The ball includes five-course meal, jazz music and dancing.

HOLYOKE -- Tickets remain for Mayor Alex B. Morse's inaugural ball Saturday at 6 p.m. at The Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House, 500 Easthampton Road.

Tickets are $75 each or $500 for a table of eight, a press release said.

The event will include cocktail hour, five-course dinner, live jazz music by Eastern Standard Time and the sounds of DJ Lori B of Martini Productions. For ticket and other information, visit the 2014 Inaugural Ball Facebook page.

6 to 12 passenger trains a day from Springfield to Boston at speeds of about 90 miles an hour could be in the future, transportation planners told a crowd of more than 100 people at a forum hosted Thursday night at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

SPRINGFIELD — Six to 12 passenger trains a day from Springfield to Boston at speeds of about 90 miles an hour could be in the future, transportation planners told a crowd of more than 100 people at a forum hosted Thursday night at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

The public hearing was held to collect input on the Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative, a plan to improve intercity rail service not only east-west over the 99 miles between Springfield and Boston, but north and south serving New Haven, Springfield and Montreal. All told, the east-west and north-south routes total 470 miles, and the project could require $364.5 million.

The initiative would work with other separate rail projects, including the $78 million rehabilitation of Springfield's Union Station underway now, said Paul T. Nelson, a manager of corridor planning with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Transportation officials from Vermont and Connecticut attended Thursday night's meeting, and the government of Quebec, Canada, is involved as well.

In addition to Union Station, there is the $73 million federally funded project to improve the train track along the Connecticut River, making passenger rail travel possible through Springfield, Holyoke and Northampton. That work should be done at the end of 2014, said Timothy W. Brennan, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

In Vermont, a $73 million project improving 190 miles of north-south track is completed. The project was paid with $53 million in federal stimulus funds and $20 million from New England Central railroad.

Connecticut already has received $40 million for a 10-mile section of track in the first round of funding and $121 million for further work in the second round. Connecticut hopes to have stations established and commuter service operating from New Haven to Hartford by 2016.

Enfield and its neighbors in northern Connecticut are lobbying hard for improved commuter service as rail work progresses north of Hartford to Springfield, Enfield Mayor Scott R. Kaupin said.

Kaupin said he knows there is a market for train travel. His day job is with clothing company Brooks Brothers, which means frequent trips to New York City.

"For a while last year it was one day a week," he said. "It meant driving an hour or more to New Haven to get the Metro North. I know a lot more people do it. For fully functional commuter service it needs to connect to Boston. A lot of people work for companies with offices there. They don't need to go every day. But they have to get there."

Brennan said speed is important.

"You need to get faster than 70 miles an hour to be competitive with the passenger automobile," Brennan said. "And the whole idea here is to get people out of their cars and into public transportation."

Blake Lamothe owns the Steaming Tender Restaurant in the former Palmer train station and thinks the depot could once again hum with the bustle of travelers. He knows people commute from Palmer to Boston now.

"The MassPike is busy," he said. "This would be an alternative for people."

Lamothe and others pushed for a third route, one that would cut from Brattleboro, Vt., through Amherst, Palmer and on through Storrs, Conn., to New London, Conn.

HOLYOKE -- Mayor Alex B. Morse said a four-day trip to Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Conference of Mayors helped the city because he established and strengthened contacts with officials that can spur receipt of grants. "The conference is a great opportunity to connect with mayors all across the country, from small cities to big cities, and learn best...

HOLYOKE -- Mayor Alex B. Morse said a four-day trip to Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Conference of Mayors helped the city because he established and strengthened contacts with officials that can spur receipt of grants.

"The conference is a great opportunity to connect with mayors all across the country, from small cities to big cities, and learn best practices. Also, (mayors) have access to nine federal cabinet secretaries while here to discuss federal grants and programs," Morse said in a text message Thursday.

Morse flew to Washington Tuesday and the conference was scheduled to end Friday, including a meeting at the White House Thursday with President Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and other federal officials, he said.

The city currently offers a $500 abatement on real estate taxes for service members who are sent overseas.

CHICOPEE – A proposal to increase the real estate tax abatement for military fighting overseas has sparked a plan to review of all the abatements offered to residents who are elderly, veterans or receive other benefits.

Ward 9 Councilor Gerry J. Roy asked for an examination of a program that was started in 2012, which gives homeowners who serve in the military a $500 abatement if they are sent oversees on a mission.

Roy told the City Council he would like to increase the abatement to $1,000 or $2,000.

“A very minimal number of people are taking advantage of the program,” he said, adding just one or two people have used the abatement, so an increase should not affect the city budget.

Previously, he had asked the Board of Assessors to increase it to $1,000, but it was rejected. Roy said it may be time to review it because there are two new assessors who took over this month and they now know more about the number of people who are using the program.

“I agree, 100 percent. It is a big sacrifice these people are making, and anything we can do to decrease the burden is good,” Councilor Timothy McLellan said.

City Councilor James K. Tillotson proposed meeting with the Board of Assessors to review all the tax abatements that are available.

The city offers abatements on real estate taxes to those who are elderly, blind, surviving spouses, disabled veterans and elderly taxpayers with extreme financial hardship. Those who qualify can usually receive yearly exemptions that range from $175 to $500.

The city also has a program that allows qualified elderly to receive $500 abatements if they volunteer a certain number of hours to the city. There is a limited amount of money available through the program, so volunteers are selected through a lottery.

“It becomes an issue because everyone pays for it. I think it is worth talking about,” Tillotson said.

The City Council discussed concerns that they have more homeless living in hotels than any other city in the state. The two boards will discuss the problem with state representatives in a meeting soon.

CHICOPEE – The number of homeless children in city schools is increasing, creating concerns about everything from the well-being of the youth and the increasing costs of transportation.

The School Committee held a meeting about homeless children one day after the City Council aired concerns that the city has the highest number of homeless people housed in hotels in the state. The two are expected to meet with state representatives and city officials in the future.

This year the city has 211 homeless students spread across 15 schools. Because homeless children are so transient, numbers change constantly and are expected to rise, said Assistant Superintendent Alvin W. Morton.

The totals have remained relatively steady over the past four years. During the previous school year, there were 213 homeless students. In 2011-2012, there were 229 students; and in 2010-2011, there were 215 students, he said.

“We have a lot of kids who come with a lot of situations. We work with health and human services agencies to help them,” he said.

The schools received a grant to send children to special programs at The Arbors for winter break, spring break and on some Saturdays, especially when there is a long weekend, Morton said.

“It is really a difficult life they are living, and we try to make it as pleasant as possible,” said Cindy Rodolakis, the homeless liaison for the schools.

Children who are homeless are also enrolled in after-school programs that typically combine fun activities with homework help. They stay until 5 p.m., she said.

Parents often have no transportation and can only cook with a microwave. If children are not enrolled in programs, they have little else to do but watch television, she said.

“This is a terrible environment. There has to be something we can do,” School Committee member David Barsalou said.

There are five categories of homeless children with the majority, or 127, living in hotels. The remaining are 27 children living in foster care, 21 doubled up with other families, three living in shelters and one teenager living on his own, Rodolakis said.

One of the most difficult and expensive things is dealing with transportation. Federal law requires communities to bus children to the school they attended when they became homeless if it is within a reasonable distance. The costs are split between the community where the child is living and the community where they attend school; they are not funded by the federal government, he said.

“When placing families, why not place children closer?” Morton said. It is frustrating because Chicopee children can be placed in Holyoke while homeless children from Holyoke are placed here.

Last year it cost $433,227 to bus homeless children. The previous year it cost $466,282, and 95 percent of that money was reimbursed this year by the state. Morton said he hopes the reimbursements will continue.

Still, the largest number of homeless children in the school system are from Chicopee. A total of 102 of the 211 children are from the city, with 40 from Springfield, eight from Holyoke and the remaining are typically one and two children from a wide variety of other communities. There are 39 children from out of state with 12 from Florida.

Even if children are from Chicopee and live in local hotels once they become homeless, there may still be additional busing costs because teachers try to keep children in the same school even if they are living outside the district, Rodolakis said.

“We feel it is important to keep our children in their school of origin. In many cases, it is their only stability,” she said.

Chicopee Schools Homeless Report

Brutal cold days in January are the worst time of the year to be a firefighter, said one Springfield fire official.

SPRINGFIELD – The freezing cold and relentless winds of the last few days made for the act of going outside an adventure, especially for area firefighters who in recent days have had to battle the elements at the same time they’ve been called out to fight fires.

“Those are the days to be a firefighter,” said Dennis Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Commission Joseph Conant.

In recent days, firefighters have had to respond to serious fires in Springfield, Agawam and Blandford.

A home in Forest Park was destroyed and one person killed in Springfield early Wednesday.
In the Springfield fire at 67 Euclid Ave., fire officials are still awaiting the results of the autopsy before releasing the victim’s identity, said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.

Results may not be available until next week.

The fire appears accidental, but the exact cause has not been determined.
Leger said the conditions at the fire were brutal. Not only were temperatures hovering around zero, but the wind caused the fire to spread while at the same time beating on firefighters.

“The wind definitely played a role in the rapid growth of that fire,” he said.

“They did a good job over there,” he said.
Investigators continue to probe a basement fire that displaced two adults and a child from a ranch-style home on Faymore Drive Thursday morning.

In Agawam, no injuries were reported in a blaze at 51 Faymore Drive just before 11 a.m.

Lt. Ken Sagendorph said the homeowner discovered the blaze and called the fire department. A child was also home at the time. “Everybody got out OK,” he said.

Fire damage was mostly confined to the basement, and there is smoke and water damage throughout the rest of the house.

The fire was put out relatively quickly despite the frigid temperatures, Sagendorph said, “The weather is always a factor when it is this cold out. When the water freezes on the ground it becomes very treacherous and slippery. It become very dangerous,” he said.

In Blandford, firefighters were called to fire on Russell Stage Road Thursday at 6:30 a.m. that destroyed a building that had recently been converted into a residential unit. The building was unoccupied and no one was hurt.

Leger said sub-freezing days in January are among the worst times of the year to be a firefighters. The cold makes everything difficult.

“Everything gets so cold that it hurts,” he said. “When it’s hot (in the summer), it’s uncomfortable. But when it’s cold, it hurts.”

 

Overnight temperatures fell to single digits throughout the Connecticut River Valley and did not rise that much during the day.

Westover Air Force Reserve Base in Chicopee recorded a low of zero at 4 a.m. The high for the day was 20 degrees at 4 p.m.

At Barnes Airport in Westfield, the low was 3 degrees at 5 a.m., while the high was 18 at 3 p.m. Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks recorded a low of 2 degrees at 1 a.m. and a high of 19 degrees at 1 p.m.

The lowest temperature recorded was at Orange Municipal Airport in Orange, where the low temperature was minus 4 degrees at 8 a.m. The high for the day was 5 degrees at 3 p.m. The low temperatures did not come close to a record low for the day. That was set in 1961 when Bradley recorded minus 19 degrees.

The National Weather Service put out a wind chill advisory for much of Western Massachusetts from 7 p.m. Thursday through 11 a.m. Friday.

Temperatures during that time will range between minus 3 degrees and 9 degrees, but winds of 5 to 10 miles per hour will push the wind chill to as low as minus 19 degrees.
People are advised to dress in layers and to wear hats and gloves when outside.

The high temperature on Friday is expected to be around 15 degrees, but it may warm up, albeit slightly, over the weekend. Saturday is expected to be around 28 degrees while Sunday will be around 21 degrees. There is a chance of snow each day.

The freezing temperatures have led to many cases of freezing pipes.

Adriano Punis, owner of Associated Plumbing and Heating in East Longmeadow, said he has been inundated with calls for pipe freeze-ups and failed heating systems for three or four weeks now.

Such calls are not unusual during the winter, Punis said, adding that what is unusual is that the severity of the cold is continuing as February approaches.
“We are going into February and it’s still super cold,” Punis said. “It seems like the cold that should be ebbing a bit is getting even colder.”

Punis recommends that those who are worried about pipe freeze-ups leave their taps trickling overnight. “That definitely does work,” he said.

Those who are leaving their homes for extended periods of time during extremely cold weather may also want to consider shutting off their water and draining their systems. “Just in case something happens,” he said.

Punis said people should also monitor little-used fixtures, for example, those in a basement bathroom. Problems in such areas may not manifest themselves until the weather eases and ice-damaged pipes thaw.

Jason Duda, of Boulanger Plumbing in Easthampton, has suggested that people open cabinet doors under the kitchen or bathroom sinks to let in ambient heat. If the air circulates, the pipes are less likely to freeze. He said if people know they have a problem with pipes, they can have a plumber wrap pipes in heat tape.

Alan Starzyk, water superintendent in Chicopee, said Thursday the department has been dealing with an unusually high number of residential water pipe supply line freeze-ups this month.

“If there is a freeze-up within the supply pipe for service (up to the valve on the interior of the residence) we dispatch crews,” Starzyk said. Water Department crews use steam or electric current to thaw out the service lines, he said.

Reporter George Graham contributed to this report.

The company at the center of the West Virginia water crisis immediately knew a second chemical leaked from its plant into the Elk River, and told its workers in an email, according to a state environmental official. However, Freedom Industries did not let state government officials know about the second chemical until days after the spill.

A worker at the West Virginia American Water Co. intake facility on the Elk River breaks ice to take water samples, Friday, Jan. 10, 2014, in Charleston. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The company at the center of the West Virginia water crisis immediately knew a second chemical leaked from its plant into the Elk River, and told its workers in an email, according to a state environmental official.

However, Freedom Industries did not let state government officials know about the second chemical until days after the spill. And state environmental department official Mike Dorsey said most company employees did not skim far enough into the email to see that information.

It's unclear who sent the email or how many of the company's 51 employees it reached.

"The explanation I was given was that they had the information on the very first day," said Dorsey, chief of the state environmental agency's homeland security and emergency response division. "It was in an email that was being shared among company employees, but no one read far enough down the page to see that."

Freedom Industries President Gary Southern showed Dorsey the email Wednesday.

"(Southern) remarked that it should've been brought to his attention but wasn't," Dorsey wrote in an email Friday.

A chemical used to clean coal spilled from the tank into the river Jan. 9. About 300,000 people couldn't drink or bathe in the water for almost a week. Southern told environmental officials this week that a second, less toxic chemical also was mixed in the tank.

A call to Freedom Industries was not immediately returned Friday.

Those are the only chemicals that spilled, the company wrote to state regulators Thursday. The state tested for the second chemical, stripped PPH, at the water plant and scoured older tests for the substance, but found no traces. Testing will continue.

A top investigator with the Chemical Safety Board also weighed in on the spill in front of a state legislative water policy committee Friday. The federal board is one of many government entities investigating the Charleston spill.

Investigator Johnnie A. Banks said it will likely take a year until the board produces a report with findings. The panel can, however, set up public meetings to share periodic updates. The meetings would take place in Charleston, he said.

When state environmental inspectors showed up at Freedom Industries Jan. 9, they described a chemical, crude MCHM, oozing from the pierced tank through a cracked containment wall into the river.

Banks, whose team arrived Jan. 13, said a hard freeze might have helped create the 1-inch hole in the tank that leaked, which Freedom Industries has theorized.

"There was nothing that jumped out at you that said this containment was inadequate or that the tank is going to fail," Banks told reporters.

On Tuesday, Freedom Industries reached a bankruptcy court deal for up to $4 million in credit from a lender to help continue operations, an attorney said.

The bankruptcy filing freezes dozens of lawsuits against Freedom Industries. Many are by local businesses owners who say they lost money during a water-use ban that lasted several days.

Under state orders, the company still needs to relocate almost 1 million gallons of other chemicals at its Charleston plant.

A 19-year-old man was arrested and charged with shooting a SC State University student to death.

This image provided by the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center shows Justin Bernard Singleton, 19, of Charleston, was charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old Brandon Robinson, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said in a news release Saturday Jan. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center)AP 

Justin Bernard Singleton, 19, of Charleston, was arrested just after midnight at the parking lot of an apartment complex in Orangeburg, where the campus is located, said Thom Berry, a public information officer with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

He was charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old Brandon Robinson, according to a news release from law enforcement. Singleton was being held at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center.

Robinson died Friday afternoon after he was shot outside Hugine Suites.

Authorities initially said they were looking for four men who had left campus. Berry said there was no ongoing safety concern for the community but declined to say whether there was still an active manhunt.

"At this time, we believe we have the individual who fired the shot," Berry told The Associated Press early Saturday.

Authorities decided to lock down the campus so that whoever was responsible for the shooting could not return, University Police Chief Mernard Clarkson said Friday. The lockdown was lifted Friday evening.

Clarkson said police haven't figured out what led to the shooting.

The shooting shocked the entire campus, university President Thomas Elzey said. Grief counselors were being brought in to talk to students and staff.

"We, again, are extraordinarily sad about this. He was a very nice young man. And it hurts. It hurts us all," Elzey said.

Elzey said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered any help the school needed.

South Carolina State also was the site of a fatal shooting in 2011, when police said three men met on campus for a drug deal. A student, 22-year-old Jonathan Bailey, was killed.

Friday's fatal shooting happened three days after authorities said a Purdue University student shot and stabbed a fellow student to death in a classroom.

South Carolina State University is a historically black university with about 3,200 students in Orangeburg, about 40 miles south of Columbia.

A Vermont woman was released by a judge after she was held against her will for five weeks.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- A Vermont woman held against her will for more than five weeks at a psychiatric ward after her estranged husband killed their son and then hanged himself was ordered released by a judge Friday.

Christina Schumacher, 48, was ordered released immediately from Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington by Vermont Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin, the Burlington Free Press reported.

Schumacher had been at the hospital since Dec. 19, a day after 14-year-old Gunnar Schumacher and 49-year-old Ludwig Schumacher were found dead in an Essex apartment. Police said the father strangled the high school freshman before he hanged himself.

It was unclear whether Schumacher had left the facility by Friday night.

Griffin said in his ruling that he disagreed with a doctor's assessment before Schumacher arrived for a regular appointment the day after the murder-suicide that she needed to admit herself or be taken into custody.

"The court did not find, by clear and convincing evidence, that Respondent was a person in need of treatment at the time of admission or application, nor a patient in need of further treatment at the time of the hearing," Griffin wrote in his ruling.

The Burlington Free Press reported that, according to court records, Schumacher indicated to her sister after the couple separated last summer that she would kill herself if anything happened to her two children.

"I am not ill; I am simply a mother who is grieving the tragic loss of her young son," Schumacher told the Burlington Free Press this week. "No mother should ever have to experience this loss."

Schumacher told the newspaper that she and her insurance company had been billed for the unwanted treatment.

Mike Noble, a spokesman for the hospital, said that he can't speak to the specifics of the case but "that in all matters such as this we make decisions that we think are in the best interests of the patient."

Schumacher had warned police that she feared for her son's safety hours before the bodies were found, according to court papers. She told Essex police the night before the murder-suicide that she feared Ludwig Schumacher might try to take the teenager out of the country, according to court papers.

Ludwig Schumacher was a former member of the Vermont National Guard and state Republican campaign official. Police said he left a typed suicide note in the apartment.

---

A Windsor man was stabbed and State Police detectives are investigating.

 

Trooper Daren Snyder at the Cheshire barracks, said state police from the Cheshire and Northampton barracks responded to a 2:30 a.m. report of a shooting at 96 Windsor Pond Road in Windsor.

The wounded man was transported to the Pittsfield hospital where it was determined that he had not been shot, but in fact had been stabbed. Snyder would not say what he had been stabbed with, nor would he say how seriously the victim was injured.

Investigators are not discussing what precipitated the incident.

Snyder said the dual response by Cheshire and Northampton based state police was because initial reports placed the incident in nearby Plainfield in Hampshire County, when the stabbing actually took place in Windsor in Berkshire County. The state police were assisted by Plainfield and Windsor police departments.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Linda Dutton 

Linda M. (Guerin) Dutton, 64, died Sunday. She was born in Bellows Falls, Vt., and lived in West Springfield most of her life. She retired in 2009 from the Stop & Shop pharmacy department, and was a longtime active member of the former St. Ann's Church. She loved animals, especially her dogs, and was always active and volunteering for charity work, including anything to do with juvenile diabetes.

Howard County police said via Twitter that a shooting had taken place at the Mall in Columbia, a suburb of both Baltimore and Washington.

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) — Someone armed with a gun opened fire at a busy shopping mall in suburban Baltimore on Saturday. Three people died, including the person believed to be the shooter, police said.

The shooting took place at the Mall in Columbia, a suburb of both Baltimore and Washington, according to Howard County police.

Someone called 911 at around 11:15 a.m. to report a shooting at the mall. Police responded to the scene and found three people dead, including one person who was found near a gun and ammunition. No details were released about their identities.

Police said they believed that one of the people found dead was the shooter. Two people with minor injuries were transported to a hospital for treatment.

The mall is at the center of the town and typically opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. It was busy with shoppers and employees when shots rang out before noon.

Joan Harding of Elkridge, Md., was shopping with her husband, David, for a tiara for their granddaughter's 18th birthday. She said she heard something heavy falling, followed by gunshots and people running.

"My husband said, 'Get down!' and the girl that worked in the store said, 'Get in the back,' " Harding said. That is where they hid until police gave the all-clear.

At a news conference, Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon said police are relatively confident that there was only one shooter.

"We don't know a motive yet," McMahon said. "We are very confident that it was a single shooter, and there was not another shooter in the mall."

The mall was closed to the public as police went store to store looking for people who might still hiding, McMahon said. He said the shooting occurred at a store on the upper floor.

He said it wasn't clear whether the shooting was random or whether the shooter and victims knew each other.

Witnesses described moments of panic as they heard a succession of gunshots and screaming as people ran for cover into nearby stores and hid behind locked doors.

Tonya Broughton of Silver Spring, Md., was with a friend getting facials for a 'girls morning out,' she said. "The only thing I heard was all the people running and screaming and saying 'There's a shooter! There's a shooter!' " she said.

Wearing a gel face mask, she and her friend hunkered down in a Victoria Secret store.

People were directed out of the mall and into a parking lot, where some boarded a bus and others walked toward their cars. Some people were seen crying. McMahon said detectives were interviewing witnesses as they emerged from the mall to try to get a better picture of the events that had unfolded.

Laura McKinzles of Columbia works at a kiosk in the mall. She said she heard between eight and 10 gunshots, followed by people running and screaming. She ran into the backroom of a perfume store and locked the door.

Allison Cohen, who works at the apparel store "Lucky Brand Jeans," said she always felt safe at the mall.

"I truly never thought something like this would ever happen here," Cohen said. "It's really, really shocking."

Obama's broad themes -- described by the White House as opportunity, action, and optimism -- may find some support among Republicans, who also have picked up the inequality mantle in recent months.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Struggling to generate second-term momentum, President Barack Obama will use Tuesday's State of the Union address to announce new executive actions on job training and retirement security, while prodding a divided Congress to work harder on expanding economic mobility for middle class Americans.

Obama's broad themes -- described by the White House as opportunity, action, and optimism -- may find some support among Republicans, who also have picked up the inequality mantle in recent months. But as Congress barrels toward the midterm elections, there's little indication the president will win over the GOP with his legislative policy prescriptions, including a renewed push to increase the minimum wage and expand access to early childhood education.

With its grand traditions and huge prime-time television audience, the State of the Union offers Obama an opportunity to start fresh after a year where his legislative agenda stalled, his signature health care law floundered and his approval rating tumbled. The president has cast 2014 as a "year of action" but has yet to show the public how he'll ensure that's more than just an empty promise.

Previewing the president's remarks, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, "He'll certainly aim high. Presidents ought to aim high."

Obama has been tinkering with the speech in his typical fashion, writing out notes long-hand on yellow legal pads and scribbling edits on drafts typed out by his speechwriting team. The White House has heavily promoted the address on social media sites like Instagram, posting photos of Obama working in the Oval Office with lead speechwriter Cody Keenan. Aides are also working on an interactive version of the speech that will run online and feature charts and statistics about the president's proposals as he's speaking.

While each of Obama's speeches to Congress has centered on the economy, the challenges have changed as the nation has moved away from the deep recession. Corporate profits and the financial markets have reached record highs, but many Americans are grappling with long-term unemployment and stagnant salaries.

Obama has struggled to gain traction on Capitol Hill for many of the economic initiatives he supports, including reinstating unemployment insurance for more than one million Americans who have been out of work for a long period of time. With that in mind, White House officials say the president's speech will include announcements on policies he will undertake on his own. While officials would not detail the specific initiatives, they did say they would center on job training and boosting retirement security.

"When American jobs and livelihoods depend on getting something done, he will not wait for Congress," White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said in an email to supporters Saturday.

The president is also expected to announce steps to address long-term unemployment, including a plan to generate commitments from the private sector to hire people who have been out of work for extended periods of time. Obama is expected to hold an event at the White House next week focused on that effort.

But broader initiatives will still need congressional approval, including increasing the minimum wage and expanding early childhood education programs. Both initiatives stalled after Obama first announced them in last year's State of the Union address, but aides say they see glimmers of hope for progress this year, particularly on minimum wage. Obama has previously backed raising the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 an hour to $10.10.

"These economic issues are breaking out," said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank with close ties to the White House. "People are very focused on more support for workers in this tight economy."

Obama is also expected to renew his call for Congress to overhaul the nation's patchwork immigration laws. The effort gained momentum last year when the Senate passed a landmark bill, but the legislation stalled in the Republican-led House. While passage of a comprehensive immigration law would mark a significant achievement for the president, he's expected to be largely restrained in his public efforts in order to give GOP lawmakers room to maneuver on an issue that had proven to be politically challenging for the party.

The president will also tout the so-called Obamacare health law, which has rebounded somewhat after a disastrous launch in October. The administration announced Friday that about 3 million people have enrolled in federal- and state-run health insurances exchanges, though the percentage of young, healthy people signing up will likely need to increase by the March 31 deadline in order to keep costs down.

In keeping with tradition, Obama will travel the country to promote his agenda in the days after the State of the Union address, with stops planned in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Republicans have their own ideas for what they'd like to see Obama outline Tuesday. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said the GOP wish list includes "expanding trade, approving the Keystone pipeline and promoting education and skills training for those still struggling in this economy."

The traditional State of the Union response from the president's opposing party will be delivered this year by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House. The move appears to be in part an effort by Republicans to ratchet up their appeals to women, who have sided with Democrats in large numbers in recent presidential elections.

While Obama is currently balancing several high-profile foreign policy matters, international issues are expected to get only a brief mention in Tuesday's speech. The president is expected to note that the long war in Afghanistan will formally end later this year, though he's not expected to announce any decisions on whether to keep some American troops there after 2014.

Obama will also tout progress in nuclear negotiations with Iran, which are scheduled to resume in February, and may press Congress to hold off on a new package of economic sanctions while the talks are in progress. The president has cast the negotiations as the best chance for peacefully revolving the international community's nuclear dispute with Iran, but even he has said the odds of reaching a comprehensive agreement are only 50-50.

The funeral for Boston's fourth murder victim of 2014, Luis Arroyo of Mattapan was held Friday at Brady & Fallon Funeral Home in Jamaica Plain.

BOSTON --€” The funeral for Boston's fourth murder victim of 2014, Luis Arroyo of Mattapan, was held Friday at Brady & Fallon Funeral Home in Jamaica Plain.

Arroyo was buried at St. Michael's Cemetery in Roslindale.

Arroyo was shot in the area of Blue Hill Avenue and Evelyn Street last Saturday. He was transported to Boston Medical Center where he later died.

He was 21.

Universal Hub found this photo of Arroyo on Instagram:

The fifth murder of 2014 in Boston occurred last night in Dorchester.

An unidentified man in his twenties was shot and killed Friday evening near 82 Callender Street in Dorchester according to Boston police.

BOSTON — An unidentified man in his twenties was shot and killed Friday evening near 82 Callender Street in Dorchester, according to Boston police.

Police responding from Mattapan arrived on scene and found the man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was later declared dead at the scene by first responders.

Boston police are actively investigating the crime and encourage anybody with information to call their homicide unit at 617-343-4470.

This is the fifth Boston murder of the year.

While there was a period of snow in the area late morning into the early afternoon, Rogers said police do not believe the crash was weather-related.

RUSSELL - At least three were injured after a three-car accident on Route 20 late Saturday morning, according to Massachusetts State Police Trooper Mark Rogers.

 

He said one car attempting to pass another on the stretch of road near the Westfield city line lost a wheel and collided with another car heading in the opposite direction. it occurred around noon.

Two occupants were taken to Baystate Medical Center by ambulance for treatment while a third was taken to Noble hospital and a fourth was uninjured, Rogers said.

The precise extent of the victims' injuries weren't immediately known. Rogers said he believed all the injured were adults. Troopers are still investigating, so whether any driver will be cited is yet unclear.

While there was a period of snow in the area late morning into the early afternoon, Rogers said police do not believe the crash was weather-related.

Promising not to run for president yet a third time, Romney told Fallon that there are some great contenders for the 2016 race and that he would be fully supporting the eventual Republican nominee.

As a telling documentary on his two failed presidential runs premiered on Netflix, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney appeared on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday.

In addition to an interview where he not only showed his sense of humor and took jabs at President Barack Obama, Romney also took part in Fallon's "Slow Jam the News" segment while The Roots played in the background.

That clip is here.

Romney's appearance on Fallon's show plugged the recently-released documentary entitled "Mitt," by filmmaker Greg Whiteley, who produced the documentary based on exclusive access to the Romney family during the Republican's two presidential campaigns.

In 2012, Romney lost to Obama, 51 to 47 percent. Since losing the presidency, Romney has stayed out of the public spotlight, although he reemerged recently to criticize Obama for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which was modeled after the Massachusetts health care law.

On Fallon's show Friday evening, Romney also took jabs at Obama's performance in his second term.

Promising not to run for president yet a third time, Romney told Fallon that there are some great contenders for the 2016 race and that he would be fully supporting the eventual Republican nominee.

Te theater closed unexpectedly on Jan. 13 after a sprinkler pipe froze and burst, flooding the facility’s basement and adjoining room.

By REBECCA RIDEOUT

GREENFIELD – Greenfield Garden Cinemas is set to re-open in time for the much-anticipated opening weekend of “Labor Day” – a feature film shot in Shelburne Falls and other locations in the area in the summer of 2012.

According to George Gohl, owner of Greenfield Garden Cinemas on Main Street, the theater closed unexpectedly on Jan. 13 after a sprinkler pipe froze and burst, flooding the facility’s basement and adjoining room that housed the theater’s electrical panel.

“We’ve had minor problems in the past, but nothing to this extent,” Gohl said. The seven-screen theater has been shut down for over a week and a half. The incident occurred early in the morning of Jan. 13, while Gohl was on vacation. “I got the call at 6:30 in the morning – that’s usually when these sorts of things happen,” he laughed.

Gohl and Bill Gobeille have run the downtown theater since 2000, and have owned the building since 2008.

The entire electrical panel needs replacement, leaving the owners waiting for parts to arrive. Gohl says they expect deliveries soon. They plan to re-open after inspections have been completed this week.

“If everything works out, we’ll be up and running Thursday, January 30th or Friday, January 31st,” Gohl said on Friday.

They will offer a full listing of films for the weekend of Jan. 31st and beyond, including “Labor Day.”

The film, which stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, was shown in a preview screening at the Memorial Hall Theater in Shelburne Falls on Jan. 19. Many of the scenes took place in Buckland, Shelburne, Montague and Belchertown.

The Greenfield Business Association’s Midwinter Movies film series “Reel Musicals,” a joint venture between the association and the Garden Cinemas that was interrupted by the flood damage, will start up again as well. “West Side Story” will be screened on Feb. 4.

More information for upcoming films will soon be available on the Garden Cinemas’ website, www.gardencinemas.net

Massachusetts law currently requires immigrants seeking a driver's license to prove that they are in the country legally.

BOSTON (AP) — The largest immigrant advocacy group in New England is again pushing lawmakers to support a bill that would allow foreign-born residents living in the country illegally to secure Massachusetts driver's licenses.

Massachusetts law currently requires immigrants seeking a driver's license to prove that they are in the country legally.

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition says removing that barrier — as proposed under the Safe Driving Bill — would make Massachusetts roads more secure ensuring immigrants living in the country illegally are trained, licensed and insured.

"I came to this country 10 years ago in search of a better life. In 2006 I gave birth to my beautiful and smart daughter, Alicy. She is 7 years old, but she has never been able to walk because she has spina bifida, a common disabling birth defect affecting the spine," a passage on the group's website states. "I need a driver’s license to take Alicy to the doctor, to school and to her physical therapy. However, I cannot get one because of my immigration status."

Supporters say the bill would particularly help people who do not live near public transportation, and also protect the health and well-being of children who depend on their parents in medical emergencies.

Lawmakers have scheduled a hearing on the bill for Feb. 5.

Firefighters were dispatched to 318 Tokeneke Road around 10:45 a.m. to investigate a report of a structure fire.

HOLYOKE — Several birds belonging to a Paper City family were killed in a fire Saturday morning, but all of the house's occupants were able to safely escape injury.

According to a press release issued by Holyoke Fire Department Capt. Anthony Cerruti, firefighters were dispatched to 318 Tokeneke Road around 10:45 a.m. to investigate a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival, crews found smoke coming from the two-story wood-framed townhouse.

He said firefighters quickly knocked down the fire, which originated in the basement, and that no injuries or casualties beyond the birds were reported.

The home had working smoke alarms, Cerruti reported, and the cause of the blaze is under investigation as the family living there is staying with friends.

Holyoke Fire Department personnel head up the Mount Tom access road in July to help with the rescue of stranded hikers.File photo by Dave Roback / The Republican