Prosecutor: "Just like it's the job of a baker to bake bread, just like it's the job of a barber to cut hair, it's the job of a mobster to commit crimes. That was Emilio Fusco's profession."

File photo | The RepublicanEmilio Fusco

NEW YORK — Lawyers in the mob murder trial of accused murderer Emilio Fusco wrapped up closing statements in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Monday afternoon, with prosecutors arguing Fusco was a shrewd Mafia killer, and Fusco's defense lawyer countering that the prosecution relied squarely on a government witness and habitual liar looking to deflect his own life sentence.

Fusco, 43, of Longmeadow, Mass., is standing trial for the 2003 murders of Springfield, Mass., organized crime boss Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno and police informant Gary D. Westerman, both of whom threatened the power structure of the powerful New York-based Genovese crime family, according to prosecutors. Fusco also is accused of racketeering acts including extortion and narcotics trafficking. He has denied involvement in any of the alleged schemes.

In short, cooperating witness Anthony J. Arillotta testified under a plea deal that Fusco spearheaded a movement to take Bruno out because he learned through a court document that Bruno had confirmed Fusco was a "made guy" to an FBI agent in 2002; and that Fusco was among four men who helped shoot, bludgeon and bury Westerman in a show of solidarity to the "Springfield Crew" of the Genovese family.

Arillotta also told jurors over four days of testimony that Fusco provided a .45-caliber gun to Bruno shooter Frankie Roche, and acted as the spotter to alert Roche as to when Bruno would be at one of his frequent haunts, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society social club in Springfield's South End neighborhood. Bruno was gunned down there after his regular Sunday night card game on Nov. 23, 2003.

During his summation, Lind argued to jurors that the government had no DNA evidence, phone records, fingerprints or other physical evidence tying his client to either murder — they just had Arillotta, who has already pleaded guilty to both murders and other crimes.

"The question is not whom did (Arillotta) lie to? It's whom didn't he lie to?" Lind said during a 90-minute closing.

Previously, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas McQuaid told the panel that Fusco became a rising star in the Springfield Genovese faction after he emigrated there from Italy in the 1990s.

"Just like it's the job of a baker to bake bread, just like it's the job of a barber to cut hair, it's the job of a mobster to commit crimes. That was Emilio Fusco's profession," McQuaid said.

Jurors are expected to begin their deliberations after eight days of testimony over two weeks starting Tuesday morning. Fusco faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

Mayor Domenic Sarno, in a hallway verbal exchange with the demonstrators, said Springfield "has done more than its fair share" in providing subsidized and low income housing.

Updates a story posted Monday at 11:34 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD — A small group of activists ended a five-hour sit-in at City Hall on Monday outside the office of Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, after urging him to do more to assist the homeless and poor.

The demonstration began at 10 a.m., initially numbering about 20 people including some armed with lawn chairs, a table, and food. It ended at 3 p.m., when the final 10 protesters packed their belongings and left.

Mary-Elizabeth Bewsee, the economic justice organizer of Arise for Social Justice, who helped organize the protest, said the group was lobbying for Sarno to create a “housing task force,” and to do more for the homeless and those at great risk of homelessness.

“We lost so much affordable housing in the tornado,” Bewsee said.

She and other activists said the post-tornado “Rebuild Springfield” effort does not call for the loss of affordable housing from the tornado to be replaced with new affordable housing.

Police were stationed both inside and outside City Hall when the demonstration began, but most left after the first 30 minutes. While there was chanting, and the participants were asked by a mayoral staffer to lower their voices, police reported no problems.

Sarno repeatedly declined to meet with the group, but spoke briefly with them in the hall as he headed to a morning meeting outside City Hall.

Sarno, in the quick exchange of comments with group members, said Springfield “has done more than its fair share” in providing subsidized and low-income housing. In addition, he said his administration has been “very compassionate” in dealing with the homeless..

“Springfield has been at the forefront of the Housing First program,” Sarno said.

Several protesters sharply disagreed, and said the city needs to do more.

One demonstrator, Morgan Benway, describing himself as being homeless for about a month, said the mayor rather than convert abandoned, vacant housing into low income housing, would “rather board them up and knock them down.”

Sarno, in declining to meet with the protesters, said he responded to their concerns in a recent three-page letter from the city’s director of Housing, Geraldine McCafferty. The letter, sent to representatives of Arise for Social Justice, an anti-poverty activist group, listed neighborhood revitalization efforts, tornado rebuilding efforts, “rapid rehousing” and ‘permanent supportive housing” efforts, and a receivership initiative, among other programs.

The protesters sat on a bench outside the mayor’s office and in lawn chairs placed in the hallway.

Michaelann Bewsee, executive director of Arise and Mary-Elizabeth’s sister, said that 40 percent of people in Springfield earn less than $25,000 a year.

“We don’t have enough housing to meet those people’s needs,” Michaelann Bewsee said.

The task force sought by the activists should be staffed with city employees and at least half the people on the task force should be low and moderate income people, she said.

“If we can’t find a special way to have our voices be heard, we will be ignored just like we always are ignored in crisis,” Bewsee said. “We have a crisis. We have to do something about it.

The Rebuild Springfield master plan discusses the creation of housing that will attract young, upwardly mobile professionals.

“I’m not even sure those people even exist anymore, seeing most graduates from college can’t even get jobs in their field,” Bewsee said. “we’ve got to pay attention to the people who already live here and make sure that our needs are met.”

If the mayor does not create a housing task force, Arise and others will continue with other initiatives including creation of the group Springfield Union of Neighbors and Neighborhoods, a citywide tenant association, Bewsee said.

Miller cited his job as chief of staff to State Sen. Michael Knapik, his family and his plans to puruse a master's degree.

WESTFIELD — Citing family, job and school responsibilities, Peter J. Miller Jr. resigned his post as Ward 3 city councilor Monday.

“It just became a little too much,” Miller said of his decision. “It is best to do it quick and the timing is right. This will give the City Council time to find a replacement in time for the fiscal 2013 municipal budget debates.”

Peter Miller

An eight-year Ward 3 councilor, Miller has enrolled at Westfield State University in pursuit of a master's degree in public administration. He holds a bachelor's degree in the field from Holy Cross, graduating in 1998.

Colleagues contacted Monday said Miller “epitomizes” what a Ward councilor is and he always put Ward 3 first in his decision making process.

“Peter is the consummate ward city councilor,” said Mayor Daniel M. Knapik. “He never lost sight of who he represented and he was a strong advocate for improvement to the downtown.”

Ward 2 Councilor James E. Brown Jr. said “This is a very big loss to the council and me personally. I relied on P.J. because he is the other downtown councilor,” Brown said, referring to the downtown being represented on the council by him and Miller.

Miller, 36, is married, the father of two small boys and serves as chief of staff to state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield.

“I’ll be taking courses on a part-time basis to complete my degree over the next two years. In order to make that happen, something unfortunately had to give. In this case, in order to balance my first job, my family, my studies, I think resigning from the council is the only responsible action,” Miller wrote in his letter of resignation.

Council President Christopher Keefe said Miller possessed “all the skills to be on the best committees. He is the pre-eminent statesman and he represented Ward 3 extremely well.”

Keefe said he will now review the process for selecting a replacement. That will require a meeting of the full City Council, which will vote on the successor.

That must happen within 15 days of the council’s receipt of Miller’s official resignation. City Clerk Karen M. Fanion said that notification will be received at Thursday’s regular City Council meeting.

Miller was first elected in 2003, and he was unopposed in his last three bids for re-election.

“I have many feelings about this,” said Ward 4 City Councilor Mary L. O’Connell. “I am happy for him and respect him, but will miss him a lot. He was a morally right guy,” she said.

Veteran Councilor Brian P. Sullivan said “I am losing a good friend. P.J. epitomizes what a ward councilor should be.”

Councilor Brent B. Bean II said he too is losing a “close friend. I understand his position concerning balancing job, small children and everything else. I am not thrilled about his decision but everyone must make tough decisions from time to time.”

In the U.S., a drop in an index of Midwestern manufacturing and a slowdown in consumer spending last month added to worries that the economy is losing steam.

By MATTHEW CRAFT | AP Business Writer

Associated PressTwo men are the only customers of an almost empty terrace in the Plaza Mayor, in Madrid, Monday, April 30, 2012. Spain's National Statistics Institute announced on Monday that Spain is officially back in recession as the country's economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous three months. This is Spain's second recession in three years. Spain's economic problems have become the focus of Europe's debt crisis as investors worry over Spain's ability to push through austerity measures and reforms at a time of recession and an unemployment rate hitting 24 per cent — or 50 per cent for those aged under 25. Late last week, S&P downgraded the country's credit rating by two notches from A to BBB+, citing a worsening budget deficit, worries over the banking system, and poor economic prospects.(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

NEW YORK — News that Spain's economy entered another recession renewed worries about the fragility of Europe's finances Monday and nudged stocks lower. The market ended its first losing month this year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 5.45 points to close at 1,397.91. For April, it was down 0.8 percent, its first month in the red since November.

The Spanish government said that the country's economy shrank in the first three months of the year, the second straight quarter of contraction.

The worry is that Spain's heft could make it difficult to rescue. Its economy is roughly twice the size of the three other countries that have tapped the European Union for bailout loans added together — Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

In the U.S., a drop in an index of Midwestern manufacturing and a slowdown in consumer spending last month added to worries that the economy is losing steam.

The Institute for Supply Management said its Chicago business barometer fell in April to the lowest level in more than two years. Coming after two other weak readings for the regions around New York and Philadelphia, the market reaction to the Chicago report could have been much worse, said Clark Yingst, chief market analyst at the brokerage Joseph Gunnar.

"It's very bad news in my opinion," Yingst said. "I'd have thought the market would come under more pressure than it has."

Weaker earnings reports from health insurer Humana and the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, also weighed on stock indexes.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 14.68 points to close at 13,213.63, narrowly avoiding its first monthly loss since September. The Nasdaq composite fell 22.84 points to 3,046.36. It posted a monthly loss of 1.5 percent.

Growing concerns about Spain knocked European markets lower on Monday. Spain's main stock index, the IBEX 35, sank 1.9 percent. France's CAC-40 lost 1.6 percent.

The dollar and U.S. Treasury prices edged up as investors parked money in low-risk assets.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's government debt to just three notches above junk Friday. On Monday S&P lowered its rating for 11 Spanish banks, which are loaded with bad debt from a collapsed housing market.

Among stocks making big moves:

• Barnes & Noble jumped 52 percent on news that it will team up with Microsoft to house the digital and college businesses of the bookseller and create a Nook application for Windows 8. The companies said they may separate those businesses entirely. That could mean a stock offering, sale, or some other kind of deal. Microsoft's stock was flat.

• insurer Humana fell 8 percent to after reporting a large drop in first-quarter profit as the company paid out more in claims. The results fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

• NYSE Euronext, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, lost 5 percent after reporting that its income plunged in the first three months of the year. Revenues from its trading business were weak and the company had to abandon a merger with the European exchange operator Deutsche Boerse.

• Sunoco jumped 20 percent, the most of any stock in the S&P 500. The fuel-refining company agreed to be bought by Energy Transfer Partners, an operator of natural gas pipelines, for $5.3 billion.

Organizers said jazz aficionados can look forward to a change of venue with more conveniences and a family friendly environment.

File photo | The Republican07.05.2009 | SPRINGFIELD — Saxophonist Charles Langford of Springfield, backed up by other musicians including bassist Tim Ingles of Boston at right, plays at the Hoop City Jazz Festival.

Updates a story posted Monday at 2:12 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD — The Hampden Bank Hoop City Jazz & Arts Festival will not happen this year but the people behind the festival plan to come back bigger and better in 2012 and beyond.

John G. Osborn, president and artistic director of the 12-year-old free festival, said Monday that he’s recovering from an illness and didn’t think he’d have the ability to manage this year’s festival.

“It’s got to be done right and unfortunately I’m not in a situation where I can make sure it is done right,” Osborn said. “People have come to expect a certain level of quality, and I’m not certain I can deliver.”

A news release issued Monday by the organizing committee and by sponsor Hampden Bank said jazz aficionados can look forward to a change of venue with more conveniences and a family-friendly environment.

Osborn declined to discuss details of the new location, saying plans are not final yet. The festival will stay in Springfield, he said.

This year would have been the festival’s 12th year. The event began in the city’s Mason Square neighborhood. For the last two years the festival has been staged primarily in downtown Springfield in Court Square. It has drawn 12,000 to 14,000 on each of its two days with headline performers like George Benson in 2011, Terrance Blanchard in 2010 and La Timbistica: The Berklee Latin Jazz All-Stars in 2009.

“These are national acts for sure,” Osborn said.

Past venues include Springfield Technical Community College and Riverfront Park on the Connecticut River.

The project called for the installation to be built on poles approximately 7½ feet above the ground, so the field underneath could continue to be used for agricultural purposes.

File photo | The RepublicanNortheast Treators, Inc.'s new array of 25,000 square feet of solar panels in Belchertown. All of the new equipment is made in the United States.

BELCHERTOWN — A plan to install a solar array at one of the New England Small Farm Institute’s fields has been abandoned – for now.

Diversified Construction Hyperion and the New England Small Farm Institute recently sent a letter to the Planning Board requesting that their application for site plan approval for the proposed agricultural solar project at George Hannum and Hamilton streets be withdrawn, as it was unable to complete a 3-D, computer-generated pictorial view of the project in time for the last week’s hearing.

The letter also stated that with a new Department of Agricultural Resources commissioner, they have not been able to continue discussions with the department and finalize the integration of the solar and agricultural components.

“We hope to continue developing our project plan and completing all the requirements established by the town and the commonwealth,” stated a letter written to Planning Board Chairman George Synan from David Marley, Judith Gillan and Jonathan Spiegel.

Marley is the president and chief executive officer of Diversified Construction Services; Gillan is the executive director of the New England Small Farm Institute.

Spiegel, a member of the board of directors for the New England Small Farm Institute, said the group has had several hearing continuations with the Planning Board, and rather asking for another one, they opted to withdraw at this time. He hopes they can bring it forward again within six to eight weeks.

The project called for the installation to be built on poles approximately 7½ feet above the ground, so the field underneath could continue to be used for agricultural purposes, such as raising animals, he said.

He said the project was reduced as a result of neighbor and board concerns. The last proposal said it would generate 275 kilowatts of electricity, down from the original 400 kilowatts.

Spiegel said they were looking into having electricity that would be generated by the array used by nearby farmers. A 275 kilowatt solar installation could power up to 30 homes, Spiegel said.

Spiegel noted that this was the first solar project to come before the Planning Board for review. The field where the array was going to be built is used as a hay field, and this project would increase its agricultural productivity, he said. The project also would have provided tax revenue to the town, he said.

Two families who live next to the field raised the majority of concerns about the project, which would have been built on 3 acres. Glare and the effect on the local salamander population were some concerns that were voiced.

The New England Small Farm Institute operates the land on behalf of the state Department of Agricultural Resources.

Funding for both accounts will be capped at $40,000 for the Fire Department and $100,000 for the vocational school.

WESTFIELD – The City Council will consider creation of two revolving accounts that will aid in equipment and training at Westfield Vocational-Technical High School and the Fire Department.

The accounts will be capped at a maximum of $40,000 for the Fire Department and $100,000 at the vocational school. They will be funded through fees assessed for fire related business and residence inspections and tuition paid by non-Westfield students attending the vocational school.

James E. Brown Jr.

The full City Council will consider approval of the accounts at its May 3 meeting.

They have received endorsement by the City Council’s Legislative and Ordinance Committee this week following recommendation from Mayor Daniel M. Knapik.

Mary Regan

Approval will automatically transfer fees and tuition currently deposited in the city’s general fund to the revolving accounts, Knapik said. “This transaction may actually save the city in the long run because of the benefits that will result,” Knapik said.

The city currently receives some $800,000 annually in vocational training tuition and the Fire Department has yet to determine the full amount received annually from new inspection and other fees being generated.

Daniel Knapik

“Every shop, or program at the vocational school needs something and the establishment of this revolving account is aimed at avoiding any major expense in the future,” the mayor said.

Ward 2 City Councilor James E. Brown Jr. and at-Large Councilor James R. Adams agreed.

“Vocational education is the gem of our city and this is something that will directly impact students there. The funds will go directly to equipment needs, allowing students to training on equipment that they will use in their future careers,” said Brown, chairman of Legislative and Ordinance Committee.

Adams said the $100,000 is a fair amount to allocate directly to the school. “The school generates $800,000 annually and $100,000 is not too much to ask for.”

The tuition account is similar to the district’s School Choice program but funds received from that program are deposited in a School Department account used to enhance programs and services to students.

James Laverty

Vocational director James M. Laverty said the account will be used for equipment needs, especially safety equipment and student training.

Fire Chief Mary R. Regan said the fire revolving account will be used to make purchases of equipment needed in its alarm inspections and repairs made at business and residence locations.

“These services involve items owned by businesses and other so they will be billed and payment deposited in the revolving account. Any amounts received above the $40,000 cap will be deposited in the city’s general fund,” the chief said.

Refurbishing the track and tennis courts at the high school also were suggested during a public hearing on possible uses for the city's CPA money.

Republican file photo

AGAWAM — Establishing a central place where city archives could be stored was one of several ideas floated during the Community Preservation Committee’s annual public hearing last week.

The state Community Preservation Act requires such a hearing every year to give residents an opportunity to voice their ideas about how their community's community preservation funds should be spent.

About 15 people attended the hour-long hearing, at the Agawam Public Library, according to Jennifer P. Bonfiglio, the city’s community preservation administrator. Other ideas suggested by residents were refurbishing the rundown track and tennis courts at Agawam High School, she said.

Teresa M. Kozloski, wife of the committee’s chairman, Henry A. Kozloski, suggested establishing an archive for historical city papers and documents. An archive could be used to store such documents as annual town reports, high school yearbooks, letters, documents and School Committee minutes, Kozloski said.

Currently, such materials are kept in various locations around the city such as the Fire House Museum and the Agawam Public Library, she said.

Kozloski suggested that the old public library on Main Street, the Agawam Public Library or the Senior Center might be good places to establish an archive.

“I’m not saying you are going to have a Taj Mahal to begin with, but you have to start sometime,” Kozlowski said. “I wish a group would become enthused over it.”

The city has assessed a 1 percent property tax surcharge since 2003, which comes out to $28.60 on the average homeowner’s tax bill. It currently has $3.6 million in community preservation funds that may be used only for projects involving open space, historical preservation, affordable housing and recreation.

So far, city has collected more than $3 million in surcharges and received more than $2 million in matching funds from the state.

The Community Preservation Committee welcomes new project proposals. Anyone wishing to make suggestions may submit them to the committee using the form and guidelines located on the committee’s website, www.AgawamCPA.com, or by picking them up at the City Hall Planning Office.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal says government investments in Western Massachusetts are creating long-term opportunities for economic development.

BOSTON — State economic development officials pitched the business potential of Western Massachusetts to a crowd of technology leaders in Boston on Monday, saying that a massive expansion of broadband and a new high-performance computing center in Holyoke could be catalysts for creating new jobs in the region.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, an independent state agency, hosted a conference to showcase the new 1,100-mile fiber optic cable for high-speed Internet, scheduled for completion in 14 months in Western Massachusetts; a $168 million high-performance computing center being built in Holyoke and $110 million state data center in Springfield.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, a Springfield Democrat, said the point of the conference was to sell Western Massachusetts, which has lower costs, including labor, housing and office rental, than the eastern part of the state.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal

Neal asked attendees to consider the billions of tax dollars spent in Boston, including the $15 billion new central artery, and the extraordinary effects those public investments are having on the economy in the Boston area.

Neal said it is "terribly important" to extend those same long-term job opportunities to Western Massachusetts, which usually lags the rest of the state in an economic recovery. Neal said, for example, the private sector would not build high-speed Internet in rural areas of Western Massachusetts because it would produce little profit.

"Government filled the void," said Neal, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. "That's precisely what government is supposed to do."

Gregory Bialecki, state secretary of housing and economic development, said the administration is working to include Western Massachusetts in the innovation economy, but officials doesn't want the region to be "a cookie cutter" of the eastern part of the state.

If the economy in Western Massachusetts improves, it helps the whole state, Bialecki said.

Bialecki moderated a panel with Patrick Larkin, director of the John Adams Innovation Institute, the economic development arm of the collaborative; Judith Dumont, director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute; a division of the collaborative; Vanu Bose, president of Vanu in Cambridge, a wireless infrastructure company; Arthur R. Price, chief executive of Axia NetMedia Corp. in Calgary, which will operate the fiber-optic network in Western Massachusetts and W. Lowell Putnam of Longmeadow, president of F P Software Inc.

Judith Dumont, director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute.

The event was held at the South Boston offices of MassChallenge, an incubator for startup businesses.

Dumont said it will be a busy summer of construction on the planned broadband network, which is being financed by $45 million in federal stimulus dollars and $26 million in state matching dollars.

Dumont said construction is scheduled to be complete by June 30 of next year and will include 22 "mini-data centers" to operate the fiber.

Putnam said Springfield and other cities in Western Massachusetts already have high-speed Internet but the new network will give businesses the opportunity to locate anywhere in the region.

Putnam said the network that will offer the high performance and access sought by software companies in games and video, for example. It will be a reason for businesses to remain and grow in Western Massachusetts, he said.

Putnam also stressed that the region has some top quality workers and colleges.

The high-speed network will connect to about 1,400 public safety entities, community colleges, libraries, medical facilities, and town halls. The network will serve 333,500 households and 44,000 businesses in about 120 communities, including 101 in Western Massachusetts.

Larkin said there is no better example of regional economic growth than the high-performance computing center in Holyoke.

He said the two-story, 90,000-square-foot, academic research center will open on time and on budget in downtown Holyoke in December. Larkin's institute is managing the state's $25 million investment in the center, a collaboration of five universities including the University of Massachusetts and Harvard.

Allan W. Blair , president of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, said it was unusual for a state agency to hold an event in Boston exclusively for talking about the assets of Western Massachusetts.

"They really surprised a lot of people in the room with the level of sophistication we possess that supports business growth," said Blair, who attended.

The School Department is expecting an increase in state education funding of about $350,000.

WESTFIELD – The School Committee will not rush to balance a proposed $56.8 million fiscal 2013 budget, opting to wait for better estimates on education from the state and city.

Superintendent of Schools Suzanne Scallion reiterated the position that the department is “facing a real intense challenge” because of the loss of $2 million in federal jobs funds and Title I remedial student programs for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Suzanne Scallion

Originally, the department faced the need to cut nearly $4.5 million from the proposed budget to meet current funding levels. That has been offset by a plan to use School Choice and Early Childhood tuition and pre-pay some out of district special education and other tuition payments of Westfield pupils in the new year. That amounts to about $1.7 million, leaving a balance deficit of just over $2.5 million.

But, following an initial scrutiny of the budget Monday night, School Committee Finance Chairwoman Cynthia A. Sullivan said the committee will wait to see if state and city allowances will change.

Cynthia Sullivan

The current school budget totals $52.2 million.

State funding through Chapter 70 education aid is expected to increase by about $350,000 over the current $32.5 million, and Mayor Daniel M. Knapik has said he expects to provide school officials with a budget amount he can support by May 7.

School Finance Officer John E. Kane said Monday the budget will be adjusted as state figures are received, revised or finalized.

Scallion also reported Monday that the department has nearly a $1 million “list of what our students need. But, we are not putting that on the table at this time because of the $2.5 million budget gap.”

The budget currently does not call for any staff changes, but Scallion acknowledged the department “may need some restructuring of staff and programs with the final budget.”

Salary step and longevity increases for the 1,000 school employees will cost the department $388,000 next year. Also, contract settlements for teachers and other school personnel are expected to cost another $840,000.

The department expects 11 retirements in fiscal 2013, but Scallion said seven employees, currently out on long-term absences, are expected to return.

Sullivan said she plans to schedule a second budget review by the Finance Committee by mid-May.

Before the verdict was issued, the local district attorney in Massachusetts called the Ecuador trial "a sham."

Associated PressLuis Guaman, right, is escorted in handcuffs to court in Cuenca, Ecuador, Monday, April 30, 2012. The court found Guaman guilty of premeditated murder in last year's bludgeoning death of Maria Palaguachi and her toddler son in Brockton, Massachusetts. Under sentencing rules, the three-judge court in Cuenca can sentence Guaman to between 16 and 25 years in prison. Sentencing is set for later this week. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Matute)

CUENCA, Ecuador — An Ecuadorean man was convicted of premeditated murder Monday in last year's bludgeoning killings in Massachusetts of a woman and her toddler son in a case that upset U.S. prosecutors because Ecuador insisted on trying the man in his homeland.

He likely would have faced a far stiffer penalty in the United States.

Under Ecuadorean law, the three-judge court that convicted Luis Guaman can sentence him to between 16 and 25 years in prison for the February 2011 murder in Brockton, Mass., of Maria Palaguachi and her son Brian Caguana.

Sentencing is set for later this week, and Guaman's attorney said he would appeal the verdict.

U.S. prosecutors had sought to extradite Guaman to the United States, where they said they would have sought life in prison without parole. But their petition was denied because, despite an extradition treaty, Ecuador's new constitution bans the extradition of its citizens.

Earlier Monday, before the verdict was issued, the local district attorney in Massachusetts, Timothy Cruz, called the Ecuador trial "a sham."

"He is an individual who is violent," Cruz said of Guaman. "He murdered a 25-year-old mother and a 2-year-old ... by beating them to death with a sledgehammer, then throws them away in a dumpster."

A few days after the bodies were discovered, Guaman was on a flight from New York City to Ecuador, Cruz said.

Cruz said that when he filed an extradition request for Guaman, he filed an affidavit outlining the evidence that Massachusetts prosecutors have against Guaman. But he said he had not cooperated or provided Ecuadorean prosecutors with evidence because they refused to extradite Guaman.

"Quite honestly, I don't know what they're using as evidence," he told The Associated Press.

In all, eight hearings were held in the case, including one Monday in which witnesses who testified included a sister of Palaguachi and the father of the slain toddler testified. The verdict was issued a few hours later.

In her testimony, Dolores Palaguachi said she believed Guaman, 42, killed her sibling because she refused his advances.

Guaman "relentlessly pursued my sister. He wanted her, and I believe that's why he killed her," she said.

Manuel Caguana, who was described by Ecuadorean prosecutor Rocio Polo as the father and husband of the victims, testified from Ecuador's consulate in Massachusetts via video. He said he was out of town looking for work when the two disappeared.

Following the testimony, Polo asked for the maximum sentence of 25 years, saying Guaman is a violent man who tried to strangle a former spouse in 2007.

Associated Press writer Denise Lavoie in Boston contributed to this report.

Mey Akashah admitted bringing 6 grams (0.21 ounce) of marijuana into Bermuda for a weekend trip with her husband, but said a doctor prescribed it for medical reasons.

File photo | Associated PressMedical marijuana clone plants are shown at a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

HAMILTON, Bermuda — A Harvard instructor who was caught with a small amount of marijuana hidden in her underwear at this British territory's airport was released Monday by a judge.

Mey Akashah, an environmental health instructor at the Harvard School of Public Health, admitted bringing 6 grams (0.21 ounce) of pot into Bermuda for a weekend trip with her husband, but said a doctor prescribed it for medical reasons.

Prosecutors said a small plastic bag containing the marijuana was stuffed in her underwear. She was detained after her Friday flight when sniffer dogs alerted airport authorities.

At her court hearing Monday, the Boston resident acknowledged that she knew marijuana was illegal in Bermuda but she "responded illogically due to the amount of pain I was in."

She could provide no proof for the magistrate hearing the case that she had legally been prescribed marijuana for post-operative pain and nausea. She said her doctor in California had all the documentation.

Making note of her education and position at Harvard, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said he found it "strange" she could provide no proof, but he discharged her from custody with no fine. He said a conviction would have an "overwhelming effect" on the visibly emotional Akashah.

Julie F. Rafferty, a spokeswoman for the Harvard School of Public Health, said Akashah graduated with a doctorate last year and holds a temporary appointment as an instructor that's due to end May 31. Citing privacy rules, Rafferty would not discuss if there would be any disciplinary action.

Town Meeting OK'd an appropriation of $38,000 to apply to the purchase of 22 acres of land abutting Memorial Park along West Brook.

HAMPDEN — Residents at Monday’s annual Town Meeting approved an appropriation of $38,000 from Community Preservation funds to apply to the purchase of 22 acres of land abutting Memorial Park along West Brook.

The appropriation is contingent upon receipt of a grant by the Minnechaug Land Trust to help fund purchase of the property that will connect trails from the Goat Rock hiking trails to the new property.

The town so far has approximately 300 acres under conservation restriction between the Goat Rock preservation area and Minnechaug Mountain, Sherry Himmelstein, president of the Minnechaug Land Trust, said.

The town has approximately $240,000 in Community Preservation funds, Himmelstein said.

Community Preservation funds, raised through a local Community Preservation tax that residents approved, can be used for open space preservation, historical preservation and affordable housing. The Community Preservation tax has been in effect in town since 2002.

Also at Monday’s annual Town Meeting, voters approved an appropriation of $200,000 to replace the 1989 Mack dump truck with sander and plow.

Selectman John D. Flynn said the town will borrow to buy the truck and will pay it back over four years through $50,000 per year annual appropriations.

Residents also approved a $30,000 appropriation for Town Hall improvements. Selectman Richard Green said the money will be used to replace a chair lift inside Town Hall that will make the library on the second floor of the Town House accessible to the handicapped.

The town is under a state mandate to make the chair lift functional, Green said.

He said any funds left over will be applied to purchase energy-efficient windows for the Town House.

The voters also approved a fiscal 2013 town budget of $10.6 million that includes an assessment for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District of $6.6 million.

The camp had closed last summer because of financial problems.

The Republican file photo | Michael S. GordonThe beach on Russell Pond near the Horace Moses Boys Scout Camp will be improved as part of an effort to upgrade the Horace A. Moses Reservation.

Overnight Boy Scout camp will return to the Horace A. Moses Reservation after volunteers pledged to make the program solvent this year.

Scouts who return will see a change at the reservation in Russell. A new rappelling tower is under construction, the beach will be improved and most staff will be volunteers instead of paid employees.

“It is being run by 90 percent volunteer leadership so that is helping a tremendous amount,” said Larry A. Bystran, Scout executive and chief executive officer for the Pioneer Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Last year’s announcement that the camp, which offered week-long programs, would close because it had amassed a $90,000 deficit, was met with anger by Scout leaders, Boy Scouts and alumni.

After learning financial problems were spread throughout the council but pronounced at the camp, volunteers launched an effort to save money and raise funds.

“There are a lot of initiatives to pull the council back together,” said Henry P. Lenart, of Pepperell, a Chicopee native who camped Moses Reservation as a child.

He created Friends of the Moses Scout Reservation last January to save the camp.

“A lot of people stepped up and we are working on the council financing and we are looking at the (reservation) facility to modernize and take it to the next level,” Lenart said.

In July, the camp will offer two weeks of overnight camps to Boy Scouts and about 150 students have signed up for each week. The camp can handle twice that number, but many troops committed to attend other camps, before learning Moses would open, he said.

The cost is $295 for a week-long camp for each scout. For those who choose to stay for a second week, the charge drops to $270, he said.

Since the only paid staff will be the cooks, the camp should easily break even. Tuition money will be spent on equipment, supplies, insurance and utilities, he said.

At the same time the group is responding to complaints from Scouts who said the camp needs modernization. It is building a 50-foot rappelling tower and improving the beach front, he said.

Most of the work is being done by volunteers, including Boy Scouts, but they must raise money to purchase materials. Western Massachusetts Electric Co. donated two oversized utility poles for the tower and the remaining cost is $7,000. Waterfront improvements are estimated at $6,500, Lenart said.

The Friends is selling bricks with names etched on them to help pay for the improvements. They will be placed with landscaping on the beach, he said.

Michael Kirby, an assistant Scout master for Troop 90 in Longmeadow and a member of Friends of Moses, said improving the camp is vital because some camps were offering better programs.

“It is a Catch 22. To get people to go to camp it has to look good but you need the money from people going to camp to make it look good,” he said.

The camp closing also alerted leaders to the fact the council was struggling financially and measures had to be taken to improve the finances.

The Council’s board of directors has so far held an auction and a fund-raiser where volunteers collected sponsors to rappel off a hotel in downtown Springfield.

“People wanted to know how could these things happen without people knowing about it. Why did they have to wait to the point where they were closing the camp. It was a strong wake-up call,” he said

People realized if the council proved insolvent then all the property would be liquidated, including the camp, he said.

Bystran, the executive director, agreed. The poor economy meant reduced grants and donations. At the same time, more children needed help paying camp fees.

Programs such as Cub Scout day camp and overnight Venture Camp for teenagers remained at the Moses Reservation, but the Boy Scout camp operation could not continue to run in the red, he said.

“It was more financial than anything because of the subsidy level. The camping operation was not paying for itself,” he said.

The council is improving financially. A anonymous donor gave them cut-rate lease to rent offices in Westfield, allowing them to sell the council-owned offices in Chicopee. One of the five field executives was also laid off.

At the same time donations have been increasing, he said.

Bystran thanked the army of volunteers who are helping to restore the camp.

“We go through a strategic planning operation every two years and we will be looking at the success of this summer and project forward to see what we need to change and to do to keep the ball rolling,” he said.

Residents will also vote on Longmeadow's fiscal year 2013 budget of $56.1 million.

LONGMEADOW — Residents will vote on 28 warrant articles during the annual Town Meeting, including a $56.1 million budget and a tax rebate for seniors over the age of 70.

The meeting will be held May 8 at 7 p.m. at Longmeadow High School, and Council on Aging Board of Directors Chairman John Bowen is hoping residents will support the article granting senior citizens a rebate on their real estate taxes.

“I’m optimistic that it will pass,” he said. “The state passed legislation which would give seniors a rebate on their real estate property taxes if they fit within certain income, residency and age requirements.”

He said Hamilton and Sudbury have already passed local legislation to help their residents.

“I have been working with Sudbury for about a year on this, but while they were willing to spend $300,000 on this we knew we could not spend that much,” he said.

What the article proposes is a tax break for residents over the age of 70 who have lived in town for more than 10 years and who have an income of $35,000 for a single person or $39,000 for a two-income family.

He said at least 350 seniors currently qualify for state circuit breaker tax grants that offer a $980 reimbursement to residents whose property tax bills exceed 10 percent of their total income.

Bowen hopes the article, which would cost the town about $100,000, will help seniors who want to remain in town but are living on fixed incomes.

A meeting will be held at the Greenwood Community Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to further discuss the article.

Residents will also vote on the fiscal year 2013 budget of $56.1 million. The annual operating budget was approved by the Select Board and is being recommended by the Finance Committee.

Article 12 asks voters to approve more than $800,000 for capitol projects, including $300,000 for road reconstruction and pavement and $200,000 for sidewalk and guardrail replacement.

Capitol Planning Committee members recently met with the Select Board to discuss the needs of the town, particularly when it comes to road construction.

Capitol Planning Committee Chairman and candidate for Select Board Richard Foster said the roads in town are in dire need of repair and well behind schedule when it comes to maintenance.

Article 2 asks residents to approve the transfer of $890,000 for the purpose of funding the town’s share of damage clean-up resulting from the October snowstorm.

The town spent nearly $12 million on storm clean-up and will have to pay at least $2.8 million of that amount, assuming the Federal Emergency Management Agency covers the rest.

A senior attorney from Microsoft's digital crimes unit said he believes the people behind the Zeus botnets are located in Eastern Europe.

Associated Press

By RICHARD LARDNER

BALTIMORE — Microsoft and the banking industry on Monday provided a detailed, behind-the-scenes account of an operation they said disrupted a major cybercrime operation that used malicious software to allegedly steal $100 million from consumers over the last five years.

A senior attorney from Microsoft's digital crimes unit, Richard Boscovich, said the company and financial industry associations used a creative legal strategy as part of a civil lawsuit that targeted a global network of computers suffering from an infection known as "Zeus." Those computers were under the remote control of a criminal group that stole personal information, financial credentials and money, according to court records. The Zeus network has not been eliminated, Boscovich said, but the action has made it much more difficult and expensive for the criminals to operate.

"This was an initial volley," according to Boscovich, who said Microsoft and the industry groups will continue to target the Zeus network.

A federal judge approved a warrant authorizing the raid in late March against computer servers at hosting centers in Illinois and Pennsylvania. Attorneys for Microsoft, the Electronic Payments Association and the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center had filed a civil lawsuit claiming the Zeus network had infected 13 million computers since 2007. Boscovich said he believes the people behind the Zeus botnets are located in Eastern Europe. He declined to be more specific because the case is ongoing.

United States marshals accompanied employees of Microsoft on the sweep, according to Boscovich, a former U.S. prosecutor. The company and the industry groups relied on existing federal laws, including the 1946 Lanham Act that covers trademark infringement and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a statute that has been used to prosecute members of the mafia and the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. Congress envisioned that civil litigants would use both laws to protect their own interests, according to Boscovich.

A federal judge in New York granted their request for what Boscovich and others described as a "takedown" of the network's command and control servers. "''The framework has always been there," he said. "The court really understood what we were trying to do."

Boscovich and two other executives — Janet Estep of the Electronic Payments Association and Bill Nelson of the Information Sharing and Analysis Center — discussed the Zeus raid, called Operation b71, during a presentation at a conference in Baltimore.

The Zeus network sent spam email with corporate trademarks, including Microsoft's and the Electronic Payment Association's, and a message that directed victims to download an attached file or open an attached link, according to records filed in federal court by attorneys for Microsoft and the industry groups. These so-called "phishing" emails would tell users the files or links contained important information about their finances or were software security updates that needed to be installed as soon as possible.

About three and half million infected computers are now being directed to Microsoft instead of the Zeus command and control servers, Boscovich said.

Estep said a visible measure of Operation b71's impact is a significant reduction in spam blamed on the payment association or using the organization's logo. Prior to the raid, nearly 11.5 million of these emails were being sent each week to unsuspecting users and that number has dropped to about 1 million, she said.

Operation b71 shows how the private sector is not waiting for U.S. lawmakers to create a system for giving the private sector access to sensitive information gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies about threats in cyberspace. The House on Thursday passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act despite a White House veto threat over concerns the bill fails to protect privacy rights.

In the Senate, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans prefer a bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, that would give the Homeland Security Department the primary role in overseeing domestic cybersecurity and the authority to set security standards. The House bill does not give Homeland Security that authority. The White House favors the Senate measure.

Greg Garcia, a former assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at the Homeland Security Department and the moderator of Monday's discussion, said a framework for exchanging cyberthreat data would create even more opportunities for cases against cybercriminals.

"There are very many instances of cyberthreats out in the wild that the government and the intelligence community know the specifics about," Garcia said.

Search committee members would not say if the number of candidates declined because the committee has rejected prospective superintendents or whether candidates dropped out voluntarily.

File photo | The RepublicanMembers of the Springfield Superintendent Screening Committee, from left, are The Rev. Talbert Swan, B. John Dill, Burt Freeman, Heriberto Flores, Charles H. Rucks, Jose Claudo, Sharyn Kakley, Nancy Cavanaugh and Sherann Jackson. Not show in photo are, Kenneth Stahovish, The Rev. Mark E. Flowers, Thomas O'Brien and Thaddeus Tokarz.

SPRINGFIELD — The 13-member committee preparing to screen applicants for school superintendent held its second organizational meeting Monday, setting the stage for interviews with a dwindling field of candidates.

At least twelve candidates applied for departing superintendent Alan J. Ingram’s job by the April 26 deadline, but search committee member Charles H. Rucks mentioned during the 75-minute session that the field has already been narrowed to six.

Rucks said the number of remaining candidates would allow each candidate to be interviewed for two hours, not one hour as initially planned.

But several committee members and search consultant Patricia Correira quickly reminded Rucks that details of the screening process, including the number of semifinalists, were not public information.

Committee members would not say if the number of candidates declined because the committee has rejected prospective superintendents, or whether candidates dropped out voluntarily.

Patricia Correira

Correira, field director the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, emphasized that no other comment on the size of field could be made in public session.

Under the committee’s rules, Correira was responsible for reviewing all applications before passing the qualified ones on to the search committee. For its part, the volunteer committee must present the School Committee with names of 3-5 finalists by May 23.

During Monday’s session at Central High School, the committee agreed on seven questions to pose to the candidates, ranging from management style and vision to strategies for improving academic performance and reducing the dropout rate.

Several members, including Heriberto Flores and Talbert W. Swan II, said the questions should convey the public’s widespread desire for urgent change in the school system.

“We don’t have five years to have (the next superintendent) come in and tinker with the school system,” Flores, executive director of the New England Farm Workers Council, said.

Swan, president of the Springfield NAACP chapter, said dramatic change would not be possible in one year, but the public wants to see signs of improvement.

The committee was chosen from 42 applicants, reflecting a cross-section of the city that included parents, business executives, teachers, principals, community members and a high school student.

Jose Claudio, New North Citizen Council’s director of community relations, is serving as chairman. Other members include Rucks, executive director of Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services; B. John Dill, president of the Colebrook Realty Services Inc.; and the Rev. Mark E. Flowers, pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church.

Other members are Charles H. Thaddeus Tokarz and Thomas O’Brien, principals of Central High School and Boland Elementary School, respectively; teachers Burton Freedman and Sherann Jackson; community member Sharyn Kakley; Central student Kenneth Stahovish; and parent Nancy Cavanaugh.

The search was launched in December, four months after Ingram announced plans to leave when his four-year contract expires on June 30.

No School Committee member can have contact with the search committee during the review period, and only the names of the finalists will be made public.

Labor, immigration and Occupy activists plan to rally support on the international workers' holiday.

Associated PressPolice prepare to arrest members of a combined group of ACT UP and Occupy Wall Street activists who chained themselves and blocked traffic at Wall Street and Broadway, near the New York Stock Exchange, last week. Police used chain cutters and wrestled protesters to the pavement in the middle of Broadway. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

By MARCUS WOHLSEN

SAN FRANCISCO — May Day protests may disrupt the morning commute in major U.S. cities Tuesday as labor, immigration and Occupy activists rally support on the international workers' holiday.

Demonstrations, strikes and acts of civil disobedience are being planned around the country, including the most visible organizing effort by anti-Wall Street groups since Occupy encampments came down in the fall.

While protesters are backing away from a call to block San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, bridge district ferry workers said they'll strike Tuesday morning to shut down ferry service, which brings commuters from Marin County to the city. Ferry workers have been in contract negotiations for a year and have been working without a contract since July 2011 in a dispute over health care coverage, the Inlandboatmen's Union said.

A coalition of bridge and bus workers said they will honor the picket line, which may target an area near the bridge's toll plaza. Occupy activists from San Francisco and Oakland are expected to join the rally.

"We ask supporters to stand with us at strike picket lines on May Day and to keep the bridge open," said Alex Tonisson, an organizer and co-chair of the Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition.

In anticipation of the strike, the agency that operates the Golden Gate Bridge and related public transportation systems canceled Tuesday's morning ferries from Marin County to San Francisco and urged regular riders to make alternate travel plans.

Police say they are working with other area law enforcement agencies and have a plan in place for potential disruptions. They would not discuss specifics.

Across the bay in Oakland, where police and Occupy protesters have often clashed, officers are preparing for a long day as hundreds of "General Strike" signs have sprouted across town.

In New York City, where the first Occupy camp was set up and where large protests brought some of the earliest attention — and mass arrests — to the movement, leaders plan a variety of events, including picketing, a march through Manhattan and other "creative disruptions against the corporations who rule our city."

Organizers have called for protesters to block one or more bridges or tunnels connecting Manhattan, the city's economic engine, to New Jersey and other parts of the city.

The Occupy movement began in September with a small camp in a lower Manhattan plaza that quickly grew to include hundreds of protesters using the tent city as their home base. More than 700 people were arrested Oct. 1 as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

The city broke the camp up in November, citing sanitary and other concerns, but the movement has held smaller events and protests periodically since then.

Elsewhere on the West Coast, Occupy Seattle has called for people to rally at a park near downtown Tuesday. Mayor Mike McGinn has warned residents there could be traffic delays and has said city officials have evidence — including graffiti and posters — that some groups plan to "commit violence, damage property and disrupt peaceful free speech activity."

In Los Angeles, Occupy is organizing a daylong "people's power and bike caravan" that will start from the four cardinal directions around the city in the morning, converging on downtown LA's financial district in the mid afternoon for an approximately 90-minute protest. The themes of the marches are foreclosures and police brutality.

In a website statement, Occupy LA promised the event will be "city-paralyzing" and "carnivalesque" with en route actions including a food giveaway in a South Los Angeles park, and mini-rallies outside the Veterans' Affairs and Bank of America buildings in West Los Angeles.

Associated Press writers Terry Collins in Oakland and Christina Hoag in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Another Marine has been charged in the killing of Bushong, who was on leave from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Philip Michael Bushong

AGAWAM — Marine Lance Cpl. Philip Michael Bushong, 23, formerly of Enfield, Conn., will be laid to rest Tuesday at Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.

Bushong, whose father Michael and brother Keenan live in East Windsor, Conn., was stabbed to death April 21 in Washington, D.C., while on leave from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Another Marine has been charged in the killing.

Burial with full military honors will follow the 11 a.m. funeral at Colonial Forastiere Funeral Home, 985 Main St.

The scholarships were made possible by an anonymous donation of $30,000 to Holyoke Community College to assist students who suffered financial hardship because of the Massachusetts tornado.

HOLYOKE — The deadline to apply for a special scholarship to assist victims of last year’s tornado has been extended until May 4.

The scholarships were made possible by an anonymous donation of $30,000 to Holyoke Community College to assist students who have suffered financial hardship as a result of the June 1, 2011, tornado. To be eligible, students must be either accepted or currently enrolled at HCC and a resident of one of the following communities: Agawam, Brimfield, Charlton, Monson, Oxford, Springfield, Sturbridge, Westfield, Wilbraham, or West Springfield. Scholarship awards will range from $500 to $3,000 per student.

Applications are available at hccscholarships.org.

Applicants will be required to write a short essay describing how the tornado affected their lives and how the scholarship would be used to achieve their educational goals. They must also submit a claim letter from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) or the Red Cross or a copy of the First Report of Claim from their insurance company.

For more information, contact Erica Broman, vice president of institutional development, at (413) 552-2747 or Keith McKittrick, director of development, at (413) 552-2746.