Officials announced Thursday that a Veterans Treatment Court will begin on Jan. 29 at the Boston Municipal Court. The first such court in the state opened in Norfolk County about 18 months ago.

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts court system is planning to launch its second program geared for the specific needs of veterans.

Officials announced Thursday that a Veterans Treatment Court will begin on Jan. 29 at the Boston Municipal Court. The first such court in the state opened in Norfolk County about 18 months ago.

The court is staffed by specially-trained judges, lawyers, clinicians and probation officers. It provides services to help veterans deal with criminal charges, substance abuse problems and mental health issues.

Judge Eleanor Sinnott, a former Navy intelligence officer, will preside over the Boston court, funded in part by $65,000 from the city.

The Norfolk County court, the first of its kind in Massachusetts, is one of at least 130 Veterans Treatment Courts currently operating around the country.

A Chicopee man, fleeing Holyoke police late last week, nearly ran down an officer when he placed his vehicle in reverse and gunned it down an alley off Walnut Street in Holyoke, police said.

Holyoke police cruisers were parked near a Monday morning stabbing scene on Tokeneke Road. Officers searched the Holyoke Hill Apartments for a suspect wanted in connection with the incident, which sent a victim to the hospital with non-life-threatening stab wounds.Staff photo by Conor Berry 

HOLYOKE — A Chicopee man, fleeing Holyoke police late last week, nearly ran down an officer when he placed his vehicle in reverse and gunned it down an alley off Walnut Street, police said.

Police caught the driver and his passenger after a brief foot chase and seized a loaded handgun from latter.

Lt. Manny Reyes said the incident began shortly before 9:20 p.m. on Friday when narcotics detectives saw the suspects get into their vehicle at Sargeant and Maple streets and drive away without turning on their lights. The detectives followed in their own vehicle and when they activated their lights to pull them over, the suspects fled, Reyes said.

The suspects fled a short distance and then pulled into an alley near 300 Walnut St., Reyes said. That's where the officer was nearly hit, he said.

A second passenger inside the vehicle was not arrested.

Jaered Sanjurjo-Reyes, 32, of 1318 Chicopee St., Apt. A5, Chicopee, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (a motor vehicle), no inspection sticker, failure to stop for police and a motor vehicle lights violation.

Ricardo Vargas, 25, of 211 Walnut St. Apt. 2R, Holyoke, was charged with possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a loaded firearm and possession of ammunition without an FID card.

A lawsuit filed by two former assistant managers alleges that the Framingham-based TJX violated federal laws by not paying overtime, according to the Worcester Business Journal.

The class-action suit was filed for New York Workers by two former employees who claim that they would be required to work 50 to 70 hours a week without compensation and that forced overtime without pay is common in TJX owned stores, reports the journal.

The suit is seeking compensation for the overtime hours. The plaintiffs have requested the courts require TJX supply a list of all assistant managers employed from 2011 on, reports the journal.

Massachusetts State Police said it appears that a Belchertown man intentionally stepped into traffic on I-290 in Worcester.

MassLive.com photo [file] 

WORCESTER — A 45-year-old Belchertown man, struck by a tractor trailer truck in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 290 Thursday morning, was taken to UMass Medical Center with serious injuries, Massachusetts State Police said.

Trooper Todd Nolan, a spokesman for state police, said it appears that the victim intentionally stepped over the solid line into traffic.

State police, continuing to probe the crash, have not identified the victim. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Nolan said.

The truck driver, who was able to “partially avoid” the victim, stopped immediately afterward and has cooperated with state police, Nolan said.

"Several 911 callers did call to report that it appears that it was not the truck driver's fault," Nolan said.

The accident was reported shortly after 8:50 a.m. Nolan said police closed down a lane of traffic for about 30 minutes while they investigated the accident.

Hundreds turnout for annual Christmas day feast at Edwards Church in Northampton.

NORTHAMPTON – Turkeys were a little hard to come by for the annual noontime Christmas meal at Edward’s Church Wednesday, but Robert C. Saalfrank, who coordinates the Manna Soup Kitchen, still put on a spread that sated the appetites of hundreds both at the church and at home in delivered meals.

He said they had 25 turkey rolls and parishioners from the church donated 13 turkeys to help compensate for the shortage at the Western Massachusetts Food Bank.

They also served pork loins donated by Fitzwilies restaurant, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce.

Michele Pariseau of Easthampton came to the Thanksgiving meal and returned again for Christmas to be with her uncle George Bernier who told her about the meal. “I wanted to show her a good meal,” said Bernier who is homeless and lives in the woods. He said he’s been eating the meals at the church for about a decade. Besides the food and company, he was happy for a place to be warm.

“It’s elegant,” Pariseau said of the display. Tables were covered with tablecloths and candle lights, and red garland hung from the ceiling. “It’s good company,” Pariseau added. “The staff are very wonderful, very kind.”

Joan Fredrick of Wakefield, RI and granddaughter Jessica Frederick of Turners Falls inspect one of the dessert table’s at the Christmas meal at Edwards Church in Northampton. Diane Lederman / The Republican 

Joan Fredrick, formerly of Hatfield, began serving holiday meals in Springfield with her granddaughter Jessica Frederick 23 years ago but about 11 years ago the pair began serving here and continue even though Joan Frederick has moved to Wakefield, R.I., three years ago.

And they always serve the myriad desserts, pastries and cakes. Joan Frederick said, “I like desserts, they’re plentiful,” she said, not that the main course isn’t plentiful too. But with the sweets “people, their eyes light up when they see the selection. It’s such a rewarding thing to do. I look forward to it,” she said. Her granddaughter lives in Turners Falls.

In Amherst, Not Bread Alone also served its holiday meal at the First Congregational Church.

CBS 3 Springfield meteorologists call for a coating to a half-inch of snow in the Greater Springfield area.

SPRINGFIELD — Massachusetts State Police reported a flurry of mostly minor accidents on major roadways as light snow descended on Western Massachusetts early Thursday afternoon.

A 2-vehicle accident on in the northbound lanes of Interstate 91 just past the Chicopee Curve, reported shortly before 1 p.m., slowed northbound traffic. State police announced that speed limits on I-91 and I-291 had been reduced to 40 mph.

Springfield police reported slippery roads and numerous fender-benders throughout the city.

CBS 3 Springfield meteorologists forecast a coating to a half-inch of snow for Greater Springfield.

#TrafficAdvisory: Springfield area, I-91 & 291, due to several crashes, the speed limits have been reduced to 40 mph. #MAsnow

— Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) December 26, 2013

The poll suggests that Democratic President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act may be, at least in part, the reason his fellow Democrats are seeing their own numbers plummeting.

Although Democrats running in the 2014 midterm congressional elections held a strong lead in the polls over Republicans two months ago, the GOP now appears to have the edge.

A survey of 1,035 American adults conducted between Dec. 16-19 by ORC International for CNN concluded that Republicans were up on their Democrat opponents, 49 percent to 47 percent, a swing from their 42 percent to 50 percent disadvantage in October.

"Virtually all the movement toward the GOP has come among men," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said after releasing the poll Thursday. "Fifty-four percent of female voters chose the Democratic candidate in October; 53 percent pick the Dem now. But among male voters, support for Democratic candidates has gone from 46 percent in October to just 35 percent now."

The poll suggests that Democratic President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act may be, at least in part, the reason for his fellow Democrats' popularity plummeting. The law's healthcare.gov website experienced many problems after opening in October, and Obama received flak after health insurance policies were cancelled despite the president's promise otherwise.

In 2014, Democrats are hoping to evaporate the 17-seat lead Republicans have in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the same time, Republicans want to grow their ranks beyond the 45 seats they already hold in the 100-member U.S. Senate to gain majority control.

Another advantage the Republicans hold lies with Obama's low public opinion and approval ratings, as 55 percent of those surveyed said that they are more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who opposes the president than one who supports him.

But incumbent popularity is also through the floor, as 73 percent say that the current Congress has done absolutely nothing to address the problems facing the country.

The ORC/CNN poll also indicated that voter enthusiasm is low for the midterm elections, although the projected apathy is heavier among Democrats.

While the poll concluded that just three in 10 voters are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting, 36 percent of Republicans say they are. That number dips to just 22 percent among Democrats.

"Those kind of numbers spelled early trouble for the Democrats before the 1994 and 2010 midterms, and for the GOP before the 2006 elections," Holland said. The polling director also said that although the poll clearly shows the public is unhappy with the Democratic Party, political observers should be cautious about drawing hard-line conclusions about 435 separate elections which will take place across the country in just over 10 months.

The poll has a 3 percent margin of error.

Mieth said the fire started started in the first floor living room, and that investigators so far have eliminated the wood stove and the ashcan as possible causes.

This is an update to a story posted Wednesday at 4:46 p.m.

BRIMFIELD — The fire that claimed the life of a man on Christmas morning remains under investigation by the Massachusetts fire marshal's office, which reported on Thursday that there were no working smoke alarms in the 11 Hollow Road home.

The official identification will be made by the medical examiner’s office, but Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state fire marshal's office, said the victim is believed to be the occupant of the home.

James Killian, a former member of the Board of Assessors, lived in the home. His brother, David Killian, a Planning Board member, lived across the street.

Mieth said the fire started started in the first floor living room, and that investigators so far have eliminated the wood stove and the ashcan as possible causes. She said they are continuing to try to determine how the fire, which was reported just after 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, started.

According to information on the town's website, the home is owned by the Edward J. Killian Estate and sits on 36 acres with an assessed value of $157,120. The home was described as "old-style" and was built in 1805. It resembled an old farmhouse.

Mieth said the fire is being jointly investigated by Brimfield fire and police, the Hampden District Attorney's Office and state police assigned to the office of the state fire marshal. She said the district attorney's office always is involved when there is a fatal fire. Assistance also was received from state police crime scene services and the code compliance unit from the Department of Fire Services.

A press release from State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Brimfield Fire Chief Fred Piechota stated that the deceased was an adult male and the only occupant at the home when the fire happened. The fire destroyed the home, which was a single-family, wood-framed structure just off Route 20. Part of the building collapsed.

Due to the collapse of the structure, assistance in facilitating the recovery of the deceased was provided by the Brimfield Highway Department, officials said. The release said further results of the investigation will be withheld pending an autopsy of the deceased.

National Grid says more than 1,400 of its customers in Worcester are without power Thursday afternoon.

National Grid says more than 1,400 of its customers in Worcester are without power Thursday afternoon.

The cause of the outage is unclear. It is centered along Interstate 190, in and around the Glendale neighborhood.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Big-money buyouts were foreign to UMass until the FBS project faltered.

The surprise firing of University of Massachusetts football coach Charley Molnar was not announced until the day after Christmas, which shows they still have a heart in Amherst.

What UMass officials realized, however, was that they no longer had time. Whether or not Molnar deserved more than two years of a five-year contract to build a Football Bowl Subdivision team from scratch, the wolves were either howling or losing interest.

Administrators on campus tried to convince themselves it was getting better and needed more time. In this high-stakes game of athletic expansion, such patience usually loses out to the demands of a fan base that never warmed up personally to Molnar, and would have probably demanded a change even if they had liked the guy.

What is startling is that UMass would pay a reported $836,000 of buyout money to jettison a coach of any sport. Mark down Dec. 26, 2013 as the real date the history of FBS football at UMass began.

At other universities, pompous millionaire alums normally pool their riches, call the athletic director and say they'll pay to buy out a losing coach. UMass alums have been known to make such demands, especially in basketball, and then expect the university or the state's taxpayers to foot the cost.

This time, UMass AD John McCutcheon said the buyout will be paid by "external'' sources. It's not clear what that means, though it's being interpreted in some quarters to suggest UMass might have some of those deep-pocketed alums as well.

This will no doubt upset professors who ask why $836,000 can be hustled up to pay off a coach with a .083 winning percentage, while academic needs are being run on a budget held together by Scotch tape.

But in the world of big-time sports, who listens to them? What do you think this is, an institution of higher learning?

If the funding was there, though, UMass had to make this move. The ultimate failure of the FBS project is not assured, but the clock is ticking and even one more year of the current pattern might have doomed it.

It took less time than a two-minute drill for Mark Whipple's name to surface in speculation. The architect of UMass' 1998 Division I-AA national title would be a hugely popular choice with many fans, and that is no small consideration.

Whipple's specialty is an exciting offense. He has succeeded from NCAA Division II to the NFL, and already at UMass.

Whipple is a known quantity, and if he is at all interested, UMass has to consider him. It's believed he was leery of a start-up program, but UMass is no longer starting up, though it is now starting from behind.

To many UMass fans, Molnar's firing was not the end of an era but an error. The bashing increased after an inaugural 1-11 season was followed by another 1-11 clunker that indicated a lack of progress.

His handling of players was publicly debated. UMass recruiting followed an uneven line, and Molnar never found or developed a quarterback of indisputable FBS talent.

Molnar's best defense was that he took on an impossible job. UMass did not ease into the FBS, it lunged into the upgrade without suitable time to build a true FBS roster.

Connecticut's upgrade in 2000 was done by giving coach Randy Edsall a one-year head start, and was cushioned by a manageable, transitional first-year schedule. Molnar was not accorded those advantages, though the second excuse weakened when his team lost to Maine in his second year.

Even if Molnar's buyout is being paid externally, UMass had better be ready to pay a lot for his successor. Firing Molnar after two years is an admission that his hiring was a mistake, whether anybody at UMass says so or not.

The next coach will arrive as some home games are returning to campus. For the second time in three years, UMass will try to pitch a fresh, new beginning.

But this time, the mulligans have been used and some almost immediate, visible progress will be expected. This is how programs get tempted to cheat, though UMass people say it will never, ever happen with their team.

A losing team, a yawning fan base, an abrupt firing and a desperate search for a savior. The records show that UMass joined the FBS two years ago, but reality will mark Dec. 26, 2013 as the true entry date, for better or for worse.

A registered sex offender accused of luring a pair of teenage girls to a secluded spot and trading alcohol for sex has been ordered held on $250,000 bail.

LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — A registered sex offender accused of luring a pair of teenage girls to a secluded spot and trading alcohol for sex has been ordered held on $250,000 bail.

WMUR-TV reports that 37-year-old David Ferland was arraigned in Laconia District Court on Thursday. He is charged with having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl, and police say more charges are likely involving another girl he contacted on the Internet and arranged to meet behind a Gilford movie theater.

Authorities say Ferland has been convicted of more than 30 crimes, including felonious sexual assault, child pornography and criminal solicitation.

The court did not have information about whether Fernald has a lawyer. He is due back in court Jan. 2.

David Ferland 

Obituaries from The Republican.

Amico John Barone III 

Amico John Barone III, of Wilbraham, passed away on Saturday. Chip (as he was known) was raised in Springfield, where he attended public schools, and graduated from Cathedral High. He attended Bridgewater State College, where he began a broadcast radio career that spanned seven years and six radio stations: WBET, WCAV, WSPR, WAQY, WIXY and WHYN. He received a BS in criminal justice from Westfield State College. His lifelong career as a police officer began in Palmer. He joined the East Longmeadow police force in 1984, where he served full-time until his retirement in 2012.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Alves, Piedade
  



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  Aube, Evariste I. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Barbato, Joseph P. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Barone III, Amico J.
  



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  Baruffaldi, Peter (In Memoriam)
  



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  Baymon, Corey A.
  



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  Bitsacos, Lena (In Memoriam)
  



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  Bombardier, Marian (In Memoriam)
  



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  Brunton, John J.
  



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  Buoniconti, Patricia A.
  



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  Burdick, Jeanette M.
  



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  Cabana, Robert A.
  



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  Carriere, Ruth A.
  



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  Champagne Jr., Lou (In Memoriam)
  



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  Charest, Edward W.
  



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  Cote, Allan W. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Curto, Damien (In Memoriam)
  



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  D'Amario, Dorothy (In Memoriam)
  



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  DalMolin, Dino J. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Dandurand, Ellen (In Memoriam)
  



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  Dandurand, Ellen (In Memoriam)
  



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  Demers Sr., Francis R.
  



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  DiSantis, Antonio P. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Donovan, Brianna C. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Drawee, Carol M. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Ennaco, Ralph (In Memoriam)
  



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  Fessenden, Sheryl B. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Field, Larry (In Memoriam)
  



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  Fratamico, Thomson (In Memoriam)
  



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  Gilhooly, James F. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Gordon, Doris C. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Griffin, William B. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Guimond, David (In Memoriam)
  



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  Hajec, Star (In Memoriam)
  



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  Henderson, Agnes "Nan" (In Memoriam)
  



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  Hill, Margaret (In Memoriam)
  



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  Iellamo, Nellie (In Memoriam)
  



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  Jones, Emma (In Memoriam)
  



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  Keighley, Kenneth
  



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  Kennedy, Robert M.
  



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  Kibbe, Claire (In Memoriam)
  



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  King, Daisy T.
  



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  Kolakowski, Stanislawa
  



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  Macaulay, John M.
  



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  Mackler, Dr. Harold M.
  



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  Malone, Bob (In Memoriam)
  



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  Marsian, Alice (In Memoriam)
  



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  Mettey, Lucille I.
  



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  Owen, Dale W.
  



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  Pelc, George E. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Piantek, Helen B.
  



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  Prunckun, Henry (In Memoriam)
  



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  Rodriguez, Tamara (In Memoriam)
  



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  Russell, Mary A.
  



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  Russell, Sean (In Memoriam)
  



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  Saltzman, Bernard
  



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  Santos, Julieta D. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Shannon, Rena (In Memoriam)
  



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  Sullivan, John J.
  



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  Sullivan, Stephen J.
  



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  Todd, Cynthia M.
  



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  Turgeon, Joseph R. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Valletti, Charlotte (In Memoriam)
  



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  White Sr., Robert P. (In Memoriam)
  



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  Wojciechowski, Alice (In Memoriam)
  



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  Zancan, Edward (In Memoriam)
  

The Callahan Tunnel is set to close for extensive repairs on Friday until March 12, 2014.

BOSTON — The Callahan Tunnel to East Boston and Logan Airport is scheduled to close Friday night at 11 p.m. until March 12, 2014, for extensive repairs.

The tunnel's closure will result in the detouring of approximately 30,000 daily car trips under Boston's North End and Harbor to a variety of routes around the city, including on to MBTA trains and buses.

Since opening in 1960, the tunnel has never closed for such a significant amount time. $19.3 million worth of renovations, which MassDOT officials say is long overdue, will be done to the tunnel's deck, curbing and wall panels.

McCourt Construction, the company overseeing the project, faces steep rewards and fines of $71,000 per day if they fail to finish on time.

The company is already overseeing the installation of new orange and black detour signs that will direct drivers around the closed tunnel. The final completion of this task is slated for Thursday night when Interstate 93 Southbound through Boston will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Traffic will be rerouted off of 93 at Exit 28 in onto surface streets through Boston to the Haymarket on-ramp where it will be allowed back in the tunnel. Airport-bound traffic will be rerouted to the Ted Williams Tunnel in South Boston.

The decision to close the tunnel completely for a short period instead of intermittently for over a year was made by MassDOT after over 50 community meetings and a weighing of various alternatives. The suspension of work on the Tobin Bridge for winter played a major part in the decision.

"We did not take the decision lightly to closed the tunnel, but I think it is endemic of what we have with our infrastructure in Massachusetts ... We have kicked the can for too long, and this project is something that is definitely to make sure the tunnel is safe and serviceable," said MassDOT Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Richard Davey.

MassDOT is pushing three detour routes for commuters to use for access to East Boston and Logan Airport in addition to points north of Boston: the Ted Williams Tunnel, the Tobin Bridge and Route 16 East to 1A South. MassDOT officials say that they have improved signal timing on Route 16 to make traffic flow more smoothly.

"The Tobin Bridge painting project is shut down for the winter and that means all lanes are open," said Highway Administrator Frank DePaola of the alternate route.

Access restrictions to the South Boston Bypass Haul Road and the High Occupancy Vehicle Lane to Logan Airport and East Boston will be lifted throughout the tunnel closure.

MBTA access via the Blue and Silver Lines as well as key bus routes to East Boston is being expanded during the closure to accommodate the increased traffic.

The Valley Opportunity Council in partnership with the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts will offer a free citizenship class for legal, permanent residents who want to take the exam to become citizens.

CHICOPEE — The Valley Opportunity Council in partnership with the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts will offer a free citizenship class for legal, permanent residents who want to take the exam to become citizens.

The classes, covering U.S. history and civics, will meet from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays starting Jan. 23. They will be held at the Valley Opportunity Council office and education building at 35 Mt. Carmel Ave.

Those interested in attending should contact the council at (413) 612-0206, ext. 140 for more information and to register.

The new complaint also points out that Westfield State’s 2013 audit found no evidence of fraud and confirmed the school’s strong fiscal state under Dobelle’s leadership.

WESTFIELD - To spare Westfield State University from embarrassing publicity, then-president Evan S. Dobelle offered to resign in October, only to be rebuffed by the state’s higher education commissioner, according to new filings in Dobelle’s lawsuit.

During a 10-hour, closed-door meeting on Oct. 16, the trustees telephoned Higher Education Commissioner Richard M. Freeland to discuss the offer while Dobelle waited outside the board room. The commissioner responded that nothing short of Dobelle’s firing would be acceptable, Dobelle contends in an expanded complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

Freeland could not be reached for comment Monday, and the complaint makes no reference to what, if anything, Dobelle sought in return for his resignation.

Later that night, the board voted to place Dobelle on paid leave, prompting him to file a lawsuit on Oct. 24 accusing the trustees, Freeland and others of violating his constitutional rights.

He resigned Nov. 8 as two state agencies and Westfield State trustees were investigating his spending on dozens of domestic and international trips, hotels, restaurants, limousines and other items.

The amended complaint repeats allegations from the original suit, which accuses Freeland and trustee chairman John F. Flynn III of orchestrating public outrage over Dobelle’s extensive travel, and then citing it to justify ousting him.

The new filing also uses events occurring after the lawsuit was filed to buttress Dobelle’s conspiracy allegations. It cites, for example, Freeland’s decision to recommend the restoration of $2 million in previously suspended funding to Westfield State after Dobelle’s resignation as proof of a deal between Freeland and the trustees.

“Freeland strong-armed ... the board into a into a quid pro quo arrangement in which over $2 million in funding was improperly withheld until Dr. Dobelle was terminated,” it states.

The new complaint also points out that Westfield State’s 2013 audit found no evidence of fraud and confirmed the school’s strong fiscal state under Dobelle’s leadership.

In his lawsuit and public statements, Dobelle has maintained that his travel - including visits to Cuba, China, Thailand, Spain, Vietnam and other countries, along with 15 trips to San Francisco - benefited the university.

In addition to Freeland and Flynn, defendants in the suit include the university itself; trustees Elizabeth Scheibel and Kevin Queenin; the Braintree-based auditing firm of O’Connor & Drew; and Rubin and Rudman, the Boston law firm representing the university.

Earlier this month, the defendants filed a motion asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman to throw out the suit, noting that Dobelle voluntarily resigned from his position. Their response to the new filing is due Jan. 7.

In a related development, Dobelle’s lawyer, Ross H. Garber of Hartford, said his client filed suit Monday in Hampden Superior Court to collect legal fees and costs from the five-month battle over Dobelle’s tenure. The trustees have a question pending with the state attorney general over who is responsible for the bill.

The school is already facing more than $500,000 in bills from Fish & Richardson, a Boston law firm hired in September to guide the school’s response to the state inspector general’s probe of spending by Dobelle and others.

The state attorney general’s office is conducting a parallel investigation, focusing in part on the finances of the non-profit Westfield State Foundation.

Police didn't immediately release a picture of the youth but described Oathout as a white male standing approximately 6-foot-3 and weighing around 180 pounds.

ENFIELD, Conn. — Police are asking the public for help locating a missing teen who was last seen on Friday.

 

A silver alert was issued Friday morning for Michael J. Oathout, 16, of Enfield, who is considered an endangered runaway. Police didn't immediately release a picture of the youth but described Oathout as a white male standing approximately 6-foot-3 and weighing around 180 pounds.

He was last seen wearing an Oakland Raiders hat, a red sweatshirt, jeans and red sneakers, and his ears are pierced.

Connecticut's silver alert system is commonly used to spread the word about runaways and endangered runaways, as well as missing persons with dementia and other cognitive impairments.

Anyone with information on Oathout's disappearance or whereabouts is asked to call the Enfield Police Department at (860) 763-6400.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has found Wynn Resorts suitable for a resort casino license in eastern Massachusetts, moving the proposed Everett casino one step closer to reality.

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has found Wynn Resorts suitable for a resort casino license in eastern Massachusetts, moving the proposed Everett casino one step closer to reality.

The finding by the commission makes the Everett project the second project in the state to make it through the grueling application and review process known as Phase 1. The first casino project in Massachusetts to clear all the hurdles successfully was MGM Springfield.

Everett, along with the Mohegan Sun-Suffolk Downs project in Revere, is vying for the Region A, or eastern Massachusetts, resort-casino license.

The Everett proposal now moves forward to the Phase 2 part of licensing.

The final licenses awards should be announced sometime in May 2014.

Read the decision here:

Wynn MA LLC Suitabilty Decision

Tanya A. Redick, 34, of Westfield, is charged with larceny over $250 and larceny over $250 involving a person over 60.

The Republican [file] 

NORTHAMPTON — A visiting nurse has pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court to charges that she used the ATM card of an 84-year-old client to steal $9,473.

Tanya A. Redick, 34, of Westfield, is charged with larceny over $250 and larceny over $250 involving a person over 60. According to court documents, Redick used the ATM card of her Easthampton client 38 times to draw money for herself.

The son of the alleged victim notified Easthampton police in November that he noticed some suspicious withdrawals while monitoring his mother’s bank statements. The woman subsequently told police that she had allowed Redick, one of the visiting nurses from Commonwealth Registry of Nurses who tends to her, to use her ATM card to withdraw money for household expenses.

Police contacted the Easthampton-based company, which said it is against its policy to let employees handle financial matters for clients.

Surveillance video from a bank showed a person police believe to be Redick making withdrawals at the ATM with the woman’s card. The alleged victim told police that she learned through talking to Redick that the defendant is single and has a 2-year-old child.

Upon questioning by Easthampton police, Redick originally denied taking money for herself but admitted it when confronted with the evidence, according to court documents.

She was arraigned Tuesday. Judge W. Michael Goggins set bail at $250 cash and continued the matter to Feb. 14.

The Northampton crash occurred about noon on Friday.

NORTHAMPTON — At least two people were taken to a hospital with serious injuries after a pickup truck and sedan collided at the intersection of North King and Elm streets at about noon on Friday, police said.

Both vehicles sustained heavy damage, and firefighters removed a door from the sedan to extricate one of the victims.

The crash occurred near Pioneer Spine & Sports at 766 North King St., the scene of a significant accident on Nov. 15.

Additional information was not immediately available.

EJ Manuel has not been ruled out, but he will not start and is listed as doubtful because of an injured left knee.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Backup quarterback Thad Lewis will start in the Buffalo Bills' season finale at New England on Sunday.

Coach Doug Marrone made the announcement following practice Friday. EJ Manuel has not been ruled out, but he will not start and is listed as doubtful because of an injured left knee.

Lewis will make his fifth start this season and second straight following a 19-0 win over Miami. He has a 2-2 record and has thrown for three touchdowns and three interceptions since his promotion from the practice squad in early October.

Manuel was hurt in a 27-20 win at Jacksonville on Dec. 15. This will be the sixth regular-season start the rookie first-round draft pick will miss this year. Manuel missed four games in October with a sprained right knee.