There has been renewed discussion of "stand your ground" legislation following the controversy over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed youth in Florida.

James Ferrera

File photo | The RepublicanSpringfield City Hall

SPRINGFIELD — The City Council voted 11-1 Monday to urge the state Legislature to reject a bill patterned after the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida governing the use of deadly force.

The council, in its resolution, said that a bill sponsored by state Sen. Stephen Brewer, D-Barre, is unnecessary given that people can already use deadly force against intruders in their home “without a duty to retreat.” A state law, expanding the deadly force defense is unnecessary given existing statutes and case law, councilors said.

Council President James J. Ferrera and Councilor Bud L. Williams were the lead sponsors, in opposing Brewer’s bill. Gov. Deval Patrick has stated he would veto the bill if passed.

There has been renewed discussion of “stand your ground” legislation following the controversy over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed youth in Florida. George Zimmerman, arrested on a charge of second-degree murder, said he shot Martin in self-defense during a scuffle, according to news reports.

Councilor Timothy J. Rooke was the only councilor voting against the resolution, saying he fully supports Brewer’s bill allowing people to defend themselves with deadly force, if needed, to protect themselves and their families.

The Rev. Talbert W. Swan II, president of the Springfield chapter NAACP, was allowed to speak prior to the council’s vote, and urged them to oppose Brewer’s bill, saying the bill would “call for an escalation of violence as opposed to de-escalation.”

On March 31, activists conducted a 1,000 Hoodies Walk at City Hall to protest the shooting of Martin in Florida. The protest reflected that Martin was unarmed and wearing a hoodie when shot by Zimmerman.

Cook pleaded guilty and was suspended for assaulting 2 superior Springfield Police officers.

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council approved a home rule bill on Monday that asks the state Legislature and Governor to restore the pension of Patrolman Derek V. Cook in the aftermath of his guilty plea and suspension for assaulting two superior officers.

Derek Cook

The vote was 9-3 in favor of the bill, which will be forwarded to Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, and if signed, would then be forwarded for consideration by the Legislature and Governor.

Councilor Melvin Edwards, a lead sponsor, said it is a matter of “fundamental fairness” for Cook to regain his pension rights as he was already punished with a three-month unpaid suspension for the station house assault, but kept his job.

The Springfield Retirement Board voted to strip Cook’s pension last month, saying it was following the requirements of state law. The home rule bill, if approved, would serve to restore the pension.

Cook pleaded guilty in July to assaulting Lt. Robert P. Moynihan and now-retired Sgt. Dennis M. O’Connor in February 2008.

Councilors Michael A. Fenton, Kateri B. Walsh, and Clodovaldo Concepcion opposed the bill, saying they needed more information. Fenton asked that the matter be referred to executive (closed door) session, but his motion was rejected by Council President James J. Ferrera III.

Sarno’s communications director, Thomas T. Walsh, said Sarno would review the council’s bill before commenting.

Some councilors said Cook's situation was unique, in that he is working as a police officer without the protection of a pension should he be injured in the line of duty.

Councilors Timothy J. Rooke and John Lysak said the city could face liability if Cook is hurt without pension protection.

Cathedral pays $360,000 yearly to lease Memorial School.

File photo | The RepublicanMemorial School in Wilbraham, which is being using by Cathedral High School as temporary quarters following the June 1 tornado.

WILBRAHAM — Selectmen said Monday night they favor leasing Memorial School to tornado-damaged Cathedral High School, but want the town, not the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District, to get the yearly revenue.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has announced that the reopening of Cathedral High School on Surrey Road in Springfield in the aftermath of the June 1 tornado will take longer than expected due to an impasse between the diocese and its insurance company. The diocese wants to replace the building on Surrey Road in Springfield; the insurer wants to repair it.

Cathedral now leases Memorial School from the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District for $360,000 per year, and Cathedral has asked that the lease be extended until July 1, 2014.

Selectmen said they support extending the lease with Cathedral, but said the building is a town building and should be returned to the town so the town can lease it to Cathedral.

Selectman James Thompson said that if the school district no longer needs the building for education, then it should be returned to the town. “I would like to see Wilbraham take back the building,” Thompson said.

“As a graduate of Cathedral, I don’t want to see Cathedral out on the street,” Thompson said. He said the town should realize the $360,000 in yearly revenue, not the school district.

School Committee member Peter Salerno said the school committee has been advised by its attorneys that the rent which Cathedral is paying should go to the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District.

“Our attorney will meet with your attorneys,” Thompson told Salerno.

Selectman Robert Boilard said he agrees with Thompson.

“I don’t want to see Cathedral out, but I want to see the town take back the building,” Boilard said.

He said that if the building is no longer being used as an educational building by the regional school district, the building should revert to the town of Wilbraham.

Hampden-Wilbraham School Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea said the regional school committee wants to contract a consultant to do a demographical study on the projected future school population.

Selectmen Chairman Patrick Brady said it appears that class size in Wilbraham has dropped from 300 high school seniors to fewer that 200 students projected in kindergarten next fall.

Thompson said that when the school district made a decision to close Memorial School in 2010, it appeared that the district did not need the building.

The work is part of an ongoing Main Street road and sidewalk reconstruction project in the city's North End.

File photo | The Republican09.12.2011 | SPRINGFIELD — Crews work on a sidewalk on Main Street in the North End, part of a reconstruction project scheduled to continue through the summer.

SPRINGFIELD — The city’s Department of Public Works is advising motorists that a road improvement project will continue on Tuesday on Main Street, from Gridiron Street to Osgood Street, that will hinder traffic. 

The work is part of an ongoing $3 million Main Street road and sidewalk reconstruction project in the city's North End.

The first of two phases in the project began last summer, covering a stretch of Main Street from the railroad arch near the Peter Pan bus station to Osgood Street in the Memorial Square area of the North End. The first phase is scheduled for completion by the end of summer 2012.

A future second phase will continue from Osgood Street to the Chicopee border.

The schools are considering cuts at the Tier 3 level, which includes 4 athletic programs, a library paraprofessional, a high school teacher and several part-time teachers.

SOUTH HADLEY — The $19,819,610 budget proposed by the South Hadley School Department for fiscal year 2013 has been whittled down by the School and Appropriations Committees, but Interim Schools Superintendent Christine Swecklo said more expenses may be on the way.

The School Committee made cuts that brought the number down to $19,658,322. The Appropriations Committee has reduced it further to $19,636,976.

Two classroom teacher positions, one at Mosier Elementary School and one at South Hadley High School, are being eliminated because of a decline in student population, but seven part-time personnel are being added.

Part-timers are measured in percentages. For example, an autism specialist is being added to the district at 0.4 of a full-time load. As a result, even with two full-time teachers gone, the schools will have added 0.8 teachers.

The budget will be voted on at Town Meeting on May 12. Committees working on the school budget made cuts based on a three-tiered system presented by the School Department.

Tier 1 represented the least essential items on the budget, such as repairs on the gym floor at Smith Middle School and stipends for professional development programs.

In some cases the item was a reduction rather than an elimination. For example, the heating budget will cost less because the schools received a lower bid this year, and tuition for South Hadley students who take classes at Smith Vocational will go down because Smith lowered tuition.

Tier 2 included such items as chair replacements at the Middle School. Those are gone, too.

So now the schools are looking at Tier 3, which includes four athletic programs (such as the wrestling team), a library paraprofessional, a high school teacher and several part-time teachers.

The wild card in any school budget is the special education budget. The state mandates that disabled students have the right to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible.

That means providing special education teachers, custom-made lesson plans and other expensive adaptations.

Fortunately, the state helps with the expense by allotting what educators call “circuit-breaker” funds, though these only reimburse a fraction of the cost.

Swecklo said she recently had a special ed student added to the district who will require $100,000 to educate, and she may or may not have other special ed students coming in who would add up to $200,000 in expenses.

“Nothing is definite,” she said. “We have to keep our eyes on the radar screen.”

The School Committee will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the high school library.

Developers have been hesitant to buy the contaminated former Games and Lanes bowling alley site because of the extent to which it is polluted is not known.

The RepublicanThe site that housed the former Games and Lanes bowling alley, which the city would like to rid of contamination and see redeveloped.

AGAWAM — The city is seeking proposals from brownfields site assessment consultants in its efforts to clean up the polluted property that used to house the former Games and Lanes bowling alley.

“Hopefully, in the near future we can get it clean up and revitalized,” Mayor Richard A. Cohen said Monday of the dilapidated property at 346-350 Walnut Street Extension.

The mayor also said he wants to get the property back on the tax rolls. A total of $31,086 in back real estate taxes dating back to fiscal 2008 are outstanding on the property, according to city records.

Cohen and Debra S. Dachos, city planning and community development director, said there is a developer interested in the property, but declined to release a name.

Dachos said potential developers have been scared away from buying the property because the full extent of contamination from the dry cleaning chemical, trichloralethylene, a hazardous cleaning solvent, is not known.

The mayor said Manfred Tidor, the building’s owner, has spent more than $1 million in recent years to remove contamination. The state Department of Environmental Protection has certified that Tidor no longer has the financial standing to do any more cleanup, Dachos said.

The building was occupied by the uniform rental business Standard Uniform Corp. from 1969 through about the late 1980s, when the uniform company built new quarters on Silver Street. About that time, it leased out the building to Games and Lanes and several other indoor entertainment businesses.

The contamination was discovered in 1989 with the removal of an underground gasoline tank. Tidor worked to clean up the site from 1989 to 2007, according to Dachos.

The building has been vacant since at least 2001, when a small fire and malfunctioning sprinkler system caused between $50,000 and $80,000 in damage to the property.

Dachos said once she gets estimates on the cost of hiring a consultant, she will be able to seek permission from the City Council to apply to MassDevelopment, a state agency, for a grant to do a study of the contamination.

The city has sent out requests for proposals for a study that are due back May 25.

Dachos said the property is not eligible to be cleaned up by the state because there is no evidence the chemical plume, which has contaminated groundwater, is an imminent threat to public health.

The property, which consists of a building on 2.3 acres, has an assessed value of $147,500, according to Assessors Department records.

"With no races, the low voter turnout was not a surprise," the town clerk said.

HAMPDEN — Residents in Hampden have a new selectman, Norman F. Charest, and a new School Committee member, Lena Buteau, following Monday’s annual town election.

Town Clerk Eva Wiseman said voter turnout was 2.23 percent, or 83 of 3,712 registered voters.

“With no races, the low voter turnout was not a surprise,” Wiseman said.

Longmeadow averages $13,000 a year in billing for false alarm calls made to the police department.

LONGMEADOW – Residents who do not pay their overdue false alarm bills could face a lien on their property taxes, Town Collector and Treasurer Mary Pequignot said.

“We currently have $6,305 in outstanding bills, some going back to 1998, but most are more recent,” she said.

The existing bylaw allows for one free false alarm call made to a home or business by police. The second call is a $25 fee and any subsequent calls are $50 each, Pequignot said.

Pequignot said those who have outstanding bills will soon receive a letter from the town’s counsel advising both commercial and residential property owners that if all false alarms bills are not paid to the town, the amounts of the bills will be added to their fiscal year 2013 real estate tax bills.

During an annual Town Meeting in 1992, residents approved a warrant article accepting a Massachusetts general law that allows lien charges to be placed on real estate property taxes if residents are behind on false alarm, water and sewer bills.

In 2009 the town began placing liens on property taxes for unpaid water and sewer bills; now it will do the same for the false alarms.

Pequignot said this is an effective way of collecting the overdue bills, because most residents do not want the addition to their property taxes.

“We are just looking to pursue every avenue we can to collect what is due to the town,” she said.

The town averages $13,000 a year in billing for false alarm calls made to the police department.

For more information or questions call (413) 567-1066.

In the town election, the winners were select board candidates opposed to a resort casino near Gillette Stadium proposed by Steve Wynn.

File photo | Associated PressA lawn sign protesting a proposed gambling casino is seen in front of a home in Walpole, Mass. Though the proposed site for the casino is an unpaved parking lot at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., many Walpole residents are closer to the site than any from Foxborough as the Walpole town line runs along the edge of the site. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FOXBOROUGH — Foxborough residents sided with casino critics in voting for two select board members opposed to any talks over a $1 billion resort casino proposed by Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn.

If selectmen don't enter negotiations with Wynn, the project cannot go forward under a state gambling law that requires local approval of road improvements and other services for a potential casino.

Residents voted Monday for incumbent Lorraine Brue and former state Rep. Ginny Coppola, who both oppose any preliminary talks with Wynn.

Wynn has proposed the resort on land leased from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Incumbent board chairman Larry Harrington and school committee member Martha Slattery, who favored talks, were the losing candidates.

Police were seeking the public's help in identifying a man caught on surveillance video attacking a woman going into a Forest Park store with her 4-year-old.

Here are the most-read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) 'The Avengers 2' — What fans should expect [Ray Kelly]

2) Mother stabbed in front of 4-year-old daughter during Belmont Avenue robbery attempt in Springfield's Forest Park neighborhood [Conor Berry]

3) Car vs. moose on Mass Pike; moose dies, driver hospitalized [Conor Berry]

4) Springfield police seeking public's help in identifying suspect in Belmont Avenue knife attack on mother and daughter (surveillance video) [Patrick Johnson]

5) Springfield man evades police pursuit, feared dead after jumping into Connecticut River [Doron Tyler Antrim]

To view local photos from Monday's editions of The Republican, click on the photo gallery above at right.

The Bay State's moose population is estimated at about 1,000 animals.

Photo by Michael Beswick / The RepublicanThis moose heads into the woods in Belchertown early one morning in December.

Long absent from Massachusetts, moose have become abundant enough around Quabbin Reservoir that wildlife officials have grown concerned about the impact of one of North America’s largest wild animals on the watershed forests.

Moose, like deer, eat tree seedlings on the forest floor, and if the browsing is too heavy, there may not be enough young trees to replace older trees as they die.

A study is under way by a researcher at University of Massachusetts in Amherst to determine what effect the moose are having.

“Preliminary data,” says David Wattles, a doctoral candidate in the UMass Department of Environmental Conservation, “indicates that moose may be slowing – but not preventing – forest regeneration. But, it’s too early in the research to say if moose, at their current density, are having any long-term impacts.”

The project, funded primarily by the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, involves studying the habits and behavior of moose on the Quabbin watershed lands, a population estimated to be 100 animals, part of a statewide population of about 1,000.

Primarily a woodland animal, moose were extirpated from Massachusetts by the early to mid-1800s as much of the state’s forestland was converted to farms.

However, many of those farms were abandoned after the Civil War as agriculture shifted west. Open fields grew back to forest, and moose gradually migrated into the state from the north, with much of the population growth coming in recent years.

In 1998, the state’s moose population was estimated at 75. By 2006, it had grown to nearly 1,000.

Built in the 1930s, Quabbin Reservoir and its watershed were off limits to hunters for most of its history. However, finding that densities of deer were as much as five times higher on those lands than outside the watershed, and that young trees were not growing on the forest floor because of deer browsing, the state instituted a deer hunting season at Quabbin in 1991 to bring down those densities. Soon, deer densities there were in line with the rest of the state, and tree seedlings reappeared on the forest floor.

However, moose can eat perhaps 10 times as much in a day as a deer.

“If you go to a stand that was harvested 10 years ago,” Wattles said, “you’ll still see signs of recent browse and the impacts of older browse, but many of the saplings and young trees will have already grown well over your head and out of browse range for moose.”

“So are there impacts? Yes,” he said. “But moose aren’t in my opinion overly impacting regeneration, certainly not to the extent that deer did prior to the hunt in the (19)90s.”

“If you look at the end of winter, it seems (moose) have eaten everything in (an area cleared by logging),” said Wattles, “but by the end of summer, the regrowth is remarkable.” He believes the state’s moose population has, for the time being, stabilized at about 1,000 animals.

Thomas K. O’Shea, the assistant director of wildlife for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said a bill is introduced nearly every year in the state Legislature to establish an annual moose hunting season, and there is again such a bill this year.

“I would say we’re neutral on it. We’re waiting to see the research results,” he said. “There are a lot of questions about moose in the long term.”

Police broke up numerous parties in the bustling college town, which will hold commencement ceremonies this week.

Republican file photo by Robert RizzutoAn Amherst police cruiser. (Republican file photo by Robert Rizzuto)

AMHERST – The last weekend before graduation proved to be a relatively wild one, with rowdy parties reported throughout the bustling college town, according to authorities.

In the lead-up to commencement ceremonies at the University of Massachusetts, which begin Friday and continue Saturday, police issued tickets, arrested revelers and broke up numerous gatherings, large and small.

Calls ranged from intoxicated students to an incident on Saturday involving a woman who was apparently stabbed in the leg in the parking lot of The Boulders, an apartment complex off East Hadley Road. She was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton for treatment, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

David Foster

In another incident, Amherst Police Detective David Foster told the Northampton newspaper that an investigation is under way to identify two men who reportedly assaulted a college-age man in the Amity Street parking lot next to the Amherst Cinema building on Saturday. The man sustained a broken nose and cuts to his face, according to Foster.

Also on Saturday, a man was assaulted after an intruder gained entry to his Sunset Avenue home, police said.

Parties dominated the weekend social calendar in Amherst, including a Friday night Friday gathering that drew more than 300 people to 181 College St. Police responded to that party at about 11:30 p.m. About an hour later, officers broke up another large party at 115 Belchertown Road. Police made arrests at both gatherings, the Gazette reports.

The merriment continued through Saturday afternoon, including a party at 121 Meadow St., dubbed the "Beer Olympics," that attracted more than 200 people. Officers helped disburse the crowd.

Officers responded to an early Sunday fraternity party at 496 North Pleasant St., where rowdy students threw bottles into the road. At about the same time, officers arrested a dozen people attending parties on Phillips Street, located along the southern edge of the UMass campus.

The Gazette reports that Amherst firefighters also were busy, extinguishing a Saturday night Dumpster fire on Hobart Lane and a Sunday morning Dumpster fire at the Brandywine Apartments. They also responded to a Sunday night report of a large bonfire, in which furniture and other items were burned, at 388 Pine St.

UMass commencement ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate students are scheduled for Friday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., respectively. The graduation ceremony for agriculture students will be held Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

A federal grant of $3.2 million used the past three years to pay salaries is expiring.

HOLYOKE — Expiration of grants and increased costs such as those for busing homeless students have officials pessimistic about avoiding employee layoffs in the next school budget.

Also, officials with a non-profit agency told the School Committee on Monday night the organization will withdraw from its contract unless the city gives it complete autonomy to run the troubled Dean Technical High School.

Committee Vice Chairman Devin M. Sheehan said he doubted layoffs of some of the system’s 1,600 employees could be avoided in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“I don’t see that not occurring,” Sheehan said after the meeting.

The budget approved for the current fiscal year was $88.2 million.

Devin Sheehan

The school budget includes a city appropriation of $62,879,111. But most of the school budget, including part of the funding that is considered the city appropriation, consists of state aid.

Christine P. Regan, school executive director of finance, updated the committee on the development of the next budget.

Federal stimulus money that consisted of three years at $3.2 million a year expires after June 30. The schools had used that money, not to hire new people, but to pay salaries for existing custodians, clerks, paraprofessionals and assistant principals, she said.

Also, with a quarter of the student enrollment of 5,900 in special education, such costs account for $15 million. But the main source of funding to the schools, state aid known as Chapter 70 money, stipulates a formula that allows the city just $6 million for special education, she said.

“So we’re down already $9 million,” Regan said.

State law requires that the city pay to transport students in homeless families that the state has placed in hotels here to attend school in their home communities. In the current fiscal year, the city will spend $450,000 on that, $170,000 more than budgeted, she said.

The gloom forced officials to order building principals and department heads to cut their budget plans for the next fiscal year by $11 million, with Sheehan saying those accounts now already are at “bare minimum.”

“It’s going to devastate public education in the city of Holyoke,” committee member at large Howard B. Greaney Jr. said.

Budget discussions will continue in finance subcommittee meetings set for May 15 and 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Dean, Fifield Community Room, 1045 Main St., officials said.

Additional meetings will be held later this month before a decision is made about the Northampton-based Collaborative for Educational Services and Dean, Sheehan said.

Collaborative for Educational Services Executive Director Joan E. Schuman said making the changes that are needed to turn around Dean require that the Collaborative have complete authority. That includes power to develop and enforce the student admission policy, set enrollment capacity, and hire, fire and move around staff, she said.

“We need complete authority for the principal to run the school in a way we feel it should be run,” Schuman said.

The state ordered the city to hire a manager for Dean because of students’ chronically poor test results. Federal and other grants are paying the agency $606,520.

Schuman’s remarks prompted rebukes. Ward 3 committee member Dennis W. Birks Jr. said the Collaborative was avoiding responsibility.

“It’s frustrating and it’s shameful,” Birks said.

Some questioned why the Collaborative failed to note such powers were needed when it began managing Dean in July. Schuman said the Collaborative made its needs known at the outset, has raised concerns since the school year began and was trying to work with local officials.

“It leaves a sour taste in my mouth,” Greaney said.

The poll may indicate that the controversy surrounding Warren's Native American ancestry isn't swaying the opinions of voters.

View full sizeRepublican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren. (AP photos)

A new poll shows U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and his chief Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren tied in the Massachusetts Senate race, despite the Harvard Law professor's ongoing controversy in regards to her Native American ancestry.

A statewide telephone survey of 500 likely voters in the Bay State concluded that both Brown and Warren have support from 45 percent of those polled. Two percent of those surveyed on May 7 said they plan to vote for another candidate while eight percent said they are still undecided.

The poll, which has a 4.5 percent margin of error, indicates that the questions surrounding what part, if any, Warren's Native American ancestry played in her career advancement, have not affected her standing with Massachusetts voters.

For almost a decade in the 1980s and 90s, Warren's Native American ancestry was mentioned in a directory of law professors compiled by the Association of American Law Schools.

Christopher Child of the New England Historic and Genealogy Society said last week that he found an 1894 document in which Warren's great-great-great grandmother is listed as Cherokee, which would make the Harvard Law School professor 1/32nd American Indian. Still, Child has provided no documentation of his findings.

As Harvard University has refused to say whether Warren is the one Native American staff member listed on its 2011 diversity report, Brown is calling on Warren to authorize the release of her personal file from Harvard to clear the air.

"Her changing stories, contradictions and refusal to answer legitimate questions have cast doubt on her credibility and called into question the diversity practices at Harvard," Brown said in a statement released by his campaign. "The best way to satisfy these questions is for Elizabeth Warren to authorize the release of her law school applications and all personnel files from the various universities where she has taught.

Warren's campaign said the request was a distraction from Brown's vote against a bill which would have kept the student loan interest rate from doubling on July 1.

“Once again, Republican Senator Brown is shamelessly attempting to divert attention from his record on the issues that really matter in this election, like the cost of student loans," said Alethea Harney, Warren's press secretary, in a statement. "Minutes after Scott Brown voted with his Republican party to double interest rates on student loans, he ridiculously attacked Elizabeth Warren with questions that have already been answered."

Warren's campaign provided the statements below from the institutions where Warren has previously worked.

Why Did They Hire Elizabeth Warren

A state inspection in November 2010 found a large quantity of asbestos siding had been removed from the house and stored in open recycling bins, according to court documents.

The Republican | File photoThe Hampden County Hall of Justice in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – A Grafton woman pleaded innocent Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court to charges relating to improper asbestos removal from her property at 100 Pearl St.

Susan Nissenbaum, 59, is charged with three violations of the state Clean Air Act in the case brought by the state Attorney General’s office. She is free on personal recognizance.

According to a statement in the case file from Assistant Attorney General Andrew Rainer, a state inspection in November 2010 found a large quantity of asbestos siding had been removed from the house and stored in open recycling bins and open or torn trash bags under the porch as well as in the basement.

The state said Nissenbaum bought 100 Pearl St. in August 2007.

She submitted a notice to the state Department of Environmental Protection in 2007 for the removal of asbestos wall board and roofing acknowledging she knew certain procedures were mandated.

According to the state, in the fall of 2009 Nissenbaum began paying two prospective tenants to renovate the property, including removing siding.

Although she knew it contained asbestos she didn’t tell her tenants how it needed to be handled, nor ensure they had proper training and equipment.

She didn’t notify Environmental Protection before starting and didn’t ensure the tenants followed procedures to protect themselves or ensure no asbestos fibers were released into the air, according to Rainer.

Therefore, the tenants and their children “unwittingly participated in an unsafe asbestos removal project,” he wrote.

The situation came to the attention of the state when a private company notified Environmental Protection it has been asked to dispose of asbestos-containing material at the property.

The charges are failing to give notice of a project involving asbestos, failing to follow proper procedures and improper asbestos storage.

DiSanti said 300 people went to her announcement.

Linda A. Stec DeSanti

SPRINGFIELD – Linda A. Stec DiSanti, a Democratic candidate for Hampden Superior Court Clerk, said she has filed 2,000 verified signatures with the Secretary of State’s office.

She said that is double the amount of signatures necessary to place her on the primary ballot Sept. 6.

DiSanti said 300 people attended her recent announcement of her candidacy at the Huke Lau in Chicopee.

DiSanti, of Chicopee, has been the legal administrator/office manager for DiSanti Law Offices in West Springfield for 32 years.

Westfield is now a proposed casino location in Western Mass. The news stirs mixed-emotions among Westfield residents and MassLive.com readers.

Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik

Westfield residents have mixed opinions over whether or not their town should be considered a possible location for the pending casino to be built in Western Mass.
Westfield mayor, Daniel M. Knapik released on Monday that he had spoken with Penn National Gaming company about a possible opening of a resort casino at the former potential Pavillion Mall site near the Massachusetts Turnpike in Westfield.

Westfield residents will have a chance for a city-wide vote to see what the general consensus is. Holyoke, downtown Springfield, Brimfield and Palmer have all, at one time or another, been considered a potential site for the region's casino.

Mayor Knapik, who is also a Wesfield native, called the casino an economic development opportunity that would bring an entertainment venue to the city, shopping and approximately 2,000 jobs, ranging from lower-level housekeeping or custodians to “six-figure salaries.”

A casino can generate $20 million to $40 million in property tax revenue that would help with Westfield’s current budget problems. According to Knapik, Westfield is facing a $4 million budget deficit.

The budget issues and other problems faced in Wesfield worry residents. Some look at the casino proposal as a way to generate revenue, increase property value and create jobs that will stimulate the town and surrounding area. Others, look at the casino proposal as an idea that does more bad then good --- that the casino is not needed in Westfield, that it will agitate already high levels of traffic and that other surrounding towns could pose as an equally good location for the new casino.

Vixen413 said:
After living through the very poorly executed construction project currently happening in Westfield, I shutter to think of how badly the city of Westfield would handle such a large project. If this actually happens, I will most definitely be moving. Hasn't the city of Westfield put the citizens through enough with this never ending "revitalize Westfield" project? Many of the small businesses have already had to shut their doors. A casino would be the final nail in the coffin of those that have somehow managed to hold on through the existing catastrophe in the city. Terrible idea.

TP1031 said:
The details are far better laid out then this article provides. The deal would require them to address and pay for the traffic repairs need to have casin there. Also not mention is the large reduction in property tax this would provide Westfield residents. I don't think it fair at this point as a resident to say no. We have to get business into Westfield. Our schools all need repair. The downtown is a wasteland. WE NEED JOBS, if you have an alternative to the problem fine but don't just throw it away.

Nancestef said:
Westfield can't handle the traffic it has now...how in the heck will we handle casino traffic.
Bad idea.

Unaffiliated584 said:
Westfield is perfect for the casino. I live and work here, and I will be voting for it! Reduce my taxes and improve my schools! A casino is the perfect business to be near jet noise, since casinos are usually noisy inside anyway. Traffic will mostly come from Mass pike exit 3, turning Northbound on 10-202, so it won't clog downtown any worse than its always been. We get tax income, jobs, more entertainment and gaming convenience; people coming from the West get a more reasonable drive than a Palmer casino would be. Westfield is close enough to I-91 to attract potential casino guests coming south from Vermont and New Hampshire. To reduce potential backups onto the Mass pike, it would be nice if the turnpike authority could eliminate the ridiculous toll booth at exit 3 (and other western mass exits), where most people are waiting in line only to pay no toll, and replace them with one toll booth across the Pike in Palmer, but other than that: Bring it on, as long as it includes a poker room! Get it done!

The event, called "A Massachusetts Evening," is being held on the rooftop of the Santa Monica building which houses Bad Robot Productions, a TV production company owned by J.J. Abrams.

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren will head to California on May 21 for a fundraiser alongside Bay State actors Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and John Krasinski. (AP file photo)

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren is going back to California on May 21 for a big ticket fundraiser hosted by three of the Bay State's favorite sons.

Actors Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and The Office's John Krasinski are hosting a $1,000 minimum donation event in the Harvard Law School professor's honor, as she takes on Republican U.S. Scott Brown is what is being billed as the most expensive Senate race in history.

The event, called "A Massachusetts Evening," is being held on the rooftop of the Santa Monica building which houses Bad Robot Productions, a TV production company owned by J.J. Abrams.

While minimum individual donations are $1,000 to simply be a guest, the positions of co-host or co-chair are restricted to those contributing at least $2,500 and $5,000 respectively.

Warren's latest receipt of California love comes following similar fundraisers alongside celebrities like Cher, Bette Middler, Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman.

In recent months, the Massachusetts Republican Party has taken aim at Warren for her out-of-state support although Brown also raises significant money from outside the state.

In late February, Republicans targeted Warren's Hollywood support in a web video called "The Elitist." Two weeks later, they attacked singer/actress Cher after she spoke kindly of Warren via Twitter.

A previous analysis of campaign contributions by The Republican's Greg Saulmon revealed that Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, comedian Garry Shandling and “The Simpsons” executive producer James L. Brooks are among Warren's superstar supporters.

According to the most recent data from the Federal Election Commission, Brown has about $15 million in his reelection war chest, compared to about $11 million for Warren. But in the 1st quarter of 2012, Warren out-raised the incumbent senator, $6.9 million to $3.4 million.

A recent Rasmussen poll showed Warren and Brown running neck-and-neck with each holding support of 45 percent of those surveyed, despite an ongoing controversy surrounding the consumer advocate's Native American ancestry.

The report described the organization as dysfunctional and crippled by infighting; since it was issued, there has been a change in Alumni Association leadership.

AMHERST – A year after a consultant’s report described the University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association as dysfunctional and crippled by infighting, UMass officials say they are now pleased with its operation.

The March 2011 report by consultant Betz Whaley Flessner of Minneapolis, Minn., and Arlington, Va., said, “alumni have been critical of UMass, the Amherst campus, and the Alumni Association for over a decade. There is a culture of distrust and contentious relationships.”

Michael A. Leto

Michael A. Leto, as vice chancellor of development and alumni relations, oversees the Alumni Association. He commissioned the $24,500 study after he took the job in 2009. Conducted in the fall 2010, it was kept confidential until recently.

The consultant interviewed 28 individuals, in groups and in one-on-one interactions, and also compared the organization with those of two peers, the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Connecticut.

It analyzed staff leadership, collaboration with campus partners, strategic vision, association programs and resources. The Alumni Association is both a university department and a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization with its own board of 34 volunteer directors.

Rather than comment on perceived problems, Leto said it’s customary for new leadership to hire a consultant to assess an organization, and he said the report offers “a snapshot in time.”

Since the report was issued, there has been a change in Alumni Association leadership along with a new board of directors.

Leto said last week, “We’re very pleased and very optimistic.”

According to the report’s overview:

• Alumni have been critical of UMass, the Amherst campus and the Alumni Association for more than a decade. There is a culture of distrust and contentious relationships.

• "Everyone is sure that they are right and others are wrong ... The cause of the hostility and distrust runs deep and wide.”

• Unless the tumultuous issues related to the ... Board of Directors are resolved “there will be no winners, no matter who is at the helm of the university, the campus, the association board or the association staff.”

The report also offered four areas of recommendations:

• The campus must have visionary, respected, and energetic staff leadership among the campus partners, meaning the Alumni Association and those working with it.

• Volunteer leaders must work well as a group. “The board, past and present, must cease the infighting and hostility that has been described as its mode of operation for more than a decade.”

• The alumni association must work in collaboration with university partners, who “should expect that the association staff and volunteers understand their critical role in connecting alumni to their alma mater, which will encourage alumni to make gifts in support of UMass-Amherst.”

• The alumni association has adequate funding, which should be reallocated to support signature events. These include the Distinguished Alumni Awards, Homecoming and the 50th Class/Emeritus Reunion.

The report also suggested focusing on the “demographic density” of alumni in Greater Boston, where some 46,000 alumni, about 20 percent of the total, live.

JC Schnabl

JC Schnabl, the assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations and executive director of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, said they are collecting data about who those graduates are, what they want from the association and how best to reach them.

More than 226,000 people – all living graduates of the university – are considered members of the association under a May 2010 restructuring that discontinued dues as a requirement for membership.

Since the study was conducted, Ronald F. Grasso has become the new president in place of Sean Leblanc. Other members have come on board as terms expired as well, and UMass hired a new executive director.

Leto said Grasso “is just fantastic.” Board members are elected after a nominating committee reviews then interviews perspective members.

The consultant’s report stated that governance practices needed to be enhanced along with board professionalism.

In February of this year, Schnabl replaced Anna Symington, who was the executive director of the association from November 2008 until June 2010.

“JC is a recognized leader. We’re delighted,” Leto said. Schnabl had been deputy assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations since 2007 at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Schnabl said he has used the report “as a jumping off point.

“My approach is I know what the best business practices are. People tell me things. Everyone has an opinion. I was selected to best help in the time we are in right now.

UMass Alumni Engagment Review and Assessment

“I work with the current board of directors and devise new ways to carry the institution forward.” He said he is aware that there were concerns but “that has not been a distraction on what are we doing.”

He is focusing on the entire membership “rather that what the opinions of a few are.”

“I’m focusing less about personality and (instead on) better business practices.”

He also said that means having fewer events but coordinated events with the campus. Consultants recommended that kind of collaboration and partnership with UMass while the office maintained its identify and mission.

UMass contributes $1 million to the operations of the alumni office, which according to the report had $2.3 million in revenue.

The report found the organization’s revenue comparable to the two peer universities in the study, but its expenditure of $1,935,615 was lower.

Among that spending, athletics receives $85,000 per year; the alumni magazine, $40,000.

Schnabl said the office has just launched an alumni Massachusetts license plate program, a fund-raiser the association tried in 2006. The effort failed when they were unable to garner the 1,500 alumni committed to buy them.

Grasso, the new board president, referred questions to Schnabl, but would say, “I’ve never been prouder to serve as a volunteer of the Alumni Association or as excited about the direction we’re heading in.” 

Young was convicted earlier of charges of operating under the influence in Springfield and Holyoke.

SPRINGFIELD – A 48-year-old Agawam man pleaded innocent Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court to driving under the influence of alcohol, after having had two previous convictions for that same crime.

Brian Young of 89 Harvey Johnson Drive also pleaded innocent to five other charges, all stemming from two crashes in Agawam on May 9, 2011.

Young, who is held on $5,000 cash bail, had previously been arraigned in Westfield District Court and the case has now moved to superior court.

Assistant District Attorney Richard B. Morse said the prosecution alleges on May 9, 2011, Young struck the back of a car at the Agawam South End Bridge rotary and did not stop.

Young is alleged to have gone onto Route 57 and when he tried to exit he rolled his car over.

Police said they observed a large collection of vodka bottles strewn about the crash scene along with an empty and a full beer can.

According to the police report, a bystander stopped to assist Young, who tried to walk away, but the bystander successfully detained him until police arrived.

The two previous convictions listed in the charge of operating under the influence of alcohol as a third offender are one in Springfield in 2006 and one in Holyoke in 1990.

The other charges Young now faces are leaving the scene of a property damage accident, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.