Start the week informed with Business Monday from The Republican.

Jerrey RobertsJohn Aubin is the owner of Open Square in Holyoke, seen in the background.

Start the week informed with Business Monday from The Republican:

Arts Walk in Holyoke promotes cultural renaissance of downtown

When John Aubin began refurbishing a massive industrial complex on Holyoke’s upper canal about a dozen years ago, it was a lonely spot. More than a decade later, the picture has changed: The mill buildings are busy once again.

Offices, boutiques, dance studios and artists’ workspaces fill 60,000 square feet of what’s now known as Open Square. There are more than 60 tenants. Read more >>

Howdy winners recognized for great customer service

The 17th annual Howdy Awards for Hospitality Excellence were presented on May 15 at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House. The event attracted more than 360 tourism industry professionals. Read more >>

Voices of the Valley: Maryann Whitehead, Nina's Cookies of Agawam

"My sister Lucy Mazza and I started the store in April 2009. I used to do it out of my house for about 15 years," Whitehead said. It was just baking cookies for parties and different functions." Read more >>

Single-family homes sales see 5 percent increase in Connecticut

Single-family home sales in Connecticut rose more than 5 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the first increase in almost two years. Read more >>

Connecticut lawmakers allow sun to set on solar panel tax exemption

A bill that would have exempted solar panels and other renewable energy sources from local property taxes failed to become law before the end of the state Legislature’s session. Read more >>

Commentary: JPMorgan fiasco makes one long for the days when banking used to be boring

With the deregulation of finance, however, bankers’ capital – financial, social and cultural – soared. And, as they accumulated a steadily larger share of the nation’s wealth, Wall Street traders and executives became market-makers for not just securities but also Fifth Avenue duplexes, townhouses in Mayfair, Caribbean islands and high-priced hookers. They were celebrated in print and television journalism. Mega-wealth transformed them: They were dull no more. Read more >>

Editorial: Obscured by overall unemployment numbers is the loss of well-paid middle-tier jobs

The worsening crisis in Europe and the slow recovery in the United States are distracting attention from a longer-term problem. Read more >>

Business notes

Inspections improve workplace safety, Former McDonald's head moves to Dunkin board, Oxfam America sues SEC, and more

Point Software of Longmeadow wins award, TruBeer has new website, Oxbow unveils new logo, and more

The suspect is not believed to be armed and the lockdowns have since been lifted.

Gerald Williams

SPRINGFIELD – Two city schools went into lockdown mode as a precaution Monday morning after a 36-year-old suspect, wanted on a warrant for assault with intent to murder and other charges, fled police on Cambridge Street.

Sgt. John M. Delaney said the lockdowns at the Rebecca Johnson School on Catharine Street and the Ells School on Cortland Street have since been lifted.

The suspect, Gerald Williams, of 86 Bowles St., remains at large. “They don’t think he was armed or anything,” Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet said, adding that police spotted Williams at about 7:45 a.m.

The department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit was seeking Williams for a domestic related incident that occurred near his home on Friday, shortly before 10:45 p.m.

Other charges against Williams, pertaining to that incident, are assault and battery and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

The mayor (pictured) will be joined by Gregory Bialecki, state Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, to discuss insurance issues and to provide updates about local and state storm response efforts.

File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanSpringfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is seen at a recent press conference at City Hall.

SPRINGFIELD – State officials are scheduled to join Mayor Domenic J. Sarno on Tuesday for an update on insurance claims and response efforts related to the June 1, 2011, tornadoes that tore through the city of homes and other parts of western and central Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory P. Bialecki, Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony and Commissioner of Insurance Joe Murphy are expected to join Sarno at the East Forest Park home of Bill and Kim Winslow at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to release from the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

The officials are slated to review the response of insurance carriers and local and state leaders to the storm. The session, which will be held at Winslows' home at 317 Gillette Ave., marks the first significant storm update since the end of last June, according to state officials.

East Forest Park was hit hard by the twisters, which cut a path of destruction through southern sections of the city before continuing east through Springfield's suburbs and beyond.

The attempted armed robbery was reported about 7:50 p.m. on Friday.

Republican file photo

EAST LONGMEADOW – Police are seeking the public’s help as they continue to probe an attempted armed robbery of the TD Bank branch on North Main Street Friday night.

Police said the suspect entered the bank about 7:50 p.m., just before closing, and handed the teller note demanding cash. No weapon was shown but the note implied the man was armed.

Sgt. Patrick Manley said the suspect apparently grew nervous and fled out the door before the teller could comply with his demand. The suspect was last seen heading towards Harkness Avenue.

Manley said police theorize the suspect may have been picked up by a getaway driver and ask those who may have been in the area around that time to call police if they recall seeing a running man jump into a vehicle.

“We suspect something like that happened,” Manley said.

The suspect was described as a black man, approximated 6 feet, 2 inches tall with a slim to medium build and about 25 to 30 years old. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap, blue jeans and sunglasses.

Detective Joseph Barrone and Officer Michael Engles are investigating. They can be reached at (413) 545-544o.

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Judge Constance B. Sweeney previously denied a defense motion to exclude the confession, although she expressed grave reservations about the interrogation techniques.

The Republican | Don TreegerAttorney David P. Hoose (left) stands with his client, Anthony P. Baye, during a 2010 appearance in Hampshire Superior Court.

NORTHAMPTON -- The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that police officers overstepped their boundaries while interrogating arson suspect Anthony P. Baye, overturning a ruling by a Hampshire Superior Court judge and negating Baye's alleged confession.

Baye, 26, a Northampton resident, was arrested shortly after a rash of fires in and around his neighborhood on Dec. 27, 2009. One of those fires took the lives of a father and son on Fair Street. Baye is charged with two counts of first degree murder in those deaths as well as multiple counts of arson. He is accused of setting 15 fires in all that night.

State police troopers Michael Mazza and Paul Zipper interrogated Baye over the course of ten hours on Jan. 4, 2010. Several police officers out on patrol that night reported encountering Baye driving around the area of the fires in the early hours of the morning. Baye asked to speak with a lawyer after Mazza and Zipper advised him of his rights, but the troopers repeatedly told him it would be better for him if he spoke with them.

Mazza also minimized Baye’s alleged actions, assuring the suspect that he believed Baye never intended to hurt anyone. When Baye ultimately agreed that he didn’t intend for anyone to die, the troopers took it as a confession.

Judge Constance B. Sweeney previously denied a defense motion to exclude the confession, although she expressed grave reservations about the interrogation techniques. Defense lawyer David P. Hoose and Thomas Lesser appealed Sweeney’s decision.

In the ruling released Monday, the Supreme Judicial Court said police “misrepresentations” constituted a violation of Baye’s Constitutional rights. The court excluded the interview, vacating Sweeney’s ruling.

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court: Ruling on Anthony Baye's motion to suppress statements to police

The National Review Online quickly retracted its claim that Warren had plagiarized two paragraphs in her book. The Warren campaign asked supporters to donate to stop the "Republican smear machine."

AP PhotoDemocratic candidate for U.S. Senate Elizabeth Warren faces reporters during a recent campaign stop at a diner in Shrewsbury.

At 6 p.m. on Friday, the National Review Online ran a story accusing Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren of plagiarism. At 7:05 p.m., the National Review pulled the piece and ran a correction.

By Saturday afternoon, the Warren campaign was using the false accusations in a fundraising email.

The original National Review post stated that Warren’s book “All Your Worth” had two paragraphs that repeat almost word for word two paragraphs in a book “Getting on the Money Track” by Rob Black. Blogger Katrina Trinko reported that Warren’s book was published in 2006 and Black’s in 2005.

However, Warren’s book was actually published in March 2005, while Black’s was published that October. (The paperback version of Warren’s book was published in 2006.) “As such, it appears that Getting on the Money Track (published in October 2005) plagiarized from All Your Worth, not the other way around,” Trinko wrote in the correction.

In the hour that the story remained up, however, Republican operatives started flagging the story for reporters – something that the Boston Globe reported.

By Saturday, the Warren campaign had used the momentary blip to its advantage. Warren campaign manager Mindy Myers sent a fundraising email to supporters with the subject “Smearing Elizabeth Warren.” “Anyone with an Amazon.com account could have discovered quickly that the charge was bogus,” Myers wrote. “But that didn't stop Scott Brown's campaign, as the Boston Globe reported, from immediately forwarding the story to reporters, hoping to create a dust-up over tabloid fiction.” Myers urged supporters to donate $5 to stop the attacks.

That is not the only plagiarism accusation that has come up during the Senate campaign. The conservative news site Breitbart.com on Friday questioned whether three recipes Warren submitted to a 1984 “Pow Wow Chow” cookbook edited by her cousin came from other sources. The Warren campaign has declined to comment on that accusation.

Warren’s opponent, Republican Sen. Scott Brown was criticized in October after his website contained a portion of autobiography that was taken from Elizabeth Dole’s website. Brown’s staff said that was due to a technical error by a staffer.

LONGMEADOW – Police Sgt. Eric Wisnouskas is being credited with saving the life of a woman injured in a Cobblestone Road house fire early Monday morning. Wisnouskas was the first public safety official to arrive at 57 Cobblestone Road, where a fire broke out just before 4 a.m. today. The homeowner's son said his mother was still inside the burning,...

LONGMEADOW – Police Sgt. Eric Wisnouskas is being credited with saving the life of a woman injured in a Cobblestone Road house fire early Monday morning.

Wisnouskas was the first public safety official to arrive at 57 Cobblestone Road, where a fire broke out just before 4 a.m. today. The homeowner's son said his mother was still inside the burning, 2-story home, prompting Wisnouskas to spring into action, Longmeadow Police Capt. John D. Stankiewicz said in a release.

Wisnouskas entered the house, which was fully engulfed in smoke, climbed the stairs to the second floor, where thick, acrid smoke forced him to retreat, according to Stankiewicz. Wisnouskas covered his mouth and nose with a wet towel and made another attempt to find the woman. He located the unconscious woman and dragged her down the stairs, Stankiewicz said. Officers Sean Smith and Amanda VanBuskirk assisted with the rescue.

The victim was transported to Baystate Medical Center, where she remained in serious condition this morning.

"All three officers jeopardized their own safety to save the life of this woman, but it is Sgt. Wisnouskas who is the true hero," Stankiewicz said. "This woman would not be alive if it weren't for him making that second effort to find her.

The blaze is under investigation by state troopers assigned to the office of state Fire Marshall Stephen D. Coan.

Bystanders to the broad daylight crime detained Rodriguez.

SPRINGFIELD — Reynaldo Rodriguez was sentenced Monday to four to six years in state prison for robbing a 65-year-old Department of Developmental Services employee last year.

Reynaldo Rodriguez

Rodriguez, 35, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to armed robbery, assault and battery on a person over 60 years old with injury and assault and battery in front of Hampden Superior Court Judge Mary Lou Rup.

Rodriguez was tackled and restrained by bystanders, including a postal worker, after the on April 8, 2011 pocketbook stealing incident.

At the time of his arrest prosecutors said Rodriguez has 19 separate entries on his criminal record and has had 12 separate incarcerations, including one at state prison.

At a hearing shortly after Rodriguez’ arrest, the woman said she went to her car parked in front of the medical building located at 125 Liberty St. at 11 a.m. and put her pocketbook in the back seat.

“Someone was behind me, he shoved me and grabbed my purse out of the car,” the woman said then. “I was holding onto it. I started to scream.”

She said the man pushed her and she grabbed his legs, but the man shoved her and took the pocketbook.

Prosecutors said at the time of his arrest Rodriguez had gotten out of jail in February.

The general manager said business has suffered from a 'tarnished name' following the death of a homeless baby in the hotel.

The Republican | Sandra E. ConstantineThe Clarion Hotel in West Springfield, where plans are in the works for reconstruction and two new franchise hotels.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Site plans for a major rebuilding of the structure housing the Clarion Hotel on Riverdale Street have cleared Planning Board approval, according to officials.

The Planning Board approved the plans totaling $1.5 million to $2 million submitted by Shailesh Patel on behalf of DLP Hospitality by a 3-0 vote Wednesday.

The authorization paves the way for Patel to drop the building’s Clarion franchise and instead operate two different hotels at the site at 1090 Riverdale St. Plans call for gutting and then rebuilding the rear half of the building into a Wingate hotel and the front portion of the structure into a Ramada hotel, according to Joga S. Kandhari, general manager at the Clarion.

Kandhari said the development will allow DLP Hospitality to cater to two different clienteles, business travelers in the Wingate section and families in the Ramada portion of the building.

The reason for the change is to upgrade the image of the business, according Kandhari.

“Business has not been as good as it could be with the name tarnished,” Kandhari said.

The Clarion’s image has suffered since a homeless baby died in the hotel in 2010, he said. Although the Clarion has not housed any more homeless since April 2010, Kandhari said the establishment’s reputation still suffers.

The back portion of the building, which now has 134 rooms, will be retrofitted to 120 rooms because of the addition of such amenities as a new registration area. Plans call for new carpeting, bathrooms and furnishings.

The front of the building will be remodeled, and its approximately 130 rooms will get new carpeting and furnishings.

Planning Administrator Richard A. Werbiskis said Planning Board members expressed concern about what they feel has been poor upkeep of the property.

They stipulated that trees be planted to replace trees cut down near a wetland in accordance with an enforcement order issued by the Conservation Commission. They required landscaping as well as the replacement of a stockade fence at the property that is in severe disrepair, according to Werbiskis.

In addition, Patel has been told to restripe the parking lot so it complies with federal handicapped parking codes.

Longmeadow Town Manager Robin Crosbie will complete her contract on June 30.

LONGMEADOW — The town manager search committee is now interviewing 10 candidates for the position, Select Board member Marie Angelides said.

The Select Board has been working with consulting firm Collins Center for Public Management to identify candidates for the position that will be available July 1 and will pay between $115,000 and $135,000 per year.

Current town manager Robin Crosbie announced last year that she will not be seeking re-employment when her contract expires June 30.

Angelides said after many discussions with the consultant and several public forums, the search committee is now scheduling interviews with the 10 possible candidates.

“We received a good response from a number of applicants and we are hoping to complete interviews by the end of May and have five candidates that will go before the full Select Board,” she said.

Some qualities they are looking for in a candidate include knowledge of town infrastructure repair and maintenance; an ability to maintain positive labor relations and a positive management climate; community planning and development as well as economic development experience; strong skills in budget planning; and communication skills.

Angelides said the Select Board worked very closely with the consultants and took into account the comments made by residents during several public forums held to discuss the issue. The town paid Collins $14,000 to conduct the initial search.

Salary for the position will be a minimum increase of $16,000 over Crosbie’s current salary, which is listed as $98,561.

“This is the salary range recommended by Collins, but it will be negotiated once we select the candidate,” she said.

Angelides said the board hopes to select a candidate by the beginning of June.

Norman Priebatsch of Boston lost his footing and fell hundreds of feet into the crevasse while hiking with his son

File photo | Associated Press03.24.2012 | Tuckerman Ravine is seen on Mount Washington.

PINKHAM NOTCH, N.H. — The body of a Massachusetts hiker has been recovered from a Mount Washington crevasse.

Sixty-seven-year-old Norman Priebatsch of Boston lost his footing and fell hundreds of feet into the crevasse while hiking with his son at Tuckerman Ravine on April 1.

A ranger had been lowered into the crevasse after Priebatsch fell but could not see or hear him. Officials determined he couldn't have survived the fall.

The search was suspended after conditions on Mount Washington became too treacherous.

On Sunday, officials determined that a tunnel leading to the crevasse had melted enough for searchers to enter it. They recovered the body in about two hours.

The grant will be used to purchase an enclosed trailer that will double as a mobile command unit when needed.

File photo | Manon Mirabelli08.28.2011 | WESTFIELD — Maureen Patrick, of Westfield, waits at her vehicle to be rescued by Westfield emergency personnel on Russell Road in front of Tekoa Country Club.

WESTFIELD — The city’s Emergency Management Agency is in line for a $14,000 state grant that will assist local efforts in planning, coordinating and responding to future emergency situations.

Director Jimmie D. Wiggs said the grant, which the city will match through in-kind services, will allow his department to purchase an enclosed trailer and shelter supplies.

The 24-foot trailer will also serve as a mobile command post when needed in different sections of the city.

“We need shelter supplies such as cots, blankets and the such,” said Wiggs. “During the October snowstorm, we were forced to borrow those items from the American Red Cross and other service agencies. That can be quite difficult when the emergency is regional,” he explained.

The trailer serving as a mobile command post would be especially important in situations such as the June 1 tornado when certain sections of the city are impacted, he said.

The tornado focused primarily on the Ward 5 southeast section of the city and Wiggs and other city departments had established a command post at the Little River Fire Station.

The director said he also wants to have a supply of flashlights, first aid kits and paper products.

“This grant will allow Westfield become more self-sufficient for the first 48 hours of an emergency,” Wiggs said. “It will enhance our emergency services.”

The grant, which must be spent by June 30 is part of the department’s “continued effort to improve our operations,” said Wiggs.

The City Council last week authorized acceptance of the grant being funded by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Wiggs and 18 department volunteers logged more than 500 man-hours in response to the June 1 tornado and again during the October snowstorm.

A native of Cuba, de la Torre, a cardiac surgeon, offered a mixed assessment of island’s health care system, noting that its advanced care was as weak as its preventative efforts were strong.

The Republican | Dave RobackFrom left, Peter F. Straley, President and CEO of Health New England, Anne Awad, CEO of Caring Health Center and Congressman Richard E. Neal listen to speakers at a luncheon on health care at the Museum of Springfield History on Monday.

SPRINGFIELD — The growing emphasis on diet, exercise and disease prevention will yield long-term health care cost reductions, but not soon enough to help the system’s current economic crisis, several medical professionals and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal said during a panel discussion Monday.

“Illness and disease are considered to be things that happen to you,” said Peter F. Straley, Health New England’s chief executive officer. “Well, over half of what happens never had to happen – these are self-inflicted wounds.”

“We can change the trajectory of life dramatically by the decisions we make every day,” he added.

Straley appeared at a panel discussion sponsored by the Springfield-based Caring Health Center on state of health care in Massachusetts.

Other speakers included Neal, Ralph de la Torre, chief executive officer of Steward Health Care of Westwood, formerly the Caritas Christi network; Daniel Moen, chief executive officer of Sisters of Providence Health System; and James Hunt, president of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.

As the main speaker, de la Torre said that the trend toward wellness and prevention was long overdue, and would be costly in the short-run. “It’s going to cost some money; we’ve got to pay for the last 20 years when we didn’t do anything,” de la Torre said.

Ralph de la Torre

A native of Cuba, de la Torre, a cardiac surgeon, offered a mixed assessment of the island’s health care system, noting that its advanced care was as weak as its preventative efforts were strong.

“It’s the opposite of the United States,” he said.

Neal said the complexities of the health care system, particularly President Obama’s universal heath care plan, are daunting enough without the inflammatory rhetoric and polarizing debate swirling around it.

“The demagoguery should be put aside so the American family can have a rational conversation,” said Neal, adding that the upcoming national election will help determine the direction of health care policy for years to come.

Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, of Cambridge was celebrating with two classmates when a worker at the waterfront pub asked him to leave because he was visibly intoxicated.

PORTLAND, Maine — Divers on Monday recovered some clothing belonging to a Massachusetts man who went missing after he was asked to leave a pub while celebrating his upcoming graduation from Harvard Business School, police said.

This undated photo provided by the Portland, Maine, Police Department shows Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, of Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Portland Police Department)

Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, of Cambridge, Mass., was celebrating with two classmates when a worker at the waterfront pub asked him to leave at 12:20 a.m. Saturday because he was visibly intoxicated, Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said. Bihlmaier failed to return to his hotel and was reported missing on Sunday.

Divers on Monday found an article of clothing belonging to Bihlmaier and planned to return to harbor waters on Tuesday. A sonar device was brought in for the search.

But Sauschuck told reporters on Monday that investigators continue to look at all scenarios — not just the possibility that Bihlmaier fell into the water late Saturday.

Bihlmaier, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, is due to graduate with his classmates on Thursday. They'd traveled to Portland for an early celebration, police said.

After being asked to leave the Ri Ra Irish Pub near the Maine State Pier, Bihlmaier called his friends several times from his cell phone up until 1 a.m., when the calls stopped. He appeared to be lost and was naming landmarks in hopes that he could rendezvous with his friends, the chief said.

The funding needs City Council approval.

The Republican file photo | Michael Gordon David Foster, left, and Marianne Jorgensen of Shutesbury looked at color separation etchings by Mary Teichman in her workshop at the 25th annual Cottage Street Open Studios tour last winter. Riverside Industries, which owns the building, wants to raise money to replace all the windows in the building.

EASTHAMPTON — Riverside Industries will be launching a full fund-raising campaign this summer to help bring in enough money to replace all its windows but in the meantime, the city wants to help.

Last month, the Community Preservation Act Committee unanimously supported awarding $300,000 to the agency that provides services to people with developmental disabilities.

The City Council needs to review and ultimately vote to approve the spending.

The nonprofit Riverside owns the building for its programs and rents out studio space to dozens and dozens of artisans. But the building is old and drafty.

Heating costs are high and so are electric costs because tenants will often use space heaters to stay warm, said Riverside Executive Director Deborah Thomas. And the windows let in heat in the summer.

The building has 912 windows, but Riverside has replaced 240 of them, she said.

Thomas said they are still in the quiet phase of fund raising but will go public in July to continue raising the $1.135 million needed for the work.

Assistant Planner Ben Webb said the project qualifies for preservation act money because of the historical preservation component.

Riverside wants to preserve the exterior character of the building. “It’s a very prominent mill building in our downtown. The Historical Commission recognizes the historic nature of the building.”

According to the preservation act vote, Riverside must comply with the rehabilitation standards outlined in the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stands for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

By replacing the windows, Thomas said, they’ll preserve the building’s historic character and reduce their carbon footprint by reducing their energy consumption.

The aging windows cost them more than $50,000 in lost energy spending and that amount will only rise as costs go up, Thomas said. Many of the windows are more than 100 years old.

“We can put the money into client services instead of having them go out the window.” She said they serve about 275 people.

They began working on the project last summer.

“I’m so excited,” she said. When finished, the building will again become a cornerstone of the downtown, she said.

One Cottage Street was built in 1859 and the mill first produced battens and twines, and later, rubber thread, according to the Riverside website.

Glendale, a division of United Elastics, and later J.P. Stevens & Co. Inc. used the building. The mill closed in 1972. J.P. Stevens donated it to Riverside in 1976.

File photo | The Republican

The majority of the increase will be used to fund federally mandated projects that separate storm drains from sewage lines to prevent sewage overflows from polluting the Connecticut River.

Republican file photoAn employee works on a past sewer and storm water separation project.

CHICOPEE — Residents will see a hike in their sewer and storm water bills, but the pain will be delayed until next year.

The City Council voted to accept the new rates recommended by the Sewer Commission in a 13-0 vote. The rates will increase for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins next July, and again in the following year.

“There will be no increase in the fees this year,” Councilor James K. Tillotson said when explaining the new rates and fees.

The proposal that was accepted will keep a two-tiered rate structure that allows people to pay a lower rate for the first 1,000 cubic feet or 83 gallons of water used. After 1,000 cubic feet of water is used, the rates get higher. Sewer rates are based on the amount of water used.

Currently people pay $4.45 for every 100 cubic feet of water up to 1,000 cubic feet. Next year that will increase by 45 cents to $4.90 for every 100 cubic feet of water. In fiscal year 2015, the rates will increase to $5.40 for every 100 cubic feet of water.

On the second tier, which comes into play if more than 83 gallons are used, the current rate is $5.25 per 100 cubic feet. That will increase to $5.70 per cubic feet in fiscal year 2014 and $6.20 in 2015.

The storm water fee for all single-family homes is currently $100 a year and a maximum of $160 for most businesses and multi-family buildings. In 2014 the rates will rise by $6.66 a year and in 2015 it will increase by $14.06 for single-family homes.

The majority of the rate fee increase will be used to fund federally mandated projects that separate storm drains from sewage lines to prevent sewage overflows from polluting the Connecticut River, Tillotson said.

The rate increases will allow the city to borrow about $26 million to continue projects including those on Grattan and Dale streets, Sheridan and Montgomery streets and John and Clark streets, Tillotson said.

“After the money is spent we will have 75 percent of the city done,” he said.

Tillotson echoed a number of other councilors who said they continue to be frustrated with the fact the city is expected to pick up all costs of the mandate.

“At least the money we are putting into it is benefiting residents of the city,” Councilor Frederick T. Krampits said.

The city has been plagued with sewage backing into homes in different neighborhoods, and the separation project is slowly alleviating that problem, he said.

The All Things Local working group is holding an open meeting Tuesday at 7 in the Amherst Town Hall.

Republican file photoJohn Gerber is a member of an Amherst group looking to create a market selling locally made and produced products. The group is holding a meeting in Amherst Town Hall Tuesday night.

AMHERST – At the winter’s market here, vendors sold their carrots and potatoes, but they also sold soaps, and sheepskin, jams and wool, but that was just one day a week and for the winter months only.

Now, a group wants to create a year-round market similar to that held the last two years at the Amherst Regional Middle School in a downtown store.

It would be modeled after the market and Local Roots Market and Café, a cooperative created in Wooster, Ohio, said John Gerber, a member of the All Things Local working group.

The group will hold a meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Town Hall and another May 29, and is welcoming people from all over the Pioneer Valley who produce or make products to come. The group wants to gauge the interest.

“The idea came from the winter market,” Gerber said. “Some of those products were really appreciated by customers. The diversity (at the market) was a lot more fun.”

Customers could buy turnips and parsnips but also candles made from birch trees that had fallen during last October’s storms. Vendors sold sauces and jams, wool products and yarns and organic baby products. The market had “creative personal things that people made,” Gerber said.

But, he said, “Not everyone shops on Saturday morning.” He sees the store open six days a week.

The offerings would be more diverse than those products offered at the cooperatively run River Valley Market in Northampton or at an artisan’s cooperative, for example, he said.

He also sees the business replicating the sense of community that the winter market provided. “It’s where you could go and meet your friends. You can have your kids play.”

The business would be run as a cooperative, managed by those who sold products and consumers. Gerber said. The group is looking at different models and welcomes ideas.

If people are interested in such a venture and can’t attend the meetings, they are invited to visit http://www.transitionamherst.org/blog/2012/05/community-input/ or write to allthingslocalamherst@gmail.com.

Under state order, a nonprofit agency has been managing the vocational school since July.

Staff photo by Don TreegerHolyoke Dean Tech students take shop classes to learn skills, such as culinary arts student Jennifer Hernandez, here preparing blueberry chutney in January.

HOLYOKE — A meeting with state officials May 30 should clarify the future of Dean Technical High School, an official said Monday.

The city’s vocational school has been run by a nonprofit agency since July, under state order, because of students’ chronically poor academic results, but agency and local officials have clashed about control.

The conflict has led to the meeting in Malden with Mitchell Chester, commissioner of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“I think at that meeting there’ll be a lot of clarity,” said Devin M. Sheehan, School Committee vice chairman.

Options include the Northampton-based Collaborative for Educational Services continuing to run Dean, the city finding another firm or agency or the Holyoke School Department resuming full control of Dean, he said.

In remarks after the School Committee meeting, Sheehan said, “I don’t think we’ll find another company. I think it’ll be the Holyoke public schools.”

Collaborative officials told the School Committee May 8 the organization will withdraw from its contract unless the city gives it complete autonomy to run Dean, such authority being necessary to make the changes needed to turn around Dean.

That includes power to develop and enforce the student admission policy, set enrollment capacity, and hire, fire and move around staff, they said.

Federal and other grants are paying the agency $606,520 a year.

Collaborative officials’ comments angered some committee members. Ward 3 member Dennis W. Birks Jr. said the Collaborative’s position was a “shameful” avoidance of responsibility.

During the public comment period Monday, resident Mary Z. Birks told the School Committee it should dissolve the partnership with the Collaborative. Birks is a Holyoke resident, Dennis Birks’ mother and director of special education for the town of Ware.

The money paid to the Collaborative would be better spent on Dean students, she said.

“Regrettably, the (Collaborative) has failed them and demonstrated an unexpectedly callous attitude toward the entire Dean learning community,” Birks said.

Collaborative Deputy Director William Diehl couldn’t be reached for comment late Monday.

Dean, at 1045 Main St., has a budget of $7.3 million, 600 students and 160 teachers and other staff. Students take shop classes that include auto body repair, welding, cosmetology and culinary arts.

The Republican file photo | Don TreegerHolyoke Dean Tech students take shop classes to learn skills, such as culinary arts student Jennifer Hernandez, here preparing blueberry chutney in January.

Although several daredevils have survived trips over the falls in barrels or other contraptions, beginning with Annie Edison Taylor in 1901, just 3 people have survived unprotected.

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A man survived a plunge of at least 180 feet over Niagara Falls in an apparent suicide attempt Monday — only the third person known to have lived after going over the falls without a safety device.

Niagara Parks Police said witnesses reported seeing the man climb over a railing 20 to 30 feet out over the Horseshoe Falls at 10:20 a.m. and "deliberately jump" into the Niagara River. Seriously injured, he surfaced in the lower Niagara River basin near the Journey Behind the Falls observation platform and managed to make it to shore on his own.

"He waded ashore," said Platoon Chief Dan Orescanin of the Niagara Falls, Ontario, Fire Department. "He must have gotten swept into an eddy, floated over there and was able to get out on his own.

"That's another stroke of luck," Orescanin said. "If he was in the main current, he would have been swept down river."

Orescanin said the man was conscious and talking at first but got quiet. He appeared to have chest injuries, including broken ribs and a collapsed lung, Orescanin said.

The man was airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital with what police initially said were life-threatening injuries. Hospital spokeswoman Agnes Bongers said later that the man was critically injured but was expected to survive.

Authorities did not release the man's name.

Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side of the river, is the tallest of the three main falls, higher than the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

The man, believed to be in his 30s or 40s, was rescued about two hours later after fire department rescuers rappelled down the steep and rocky gorge and pulled him in a basket back up the cliff.

"It was very difficult. Between the shale and the boulders, and everything is wet and slick. It's slimy," Orescanin said.

About seven rescuers struggled to carry the basket up to a point where it could be lifted with ropes suspended from an aerial truck.

"We had to basically hand carry him back up, a foot at a time, up the rope," the chief said.

The rescue came weeks before daredevil Nik Wallenda plans to walk over Niagara Falls on a tightrope after convincing United States and Canadian officials to grant an exception to laws prohibiting stunting.

Although several daredevils have survived trips over the falls in barrels or other contraptions, beginning with Annie Edison Taylor in 1901, few have survived unprotected. In 1960, 7-year-old Roger Woodward was swept over the falls wearing a life jacket and survived.

Authorities don't believe Monday's plunge, on a warm and sunny Victoria Day holiday in Canada, was a stunt.

"Based on witness statements and surveillance video, it doesn't appear in any way, shape, or form that this was anything other than a suicide attempt," Niagara Parks Police Sgt. Chris Gallagher told WIVB in Buffalo.

More than 6 million cubic feet of water go over the brink of the falls every minute during peak daytime tourist hours, according to the Niagara Parks Commission.

The last person to go over the falls unaided and live was a 30-year-old Canadian man in March 2009. In October 2003, Kirk Jones, an out-of-work auto parts salesman from Michigan survived his plunge over the falls.

After getting the call Monday, rescuers didn't immediately know whether the man at the bottom of the gorge had gone over the brink or entered the water at the base.

"When we heard that he had gone over the falls we were shocked," Orescanin said.

Melissa Bowerman, 41, who had been coaching an Oregon track and field team with her 73-year-old husband, Jon Bowerman, was ousted this month in a phone call from school officials.

PENDLETON, Ore. — The daughter-in-law of Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman has been dismissed as a volunteer track coach at a small Eastern Oregon high school because she escorted a 17-year-old boy to the prom.

03.09.2011 | Condon/Wheeler (Ore.) high school track and field coach Melissa Bowerman (AP Photo/The Oregonian, Faith Cathcart)

Melissa Bowerman, 41, who had been coaching the Condon/Wheeler track and field team with her 73-year-old husband, Jon Bowerman, was ousted this month in a phone call from school officials.

"We started an investigation that led to us asking her to un-volunteer," Condon Superintendent Jan Zarate said. He declined to elaborate.

Melissa Bowerman said she went to last month's Condon High School prom with a boy from the track team because the boy felt bad about not having a date and had been struggling in English class.

"If they go on (academic) probation and suspension, then they can't go to the track meets," said Melissa Bowerman, who also has a son on the track team. "I said, 'OK, I will go with you, but we've got to talk about English first. You're going to do better in English."

Melissa Bowerman says attending the prom was an error in judgment, but she maintains she did not have an inappropriate relationship with the teen.

She said the two danced to a few slow songs but mostly played ping pong and foosball at the prom, the East Oregonian newspaper of Pendleton reported (http://is.gd/pBVR6a ).

Gilliam County Sheriff Gary Bettencourt, who received a complaint from a chaperone, said he has found no evidence that Melissa Bowerman broke the law.

The boy's father, meanwhile, said he gave Melissa Bowerman permission to take his son to the dance.

"The first thing I thought, 'Maybe this isn't a good idea.' But Melissa has been like a surrogate mom to these kids for years," Bob Thomas said.

Melissa Bowerman's late father-in-law is well-known among Oregon sports fans. Besides inventing the waffle-soled running shoe and co-founding Nike with Phil Knight, Bill Bowerman coached track at the University of Oregon from 1949 to 1972, winning four national titles. His relationship with track great Steve Prefontaine has been featured in two films.

The Condon/Wheeler track and field program has ballooned from six athletes to more than 30 in just four years under Melissa and Jon Bowermans' watch, and the girls' team won its first state title Saturday.

As the team prepared to depart for the state track meet last week, Condon athletic director Ron Kopp told the Bowermans that Melissa would not be allowed to ride on the team's charter bus with the athletes. With the bus only half full, parents have historically accompanied their sons and daughters for the ride.

Jon Bowerman said he might resign because of the situation, and possibly sell his family's ranch near Fossil.

"The only thing we've done wrong is build them a new track and get uniforms and build them a powerhouse program," he said. "If she doesn't come back, I'm not coming back."