A police officer who was attempting to execute a search warrant at a New Bedford apartment was wounded after someone opened fire on officers from inside the barricaded home, police said Saturday.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A police officer who was attempting to execute a search warrant at a New Bedford apartment was wounded after someone opened fire on officers from inside the barricaded home, police said Saturday.

Authorities said the officer's injuries were not life-threatening. He was first taken for treatment at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford before being transferred to Rhode Island Hospital.

New Bedford police said members of its Organized Crime and Intelligence Bureau were executing a search warrant at a Davis Street apartment late Friday. The officers were trying to storm through a door barricaded with a security bar when someone opened fire several times from inside the home, hitting one officer.

"The officers retreated and took positions of cover while calling for back up," police said in a statement. "After a short stand off the people inside the apartment stated that they would open the door and remove the security bar."

Police took five people into custody, including three Boston residents and a man from Trussville, Ala.

Two suspects were eventually arrested and charged. Apartment resident Nathan Manuel-Jackson, 20, was charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a deadly weapon and other firearm violations. The second suspect, Thomas Scott, 34, of Boston's Mattapan neighborhood, faces charges of being an accessory after the fact and several firearm violations. It was not immediately clear if the two men have attorneys.

Three people were served with grand jury subpoenas and might be charged in the future, police said.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Treadup Pio said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell had no immediate comment on the shooting.

A Yellow Cab driver told police she was threatened with a handgun.

 

Springfield Police Lt. Henry Gagnon said 28-year-old Jose Serrano-Diaz, of 30 Palmer Ave. was arrested at his home at approximately 1:40 a.m. after a Yellow Cab driver complained to police that he pointed a handgun at her when she asked him to get out of her cab.

The driver told police she had picked up Serrano-Diaz and another male, both were intoxicated she said, and took them to 30 Palmer Ave. Once at the address the two became belligerent and Serrano-Diaz pulled the gun and pointed at her and said something in Spanish, which he did not understand. The driver contacted police through her dispatcher, and officers responded and found Serrano-Diaz hiding in a bedroom. They also found a pellet gun identified as the weapon used.

Serrano-Diaz was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon. He will be arraigned in Springfield District Court Monday.

Animal-rights advocates call the development a good step, though it isn't ending their long-standing criticism that the show champions a myopic view of man's best friend.

In this Jan. 15, 2014, file photo, Alfie, a poodle mix, approaches a hurdle as he demonstrates his mastery of an agility test during a news conference in New York. For the first time ever, the Westminster Dog Show will include an agility competition, open to mixed breeds as well as purebred dogs.Associated Press 

JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK — When the nation's foremost dog show added an event open to mixed breeds, owners cheered that everydogs were finally having their day.

They see the Westminster Kennel Club's new agility competition, which will allow mutts at the elite event next month for the first time since the 1800s, as a singular chance to showcase what unpedigreed dogs can do.

"It's great that people see that, 'Wow, this is a really talented mixed breed that didn't come from a fancy breeder,'" said Stacey Campbell, a San Francisco dog trainer heading to Westminster with Roo!, a high-energy — see exclamation point — husky mix she adopted from an animal shelter.

"I see a lot of great dogs come through shelters, and they would be great candidates for a lot of sports. And sometimes they get overlooked because they're not purebred dogs," Campbell said.

Roo! will be one of about 225 agility dogs whizzing through tunnels, around poles and over jumps before the Westminster crowd. And, if she makes it to the championship, on national TV.

Animal-rights advocates call the development a good step, though it isn't ending their long-standing criticism that the show champions a myopic view of man's best friend.

Westminster's focus is still on the nearly 190 breeds — three of them newly eligible — that get to compete toward the best-in-show trophy; more than 90 percent of the agility competitors are purebreds, too. But Westminster representatives have made a point of noting the new opening for mixed breeds, or "all-American dogs," in showspeak.

"It allows us to really stand behind what we say about Westminster being the show for all the dogs in our lives" while enhancing the 138-year-old event with a growing, fun-to-watch sport, said David Frei, the show's longtime TV host.

Over the years, mixed-breed enthusiasts have nosed around for recognition for their pets, be they carefully crossed goldendoodles or anyone's-guess mutts. And they haven't turned only to gag events like "Great American Mutt" shows with categories such as "longest tongue" and "looks most like owner."

A 36-year-old group called the Mixed Breed Dog Clubs of America awards titles in various sports and has even had best-in-show-style competitions, where dogs were judged on their overall look, movement and demeanor, said President Kitty Norwood of Redwood, Calif.

Some dog organizations have allowed mixes to compete in obedience, agility and other sports for years, and the prominent American Kennel Club — the governing body for Westminster and many other events — followed suit in 2009. It has since enrolled some 208,000 mixes and dogs from non-recognized breeds as eligible competitors.

One of the nation's oldest sporting events, the Westminster show had a few mixed breeds in its early days but soon became purebred territory. This year, more than 2,800 pedigreed, primped dogs are set to be judged on how well they fit breed standards that can specify everything from temperament to toe configuration.

That has long made Westminster a flashpoint for the purebred-versus-mixed-breed debate.

Proponents say breeds preserve historic traits and help predict whether a puppy will make a good police dog or hiking companion, for instance, facilitating happy pet-owner matches.

Animal-rights activists argue that the desire for purebreds fuels puppy mills, forsakes mixed-breed dogs that need homes and sometimes propagates unhealthy traits. (The American Veterinary Medical Association hasn't taken a position on whether mixed breeds or purebreds are generally healthier.)

Westminster President Sean McCarthy says the club supports conscientious breeding and is "a big believer in dogs that are well cared for, loved and healthy," purebred or not. But to critics, the show spotlights a skin-deep appreciation of dogs while downplaying darker sides of breeding, and adding some mixed breeds outside the main event goes only so far.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction," says Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. But there are better ways to help dogs than "supporting this antiquated entertainment show," she said.

PETA members have protested Westminster, once getting into the show's center ring with signs in 2011. The group plans to demonstrate outside the show this year.

Matt Bershadker, president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, hopes introducing mixed breeds at Westminster will lead emphasis "away from the aesthetics of dogs to what is special about dogs ... the very, very special connection that people have with dogs."

Irene Palmerini connected with Alfie, a poodle mix, when she spotted him seven years ago in a mall pet shop, seeming eager to get out of his crate. She wasn't looking for a dog but couldn't resist him.

Nor was she looking to take up canine agility, but he had energy that needed a focus.

Now, she's gearing up to bring Alfie to Westminster, with excitement and a bit of incredulity.

"I'm representing everybody who just sits on their couch with their dog," said Palmerini, of Toms River, N.J. "He's just our pet."

Reduced visibility and a coating of snow led state troopers to reduce the speed limit to 40 miles per hour on a long stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike Saturday evening.

Reduced visibility and a coating of snow led state troopers to reduce the speed limit to 40 miles per hour on a long stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike Saturday evening.

 

As approximately an inch of snow fell, with slightly more accumulating in the Berkshires and other areas of higher elevation, the speed limit on the Mass. Pike was twice dropped on Saturday. Around 3 p.m., troopers reduced the speed limit to 40 miles per hour from the New York border to the Chicopee exit and around 8 p.m., it was extended to the Millbury exit in Central Massachusetts.

15-30 mile-per-hour gusts of wind reduced visibility while the coating of snow on the ground made roadways slick in some spots.

A few minor car accidents were reported around the region on Saturday but it wasn't immediately clear if weather was a factor in any of them. The snow was expected to taper off by late Saturday in Southern New England and the next big concern was arctic air.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory for Worcester County, Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, from approximately 1 a.m. until Noon Sunday.

An advisory is issued when the wind chill index – a calculation that describes the combined effect of the wind and cold temperatures on exposed skin – is predicted to reach minus 15 to minus 24 degrees for at least three hours. Without proper protection from the cold under such conditions, frostbite and hypothermia can set in quickly.

A car with Connecticut license plates was stopped on Saturday after witnesses in the South End say they saw it speeding away from the area after someone inside fired multiple shots.

SPRINGFIELD — A car with Connecticut license plates was stopped Saturday after witnesses in the South End say they saw it speeding away from the area after someone inside allegedly fired a gun multiple times.

 

Throughout the afternoon, Springfield police investigated multiple reports of shots being fired across several neighborhoods but upon arrival at each scene, they never found any victims. The city's automated ShotSpotter system alerted them to at least four separate incidents between 5 and 9 p.m.

But it wasn't until a ShotSpotter activation detected gunshots in the area of Central and Hickory streets that a witness described a car with Connecticut license plates that left the scene. Moments after police relayed that information to other officers through their radios, another ShotSpotter activation on Main Street in the North End sent police scrambling up there to investigate.

Police radio reports indicated that a car was pulled over on Newland Street in the city's Brightwood Neighborhood, and that a gun was recovered from the vehicle.

A ranking police officer with the Springfield Police Department said Saturday evening he was still awaiting more information from officers on the street and that he was not yet aware of any arrests. The investigation is ongoing as police officers were walking on Hickory and Central streets looking for shell casings.

Police were still trying to determine the motive of the gunman who killed a man and a woman, both in their 20s, at a skate shop called Zumiez on the upper level of the Mall in Columbia.

COLUMBIA, Md. -- A man carrying a shotgun opened fire at a busy shopping mall in suburban Baltimore on Saturday, killing two employees of a skate shop and then himself as panicked shoppers ran for cover, police said. Five others were injured.

A news release Saturday night said that police found and disabled "two crude devices that appeared to be an attempt at making explosives using fireworks." Police said they found the devices Saturday night.

Police were still trying to determine the motive of the gunman who killed a man and a woman, both in their 20s, at a skate shop called Zumiez on the upper level of the Mall in Columbia.

Witnesses described hearing gunshots and screams as shoppers ducked into nearby stores and hid behind locked doors. Many found cover in stockrooms and barricaded themselves until the arrival of police, who searched store to store. By late afternoon, the mall had been cleared of shoppers and employees.

Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon said at a news conference that authorities had difficulty identifying the gunman because of concerns he was carrying explosives and were proceeding with an "abundance of caution." By late Saturday, police said they had tentatively identified the gunman but declined to release his name while they followed up on leads.

"We do not know yet what caused the shooting incident," he said. "We do not have a motive."

Police were searching the mall with dogs overnight, which is standard procedure, and the mall was to remain closed Sunday.

Someone called 911 at around 11:15 a.m. to report a shooting at the mall. Police responded to the scene within 2 minutes and found three people dead -- including the apparent gunman near a gun and ammunition -- either inside or outside the shop, which sells skateboards, clothing and accessories. McMahon said police were confident there was a single gunman.

Police identified the victims as 21-year-old Brianna Benlolo of College Park, Md., and 25-year-old Tyler Johnson of Ellicott City, Md. Both worked at Zumiez.

Benlolo's grandfather, John Feins, said in a telephone interview from Florida that his granddaughter had a 2-year-old son and that the job at Zumiez was her first since she went back to work after her son's birth.

"She was all excited because she was the manager there," he said.

He said he had spoken with his daughter, Brianna's mother, earlier in the day, but didn't know who the gunman was or whether the person knew his granddaughter.

"It's senseless. It's totally, totally senseless," he said.

He described his daughter's family as a military family that had moved frequently and had been in Colorado before moving to Maryland about two years ago. He said his granddaughter was on good terms with her son's father, and they shared custody.

"I mean what can you say? You go to work and make a dollar and you got some idiot coming in and blowing people away," he said.

Zumiez CEO Rick Brooks released a statement that the company is making counseling available for employees in the area.

"The Zumiez team is a tight knit community and all of our hearts go out to Brianna and Tyler's families," he wrote.

Howard County General Hospital said it had treated and released five patients. One patient had a gunshot wound, while at least three other patients sustained other injuries.

The mall is at the center of the town that's a suburb of both Baltimore and Washington, and it typically opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. It was busy with shoppers and employees when the 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 searched the mall and signaled it was safe to leave.

The mall was closed to the public as police looked in each store for people who might still be hiding, McMahon said. It will remain closed at least through the night.

McMahon said it wasn't clear whether the gunman and victims knew each other. He said officers did not fire any shots when they arrived at the scene. The police news release said it appears the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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 hid in a Victoria's 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.

Laura McKindles 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."

Cathedral High School has remained boarded on Surrey Road since a tornado struck in 2011, with the delay triggering complaints from many residents.

SPRINGFIELD – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield continues to freeze any plans for demolition or reconstruction of Cathedral High School as it pursues federal disaster aid for damage caused by the tornado of 2011, a spokesman said Friday.

Mark Dupont, diocesan spokesman, said there have been ongoing, extensive discussions with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that will determine the amount of disaster aid that will be made available to any school construction efforts. Both FEMA and the diocese hope the disaster aid will be resolved in February, he said.

“Unfortunately, until this process is completed, little work including demolition can begin,” Dupont said.

Cathedral, located on Surrey Road, has been boarded since struck by a tornado on June 1, 2011. The school has been housed at a temporary, rented site in Wilbraham since the tornado.

Many residents have criticized the diocese for the long-standing damage that is visible on the Surrey Road site in East Forest Park. In addition, many residents have been critical of the diocese for failing to announce any definitive plans to rebuild the school.

There is also an online petition drive, launched by students, urging the diocese to rebuild Cathedral.

Dupont said the rebuilding decision hinges in part on the FEMA settlement, and will also depend on the success of a tuition fund drive that is taking place to subsidize tuition costs and help ensure the financial stability of the high school.

Under FEMA’s public assistance guidelines, Cathedral qualifies for disaster aid as a “Private Non-Profit facility” that serves as an educational mission open and available to all, Dupont said.

Cathedral did receive a $50 million settlement from its insurance company in September for tornado damage to the high school and other diocese buildings.

In addition, Cathedral has approximately $1 million set aside in an endowment for the tuition subsidies, including more than $100,000 in formal pledges and cash received in recent months ahead of a formal fund drive, said Ann Southworth, president of Cathedral. The balance is from scholarships and tuition assistance funds donated over the years, she said.

“I am optimistic, very optimistic, that Cathedral will be back on Surrey Road,” Southworth said.

Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell has stated the diocese cannot continue to subsidize deficits at the school, leading to the fund drive effort to raise $10 million for the tuition fund.

The diocese is in the process of setting up a steering committee to raise the funds, and the formal kick-off to the campaign may occur by late February, Southworth said.

Cathedral currently has 240 students, but Southworth said the number is understandably low at the present, given the hardships and uncertainty.

Dupont said the diocese understands the concerns from the neighborhood about the condition of the property on Surrey Road, but was instructed by FEMA to maintain the site at this time.

“We have begun the planning for site work so that once we get clearance it can begin without further delay,” Dupont said.

Three shots fired from outside crashed through a School Street window, narrowly missing several people inside.

 

Gagnon said three gunshots, fired from outside the house, shattered the living room window of the third floor apartment and embedded themselves in the ceiling. According to the victims several people were sitting in the room at the time of the shooting. No one was injured.

Springfield police do not know if the residents were targeted or if the shots were randomly fired, but all the people living there were removed to a "safer" location by police approximately 30 minutes after the shooting.

Springfield detectives continue to investigate the incident.

There is a long list of agencies – both public and private – with collective multi-million dollar reserves, 6-figure executives and shared missions of economic development in Greater Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — From his perch in a second-story law office in a converted Victorian home on Chestnut Street, attorney Thomas Rooke in the early morning hours watches a truckload of five men water a colorful hanging planter full of pansies outside his office, five days per week, three warm months out of the year.

For this, he pays $1,600.

Rooke, one of more than 150 downtown commercial property owners, is among a few vocally resistant members of the Springfield Business Improvement District, an agency with a complex background and apparently an unclear future.

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) were established through statewide legislation in the late 1990s to supplement municipal services and focus on the beautification of urban downtowns.

Locally they were established in this city, Westfield, Northampton and, most recently, Amherst, all with varying degrees of success.

In Northampton, a group of members filed a federal lawsuit against the state, contending the mandatory BID fees are unconstitutional and an illegal tax. In Westfield, a group of business owners is circulating a petition to dissolve the BID there, arguing the spirit of the original legislation intended membership to be voluntary.

Fees in Springfield range from more than $30,000 annually for a group of buildings at 11-13 Hampden St. that also borders Main and Gridiron streets (the New England Farm Workers Council) to more than $18,000 for downtown property owner James Santaniello for several properties (including the building which houses the Mardi Gras strip club and two others) to Tower Square, which is assessed at $164,000, according to city records.

The geographic area the BID spans from the heart of downtown at Main and Worthington streets, up to Chestnut Street and over to a portion of the Riverfront which includes the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Springfield Riverfront Development Corp. pays just under $20,000 in fees to the BID. However the museum space is exempted from the formula, so the fees apply to the tenants of the hall-of-fame building.

The Springfield downtown’s heyday is far in the rear view mirror any way you slice it: Whether it was the peak with two major department stores, Steiger’s and Forbes & Wallace, in the 1960s and 1970s, or the brief renaissance of the entertainment district in the 1990s, the general consensus is currently fending off defeat while many are salivating over the proposed $800 million MGM Resorts International casino project for the South End.

This artist's rendering of the MGM Springfield casino project shows the view from Union Street looking at the pedestrian walkway leading to the entertainment plaza, anchored by an Apple merchandise store, movie theater, bowling alley, and a wide array of retail, restaurants and entertainment.ŽSubmitted artist rendering, courtesy MGM International.  

Commercial properties are worryingly empty; bars and restaurants generally come and go; there are few retail anchors or bright spots.

Ward 6 City Councilor Kenneth Shea, the new chairman of the council’s Economic Development Subcommittee, characterizes the city’s downtown as “dismal.”

“Everyone puts out there that this casino is going to be the savior and solve all of our problems,” Shea said. “My thing that I have worked on quietly is trying to get improved rail service between Springfield and Boston. I think it’s more important for people being able to get jobs out of this area but stay in affordable housing.”

The long-defunct Union Station in the city’s North End neighborhood has drawn millions in federal dollars for rehabilitation and also is slated to improve the complexion of downtown but has yet to materialize.

There is a long list of agencies – both public and private – with collective multimillion-dollar reserves, six-figure executives and shared missions of economic development in Greater Springfield. The BID is a small fish in that pond, but illustrative of the evident overlap of services and an apparent lack of cohesion and optimal results, despite millions in private and public dollars.

Rooke’s perspective provides a barometer of some members’ opinions of the value of the BID, but not one without history. He has tangled with mayors, sued the city on behalf of bar-owner clients and resisted the BID fees for a decade. He previously opted out of the fees, which are based on square footage, in the late 1990s, but was essentially strong-armed legislatively into paying them when they became mandatory through a change in state law in 2012.

Springfield attorney Thomas Rooke owns a commercial property downtown and is a dissatisfied member of the Springfield Business Improvement District (BID).Republican file photo 

“For $1,600, I passed the cost along to my partners and tenants. I decided it wasn’t worth the fight,” Rooke said. “But, I watch what they do for the fees. It’s like the old joke: how many guys does it take to water a plant?”

Rooke said he’s had many clients who owned downtown bars and restaurants and were displeased with BID services.

They are all out of business, he added.

He was among some 50-plus downtown property owners who two years ago were forced into paying the fees. Many BID detractors prefer to call the fees a tax since they are obligatory.

In addition to property taxes, which cover municipal services, property owners who fall within the BID are mandated to pay the additional fees or face having liquor licenses revoked or liens placed on properties. New legislation passed in 2012 took away property owners’ power to opt out of the BID and made membership mandatory for five years. It was put to a vote among members in Springfield last year; however, members who had opted out or those who were not current on their fees were excluded from the vote, according to participants.

The fees cover the costs of occasional litter pick-up, maintenance of flower planters and weekly downtown concerts that attract a tide of bikers, according to the members.

Certain business owners, like Tim Andrew, owner of Tyre Trak at the corners of Worthington and Chestnut streets, do not own their properties and are able to pass along BID fees to their landlords.

“Mine pays $1,500 a year. He tried to insist that I pay it, but I said no. I pay $10,000 in taxes each year, I don’t pay fees,” Andrew said, adding that he occasionally sees BID workers sweeping up his parking lot and watering plants around the building. “If I had to pay the fees, I might resent it. I’d just as soon sweep my own parking lot.”

Aside from the statewide controversy over the change in the BID law, Springfield BID director Don Courtemanche abruptly resigned recently. He was immediately replaced by Christopher Russell, of Wilbraham, as interim director. Russell in 2000 launched a landscaping company with zero clients out of his garage, and grew his customer base to 3,000, including commercial clients from Boston to New Jersey.

Russell said he sold his business, Prospect Landscaping, in 2010 for an undisclosed amount of money to a national company and moved his family to Vermont for three years.

He returned to the area in the fall and contacted Paul Picknelly, a BID board member, downtown real estate mogul and hotel owner with a financial interest in the MGM casino. They had met when Russell managed Market Square on Main Street, Russell said.

Paul Picknelly, a downtown real estate owner with a financial interest in the prospective $800 million casino planned for the city's South End, is shown here at a 2013 victory rally for MGM International following a successful referendum among the city's voters.The Republican [file] 

Picknelly began making introductions on his behalf late last year. Russell, a father of two, said his discussions with a subcommittee of BID board members began in the late fall.

Picknelly did not respond to a call for comment.

It is not the first time a Springfield BID director suddenly resigned. Jeffrey Keck resigned in 2009 with little fanfare, with the explanation that he was a “California guy” who wanted to return to the West Coast. Keck succeeded Robert Turin, who retired after seven years with the BID in 2006. The Springfield BID was created in 1998.

Keck never responded for comment about why he left at the time, and Courtemanche said he was “contractually obligated” not to talk about his departure.

BID board member Evan Plotkin, a major commercial property owner in the downtown, said he was not included in the hiring of Russell. That search was conducted by a subcommittee of members including MassMutual executive Nicholas Fyntrilakis, Picknelly, property owner Francis Cataldo and BID chairman Frank Crinella, an executive with TD Bank.

“I think Don was an outstanding steward for the downtown; I wish he was still here. That’s not to take anything away from Mr. Russell,” Plotkin said.

Fyntrilakis said Courtemanche’s resignation did not go to a vote of the board members and the decision to choose Russell was tasked to the subcommittee. All personnel discussions occur in executive session, therefore meeting minutes are not publicly available, he said.

For Russell’s part, he is enthusiastic, personable and apparently capable of growing a business from zero to 60 in short order. During a recent interview, he made no bones about what he does and does not know about the downtown but is keen to learn.

He told a reporter he had a vision of a downtown teeming with young people and more market rate housing but no specific plan how to get there. He said he plans to quickly plot one, however.

Russell says he developed an expertise in self-marketing, budget management, customer service and vendor supervision while growing his company. He had a vague awareness of a certain number of disgruntled members and a slightly fractured board but felt confident he can win them over.

“The board will judge whether I’m performing or not, and, if I’m not they’ll replace me. But I will give 110 percent,” Russell said. “I have to perform. That’s life. But I’m used to wearing a lot of different hats.”

Russell in 2011 moved to Wilmington, Vt., where Tropical Storm Irene leveled or displaced some of its cultural icons, including Dot’s Diner, which Russell worked to rebuild. He and his family decided to move back to Western Massachusetts last year. Russell said he began to put feelers out late in 2013 to explore job opportunities.

During an interview on the third day in his new post, Russell said he is a “people person” and intends to begin knocking on doors to take the temperature of BID members.

“I’ll find out what they like and what they don’t like. if I can’t provide the services they’re looking for, I’ll tell them why,” Russell said.

He said he aspires to be the permanent head of the BID, but concedes the hiring committee was not ready to commit to long-term leadership, given a tentative plan by the BID to hire a consultant to analyze that agency, the Springfield Parking Authority and DevelopSpringfield.

Fyntrilakis – a former School Committee member who is now vice president for community responsibility at MassMutual and has chaired the DevelopSpringfield effort which emerged in the wake of the 2011 tornado - said the three agencies are among economic development shops outside the city’s purview with common missions of downtown development.

“It makes sense to look for overlaps to see how we might collaborate and do better by the downtown,” Fyntrilakis said. "We want to make the BID better, and this might be one way to do that."

While the BID focuses on street clean-up and beautification, its centerpiece is the weekly summertime downtown concerts, which draw thousands of visitors to the downtown. Its budget is approximately $800,000 annually.

The parking authority focuses on parking management and promotions based on events and commerce, including shows at Symphony Hall and new companies that migrate here. Its budget is about $5.7 million.

DevelopSpringfield was spawned in the wake of the 2011 tornadoes and focuses on redevelopment of eyesores in the city, including the River Inn and Gunn Block on State Street, plus building a full-line grocery store in Mason Square. Its annual budget is about $450,000.

Frank Crinella of TD Bank, left and Nick Fyntrilakis of MassMutual talk at the United Way luncheon at the Log Cabin in 2012; both of board members of the Springfield Business Improvement District. Republican file photo 

Bokul Bhuiya, interim director of the parking authority, said he has no direct knowledge of the BID plans but agrees all agencies with a common goal of economic development must remain vigilant. That agency oversees about 4,500 off-street parking spots in its garages and 1,100 on-street meters for the city.

The parking authority outsources meter collecting and maintenance, among other tasks, but Bhuiya said he is sensitive to merchants’ needs and works to keep rates low.

Fyntrilakis said these three agencies will be targeted in their proposed analysis, but there are several more with economic development missions and healthy budgets that will be excluded. The BID has not yet engaged a consultant.

Fyntrilakis said agencies including Spirit of Springfield, with a $1.3 million budget, which runs events including Bright Nights and the July Fourth celebration, the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, with a $637,000 annual budget, which focuses on business development, the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, with a $1.1 million budget, and the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, with upwards of a $3 million annual budget, will not be part of the analysis.

These are functioning outside of the city’s office of Planning and Economic Development.

Kevin Kennedy, chief economic development officer for the city, said he has a staff of 11 and a budget of about $1.3 million. He also has Maureen Hayes as a $125,000-per-year consultant at his disposal. Kennedy said Hayes has worked on the Union Station and State Street corridor projects, as well as other initiatives.

“She’s an expert in federal and state regulations, as well as in urban renewal. She’s all about the details,” Kennedy said, adding that Hayes’ contract is at least 3 years old and is subject to competitive bidding annually.

Kennedy recognizes that the prospective casino has virtually dominated the public discussion of downtown stimulus for two years. MGM has pledged $25 million to the city for infrastructure, traffic, safety, “the betterment of citizens” and economic development costs over two years. So, Kennedy said he wonders what function the BID will serve in terms of clean-up and security.

“In our (casino) host agreement we have a new trash truck and funding for more police on the streets, so I’m not sure why the BID will need to do that. The BID will need to evolve, and we will have to figure out how,” Kennedy said.

Plotkin said he believes the newly created Springfield Central Cultural District, which will overlap with the Business Improvement District, is a more critical step to a downtown rebound than a casino.

“If people are afraid of a perception, or more than a perception, that it’s unsafe to walk three blocks, they won’t come downtown. It needs to be walkable. So even if the casino comes to Springfield, if we don’t have the cultural district, we’ll have an $800 million resort in the middle of a ghetto,” Plotkin said.

New Easthampton mayoral assistant happy to be returning back to government.

EASTHAMPTON – She first worked here when Easthampton was still a town and former Mayor Michael Tautznik was first elected to the Board of Selectmen.

Now Susan Giza has returned to be the administrative assistant to new Mayor Karen Cadieux.

In between, she has worked at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, the former Delaney House, the former Department of Mental Retardation and most recently as a school secretary in Windsor, Conn.

“I feel like I went around the circle and came back home.”

She had been the secretary to the Board of Selectmen in 1988 when the office was in the Old Town Hall and departments were in different buildings not all together like they are now in the Municipal Building.

Some of the people she worked with then are still in the city, like City Clerk Barbara LaBombard and Joseph Pipczynski, director of the Department of Public Works.

“I’ve always loved Easthampton,” she said, moving here in 1976 raising three children here including her daughter MaryAnn Giza, assistant city clerk.

“It was a fantastic opportunity,” she said of the job. She was chosen from a field of 52.
Her previous municipal experience was one of the reasons she was selected, Cadieux said.

After she left the job in the city she served on the Finance Committee and Historical Commission.

In some ways, it’s not all that different than it was more than 20 years ago.
“It’s a lot more ecologically minded,” she said of the city. She had no idea “there was so much solar energy.”
And the city “has grown a lot.”

The city though was and “is a very community-minded place.”
In the first two weeks since she started, she’s been learning the details of the fiscal budget, dealing with calls about potholes.

“It’s so multi-faceted,” she said of the work. Cadieux was always considered the go-to person in the building and Giza said she hopes to fulfill that role as well. “I’m very laid back,” she said. And she likes talking to all the people who pass through the building.

She said it’s important to listen to people “to validate their feelings. I think I’m a good listener. I have a lot of patience,” she said. “I really have a strong natural desire to help people. I find it very rewarding.”

And she said, “The taxpayers do pay my salary.”
While Cadieux did not know Giza well before she was hired, she said “I’m happy she’s here.”

Chicopee and Springfield police are investigating two similar break ins minutes apart.

 

Springfield Police Lt. Henry Gagnon said two men smashed a window in the closed Citgo convenience store at 1119 Boston Road at 12:40 a.m., grabbed as many cartons of cigarettes and boxes of cigars as they could in a short period of time, then fled the store. By the time police arrived, the burglars had fled the area.

Twenty minutes later, the Basics Plus convenience store at 190 East St. in Chicopee was also broken into, Chicopee Police Sgt. Daniel Major said. Again, two men wearing hooded sweat shirts and blue jeans, and carrying plastic bags, smashed a window to gain access into the store and scooped up cartons of cigarettes and cigars, then fled.

Police are searching for a blue car they believe may be connected to the break ins

Major said detectives from Springfield viewed tapes from the East Street robbery.

The town clerk has announced that nomination papers for ten elected offices are now available. The annual election takes place on April 14.

 

WARE – The town clerk has announced that nomination papers for 10 elected offices are now available. The annual election takes place on April 14.

The offices for three-year terms are selectmen, two positions; town moderator; Board of Assessors; Board of Health; School Committee; cemetery commissioner; and park commissioner.

There is a Planning Board seat for a five-year term; and two Ware Housing Authority positions, one for two years and one for one year.

There is also a School Committee seat for two yeas to fill the position left vacant by former board chairman Chris Desjardin's resignation this month.

According to the town clerk, Feb. 24 is the last date to obtain nomination papers, and the submittal deadline is March 10 at 5 p.m.

The deadline to register to vote for the April election is March 25.

In addition to Flaherty, the contestants in the first-time event were Maryruth Kane, Nancy Granger, Mary Ellen Hammond and Maureen Sheridan. “They are all amazing,” said Chrzanowski.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mary L. Flaherty was crowned West Springfield’s first senior colleen by the St. Patrick’s Committee in a ceremony at the Knights of Columbus recently.

The new senior version of the traditional colleen pageant an offshoot of the contests for young women of Irish heritage, held in towns throughout Massachusetts in advance of the Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade where each colleen and her court ride on a float.

The regular competition in West Springfield was established 31 years ago, and Amie Chrzanowski, president of the St. Patrick’s Parade Committee and a coordinator of both West Springfield colleen contests, said it was high time older women got their due.

“We wanted to honor the women who do so much in town,” said Chrzanowski, adding that a senior version has been discussed for years.

In addition to Flaherty, the contestants in the first-time event were Maryruth Kane, Nancy Granger, Mary Ellen Hammond and Maureen Sheridan. “They are all amazing,” said Chrzanowski.

Flaherty, 74, has lived in West Springfield for more than 50 years. She majored in mathematics and education at Elms College in Chicopee and taught math in the Springfield Public Schools. She has volunteered for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, served as treasurer or the Soccer Association in town and works at the polls for the Precincts 7 and 8 on Election Day. She is also active at St. Thomas Church in West Springfield.

Flaherty has six children, 10 grandchildren, and was married to the late West Springfield Fire Chief John Flaherty. Her husband’s parents came from Ireland, and still retained their Irish brogue, she says. Flaherty, whose own maiden name is Lynch, also has Irish roots.

She described the new contest as a “low-key” affair, with the five contestants seated at a table before an audience of about 90 people. The three judges were all under age 30.

After the contestants were introduced with a reading of their accomplishments, each woman was judged for her poise as she answered a different question. Flaherty was asked for the most memorable election she had experienced at the polls. Her answer: The one with the casino question (West Springfield nixed gambling).

The women also had to field trivia questions about their community and all things Irish. Examples: “What is a leprechaun’s job?” (Shoemaker.) “Who was Town Hall named after?” (J. Edward Christian, a longtime selectman.)

Audience input was the third factor in the judging. “It was really a fun thing,” said Flaherty.

She said she was talking to one of her grandchildren on the phone the other day when the child asked, “Are you wearing your tiara?”

The Senior Colleen was crowned with a tiara and won a two-night stay for two at Irish Village, an Irish-themed lodging in South Yarmouth. She is also invited to participate in the West Springfield contingent of the nationally known Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade on March 23.

The finalists in the regular West Springfield Colleen Contest, who also participate in the Holyoke parade, were narrowed down to five in January. The Grand Colleen and her Court will wave from a float.

Flaherty said she will be waving from a car—and wearing “something warm!”

Police have identified the gunman in the Maryland mall shooting as 19-year-old Darion Marcus Aguilar of College Park, Md.

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) -- Police have identified the gunman in the Maryland mall shooting as a 19 year old from suburban Washington.

Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said Darion Marcus Aguilar of College Park, Md., arrived at the mall shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday armed with a Mossburg 12-gauge shotgun and used it to kill two people at a store on the upper level of the Mall of Columbia before killing himself.

McMahon said police are trying to determine whether Aguilar knew either of the victims.

Police identified the victims as 21-year-old Brianna Benlolo of College Park, Md., and 25-year-old Tyler Johnson of Ellicott City, Md. Both worked at a skateboard shop called Zumiez.

It took hours to identify the shooter since he was carrying ammunition and a backpack and police thought he may have had explosives, McMahon said. When the body was searched, police found crude homemade explosives in the backpack.

"When we originally found the shooter, he still had a lot of ammunition on his person," McMahon said at a news conference Sunday morning.

McMahon said he didn't know if Aguilar had a criminal record. No motive has been given for the shooting.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," McMahon said.

Very few details were released about Aguilar. He apparently lived with his mother in the suburb of College Park, where University of Maryland is located. McMahon didn't know if Aguilar was a student there.

According to McMahon, Aguilar purchased the shotgun last month at a shop in neighboring Montgomery County.

Aguilar took a taxi to the mall and roamed its halls before shots rang out within an hour. Police arrived at the scene just 2 minutes after a 911 call came into authorities at 11:15 a.m. When they arrived, they found three bodies at the Zumiez skateboard shop on the upper level.

Five others were injured in the midmorning shooting and its aftermath. All had been released from hospitals by Saturday evening. Only one person was injured by gunfire.

"This was a very scary incident," Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said. "There were a lot of people very close to where this happened."

Earlier, McMahon praised mall patrons for doing the right thing by sheltering in place and not stampeding toward the exits.

"We actually have drilled on this in the past and that experience has been very beneficial to us," McMahon said Saturday.

A news release Saturday night said police found and disabled "two crude devices that appeared to be an attempt at making explosives using fireworks." Police were searching the mall with dogs overnight, which is standard procedure, and the mall was to remain closed through Tuesday.

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 searched the mall and signaled it was safe to leave.

The shooting took place around 11:15 a.m. Saturday at a shop called Zumiez, which sells skateboards, clothing and accessories. The company's chief executive, Rick Brooks, said it was making counseling available for employees in the area.

McMahon said at a news conference that authorities had difficulty identifying the gunman because of concerns he was carrying explosives and were proceeding with an "abundance of caution." By late Saturday, police said they had tentatively identified the gunman but declined to release his name while they followed up on leads.

Police identified the victims as 21-year-old Brianna Benlolo of College Park, Md., and 25-year-old Tyler Johnson of Ellicott City, Md. Both worked at Zumiez.

Benlolo's grandfather, John Feins, said in a telephone interview from Florida that his granddaughter had a 2-year-old son and that the job at Zumiez was her first since she went back to work after her son's birth.

"She was all excited because she was the manager there," he said.

He said he had spoken with his daughter, Brianna's mother, earlier in the day, but didn't know who the gunman was or whether the person knew his granddaughter.

"It's senseless. It's totally, totally senseless," he said.

He described his daughter's family as a military family that had moved frequently and had been in Colorado before moving to Maryland about two years ago. He said his granddaughter was on good terms with her son's father, and they shared custody.

"I mean what can you say? You go to work and make a dollar and you got some idiot coming in and blowing people away," he said.

The mall is at the center of the town that's a suburb of both Baltimore and Washington, and it typically opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. It was busy with shoppers and employees when the shots rang out before noon.

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 hid in a Victoria's Secret store, as her anxious thoughts turned to her family.

People were directed out of the mall and into a parking lot, where some boarded a bus and others walked toward their cars. Police cars blocked off various entrances to the mall as SWAT officers and law enforcement vehicles gathered in the expansive parking lot. Some people were seen crying and hugging and at least one woman was carrying a baby. Detectives interviewed witnesses as they emerged from the mall.

Laura McKindles 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."

Every political season in Massachusetts, voters can count on getting a little politics with their bread and milk.

File photo | The Republican

BOSTON (AP) — Every political season in Massachusetts, voters can count on getting a little politics with their bread and milk.

For decades, supermarkets have been a favorite place for candidates to shake hands, collect signatures and offer a quick rundown of their views on the issues of the day. But not all supermarket chains are in favor of the tradition.

The state's highest court is being asked to decide whether a supermarket's decision to turn away a political candidate violated his constitutional rights. The Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to hear arguments Feb. 3.

Steven Glovsky is challenging a decision by Roche Bros. Supermarkets to reject his request to solicit signatures outside its store in Westwood while he was running for a seat on the Governor's Council in 2012.

"I first ran for office 20 years ago, and we've always been out in front of the supermarkets," Glovsky said. "I've tried malls, train stations and other places, but basically the only place that makes any practical sense is the supermarket. People who do grocery shopping are going to be people who are going to vote."

Glovsky sued Roche Bros. Supermarkets Inc., arguing that the decision to bar him from collecting signatures outside its store violated his rights under a section of the state constitution that guarantees the freedom and equality of elections. He also alleges that the store's interference with his constitutional rights violated the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act because he felt an inherent threat of arrest for trespassing.

Glovsky cites a 1983 decision by the Supreme Judicial Court that found that a political candidate had the right to solicit nomination signatures in the common areas of the Northshore Mall. Glovsky says that right extends to supermarkets, which he argues are public gathering places that have taken the place of traditional downtowns.

"Without the supermarket, there is no routine place to collect signatures in a manner that is reasonably convenient for both the customer — the voter — and the candidate or political activist," he said.

Roche Bros., a Wellesley-based chain that has 18 supermarkets across Massachusetts, argues that state law does not grant a general right to collect signatures on private property. The chain's lawyers argue that cases over the last three decades have found that supermarkets are not public forums for the purpose of collecting signatures.

"The overwhelming consensus among courts that have considered this issue is that though individuals may have a constitutional right to solicit or engage in political activity at a large mall, they do not have the same right at a private supermarket over the store owner's objections," attorneys representing the chain argue in a legal brief.

They also say that even if the court were to find that Glovsky has a right to solicit signatures in front of Roche Bros., he has not shown that the supermarket interfered with that right through threats, intimidation or coercion, a requirement under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act.

A Superior Court judge dismissed Glovsky's lawsuit, but he appealed. The SJC agreed to hear his appeal and asked for outside parties to submit legal briefs on whether candidates for public office have a state constitutional right to use supermarket property to solicit signatures for nomination papers.

The case is being closely watched by political and business groups.

"It's important for people to be able to talk, to get out there and converse about their views, to go out there and collect signatures for their nomination papers or ballot questions," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a citizens' lobbying group that didn't submit a legal brief.

"It's disappointing when I see businesses try to thwart those basic democratic opportunities," she said.

But seven business, real estate and supermarket industry groups support Roche Bros.' position. They argue that the SJR's 1983 ruling applied only to large shopping malls where the public is encouraged to shop, linger and gather in large numbers.

"There's a huge difference in the scope and magnitude of the property and the way the property is configured," said John Pagliaro, a staff attorney for the New England Legal Foundation, one of the groups siding with Roche Bros. and submitting a brief.

Glovsky said he is concerned that a court decision in favor of Roche Bros. could hurt local candidates who have come to rely on supermarkets as places to meet voters and gather signatures.

"If the supermarkets are told they don't have to do it, I think they'll all stop doing it," he said.

"We are facing a huge income gap that only continues to widen, where the workers at the top see large wage increases and the workers at the bottom are at a standstill. That needs to change," said Massachusetts Democratic Senate President Therese Murray.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Minimum-wage increase proposals are getting the maximum push from Democrats in statehouses in more than half of U.S. states, highlighting the politically potent income inequality issue this year.

Lawmakers in at least 30 states are sponsoring or are expected to introduce wage hike measures, according to a national review by The Associated Press. They hope to notch state-level victories as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats remain stymied in attempts to raise the federal minimum wage above $7.25 an hour. The president is expected to mention the minimum wage in his State of the Union address Tuesday.

Even in Republican-dominated capitals where the bills are longshots, the measures still give Democrats a chance to hammer home the popular theme of fair wages in what is an election year in most places.

"It's a no-brainer for any Democrat," said Neil Sroka, a strategist for progressive groups who is communications director at the Howard Dean-founded Democracy for America. "Congress is failing. They can take real action right in the states and have a demonstrable impact right here at home. For politics and policy, it's a winning strategy."

Minimum wage is a perennial issue that has taken on a higher profile amid the slowly recovering economy and growing public debate about income inequality. A Quinnipiac University poll this month found 71 percent of Americans in favor of raising the minimum wage — including more than half of Republicans polled.

Michael Sargeant, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, calls it an "organic issue that's bubbling up from the grassroots." But it's also being pressed by politicians and labor unions. Democrats challenging Republican governors have taken up the issue, and there are ballot initiatives in several states.

"We are facing a huge income gap that only continues to widen, where the workers at the top see large wage increases and the workers at the bottom are at a standstill. That needs to change," said Massachusetts Democratic Senate President Therese Murray.

Five states passed minimum wage measures last year, and advocates hope that number will grow as states from New Hampshire to Washington consider proposals. Many would push families above the federal poverty line, which is $15,730 for a family of two. In Iowa, a bill would hike the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10. A Rhode Island bill would raise it from $8 to $9. And a year after New York approved a multiyear minimum wage hike, Assembly Democrats introduced another bill for 2014 sponsored by Labor Committee Chairman Carl Heastie of New York City that would accelerate the increase.

Labor unions and other advocates point to workers like Andrew Lloyd, who cleans the cabins, bathrooms and cockpits of airplanes between flights at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City for $8 an hour. With a wife and 1-year-old, he relies on food stamps to help stock the refrigerator and his paychecks barely cover diapers and other needs of his daughter. He said he can't afford a new pair of socks for himself.

"It's not enough. What we're making is not enough to support," Lloyd said. "There's just no way they can justify what is going on is right."

Opponents, many of them Republicans, argue that the higher wages translate into fewer jobs and higher consumer costs. So wage hike bills in Republican-controlled legislatures, like Florida and South Carolina, are not expected to pass. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said the claim that working families need the boost to make ends meet makes him "cringe, because I know that statement is a lie."

"Even if we did raise the minimum wage, working families will still not be able to make ends meet on those jobs," Scott said. "We need good jobs that lead to good careers for our families, and that's what I am focused on."

Already, a Democrat-backed bill to increase Indiana's minimum wage by $1 was blocked by majority Republicans on a party-line vote Tuesday.

Win or lose, the legislation gives Democrats a potential weapon against Republican opponents. Eddie Vale, a Democratic strategist with close ties to labor unions, said Republicans who oppose a wage hike will face fierce criticism.

"There's a lot of people in this state that are making the minimum wage that are voting Republican right now," said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Tennessee, where they plan to introduce a minimum wage bill this year. "Maybe if they see that they don't have their best interests in their heart, they might change their minds."

There's hope that success will breed more success. Vale, a top adviser at the Democratic super PAC American Bridge, said the thinking behind the push is to get things started at the state level, where lawmakers come into more direct contact with their constituents. Once state legislatures start moving, it will lend momentum to a federal expansion.

In Minnesota, Rep. Ryan Winkler said as the debate spreads to more states, lawmakers might be more comfortable boosting the wage floor in his state.

"It's not peer pressure, but it's safety in numbers," Winkler said. "It makes people feel like this is a mainstream thing to do."

A judge had given John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth hospital until 5 p.m. Monday to comply with his ruling to remove Marlisa Munoz from life support.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The family of a brain-dead, pregnant Texas woman said Sunday afternoon that she has been removed from life support following a judge's ruling that a Fort Worth hospital was misapplying state law in the case.

A statement sent Sunday afternoon by lawyers for the husband of Marlise Munoz says she was disconnected from life support about 11:30 a.m.

It says her body was released to her husband, Erick Munoz.

The family "will now proceed with the somber task of laying Marlise Munoz's body to rest, and grieving over the great loss that has been suffered," the statement says.

Earlier Sunday, J.R. Labbe, a spokeswoman for John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, issued a statement saying the hospital "will follow the court order" issued Friday in the case of Marlise Munoz.

"From the onset, JPS has said its role was not to make nor contest law but to follow it," the statement says. "On Friday, a state district judge ordered the removal of life-sustaining treatment from Marlise Munoz. The hospital will follow the court order."

Judge R.H. Wallace had given the hospital until 5 p.m. Monday to comply with his ruling to remove Munoz from life support, which Erick Munoz says is what his wife would have wanted.

She was 14 weeks pregnant when her husband found her unconscious Nov. 26, possibly due to a blood clot.

Both the hospital and family agreed before Wallace's ruling that Marlise Munoz meets the criteria to be considered brain-dead — which means she is dead both medically and under Texas law — and that her fetus, at about 23 weeks, could not be born alive this early in pregnancy.

The case has raised questions about end-of-life care and whether a pregnant woman who is considered legally and medically dead should be kept on life support for the sake of a fetus. It also has garnered attention on both sides of the abortion debate, with anti-abortion groups arguing Munoz's fetus deserves a chance to be born.

Erick Munoz and his wife both worked as paramedics and were familiar with end-of-life issues. He insisted both were clear that they did not want to be kept alive by machines in this type of situation.

Munoz described in a signed affidavit Thursday what it was like to see his wife on life support: her glassy, "soulless" eyes; and the smell of her perfume replaced by what he knows to be the smell of death. He said he tried to hold her hand but can't.

"Her limbs have become so stiff and rigid due to her deteriorating condition that now, when I move her hands, her bones crack, and her legs are nothing more than dead weight," Munoz said.

But the hospital argued it was bound by Texas law that says life-sustaining treatment cannot be withdrawn from a pregnant patient, regardless of her end-of-life wishes.

Legal experts interviewed by The Associated Press have said the hospital was misreading the law and that the law doesn't have an absolute command to keep someone like Munoz on life support.

Larry Thompson, a state's attorney arguing on behalf of the hospital Friday, said the hospital was trying to protect the rights of the fetus as it believed Texas law instructed it to do.

"There is a life involved, and the life is the unborn child," Thompson said.

But on Sunday, the hospital backed down in the face of the judge's order.

"The past eight weeks have been difficult for the Munoz family, the caregivers and the entire Tarrant County community, which found itself involved in a sad situation," the hospital's statement says. "JPS Health Network has followed what we believed were the demands of a state statute."

Holyoke police chase suspects in a reported shooting incident, but lose them on I-91.

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 Police Lt. Larry Cournoyer said the report of shots fired near Mosher and West streets in the city's Flats area at approximately 1:20 a.m. drew police to the neighborhood. Cournoyer said while several residents called to report four shots being fired, no spent shell casings or evidence of firearms being shot was found. But, a dark colored Jeep Cherokee was seen leaving the area immediately after the reported gunshots.

Approximately 90 minutes later, a similar vehicle was sighted and Holyoke police tried to stop it, but the driver fled at a high rate of speed. The chase ran from Holyoke, across Route 391 to Exit 2 in Chicopee, then onto Main Street in Springfield past the Baystate Medical Center campus. At that point the Jeep entered I-91 northbound, where police lost the fleeing car. Cournoyer said the Jeep had a lengthy lead on the police chase car and by the time police got onto the interstate highway, the Cherokee was nowhere to be seen.

Police continue to search for the Jeep. Anyone with information is asked to contact Holyoke detectives at 322-6940.

The hearings before the House and Senate Ways & Means Committees will begin and end in Boston over the next six weeks.

BOSTON - Lawmakers have scheduled eight public hearings on Gov. Deval Patrick’s $36.4 billion fiscal 2015 budget proposal, a series of meetings that will span more than a month and begin and end in Boston.

The meetings will include a Feb. 25 hearing at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst to address education spending and local aid.

Members of the House and Senate Ways & Means committees will sit jointly for the hearings, which usually feature back and forth between lawmakers and senior Patrick administration officials over spending priorities.

The Executive Office of Administration and Finance and the state’s constitutional officers will be the first to testify, scheduled to appear during a Feb. 4 hearing in Gardner Auditorium, where the hearings are also scheduled to end on March 7 when members of the general public are invited to testify.

A Feb. 10 hearing is planned in Watertown on health and human services agency requests, including the Department of Children & Families and the Department of Transitional Assistance.

On Feb. 11, lawmakers will travel to Fitchburg to hear from leaders of the judiciary as well as district attorneys, sheriffs and state public safety officials.

After a two-week break, committee members on Feb. 25 meet in Amherst to discuss education and local aid accounts.

A Feb. 28 hearing is planned in Dedham to explore other health and human services agencies, including the Office of Medicaid, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health.

In Hanover, lawmakers will gather on March 3 to tackle housing and economic development, labor and workforce development, libraries and cultural council funding requests and issues.

A March 4 hearing in Everett will focus on energy and environmental affairs and transportation.

The Minutemen fell eight spots from last week's AP poll.

As expected, the University of Massachusetts basketball team fell in the updated Associated Press top 25 poll released Monday.

Despite a 38-point blowout win at home over Fordham Sunday, the Minutemen's loss earlier in the week at Richmond influenced voters enough to drop UMass eight spots from No. 13 in the AP poll to No. 21.

The Minutemen also fell in the USA Today coaches' poll, dropping seven spots to No. 19.

UMass received 353 points in the AP poll, down over 400 from last week. The team's highest vote came via Randy Rosetta of The Times-Picayune and Tony Krausz of The Journal Gazette (Fort Wanye, Ind.), both of whom voted the Minutemen 13th.

After appearing on every ballot for two straight weeks, six voters did not include the UMass on their poll.

Atlantic 10 Conference foe Saint Louis (464 points) stayed put at No. 19 in the poll. George Washington again received points (five).

Here are the complete AP results:

1. Arizona (63 first-place votes) | 20-0 record | 1,623 points
2. Syracuse (2) | 19-0 | 1,561
3. Florida | 17-2 | 1,436
4. Wichita State | 21-0 | 1,435
5. San Diego State | 18-1 | 1,337
6. Kansas | 15-4 | 1,272
7. Michigan State | 18-2 | 1,251
8. Oklahoma State | 16-3 | 1,067
9. Villanova | 17-2 | 1,063
10. Michigan | 15-4 | 1,050
11. Kentucky | 15-4 | 896
12. Louisville | 17-3 | 891
13. Cincinnati | 19-2 | 793
14. Wisconsin | 17-3 | 763
15. Iowa | 16-4 | 722
16. Iowa State | 15-3 | 684
17. Duke | 16-4 | 549
18. Pittsburgh | 18-2 | 517
19. Saint Louis | 18-2 | 464
20. Creighton | 17-3 | 445
21. Massachusetts | 17-2 | 353
22. Memphis | 15-4 | 262
23. Oklahoma | 16-4 | 203
24. Ohio State | 16-4 | 143
25. Texas | 16-4 | 142

Others receiving votes: Connecticut 67, Gonzaga 51, UCLA 39, Virginia 18, Minnesota 5, George Washington 5, Kansas State 5, Green Bay 5, Southern Methodist 3, Southern Miss 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Harvard 1, American University 1, New Mexico 1