Parking bans will be in effect on Thursday in Springfield, Holyoke and Greenfield, while city and town offices will be closed in several Western Massachusetts communities.

A nor'easter is expected to bring 8 inches or more of heavy wet snow to Western Massachusetts on Thursday, and the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for 7 a.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday that states snowfall rates could reach as high as 1 to 2 inches per hour.

Below, here is information about local parking bans and other weather-related postponements and closings.

See a list of school closings here »

We'll add information below as we receive it. Please email online@repub.com with information about schools, public meetings and parking bans; due to the sheer volume, we are unable to list closings for small businesses and day care sites.

The latest forecast from CBS 3 Springfield meteorologist Nick Morganelli »

Parking bans

Chicopee: A parking ban will go into effect at midnight Thursday, Feb. 13 and will expire at midnight on Friday, Feb. 14. No parking on the odd side of secondary streets.

East Longmeadow: The Town has issued a parking ban from 7:30 a.m. Thursday until further notice.

Greenfield: An emergency winter parking ban, prohibiting parking on both sides of all residential streets, is in effect from 9 am Thursday 2/13/14 through noon Friday 2/14/14. An emergency winter parking ban prohibits parking on both sides of the street.

Holyoke: A regular winter parking ban will take effect Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. until Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 a.m. No parking on the even numbered side of any city street, no parking in cul de sacs; residents are requested to park in driveways if they have one. Trash pick up will occur as scheduled on Thursday and Friday.

South Hadley: Park on the even side of street on even days, park on the odd side of street on odd days. No parking on the following streets: Bridge Street, Lamb Street, Bardwell Street, Main Street, Route 116 and Lower North Main Street.

Springfield: A citywide parking ban will go into effect on Thurssday, Feb. 13 at 9 a.m. until further notice. Parking will not be permitted on the Odd side of the street from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM and No Parking on the Even side from 7:00 PM until 7:00 AM. The ban will be enforced through ticketing and towing.

West Springfield: A parking ban will be in effect on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 8 a.m. to Friday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. No on-street parking allowed.

City and town hall closings

• Belchertown
• Springfield: City Hall will be closed Thursday, Feb. 13. All public safety and essential public employees will report. Businesses are asked to keep employees home if possible so the DPW can adequately clear roads.
• Westfield

Event cancellations and postponements

Amherst:

The Mullins Center event featuring Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, 
singer and social activist Bernice Johnson Reagon and poet and
 playwright Sonia Sanchez scheduled Thursday night at the University of Massachusetts has been postponed. No make-up date was announced.

Enfield, Conn.:

Educational Resources for Children has canceled the Tonight in Thompsonville Event scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 13. The March 20 event will be held as scheduled.

Holyoke:

The Holyoke Conservation Commission meetings scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014 at 6:15 p.m. has been canceled.

Springfield:

The Justin Moore concert scheduled for Thursday night at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield has been postponed. The concert has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 15. Tickets for Thursday night will be honored then. For further information, contact (413) 787-6610.

Transportation

Peter Ban Bus Lines has announced a number of service cancellations. View a full list here »

Forecasted weather will make an impact on flights as early as tomorrow morning with cancellations and delays.

— Bradley Intl Airport (@Bradley_Airport) February 12, 2014

Other closings

Belchertown:

Clapp Library will be closed.

Ludlow:

Hubbard Memorial Library will be closed

Springfield:

The Springfield City Library will be closed on Thursday, Feb. 13. All libraries will close and all programs will be cancelled.

Jury duty:

The Massachusetts Trial Court announced that jurors scheduled to appear for their first day of service on Thursday in the following counties have been cancelled and should not appear: Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester counties. For more information, call (800) 843-5879.

For the last 54 years, the small Worcester County town of Petersham has been home to the Petersham Curling Club. While the club boasts a dedicated membership, when the Winter Olympics roll around, suddenly curling is back in vogue.

So you’ve been watching the Olympics from Sochi, Russia, all week. You’re marveling at the fearlessness of the ski jumpers and the death-defying snowboarders who navigate the half-pipe. You’re captivated by the style and grace of the figure skaters. Then you hear the studio host say, “And now we’re heading to the curling venue,” and you think that even you could be on the Olympic curling team.

That’s right: we are once again being mesmerized by the sport of curling. We may not want to admit it, but at one time or another during our athletic lives, we’ve all played shuffleboard. Most of us have had to navigate a sheet of ice. And while most of us aren’t going to strap on a pair of skis and careen down an Olympic mountain, we all believe, deep down inside, we could somehow manage curling. And as it turns out, you actually can.

For the last 54 years, the small Worcester County town of Petersham has been home to the Petersham Curling Club. While the club boasts a dedicated membership, when the Winter Olympics roll around, suddenly curling is back in vogue.

“It’s definitely a busy time for us,” owner Cindy Hartwell said. “I think pretty much everything took off for us in 2010 when curling was given so much more television time on CNBC. Business people who were normally watching the ‘Mad Money Man’ Jim Cramer were exposed to curling.

“The sport is so different. You don’t need speed and brute strength to play it. People just became really interested in it, and we benefited from the exposure.”

Eric Sorrelle competes in a recent curling match at the Petersham Curling Club.Courtesy Petersham Curling Club 

The Historical Commission has been raising concerns about the Union House and other buildings described as historically significant within the casino boundaries.

SPRINGFIELD – The Historical Commission is urging MGM Resorts International to adjust its plans for an $800 million casino project in the South End to avoid tearing down the former Union House hotel building on Main Street.

Letters will be sent soon to MGM, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the Massachusetts Historical Commission, seeking to save the four-story building at 1132-1142 Main St., at the corner of Bliss Street, commission members said. The building was constructed in 1862, and is the fourth oldest building in the downtown, according to the commission.

“We feel it is an important enough building, and it looks like it could be incorporated in some way to their design without knocking it down,” Ralph Slate, commission chairman, said Wednesday.

The concerns have been raised with MGM in the past during multiple meetings, regarding the Union House and other historically significant properties in the casino boundaries, Slate said.

The Union House was a hotel until the 1930s and was also known as the Chandler Hotel, commission member Robert McCarroll said. MGM's plans would be for a new building there, roughly of similar size, containing retail, restaurant and residential uses, he said.

Commission members said they are pleased with many design features in MGM’s plans for its three-block development area that reflect a sensitivity to historic preservation concerns. The board, however, continues to seek further changes, members said.

“We are not looking to stop the casino,” Slate said. “We understand that it is an important project for the city.”

MGM is seeking a license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and is the only casino under consideration in Western Massachusetts. One license is permitted by state law.

Carole Brennan, MGM Springfield spokeswoman, said MGM has had extensive discussions with the Historical Commission, and has taken steps toward historic preservation, such as plans to save the front portion of the former historic state Armory and replicating its sloped roof design. That building, which was damaged by the June 1, 2011, tornado most recently recently housed the South End Community Center.

While MGM wishes to preserve every historic building, the size of the Union House “makes it impossible for us to both build a new project for Springfield’s future, while fully preserving this building’s past,” Brennan said. MGM will continue to meet with the commission on its concerns, she said.

MGM chose the South End because of its “unique history and architectural beauty, as well as the opportunity to help in an economic recovery.” she said.

Kevin Kennedy, the city’s chief development officer, said his sense is that “all parties are working together to come to a solution that works well but still keeps the project moving forward.”

With an $800 million development project, “we may have to lose some historic assets, but we have been impressed with MGM's willingness to incorporate some of those historic properties as well as design new structures that are appropriate for the neighborhood,” Kennedy said.

Commission members said they are pleased that MGM agreed early to preserve the former state Armory and plans to relocate the Spiritualist Church to a new location.

The commission has also asked MGM to preserve the front facades of the Turnverein Block at 79-83 State St., the State Building at 85-95 State St., and the Edisonia Building at 1156-1176 Main St. In addition, the commission hopes MGM can save the facade of the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center building, Slate said.

McCarroll, who is also a member of the Springfield Preservation Trust, said he supports MGM coming to Springfield, and appreciates many of the design features that preserve or partially preserve the historic architecture in the area.

“But it is important with so few really old buildings in the downtown, we just can’t be losing what we already have,” McCarroll said.

“They have done an exemplary job in trying to have the casino knitted into the city,” McCarroll said. “They have come up with a relatively good design for an urban casino. It still needs to be tweaked.”

Julie Corey was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday in the grizzly and bizarre 2009 murder of her former neighbor.

Editor's note: This article was updated at 6:27 p.m. with statements from the Worcester District Attorney's office and attorneys for the defense.

WORCESTER - Julie Corey was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday in the grizzly and bizarre 2009 murder of her former neighbor.

A Worcester Superior Court jury, split evenly between men and women, deliberated for a little over a full day before finding Corey guilty.

Corey, 39, sobbed loudly and held her face in her hands after the verdict was read. A few feet away, Fred Haynes, the father of victim Darlene Haynes, wept quietly.

Corey was accused of killing Darlene Haynes to steal her baby. Haynes was 23 and eight months pregnant at the time of the 2009 killing.

Prosecutors said Corey struck Haynes in the head repeatedly, strangled her with an electrical cord from a lamp, then sliced open Haynes' abdomen to take the baby.

Haynes was found dead four days later, wrapped in a comforter and stuffed into her bedroom closet.

Prosecutors said Corey was motivated by the loss of her own baby, stillborn when she was approximately 30 weeks pregnant. Assistant District Attorney Daniel Bennett said Corey needed a baby girl to maintain the ruse that she was still pregnant to keep her boyfriend from leaving and to stay eligible for state welfare checks.

Corey's defense did not dispute that she was found with the victim's baby. They argued Haynes' ex-boyfriend, Roberto "Tito" Rodriguez, was the killer. Police initially focused on Rodriguez, who had a history of domestic violence and Haynes had a restraining order against at the time of her death.

The jury heard 10 days of testimony before delivering the verdict. They found that Corey committed the murder herself, it was premeditated, done with unusual cruelty and done while committing another felony, kidnapping the fetus.

The fathers of both the victim and the defendant attended the trial throughout. Both declined to comment after the verdict was read.

In a press conference after the verdict, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early praised his prosecutors for success in "probably the most horrific case we've seen."

Lead prosecutor Daniel Bennett -- who Early called "the best prosecutor ...that I've met in my life" -- said he was nervous until the verdict was read.

"My blood pressure pounds through my head from the moment I finish my closing and I'm done listening to the judge's instructions," Bennett said. "The entire time, I am worried."

Early also praised Worcester Police Department for its work on the case, which took more than four years to get to trial. Corey's attorneys spent much of the case attacking the police investigation, suggesting they had failed to collect evidence or follow leads that would have proved Rodriguez was the killer.

"We did raise some salient and important points," co-defense attorney Michael Wilcox said. "They obviously resolved them against Miss Corey."

Co-defense attorney Louis P. Aloise said Corey had been encouraged earlier in the day, when the jury asked a question that seemed to indicate at least some members didn't believe Corey was the killer.

"I've been doing this too long to read anything into jury questions," he said.

The jury came back roughly an hour later with the guilty verdict.

"And now she's facing the prospect, at 39 years old, of spending the rest of her natural life in prison, without any possibility of parole," Aloise said. "That -- no matter what you think of the person, of any person -- is a sobering fact."

Corey did not testify during the trial. Wilcox said the decision to not take the stand was made by Corey, with the consultation of her attorneys.

Wilcox said another attorney would review all of the trial transcripts to determine if there were grounds for an appeal. He said it was too early to speculate what those grounds might be.

A 74-year-old Northbridge man has died from injuries he suffered after he was struck by a car driven by a 93-year-old man on Church Avenue on Wednesday morning, according to police.

A 74-year-old Northbridge man has died from injuries he suffered after he was struck by a car driven by a 93-year-old man on Church Avenue on Wednesday morning, according to police.

At 8:22 a.m., Northbrige police received a call reporting that a man walking along Church Avenue had been struck by a red Ford Taurus and that the driver of the red car did not stop, continuing to drive away.

The pedestrian, Russell Dusablon, 74, of Northbridge, was taken by medical helicopter to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center's University Campus in Worcester, where he died, according to police.

At 8:29 a.m., Northbridge Lt. Timothy Labrie and Officer Jarrod Woeller stopped the red Ford Taurus on Providence Road in the area of Burger King. Officers spoke with the male driver identified as Irving Belanger, 93, of Northbridge.

According to a report in the Worcester Telegram & Gazzette, a Northbridge sergeant spoke with Belanger, who said that he did not know that he had struck someone. Police have requested that Belanger's license be suspended immediately, according to the Telegram post.

The Northbridge Police Department, Massachusetts State Police Accident Reconstruction Team, and the Worcester county district attorney’s office are currently investigating the accident.

Supporters raised more than $10,000 which paid for the dog's surgery.

LUDLOW - The year-old black Pomeranian dog left for dead last week after being beaten by its owner went home Wednesday with one of the police officer who rescued him.

The dog had cranial surgery at South Shore VCA Hospital in Weymouth to alleviate bleeding on the brain.

Taking the dog home was Ludlow Police Detective Allison Metcalfe, one of four officers who located the severely injured Pomeranian mix in a wooded area Thursday.

The other officers who helped to rescue the year-old male dog came with her Wednesday to pick up the dog from VCA South Shore Animal Hospital.

“We’ve renamed the dog, Jameson,” Metcalfe said. “I think of it as a shift dog.”

Metcalfe said she hopes the dog will mix well with her two other dogs and cats.

The dog had a fractured skull and needed surgery. After bringing the dog to the Boston Road Animal Hospital, Metcalfe said that on Saturday she brought it to the animal hospital in Weymouth because it needed brain surgery.

The dog is still weak on one side. “When it takes a few steps, it still leans to one side,” she said.

“His eyes are bright, and he hears,” she added. She said the dog is expected to become stronger, but could need more physical therapy or rehabilitation. For now, she has been shown some exercises to do with the dog.

The dog’s former owner, Ricardo Costa, 40, of Ludlow, has been charged with attempting to kill, maim or poison an animal. Police said Costa told officers he hit the dog, which he called “Scrunchie,” with a three-foot long pair of pruning loppers because he was angry that the dog had defecated in its crate. He told officers he thought the dog was dead when it threw it in the woods.

Ludlow police found the dog alive shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, roughly two hours after they first began investigating the case after receiving a call from someone who had heard about the beating.

Metcalfe said the officers first thought the dog was dead. After one of the officers saw him turn his head, they rushed the dog to the Boston Road Animal Hospital.

Supporters through the website, petchance.org raised $10,258.28 which has paid for the entire cost of the dog’s surgery.

The property owner offered to find temporary accommodations for the family until the mess can be cleaned up.

 

SPRINGFIELD - A Ledyard Street duplex was declared uninhabitable Wednesday after more than 100 gallons of heating oil spilled in the cellar due to a mishap involving faulty fuel lines on the basement oil tank, a fire official said.

Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said a family of five was displaced from the home at 22 Ledyard St. The property was declared not habitable by the city Health Department because of the presence of oil fumes, he said.

The property owner offered to find temporary accommodations for the family until the mess can be cleaned up, Leger said.

A total of 107 gallons was spilled, he said.

The property recently had some work done on its oil tank, Leger said. The tank was either repaired or replaced, but the intake pipe from the outside of the house and the vent alarm apparently were not reconnected to the tank, he said.

The result was a major spill in the basement when the heating oil driver made a delivery on Wednesday, Leger said.

The Fire Department was initially called to the scene, but the Health Department and state Department of Environmental Protection were called in once the extent of the spill was known, Leger said.

The DEP is overseeing the cleanup. It has contracted with Western Massachusetts Environmental of West Springfield to remove the oil.

Ledyard Street is in the Liberty Heights neighborhood,and runs between Liberty and Armory streets.

Weak earnings from tobacco company Lorillard and household products maker Procter & Gamble helped end the stock market's longest winning streak of the year Wednesday.

By STEVE ROTHWELL
AP Markets Writer

NEW YORK — Weak earnings from tobacco company Lorillard and household products maker Procter & Gamble helped end the stock market's longest winning streak of the year Wednesday.

Lorillard dropped after the maker of Newport cigarettes said its profit fell as higher costs offset an increase in revenue from both traditional and electronic cigarettes. Procter & Gamble fell after the company lowered its sales and earnings forecasts.

The losses were relatively small. Before Wednesday's drop, stocks had gained for the previous four days, mitigating some of the market's weakness in January caused by signs of slowing growth in China and doubts about how strong the U.S. economy was.

"At this point, boring is good," said Kate Warne, an investment strategist at Edward Jones, an investment adviser. "People are a bit tired of the ups and downs we've seen and a relatively flat day would be a sign of confidence," Warne said.

Wednesday's numbers:

• The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell half a point, less than 0.1 percent, to close at 1,819.26.
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.83 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,963.94.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 10.24 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,201.29.

Makers of consumer staples drop the most

Makers of consumer staples, a category that includes everyday products like soap, diapers and cigarettes, fell the most of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500.

Lorillard had the biggest drop in the index. The stock lost $2.48, or 5 percent, to $47.47 after its earnings disappointed investors.

Procter & Gamble, the world's largest household products maker, fell $1.35, or 1.7 percent, to $77.49 after the company said it would take a hit because of declines in emerging market currencies against the dollar. Currencies in developing countries such as Turkey, South Africa and Argentina have slumped against the dollar this year.

Concerns about the outlook for emerging markets shook the stock market in January. Those losses continued as investors started to worry about the U.S. economy after some lackluster economics reports.

Stocks have rebounded in the past week. They jumped on Tuesday after Janet Yellen, the new head of the Federal Reserve, said she would continue the central bank's market-friendly, low-interest rate policies.

The S&P 500 was down almost 6 percent for the year as of Feb. 3, but has since pared that loss to 1.5 percent thanks to gains in health care and technology stocks. Both sectors have jumped 4.5 percent in the past week.

For the market to advance from here, investors will want to see further evidence that the economy is improving said, Cameron Hinds, a regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. While the economic reports have been weak, many economists believe that the unusually cold winter has been a factor.

"People are going to start looking for strength in the economy to get the market going," said Hinds.

TripAdvisor was among the day's winners. The online travel company gained $6.07, or 7.2 percent, to $90.27 after posting fourth-quarter results that led an RBC Capital Markets analyst to upgrade his rating on the stock. TripAdvisor said late Tuesday that its fourth-quarter revenue jumped and was stronger than analysts expected. Most of its revenue came from click-based advertising.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.76 percent from 2.73 percent on Tuesday.

In commodities trading, oil rose 43 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $100.37 a barrel. The price of gold rose $5.20, or 0.4 percent, to $1,295 an ounce.

Among other stocks making big moves:

— Amazon.com fell $12.54, or 3.5 percent, to $349.25 after analysts at UBS lowered their rating on the stock from "buy" to "neutral" on concern about revenue from the internet retailer's "Prime" customers. Amazon was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500.

— DaVita HealthCare Partners jumped $2.02, or 3.1 percent, to $66.35, a day after the kidney dialysis provider said it reached an agreement to resolve a government investigation and reported fourth-quarter income that soared 36 percent and topped analyst expectations.

The man wanted in connection with a Leicester armed home invasion in early January has been arrested. Timothy Lavin, 36, of Leicester as arrested earlier Wednesday in Millbury, according to police.

The man wanted in connection with a Leicester armed home invasion in early January has been arrested.

Timothy Lavin, 36, of Leicester was arrested earlier Wednesday in Millbury, according to a post Wednesday evening on the Leicester Police Department's Facebook page.

According to a newly approved arrest warrant, Lavin will be charged with:
• Home invasion;
• Larceny from a person 65+;
• Illegal possession of a firearm;
• Armed robbery while masked with a firearm;
• Larceny over $250;
• Possession of a class A controlled substance;
• Possession of a large capacity firearm;
• Improper storage of a large capacity firearm;
• Possession of a class B controlled substance;
• Possession with intent to distribute class D substance; and
• Possession with intent to distribute a class A substance.

Police are continuing to search for items taken from the house, including a Purple Heart medal that belonged to the deceased father of one of the homeowners.

"The Leicester Police would like to thank the Worcester Police, Millbury Police and the Massachusetts State Police Fugitive Unit and CAT Team for their assistance," a police official wrote on the Facebook page. "True Team Work!!"

On Jan. 5, Leicester Police responded to a private residence on a road off of Route 9 near the Worcester line for a report that two men had bound and gagged three residents and then stolen an undisclosed amount of money, jewelry and a Purple Heart medal that had once belonged to one of the homeowners' deceased father.

With support from the state police and recruits from the Worcester Police Department, police searched the area and collected evidence, but did not find the medal or the jewelry.

Leicester Police executed a search warrant at Lavin’s house in Leicester last week. During a search of the residence, police recovered jewelry that was taken during the home invasion, and a firearm which police investigators believe was the weapon used during the robbery. Police did not find the Purple Heart medal and its recovery remains a priority for the department as it continues to investigate the incident, Leicester Police Chief James Hurley said in a news release.

SPRINGFIELD - Thursday's nor'easter meant a flurry of activity for area florists hustling to get delivers out despite the weather during one of their busiest times of the year. "It's the most intense time for us every year, running neck and neck with Mother's Day week. But that is a whole week," said Brian Grisel, manager at Langone's Florist &...

SPRINGFIELD - Thursday's nor'easter meant a flurry of activity for area florists hustling to get delivers out despite the weather during one of their busiest times of the year.

"It's the most intense time for us every year, running neck and neck with Mother's Day week. But that is a whole week," said Brian Grisel, manager at Langone's Florist & Greenhousein the South End at 838 Main St. "Valentine's Day is a one-day thing."

Langone's tried to make as many deliveries as possible Thursday, unsure of whether the weather would allow them to get on the all-important Valentine's Day.

“We are loading our trucks and we are trying to get everything out on the road now,” “it’s better to be a day early than a day late,”

Even so, Grisel found himself Thursday fielding a call from a customer upset that his girlfriend would get her Valentine's Day arrangement a day early. It just wasn't going to be as special, he was told.

"But at least she'll get them," he said.

Like Langone's Golden Blossom Flowers and Gifts at 728 Grattan St., Chicopee, had to call ahead before making a delivery because many business and all the schools were closed. Golden Blossom owner Adelina Claudino said she had delivery people out at about 7 a.m. Thursday trying to beat the weather.

"The customers appreciate the service," she said. "It's hard for us to keep up with the weather."

The wholesale delivery for Claudino's store arrived overnight Wednesday into Thursday so she doesn't have to worry about running out of flowers.

Roses, the most popular Valentine's Day bouquet, are grown this time of year in Ecuador and Columbia, said Arthur Della Torre, owner and the buyer at wholesaler Springfield Florist Supply, 18 Morgan St. From there, they get flown into Miami and trucked up the East Coast. That means wholesalers had to plan ahead.

"We were one step ahead of the storm," Della Torre said. "Our product comes in early in the week, then we get it in water and ship it out to florist shops in Massachusetts, down into Connecticut and up into Vermont and New Hampshire. We went out early in the morning and made our last runs."

About a third of all gift-givers choose flowers for Valentine's Day, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation .

The survey said 54 percent of Americans will celebrate with their loved ones this year, compared with 60 percent in 2013. The average person plans to spend $133.91 on candy, cards, gifts, dinner and more. That is up up slightly from $130.97 in 2013. Total spending is expected to reach $17.3 billion, the retailers group said.

After flowers, candy is the second-most-popular gift. At Richardson's Candy Kitchen in Deerfield customers lined up early but the crowds thinned out as the snow started coming down faster, owner Kathie Williams said.

"Men, that's who we normally get at this time of year," she said. "Christmas is busier, but that's a whole season."

Men in particular tend to be last-minute Valentine's Day shoppers, she said.

"Tomorrow (Friday) should be crazy," Williams said. "That's what we are preparing for now. We're making sure we have all the candy ready."

Well-sponsored teams and rich governments pay top-end scientists and engineers to shape their skis, perfect their skates, tighten their suits, measure their gravitational pull.

By ANGELA CHARLTON

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Nineteen-year-old Slovakian luger Josef Petrulak competed in the Sochi Olympics in a 22-year-old sled. That's right: His sled is three years older than he is. His German rivals get a new sled every year, designed by BMW and calibrated to whoosh faster, smoother and smarter every season.

It's not hard to guess who won the doubles gold at the Winter Games this week.

Much as we'd like to, no one today can pretend that the Olympics — or any sport, for that matter — is just about exceptional physical ability anymore. It's about the marriage between exceptional humans and exceptional technology, a union in which technology is increasingly the breadwinner.

Every advance in the ever-accelerating juggernaut of sports technology threatens to widen the divide between Olympic haves and have-nots. Well-sponsored teams and rich governments pay top-end scientists and engineers to shape their skis, perfect their skates, tighten their suits, measure their gravitational pull. That brings home medals, which in turn brings home new attention, new sponsors, new money to invest in the next race.

"Absolutely every little thing you can do counts, when a sport measures to the 1000th of a second," says American luger Matt Mortensen. "The suit, the shoes, the helmet, good position, aerodynamics, everything."

The tech factor goes all the way down to the wax used by Olympic skiers — 500 different wax products to choose from, and special technicians to apply them.

The U.S. luge team, less well-funded than more popular sports like snowboarding and without the government funding that some other countries' teams enjoy, had been falling behind in luge before Dow Chemical recently stepped in with money, expertise and a willingness to redesign some key elements of their sleds. And the U.S. bobsled and skeleton teams have reaped benefits of a relationship with BMW North America in recent years.

Ferrari infuses money and research to Italy's speedskating, skiing, bobsled and luge teams. Britain's skeleton team gets money and advice on aerodynamics from McLaren, better known for its Formula One racing prowess. Lockheed Martin helped design the U.S. speedskaters' suits. BMW has special wind tunnels for athletes' training.

Don't press for too many details, though. Teams and companies keep them secret to maintain their edge.

To keep things from getting too skewed toward corporate connections, sports federations and Olympic officials try to level the field.

• The International Olympic Committee takes poorer athletes under its wing and supplies them with more cutting-edge training and equipment.

• The International Ski Federation banned parabolic skis that turn too sharply, to the indignation of U.S. skier Ted Ligety, world champion in super-combined and a leading contender in Friday's competition.

• A new ski jump monitoring system uses algorithms to take Mother Nature out of the equation, factoring in wind speed and direction for each jumper to create a fairer result. "So it's purely athletes' performance," said Walter Hofer, ski jumping competition director for the International Ski Federation.

• Watchmaker Omega makes sensors for bobsleds that measure speed every meter along the dizzyingly fast course, along with acceleration rate and gravitational force.

Sometimes technology works to everyone's advantage, or is meant to. Advances in camera abilities at these Olympics are allowing much closer, clearer and faster footage that athletes can later study to improve performance.

Underequipped underdogs still have a chance; Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt started out as an IOC aid recipient. When they do overcome the odds and rivals' superior technology, those victories are more special than ever.

But no Olympic athlete today is technology-free. Even if they shun banned substances, the medical treatment they receive can border on bionic.

It's hard to find anyone who wants to turn the clock back to the days of wooden skis and pre-Zamboni ice rinks, despite a perception that the Olympics were more about pure sport back when athletes carried their own equipment into the opening ceremony of the first Winter Games 90 years ago.

"Look at my son. He's 4 and he knows how to use the iPad better than I do. He creates folders, things I don't understand. Technology is life today," said Russian fan Alexander Bykovsky. He and his family marveled at watching ski jumpers and lugers in person, even if his camera wasn't fast enough to catch their action.

Skier Ligety argues against efforts to hold athletes back. Banning parabolic skis "was a wrong decision as far as the progression of the sport, and as far as safety goes," he told reporters this week.

Still, he had the time and money to prepare for competition on older-style skis with less of an hourglass shape. "I was able to work with my ski company really closely in order to develop a lot of prototypes to figure out how to make the best skis."

The Slovak team isn't bitter about its 22-year-old sled. Asked whether it's unfair that teams with newer sleds won Wednesday night's men's double, Petrulak said: "In principle, yes."

But skill and teamwork count, too. If the athletes aren't at their best, even top technology isn't enough. "Everything," he says, "is important."

AP sports writers Tim Reynolds, John Leicester and Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.

A Worcester-based firm has purchased the buildings that house Maxwell Silverman's Toolhouse restaurant among other office buildings.

WORCESTER — A Worcester-based firm has purchased three buildings, one of which houses Maxwell Silverman's Toolhouse restaurant.

The 75,992-square-foot buildings at 28, 49 and 51 Union St. were purchased by 1430 Commonwealth LLC, reports the Worcester Business Journal.

The buildings house Maxwell Silverman's restaurant, along with several offices and 150 parking spaces. The investment firm plans to keep the current tenants, according to the Business Journal.

The authority anticipates receiving a $3.7 million increase in funding for 2015, according to MacInness.

NORTHAMPTON – The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority is promising to create a new bus stop at the Northampton Survival Center to help the center’s clients transport their groceries. The details have yet to be worked out, however.

“We will have a stop at the Survival Center,” said PVTA Administrator Mary MacInness, “but we haven’t figured out how to do it.”

The Survival Center, the city and some other non-profits on Prospect Street have teamed up to lobby the PVTA for the new stop, arguing that the current bus system is too onerous for the sick and elderly who look to the center for sustenance.

“As you can well imagine, just walking a quarter-mile is not possible for them,” said Heidi Nortonsmith, the executive director of the Survival Center. Nortonsmith said the closest bus stops at this time are at the Stop & Shop on King Street and Cooley Dickinson Hospital. For many of the center’s clients, hauling bags of groceries that distance in not feasible.

“Some of them have terribly difficult lives,” she said. “These are people with really desperate difficulties getting food from us.”

The Hampshire Regional YMCA and Congregation B’nai Israel, both of which, like the Survival Center, are on Prospect Street, have thrown their support behind the plan for a new stop, as has the mayor’s office. Ideally, Nortonsmith would like the stop to be part of the number 44 bus route, which provides service to the Walter Salvo House, Florence Heights, Meadowbook Apartments and several elderly housing complexes. She said half the center’s 2,400 clients live in those locations.

Although she said the PVTA is committed to creating a stop at the Survival Center, MacInnes can’t yet say what route it will be on. Last year, she said, the authority hired Nelson Nygaard, a consulting firm, to review every route in its 24-community system and make recommendations to improve efficiency and access. Special attention, she said, is being given to communities such as Springfield and Holyoke, where many depend on public transportation. MacInnis said 84 percent of the PVTA’s ridership is dependent on public transportation.

The authority has already held several workshops, including one in Northampton in which Nortonsmith made her plea. The plan now is to schedule public hearings in various communities and gather comments for submission to the PVTA’s advisory board. MacInnes said there will likely be several public hearings in Springfield and Holyoke.

The authority anticipates receiving a $3.7 million increase in funding for 2015, according to MacInness. This is a major change from recent years in which the authority has been level funded. Last year, it got an additional $1.6 million, but it used to money to avoid an increase in fares to create additional routes on Sundays.

MacInness is hoping that the advisory board will announce change based on public comments in May or June.

"We are halfway through this storm. There is still the potential for outages," a WMECO official said.

For all the early projections that the combination of heavy snow and stiff winds would down tree limbs and power lines in Western Massachusetts, concerns of massive power outages have not so far materialized.

Through Wednesday afternoon, Western Massachusetts Electric Co. was reporting no outages, while the National Grid was reporting just a handful of customers out in Worcester.

Pricilla Ress, WMECO spokeswoman, said the region does not appear out of the woods yet, and the utility is not taking things lightly.

“We are halfway through this storm. There is still the potential for outages, but so far we have come through this storm with almost no outages,” she said. “Fifty percent of WMECo's lineworkers will be on duty overnight, and we've got tree crews throughout the region on standby," she said.

Snowfall totals across the state varied midway through the storm.

Mike Skurko, meteorologist for CBS 3 Springfield, the media partner for The Republican and MassLive.com, said the heavy snow has eased for now, but with temperatures rising, the region could see a mix of rain, sleet and freezing rain.

“This will lessen the snowfall accumulations for a little bit, but conditions still remain very hazardous. Winds will also become a new concern this evening, with gusts above 30 mph likely,” he said.

As of 2 p.m., Southwick was reporting 7 inches, while Amherst reported 5 inches and Heath in Franklin County was reporting 4 inches.

Elsewhere at the same time, Grafton in Worcester County was reporting 8 inches, Millis in Norfolk County was reporting 7.5 inches and Framingham in Middlesex County reported 7.8 inches.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is still warning motorists to be cautious if they have to go out on the road. More snow is expected, which will make difficult driving conditions only more difficult.

MEMA posted this statement on its Facebook page: “Winter storm ongoing and will continue overnight. Travel conditions this afternoon and tonight will be very difficult and slow going. If you must travel, give yourself plenty of time and take it slow.”

Speed on the Massachusetts Turnpike was lowered to 40 mph for most of the day, and the restriction remained in place going into the evening.

Tandem Trailers and trucks hauling propane were also not allowed on the pike from the New York line through exit 11.

State police reported Route 112 in Huntington had been reopened to traffic following a crash between a snowplow and two all-terrain vehicles.

State police were dealing with numerous accidents and spinouts on highways across the state, including a five-car pileup on I-91 in Holyoke at around 2 p.m. No serious injuries were reported in that crash, police said.

The nor'easter that pelted the Greater Boston region with heavy wet snow and cold rain for caused havoc with the rush hour commute. Watch video

BOSTON - The nor'easter that pelted the Greater Boston region with heavy wet snow and cold rain for caused havoc with the rush hour commute.

Traffic delays were reported across the area just before rush hour got underway on Thursday.

Logan Airport continues to see significant delays and cancellations as the storm churns through the evening.

Commuters using Amtrak and the MBTA should check ahead to see if there are any delays on the train line they are using.

Approximately 2.25 inches were reported earlier at Government Center.

National Weather Service forecast

Tonight: Rain, mainly before 5am. Low around 33. Windy, with a northeast wind 23 to 28 mph decreasing to 14 to 19 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Friday: A chance of rain and snow showers before 9am, then a slight chance of snow showers between 9am and 11am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Breezy, with a west wind 16 to 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Friday Night: A slight chance of snow after 4am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 25. West wind 6 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Saturday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Saturday Night: A chance of snow, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21. West wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Ski areas are expecting anywhere between 12 and 18 inches of snow.

The second snowstorm in a week may be an inconvenience for schools and businesses but it is a gift for skiers.

For the third time this winter, Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt., seems to be in the center of the storm and could see as much as 20 inches of snow, said David Meeker, communications manager.

“The timing couldn’t be better" with Monday being the Presidents Day holiday and many schools being closed next week for vacation, he said.

Friday tends to be a big travel day and the roads should be clear enough so people can reach the mountain. There have also been a number of last-minute bookings from those who are watching the snow and want to be skiing, Meeker said.

“Snow brings people and with a lot of snow out there and everyone getting it in their backyards as well we expect it to be a great week,” he said. “We are 100 percent open and we are pumped.”

Traditionally ski areas do the bulk of their business over Christmas week, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and Presidents Day weekend. That added to the fact many schools have the subsequent week off means the storm couldn’t be timed better, said Sarah Wojcik, director of public affairs for Vermont Ski Areas Association.

The previous week’s storm already increased hotel bookings and anything left over is being grabbed by people deciding to take a last-minute vacation, she said.

“I think we will see a boost in our skier days because of this storm,” she said.

The combination of the storm and school vacation should keep Blandford Ski Area busy all week, said David Fraser, the marketing director.

“It is really a perfectly-timed storm ... It is school vacation next week and getting a lot of snow puts skiing in people’s minds,” he said.

The area in the Hilltowns is extending its hours and will be open every day next week and Monday, Wednesday and Friday night. It has a number of activities planned including military day Saturday, he said.

Since many people are expected to ski or snowboard over the weekend and the next week Blandford is starting its early bird special earlier and will sell 2015 season membership passes for $250 for adults and less for children. The catch is the pass will be good for this year too, Fraser said.

Last week’s storm left most New England ski areas with about a foot of snow and some predictions are calling for anywhere between 12 and 18 inches. It is especially welcome for areas like Northfield Mountain Environmental and Recreational Center which does not make snow.

“We opened last week with the new snow and this puts frosting on top so we should be in good shape for Presidents weekend and beyond that,” said William Gabriel, manager of the cross-country ski center.

With the new snow, Gabriel said he expects to be busy on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from people who want to snowshoe as well as ski.

Magic Mountain in Londonderry, Vt., was covered with about 11 inches of snow last week, which allowed operators to open a lot of terrain. The new snow should allow remaining trails to open, said Geoff Hatheway, marketing director.

The mountain’s snowmaking system is limited so the snow is a blessing after a dry January which left the area with as few as five trails open some days, he said.

“We were very busy last weekend and this storm is hitting at a perfect time with Presidents Day and Valentine's Day and school vacation it is a perfect time for powder lovers,” Hatheway said.

Lindsey Schmid, director of marketing for the Berkshires Visitors Bureau, agreed the timing of the storm is perfect.

“I think what people always want is blue sky and snow on the ground and this is a great reminder to people that they should plan their trip to the Berkshires,” she said.

Along with skiing and snowboarding there are other outdoor activities options including snow tubing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, Schmid said.

The storm forced Berkshire East to close for night skiing Thursday mainly to keep people off the snowy roads, but owner Roy Schaefer said he expects slopes to be packed for day and night skiing from Friday through Monday.

“We already had great skiing but what it does is reinforces people’s lack of imagination that it is winter. When you get snow you see a jump of 15 to 20 percent of people,” he said.

The city had 30 private plowers joining city plows to clear side streets of snow.

HOLYOKE -- As of early Thursday night, officials with the Police, Fire, Public Works and Gas and Electric departments said the storm was free of reports of major problems.

"We're still doing 'snow tows,' but other than that, accidents are at a minimum. Most people are staying home," police Lt. David Fournier said.

The 30 private plowers the city hired to join city plow trucks began hitting side streets in late afternoon. City plows spent the early part of Thursday clearing main streets -- Beech, Maple, High, Northampton (Route 5) Hampden and Main street and Easthampton and Westfield roads -- which took longer than normal because of the abundant snow and maintenance problems on trucks like a flat tire and a belt problem, General Superintendent William D. Fuqua said.

"We're just trying to keep up with it," Fuqua said.

Fire Department Capt. Anthony Cerruti said firefighters had a low-key day.

"The guys are digging snow away from the (station)doors," Cerruti said.

Residents and business owners who experience power outages can call the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department at (413) 536-9300 or send an email on the department website hged.com, which department officials will be monitoring, Manager James M. Lavelle said.

Extra staff are on standby if problems occur, he said, such as if tree branches collapse under the weight of wet snow onto utility lines and kill power.

"It's starting to sleet and rain right now, as you know, so heavy branches are always a concern," Lavelle said.

The driver, Richard Smith, 36, of Worthington, was arrested at the scene and charged with 2 counts of operating under the influence, Massachusetts State Police said.

This is an update of a story that was posted at 1:22 p.m. Thursday

HUNTINGTON — The driver of a snowplow that struck two riders on all-terrain vehicles on Route 112 has been charged with driving while impaired, police said.

The driver, Richard Smith, 36, of Worthington, was arrested at the scene and charged with two counts of operating under the influence, said Lt. Daniel Richard of the Massachusetts State Police.

One of the counts was related to alcohol and the other to drugs, he said. State police at the scene arrested him after determining there was evidence that he had been both drinking and using drugs. The type of drug was not disclosed.

Police were called to the area of Route 112 near Gardner State Park just before 12:30 p.m. for a report of two ATV riders injured.

The riders, both 19-year-old men from Huntington, appeared to suffer leg injuries. They were taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment. Richard said their injuries were not considered life threatening.

Richard said the truck Smith was driving, a Ford pickup, was registered in his name.

February 13, 2014 - Springfield, Mass. - Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - Snow plow drivers continue to clear the main streets, like Fort Pleasant Ave. during the snow storm Thursday afternoon. 

The Democratic candidates for Massachusetts governor say the Health Connector site must be fixed, but are less critical than Republican Charlie Baker of the underlying health reform policy.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker on Thursday called it a “tragedy” that tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents are still in limbo over their health insurance coverage, and said the state should have sought a waiver from the Affordable Care Act from the federal government.

“At some point, the state should have been more aggressive in advocating for itself and people in Massachusetts,” Baker said in a phone interview with The Republican / MassLive.com. “We already had people covered. We didn’t need this.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Don Berwick, who helped implement the Affordable Care Act as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, countered that the problems with the state website do not indicate problems with the health care policy. Berwick told The Republican/MassLive.com, “I think it’s a terrible problem and a management failure, but I’m sure that we’re on track to fix it.”

“Remember this is the state that set the stage for health care as a human right,” Berwick said. “We have to keep our eyes on the horizon, that’s where we need to go, and don’t let this very important and difficult technical glitch stand in our way.”

The comments by the gubernatorial hopefuls came as state officials are taking newly aggressive steps to fix the website, but also acknowledging that it might take longer than anticipated to get people enrolled in new health plans.

Massachusetts’ Health Connector website has struggled with technical problems and been unable to enroll huge numbers of customers as the state tried to overhaul its site to conform with federal guidelines under the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, recently brought in new leadership and a new technical vendor to manage the project of fixing the Connector website.

In the meantime, the state extended 124,000 customers’ insurance policies under the Commonwealth Care program, which had been scheduled to end Dec. 31, through the end of March. It provided temporary insurance coverage through MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, to 30,000 people who applied for subsidized insurance for the first time but whose applications were unable to be processed. Another 25,000 people who applied since January will also get temporary insurance.

On Thursday, Connector officials said the federal government had granted Massachusetts a waiver to extend customers’ Commonwealth Care plans and their temporary health insurance policies through June 30, if the state cannot get people enrolled in permanent plans by then.

Health Connector officials also announced a new method for 32,000 individuals who buy unsubsidized insurance coverage through the Connector to pick plans and enroll by mail, without using the exchange. These individuals will not have their plans extended past March.

Baker, the former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, said he hopes the new steps solve the problem. But he suggested an easier approach would be to allow people to buy insurance directly from insurance carriers, rather than through the exchange.

And Baker said the problem is worse than state officials are making it out to be. While Connector officials say no one lost coverage because of the extensions and temporary plans, Baker said people have received letters that their coverage was cancelled, and although they picked new plans and paid for them, their enrollments have not been processed and the insurer has no record of them. “I talked to a number of people delaying procedures who don’t know if they have health insurance for themselves and family members,” Baker said. “They don’t know what they should do.” (Connector spokesman Jason Lefferts said anyone who needs health insurance and applied in time can call the Connector and will be retroactively covered.)

Baker pointed to a memo, first uncovered by the Boston Globe, indicating that Connector officials knew about the problems in July. “I wish mostly that people in government recognized that they had a big problem long before they chose to, and dealt with it,” Baker said. Baker said the state should have sought a waiver from the federal government as soon as it realized there were problems to let the state to keep its old insurance exchange, at least for a year.

Patrick and Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is also a Democratic candidate for governor, have said in the past that they have not ruled out suing the technology company CGI.

Coakley said Thursday that her position had not changed. She said her office is aware of the problems and is prepared to investigate the possibility of a lawsuit. “The first priority right now is to get it up and working, which is what the governor has focused on,” Coakley said. “I don’t rule out any course of action in the future.”’

Asked about the problems with the Connector website by The Republican / MassLive.com, the other Democrats running for governor also said the problems need to be fixed. But they were less critical of the administration and the underlying policy than Baker.

Former Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem said the state must “double down and keep moving forward,” even if that means giving people access to health insurance through paper filings or telephone filings, while fixing the online system. “There is no going back, there is no ‘let’s get out of this system,’” Kayyem said. “This is ‘fix it,’ and I am committed to making state government work.”

“As Democrats, we can’t only have good, strong, progressive ideals,” Kayyem added. “We have to make sure websites work. That is important because otherwise people lose confidence in the value itself.”

State treasurer Steve Grossman said the state should evaluate its policies for procurement of information technology. He noted that there were also recent problems with a new technology system purchased for the state’s unemployment insurance system. “One of the questions we have to ask is are we doing a good job in terms of procurement when it comes to these highly complicated technology solutions,” Grossman said.

“When we're spending hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars in the years ahead, we’ve got to find a way to do our procurement of our technology systems to deliver a quality of service that spends taxpayers' money wisely,” Grossman said. “If we’re not spending taxpayers’ money wisely, that’s a problem, and clearly there’s a huge frustration by citizens and by leaders that that’s not begin done currently.”

Biotech executive Joe Avellone said the state “can’t leave people in limbo that are not sure if they have coverage or not.”

“We need to accelerate our efforts to fix these interfaces,” Avellone said, as well as to contact people and sign them up for insurance. But Avellone said it did not reflect on the health care policy. “I really view it as a site problem, and that’s fixable,” he said.

The Senate passed a $196 million spending bill on Thursday after rejecting a proposal to freeze unemployment insurance rates paid by employers – a provision the House adopted when it passed its version of the bill on Wednesday.

By COLLEEN QUINN

BOSTON — The Senate passed a $196 million spending bill on Thursday after rejecting a proposal to freeze unemployment insurance rates paid by employers – a provision the House adopted when it passed its version of the bill on Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), who filed the amendment to freeze the unemployment insurance rates, said there is a belief in the Senate that UI reforms will be passed in the Legislature before an April deadline. The amendment was rejected without debate.

“My understanding, it was the belief of the Senate that our bill that was passed through the Senate will prevail, and make unnecessary a separate freeze. I think this may be well an issue that we have to revisit,” Tarr told the News Service after the session.

In the past few years, the Legislature has repeatedly frozen unemployment insurance rates paid by businesses. The Senate recently passed legislation making reforms to the system, and last year approved a separate bill raising the minimum wage. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has repeatedly said he would like to tie the two issues together, but a bill has yet to emerge for debate.

Tarr said since the House included the UI freeze in the spending bill it may be an issue that comes up in conference committee on the two bills (S 2010) and (H 3899).

“For today there wasn’t a lot of debate on it because I think everyone is engaging in the good faith and the hope that the larger bill will pass,” Tarr said. “But that’s not guaranteed.”

House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey said Wednesday the rate freeze needed to be done before bills went out to businesses. Dempsey said the House planned to take up legislation reforming unemployment insurance later this session.

"The reason we are adopting the freeze today is really one of management because the bills have to go out and if we do not take action today it becomes a very challenging situation," Dempsey said.

Senate Majority Leader Stan Rosenberg wouldn’t comment on the strategy or say if the Senate leadership was trying to pressure the House into action on more comprehensive unemployment insurance reforms.

“There’s time to get it to the finish line,” Rosenberg said.

The Senate added nearly $40 million to the spending bill that will give cities and towns money to pay for snow and ice removal, fund sheriff departments operations, and steers millions of dollars to address a homelessness problem across the state that has not subsided.

In opening remarks, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer (D-Barre) pointed out that the state's tax collection estimate for this fiscal year was raised by $400 million and collections since then have exceeded benchmarks by $83 million.

Also included in the spending bill was a requirement that the Department of Children and Families submit a “written finding” that a child will not be in harm’s way when placing them with someone who has a prior criminal record. Tarr, who sponsored the amendment, said there are currently 552 homes where a child is being cared for by a guardian with a prior criminal record. A criminal record does not automatically preclude someone from becoming a guardian.

“Reportedly, the majority of these placements are with relatives. That offers some comfort. But we know often times when children are victimized it is by someone they know,” Tarr said during debate.

Tarr said his amendment does not forbid children from being placed in a home with someone with a record. “What it says is the agency can place a child after submitting a written finding that says there is no threat,” he said.

Sen. Michael Barrett, a Democrat from Lexington, argued against making any changes to DCF policies until the outside agency brought in by the Patrick administration, the Child Welfare League of America, reports its findings and recommendations on fixing the troubled agency.

“It would be nice if we could hold off, even compelling amendments like this, until the outside agency does its work. I think they are going to give us what we hope is a comprehensive set of recommendations.”

The amendment was approved 32 to 5.

Senators rejected an amendment that would have required $20 million in unanticipated revenue from the state Lottery in fiscal year 2014 to be earmarked for local aid to cities and towns.

Sen. Robert Hedlund, who filed the amendment, said when the Lottery was created profits were suppose to returned to cities and towns. Hedlund argued the unexpected revenue in fiscal year 2014 should be turned over to cities and towns.

Sen. Marc Pacheco, a Democrat from Taunton, argued the money would be allocated when the fiscal year 2015 budget is debated, and accused Hedlund of being “cute” with the proposal that he said related to the fall elections. The amendment was rejected 6 to 31.

Matt Murphy contributed reporting