The investigation was slowed by concerns there could be hazardous materials in 55-gallon drums in the backyard.

Associated PressPolice officers stand outside a house after a shooting, where police say a man shot and killed four people, including a toddler, before killing himself, in Gilbert, Ariz., on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Police say the man was armed with several firearms, and officers recovered two handguns and a shotgun. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum)

By AMANDA LEE MYERS

GILBERT, Ariz. — Five people died in a shooting Wednesday at a Phoenix-area home, where the investigation was slowed by concerns there could be hazardous materials in 55-gallon drums in the backyard.

The shooter was among the dead, police said, although they weren't yet certain whether he killed himself. Police haven't identified him or the victims.

Four of the bodies were still inside and outside of the home late Wednesday in the city of Gilbert, southeast of Phoenix.

At a briefing for reporters, Gilbert police Sgt. Bill Balafas said all the evidence points to the shooting being related to domestic violence. He didn't elaborate. Officers have recovered two handguns and a shotgun.

He said two men were dead outside the home and two women were dead inside. A girl between 1 and 2 years old was found inside the home showing signs of life when police initially responded to the scene, but she later died at a local hospital.

Balafas said authorities have not gone into the home since then as they awaited a search warrant and later for a federal agency to remove unknown chemicals and munitions from inside and outside of the home for officer safety.

He said positive identifications of the bodies can't be made until detectives can safely enter the home.

About three hours after the shooting, a man walked up to the police tape, pointed to the crime scene and said, "I have a daughter who lives in that house."

Police pulled him behind the tape and out of view. Several seconds later, a loud, anguished cry could be heard. Minutes after, the same man was weeping and left the scene with police.

The shootings occurred after 1 p.m. in a subdivision filled with stucco homes with red-tile roofs.

Witnesses said a SWAT team sealed off part of the area and investigators told residents to remain indoors.

FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson said federal agents were at the scene "providing personnel and technical assistance" to Gilbert police, but that the police department was the lead agency.

DeAnn Rawson, who has lived in the Lago Estancia neighborhood for 13 years, stood on a street corner and talked to drivers who rolled down their windows to ask what happened.

Rawson, 38, said she was sick to her stomach over what happened. "As you can tell, everyone driving by is absolutely shocked," she told The Arizona Republic.

"I would have come and got her," Rawson said of the youngest victim. "It makes me mad. I can't have children, and you have other people doing things that are insane."

Gary Davis, who also lives in the neighborhood, said, "There's no excuse for taking a child's life."

"Nothing ever happens in this neighborhood," Davis said. "It's a shock to us."

Joseph Wright, 23, of Lynn was captured Tuesday after he attempted to flee to Canada.

Associated PressThis Wednesday, May 2, 2012, booking photo released by the Aroostook County, Maine, Sheriff's Office shows Joseph Wright, 23, of Lynn, Mass. Wright was taken into custody Tuesday as he crossed from Maine into Canada. He is charged in the deaths of two women, including his mother Donna Breau, found dead Tuesday outside Lynnhurst Elementary School in Saugus, Mass. (AP Photo/Aroostook County Sheriff's Office)

SAUGUS — A Lynn man has told authorities he cut the throats of his mother and grandmother, who were both found dead near a Massachusetts school, according to court documents.

Joseph Wright, 23, of Lynn was captured Tuesday after he attempted to flee to Canada. He agreed during a hearing Wednesday to return to Massachusetts to face murder charges in the deaths of his mother Donna Breau, 54, and his grandmother, Melba Trahant, 83.

The Essex District Attorney's office said he is to be arraigned Thursday in Lynn District Court.

Wright was taken into custody after he crossed from Maine into Canada.

Investigators said he tried to flee in his vehicle when officials on the Canadian side of the border tried to question him, said Shelbe Benson-Fuller, spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Wright then abandoned his vehicle about two miles from the border and ran into the woods before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police caught him, she said.

Authorities took Wright to Houlton, Maine, on Wednesday. During a brief hearing before a judge via video conference, he agreed to return to Massachusetts.

Wright lived with his mother in Lynn, one floor above Trahant. He told authorities he left the knife at Trahant's apartment, according to an affidavit filed in Lynn District Court.

Wright was driving Trahant's car when he crossed into Canada. Investigators said they found blood at the residences, on the car's windows and rear fender, and on Wright's undershorts.

Danvers police say a weekend wedding turned violent, resulting in two arrests and possible charges against the groom.

These were the most-read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The Republican daily photo gallery, at right, was the most viewed photo gallery overall.

1) Springfield police arrest Manuel Lora, 22, and Priscilla Texidor, 21, in connection with murder of Jonathan Tallaj [Buffy Spencer]

2) Mass. dad breaks window to fetch girl locked in day care [Associated Press]

3) Groom's mom arrested at Danvers wedding [Associated Press]

4) Report: Junior Seau found dead, suspected suicide [The Republican Sports Desk]

5) 2nd teen charged in Massachusetts high school assault that was posted on YouTube [Conor Berry]

City officials will address traffic and other neighborhood issues involving the school as they develop.

WESTFIELD – The city will move forward with construction plans for a $36 million elementary school at Cross and Ashley streets despite two pending Hampden Superior Court civil suits seeking to block the new school.

The Planning Board this week approved the final permits allowing construction to begin by granting its approval to site plans and stormwater management of the site and eventual building of the school that will house up to 600 pupils grades kindergarten through grade five.

Meanwhile, Cross and Ashley street residents have filed a 10-taxpayer suit in Superior Court questioning the status of the site and procedures followed by city officials leading to approval of the school and its pending construction. The suit was filed last week and taxpayers hope for a preliminary hearing as early as next week. They attorney Thomas A. Kenefick, III of Springfield, said a hearing is scheduled in Superior Court May 9.

An appeal of an earlier permit, involving sideyard distances, approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals is still pending in Hampden Superior Court. That was filed by three residents, concerned about neighborhood traffic congestion, last December.

But, city and school officials said Wednesday that while those appeals are pending, efforts are moving forward to begin construction.

Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, calling the court actions “frivolous”, said the process of pre-qualifying contractors for bidding on the project will proceed. The project will be advertised for general and sub-contractor bidding for a period of 60 to 90 days and ground breaking will be scheduled for early fall. The public advertisement for construction bids is expected shortly, Knapik said.

Thomas Smith, a plaintiff in both suits, said the latest court filing questions the status of the site, claiming it must be preserved for open space use under Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Article 97. Smith also contends that the mayor “is withholding that and other information from the City Council and other city officials who have been asked to approve the school.”

Knapik acknowledged there is a question concerning Article 97 but maintains “the city has records showing the Cross and Ashley streets property was originally acquired through tax title. We have had conversations with the state concerning that status and that the school project will impact only about one acre there and actually enhance the playground and fields used for youth athletics.”

Ward 2 City Councilor James E. Brown Jr., who represents the neighborhood, said he supports the school “because it will enhance the education of our children and improve playground facilities there.”

School Committee vice chairman Kevin J. Sullivan said city efforts to address traffic and other issues at the school site will be on-going. “A specific plan to address these concerns will be developed with support of our Police and Fire departments and the plan will be revised as necessary as the project proceeds and even after the school is open,” Sullivan said.

The mayor also indicated that demolition of the former Ashley Street School will coincide with the start of construction on the new building. The city has secured adequate property, including parking with additional parking under agreement with an adjacent church.

Westfield has secured 62-percent state reimbursement for the school price tag and construction will be supervised by project manager Skanska USA Building Inc. of Springfield. Architect for the new school is Margo Jones Architect of Greenfield.

The schedule has identified an opening of the new school sometime in late 2013 or early 2014. The opening will lead to consolidation and closing of one or two existing schools, Abner Gibbs, the city’s oldest operating school, and possibly Franklin Avenue School.

A 35-foot-long RV-style camper erupted in flames, causing several explosions, according to fire officials in the town of Heath.

HEATH – Officials in this Franklin County town north of the Mowhawk Trail are probing a motor home fire that caused several explosions just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at 9 Cascade Drive.

There were no reported injuries, but several explosions were heard after a fire erupted inside a 35-foot RV-style camper.

Heath Fire Chief Mike Smith said the motor home, parked at the Cascade Drive address, was destroyed. He told 22News that the explosions may have been from liquid propane tanks or even tires.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Officials are examining several electrical items that were plugged into outlets inside the RV, the TV station reports.

Authorities did not publicly identify the owner of the camper.

Firefighters from Charlemont and Rowe assisted, according to Fireground360, a public safety website maintained by the first-responder community.

Cascade Drive is located in a warren of streets bounded by the Mowhawk Trail to the south, Route 8A to the west, West Branch Road to the North, and Route 112 to the east.

MAP of fire scene:

View Larger Map

In this Ask Mayor Morse segment, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse explains how how his proposed director of arts, culture and tourism would fit into the city's budget. Watch video

In this Ask Mayor Morse segment, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse explains how how his proposed director of arts, culture and tourism post would fit into the city's budget.

One key component of the position, which could have an annual salary of $40,000 to $50,000, would be to pursue arts-related funding and grants the city doesn't already go after, Morse said.

"I have no doubt that the city's investment will be returned in grant funding and private development that comes of it," he said.

In a recent Republican article, City Council President Kevin Jourdain said he was "skeptical of creating a new position," questioning whether the price tag on the new position would stop at $40,000 or if there would be additional staffing and other costs associated with it.

The city council has to approve new city positions before they can be established. This proposed post is set to go before the council Ordinance Committee on May 8.

Morse said the position is an important investment because the city can't rely on someone outside local government to drive the agenda in the community.

The proposed director would look at how Pittsfield, Fitchburg and New Bedford have used art to revitalize their downtowns, he said.

This person would also coordinate arts-related events and be "working very closely with my director of economic development to make sure we know how to use art as a catalyst to bring private investment and economic development," Morse said.

"Art, it makes a city an attractive place to do business."

Neffinger says the help he gets from Roberta Page, owner of Page One Productions, is "invaluable."

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayRoberta Page of Page One Productions is West Springfield Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger's communications liaison.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger’s hiring of a $90-an-hour media consultant has surprised one town councilor and drawn criticism from another, who says the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Neffinger says, however, that the help he gets from Roberta Page, owner of Page One Productions, is “invaluable.”

Page’s work is part of getting Neffinger’s message to the people and fulfilling his campaign promise to make city government more transparent, the mayor said. “I would rather spend my time moving along CSX (rail freight issues) and the state than spending hours on a press release,” Neffinger said. “We just don’t have the time to stop and say, ‘This is what we are doing.’ ”

Neffinger is the only mayor in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties to hire a media consultant. Mayors in Westfield, Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke, Chicopee and Agawam all handle their own media needs.

In Springfield, which has a population of about 153,000, or about five times the size of West Springfield, Mayor Domenic Sarno employs a communications director, Thomas T. Walsh, who is paid $65,000 a year. Walsh estimates he spends about half his time on media work. He also represents the mayor at events, serves as a liaison to community groups like the city’s neighborhood councils, is on call nights and weekends and serves as the mayor’s representative to the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority board.

Former West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson handled his own media relations, including conducting regular Tuesday afternoon meetings with area reporters.

Councilor Robert M. Mancini calls the hiring of Page “unnecessary spending.” “Why would you hire someone to do your press releases? We could give the money to a sports organization or spend the money on something for the town,” Mancini said.

“I was surprised to hear that,” Town Councilor Brian J. Griffin said of Page’s hiring. “It is something totally new to the town. It is not something we’ve needed in the past,”

Page is being paid from the mayor’s professional services account for which $32,671 was budgeted this year. It has been used to cover such expenses as the city’s cable television access coordinator’s pay as well as things like landscaping improvements at the historic Union Street Cemetery. Griffin said her pay is not under the council’s control.

A volunteer in Neffinger’s 2011 mayoral campaign, Page organized the mayor’s inaugural celebration and swearing-in ceremony in January without charge. She also contributed $25 to his campaign fund.

Page has worked as a part-time consultant since then, earning $1,170 for work done in January. At $90 per hour, that would cover 13 hours of work.

Page said she was hired to work several hours a week for the mayor as needed to provide overall public relations. She said she cannot quantify her work schedule because it varies week to week.

File photo | The RepublicanGregory Neffinger

Page’s contract does not specify how many hours a week she will work; it states she is to “serve as communications liaison and provide overall public relations including, but not limited to, media and government relations and marketing and reporting directly to the mayor.” It also states she is not an employee of the town and no health or retirement benefits are included in compensation.

“It might be two hours one week, five hours another week,” Neffinger said. “In my mind it was to be three to four hours a week.”

The mayor said he may eventually have communications with the press and public done in-house. Page is also available for media and government relations as well as marketing services.

She said her job could include marketing the city and is basically whatever the mayor wants her to work on.

The mayor said his office consists of himself and his assistant, Joan George, who is paid about $50,000 a year. Each of them works at least 50 to 60 hours a week and does not have time to write press releases, he said.

The mayor said $90-an-hour is the going rate for consultants and that Page has also done work for the School Department.

Neffinger said he did not seek proposals for the media consultant post because he does not anticipate the expenses will exceed the $5,000 ceiling set by the state as the threshold for when competitive bids must be sought. “Anything after that ($5,000) we would have to rethink,” the mayor said.

Page said she does more than write press releases. She also compiles information, such as when the mayor hired a new principal assessor and the naming of a provisional police chief, both of which involved news conferences. Page also said she makes media contacts and takes photographs, having e-mailed The Republican recently one photograph of the provisional police chief.

As part of her work, Page has scheduled Tuesday afternoon “press conferences” that are more formal than the casual chats with reporters Gibson used to have. Page is also working to book Neffinger time on radio and television programs.

Page said most mayors have an individual to handle media for them, but could only cite Sarno as an example.

Page is a lifelong resident of the city with a master’s degree in business administration from Western New England University. She has worked in public relations for both Friendly Ice Cream Corp. and Westvaco Corp. Among her responsibilities were handling store openings for Friendly and new product launches for Westvaco, she said. In the 1970s, she taught English and French at West Springfield High School.

Page also represents and books jobs for entertainers and has served on the boards of such nonprofit groups as the Children’s Museum of Holyoke. Her business, Page One Productions, has no employees, other than herself, and does not have a website, according to Page.

In 2006, she was honored for serving on the board of trustees of Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield for 13 years. A long-time Town Meeting member, Page was campaign manager for Paul H. Boudo’s unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2009.

The consultant also launched a community access television show called “Talk of the Town” in 2009 that ran for more than a year and a half. Page had wanted to take it statewide, but she said she did not get the financial support needed to do that.

File photos | The RepublicanWest Springfield Mayor Gregory Neffinger and Roberta Page, owner of Page One Productions

A 57-year-old man has been charged with trying to abduct a woman at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

Photo by Jae C. Hong / Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Pa., Friday. Click on the link, at left, for a report from USA Today in which Romney is quoted as saying he wanted former spokesman, Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, to remain on his staff.

• Massachusetts football coaches say precautions in place to prevent concussions long before Junior Seau's death [Boston Herald]


• Questions raised about Boston Red Sox' 'sellout' streak [Boston.com]


• Connecticut man held in connection with attempted abduction at UConn [WVIT-TV, Channel 30, New Britain]


• Mitt Romney says he wanted openly gay spokesman Richard Grenell to stay on staff [USA Today]


• Voter registration reported down among Hispanics, blacks [Washington Post]


• With latest jobs reports showing meager growth, 'time running out' for President Obama [Christian Science Monitor]


• Man accused of fatally stabbing woman in Burlington turns self in [WFXT-TV, Fox25, Boston]


• Search for Caleigh Harrison, 2, of Gloucester resumes on Rockport beach [CBS Boston.com]


• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


• Read more News Links »


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Former Springfield Police Chief Paula Meara was selected as chairman of the casino committee, which will evaluate any proposals.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayPaula Meara, retired Springfield police chief, left, is chairman of the Springfield Casino Site Committee, as James J. Ferrera III, president of the City Council, looks on during press conference on Friday at City Hall.

SPRINGFIELD — City Council President James J. Ferrera III on Friday named a 15-member Springfield Casino Site Committee that will serve to review any proposals to locate a casino in the city and evaluate their impacts on the community.

The new committee, chaired by former Police Chief Paula Meara, will conduct public meetings, and release its findings and recommendations to the City Council and the public, Ferrera said during a press conference at City Hall.

“Locating a casino in Springfield can be the best development for the city or it can be the worst,” Ferrera said. “We may have an opportunity to help make a casino development successful not only for the gaming company and the state, but more importantly for the people and businesses within our city and surrounding area.”

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission must approve any casino in the state. Under the legislation, three casinos are permitted in Massachusetts, including one within the four counties of Western Massachusetts.

Thus far, one casino is proposed in Springfield. Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas is planning a casino on a 41-acre parcel on Page Boulevard in East Springfield.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has stated he welcomes any and all proposals, and will rely on the expertise of a future hired consultant to assist in the process.

Ferrera said the council has powers over land use issues, and would have to vote on any needed zone changes or special permits for a casino if one is to be located in Springfield. Under the legislation, the mayor would be responsible for negotiations with casino developers and would need to sign any community host agreement with the developer, subject to approval from voters.

The committee expects to conduct an organizational meeting within two weeks.

Sarno declined comment on the formation of the council committee.

This story will be updated with more details later today

Massachusetts House leaders unveiled a health care payment bill Friday that they say will lower family premiums by nearly $2,000 annually over the next five years in part by cutting waste and inefficiency out of the existing health care system.

AP Photo/ Stephan SavoiaHouse Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, right, looks on as Steven Walsh, chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, speaks about the health care legislation introduced by DeLeo and the House at the Statehouse in Boston, Friday, May 4, 2012. House leaders unveiled a health care payment bill they say will lower family premiums by nearly $2,000 annually over the next five years. The bill detailed Friday is designed to cut waste and duplication from the health care system while rewarding doctors and hospitals for keeping patients healthy instead of paying them for each operation or service they provide.

By STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts House leaders unveiled a health care payment bill Friday that they say will lower family premiums by nearly $2,000 annually over the next five years in part by cutting waste and inefficiency out of the existing health care system.

The approximately 150-page bill detailed Friday is designed to reward doctors and hospitals for keeping patients healthy instead of paying them for each operation or service they provide.

It creates a new consumer website with price and quality information categorized by medical procedure to help patients compare hospitals and insurers, while overhauling medical malpractice laws by letting doctors apologize for mistakes without fearing a lawsuit and creating a 180-day "cooling off period" to give both sides a chance to reach a settlement.

The bill would also establish a new quasi-public agency — the Division of Health Care Cost and Quality — to oversee the new law and consolidate the state's various health care agencies.

Lawmakers have been grappling for ways to slow spiraling costs since 2006, when then-former Gov. Mitt Romney signed Massachusetts' landmark health care law.

That law has dramatically expanded access to health coverage.

Massachusetts now has the highest rate of insured residents in the nation — more than 98 percent of the population. But soaring premiums and other health care costs have threatened to undermine the long term fiscal stability of the law.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo said the House version of the financing bill goes a long way toward reining in those costs.

DeLeo said the bill "limits cost growth while maintaining high quality health care and innovation."

"We also ... empower patients to make the best decisions about what their health care options are," said DeLeo, D-Winthrop. "We focus attention on prevention."

The House bill is designed to close wide disparities in health care costs by requiring hospitals that charge more than 20 percent above the state median price for a specific service to pay a fee into a fund to help support hospitals that serve the poor and most vulnerable.

It also would require electronic medical records by 2017 that will allow emergency room doctors to call up a patient's medical history while simultaneously notifying the patient's primary care doctor that they have visited an emergency room.

The bill sets guidelines for the size of "accountable care organizations," that create leadership teams to ensure patients receive the physical and mental care they need. Under the bill, patients would be allowed to appeal decisions made by their accountable care organization, including the right to a second opinion from any provider.

House leaders said the bill could save the Massachusetts economy $160 billion in unnecessary health care costs over the next 15 years.

DeLeo said the House could vote on the bill around the beginning of June.

The Senate is expected to unveil its version of the bill next week.

Senate President Therese Murray has said she expects passage by July 1 of a major health care overhaul aimed at saving billions of dollars for consumers and small businesses in the next decade.

Murray said the Senate measure would establish independent oversight of the health care industry, improve the quality of care and increase accountability for providers. She estimated potential savings in tens of billions of dollars during the next 10 years.

Gov. Deval Patrick first proposed in February 2010 that the state move toward a so-called global payment system to replace the fee-for-service approach.

The conservative Media Research Center, said NBC still has not come clean.

NEW YORK (AP) — Three employees of NBC or an NBC-owned television station have now lost their jobs because of editing changes to a call made to police by George Zimmerman on the night he shot Trayvon Martin.

Lilia Luciano, an NBC News correspondent based in Miami, is no longer working at the network, spokeswoman Amy Lynn said. Her departure came as a result of an investigation into her March 20 "Today" show report on the Martin case.

Each of the reports on either "Today" or NBC's Miami station WTVJ involve editing of Zimmerman's phone call to a dispatcher that emphasizes his identification of Martin as a black male. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Martin, a case that has increased racial tensions.

In the report involving Luciano, audio of the police phone call was edited to insert a reference to Martin's race that had been made later in the conversation.

Last month, a NBC News producer was fired in connection with a March 27 "Today" show report where a tape of the call was edited to suggest that Zimmerman volunteered to police that "this guy looks like he's up to no good. He's black."

The broadcast portion of the audio had deleted a part of the conversation where the police dispatcher asked Zimmerman about whether a suspicious male he was reporting was "black, white or Hispanic." Zimmerman answered, "he looks black."

Lynn said Friday that NBC News' investigation into the reports has ended.

In an investigation about a separate incident, reporter Jeff Burnside of WTVJ lost his job because of a March 19 report on the dispatcher's call that similarly edited out the dispatcher's question that prompted Zimmerman's characterization of Martin as black, said Matt Glassman, spokesman for the NBC-owned station.

The WTVJ report did not air on any other NBC stations, he said.

Last week, WTVJ aired an apology to its viewers for the report on some of its newscasts, and posted it on the station's website. The statement said that "an error in editorial judgment was made in which a question from the operator was deleted which could have created the impression that Mr. Zimmerman's statement may have been singling out Trayvon Martin because of his race.

"We take this incident very seriously and apologize to our viewers," WTVJ said. "After conducting an extensive investigation, we are putting a more stringent editorial process in place to ensure this does not happen again."

NBC News did not immediately respond to questions about whether the "Today" show has addressed the misleading reports on the air, or whether there are any plans to do so.

Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog the Media Research Center, said NBC still has not come clean.

"The truth has been withheld from NBC's own viewers now for more than one month," he said. "Do the network executives at NBC think that this is acceptable?"

The clubs, within the suit, say their First Amendment right of free expression has been "silenced" by the mayor's curfew.

Republican file photoThe Mardi Gras strip club.

SPRINGFIELD – Six bars, including four nude dancing clubs, have filed suit in U.S. District Court this week, seeking to overturn a new 1 a.m. curfew on entertainment that forces the bars to halt all music and dancing at that hour.

The clubs, within a request for a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief, state the halt of entertainment at 1 a.m., as imposed by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, is unconstitutional, causes irreparable harm, and violates their First Amendment rights of free expression.

“Live music can no longer be heard by willing patrons, customers can no longer nod their heads or sway their hips to the beat of popular radio tunes, and dancers can no longer perform on stages,” the suit states. “Protected First Amendment expression is effectively silenced through the City of Springfield.”

File photos | The RepublicanLeft to right, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and attorney Daniel Kelly.

The corporate owners of the following bars filed the suit this week: Mardi Gras, 87-91 Taylor St.; Center Stage, 265-271 Dwight St.; Fifth Alarm, 775 Worthington St.; Xstatic, 240 Chestnut St.; Score’s, 453 Worthington St.; and Oz, 397-399 Dwight St.

The 1 a.m. curfew has resulted in the bars ceasing “all forms of expressive entertainment at 1 a.m. daily,” the suit states. Sarno denied all their applications for late night special entertainment that would have allowed them to keep entertainment going until the bars close at 2 a.m.

The bars are represented by lawyers Daniel D. Kelly, of Springfield; Jennifer M. Kinsley, of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Daniel Silver, of New Britain., Conn.

This story will be updated with more details later today

Proponents were looking to the 5,800-square-foot building to replace the aging, 900-square foot M.N. Spear Library, which is more than a century old and lacks running water.

A screen shot of the M.N. Spears Memorial Public Library in Shutesbury, as seen in the opening frames of a Youtube video.

SHUTESBURY – The up-and-down question of a new library for the town is down for the count following a judge’s ruling that gives opponents a two-vote victory.

The finding issued by Franklin Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup on Wednesday declared two people who opposed the $1.4 million Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion eligible to vote in Shutesbury and two others who voted for the project ineligible.

The new result is a 522-520 vote against the proposed project.

Originally, the question tied 522-522 on the Jan. 10 ballot question seeking to borrow $1.4 million towards the $3.5 million project. By law, the question fails in the event of a tie.

Proponents were looking to the 5,800-square-foot building to replace the aging, 900-square foot M.N. Spear Library, which is more than a century old and lacks running water. They were also hoping to use it as a town community room.
In 2011, Town Meeting members voted to move the project forward, then rejected it in a subsequent vote.

A recount of the January, 2012, vote tipped the scale in favor of proponents when the town counted a provisional ballot in favor of the override after ensuring that the voter was not registered in Connecticut. Both sides then challenged various votes.

Rup’s ruling puts an apparent end to the matter. Select Board Chairwoman Elaine Puleo said she will notify the state that Shutesbury cannot accept funding for the project.

“We have no other recourse,” she said.

A woman who says she was the prostitute who triggered the scandal in Colombia declared she could have easily obtained sensitive information from the Secret Service agents.

AP Photo/Cadena SERThis Friday, May 4, 2012 frame grab taken from the Spanish radio station Cadena SER website shows Dania Londono Suarez during an interview at an undisclosed location. Suarez says she was the woman who triggered the U.S. Secret Service scandal in Colombia. Suárez also says she never would have complained about not being paid by an agent had she known he was part of President Barack Obama's security detail.

BOGOTA, Colombia — A woman who says she was the prostitute who triggered the U.S. Secret Service scandal in Colombia said Friday that the agents involved were "idiots" for letting it happen, and declared that if she were a spy and sensitive information was available, she could have easily obtained it.

The woman said she spent five hours in a Cartagena, Colombia, hotel room with an agent, and while she barely got cab fare out of him, she could have gotten information that would have compromised the security of U.S. President Barack Obama if the agent had any. "Totally," she replied when asked.

"The man slept all night," said the woman, who was identified by her lawyer as Dania Londono Suarez. "If I had wanted to, I could have gone through all his documents, his wallet, his suitcase."

She said in the 90-minute interview with Colombia's W Radio that no U.S. investigator had been in touch with her, although reporters descended on her home a week after the incident when a taxi driver led them to it.

"They could track me anywhere in the world that I go but they haven't done so," she said, speaking in Spanish. "If the Secret Service agents were idiots, imagine the investigators."

That alarmed a U.S. congressman who is monitoring the case.

Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, issued a statement on Friday expressing concern that investigators "have been unable to locate and interview two of the female foreign nationals involved," including Londono. "I have asked the Secret Service for an explanation of how they have failed to find this woman when the news media seems to have no trouble doing so."

Eight Secret Service agents have lost their jobs in the scandal, although there is no evidence any of the 10 women interviewed by U.S. investigators for their roles in it have any connection to terrorist groups, King said earlier this week.

In the interview, Londono called the Secret Service agents caught up in the scandal "fools for being from Obama's security and letting all this happen."

"When I said, 'I'm going to call the police so they pay me my money,' and it didn't bother them, didn't they see the magnitude of the problem?" she said.

Londono said the man never identified himself as a member of Obama's advance security detail for the April 14-15 Summit of the Americas and said she saw nothing in his room that would have indicated the man's job other than a brown uniform.

Londono said the man had agreed to pay her $800, but that she never would have made a public fuss about his failure to pay had she known he was part of Obama's security detail and realized the repercussions it would have for her.

"My life is practically destroyed," she said. "My name is in the gutter."

Her photo has been splashed all over the Internet since a newspaper took it off Facebook a week after the incident, when she said she fled Colombia fearing for her life.

"I was afraid they might retaliate," she said, saying she feared for herself and her family after looking up Secret Service on the Internet and seeing that some agents were sharpshooters.

The mother of a 9-year-old boy she said she had when she was 17, Londono said she would happily sell her story now and pose nude.

She said she had contracted one of Colombia's top lawyers, Abelardo De la Espriella. He confirmed her identity for The Associated Press and said she called him for the first time earlier Friday, recommended by the radio host who interviewed Londono.

He said he didn't see that there was any criminal infraction in the incident. Prostitution is legal in Colombia.

"Let's see how we can help her," De la Espriella said of Londono.

Londono appeared in the interview, part of which was also broadcast by Colombia's Caracol TV, with just a little makeup, her fingernails painted white and wearing a tight green dress.

While W Radio did not say where she was interviewed, she later gave an interview to the Spanish radio network Cadeba Ser, which said it was recorded in one of its studios.

Londono giggled nervously and refused to answer prying questions from reporters from several international news media during the W Radio interview on topics such as the nature of her sex act with the Secret Service agent.

She said that the desk clerk at the Hotel Caribe called at 6:30 a.m. to tell her it was time to leave, and the agent addressed her with an insult in telling her to get out.

Dania said it was nearly three hours after the man kicked her out of the room and she alerted a Colombian policeman stationed on the hallway before three colleagues of the agent, who had refused to open his door after giving her $30, scraped together $250 and paid her, she said.

"'The only thing they said was 'Please, please. No police, no police,'" she said.

Later that day, April 12, the agent and 11 other Secret Service colleagues who may have also had prostitutes in their rooms at the five-star hotel were sent home, under investigation for alleged misconduct.

Londono's story agrees with what investigators in Washington have disclosed.

She said she met the man, one of 10-11 agents in a Cartagena bar, and accompanied him back to the hotel, stopping on the way to buy condoms.

She said the other agents at the bar were all drunk.

"They bought alcohol like they were buying water," she said, though she never saw any evidence that any of them used illegal drugs.

She said the man she was with was only moderately intoxicated. She said she did not know his name.

Londono said that she went to Dubai after the scandal broke and spent time with someone she had previously met in Cartagena. She would not say whether that person had been a client.

She said she was charging between $600 and $800 for sex while working in Cartagena and only accepted foreigners as clients, considering herself an "escort."

Asked why she became a prostitute, Londono said "it's an easy life" that would allow her to study and provide for her son.

At one point in the interview, her mother was brought into the interview by phone, and described the shame she felt.

Londono said her mother did not know until the scandal broke that she was a prostitute and had been medicated for depression.

She said her son was unaware of his mother's celebrity, and said she considers herself finished with prostitution.

"This has cured me of it all," Londono said. "Even if I'm not hired for the magazine covers, I will never do it again."

A U.S. Drought Monitor map shows Western Massachusetts is somewhat better off drought-wise than the rest of the state.

The Republican | David MolnarA pedestrian takes refuge from the rain under a large, multi-colored umbrella as she walks down High Street in Holyoke on April 22.

SPRINGFIELD — The weather pattern that led to the abnormally dry conditions that have plagued the region this winter and early spring appears to have broken, CBS3 meteorologist Nick Morganelli said.

“The overall jet stream pattern is not a dry pattern that’s setting up right now,” Morganelli said, adding that more rain is expected for Western Massachusetts next Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the weekend “looks great,” Morganelli said, adding there will be sunshine and daytime temperatures in the 60s through Monday.

Michael Rawlins, a manager of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, agreed that pattern of dry weather has changed for the better.

“It looks like the pattern we were under has broken,” said Rawlins, also an assistant professor at the university’s Department of Geoscience. “There is no reason to believe (the abnormally dry weather) is going to be an ongoing thing. I think the farming and the soil moisture should be OK provided we have normal precipitation.”

Data compiled by the Climate Prediction Center, a department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows that normal rainfall for Hartford from January to April is 13.46 inches, Rawlins said.

What the region received for that period, however was 8.9 inches, Rawlins said. Things improved in April, however, when a total of 3 inches of rain fell in Hartford.

Normal rainfall for April is 3.72 inches, Rawlins said.

April’s rainfall got its most substantial boost on the 22nd and 23rd when some 2.76 inches fell in Hartford.

“That really helped,” said Rawlins, adding the region has so far received .8 of inch of rain this month

A map produced by the U.S. Drought monitor shows that Western Massachusetts is somewhat better off drought-wise than the rest of the state.

Much of Western Massachusetts, as of May 1, remained “abnormally dry” as opposed to the moderate and even severe drought recorded in the central and eastern regions of the state.

Rawlins said hydrologists consider a region to be under short-term drought conditions when soil moisture and the smaller streams are affected.

Long-terms droughts occur when groundwater levels and large reservoirs are affected. That has not occurred here and groundwater levels in the region remain above-average, Rawlins said.

A total of 47 students were on the 3 buses at the time the accident happened.

The Republican | Dave Roback05/04/12-Palmer-Staff Photo by Dave Roback- State and local police at the scene of a school bus accident on Route 32 at the entrance of the Massachusetts Turnpike on Friday afternoon.

This is an update of a story posted at 3:15 p.m.

PALMER — A chain reaction accident involving three school buses at the entrance of the Massachusetts Turnpike exit on Route 32 (Thorndike Street) sent 14 middle school students to area hospitals, police said.

Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said the students had no visible injuries. They were taken to Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer, Baystate Mary Lane in Ware and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

A total of 47 middle school students were on the buses when the accident occurred at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Friday.

The buses were on their way to the high school to pick up more students when one bus stopped short, setting off the chain reaction, police said. The buses were heading north, police said.

There were students on all three buses at the time. Some used their cell phones to call their parents, who rushed to the scene to get to their children, police said. The accident caused a traffic jam at the busy intersection, tying up traffic on Thorndike Street and the Massachusetts Turnpike for two hours, Frydryk said.

He said school officials, including representatives from First Student, the bus company, also responded, as well as state police and Monson police. Another bus was brought to the scene to take home the remaining students.

The accident remains under investigation.

Despite a vote of no confidence in Duggan, firefighters union President Michael Hatch believes the union can continue working with the chief to ensure public safety.

File photo | The RepublicanA city investigation found no merit to complaints about Chief Brian Duggan (shown after his swearing-in as chief in 1998).

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor David J. Narkewicz expressed his continued support for Fire Chief Brian Duggan Friday as he released the results of a city investigation that found no merit to grievances against the chief by the firefighters’ union.

Northampton Fire Fighters Local 108 made public last week a vote of no confidence taken against Duggan by its membership earlier this month. In an accompanying statement, union President Michael Hatch listed the union’s grievances against the chief, maintaining that Duggan was using his office for personal advancement and had endangered the public by putting money and resources into unnecessary items at the expense of vital equipment and adequate staffing.

In her investigation of the allegations, Human Resources Director Glenda Stoddard reviewed about a dozen documents, including the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the city, the minutes of various Public Safety Committee meetings, the “no confidence” vote and Duggan’s written response to it. In each of the 11 allegations, Stoddard found either that there was no merit to the claim or that Duggan was acting within his authority as head of the department in the best interests of the city.

“Based on these findings, I recommend that no adverse action be taken against Chief Brian Duggan,” Stoddard wrote.

Among her findings, Stoddard disputed the union’s claim that Duggan was reaping a windfall in overtime, saying that the chief does not receive any overtime. His staffing decisions are consistent with the city’s “best practices” model, she said.

Regarding the union’s complaint that Duggan has neglected to budget for a replacement fire engine, Stoddard noted that he has been advocating for one unsuccessfully since 2005. She found no evidence that the city paid $30,000 for Duggan to take management training at Harvard, saying that less than $10,000 was spent for the training and that it was approved by the mayor.

Although Narkewicz noted that such personnel matters are generally not subject to public disclosure, he said he released the report at Duggan’s request.

“The Local 108 Executive Board and all firefighters need to understand that Chief Duggan has both my confidence and support and will continue to command the Northampton Fire Department,” Narkewicz wrote. “I urge them to follow the chief’s example, and work together to move the department forward.”

Although Local 108 asked the city to look into its allegations, Hatch said Friday that he doesn’t trust Narkewicz’ report.

“We obviously have a hard time respecting the report due to lack of transparency,” he said, adding that he would like to see a party unaffiliated within the city investigate Duggan.

Despite Stoddard’s findings, Hatch was adamant in insisting that Duggan’s main focus is on his career and not the Fire Department. He rejected suggestions by Duggan and Narkewicz that the “no confidence” vote was an attempt to gain leverage in ongoing contract matters between the city and the union.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with bargaining,” he said.

Despite the vote of no confidence, Hatch believes the union can continue working with the chief to insure public safety.

“Our members have a lot of pride in the work we do and the city we serve,” he said. “Our goal, first and foremost, is to protect the citizens of Northampton.”

Saying his office door is always open to the rank-and-file, Duggan also pledged to work cooperatively for the sake of the city. He added, however, that it takes two sides to work together.

“This is an opportunity for everyone to focus away from politics and focus on working together,” he said.

Brian Duggan

The occasion was the annual Community Based Juvenile Justice Project Task Force meeting at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Photo by Mark Murray / The RepublicanGinger Pisani speaks Friday about her husband being killed in a violent crash six years ago

SPRINGFIELD – Ginger Pisani told a crowded conference hall Friday she was first filled with anger, even hatred, for the person whose driving killed her husband six years ago.

But speaking to groups of young people about what driving distracted, drunk, or otherwise impaired can do has given her “a sense of peace,” she said.

The occasion was the annual Community Based Juvenile Justice Project Task Force meeting at the MassMutual Center.

Pisani spoke about her work with Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni’s Safe Driver Education Program.

A little later in the program students on Youth Advisory Board – created by Mastroianni in November – reported back, though graphics and their own words, on their findings on such topics as school climate and youth violence.

Ginger Pisani’s husband Joseph Pisani, a counselor for Longmeadow schools, was killed Oct. 18, 2006, on Route 20 in Westfield when a car driven by 25-year-old Jason B. Cook of Southwick crashed head-on into his car.

Cook was sentenced to 3½ to seven years in state prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter from the crash.

“What’s hard for me is seeing the pain this has caused my children,” Pisani said.

Speaking to area high schools as part of the safe driver program “has given me a voice,” she said. “I know that’s what Bob would have wanted.”

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanDorothea Polk speaks at youth conference Friday.

Kathleen O’Connor, a victim witness advocate in the Hampden District Attorney’s office for 23 years, said she has seen a steady stream of families coming in seeking justice for their loved ones.

She said under the safe driving program, presentations have been made at 18 schools.

The Youth Advisory Board is made up of three regional components and each took the stage in turn.

The Central region took on the issue of “school climate,” what makes it good and what makes it bad.

Chicopee High School student Dorothea Polk said most students feel most comfortable talking with teachers rather than administrators.

“The higher the figure, the more trust issues there are,” she said.

Danielle Lessard of Sabis International Charter School gave a listing of students who struggle the most.

It included students who: don’t have much family support; have disabilities; come from households in poverty; have a language or culture outside the majority; or are not involved in extra-curricular activities.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanDanielle Lessard talks about struggling students during the task force meeting.

The Western region took on the issue of youth violence.

Agawam High School student Tim Provost said elementary school can bring exclusion or mean jokes, and is a place where often bullies and victims are identified early and “they understand it as their role.”

It is in Middle School when physical fights usually start, when the Internet is a bigger issue, when the jokes get meaner.

Sheena Tritscher of Westfield Vocational High School said gossip and rumors are a big factor in school life and are especially difficult to handle in small schools.

“You’ll read stuff on Facebook,” she said, and then people will be talking about it in school.

It's the second time he has gotten in trouble for quoting LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It."

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A 6-year-old boy was suspended from his suburban Denver school for three days after school officials said he told a girl "I'm sexy and I know it," a line from a popular song.

D'Avonte Meadows, a first-grader at Sable Elementary School in Aurora, is accused of sexual harassment and disrupting other students, according to a letter the school district sent to his mother after he was sent home Wednesday.

School officials issued a statement saying they couldn't discuss the case, but they pointed out a school board policy that defines sexual harassment as any unwelcome sexual advance. There is no age limit.

The Aurora Police Department said it was not involved in the case because laws only cover children ages 10 and older.

D'Avonte's mother, Stephanie Meadows, said her son doesn't know the meaning of sexual harassment and it's the second time he has gotten in trouble for quoting "Sexy and I Know It." The song by the duo LMFAO was at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for two weeks in January.

"I'm just, I'm floored," Stephanie Meadows told KMGH-TV ( bit.ly/KaXY7f). "They're going to look at him like he's a pervert. And it's like, that's not fair to him."

The Associated Press could not locate the Meadows family for comment.

Aurora Public Schools issued a statement Thursday saying it is trying to provide an equal learning environment for all students.

"We have policies and protocol in place to prevent any disruption to the learning environment. Due to privacy laws, we are unable to discuss appropriate disciplinary consequences about a specific student," wrote spokeswoman Paula Hans.

Denver attorney Craig Silverman said elementary school students have the same rights to free speech as adults as long as they understand and follow the rules. He said school policies should allow for exceptions.

"Sometimes when you go to a zero-tolerance policy, you end up with a zero-sense policy," he said.

D'Avonte's suspension comes as the Colorado Legislature considers a measure that would eliminate zero-tolerance discipline policies related to violence and weapons that were enacted after the Columbine High School shootings.

It's a response to cases in which students have been punished for bringing fake guns or butter knives to school and doesn't address sexual harassment policies. However, Sen. Linda Newell, the bill's sponsor, said the measure would also direct school districts to consider alternative forms of discipline, such as remediation decided by a student's peers, in all kinds of discipline cases.

The bill has passed the state Senate and is awaiting action by the full House.

Lawmakers who worked on the measure say zero-tolerance policies have disrupted too many students' education for minor offenses.

As examples, lawmakers have cited Colorado students who were referred to police for trying to break up a fight or having a replica gun on school grounds.

They also point to cases such as at least two in Florida in which girls, 10 and 11 years old at the time, were arrested for allegedly bringing a plastic butter knife and a small kitchen knife to school.

Under Colorado's Senate Bill 46, the only cause for mandatory expulsion would be bringing a real firearm to school.

The first chicks made their debut early Wednesday, and the third hatched Thursday. Watch video

The Republican | Greg SaulmonOne of the adult falcons tends to the four chicks Friday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD -- The final egg in the clutch laid by the female half of a pair of peregrine falcons nesting at Monarch Place hatched Friday, bringing the brood of hatchlings to four.

The first chicks made their debut early Wednesday, and the third hatched Thursday. The drama has unfolded in full view of anyone with access to an Internet connection, thanks to a live webcam maintained by CBS3 Springfield.

Earlier today the new addition was seen jockeying for position among its siblings as one of the adult falcons doled out bits of meat from the carcass of a starling. On Friday afternoon one of the adult birds rested quietly, occasionally nudging a white, downy head back under its spotted breast.

Falcons began nesting at Monarch Place in 1989, and over the years different male and female pairs have produced over thirty offspring.

Wildlife officials will band the current brood of hatchlings later this spring.

In Amherst, a second pair of falcons are nesting atop the W.E.B. Dubois Library on the University of Massachusetts campus. That nest, too, is featured on its own webcam. As in Springfield, several chicks have recently hatched at the Amherst nest.

The University of Massachusetts page dedicated to the campus falcons outlines the birds' perilous history: use of the pesticide DDT nearly wiped out the species in the mid-20th century, and by 1966 there were no nesting pairs in the eastern United States.

Restoration efforts began in 1972, and by 2007 wildlife officials counted 14 territorial pairs in the state. Falcons have nested for years at Mount Sugarloaf in Sunderland, and a pair has been spotted the past several years in Holyoke.