The Brotherhood says the allegations are part of a propaganda blitz that has portrayed the group as a terrorist organization that must be banned.

"The authority of power and of the coup turned the victims into the perpetrators and the perpetrators into the victims... completely and clearly surpassing the simplest rules of justice, which are essential to the viability and stability of nations," the Brotherhood said in a statement Saturday.

Mubarak, who ruled over the Arab world's most populous country for nearly 30 years, grinned and waved at supporters as he was pushed in his wheelchair into the defendants' courtroom cage Saturday. Unlike previous court sessions, in which the former president was lying on a gurney, Mubarak appeared healthier and more confident as he sat upright in what was his second court appearance since his release from a prison hospital last month. He remains in detention at a military hospital pending corruption charges.

Judge Mahmoud el-Rachidi ordered a media blackout of the next three court sessions scheduled to run from Oct. 19 until Oct. 21, citing national security reasons. The sessions will include testimonies from ex-police chief Ahmed Gamal Eddin and ex-intelligence czar Murad Muwafi, who was also a governor in Sinai during the 18-day uprising in 2011.

In the first few days of the anti-Mubarak protests, official state media tried to paint the uprising as a foreign conspiracy against Egypt and alleged that Hamas was behind the prison breaks and the killings of protesters to turn people against the regime. There has never been a definitive accounting of who was behind the prison attacks, which saw more than 20,000 inmates escape as police tried to crush the massive protests that swept Mubarak from power.

In addition to Mubarak, six top police officials and the former interior minister, who oversaw Egypt's feared police for more than a decade, are on trial in the case. Mubarak's two sons and a business associate — who is being tried in absentia — are facing corruption charges in the same case.

Also Saturday, former Mubarak political adviser Osama el-Baz died at the age of 82. Known as the "maestro of Egyptian foreign policy", el-Baz was key in brokering Egypt's peace agreement with Israel in 1979 under President Anwar Sadat and was also sent to lead secretive and sensitive diplomatic missions under Mubarak.

Elsewhere in Egypt, thousands of Brotherhood supporters protested in scattered rallies on Saturday to mark the one-month anniversary of the killing of more than 600 people when security forces cleared out two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo.

The security raids on the encampments sparked days of bloodshed and the interim military-backed government quickly imposed a state of emergency that gives security forces broad powers to arrest. Cairo and other governorates were also put under curfew. Security officials say the month-long nighttime curfew will likely be extended, but that it will be shorted from seven hours to five. The officials spoke anonymously in line with regulations.

Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam in El-Arish, Egypt contributed to this report.

The loans will pay construction costs for the senior center, flood control and

CHICOPEE – A record low interest rate will allow the city to borrow more than $8.5 million in a short term bond to pay bills for part of the new senior center that is under construction, flood control projects and other work being done this summer.

City Treasurer Ernest N. Laflamme announced the city received an interest rate of .139 percent for a three-month loan from TD Securities, which will save a lot of money in interest.

TD Securities submitted the lowest of five bids last week. The others were also lower than 1 percent.

Several projects are now under way, including the senior center on West Main Street that is about 30 percent complete, so the city had to borrow to pay construction bills, Laflamme said.

“If the interests rates are favorable in November we will go out long-term borrowing. Right now the rates are favorable,” Laflamme said.

But he said the rates fluctuate constantly so the rates will depend on whether the city borrows long-term or decides to again take a short-term loan.

While the city has about $11 million in its stabilization account, it is making between 4 and 6 percent interest by investing that money so it makes sense to take out short-term loans when the interest rates are so low, Laflamme said.

The three-month loan includes funding $4 million for senior center construction, $1.8 million for the irrigation system being installed at the Chicopee Country Club, $1.8 million in flood control and $980,000 to finish the renovations to the Department of Public Works building on Baskin Drive, he said.

It has been at least three years since the city has borrowed long-term for any projects. The biggest capital improvements done lately have been to separate sewer and storm water pipes to meet federal Environmental Protection Agency mandates and those have been done through low-interest state loans, said Jessica Hebert, assistant city treasurer.

If the rates are favorable long-term, the city will try to put together a larger loan package of at least $15 million. It would include about $7.5 million needed for renovations to convert the former Chicopee High School into a middle school. The state is paying the remaining costs of the about $38 million project.

President Barack Obama is marking the fifth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse by trying to lay claim to an economic turnaround and warning Republicans against moves that he contends would risk a backslide.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is marking the fifth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse by trying to lay claim to an economic turnaround and warning Republicans against moves that he contends would risk a backslide.

His message to the GOP: don't oppose raising the nation's debt limit, don't threaten to close down the government in a budget fight, and don't push to delay the health care law or starve it of federal money.

The economic emphasis, after weeks devoted to the Syrian crisis, begins coming into focus in a series of events kicked off by a Rose Garden speech Monday. It's a determined effort to confront public skepticism about his stewardship of the economy and to put down his marker for budget clashes with Congress in the weeks ahead.

The White House argues that a better capitalized and better regulated financial sector is extending more credit, fueling an economy now able to withstand headwinds such as spending cuts and tax increases.

"You can draw this straight line from the health of the financial system to the ways the financial system impacts the economy," said Jason Furman, the chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

Obama can point to a growing economy, rising housing prices, 35 straight months of hiring, a rebounding stock market and other signs of recovery.

Five years after the federal government stepped in and infused banks with $245 billion in taxpayer money to avert a financial meltdown, the government has been paid back nearly in full.

Sunday is the fifth anniversary of Lehman's bankruptcy, which was the largest in U.S. history. The firm's demise marked the beginning of the global financial crisis and was a major catalyst of the financial meltdown.

"We've put more people back to work, but we've also cleared away the rubble of crisis and laid the foundation for stronger and more durable economic growth," Obama said during his recent trip to Russia.

"And as Congress takes up important decisions in the coming months, I'm going to keep making the case for the smart investments and fiscal responsibility that keep our economy growing, creates jobs and keeps the U.S. competitive. That includes making sure we don't risk a U.S. default over paying bills we've already racked up."

Obama intends to highlight that progress to economists and other guests at the White House on Monday, and his National Economic Council is set to release a report detailing the economic advances.

Obama planned to discuss the economy as part of an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week" and scheduled a speech Wednesday to the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs from the biggest U.S. companies.

But the public is not convinced that the economy is on the mend. Only one-third say the economic system is more secure now than in 2008, and 52 percent say they disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy, according to a Pew Research Center poll. There is still plenty of pain to justify their pessimism.

Despite job growth, the unemployment rate remains high at 7.3 percent. Though the rate has fallen, one of the reasons is because some people have dropped out of the labor force and no longer are counted as job seekers. The income gap between the very rich and the rest of the population is the biggest since 1928.

"We have genuinely made progress. We genuinely have more work to do," said Furman.

What's more, some banks that received government aid because they were deemed "too big to fail" are now bigger than they were in 2008, but they are smaller as a share of the economy than the largest banks in other big economies. Three years after Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules, execution of the law is behind schedule.

"We should not accept a financial system that allows the biggest banks to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while ordinary Americans continue to struggle," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who watched over the bank bailout as head of a special oversight panel.

This glass-half-empty-glass-half-full state of the economy has produced competing story lines about the role Obama's administration has played in getting the country to this point. Did Obama's approach validate the philosophy of spending your way out of crisis or did some of his policies actually slow the recovery?

The bank bailout, which started during the closing weeks of President George W. Bush's term, was highly unpopular but is generally credited with stabilizing the financial system.

Obama continued the program and ultimately used some of the $700 billion that had been allocated to prop up the financial system to bail out General Motors and Chrysler, a move generally accepted as a success.

Still, voters in 2009 and 2010 rebelled, and the bank bailout vote cost some lawmakers their seats.

Former Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who headed the House Financial Services Committee, noted the other day that "you don't get credit for disaster averted."

Some conservative economists say the $800 billion stimulus Obama pushed for in 2009 initially did help reverse the plunging economy, even though some liberals insist the dollar amount should have been even bigger.

But much of the credit for the current recovery, tepid as it may be, goes to the Federal Reserve. It has held short-term interests rates near zero and has undertaken a massive bond purchase program that has supported spending, lifted stocks and kept home mortgage rates at near record lows.

"The Fed was the single biggest policy move in the crisis. No question about it," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and top economic adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

The question that defines the debate is not so much whether government steps helped, but whether it could have done more to accelerate the recovery. Many Democrats and liberal-leaning economists say the economy needed more stimulus. But Republicans, worried about skyrocketing deficits, cut back on spending instead.

Now many say the economy needs long term measures that would reduce spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security and that would overhaul and simplify the tax system.

"We've done too much temporary targeted intervention, we're passed the time for that," said Holtz-Eakin, who now heads the American Action Forum, a conservative public policy institute. "It's no longer 2008 when things were falling like a rock. It's time to have long-term growth policies. We don't have them."

Obama and Republicans are at a stalemate, however.

Obama has proposed some changes that would reduce spending on Social Security and Medicare, including an adjustment that would lower cost-of-living adjustments. But he has insisted on more tax revenue by closing what he says are loopholes for the rich, a step Republicans won't take.

The impasse has revived threats of a government shutdown after the current budget year ends Sept. 30 and, more economically damaging, a default if Congress can't agree to raise the debt ceiling later in October.

Some conservative Republicans say they will only extend current spending levels or increase the debt ceiling if Obama delays putting in place his health care law, a condition Obama has flatly rejected.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has tried to keep the focus on spending reductions, even as some on his right insist on defunding or delaying the health care law.

"This year the federal government will bring in more revenue than any year in the history of our government, and yet we will still have nearly a $700 billion budget deficit," he said. "We have a spending problem. It must be addressed, period."

Suffield Academy Headmaster Charlie Cahn said on Saturday that 14-year-old Iheanyichukwu Anyanwu was from Irvingston, N.J. The ninth grader died Friday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

SUFFIELD – A New Jersey boy has died two days after he was pulled from the swimming pool of an independent secondary school in Connecticut.

Suffield Academy Headmaster Charlie Cahn said on Saturday that 14-year-old Iheanyichukwu Anyanwu was from Irvingston, N.J. The ninth grader died Friday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Cahn says the boy, of Nigerian descent, was in the pool very briefly, but needed to be rescued. An athletic trainer who was also on the pool deck immediately performed CPR. Paramedics who responded to the scene delivered emergency care, and took the teenager to the hospital.

Cahn says the community is in shock and devastated “at the loss of this exceptional young man.” The school is trying to figure out what circumstances might have led to the tragedy.

Average monthly daytime water temperatures in the region rarely approach the 81 degrees believed to be the threshold that triggers dangerous Vibrio growth. Rising average water temperatures locally, while not reaching that threshold, could be causing environmental changes that cause strains of Vibrio to thrive, said Suzanne Condon, associate commissioner of the Department of Health.

Oyster cultivator Don Merry, left, looks on as Jason Costa, an employee of Merry's Oysters, broadcasts oyster seed from their boat into Duxbury Bay in Duxbury. Oyster harvesting on Massachusetts' South Shore has been closed since Aug. 30 due to bacterial contamination from the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria and may remain closed until mid-October.Associated Press 

By JAY LINDSAY
Associated Press

BOSTON – A mystery of sorts threatens to stunt Massachusetts’ small but growing oyster industry after illnesses linked to bacterial contamination forced the state to shut down beds for the first time ever.

The culprit is the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterium, which has occurred in state waters since the 1960s. Theories abound about the recent increase in illnesses linked to Massachusetts – but those are only theories.

“Honestly, I’m confused by the whole thing,” said Don Merry, an oyster grower from Duxbury, where oyster beds have been closed.

Average monthly daytime water temperatures in the region rarely approach the 81 degrees believed to be the threshold that triggers dangerous Vibrio growth. Rising average water temperatures locally, while not reaching that threshold, could be causing environmental changes that cause strains of Vibrio to thrive, said Suzanne Condon, associate commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Health.

In addition, virulent Vibrio strains that aren’t as temperature-sensitive may have been carried from overseas in ships’ ballast water in the past decade, said the state’s chief shellfish biologist, Michael Hickey.

Meanwhile, it has been only six years since states were required to federally report Vibrio illnesses. So testing for it is relatively slow and underdeveloped and can’t yet predict, for instance, if outbreaks are coming, Hickey said.

The bacterium causes gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and cramping, but the illness is generally severe only in people with weakened immune systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the U.S. has about 4,500 cases of Vibrio infection annually.

Since May, Massachusetts has had 50 laboratory-confirmed cases of Vibrio, compared with 27 during the same period last year. Other states have also seen increases in Vibrio-related illnesses.

Last month, Connecticut closed oyster beds and issued a voluntary oyster recall after its first Vibrio outbreak, which sickened at least 14 people. Also last month, officials in Washington’s King County, where Seattle is located, warned oyster fans that Vibrio had sickened twice as many people as normal.

Cape Cod oyster farmer John Lowell said the trouble hits everyone working to build his state’s industry, though his East Dennis farm is nowhere near the closed beds.

“You either hang separately or you hang together, so it affects all of us,” he said.

Massachusetts has about 260 oyster growers who harvested roughly $12 million worth of oysters in 2012. That total is dwarfed by Louisiana – the highest-revenue oyster state, at $42 million – but it’s in the top five nationally, according to federal statistics.

Hickey said a boom in aquaculture operations fueled a 67 percent increase in the value of the Massachusetts oyster catch between 2010 and 2012.

Massachusetts’ first closures were announced Aug. 30 for oyster beds along the shore south of Boston, after illnesses caused by Vibrio were linked to an oyster-growing area in Duxbury. The second closure, announced Monday, shut down oyster beds in Katama Bay in Edgartown, on Martha’s Vineyard.

Combined, this year’s closures affect about 14 percent of Massachusetts growers, Hickey said.

Sal Bartolomeo, an oyster eater from Boston’s North End, said that he’s always cautious with shellfish, and news of the closures will make him more so. Now, he’ll be sure to ask restaurants where they get their oysters, though he added he’ll likely just avoid oysters altogether for a while.

“But I wouldn’t give them up, like, for forever,” Bartolomeo said.
Vibrio growth is not pollution-related. Since it grows quickly at higher temperatures, state oyster dealers are under are strict handling requirements to keep the oysters cool, and it’s unknown where things went wrong with Massachusetts’ recent cases.

As researchers try to figure it out, they may also be able to find correlations in existing data that could help avoid future problems, Condon said. “Is there some way we can predict, maybe, when (harvesters) shouldn’t be collecting oysters?” she said.

Hickey figures it may be a month before the closed beds can reopen. Growers like Merry won’t lose their oysters during that time, just the chance to sell them.
No estimate of total lost sales is available. Merry said it’s costing him about $6,000 to $7,000 a week. Another cost, he said, may be higher.

“Quite honestly, the worst thing, is when we get back and rolling, is anybody going to want to eat a Duxbury oyster?” Merry said. “It’s hard to quantify how much this has hurt us.”

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, but passenger Christopher Lake, of Michigan, told WCPO-TV in Cincinnati that he saw the driver slumped over. Lake said he heard a woman scream at the driver "Wake up! Wake up!" but that he thinks the man might have had a medical problem.

Passengers of an overturned Greyhound bus stand near the scene Saturday on Interstate 75 in Liberty Township, Ohio. Authorities say that at least 35 people have been hurt, with injuries ranging from minor to severe.Associated Press 

LISA CORNWELL
Associated Press

CINCINNATI — A Greyhound bus drove off an interstate highway in southwest Ohio early Saturday, struck a tree and a fence and flipped on its side before sliding to a stop in a cornfield, injuring at least 35 people.

None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, though several people were trapped and had to be extricated by firefighters and paramedics, the State Highway Patrol said in a statement.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, but passenger Christopher Lake, of Michigan, told WCPO-TV in Cincinnati that he saw the driver slumped over. Lake said he heard a woman scream at the driver "Wake up! Wake up!" but that he thinks the man might have had a medical problem.

The bus drove off the right side of northbound Interstate 75 about 25 miles north of Cincinnati at about 3:50 a.m., the patrol said. Lake told the TV station the bus rolled over twice after hitting the tree.

Authorities said that the crash remained under investigation.

Jeff Galloway, director of the Butler County Emergency Management Agency, said 35 people were taken to hospitals, six by helicopters and 29 by ambulance. The injuries ranged from minor to severe, officials said.

The bus, which left Cincinnati bound for Detroit, was carrying 51 passengers and the driver. Those passengers who were not injured and those who were treated and released from hospitals were transported back to Cincinnati, but none of them were at the bus station later Saturday morning.

Lake, who was not injured, told WCPO he saw some children on the bus and thought some passengers had broken arms and legs

He said that the bus driver seemed fine when he boarded the bus.

The driver, who has been with the company for almost 15 years, had been on duty for an hour and was fully rested, Kim Plaskett, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., told the Associated Press.

The driver was among the injured, but she said she could not release the person's name or medical condition due to medical privacy laws.

Plaskett said she couldn't discuss any details of the crash or the possible cause. The company was cooperating with investigators and will talk to the driver to try to determine what happened, Plaskett said.

The bus just had its regular major annual inspection 14 days ago, Plaskett said. She said drivers also do pre-trip inspections to make sure buses are fit for travel.

Greyhound sent a crisis-response team to the site to help the customers and authorities as soon as the company was notified of the crash, she said.

A telephone hotline was set up for friends and family members seeking information about the passengers on the bus. The phone number is 800-972-4583.

The skies were clear in the region early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Jerry Sandusky's lawyer and members of the state attorney general's office will be inside a northeastern Pennsylvania courtroom as the former Penn State assistant football coach seeks to have his child molestation conviction overturned.

FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, is taken from the Centre County Courthouse by Centre County Sheriff Denny Nau, left, and a deputy, after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa. Sandusky's challenge to his child molestation conviction goes before a state appeals court on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, as the former Penn State assistant football coach seeks to overturn a sentence that could keep him behind bars for life. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)AP 

MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state Superior Court proceeding on Tuesday is being held in Wilkes-Barre as part of the court's effort to give more people a chance to see how it operates.

In court filings, the former defensive coordinator has argued his lawyers did not have enough time to prepare and that a prosecutor made an improper reference during the trial to the fact that Sandusky didn't testify on his own behalf.

Sandusky also believes the judge should have issued an instruction to jurors that addressed the length of time it took his victims to report their abuse, which for four of them was more than 11 years.

Prosecutors have said jurors were aware that the defense argued the abuse never occurred, and a key component of the defense was an argument that the victims were inventing stories. They said Sandusky's legal team had plenty of time to prepare, and that the prosecutor referred to a TV interview but not to Sandusky's failure to take the stand.

Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence after being convicted last year of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. He is not expected to attend the oral argument session.

Worcester City Manager Michael V. O'Brien has told the city council he's interested in pursuing a job with a Boston-based real estate developer.

Worcester City Manager Michael V. O'Brien has told the city council he's interested in pursuing a job with a Boston-based real estate developer.

O'Brien made the disclosure to Mayor Joseph Petty and the council in a letter obtained Monday night by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

WinnCompanies, a real estate development and property management company with more than 3,000 employees, discussed the job with O'Brien in late August, the Telegram said.

O'Brien has been Worcester's chief executive since 2004. He started working for the city in 1997, including a stint as the Commissioner of the Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Department.

During that time, the city has been involved in a number of large-scale developments, including the $565 million downtown revitalization CitySquare project, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science's new $50 million campus and the restoration of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The letter was meant to inform the council about the job discussions, particularly because Winn owns a number of properties in Worcester, and its employees interact with city departments that O'Brien oversees, the Telegram reports. O'Brien is asking the council to find that the issue wouldn't be a significant issue, or else instruct him how to proceed.

The city manager told the newspaper he was humbled that Winn was interested.

"They have not only been a strong corporate citizen here in Worcester over the years, but they are also a national leader in the acquisition, redevelopment and management of residential and mixed-use properties throughout the United States," he said in a Monday evening interview with the Telegram.

O'Brien's contract with Worcester lasts until 2015.

Winslow was considered a likely candidate for Attorney General.

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON — Rep. Daniel Winslow, who announced on Monday he would resign from the House to take a private sector job, said his decision not to run for attorney general or re-election to his House seat in 2014 boiled down to one simple reality: He couldn't afford it.

"If I had won, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills and wouldn't be able to get my kids through college. I'm not quitting because I think I could lose. I'm quitting because I think I could win," Winslow said.

Once considered to have a promising future in Bay State Republican politics, Winslow will resign later this month from the House to become vice president and general counsel at Rimini Street, a Las-Vegas-based global provider of "enterprise software support services."

Anticipating the opening in the attorney general's office that became real Monday with Martha Coakley's entrance in the gubernatorial race, Winslow said he reviewed his family finances, including two children in college, one in a private high school and the $154,000 in debt he incurred during a disappointing run for U.S. Senate this year when he place third in the Republican primary.

"When the political opportunity presented itself, I didn't have the wherewithal to take advantage of it," Winslow said, saying he believed he could have been as "competitive" as any Republican running for statewide office in Massachusetts and felt "energized" by the possibility.

He added, "The fact is public life necessarily involves sacrifices and I held on as long as I could." Winslow is still accepting donations to help retire his campaign debt.

Winslow intends to keep his primary residence in Massachusetts, while also renting an apartment in the East Bay area of San Francisco where Rimini has offices. His job will also require extensive travel, with trips already in the works to India, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, China and Australia.

Winslow owns homes in Norfolk and Truro, and did not rule out a future run for office in Massachusetts.

"I don't know what the future will hold, but I've seen what it's like to run against someone with $3 million. I'm going to get me some of that and we'll see what the future holds," Winslow said, a reference to GOP Senate nominee Gabriel Gomez, who made millions as a private equity investor. He declined to reveal his new salary except to say it's more than the roughly $60,000 earned by a rank-and-file legislator.

Just when the House was poised to reach full strength for the first time since last year, Winslow's announcement on Monday that he would resign will start the wheels in motion for another special election. He has submitted his resignation letter to the House clerk, effective Sept. 29, when the House GOP ranks will fall to 29.

The number of departures this session by lawmakers for private sector jobs or other public service opportunities has not yet reached record levels, but just nine months into the two-year cycle Winslow's departure will be the seventh opening to be filled this year in the House and there have been two vacancies created in the Senate.

A News Service review of House records showed that the 2013 departures - including the late Rep. Joyce Spiliotis who died in November 2012, but was not replaced until a special election this past spring - have already equaled the number of vacancies from the 2011-2012 session.

Since the turn of the century, the most vacancies created in any one two-year legislative session by death or resignation in the House came in 1999 through 2000 when 12 House lawmakers vacated their seats mid-term. The highest total recorded dating back to 1943 came during the seating of the 162nd General Court from 1961 through 1962 when 19 House seats were vacated mid-term.

When Winslow said on Sunday he had an announcement to make about his future, many on Beacon Hill assumed he was throwing his hat in the race for attorney feneral after Democrat Martha Coakley announced she would run for governor in 2014.

Instead, the second-term Norfolk Republican announced he would leave public service for now. The former judge and general counsel to Gov. Mitt Romney will also give up his position with the law firm Duane Morris.

Winslow joined the House of Representative in 2010, establishing himself quickly as an outspoken moderate with a penchant for attracting press attention and bringing his many ideas to the floor of the House for votes, though most were shot down by Democratic leadership.

Gov. Deval Patrick called Winslow a "creative guy" who played a helpful role in his administration's efforts to reform the community college system.

"Well you know, beyond the politics or the political future of Dan Winslow I think he's been a really good partner of ours on Beacon Hill," Patrick said Monday. "He's a creative guy, and we don't agree on everything, but he's a creative and constructive guy. I think he was a terrific support in terms of the community college reform we worked on a couple of years ago and I appreciate him for that and I think any constructive voices from whatever party is a loss when they leave Beacon Hill."

Despite being part of the minority party on Beacon Hill, Winslow said Massachusetts should be viewed as an example to the hyper-partisan politicians of Washington D.C.

"I'm really proud. First, I've accomplished some stuff, and everything I did I did through bipartisan support," Winslow said, crediting Speaker Robert DeLeo and House Minority Leader Brad Jones's leadership for helping pass his bill to change the definition of intellectual disabilities to qualify individuals for services based on function and not IQ. He also mentioned his bill allowing boatyard operators to get dealer plates for trailers rather than having to register multiple trailers in different sizes as a business-friendly initiative he spearheaded.

Most recently, Winslow called for increasing the speed limit on certain interstate highways from 65 miles per hour to 70 miles per hour, and served as peacemaker between the more conservative wing of the House Republican caucus and leadership of both parties. Winslow filed a rules change that ended a stalemate over access to bills on the rostrum during House sessions that had created a logjam of bills during lightly attended informal sessions.

Winslow described his proposal to require legislative clerks to post and email to members a calendar of bills up for consideration as a chance for the House to embrace technology.

"The tech community is all about solving problems," said Winslow, adding, in an apparent reference to the new sales tax on computer services, the "tech community hasn't exactly felt a lot of love in the legislative process lately."

No one knew at the time that it would only be a matter of days before he joined that community himself.

"The irony is that the West Coast software guys are not subject to the tax so I just helped kill the competitive edge they would have over the Massachusetts guys. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut," he said.

The secretary of state's office has charged a Peabody man with defrauding four elderly clients out of about $500,000.

PEABODY, Mass. (AP) — The secretary of state's office has charged a Peabody man with defrauding four elderly clients out of about $500,000.

Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin says in an administrative complaint Monday that John Michael Babiarz transferred his victims' assets to his personal and family accounts without their consent. Galvin says in his complaint that the 39-year-old Babiarz used the money for personal reasons, including at stores, restaurants and pharmacies, to pay taxes, and even to pay a bankruptcy attorney.

The alleged victims are all in their 70s and 80s.

According to the complaint, Babiarz worked for three broker-dealers from 2004 to September 2011 when he was fired due to customer complaints that he misrepresented the features of a certificate of deposit.

Babiarz tells The Salem News the allegations are false.

About 50 members of the Newtown Action Alliance left for Washington on Tuesday. The group will ask Congress to require background checks for gun buyers.

FILE - In this April 17, 2013, file photo retired Army Col. Bill Badger, a victim of the Tuscon shooting that targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shows Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a photo of the bullet wound to his head, outside the Senate chamber after a failed vote on far reaching gun control legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington. Then proposed federal legislation, imposing stricter background check requirements on gun buyers, fell five votes short in the Senate, despite political momentum from last December’s massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. Today, backers say they have yet to win over a single new Senate supporter, and many worry that the muscle pro-gun groups and voters showed in Colorado will make it even harder to find converts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)AP 

About 50 members of the Newtown Action Alliance left for Washington on Tuesday. The group will ask Congress to require background checks for gun buyers.

Twenty children and six educators were killed at a Newtown school in December, and the massacre renewed momentum for tighter restrictions on guns. Federal legislation ultimately failed.

The group's founder tells the Hearst Connecticut Media Group that the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard bring back "terrible feelings."

Several parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown lobbied Congress earlier this year.

With the establishment of the Massachusetts Democratic Latino Caucus, the party's engagement of the state's Latinos will begin in high school with the hopes of developing a bench of political activists and candidates to assist with and run in future elections

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Democratic State Committee is reaching out to the country's fastest growing demographic in an attempt to bring young Latino voters into the political fold in the Bay State.

With the establishment of the Massachusetts Democratic Latino Caucus, the party's engagement of the state's Latinos will begin in high school with the hopes of developing a bench of political activists and candidates to assist with and run in future elections.

"I am proud to take this important step to welcome and formalize the leadership roles these active Democrats play and have played for many years in our party. Democrats are the party of inclusion. We fight for equality and justice for every member of our society," departing party Chair John Walsh said in a statement. "Latinos know this and this caucus will assist in welcoming more of them to our ranks. We need organizers and candidates and the Massachusetts Democratic Latino Caucus will identify, promote and support these kinds of leaders for today and the future."

The Democratic State Committee voted to establish the subcommittee during their meeting at North High School in Worcester on September 7. During Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's 2012 Senate campaign, and Sen. Ed Markey's 2013 special Senate election, the party says voter outreach resulted in a significant increase in voter turnout in "communities of color" around the commonwealth.

Research released by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that Latinos made up 10 percent of the electorate nationwide in 2012, up from 9 percent in 2008 and 8 percent in 2004.

In Western Massachusetts, an increase in the number of Latinos coming out to vote on Election Day 2012 was attributed in part to the efforts of groups like 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers Union and Neighbor to Neighbor, both Democratic Party boosters.

This image shows the design for an SEIU billboard which was purchased in Massachusetts ahead of the Nov. 6, 2012 election. The local SEIU union organizers were among the groups that hit the pavement hard in Gateway Cities like Springfield to reach out and engage the Latino population to the point where they turned out in higher numbers at the polls. (Submitted Photo) 

In largely Latino precincts of Springfield, voters came out in unusually large numbers ranging from 40 to 42 percent this past November.

Ward 1 Precinct C with a polling place at New North Citizens Council on Main Street saw a 40.9 percent voter turnout in 2012. In 2010 and 2011 the same location saw less than a 20 percent voter turnout.

In Holyoke where 48 percent of the population identifies as Hispanic, according to 2010 census data, voter turnout last year tripled from 2011.

The members of the Massachusetts Democratic Latino Caucus include Ileana Cintrón (Chair), Juan López (Chair), Adrián Velázquez, Arthur Natella Arthur Natella, Braulio Felipe, Christina Villafranca Councillor Felix Arroyo Jr., Diego Sanchez, Elaine Almquist, Ilma Paixao, John Walsh, Jon Santiago, Jovita Fontánez, Kendrys Vazquez, Marcia Cruz Redding, Nicole LaChapelle, Raymond Jordan, Reina Silva and Ricardo Quiroga.

Moscow insisted on Tuesday that a new Security Council resolution on Syria not allow the use of force, while the Arab country's main opposition group demanded a swift international response following the U.N. report that confirmed chemical weapons were used outside Damascus last month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a news conference after his meeting with French counterpart Laurent Fabius, unseen, in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013. Moscow is insisting that a new United Nations resolution on Syria not allow the use of force, but Russia's foreign minister appears to suggest the issue could be reconsidered if Syria violates an agreement on abandoning its chemical weapons. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)AP 

ALBERT AJI, Associated Press
ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Moscow insisted on Tuesday that a new Security Council resolution on Syria not allow the use of force, while the Arab country's main opposition group demanded a swift international response following the U.N. report that confirmed chemical weapons were used outside Damascus last month.

Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded at a crossing point along Syria's volatile border with Turkey, Syrian activist groups said. At least 15 people were wounded in the explosion at the rebel-controlled Bab al-Hawa crossing, they said.

In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia "spoke clearly" about rejecting the use of force when the agreement on Syria abandoning its chemical weapons was worked out in Geneva between U.S. and Russian envoys.

But if signs emerge that Syria is not fulfilling the agreement or there are reports of further chemical weapons use, "then the Security Council will examine the situation," Lavrov said, suggesting the issue could be reconsidered. He spoke at a news conference with French counterpart Laurent Fabius. France and the United States say a military option remains on the table and are pushing for the U.N. resolution to reflect that.

The meeting in Moscow came a day after U.N. inspectors submitted their report on the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that precipitated the heightened tensions over Syria. It was the first official confirmation by impartial experts that chemical weapons were used in the attack near Damascus, which killed hundreds.

Although the report confirmed chemical weapons were used, it did not say who used them — and Lavrov and Fabius differed sharply on their interpretations.

"The report exposes the regime," Fabius said. "On the basis of the information of our external agents, we consider that the report proves the responsibility of the regime for the chemical weapons attack of Aug. 21."

The U.S., Britain and France jumped on evidence in the report — especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles — to declare that President Bashar Assad's government was responsible. Russia, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, disagreed.

Lavrov said the Russian side has "serious reason to suggest that this was a provocation" by the rebels fighting Assad's forces.

In Damascus, the Foreign Ministry slammed the U.S., British and French foreign ministers, accusing them of trying to impose their agenda on the Syrian people. The ministry statement came in response to recent demands by the three ministers that Assad step down even as the West increases efforts to bring the warring sides to an international peace conference.

The statement denounced the three ministers for "their frantic quest to impose their will" on the Syrian people, stressing that any talk about the political and constitutional legitimacy in Syria is an "exclusive right for the Syrian people."

"It's impermissible for the United States, its allies and tools" to impose their will in this regard, the statement said. "Assad is the legitimate president chosen by the Syrian people and will remain so as long as the Syrian people want this."

The main Syrian opposition group, the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, said the U.N. report offered "damning and irrefutable evidence" and clearly shows that only the Syrian regime could have carried out the attack, which U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon denounced as a "war crime."

The SNC said there must be a swift response and called on the U.N. to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.

"The Syrian coalition urges the Security Council to end the culture of impunity in Syria, and to stop the Syrian regime from carrying out further war crimes and crimes against humanity," the Coalition said.

The report, Ban said at the U.N. on Monday, was "the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them" in Halabja, Iraq, in 1988, and "the worst use of weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century."

The U.N. inspectors report said surface-to-surface rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria's military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled neighborhood that was struck.

The explosion at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on Tuesday was not the first such attack. In February, a car bomb exploded at the border post, killing 14 people and narrowly missing 13 Syrian opposition figures who were crossing into Turkey. And in May, 43 people were killed when two car bombs exploded on Turkish side of the border.

In Idlib, activist Ahmad al-Khatib said the latest bombing wounded 19 people, both civilians and rebels who were manning a checkpoint. Rami Abdul-Rahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people were wounded.

Earlier Tuesday, the Syrian military accused Turkey of seeking to escalate tensions along the border by shooting down a Syrian military helicopter there the day before.

The military said the helicopter was on a mission to monitor for cross-border infiltration of rebels when it "mistakenly" entered Turkish airspace.

Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc told reporters in Ankara on Monday that the aircraft was shot down by a fighter jet after it ignored repeated warnings to leave Turkish airspace.

The helicopter had strayed 2 kilometers (more than 1 mile) over Turkey but crashed inside Syria after being hit by missiles fired from the Turkish jet. Arinc said he did not have any information on the fate of the Syrian pilots.

The Observatory said rebel fighters captured one of the two crew members, while the fate of the other was unclear.

The Syrian military said the helicopter entered Turkish space "for a short distance" by mistake. "The hasty reaction from the Turkish side, particularly that the helicopter was heading back and was not on a fighting mission, reveals the real intentions" of Ankara to ramp up tensions, it said.

Turkey has been at odds with the Syrian government since early in the country's civil war and has backed the Syrian rebels, while advocating international intervention in the conflict.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking in Paris after meetings about Syria with his counterparts from other countries, said Monday's incident should send a message. "Nobody will dare to violate Turkey's borders in any way again," he said, according to Anatolia, the Turkish state-run news agency. "The necessary measures have been taken."

Also Tuesday, Syrian government troops backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters captured parts of the town of Chebaa, the Observatory said. The town lies just south of Damascus near the road leading to the city's international airport. Members of the Lebanese militant group have been fighting alongside Assad's forces in the conflict.

Chebaa is also close to the Sayida Zeinab shrine, a holy place for Shiites. Hezbollah's leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has warned in the past that Sunni extremists were planning to blow up the golden-domed shrine.

___

Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

State and Boston police are investigating an apparent drowning in the waters off East Boston.

BOSTON (AP) — State and Boston police are investigating an apparent drowning in the waters off East Boston.

Police responded to the docks near Piers Park just after 5 a.m. Tuesday for a report of a drowning.

The victim is described as a woman in her 50s, but her name was not made public pending notification of all family members.

A spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney says the circumstances of the death remain under investigation.

The scene is Massachusetts Port Authority property.

The 156th annual Belchertown Fair taking place on the common begins Friday afternoon and runs the entire weekend. Admission if free.

BELCHERTOWN – The theme is "Fun for the Whole Herd!" but the fact is the156th annual Belchertown Fair is fun for the whole family.

The fair begins on the Town Common on Friday afternoon and runs the entire weekend. Admission if free.

The fair is open Friday from 3 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon until 6 p.m.

The traditional fair parade kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday morning and continues until about noon.

There will be some street closures and detours near the center of town to accommodate the parade.

The theme for this year’s event – Fun for the Whole Herd! – is meant to remind patrons about the agricultural dimension of the fair. Last year's theme was Poultry in Motion.

Draft horses, a 4-H petting zoo, a rabbit show, a horse pull, an antique tractor display, and a giant pumpkin contest are among the many agricultural-themed activities.

The family-centered country fair is run by an all-volunteer board with help from hundreds.

Mark Fanelli Traveling Amusement Park returns to provide a wide assortment of carnival rides.

Free entertainment includes an appearance by the Crescent Dancers on Friday night. The group performs traditional middle eastern styles including belly dancing.

Union Jack is performing Saturday evening. They perform covers from many of the popular British bands including Rolling Stones, Beatles, Kinks, and Hollies.

The Neal Diamond tribute band The Diamond Collection performs Sunday.

Events geared to children include Henry The Juggler on Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Pumpkin Decoration on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Logan Mitchell, a Jabish Brook Middle School seventh-grader, plays fiddle selections in the klezmer, bluegrass, folk and polka genres on Saturday from 4 to 4:45 p.m.

Belchertown High School’s First Class Brass Quintet performs Saturday from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.

There is a frog jumping contest Sunday at noon.

Concerns about Eastern equine encephalitis prompted the town to cancel the fireworks show that had been slated for Thursday night.

Police arrested the suspects on Cleveland Street Monday morning.

SPRINGFIELD – Two city men were arrested Monday morning after they allegedly tried to steal radiators from a vacant Liberty Heights neighborhood home and then offered a neighbor who spotted them $20 to not call police.

The neighbor didn’t accept the money and police were called as the suspects attempted to drive away, Sgt. John M. Delaney said, adding that police were able to block in the suspects’ vehicle

Nathaniel Guerra and Jose Gonzalez, both 28 and both residents at 13 Home St., were charged with breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony and larceny over $250.

The outages were reported around noontime.

PALMER - Numerous National Grid customers are without electricity in Palmer, Monson and Brimfield.

The outages were reported around noontime Tuesday.

According to the National Grid website, 2,513 of 6,314 customers are without power in Palmer, 2,416 of 3,797 customers in Monson, and 53 of 1,778 customers in Brimfield.

Power is expected to be restored by 1:45 p.m. in Monson and Brimfield, and by 2:45 p.m. in Palmer.

Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said crews are working on the problem, but do not know what caused it. Frydryk said the Depot Village downtown area was affected.

Frydryk sent an emergency message out to residents via email and a phone call telling them to call the utility directly about their outage at (800) 465-1212 or visit its website at www.nationalgrid.us.com. He said that unless residents rely on electricity for life support equipment, they should not call the Police Department directly.

National Grid spokeswoman Deborah Drew said crews are at the Palmer substation and are trying to determine what caused the outage.

Approximately 100 Wales customers also lost power around the same time; it has since been restored.

A Massachusetts man who chatted online about kidnapping, raping, killing and eating children has been sentenced to nearly 27 years in prison.

Geoffrey Portway of WorcesterAP Photo/U.S. District Court 

Geoffrey Portway, of Worcester, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 26 years and eight months behind bars, just a few months shy of the 27 years prosecutors sought.

Authorities say they found a dungeon, homemade coffin, butchering kit and other tools in the basement of Portway's home.

In a court filing, prosecutors say online chats recovered from Portway's computer show he solicited people for help to kidnap a child with the intent of raping, killing and eating the child.

Portway's attorney asked for a shorter sentence, saying his client did not touch or photograph any children.

The rains finally stopped, allowing many Colorado flood evacuees to return home to toppled houses and upended vehicles with the realization that rebuilding their lives will take months. Search crews, meanwhile, rescued hundreds more people stranded by floodwaters.

HYGIENE, Colo. (AP) — The rains finally stopped, allowing many Colorado flood evacuees to return home to toppled houses and upended vehicles with the realization that rebuilding their lives will take months. Search crews, meanwhile, rescued hundreds more people stranded by floodwaters.

As many as eight people were believed to be dead, according to state officials, and hundreds were still missing. But that number has been decreasing. The state's count fell Monday from just more than 1,200 to about half that. Officials hoped the number of missing would continue declining as rescuers continued working and those stranded got in touch with families.

After days of heavy rain, clearing skies and receding waters allowed crews to intensify their search efforts and assess the damage of the historic floods. Twenty-one helicopters fanned out over the mountainsides and the plains to drop supplies and airlift those who needed help.

Residents of Hygiene, a small community east of the Rocky Mountain foothills, returned home Monday to find homes destroyed and mud blanketing roads. The St. Vrain Creek left trucks in ditches and carried items as far as 2 miles downstream.

"My own slice of heaven, and it's gone," Bill Marquedt said of his home.

Residents set to sweeping, shoveling and rinsing, but the rebuilding task was overwhelming.

"What now? We don't even know where to start," said Genevieve Marquez. "It's not even like a day by day or a month thing."

"I want to think that far ahead but it's a minute by minute thing at this point," she added.

State emergency officials offered a first glimpse at the scope of the damage, with counties reporting about 19,000 homes either damaged or destroyed. Those preliminary figures are certain to change as the waters continue to recede and roads are cleared to allow crews to access more areas.

Air crews rescued more than 100 people in Larimer County Monday. Once the evacuations end, officials said it could take weeks or even months to search through flood-ravaged areas looking for people who died.

In the mountain towns, major roads were washed away or covered by mud and rock slides. Hamlets like Glen Haven were reduced to debris and key infrastructure like gas lines and sewers systems were destroyed.

Hundreds of homes around Estes Park, next to Rocky Mountain National Park, could be unreachable and uninhabitable for up to a year, town administrator Frank Lancaster said.

The town of Lyons was almost completely abandoned. Emergency crews gave the few remaining residents, mostly wandering Main Street looking for status updates, a final warning to leave.

Most of Lyons' trailer parks were completely destroyed. One angry man was throwing his possessions one by one into the river rushing along one side of his trailer on Sunday, watching the brown water carry them away while he drank a beer.