Harrison defeated Britain's Gemma Gibbons in a final she dominated from the start, getting a stronger grip on Gibbons and managing to throw her twice.

Kayla Harrison of the United States reacts while competing against Mayra Aguiar of Brazil (in white) during the women's 78-kg judo competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

LONDON (AP) — Kayla Harrison gave the U.S. its first judo gold medal in Olympic history, taking the 78-kilogram title Thursday at the London Games.

Harrison defeated Britain's Gemma Gibbons in a final she dominated from the start, getting a stronger grip on Gibbons and managing to throw her twice.

Her medal is the U.S.' second in judo this week: Teammate Marti Malloy won a bronze in the women's 57-kilogram division.

Harrison, world No. 4 and a former world champion, was in top form, dispatching many of her opponents with a match-ending ippon move, one in less than a minute. Harrison said she was focused on the gold.

"This is my purpose," she said.

The bronze medals were won by Audrey Tcheumeo of France and Mayra Aguiar of Brazil.

Lyman Terrace has 400 tenants in 167 units in a complex built in the 1930's.

Staff Photo by Dave RobackPart of the Lyman Terrace housing complex in Holyoke.

HOLYOKE — Six Lyman Terrace tenants have filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to block plans to demolish the complex.

The complaint was filed because demolition would equal discrimination because most Lyman Terrace residents are Hispanic, according to the complaint, filed Wednesday.

The complaint was filed against the city, which owns Lyman Terrace, and the Holyoke Housing Authortity, which manages the 167-unit complex, the complaint said.

“We are saying that demolishing Lyman Terrace would be unlawful because it would have a disparate impact on Hispanic people. We are absolutely not accusing the mayor or anyone in city government of racism or bigotry,” lawyer Peter Vickery, of Amherst, representing the complainants, said in a press release.

Rosalie M. Deane, Housing Authority executive director, said Thursday that an application for a permit to demolish Lyman Terrace was filed in May with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The federal agency will do a rigorous review of the application in terms of meeting fair housing standards, she said.

She declined to comment on the complaint’s assertion that demolition would be discrimination because of its disparate effect on Hispanics.

“They have the right to do what they want to do and we’ll just work with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and move forward,” Deane said.

Mayor Alex B. Morse said he was reviewing the complaint with the city solicitor and declined to comment.

The Lyman Terrace tenants listed as complainants are Edda Amaro, 54 West Court, Sonia Gonzalez, 55 East Court, Jacqueline Hernandez, 37 West Court, Edwin Mendoza, 6 Oliver St., Jennette Rodriguez, 56 West Court, and Lugui Sanchez, 48 West Court.

Vickery said later in an email complainants are asking the commission to ask a Hampden Superior Court judge to issue an injunction to stop the demolition.

“If our arguments succeed and the commission does seek the injunction, I think it would happen in September/October,” Vickery wrote in the email.

Besides blocking the demolition, the complaint seeks awarding of damages and attorney’s fees.

Housing Authority officials have cited code and cost issues in seeking to raze Lyman Terrace. It was built to 1930s specifications, leaving many of the units too small by today’s building codes, and engineers have said that converting the housing to today’s standards would cost $24 million, which is prohibitive, officials have said.

Critics have said that the complex was worth preserving and that taking it down was an excuse to displace a mostly Hispanic population in the city’s urban center.

Critics also have said they doubt the authority’s ability to relocate tenants. The complaint said the city lacks sufficient affordable housing, meaning demolition would force tenants to leave Holyoke.

About 400 people live in the 18 red brick buildings bordered by Lyman, Front and John streets in the Downtown Neighborhood.

Lyman Terrace Complaint

Offensive lineman Jamey Richard was placed on injured reserve.

FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots claimed rookie offensive lineman Dustin Waldron off waivers from the Miami Dolphins on Thursday.

Waldron, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound rookie guard, was cut by the Dolphins earlier this week after being signed out of Portland State in April.

In the corresponding move, offensive lineman Jamey Richard, who was signed in May, was placed on injured reserve after suffering a concussion Sunday.

The Patriots also signed offensive lineman Derek Dennis earlier Thursday.

The vehicles destroyed constituted more than half the fleet of sheriff's cruisers in the rural county on the Canadian border. The estimated cost of replacement is around $300,000

View full sizeAP Photo/Northland Journal, Scott WheelerSheriff officers walk past crushed cruisers at the Orleans County Sheriff's Department in Newport, Vt., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. Authorities say 34-year old Vermont farmer Roger Pion, angry over a recent arrest last month on charges of resisting arrest and marijuana possession, used a large tractor like a monster truck, destroying seven police cruisers.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Working in a stout former bank building with windows closed and air conditioners humming, Orleans County sheriff's deputies didn't know what was happening in their parking lot until a neighbor called 911.

A man on a big farm tractor, angry about his recent arrest for resisting arrest and marijuana possession, was rolling across their vehicles — five marked cruisers, one unmarked car and a transport van.

By the time they ran outside, the tractor was down the driveway and out onto the road.

With their vehicles crushed, "We had nothing to pursue him with," said Chief Deputy Philip Brooks.

Thursday afternoon's incident ended when city police in Newport, the county seat of the northern Vermont county, caught up with Roger Pion, 34, a short distance away.

No one was injured. At least two deputies had gone inside a few moments before after washing their vehicles, officials said.

"Nobody was hurt. That's the thing everybody's got to cherish," said Sheriff Kirk Martin.

Brooks said late Thursday afternoon it was uncertain what new charges Pion would face. He said Pion was being held by the Vermont State Police at their barracks in nearby Derby. A dispatcher there referred questions to the sheriff's department.
WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

Sheriffs said they did not know if Pion had a lawyer. A phone number for him could not be located.

Martin estimated damage to the vehicles at more than $300,000. Not only were their roofs and hoods caved in, "the radios are ruined, the radar detectors, the cages in the cars ... We're going to have to get the jaws of life up here to pry the trunks open and see about the rifles and shotguns," Martin said.

Brooks said the vehicles destroyed constituted more than half the fleet of sheriff's cruisers in the rural county on the Canadian border. Others were out on patrol at the time of the incident.

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The school has donated at least 7 boxes of produce to Lorraine's Soup Kitchen.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayChildren from Bowe School tend the community garden in the field behind the school.

CHICOPEE — Every year, children in the third grade in the city study plants and learn a little about how they grow.

This year teachers, students and parents took that to an extreme. They created a community garden that was so successful, they recently donated seven boxes of produce to Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen.

Teachers proposed creating a community garden in a little-used part of the back field of Patrick E. Bowe School in September. They contacted the New England Farmworkers Council for advice and received permission from school administrators to use the field, said Harry Brandt, a third-grade teacher.

He now hopes to take their success and spread it to other elementary schools in the city.

Teachers worked through issues, such as how to use the garden in their teaching and where to get the supplies. One of the most difficult – how to care for the garden during summer vacation – proved easiest, Brandt said.

Students in the summer school program have been watering, and families, most of whom live near Bowe School, have signed up to water, weed and harvest vegetables in weekly shifts, he said.

Fernando Rivera and his wife, Vanessa Laffitte, have been coming with their daughter Jazmin Rivera, 9. The family also donated tools.

“I help water the plants,” Jazmin Rivera said, declaring the green peppers that are starting to ripen her favorite.

Her father said the family has also picked some of the herbs for his alfredo sauce.

“The kids love this, and it is a good way for them to learn,” Rivera said.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayProudly showing off what they picked from the garden set up behind the Patrick E. Bowe School, , from left to right, Francise Mulrooney 9, Jamie Lynn Felletter 9, Ricquan Charlemagne 10, Tori Huntoon 9, Maria Gonzalez 9, and Juan Navarro 9

Through the project, children have been learning science, practicing math and also learning about good nutrition.

Francise Mulrooney, 9, said he learned about insects. “There are a lot of bugs that can help. Garden spiders and lady bugs are good,” he said.

The project began with a visit from an official at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Extension Program, which assists farmers. He answered children’s questions and had the soil tested, said Melanie Boutin, a third-grade teacher.

After that, many helped. Students from Comprehensive High School built the structures for the 10 raised beds, and Lowe’s provided the wood. McKinstry Farms donated vegetable plants. The Department of Public Works delivered loam, and five businesses donated a total of $600 for fencing and tools, Brandt said.

Children had to use math skills to lay out the fence. They measured the outline and increments where stakes went. They also had to figure out how many plants could be placed in each bed and how closely they should be planted, Brandt said.

The children decided that surplus food should be given to Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen. Families are also welcome to take home the fruits of their labor, Brant said.

“My favorite vegetables are tomatoes and lettuce. They taste really good,” said Daniel Cruz, 9.

Resident Willie Lebron is starting a group for Latino veterans that will meet at Soldier On once a week to discuss issues that affect the Latino community.

The Republican file photo

NORTHAMPTON — Willie Lebron spends most of his days at Soldier On in Leeds encouraging fellow residents, specifically Latino veterans who might not speak English.

“I make them feel welcome,” he said.

Lebron is one of 500 veterans per year who come through Soldier On, a transitional program for homeless veterans that provides them with case management and referral services, as well as temporary financial assistance and permanent housing.

“Sustainable and affordable housing for formerly homeless vets is one of our major goals,” said John Crane, the director of case management for Soldier On.

In 2010, the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community was built in Pittsfield. The idea of such communities is to allow veterans who have successfully completed programs at Soldier On to become homeowners within a community of veterans.

“We currently have 39 veterans who own homes in the Pittsfield veterans community, and they will receive the benefits and services they need for the rest of their lives while living among fellow veterans,” said John Downing, president of Soldier On.

Funding for such projects as well as all of the programs offered by the organization come from a variety of sources including the state Department of Veterans Services, the Department of Labor, the Northampton Division of Housing and Urban Development, the Veterans Administration and private donations. In fiscal year 2012 the organization had a budget of $7.5 million to help veterans.

Downing said the ultimate goal is to create more ownership units across the state and then the country that would allow veterans to receive all of their benefits while living in a stable environment.

“About 85 percent of the veterans we serve are dealing with substance abuse, 80 percent have mental health issues, and more than 70 percent are dual diagnosed,” Downing said.

Only 17 percent of homeless veterans have valid driver's licenses, which Downing said sets them up for failure.

“The expectations are for a veteran to make it four to five appointments a week using public transportation in urban or semi-rural areas of Western Massachusetts, and if they can’t keep the appointments, many agencies give up and won’t help them.”

Downing said the programs at the facility are meant to give veterans a sense of self-respect, dignity and hope, regardless of their mental, emotional or physical conditions and regardless of race or ethnicity.

Lebron said that although he wishes there were more Latino staff members, the current staff makes an effort to make Latino veterans welcome.

He is starting a group for Latino veterans that will meet at Soldier On once a week to discuss issues that affect the Latino community.

“When you get here after being on the street, you have nothing, no hope, but after being here, you are stabilized mentally emotionally,” he said. “They are here to help you, but you have to be ready to make the change.”

George Hinckley, Soldier On’s vice president of treatment and services, said Lebron is an example of what the facility wants to do for each resident.

“They have to deal with the substance abuse and mental issues, as well as get training in social skills, then get employment and housing and hopefully come back to participate in peer groups,” he said “There is a sense of credibility that comes from a workshop or a group session led by someone who has been in the same situation. Our most successful groups are led by former residents.”

Lebron’s case worker, Frank Kolasinski, is another example of success. He was a resident at the facility several years ago and was able to successfully complete the program, go back to school and return to work at Solider On helping veterans who are in the same situation he was in.

Kolasinski said he tries to help residents deal with all of the issues that brought them to the facility, whether they are mental, physical or emotional.

“Many of them feel broken and powerless. We try to create an environment where they can succeed if they are ready to,” he said.

The facility treats almost 300 veterans daily and not all of them live on campus.

“We have veterans that just come to participate in a particular group, which is what we are hoping will happen with Willie’s group,” Hinckley said. “People don’t have to come here just because they are in need of housing. We also have many other programs to benefit veterans."

A spokesman for the plant said it employs 25 people and abides by federal and state emission laws.

File photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanThis is an aerial view of the Mount Tom coal plant in Holyoke.

HOLYOKE – Local groups plan to hold a bike ride Saturday to highlight what they say are unhealthy effects of facilities like the Mount Tom power plant.

The day will begin with the signing of petitions and a photo petition at the Donahue School farmer’s market on Whiting Farms Road from 10 to noon, organizer Becky Palermo said Thursday.

Bicyclists will leave the school about 12:30 p.m. and ride to Nuestras Raices, 329 Main St., she said.

Speakers will make brief remarks and discussions will be held with the farmers about the coal plant’s impact, such as contributing to rates of asthma, lung disease and cardiovascular illnessess, she said.

“We’d love anyone to participate and it’ll be a good time,” Palermo said.

She belongs to Climate Summer, an internship program in which students bike across the state to urge against fossil fuel use, she said.

Others involved in the event are Action for a Healthy Holyoke, Nuestras Raices, Neighbor to Neighbor, Beyond Coal and the Sierra Club, she said.

For information call (413) 231-4894 or visit climatesummer.net

A spokesman for the owner said the coal-burning plant on Route 5 runs only six to eight weeks a year because of the poor economy, but the plant abides by state and federal emission laws.

The plant employs 25 people. It operates only when the area is at peak energy usage, said Charles Burnham, spokesman for FirstLight Power Resources, of Glastonbury, Conn., which is owned by GDF Suez of France,

“We’re operating under existing parameters,” Burnham said.

Visitors are being warned there could be traffic delays since as many as 500,000 people are expected to attend the two-day event. Watch video

CHICOPEE – The Great New England Air Show at Westover Air Reserve Base will run Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine. Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and the flying demonstrations will begin at 10 a.m.

Three gates will be open for visitors at 803 James St., 2255 Westover Road and 120 New Ludlow Road in Granby. Visitors are being warned there could be traffic delays since as many as 500,000 people are expected to attend the two-day event.

A list of alternative routes are on the show’s website and if there are traffic tie-ups they will be announced on the site greatnewenglandairshow.com as well as on the Westover Facebook site. People are encouraged to come early to avoid traffic problems.

The Department of Transportation has also put out an advisory recommending that motorists who are not attending the show should avoid the base area.

For security reasons, all people and items brought on base are subject to search. People are allowed to bring in food and drinks, but they must be in clear containers. Still cameras and video cameras are allowed, but owners should not load film before going through security. No coolers are allowed, except for small ones carrying baby formula or life-saving medication. Loose ice is banned but ice packs are allowed.

The following items are also banned: cans, glass, alcohol, pets, weapons, tents, awnings, cooking equipment, bicycles, roller blades and skateboards. Visitors may bring small umbrellas and small lawn chairs.

Residents near the base should expect extra noise, especially Friday, as planes as flying in for the show.

The schedule of different flying events is also available on the Great New England Air Show website, but they are subject to change. There are also a huge number of static displays of everything from planes flown at Westover and fighter planes to a NASA exhibit and a display of historic planes, called the War Birds.

The theme to this year’s show is a salute to The Greatest Generation. There will be a history display of World War II in one of the hangars.

In each instance, the council or committee went into executive session without fully explaining the purpose of the executive session, according to the attorney general’s office.

NORTHAMPTON – The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office has found that both the City Council and the School Committee violated the open meeting law last year by failing to adequately state the purpose for going into executive session.

The violations pertain to May 5, May 19 and June 2, 2011, City Council meetings and a May 26, 2011 School Committee meeting. In each instance, the council or committee went into executive session without fully explaining the purpose of the executive session, according to the attorney general’s office. The ruling came in response to a formal complaint by the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

In the case of the City Council violations, then-Council President David J. Narkewicz put the executive session on the agenda at the request of then-Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, writing only that the purpose was to discuss strategy relative to collective bargaining. Because Higgins did not specify to Narkewicz which unions would be discussed, he did not include any further information.

The state ruled that it should have been stated that the sessions were being held to “receive the mayor’s update on progress of negotiations with all bargaining units.” In such cases, Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Nable wrote, it must also be stated that discussing the negotiations in open session “would have a detrimental effect” on the city’s bargaining position. The council did not do that.

In two of those cases when the council adjourned for executive session, Higgins had no update to present and no executive session was actually held.

The School Committee did announce that it was going into executive session to discuss collective bargaining and that to do so in public would be detrimental to its position, but failed to specific that it was going to talk about negotiations with the Northampton Association of School Employees, thus violating the open meeting law.

Narkewicz, who is now mayor, said the violations had taken place shortly after the state passed new legislation that included more specific language about the Open Meeting law. The city has since gotten more clarification about the changes and has been in compliance, he said.

“I support the changes and the spirit of it,” Narkewicz said.

The attorney general’s office took no punitive action, but directed the city to comply in full with the open meeting law in the future. Nable also wrote that future such violations may be considered evidence of the city’s intent to violate the law.

The town’s money request is part of a partnership with Kanzaki Specialty Papers that officials say would allow Ware to apply for a state grant to pay for the bulk of the improvements – up to $3 million – with the company contributing $1 million.

WARE – Selectmen will convene two public forums in an attempt to convince residents that Town Meeting should spend $1 million to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant.

The town’s money request is part of a partnership with Kanzaki Specialty Papers that officials say would allow Ware to apply for a state grant to pay for the bulk of the improvements – up to $3 million – with the company contributing $1 million.

Ware’s department of public works director, Thom Martens, estimates $5 million will be needed within five years to address the problems at the aging facility. He said the cost sharing idea would allow the town to upgrade the sewer system at 1/5 of the cost. Martens said new environmental regulations will require the sewer upgrades within five years.

The parties said state grants could pay 60 percent of the treatment plant improvements, about $3 million. The town and Kanzaki would pay the rest. With 227 employees, Kanzaki is the largest employer in Ware.

“The fact is, if we don’t get the grant and we don’t get Kanzaki’s assistance, the town will be paying for the entire bill,” Selectmen Chairman Greg Harder said in an interview.

Residents can comment on the proposal for the town to spend $1 million for the sewer plant upgrade during the Aug. 7 selectmen’s meeting. An agenda item will be dedicated to the issue, Harder said.

A public forum is also scheduled on Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. in the selectmen’s meeting room at town hall, Town Manager Stuart Beckley said in an email Tuesday.

The Town Meeting is Aug. 21, 7 p.m. at the Ware middle school auditorium.

Approval of the $1 million is contingent on the town obtaining the state grants.

Kanzaki proposed paying $1 million because environmental officials said the company must pre-treat the sludge and heavy-metal wastewater they send to the Ware plant.

Although the company had agreed to construct a $2.5 million pre-treatment facility to solve the problem, Stephen P. Hefner Chief Executive Officer and President of Kanzaki Specialty Papers, Inc. told selectmen in June sharing the costs to upgrade the wastewater plant would fix the problem and enable the town to attract new industry.

First-time participants are invited to light the candles inside the two dozen traditional Japanese lanterns.

NORTHAMPTON – If previous years are an indicator, it will be crowded on the dock at Paradise Pond Sunday when the foes of nuclear weapons send the peace lanterns floating.

Now in its 12th year, the lantern ceremony is the climax of an annual event sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee in remembrance of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 67 years ago. An estimated 150,000 people were killed or wounded when the first atom bomb detonated above Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. The toll rose by 75, three days later when the second U.S. bomb hit Nagasaki.

Those bombings have been the only two nuclear strikes in history, and the American Friends Service Committee wants to keep it that way. The day-long event usually draws close to 100 participants, who gather for a meal at First Churches and listen to a speaker before marching in procession to Paradise Pond at Smith College.

This year’s speaker, Cecile Pineda, is the author of “Devil’s Tango: How I learned the Fukushima Step by Step.” The book looks at how damage to the Japanese nuclear power plant by last year’s tsunami has impacted the environment.

The lantern lighting is scheduled for 8 p.m. Jeff Napolitano of the American Friends Service Committee said the ceremony at Smith’s boathouse is usually packed.

“It’s a struggle to get them all on the dock,” he said.

First-time participants are invited to light the candles inside the two dozen traditional Japanese lanterns. They are then towed around the pond at dusk.

In Japan, Napolitano said, the lanterns are set loose to float freely, but Smith College, ever conscious of the environment, prefers that they be retrieved and reused. Nonetheless, Napolitano said, the sight is moving.

“These are our hopes,” he said, noting that the lanterns symbolize the struggle to abolish nuclear weapons and nuclear power.

The tours come as Brown steps up criticism of Warren, portraying the Harvard Law School professor as anti-free enterprise and saying she wants to “make America more like China.”

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., left, and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren are seen in these file photos.

By STEVE LeBLANC

BOSTON – Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren are embarking on separate tours of Massachusetts as they try to strengthen their appeal among business owners and workers.

The tours come as Brown steps up criticism of Warren, portraying the Harvard Law School professor as anti-free enterprise and saying she wants to “make America more like China.”

“Warren ... is holding up China, with its repressive government policies, as the model for American progress,” Brown said in a recent fundraising letter. “Being more like China is no way to strengthen America.”

Brown pointed to a recent Warren television ad in which she says the U.S. spends 2.4 percent of its gross domestic product on infrastructure projects like fixing roads, bridges and schools, compared to competitors like China, which spends 9 percent.

Warren said the ad is meant as a warning that the U.S. needs to do more to help businesses grow. She said China is making the kind of infrastructure investments – from water and sewer lines to power and communications systems – that will give Chinese businesses a leg up over business in the United States.

“We can do anything if we can compete on a level playing field,” Warren said in a statement. “But if China is making investments in state-of-the-art infrastructure while the United States lets roads and bridges crumble ... then our businesses can’t compete.”

Brown also criticized Warren’s infrastructure plan, which she says is designed to help jump start the economy and create jobs. He described it as a massive new stimulus program, and said, “We’ve tried a big stimulus already and it failed. All it got us was more debt and fewer jobs.”

But Warren said her program carries a $100 billion price tag, would pay for itself, and would not add to the deficit. She said one reason businesses are struggling is because of the billions given away by Washington in “special deals for big oil, Wall Street and billionaires.”

“Now middle class families and small business owners are paying the price,” Warren said in a statement. “We can do better. We can build a strong economy that works for everyone – not one that’s rigged for the big guys.”

Warren said her plan would improve surface and air transportation networks, fix schools, make wireless broadband more widely available, give states more flexibility to use highway funds for mass transit projects and reinstate tax breaks for commuters. She also called for the creation of a national infrastructure bank designed to entice private investors into road and rail projects.

Brown also has tried to cast Warren as anti-business, highlighting a web video of a Warren campaign event last year during which Warren said “there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.”

But in the full quote, Warren praises business owners who “built a factory and it turned into something terrific” and said businesses also benefit from taxpayer-funded roads and bridges and other public infrastructure projects.

In a commentary on Politico this week, Brown called that “a phony argument” saying business owners also pay for those infrastructure projects.

“If only leftists like Warren and all Occupy protesters weren’t so wrapped up in taxing and regulating them without end or in denigrating their achievements, these men and women would do even greater things and hire even more workers,” Brown wrote.

The two candidates are planning to pitch their messages directly to voters.

Warren on Tuesday launched what she’s calling a “Rebuild Now” tour highlighting her infrastructure and jobs plan. She said she will meet with workers and small business owners across the state throughout August.

Brown kicked off his own “Thank You For Building This” series.

Brown said he plans to visit a different small business in Massachusetts each week and deliver a gift basket of bagels and coffee to employers and employees in appreciation of their hard work.

Mild and muggy overnight with scattered thunderstorms returning tomorrow.

Mainly clear skies continue across the region overnight. After highs hit 90 degrees today, temperatures stay mild overnight as well. Lows fall to the mid-60s with some areas of fog expected to develop by the morning hours.

It is a partly cloudy start to our Friday across the region, but scattered thunderstorms will be developing in the afternoon. High temperatures once again hit the lower-90s, with humidity levels just a bit elevated like today. A few thunderstorms may produce a brief heavy downpour.

Saturday is a similar story as showers and thunderstorms will develop in the afternoon again. Sunday looks partly sunny throughout the day, with an isolated shower possible as a trough moves through the region. Steady rain will move through in the overnight hours to Monday morning...then we will dry out nicely with plenty of sunshine for the upcoming workweek.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, mild and muggy, areas of fog, low 66.

Friday: Afternoon showers and thunderstorms, hot and humid, high 92.

Saturday: Partly sunny, scattered afternoon showers/thunderstorms, high 90.

Sunday: Partly sunny, an isolated afternoon shower, rain likely overnight, high 86.

Prosecutors asked for a 2½-year sentence, plus 10 years of probation.

BOSTON – A rabbi who admitted sexually abusing three boys while working in the Boston area as a religious teacher in the 1970s was sentenced Thursday to 10 years of probation but spared jail time.

Stanley Levitt pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child as his trial was set to begin.

On Thursday, prosecutors asked for a 2½-year sentence, plus 10 years of probation. But Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines said she would stick to the terms of a plea agreement reached last year between prosecutors and Levitt’s attorney.

Prosecutors say the 66-year-old Philadelphia man lived in Boston and worked in Brookline when he abused three boys.

A grand jury indicted him in 2009 after two victims said Levitt assaulted them in 1975 while they were his students. A third victim later came forward.

Prosecutors say Levitt assaulted one victim in a Boston hospital room while visiting after the boy hurt his hand, and the others were assaulted at Levitt’s home.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, said the earlier plea agreement was declared void after Levitt didn’t plead guilty as expected in December.

“It was unusual that the judge in this case felt that she was bound by an agreement that was declared null and void eight months ago,” Wark said.

“We stand by our recommendation. We felt that jail time was warranted, that it was appropriate.”

Mitchell Garabedian, who represents two victims, said they are deciding whether to sue Levitt and the Maimonides School in Brookline. When the assaults happened during the 1975-76 school year, Levitt worked at the school and the victims were 6th-grade students there.

“The harm to sexually abused children is irreparable, and preventive measures must be put in place to protect children at all costs,” Garabedian said.

If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences proceeds with this plan, it may prove awkward for ABC.

APJimmy Fallon

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Jimmy Fallon is in negotiations to host the 85th Academy Awards and that his former "Saturday Night Live" mentor Lorne Michaels will produce the program.

If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences proceeds with this plan, it may prove awkward for ABC, which airs the annual awards show in February.

Fallon hosts a late night talk show, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," on rival NBC and the exposure could prove to be a detriment in the late, late night ratings war between ABC and NBC.

Michael's "SNL" also airs on NBC.

The two men campaigned in battleground states hundreds of miles apart, the incumbent in Florida, his challenger in Colorado, both on a mission to convert undecided voters to their side in a race dominated by the economy and high joblessness.

A group of Mitt Romney supporters protest the opening of a new Obama For America-Florida office in the Little Havana area of Miami, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. Romney's Republican campaign is joining Obama's Democratic effort in stepping up the outreach to the I-4 corridor, where the majority of Florida's Puerto Ricans live. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Associated Press photosA group of Mitt Romney supporters protest the opening of a new Obama For America-Florida office in the Little Havana area of Miami, Thursday, in the photo above. In the photo below, President Obama greets people outside Lechonera El Barrio, a local restaurant in Orlando, Fla.

By STEVE PEOPLES
and JIM KUHNHENN

GOLDEN, Colo. – Mitt Romney promised Thursday that his economic program will create 12 million new jobs in the next four years, and likened President Barack Obama to a “dog trying to chase its tail” when it comes to strengthening the sluggish recovery.

Firing back instantly, Obama said his rival favors “trickle-down fairy dust” that has failed to fix the economy in the past, and unleashed a new television ad with a scathing summation of Romney’s tax plans: “He pays less. You pay more.”

The two men campaigned in battleground states hundreds of miles apart, the incumbent in Florida, his challenger in Colorado, both on a mission to convert undecided voters to their side in a race dominated by the economy and high joblessness.

Nor was there any summer lull in the television ad wars. Americans For Prosperity, an independent group that backs Romney, intends to launch a $25 million ad campaign beginning next week, according to officials familiar with the arrangements. The organization was founded by David and Charles Koch, billionaire brothers, and has spent about $15 million in swing states this year on ads attacking Obama.

For Romney, the day meant a return to domestic campaigning after a weeklong overseas trip. Aides say he intends to disclose a vice presidential pick before the Republican National Convention opens on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla., but the former Massachusetts governor told reporters: “I’ve got nothing to give you” by way of information on his decision.

Instead, he unveiled what aides called Romney’s plan for more jobs and more take-home pay, backed by an eight-page paper arguing that the economic stimulus and other policies backed by Obama “exacerbated the economy’s structural problems and weakened the recovery ... At the present rate of job creation, the nation will never return to full employment,” it said, on the eve of the release of the government’s official report on July joblessness.

Following the release of Friday’s jobs report, Obama planned to use the backdrop of the White House and surround himself with families who would benefit from the election year middle-class tax cut he’s pushing Congress to adopt. “As dysfunctional as Washington can be, this fight is far from hopeless,” White House senior adviser David Plouffe said in an email.

In remarks in Golden, Colo., Romney said his economic policies would lead to creation of 12 million jobs in the four years of his term, if he is elected, and help make North America energy independent, a pledge that aides said included Canada and Mexico as well as the United States.

Romney pledged expanded international trade, particularly with Latin America, and vowed to confront China over its own policies. “I’m finally going to sit down with the Chinese and they’re going to understand that if they cheat there are going to be consequences, because we’re not going to let them walk all over us,” the former Massachusetts governor said.

He said he would help small business owners, improve the education system and cut spending to reduce the deficit, but he offered relatively few specifics.

Romney previously has said he wants to extend the tax cuts due to expire on Dec. 31 and grant a new 20 percent cut in tax rates, in addition, to stimulate growth. He has also said he will reverse some of Obama’s proposed defense cuts, and simultaneously reduce spending on other programs in a way that deficits would gradually subside.

But he so far has refused to identify which existing tax breaks he would curtail to accomplish his goals, and generally avoided naming individual programs he wants to cut or eliminate.

In his remarks during the day, Romney said he wants federal education funds that aid the disadvantaged and disabled to be tied to the student rather than flow to school districts, as is now the case. But he did not specify how much he would cut from them to achieve his goal of reducing federal deficits.

He also criticized Obama for signing legislation that cut $500 billion from Medicare over a decade. Aides said he would restore the funding, which was reduced as part of the president’s health care bill. But they had no additional details.

Romney said Democrats have a different view. “They think we should just raise taxes. ...The problem is when you raise taxes you lower growth,” he said.

Obama’s approach is “like a dog trying to chase its tail, you just don’t ever get there,” he added. “So the right answer is not to raise taxes. The right answer is to cut taxes and cut spending.”

Obama and other Democrats support extending existing tax cuts except for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples with incomes over $250,000 – and their disagreement with Romney and the Republicans on this point has emerged as arguably the most fundamental one of the campaign.

It’s an argument that Obama seems eager to have – using campaign appearances and paid television advertising to do so.

For the second day in a row, Obama cited a study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that says Romney and other millionaires would receive a tax cut of approximately $250,000 a year if the former Massachusetts governor gets his way.

“This analysis also found that if Gov. Romney wants to keep his word” about reducing deficits, “the average middle-class family with children would be stuck with a tax increase of more than $2,000,” he added.

The president’s new campaign ad was delivering the same highly personalized message. It says Romney has paid a lower proportion of his income in taxes than many people of lesser means and adds:

“He pays less, you pay more,” the ad says.

Romney’s personal wealth has been estimated as high as $250 million, but he has not so far made public a detailed disclosure of his holdings. His aides have sought to dismiss the report as a partisan attack by former aides to the president.

But Obama, picking up on what his own campaign staff said Wednesday, told an audience near Orlando, Fla., that the Tax Policy Center was headed by a former aide to President George W. Bush.

Romney, too, rolled out a new ad, giving a less-than-warm welcome to Obama on a day Air Force One touched down in Florida. It notes that the state still suffers from high unemployment, record home foreclosures and an increase in poverty.

“Barack Obama: What a disappointment,” it says.

The president’s stop in Florida reflected his campaign’s efforts to build support among Hispanic voters, particularly Puerto Ricans. He was greeted on the tarmac of Orlando International Airport by Kenneth McClintock, the lieutenant governor of Puerto Rico and Alejandro Garcia-Padilla, a state senator in Puerto Rico.

Romney, meanwhile, appeared with a group of Republican governors at an event near Aspen, Colo., some of them mentioned as potential running mates. That teased speculation about Romney’s vice presidential pick, as some of the attendees – New Jersey’s Chris Christie, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, South Carolina’s Nikki Haley and Virginia’s Bob McDonnell – have been mentioned as possible Romney running mates.

Associated Press writers Beth Fouhy in New York and Philip Elliott in Washington contributed to this report.

Romney demanded that the Democratic Senate leader back up the story he’s been passing around that an investor with Bain Capital told him Romney didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.

Republican presidential candidate W. Mitt Romney, left, is seen with Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid.

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL

WASHINGTON – Put up or shut up, says Mitt Romney. Just sayin’, retorts Harry Reid. For both men, it’s a taxing situation.

Romney demanded Thursday that the Democratic Senate leader back up the story he’s been passing around this week that an investor with Romney’s old firm, Bain Capital, has told him that Romney didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.

Reid offers no evidence to substantiate the claim – he even says he’s not sure it’s true – and won’t reveal who made it. For the Nevada Democrat, the claim explains why Romney is adamant about not releasing more than a year or two of his tax returns.

Romney went on conservative radio host Sean Hannity’s show Thursday morning to brand the claim untrue.

“Well, it’s time for Harry to put up or shut up,” Romney said. “Harry’s going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because of course, that’s totally and completely wrong.”

Romney added: “It’s untrue, dishonest, and inaccurate. It’s wrong. So I’m looking forward to have Harry reveal his sources and we’ll probably find out it’s the White House. Look, the Obama campaign is going to do everything in its power to try and talk about anything besides the president’s record.”

Reid repeated the claim on the Senate floor. Following Romney’s response, he released a statement saying that “it’s clear Romney is hiding something.”

“When it comes to answering the legitimate questions the American people have about whether he avoided paying his fair share in taxes or why he opened a Swiss bank account, Romney has shut up,” Reid said. “But as a presidential candidate, it’s his obligation to put up, and release several years’ worth of tax returns just like nominees of both parties have done for decades.”

Romney has released his 2010 federal tax return and a summary of his 2011 return. In 2010, he paid 13.9 percent tax on income of $21.6 million. Most of Romney’s income came from investment gains, which are taxed at a lower rate than earned income.

His wealth estimated at $250 million, Romney has said that his critics will distort and use against him any additional tax information he releases.

Mayweather is now a free man, even if his next opponent is not immediately clear.

(AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)Floyd Mayweather Jr., center, is greeted by friends and family as he exits the Clark County Detention Center after serving two months of a three-month sentence in a misdemeanor domestic battery case, Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Boxer Floyd Mayweather was released from a Las Vegas jail early Friday after serving two months of a three-month sentence in a misdemeanor domestic battery case.

The undefeated boxer walked out of the Clark County Detention Center beneath the glow of street lamps and glare of TV cameras to resume a boxing career that his lawyers and personal physician warned in court documents might be at risk. They said jail food and water didn't meet Mayweather's dietary needs, and lack of exercise space in a cramped cell of fewer than 98 square feet threatened his health and fitness.

Mayweather looked fit as he donned a leather Miami Heat cap, pulled a gray hooded sweatshirt over his head and shared hugs with about 20 family members and friends, including his 12-year-old daughter, Iyanna Mayweather, and his manager, Leonard Ellerbe.

He said nothing to the media as he got behind the wheel of a blue Bentley sedan with several friends inside, including rapper 50 Cent, and drove away.

A lot has happened in Mayweather's world since he was jailed June 1.

With no television in his solo cell, he couldn't see arch rival Manny Pacquiao lose his WBO welterweight title June 9 to Timothy Bradley.

Mayweather, who goes by the nickname "Money," wasn't around to celebrate last month when Forbes magazine named him the world's highest-paid athlete for 2011.

He wasn't able to attend the ESPN network ESPY awards to accept the best fighter award.

And he missed fiancee Shantel Jackson's private birthday bash last week at a Las Vegas steakhouse with friends, including 50 Cent. Las Vegas Review-Journal celebrity columnist Norm Clark noted that Mayweather sent diamonds.

But Mayweather is now a free man, even if his next opponent is not immediately clear.

Ellerbe declined comment outside the jail late Thursday, where he waited with friends, including Mayweather adviser Sam Watson and several others.

Promoters for Mayweather's main rival, Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao, plan a fight Nov. 10 at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Athletic Commission executive Keith Kizer said. Pacquiao's opponent hasn't been named but Mayweather wasn't believed to be on the list.

Pacquiao, who earned $62 million in fights and endorsements last year, ranked second on the Forbes richest athletes list behind Mayweather and his $85 million in fight earnings.

To fight in Las Vegas, Mayweather will need a new license from the Nevada Athletic Commission, Kizer said Thursday. His last license, for the May 5 bout against Miguel Cotto, was for one fight only.

If Mayweather applies, commission Chairman Raymond "Skip" Avansino Jr. could decide to grant approval administratively or summon Mayweather before the panel for a public hearing, Kizer said.

Mayweather received about 30 days off his 90-day jail sentence for work time and good behavior. Nevada state law allows inmates to receive up to 10 days off per month for cooperating with jailers and working or being willing to work. Las Vegas police administer the jail, and a department spokesman said Mayweather wasn't required to work and didn't misbehave behind bars.

The 35-year-old boxer pleaded guilty last year to reduced domestic battery charges stemming from a hair-pulling, arm-twisting attack on his former girlfriend, Josie Harris, while two of their three children watched. The plea deal allowed him to avoid trial on felony charges that could have gotten Mayweather up to 34 years in prison if he was convicted. Harris and the children have since moved to the Los Angeles area.

As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather was kept separate for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa rejected arguments that Mayweather's accommodations were cruel and unusual. The judge ruled June 13 that while Mayweather may not have liked the regimen, he had sufficient space and time for physical activity and the only reason he wasn't eating properly was because he was refusing to eat the meals he was given.

The judge earlier gave Mayweather a break — allowing him to remain free long enough to make the Cinco de Mayo fight against Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas. Mayweather won to run his record to 43-0 with 26 knockouts. Cotto lost for just the second time in 38 fights.

Scientists studying the deaths of more than a hundred harbor seals along the New England coast last year say the seals suffered from a new strain of avian flu.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Scientists studying the deaths of more than a hundred harbor seals along the New England coast last year say the seals suffered from a new strain of avian flu.

A new report identifies the cause of death as an influenza A virus "H3N8," which can jump from birds to marine mammals.

It was compiled by scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health; the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; New England Aquarium; the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center; SeaWorld; and EcoHealth Alliance.

Katie Pugliares of the New England Aquarium tells the Portsmouth Herald (http://bit.ly/M7GoFj) there's no indication so far that humans are capable of contracting the virus.

The seals were found in Maine, New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.

___

Information from: Portsmouth Herald, http://www.seacoastonline.com

Douglas is the first African-American to win the women’s all-around gymnastics title.

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)U.S. gymnast and gold medallist Gabrielle Douglas, center, Russian gymnast and silver medallist Victoria Komova, right, and Russian gymnast and bronze medallist Aliya Mustafina stand on the podium during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London.

By DAVID WHITLEY
AOL FanHouse columnist

LONDON—Gabby Douglas was crowned America’s Olympic sweetheart Thursday. It comes with winning the women’s all-around gymnastics title.

You might have noticed something different about this sweetheart, even if she didn’t realize it herself.

Douglas didn’t look much like the other 23 finalists. And not just because she was the only one who seemed capable of smiling.

She is the first African-American to win the title. I don’t know how big of a deal that is. Douglas didn’t seem to know, either.

“I forgot about that,” she said. “Man, that’s something to be the first African-American.”

Then she mentioned how her journey to the medal stand began.

"Dominique Dawes,” she said.

She’s the only other African-American woman to make a U.S. women’s team. Douglas was seven months old when Dawes won a team gold medal in 1996. A few years later, she saw the tape and found her hero.

“Definitely her,” Douglas said. “I wanted to be a her.”

Yes, she said “a her.” It’s the kind of kooky thing that comes out of a 16-year-old’s mouth, and it was sort of reassuring to hear.

Gymnasts do such amazing things it’s easy to forget just how young they are. Douglas is about as amazing as they come. It’s not just the tricks, though there’s something different about those.

“She’s not barreling through the skills,” said Martha Karolyi, the coordinator for the U.S. team. “She performs with extraordinary lightness.”

There’s an effervescence to Douglas that you see every generation or so. It’s usually accompanied by the words Mary and Lou.

“Did you see that smile?” Bela Karolyi said.

He was Mary Lou’s coach, so he knows what’s coming next. Endorsements, Dancing With The Stars, a book deal. The kid’s got it all.

Her story is typical, and it’s not. Douglas had to leave her home and family to get really good. She wanted to train under Liang Chow, who coached gold medalist Shawn Johnson.

That meant moving from Virginia Beach to Des Moines. Culture shock hit when she cued up some rap music and her new friends didn’t recognize the tunes.

“You don’t like country?” they asked.

“Oh,” Douglas thought to herself. “This is going to be awkward.”

She also was relatively awkward at gymnastics. Chow said the first time he had Douglas work out, he didn’t think there was any way she’d ever win an Olympic medal.

But gymnastic pixies change a lot between the ages of 14 and 16. Douglas really blossomed the past six months. By the time she got to London, a star was ready to be born.

It burst into the sky Thursday.

Douglas took the lead on the first event, the vault. She sizzled through the uneven bars and beam. All it took then was a solid floor routine, and she did more than that.

Douglas commanded the stage, flying higher and landing steadier than anybody. The crowd started clapping to the music. According to the program, her last tumbling run was a one-and-a-half to triple full with a double tuck-to-jump dismount.

I have no idea if that’s what actually happened. Whatever Douglas did, it brought the house down.

Her finishing touch was a smile that will sell a lot of Wheaties. She already has the Mary Lou motivational speech down.

“Keep fighting. Keep pushing,” Douglas said. “It all pays off if you believe in yourself.”

It’s a great message, but will everybody potential gymnast hear it? Especially those like Douglas?

“There will be an amazing boom among African-Americans,” Karolyi said.

There was a historic feel to the night. I thought of Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three gold medals in track at one Olympics.

We’ve certainly come a long way since then.

It would be great if Douglas led the boom Karolyi expects. I’m not a young African-American girl, so I just don’t know.

I do know the media certainly loves the Jackie Robinson angle. In the post-meet interview, Douglas was asked if it was depressing seeing only little white faces in gymnastics camps.

“Umm,” she said. “I hope to inspire people.”

Like Dawes inspired her, and Mary Lou inspired Dawes.

Somewhere Thursday night, there was a seven-month old propped in front of a TV set. She saw the crowning of America’s new Sweetheart.

And someday she’ll want to be just like “a her.”