The Maven spacecraft is due at Mars next fall following a journey of more than 440 million miles. Scientists hope Maven will help explain why Mars went from being warm and wet during its first billion years to cold and dry today.

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's newest robotic explorer, Maven, rocketed toward Mars on Monday on a quest to unravel the ancient mystery of the red planet's radical climate change.

The Maven spacecraft is due at Mars next fall following a journey of more than 440 million miles.

Scientists want to know why Mars went from being warm and wet during its first billion years to cold and dry today. The early Martian atmosphere was thick enough to hold water and possibly support microbial life. But much of that atmosphere may have been lost to space, eroded by the sun.

Maven set off through a cloudy sky Monday afternoon in its effort to provide answers. An unmanned Atlas V rocket put the spacecraft on the proper course for Mars, and launch controllers applauded and shook hands over the success.

An estimated 10,000 NASA guests gathered for the launch, the most exciting one of the year from Cape Canaveral. The University of Colorado at Boulder, which is leading the Maven effort, was represented by a couple thousand people.

"We're just excited right now," said the university's Bruce Jakosky, principal scientist for Maven, "and hoping for the best."

To help solve this environmental puzzle at the neighboring planet, Maven will spend an entire Earth year measuring atmospheric gases once it reaches Mars on Sept. 22, 2014.

This is NASA's 21st mission to Mars since the 1960s. But it's the first one devoted to studying the Martian upper atmosphere.

The mission costs $671 million.

Maven — short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, with a capital "N'' in EvolutioN — bears eight science instruments. The spacecraft, at 5,410 pounds, weighs as much as an SUV. From solar wingtip to wingtip, it stretches 37.5 feet, about the length of a school bus.

A question underlying all of NASA's Mars missions to date is whether life could have started on what now seems to be a barren world.

"We don't have that answer yet, and that's all part of our quest for trying to answer, 'Are we alone in the universe?' in a much broader sense," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's science mission director.

Unlike the 2011-launched Curiosity rover, Maven will conduct its experiments from orbit around Mars.

Maven will dip as low as 78 miles above the Martian surface, sampling the atmosphere. The lopsided orbit will stretch as high as 3,864 miles.

Curiosity's odometer reads 2.6 miles after more than a year of roving the red planet. An astronaut could accomplish that distance in about a day on the Martian surface, Grunsfeld noted.

Grunsfeld, a former astronaut, said considerable technology is needed, however, before humans can fly to Mars in the 2030s, NASA's ultimate objective.

Mars remains an intimidating target even for robotic craft, more than 50 years after the world's first shot at the red planet.

Fourteen of NASA's previous 20 missions to Mars have succeeded, beginning with the 1964-launched Mariner 4, a Martian flyby. The U.S. hasn't logged a Mars failure, in fact, since the late 1990s.

That's a U.S. success rate of 70 percent. No other country comes close. Russia has a poor track record involving Mars, despite repeated attempts dating to 1960.

India became the newest entry to the Martian market two weeks ago with its first launch to Mars.

If all goes well, Maven will cruise past India's Mars voyager, called Mangalyaan, or "Mars craft" in Hindi. Maven should beat Mangalyaan to Mars by two days next September, said NASA project manager David Mitchell.

"It's kind of a neat race, and we wish them all the best," Mitchell said.

Earth and Mars line up properly for a Mars flight every two years, occasionally resulting in just this sort of traffic jam. The two planets are constantly on the move, thus the 440 million-mile-plus chase by Maven to Mars over the next 10 months.

Maven's science instruments will be turned on in the next few weeks. The University of Colorado's ultraviolet spectrograph will try to observe Comet ISON, now visible and brightening in the night sky as it speeds toward the sun.

ISON will zip within 730,000 miles of the sun on Thanksgiving Day. Astronomers are uncertain whether the comet will survive that blisteringly close encounter.

Comets have many of the same gases as the Martian atmosphere, observed the chief scientist for Maven's ultraviolet instrument, Nick Schneider.

"What an ideal opportunity for us to try out our instrument and do some good science along the way," Schneider said.

Both Patrick and Walsh expressed support for raising the minimum wage.

By Matt Murphy and Michael Norton
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON — Back from a post-election vacation, Boston Mayor-elect Martin Walsh rekindled his long-standing ties to Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday, with the Dorchester state rep asking for more local aid from the state and saying he hoped to maintain an “important” relationship with Patrick’s office.

Patrick, of Milton, and Walsh, of neighboring Dorchester, discussed their working class roots and emerged from the meeting saying they looked forward to working with one another. Walsh is scheduled to start a four-year term as mayor in January, when Patrick will start the final year of his second four-year term.

“This is a strong partnership and it's not a new partnership," said Patrick, noting to the reporters gathered outside his office that his relationship with Walsh dates back to his first campaign for governor in 2006.

Asked to describe the similarities and differences between the two men, Walsh said he and Patrick spoke during their meeting about their humble roots in Dorchester and Chicago and rising to the top of city and state politics.

“Thirty years ago, probably our families might not have thought that we’d be sitting in the governor’s office as governor and mayor-elect of the city of Boston. We both care deeply for people,” Walsh said.

Both Patrick and Walsh expressed support for raising the minimum wage. The Senate plans to debate a proposal Tuesday to boost the wage floor from $8 to $11 over three years. Patrick called the Senate plan “great and timely” and said he hoped it would be coupled with unemployment insurance system reforms, which House leaders favor. Walsh said he supported the Senate proposal and expected to learn Monday about the House’s plans.

A heavy press contingent awaited Patrick and Walsh after their meeting. “I want to welcome all of you here today. It’s the first time I’ve come out of the governor’s office with so many people waiting to hear what I have to say,” Walsh quipped.

Finishing out the year as a state representative before moving down the street to city hall, Walsh said Patrick and his team have worked with him on Beacon Hill on issues of substance abuse and mental health, and Patrick said he would leave it to reporters to dig up areas where they might differ over the next 14 months.

Though Patrick remained neutral in the mayoral contest, Walsh said the governor proffered advice when asked: “Keep your head down, keep moving forward, and don’t read the papers,” Walsh said, describing the wisdom imparted by the governor.

Walsh said the one request he made of Patrick during their half-hour sitdown was more local aid for the city of Boston. “He smirked,” Walsh said of Patrick.

Walsh said he had not sat down with Suffolk Downs officials since East Boston voters rejected their casino plan on the same night that Walsh defeated City Councilor John Connolly. And though he has spoken with elected leaders from East Boston, Walsh said he still hasn’t taken a position on the prospect of Suffolk Downs relocating its casino proposal in Revere.

Walsh added, “There’s some questions around the way that the law was written - if the vote got voted down in one town, does that mean it’s voted down? So we still have to look at that as well.”

Patrick also declined to weigh in on the racetrack ownership's controversial plans to try to relocate their casino in Revere, where voters okayed a casino plan, telling a reporter, “Go ask the commission. That’s the beauty of this framework. They get to make those calls,” referring to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. He added, "I'm one of the few elected officials who doesn't feel as if he has to have an opinion on everything."

Following the ouster of the Wampanoag of Gay Head Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryl Maltais-Andrews, Patrick said he has spoken with the new chairman-elect Tobias Vanderhoop, who has not taken a position on the tribe’s plans for a casino on Martha’s Vineyard. Patrick said he continues to believe the tribe forfeited its rights to tribal gaming, despite a new legal analysis from the Federal Indian Gaming Commission giving the Aquinnah tribe the green light for a gambling facility.

“We will probably end up having to sort that out in court,” Patrick told reporters.

Asked to respond to the incident of racist graffiti being sprayed on the house of a 13-year-old Lunenburg football player, Patrick said he had spoken with the Lunenburg school superintendent and reached out to the boy’s family. The eighth grader, Isaac Phillips, who plays on the freshman high school football team, is biracial. His mother is white and his father is black.

“It’s disgusting. And I don’t believe it’s who the people of Lunenburg are,” Patrick said.

Patrick, who plans to leave at the beginning of next month on a 10-day trade mission to Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, defended his frequent international trade missions as an opportunity for Massachusetts to showcase itself to the world that will pay dividends in the future.

“If we’re going to play, if we’re going to compete, then we’ve got to get on the field,” Patrick said.

Asked how many jobs he would bring back from Asia, Patrick said, “Thousands over time. If you think I’m going to go and come back with purchase orders for widgets that’s not the way the economy works right now.” He predicted he’d find “common ground” with innovation and financial services sector contacts abroad.

Walsh said he was not prepared to announce any City Hall personnel decisions. He said later this week he would have details about how he plans to divide up his transition team into areas of focus. Since returning from vacation, Walsh has sat down with the Boston superintendent of schools and plans to hold similar meetings with other city department leaders in the days to come.

As for dividing time between his State House duties as a representative and mayor-elect, Walsh said his staff continues to handle constituent issues and is working to close many of the constituent cases he has been working on before resigning “at the end of the year.”

The Dorchester state representative said he expects a special election sometime in the spring to fill his 13th Suffolk District seat.

Page sentenced Marrero, of Holyoke, to seven to 10 years in state prison followed by four years probation.

SPRINGFIELD — A Holyoke man must serve a seven- to 10-year state prison term for firing gunshots in March which injured a 5-year-old boy and the child's father.

Brian MarreroHolyoke police photo 

The child is recovering well from the gunshot wound to the leg, but remains traumatized, afraid and is always looking over his shoulder when outdoors, a prosecutor told Judge Tina S. Page in Hampden Superior Court on Monday.

Page imposed the state prison term, to be followed by four years of probation, in the case of Brian Marrero, 22. She said she based her sentencing on the crime and Marrero's prior record.

Marrero pleaded guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition for the incident that occurred on March 6.

The prosecutor in the case, assistant district attorney Eduardo Velazquez, said Reynaldo Diaz, the boy’s father, put his son behind him when Marrero began firing at close range. One of the bullets that hit Reynaldo Diaz went through his leg and into the child's leg, according to Velazquez.

He said Marrero, at the time, had a relationship with the child's mother, who was the ex-girlfriend of Diaz.

Diaz was with his son outside a day-care center at 22 North Summer St. when Marrero confronted him, prompting an argument in which the shooting ensued, the prosecutor said.

Marrero and the boy’s mother drove the child to Holyoke Medical Center where Marrero dropped them off. “Initially the child denied knowing who did it,” Velazquez said. The mother also claimed she didn't know who shot her son and didn’t cooperate with police, he said.

Diaz initially told police, “I got this” and said he didn’t know who shot him. Two days later he went to police and identified Marrero as the shooter, according to the prosecutor.

When interviewed by police, the child said things like “It’s a secret” and “It’s nobody's business,” Velazquez said. When told his father had cooperated in naming Marrero, the boy became upset, the prosecutor said.

The child is now in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families where he has begun to thrive, Velazquez said. The boy is receiving both physical and mental-health therapy, and has since identified Marrero to his social worker and therapist as the person who shot him.

The child’s mother has supervised visitation with him, Velazquez said. She faces charges of reckless endangerment of a child and intimidation of a witness on the claims that she encouraged the boy not to tell identify the shooter.

The Boston Marathon is sending out a special invitation for next year's race for those "personally and profoundly impacted" by the bombings at the finish line.

JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer

BOSTON (AP) --” The Boston Marathon is sending out a special invitation for next year's race for those "personally and profoundly impacted" by the bombings at the finish line.

The Boston Athletic Organization says as many as a few hundred entries have been reserved for those who have a "special connection to the events of April 15."

This year's field has already been expanded by 9,000 to accommodate runners who want to participate in the first race after the bombings. But those runners still had to qualify by running an accredited marathon in a time that can be as fast as 3 hours, 5 minutes.

A total of 4,722 who were stopped on the course in April were also allowed to enter the 2014 race without requalifying.

Those wishing to enter under the new provision need to submit a 250-word essay at the B.A.A. website.

The incumbent, Zaida Luna, questioned the need for a recount and said it will cost money "for nothing."

SPRINGFIELD – The city's Election Office has verified that it will conduct a recount of the Ward 1 election results as petitioned by Jose Claudio, who lost by 13 votes on Nov. 5, to incumbent ward Councilor Zaida Luna.

Claudio submitted far more than the required 10 signatures needed by Friday’s deadline to require the recount. He said he sought the recount as sought by many of his supporters and volunteers, and due to the slim margin of victory.

Luna, however, said she is confident of her victory, and believes a recount is “only going to cost the taxpayers more money for nothing.” With modern election machines, and no problems reported, the victory is clear, she said.

“I believe the will of the voters has spoken,” Luna said.

The vote was 757 to 744 in Luna’s favor in the Ward 1 council race. In addition to the 13-vote margin, there is one write-one vote to verify. The ward includes the North End and downtown area.

The Board of Election Commissioners will choose a date for the recount in consultation with its members, Claudio and Luna, Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola said Monday.

Eight employees including the three Election Office workers, will conduct the recount, as overseen by Oyola and the four members of the commission.

In the last recount in 2009, Ward 8 City Councilor John Lysak’s victory over Orlando Ramos was upheld, with the outcome changing by only one vote. The final vote margin was 81 votes.

The estimated cost of the recount has not yet been calculated.

“It’s a cost,” Claudio said. “But it is all an election process we have to go through. It’s the democratic process.”

Claudio said both sides worked hard, and if the outcome holds for Zaida, “we will congratulate her and move on.”

A recount required at least 10 signatures from registered voters in the ward recounted. Claudio submitted 10 or more signatures for each of the eight precincts in Ward 1.

Steven Cooper of Springfield and Roberto Jimenez of Holyoke, both Level 3 sex offenders, are on the state's most wanted sex-offender listing.

SPRINGFIELD - Two men with local ties are on most recent top 10 list of fugitive
sex offenders being distributed by the Massachusetts State Police's violent fugitive apprehension section.

Among the 10 men, all of who are wanted by local and state police for failing to register as a sex offender, are Steven M. Cooper, 46, and Roberto (Robert) Jimenez Jr, 30. Both men are considered Level 3 sex offenders, meaning they are considered to be of at high risk to reoffend, by the state Sex Offender Registry Board.

Level 3 offenders are required to register with the police in communities where they live and work each year, and offenders without a permanent address are required to register every 30 days.

Cooper, who had a last known residence of Springfield, is wanted by Springfield police in connection with a rape that occurred in that city in March of 2008. He is also wanted for failing to register with the registry board.

Cooper was convicted of rape in the state of Georgia in 1987 and sentenced to 20 years.

He is described as black with brown eyes and black hair. He is 5 feet, 7 pounds and weighs around 170 pounds. He has been known to use the alias of Michael Jemel Cooper.

Jimenez was convicted of two counts of rape of a child under age 16 and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person under age 14. The victim was reportedly a 12-year old boy that Jimenez met over the Internet and then arraigned to meet.

After serving his sentence, he settled in Holyoke but did not register with police as required. Efforts to locate him have proven unsuccessful.

He was named in a Hampden Superior Court warrant in connection with a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, and a Holyoke District Court warrant for failing to register as a sex offender.

He is described as a light skinned HIspanic, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and with brown eyes and brown hair.

He has been known to use aliases of Robert Jiminez as well as the nicknames of Dill and Dee.

The state police caution that if anyone knows where any of the fugitives are, they should contact either the state police at (800) Kapture or (800) 527-8873, or (508) 820-2121. People can also call their local police.

In recent week, the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section has apprehended three fugitives from the previous most wanted list in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The recount of the Ward 7 council race is open to the public and should take about three hours.

HOLYOKE -- A recount of the Ward 7 City Council election of Nov. 5 will be held Thursday at 9 a.m. at City Hall, City Clerk Suzanne Mead said Monday.

Incumbent Gordon P. Alexander defeated challenger Alan G. Fletcher 50.27 percent to 49.73 percent, or 1,007 votes to 996 votes. Fletcher requested the recount.

Three groups of two people each will do the recount in City Council Chambers with one person reading votes and the other marking them in each group. The recount is open to the public and should take about three hours, Mead said.

An ongoing partnership between the Worcester County Sheriff's Office and the Worcester Ecotarium has resulted in 55 acres of landscaping, over 100 volunteer hours and a sense of accomplishment for the inmates in the work crews.

An ongoing partnership between the Worcester County Sheriff's Office and the Worcester Ecotarium has resulted in 55 acres of landscaping, over 100 volunteer hours and a sense of accomplishment for the inmates in the work crews.

"It helps me out a lot to integrate myself so that when I get out I am in the motion of dealing with people again," said 24-year-old Oliver Ramos, who will be released in January after a two-year sentence for larceny. "Work release is a big step ... it gives me some drive so that when I get out I can find a job."

The inmate community service program takes non-violent, non-sex offender inmates and places them in one of four work crews that go out five days a week. The crews work with non-profits and municipalities throughout Worcester County. Work crews have been visiting the Ecotarium since September.

Lew Evangelidis, who took on the role of Worcester County Sheriff in 2011, expanded the work program four-fold; he has completed 1,000 work projects and saving over $4.5 million since he became sheriff.

It is a way to re-habilitate the prisoners while also assisting area non-profits, he said.

"Name another government program that saves millions and turns people's lives around. Usually we spend millions and wonder if we get anything for it," said Evangelidis.

View full sizeWorcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis talks with Ecotarium President Joseph Cox.Sam Bonacci, MassLive.com 

"Just walking the perimeter, now it looks so much better already," said Ecotarium President Brad Cox. "There's a lot more that we have planned."

Non-profits like the Ecotarium rely upon volunteers of all kinds, said Cox. The prison crew's help was essential during the clean up 1,500 carved pumpkins after their recent Great Pumpkin Festival in October. During the festival, 60 volunteers from area high schools assisted with the festivities.

"(Volunteers) really give us an opportunity to provide our visitors with a much richer experience," said Cox of the event where volunteers were available for face painting and other activities.

The bodies of two adults and two children were found by police responding to a well being check inside a two-family home on a Newland Road in this quiet town just outside of Boston shortly after noon on Monday.

ARLINGTON — The bodies of two adults and two children were found by police responding to a well-being check inside a two-family home on Newland Road in this quiet town just outside of Boston shortly after noon on Monday.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said the two children were under one year old. She would not rule out the use of guns or knives in the four deaths when asked by reporters. Officials would not release the names of the victims as they had not contacted the next of kin.

Ryan said the investigation is ongoing and that they would wait to disclose more information until the next of kin have been notified and after a ruling by the medical examiner's office.

"We are not looking for anybody at this point," said Ryan when asked if officials were searching for suspects.

Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan said that they did not consider the matter a public safety threat. "This is obviously a very troubling event for the community. There's an elementary school right here nearby. It's important for you all to understand and get out to your viewers that there is no risk to public safety at this time. We're quite certain that the community is safe and that people can go out and about their business this evening," said Ryan.

As press gathered behind a police barrier near the scene of the crime resident of the neighborhood dropped by to see what was going on. A resident walking his dog identifying himself only as Bill, 59, and a resident of Sunset Street, said that it was unbelievable.

"I never thought I'd see something like this, it's too bad," said Bill.

Chip Daley, a resident of Arlington a few blocks from the scene of the crime, altered his running route to go by the house to see what was going on. "We haven't had something like this in Arlington in a while, it's a huge shock," said Daley.

Providing residents a choice, instead of only Comcast as the Internet service in town, is a major reason to pursue the idea, SHELD Manager Wayne Doerpholtz said.

South Hadley Electric Light Department [SHELD] manager Wayne DoerpholtzJim Russell 

SOUTH HADLEY – South Hadley Electric Light Department [SHELD] Manager Wayne Doerpholtz, a professional engineer who directs the town’s municipal electricity agency, said providing high speed Internet and telephone service are things his agency would like to provide residents.

Doerpholtz shared his vision recently during a public forum at South Hadley High School Library sponsored by the non-partisan community group Know Your Town.

He said an Internet pilot program involving up to 60 customers could be operational next year, and if successful, could be expanded.

Doerpholtz slide during his presentation showing plans for providing Internet accessJim Russell 

Providing residents a choice, instead of only Comcast as the Internet service in town, is a major reason to pursue the idea, Doerpholtz said.

“SHELD is currently in discussion with several network operators for this arrangement,” he said and that one agency goal is “to build and provide” an infrastructure of fiber optic cables “to each home.”

According to Doerpholtz, 65 percent of the 8,000 SHELD customers use Comcast. He said the municipal electric company is at a start-up disadvantage as it is legally barred from advertising for the service.

“This is a business where you need marketing,” he told the 50 in attendance.

In response to a question from selectboard Chairman John Hine, Doerpholtz said the electricity and cable functions and billings must be kept separate.

And while telephone service provided by SHELD may not happen right away, Doerpholtz said: “My dream of dreams is to knock out the telephone company” so that townspeople have the option of using SHELD as their provider.

Resident Dan Whitford, who serves on the town’s Sustainability and Energy Commission, criticized Doerpholtz, saying it is a mistake for his agency to resist South Hadley being designated a “green community” by the state. The designation provides “qualified municipalities” access to government grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives

In response, Doerpholtz said his job is to provide the “best service at the lowest possible price” and that the green designation does not make economic sense. He said a number of elderly residents struggle to pay their bills, and his job is to keep bills affordable.

Doerpholtz also said that the SHELD board sets the rates. He said the green designation would transfer that authority to the state.

“That scares me,” Doerpholtz said.

With a few days left to gather signatures, advocates also appear to have enough signatures to establish new laws to expand the state's bottle deposit law and to limit the number of patients that could be assigned to a registered nurse in Massachusetts hospitals.

BOSTON — Activists apparently have collected enough voter signatures to advance a ballot question that seeks to repeal a new law that would annually increase the gas tax with inflation.

With a few days left to gather voter signatures, advocates also have enough signatures for statewide ballot questions next year to establish new laws to expand the state's bottle deposit law, increase the minimum wage, require earned sick time and to limit the number of patients that could be assigned to a registered nurse in Massachusetts hospitals.

An anti-casino leader also said people have gathered enough signatures to move ahead on a question to repeal a 2011 law that legalized casinos.

A coalition of volunteers collected at least 90,000 signatures for a proposed question to repeal a provision in a new law to increase the gas tax annually for inflation, said Steven Aylward of Watertown, chairman of Tank the Automatic Gas Tax Hikes.

"We're very, very optimistic at this point," Aylward said. "It's going to send a strong message to Beacon Hill."

The ballot question seeks to repeal only the provision that would start yearly increases in the gas tax to account for inflation in January 2015. The provision is contained in a law approved by legislators that increased the state gas tax by three cents to 26.5 cents a gallon as of July 31.

John Ribeiro of Winthrop, chairman of Repeal the Casino Deal, said the group is still collecting signatures for a ballot question to repeal the state's two-year-old casino law. Ribeiro said the group was able to hire and pay signature gatherers in a last-minute boost for the effort.

"We will definitely meet the threshold," Ribeiro said. "I think we are going to have plenty of signatures."

The group will be collecting signatures on Tuesday in Milford when voters in the town cast ballots on a referendum for a proposed $1 billion Foxwoods casino.

Repeal the Casino Deal has filed a court challenge of Attorney General Martha Coakley's decision to bar the planned ballot question to repeal the 2011 law to allow casinos in Massachusetts.

The injunction allows the coalition to collect signatures for the proposed ballot question while the challenge is pending before the state Supreme Judicial Court.

A union representing Massachusetts nurses collected enough signatures for two ballot questions including one that would establish a law to limit the number of patients that can be assigned to a registered nurse at one time at a hospital, according to Stephanie Sanchez, campaign manager for both questions.

The other proposed ballot law by nurses would regulate the annual operating margins of certain health-care facilities, including Massachusetts hospitals, that accept funds from the state.

Sanchez said more than 116,000 signatures were collected for the question to limit how many patients could be assigned to a registered nurse in Massachusetts hospitals and more than 100,000 for the other proposed question.

"I'm exuberant," said Sanchez. "I'm thrilled."

Wednesday is the deadline for submitting voter signatures to election officials in cities and towns for certification.

Petitions for the November 2014 ballot need to have at least 68,911 certified signatures to advance in the process.

The deadline is Dec. 4 for filing certified signatures with Secretary of State William F. Galvin.

If the Legislature fails to act on the petitions next year, then supporters need to collect another 11,485 signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Advocates have also gathered enough signatures for ballot questions to increase the minimum wage and require that employers pay earned sick time.

The Raise Up Massachusetts coalition today said that it has collected more than 100,000 signatures each for two separate ballot questions including one to raise the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10.50 per hour over two years and tie future increases to inflation. The other question, if approved, would ensure that every worker in Massachusetts could earn up to 40 hours of earned sick time.

Companies with 11 or more employees would have to provide paid sick time, while companies with 10 or fewer employees would need to provide unpaid sick time.

The coalition said its tally is 269,059 signatures and counting for both questions, following this past weekend’s final push.

If the state Legislature fails to act on the petitions, then advocates need to collect another 11,485 voter signatures next year to qualify for the ballot.

The Senate on Tuesday is expected to vote on a bill to increase the state's $8 an hour minimum wage to $11 an hour over three years. If a bill is passed in the Legislature, it might negate the need for a ballot question on the minimum wage.

Lewis Finfer, a member of the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, said conventional wisdom is that earned sick time will likely need to go to the ballot to possibly become law.

Janet Domenitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Group, said that a coalition collected about 129,000 signatures for a proposed question that would expand the state's 30-year-old, 5-cent bottle deposit law to include additional containers including those of water, flavored water, coffee-based drinks, juices and sports drinks.

She said these "new age" drinks did not exist when the bottle deposit law was passed.

She said the ballot question, if approved, would increase recycling, reduce litter and save costs of disposal for cities and towns.

The state's 30-year-old bottle deposit law currently includes carbonated beer, soda and malt beverages.

The bill now moves to the state House of Representatives, which is unlikely to vote on a minimum wage bill until some time next year.

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to raise the state's minimum wage from $8 an hour to $11 an hour over three years, giving a boost to nearly 600,000 workers and putting the state on track for the highest such pay in the nation.

The Senate voted 32-7 to approve the increase.

Under the bill, amended during debate, the minimum wage would increase to $9 an hour on July 1, $10 an hour on July 1, 2015, and $11 an hour starting July 1, 2016. The minimum wage in Massachusetts last increased to $8 an hour in January 2008.

In the shadow of a looming 2014 ballot question on the minimum wage, the Senate also voted 31-7 to increase the wage for tipped employees to half the minimum wage. The tipped wage is currently $2.63 per hour.

One supporter, Sen. Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat, said the bill might help close the growing gap between the rich and poor.

"Tens of thousands of people are working full time and living below the poverty level," Montigny said. "It is inexcusable."

The bill now moves to the state House of Representatives, which is unlikely to vote on a minimum wage bill until sometime next year.

The bill for the first time would index the state's minimum wage to inflation. Starting in 2016, the minimum wage would rise each year at the same rate as the consumer price index for the Northeast.

Supporters have said the increase is needed because some companies are making strong profits, but lower wage workers are falling behind.

Opponents, including some business leaders, said that an increase would hike costs for businesses and could prompt layoffs.

Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said the association strongly opposed the Senate bill. Hurst said the bill goes too far in giving Massachusetts the highest minimum wage in the country.

Hurst said the bill would increase costs for employers, make employers less competitive and eliminate some jobs including those held by teenagers.

"We've got to be somewhat in line with what competitors are doing," said Hurst.

Rhode Island increased its minimum wage to $8 starting Jan. 1, while Connecticut and New York are raising their wages to $9 on Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2015, respectively.

States cannot approve a minimum wage that is lower than the federal standard, currently $7.25 per hour, but they can approve a higher one. Washington state has the highest state minimum wage at $9.19; followed by Oregon, $8.95, and Vermont, $8.60.

According to California's new law, the state minimum wage would increase from $8 an hour to $9 an hour on July 1, 2014, and then increase to $10 an hour on Jan. 1 2016.

Approval of the bill comes as advocates said they have collected enough signatures to place a statewide question on the ballot next year to bring the minimum wage to $10.50 in January 2016. Tipped wages would climb to 60 percent of the minimum wage under the ballot question.

According to a study by the nonpartisan Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center in Boston, 17,800 workers in Springfield would be affected if the minimum wage goes to $10.50 an hour, with 14,600 workers currently receiving less than $10.50 an hour and 3,200 earning just above that.

Statewide, if the wage rises to $10.50, 495,000 workers would be affected, including 440,000 because they earn less than that.

The 19-member transition team will be divided into five groups, education, economic development, finance, public works and legal, contracts and appointments.

CHICOPEE – Retired educators, business owners, lawyers and long-term city volunteers will all work with Richard J. Kos as he prepares over the next six weeks to return to the position of mayor.

Kos officially announced his 19-member transition team and explained the volunteers will be split up to study five different areas: education, economic development, finance; public works and infrastructure, and legal issues, contracts and appointments.

The groups will begin immediately meeting with different city department representatives. They are expected to report back to Kos in mid-December with information and recommendations.

Kos, who served as mayor from 1997 to 2004 and has been working as a lawyer for the past decade, beat eight-year incumbent Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette for the position in November. He will officially become mayor again in the swearing-in ceremony Jan. 6.

The team’s job will be to assess: “what is going on, what should be going on and what could be going on,” Kos said.

The team includes some of Kos’ former advisors when he served as mayor 10 years ago such as Susan Phillips, who served as his city solicitor, Erin Hurley, Kos’ former administrative aide who is now a Springfield educator, and Al Pinciak, who retired as principal of Chicopee Comprehensive High School in 1999 and who served as a longtime water commissioner.

Kos, who pledged to focus on economic development and jobs creation during the campaign, appointed Alan Blair, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Council, Ken Delude, president of WestMass Development Corporation, which owns the mostly vacant Chicopee River Business Park, and Gail Sherman, president of the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce where Kos recently served as president.

Kos thanked the 19 members for being willing to take on the challenge. When asked how much time he expects members to give, he said, “a lot.”

City Council President George R. Moreau, who will serve on the infrastructure and public works group, said he was pleased to be asked to participate. Moreau, who was also president of the then-Board of Alderman when Kos served as mayor, said the two did not always get along but could work together.

“We learned there was a give and take,” he said. “I can’t always be right and he can’t always be right.”

Keith W. Rattell, now the City Clerk and an assistant to Kos when he was mayor, will work on the legal and contracts committee. With many unions facing contract negotiations and dozens of individual contracts, the group will be busy, he said.

“I was very honored to be asked to work on the team and look forward to gathering up all the information,” Rattell said. “I worked for him in the past and I’m looking forward to working with him again.”

John Mruk, who served on the School Committee two years ago, has been named to the education team. The group’s two jobs will be to help Kos prepare as the chairman of the School Committee so he can be knowledgeable about the issues immediately and to prepare him for the concerns and needs of the school department as mayor.

“We will look at MCAS scores and grants that are coming to an end and what new ones may be coming to Chicopee,” he said.

Richard Kos Announces Transition Team

Patrick also announced $1.2 million in funding for the Camp STAR Angelina Program at Forest Park. Watch video

This is an updated version of a story posted at 12:44 this afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Deval L. Patrick announced $200 million Tuesday to replace a section of the Interstate 91 viaduct downtown, but that 2.5-year project is only one step toward getting the highway sunken from view.

"This, as you all know, is a project that is desperately needed for safety reasons and reasons of access," Patrick said Tuesday during a luncheon hosted by the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield at the Springfield Marriott. "But how it is done is going to mean a lot to the city of Springfield."

Patrick also announced $1.2 million in funding for the Camp STAR Angelina Program at Springfield's Forest Park. That money will fund a new pool, bathhouse, trail and amphitheater and give a permanent home for the camp for youth and young adults living with disabilities.

It will be the first camp and park in Western Massachusetts designed to be universally accessible to people with handicaps.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said he feels the Camp STAR Angelina project spoke to Patrick's background having grown up disadvantaged in the South Side of Chicago.

Before the Chamber event, Patrick visited the Pathways to Prosperity Program at West Springfield High School.

The $200 million announced Tuesday for Interstate 91 will fund the repair and replacement of elevated sections of the highway north of State Street to where Interstate 291 peels off. State Transportation Secretary Richard A. Davies said that is a section of highway which can't be dropped to ground level or below because of the train tracks underneath.

"We are going to want to keep those train tracks, and use them more in the future," Davies said during a walking tour with reporters following Patrick's talk. "So we are going to repair what we have to keep up and talk about bringing down what we can bring down."

The work over the railroad tracks will commence about a year from now in November 2014 and will take three construction seasons, or about 2½ years, to complete. The highway will stay open during construction with work proceeding in sections and possibly at night, Davey said.

Meanwhile, Connecticut-based consultants Milone and MacBroom will start in January on a study of the rest of the 2½-mile viaduct.

"There is a lot of engineering that goes into it," Davey said. "What can the soils here handle?"

Sarno said the Interstate 91 project is the opportunity of a generation to have an impact on Springfield and he's asked the state too make no small plans but to think big.

"Stay tuned," Sarno said. "I want something bold and visionary."

Davey envisions either a ground-level highway or a sunken highway that would be not quite a tunnel. The highway might have some areas covered by parks and walkways however. He used Boston's Storrow Drive as an example.

"It's sunken below grade to provide people with the views of the river," Davey said. "And there are some areas were parkland and access have been added. We will be working with Secretary (Richard) Sullivan of Energy and Environmental Affairs on creating parks."

Davey said he doesn't think the state will replace parking now located under the viaduct.

"It's likely that we won't replace that parking," Davey said. "But that is part of the civic discussion that has to happen."

Falling concrete early this month caused the closure of the upper level of the Interstate 91 South parking garage. ut the state plans to have a temporary shield in place in a few weeks to get the parking reopened.

The Interstate 91 viaduct carries between 75,000 and 90,000 vehicles a day and has been the region's transportation backbone since it opened in 1968. But it also cut Springfield off from its waterfront.

"We've been cut off for two long," said Evan Plotkin, president and managing director of NAI Samuel D. Plotkin and Associates Inc. "We have been cut off too long from the culture, the views, the recreation that is our waterfront. It takes five minutes and 35 seconds to walk from City Hall to the waterfront. I've timed it. But no one ever takes that walk."

Plotkin said that stroll means going two blocks south to State Street and heading under a noisy, rumbling highway.

Albert Stegemann, district highway director for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, said the Interstate 91 overpass was typical of highway engineering at the time. In every case the highways do the same thing, isolate neighborhoods and cut off downtown from waterfronts. Many cities are taking them down.

Patrick compared Springfield's project to Boston's notorious Big Dig, which monopolized the state's highway funding for more than a decade, placing many priorities, including Interstate 91, on the back burner.

"Leaving aside the fiscal dimension of it, I love the Big Dig," Patrick said describing himself as a frustrated architect. "But if the lawmakers who were in charge back then had regional equity in mind, that fiscal impact wouldn't have happened."

Patrick said Interstate 91 is regional equity, Western Massachusetts getting its fair share. It's also an opportunity for him to push for higher state transportation funding. In the last budget, lawmakers rejected Patrick's plan to raise $500 million in taxes for transportation improvements in favor of a more modest spending plan.

But Patrick urged business leaders to support transportation improvements and promised innovative solutions, like electronic tolling or tolls at the state line.

"We'll try any experiment that is equitable and effective, that is going to get the job done," Patrick said.

Police found Jimenez trying to hide in a closet in a Holyoke house.

 

This is an update of a story originally posted at 1:46 p.m.

View full sizeAn updated state police poster for the Top 10 most wanted fugitive sex offenders in Massachusetts showing the five fugitives arrested since Monday. 

HOLYOKE – A 30-year-old man considered one the state’s most wanted fugitive sex offenders was arrested Tuesday in Holyoke, making him the 5th such offender in the state’s top 10 list arrested within a 48-hour period.

Members of the state police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and Holyoke police arrested Roberto Jimenez in a home on Whitney Avenue, according to state police officials.

Officers found Jimenez trying to hide in closet.

Jimenez was wanted by police on two separate warrants, one issued by Hampden Superior Court on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years and one issued by Holyoke District Court for failing to register as a sex offender.
Jimenez was convicted in 2006 of two counts of rape of a child under 16 years and a single count of indecent assault and battery on child under age 14. The victim was a 12-year-old boy that Jimenez met on the internet. Jimenez arranged to meet the boy under the guise of playing video games but then sexually assaulted him.

Following his released, he was declared a level 3 sex offender by the state Sex Offender Registry Board.

Level 3 offenders are considered those that are of high risk to offend again. They are required to register with police in communities in which they reside or work at least once a year, every time they move or once a month if they have no permanent address.

Roberto Jimenez 

Lennell York, 42, twice convicted of indecent assault and battery, was captured Tuesday morning in Fitchburg. State police and Fitchburg police apprehended him after finding him hiding in the cellar of a residence. He was charged with failing to register as a sex offender.

Alan J. Howard, 41, who was convicted in 1995 for indecent assault and battery on a 4-year-old child, was arrested in East Boston after he was spotted walking down the street. He was charged with failing to register as a sex offender, and for threatening to comit a crime.

Also on Monday, Placido Valdez, Jr. 34, was apprehended in Beverly by state and local police, and Victor Quinones, 48, was arrested in Taunton. Each was charged with failing to register as a sex offender.

One of the five remaining names on the list, Steven M. Cooper, 46, remains at large. Cooper, who had a last known address of Springfield, is wanted by Springfield police in connection with a rape that occurred in that city in March of 2008. He is also wanted for failing to register with the registry board.

Cooper was convicted of rape in the state of Georgia in 1987 and sentenced to 20 years.

The state police caution that if anyone knows where any of the fugitives are, they should contact either the state police at (800) KAPTURE or (800) 527-8873, or (508) 820-2121. People may also call their local police.

Even with the slight decline the S&P 500 is still up 25 percent so far in 2013 and has risen for 6 weeks straight, the longest winning streak since February. The extended run-up has prompted a number of market watchers to call for caution.

By KEN SWEET
AP Markets Writer

NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings news helped push the stock market lower on Tuesday.

Electronics retailer Best Buy plunged after saying extended store hours and price-cutting could squeeze its fourth-quarter profit. Campbell Soup fell sharply after reporting that its profit slumped as sales of soups and V8 drinks fell. The two stocks were the biggest decliners in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Even with the slight decline the S&P 500 is still up 25 percent so far in 2013 and has risen for six weeks straight, the longest winning streak since February. The extended run-up has prompted a number of market watchers to call for caution.

"We've had a phenomenal run, particularly in the last few weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if we would pull back from here," said Alec Young, global equity strategist with S&P Capital IQ.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 8.99 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,967.03, the first decline for the index in five days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,787.87 and the Nasdaq composite fell 17.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,931.55.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 crossed round-number milestones in early trading Monday but failed to build on those advances. The Dow crossed 16,000 and the S&P 500 hit 1,800 for the first time before falling back to close below those levels both Monday and Tuesday.

Retailers were a key focus on Tuesday, especially with the holiday shopping season coming up. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Consumer spending is a critical component of the U.S. economy, so how consumers behave during the closely watched holiday season will give investors a sign about the outlook for growth.

Best Buy sank $4.78, or 11 percent, to $38.78 after its warning of a tough holiday trading period ahead. The company's stock is still up 227 percent this year, making it the second-best performer in the S&P 500 after Netflix.

Home Depot rose 71 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $80.38 after reporting income that surpassed analysts' expectations. The company also raised its earnings forecast for the year.

TJX Cos., which operates discount stores including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, climbed 63 cents, or 1 percent, to $63.12. Its income rose 35 percent as sales improved at both U.S. and international stores.

Investors will turn their thoughts back to the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

Minutes from the Fed's October meeting will be released at 2 p.m. and investors will scour them to get a read on the central bank's stimulus policy. The central bank is currently buying $85 billion of bonds a month to keep interest rates low and boost the economy. That has underpinned a rally in stocks.

Investors were also watching JPMorgan Chase. The bank reached a record $13 billion settlement with federal and New York State authorities, resolving claims over the bank's sales of mortgage-backed securities that collapsed during the U.S. housing crisis.

JPMorgan closed 41 cents, or 0.7 percent, higher at $56.15.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.71 percent from 2.67 percent. Crude oil rose 31 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $93.34 a barrel and gold edged up $1.20, or 0.1 percent, to $1,273.50 an ounce.

Among other stocks making big moves:

— United Continental rose $1.42, or 3.9 percent, to $37.80 after the airline operator told investors that it will cut costs, overhaul its website, and shift routes from Asia to Europe.

— Campbell Soup dropped $2.61, or 6.2 percent, to $39.20 after reporting that its quarterly profit plunged 30 percent. A recall of the recently acquired Plum Organics products also hurt results, and the company cut its earnings forecast for the year.

AP Markets Writer Steve Rothwell contributed to this report.

“I thought it was phenomenal,” said teacher Patrick Moriarty. “These people are such humble heroes. And that’s reflected in all of their stories and their personalities.”

SPRINGFIELD -- Concentration camp liberator David Cohen said throughout his life, he has tried to keep one thing in mind: “I swore I would never hate anyone.”

Cohen, 95, described himself as a Jewish boy from Brooklyn. For many years, he was a sought-after speaker in countless classrooms in Greater Springfield.

On Tuesday, he spoke at the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History as part of “Bearing Witness: An Evening with Springfield’s Holocaust Liberators.”

The program was geared to teachers and showcased "Us & Them: Discrimination During the Holocaust Today," an outreach program at the museum that immerses students in the experiences of local Holocaust survivors who settled in the Springfield area after World War II.

Cohen, 95, who was a member of the Army, said he experienced losses during World War II.

“Two or three of my close buddies died,” he said. “That was sad, but that was war.”

At Ohrdruf concentration camp, he saw the unimaginable.

“We walked into a shed and the bodies were piled up like wood,” he said. “There are no words to describe it.”

He said the stench was overpowering and unforgettable.

Later, he helped liberate Buchenwald, where the commandant’s wife painted on ‘canvas’ made of human skin.

“I didn’t hate the Germans, but I tell you, it took a lot of willpower.”

Cohen taught in New York City. After he moved to Longmeadow 30 years ago, he met Donald Gosselin, who helped liberate the Dora concentration camp.

Gosselin, a Chicopee native, was one of the first Allies inside liberated camps and had never spoken of his experiences as a camp liberator to his family until he and Cohen began to speak together. His three children and granddaughter, Jillian Gould, attended the presentation.

When Gould was a freshman at Belchertown High School in the 1990s, she asked her history teacher to invite the two to speak.

“I remember being young, and I was not allowed to see the pictures,” she said. Seeing the presentation was an eye-opener for the student. “It was shocking, I guess, I think for everyone in the class. It’s a lot more graphic and horrific than you ever hear about in the course of a normal history class.”

She said their message was to not allow genocide to recur.

Captain Sidney Cooley, military commander in Bayreuth, Germany prosecutes local Nazis, 1946.  

Judge Sidney Cooley was slated to be a speaker as well but his was unable to attend. His son, Larry, told his story, referring to his father as an “accidental liberator.”

Cooley had just graduated from Northeastern University’s law school when he was drafted. Initially a quartermaster, he ended up being appointed a judge of Nazi war criminals in Bayreuth, Germany, when someone in the Army noticed his credentials as a lawyer. He was then designated military commander of a displaced persons camp. Cooley was 32 years old when he entered the Army.

At Bayreuth, Cooley set up an agricultural school so that Jews hoping to emigrate to Israel would have a marketable skill when they got there.

When Cooley left Bayreuth, the survivors presented him with a citation that read, “...we were few and broken in spirit and in body. You, our flesh and blood, gathered the broken remnants and breathed into us a spirit of hope and courage and self confidence. You were like a father and a brother... Now we are several hundred strong and organized and on our way out of the Diaspora. Wherever we shall go we shall carry in our hearts the memory of your deeds...”

Patrick Moriarty spent time after the formal presentation photographing an exhibit at the museum, “One Hundred years of Life in the Valley: From Shtetl to Suburb.”

Moriarty teaches history at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham and said he invited the judge to speak to his students.

“I thought it was phenomenal,” he said. “These people are such humble heroes. And that’s reflected in all of their stories and their personalities.”

He said he tries to teach liberation stories and stories of resistance of the Holocaust to his students.

“These stories obviously play a huge role.”

Susan Barry, who teaches Spanish at Central High School, said she will incorporate what she learned into her curriculum, relating it to the Spanish Inquisition of 1492 and the expulsion of Muslims in 1502.

“I’ve always been interested in history and history of my local community,” she said. “I absolutely loved the witness, liberator, saying I don’t hate, and that’s incredible.”

The 900-page report was published in 1964, but this is the first time it has been available over the Internet.

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. Government Printing Office announced it has digitized the official report on the assassination and is making it available over the internet.

The 900-page Warren Commission report was released by the printing office in 1964 and has been available since in paper form. This is the first time it has been published in a PDF file available for downloading over the Internet.

"The publication and dissemination of the Warren Commission Report is an example of how GPO has adapted to technological changes during the last half century," said Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks. “ Through partnerships with the Library of Congress and the Lauinger Library, GPO is now able to make the report available digitally on the anniversary of this tragic event."

The paperback version of the report sells for $19.88 on Amazon.com

If 900-plus pages seems too much to read on a computer screen, having it in a PDF file allows quick searches through the document for various key words.

The commission, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren was commissioned by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination.

View full sizePhotos from the Warren Commission report comparing images from the Zapruder film of the shooting with a Secret Service re-enactment as part of the investigation.Government Printing Office photo 

The report contains numerous photos, diagrams, and maps from the scene in Dallas on Nov. 22, as well as testimony from witnesses. There is also accounts of the investigation into the shooting including results and photographs of the Secret Service’s recreation from Dealey Plaza in the weeks afterward.

There are also accounts of events leading up to and after the assassination, detailed descriptions of the fatal injuries to President Kennedy as well as injuries to Texas Gov. John Connolly, and witness testimony about Lee Harvey Oswald leading up to the shooting.

The report is based on 26 volumes of hearings conducted by the commission. Some of that testimony remains classified.

The report has been a subject of controversy since it came out, primarily because of its declaration on page 375:

“The evidence reviewed above identifies Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassin of President Kennedy and indicates that he acted alone in that event. There is no evidence that he had accomplices or that he was involved in any conspiracy directed to the assassination of the President.”

A needle exchange program has been operating since August 2012 on Main Street.

Updated at 12:48 a.m. Nov. 20 to note voters rejected needle exchange in a nonbinding question Nov. 5 and in 2001.

HOLYOKE -- The City Council Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on issues related to needle exchange, a decision reached after a lengthy debate at City Hall Tuesday.

Tapestry Health has been operating a needle exchange program at 15-A Main St. here since August 2012. A lawsuit filed by some city councilors is pending in Hampden Superior Court over approval given for that program.

So what the council considered Tuesday was not whether to establish such a program. The issues covered in debate between councilors and in residents' comments before the meeting were related to whether council authority was bypassed, the precedent that would be set allowing such a bypassing to stand and whether needle exchange is as effective as studies claim or if the program is just staining the city's image.

The Board of Health voted 3-0 to permit operation of a needle exchange program and Mayor Alex B. Morse approved in August 2012.

But some councilors led by President Kevin A. Jourdain filed suit contending establishing such a program must be subject to a City Council vote.

In the program, people submit used needles that have been used for intravenous drugs and get a clean, uninfected needle in return.

Health specialists say needle exchange helps by reducing the sharing of infected needles and cutting the spread of diseases like HIV-AIDS and hepatitis C for which there are no cures. Such specialists include the Mayo Clinic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Robert Mausel, a retired emergency room physician and Holyoke Board of Health member.

"This is strictly a health issue, not a political issue. Please do not politicize this," Mausel said.

Juan Sanchez of Clark Street told councilors he was born to a heroin-addict mother who died of HIV contracted from using an infected drug needle. Needle exchange can help people, he said.

"It is a life-saving measure," Sanchez said.

But Ward 5 Councilor Linda L. Vacon, a registered nurse and one of seven councilors who are plaintiffs in the suit, disputed the effectiveness of needle exchange as claimed by various studies.

"I am here to tell you it's not all one-sided, nor is it as definitive as they would say," Vacon said.

Jourdain stepped down from the podium to address the issue. At stake is the authority of the elected City Council, he told councilors.

"You owe it to this institution," Jourdain said.

Voters rejected needle exchange on the Nov. 5 election ballot on a nonbinding question, “Should the city of Holyoke have a needle exchange program?” Voters said no by 51 percent to 49 percent, or 4,623 votes to 4,433 votes.

Voters rejected needle exchange in a nonbinding question in 2001, as well.

In the lawsuit, Judge Richard J. Carey in November 2012 denied plaintiffs' request to halt operation of the needle exchange facility here, but agreed a City Council vote is needed to establish such a program and said the argument of plaintiffs has a likelihood of success based on its merits.

It was after that decision by Carey that councilors Jason P. Ferreira, Rebecca Lisi and Anthony Soto filed an order calling for a council vote on needle exchange.

The committee recommendation that such a vote take place was what councilors debated Tuesday.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are councilors Todd A. McGee, Brenna M. McGee, James M. Leahy, Joseph M. McGiverin, Daniel B. Bresnahan, Vacon and Jourdain.

Defendants in the suit are Morse, professionally, the Board of Health and Tapestry Health.

The documentary includes interviews with many residents who have their roots in either farming in Ludlow or the old jute mill at the Ludlow mills site.

LUDLOW - Ludlow Community Television will hold a premiere of its new documentary on the history of the town Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Ludlow High School auditorium.

Michael Hill, James Harrington and others have spent three years working on the documentary which is named “Roots and Jute: Ludlow’s Past and Present.”

The public is invited to the viewing which is free. Light refreshments will be provided.

The documentary includes interviews with many residents who have their roots in either farming in Ludlow or the old jute mill at the Ludlow mills site.

The documentary lasts one hour. Harrington said it begins with the settling of the Pioneer Valley by William Pynchon and the signing of the deed by John Adams which created Ludlow as a town.

The deed is in the Boston Archives, Harrington said.

The documentary includes an interview with Joseph Carvalho, the retired president of the Springfield Museums, and interviews with many Ludlow families.

“We tried to tell some of the major stories, but we had to leave things out,” Hill said.

Harrington said they could have made a documentary which lasted six to 12 hours with the material they gathered.

Harrington said many Ludlow residents continue to live in the community in which they grew up.

“Ludlow has genuine pride,” he said. He added that when residents know about their community’s past, they are more likely to work to maintain the community.

After the airing of the documentary, DVD copies will be on sale for $10.

The money raised will go to cover some of the expenses of making the documentary, said Hill, who spoke at the selectmen's meeting Tuesday night.

Also at the selectmen’s meeting a scheduled tax classification hearing which is required before the tax rate can be set was opened and continued until Dec. 3 at 7:15 p.m. at Town Hall to give the assessors more time to prepare for the hearing.