Moriarty agreed that the change sounds more “sinister” than the conduct of which Morse is charged. He took Jennings’ request under advisement.

(Michael S. Gordon / The Republican)Steven J. Morse appearing in Hampshire District Court in Dec. 2010.

NORTHAMPTON – The lawyer for a Westfield man accused of killing a 10-year-old boy with a motor boat pleaded innocent to new charges on his client’s behalf Monday and asked the judge to amend one of them to more accurately reflect the crime he’s accused of committing.

Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty III waived the appearance of Steven J. Morse in Hampshire Superior Court at the request of defense lawyer Michael O. Jennings. Morse, 37, of 65 Deborah Lane, is accused of killing Augustus Adamopoulos, 10, on Norwich Lake in Huntington last August. The boy and his father, James Adamopoulos, were kayaking on the lake when they were struck by the motor boat.

Agustus "Gus" Adamopoulos was a precocious basketball player.

Last December, Morse pleaded innocent to manslaughter, homicide by vessel and homicide by vessel while under the influence of alcohol. In July, a Hampshire County grand jury indicted him on three additional counts of child endangerment while under the influence of alcohol and single counts of reckless operation of a boat under the influence of alcohol and intimidating a witness. According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s office, the reckless endangerment charges pertain to three boys under the age of 14, two of whom were passengers in the boat operated by Morse. The third boy was being pulled by the boat on water skis, according to prosecutors.

After entering the pleas, Jennings told Moriarty that the intimidating a witness charge is misleading and asked that it be reworded. According to Jennings, the charge covers a range of conduct, including the willful misleading of a witness or potential witness, which he said is the proper description in this case. Prosecutor Steven Gagne agreed that the charge involves the alleged misleading of a police officer, but said he does not believe it necessary to change the language on the indictment.

“In the grand scheme of things, it’s really not a big deal,” he said.

Jennings differed.

“It is a big deal to the person who’s being accused,” he told Moriarty.

Moriarty agreed that the change sounds more “sinister” than the conduct of which Morse is charged. He took Jennings’ request under advisement.

Adamopoulos’ death stunned his home town, especially the basketball community, where he was known as an avid player. Veterans Park Elementary School in Ludlow, which Adamopoulos attended, held a fund-raiser to dedicate a bench in his honor at the school’s basketball court.

At the request of Jennings, Moriarty extended a series of court dates for about a month. A pretrial hearing is now scheduled for Oct. 3. The case is due to go to trial in January, 2012.

No salary has been set for the position yet.

The Republican | Don TreegerKenneth Grew

LUDLOW – The School Committee in September will form a Search Committee to select a permanent school superintendent for the school district.

Meeting on Thursday, the School Committee decided to include three parents, three teachers, an administrator, a School Department employee, three community members, a student and a representative from either the Board of Selectmen or the Finance Committee on the Search Committee.

The School Committee plans to advertise for the superintendent position in November and hopes to come up with a final choice by March 8.

Community members will be asked to take an online survey on the Ludlow public schools website regarding the qualities they would like to see in a new superintendent.

School Committee members have agreed that a new school superintendent should have a master’s degree, with other advanced degrees preferred, five years teaching experience and administrative experience.

The new school superintendent is to receive a three-year contract.

A Search Committee will interview semi-finalists and bring three to five finalists before the School Committee to be interviewed publicly before a vote is taken.

School Committee members are still discussing the salary for a new school superintendent.

Consultant Pat Correira said the town of Palmer currently is advertising for a school superintendent and says it will pay between $125,000 and $140,000 for the position.

School Committee members will set a salary range for the position at either their August or September School Committee meeting.

A new superintendent will replace Kenneth J. Grew who is serving as interim superintendent for a year.

Grew replaced Theresa M. Kane in the position. Kane resigned to take a position as superintendent of the East Windsor, CT, public schools.

Correira told the School Committee that in the Berkshires some superintendents are paid $99,000, while on the South Shore of Massachusetts there are principals who are paid $130,000.

The outage, sparked by a transformer fire reported at 8:13 p.m. Monday, lasted less than two hours, according to WMECO officials.

LUDLOW -- Electricity has been restored to sections of Ludlow that lost power after a Monday night transformer fire left around 1,800 WMECO customers in the dark.

Things were back to normal well before the Tuesday morning rush hour, according to police and officials at Western Massachusetts Electric Co., who reported no further problems in town.

"We're back online," Ludlow Police Sgt. Michael Brennan said early Tuesday morning, adding that traffic lights and power had been restored to affected sections of town.

Slightly more than 1,800 of WMECO's 9,122 customers in Ludlow were without electricity for about two hours Monday night, according to Ashley Duncan, a spokeswoman for the utility.

"Everything was wrapped up pretty quickly," Duncan said, adding that power was restored around 10 p.m.

Ludlow Fire Capt. Joseph Crowley said the transformer fire was reported at 8:13 p.m. Monday.

"It was just smoldering near the top of the pole," Crowley said, referring to a transformer box on an Elm Street pole near the corner of Winsor Street.

The affected area included most of downtown Ludlow's commercial district, according to officials.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a transformer fire that knocked out power to around 1,800 WMECO customers in Ludlow Monday night:

View Larger Map

The new superintendent will replace Kenneth J. Grew who has agreed to serve as interim superintendent for one year.

LUDLOW – The School Committee has been advised by the consultant assisting with the search for a new superintendent to leave School Committee members off the Search Committee.

Consultant Patricia Correira told the School Committee that having community members serve on the Search Committee “shows that the School Committee trusts their judgment.”

“It’s their children,” Correira said.

Correira advised that a Search Committee to screen applicants for school superintendent should consist of three parents, three teachers including a special education teacher, one administrator, three community members including a senior citizen, a representative from either the Board of Selectmen or the Finance Committee and a student.

“Let the teachers pick their own representative,” Correira advised.

She said community members could be selected by lottery if there is a lot of interest in serving on the committee.

“That eliminates the finger pointing,” Correira said.

She said School Committee members do not want to be accused of stacking the committee for the choice of the next superintendent.

“Nobody would say that,” School Committee member James P. “Chip” Harrington joked.

The School Committee plans to advertise for the superintendent position in November and hopes to come up with a final choice by March 8.

The new superintendent will replace Interim Superintendent Kenneth J. Grew who has agreed to serve for one year.

Community members will be asked to take an online survey on the Ludlow public schools website regarding the qualities they would like to see in a new superintendent.

School Committee members have agreed that a new superintendent should have a master’s degree, with other advanced degrees preferred, and five years of teaching experience and administrative experience.

The new superintendent is to receive a three-year contract.

A Search Committee will interview semifinalists and bring three to five finalists before the School Committee to be interviewed publicly before a vote is taken.

School Committee members are still discussing the salary for a new superintendent.

Correira said the town of Palmer is advertising for a school superintendent and says it will pay between $125,000 and $140,000 for the position.

School Committee members will set a salary range at either their August or September meeting.

The 72-year-old wheelchair bound convict, formerly from Ludlow, was the subject of a four-hour parole board hearing.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 2:33 this afternoon.

File photo / Associated PressConvicted double murderer Francis Soffen gestures during a parole hearing in 1998.

NATICK – Saying he now is a Christian, a convicted murderer on Friday pleaded for mercy and said he is ashamed of killing two men nearly 40 years ago.

Sitting in a wheelchair, Francis F. Soffen, 72, formerly of Ludlow, sought release from prison during a four-hour hearing before the state parole board in Natick.

“God forgave,” Soffen told board members at the end of the emotional hearing attended by family members of the victims and two relatives of his own. “I hope you people can forgive. You guys will be proud of me if I get out on parole.”

The board took Soffen’s request under advisement. A spokesman said there is no set time for a decision to be made.

The parole board chairman, Joshua Wall, and several other board members expressed strong skepticism and doubts about Soffen’s testimony.

Wall said the convict’s testimony showed that he continued to misrepresent and obscure his role in the double murders in 1972. Wall said that during Soffen’s testimony on Friday, the inmate lied to the parole board on important aspects of his crimes.

Wall criticized Soffen for repeatedly asserting that he shot one victim, Gary J. Dube, of Agawam, because he thought Dube might shoot another person and maybe himself. While in the back seat of a car on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Ludlow, Soffen shot Dube twice in the head. Dube’s body was later wrapped in plastic and thrown in the Connecticut River.

“We don’t judge religious conversion,” Wall told Soffen. “We judge remorse and rehabilitation.”

“I thought Gary was reaching for a gun,” said Soffen, an inmate at a state prison in Shirley. “I thought I believed that.”

In a plea bargain with Matthew J. Ryan, the Hampden District Attorney at the time, Soffen pleaded guilty in 1973 to robbing three banks and to second-degree murders in the slaying Stephen J. Perrot and Dube. Prosecutors said the two men were killed to prevent them from testifying. Soffen received two life sentences with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Parole boards have denied Soffen early release at least a dozen times over the years.

Wall, a former first assistant district attorney in Boston, was appointed the new chairman by Gov. Deval L. Patrick as part of a shakeup on the board after a parolee killed a Woburn police officer in December.

Wall also criticized the convict when Soffen said he only once touched the trigger of an automatic handgun and he didn’t intend to fire the six shots that were emptied into the head of Perrot. Perrot was killed behind a motor lodge on East Columbus Avenue in Springfield.

“It was semi-automatic,” Wall said. “You’ve got to make a decision to keep your finger on the weapon and keep it .¤.¤. aimed and firing.”

Wall and other parole board members also castigated Soffen for receiving a disciplinary report for “grabbing” the posterior of a nurse in October 2008 in a prison infirmary.

“It’s indecent assault and battery,” Wall told Soffen, who was not charged in the case.

Soffen’s lawyer, John Rull, of Walpole, said Soffen had received no disciplinary reports since January 2009. Rull said Soffen’s clean record in prison for nearly the past three years coincides with his conversion to Christianity.

Soffen told board members that he does not expect to live for another hearing. Soffen’s lawyer said the inmate has suffered four heart attacks and is hampered by diabetes, high blood pressure, Hepatitis C, liver disease and arthritis.

Soffen’s niece, Debra A. Allen, of Springfield, pleaded for her uncle’s release and read a statement from another niece, Maureen A. Maynard, of Enfield. Allen said Soffen has paid his dues.

“I’m asking you to forgive and let my uncle Franny come home,” said Allen, who recalled family picnics and pool parties at Soffen’s home in Ludlow.

Family members of the victims opposed parole, including Bonnie J. Dube Clark, of Agawam, a sister of Dube, and Michael S. Perrot, son of Perrot.

Dube Clark said Soffen’s only remorse is that he is still in prison. She said there is no reason to grant him parole.

During his first couple of decades in prison, when furlough and work release laws were much more lenient in the state, Soffen frequently spent unsupervised days out of prison, with no violations, according to his lawyer.

Dube Clark told a story about how she was in a dining room at a restaurant in Ludlow and saw Soffen walk to the bar and order a drink.

“He blew the head off my brother and had furloughs,” she told the parole board. “Who heard of such a thing?”

Hampden Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Dillon told board members that Soffen demonstrated he still is unprepared for parole. She said Soffen still is unrepentant for his crimes and his parole bid should be turned down.

In a separate project, crews have set speed humps on Sunset Avenue and McClellan Street to slow motorists using the roads as a shortcut to Massachusetts Avenue and UMass.

Photo by Diane Lederman/The RepublicanSpeed humps have been set at Sunset Avenue, pictured here, and on McClellan Street in Amherst in an attempt to slow traffic.

AMHERST – Contractors on the Atkins Corner project at Route 116 and Bay Road will work extra hours to advance the job before students return to town next week.

The state gave the Ludlow-based Baltazar Contractors permission for the extended hours in an attempt to get the project to the point that it wouldn’t cause detours and delays, said Amherst Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford B. Mooring.

He said “they’re trying to get everything all buttoned on (Route) 116 before the students to get back next week.” Crews will be working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., he said, and there will be detour around the corner from now until Wednesday with motorists using Rambling Road and Country Corners to get to Route 116.

The redesign is intended to improve safety and traffic flow with the use of roundabouts at Route 116 and West Bay Road, and at Route 116 and Bay Road. The road will be slightly wider.

“We don’t expect detours through the neighborhood when this work is complete,” Mooring said.

In a separate project finished before the students were due, town crews last week set speed humps on Sunset Avenue and McClellan Street to slow motorists using the roads as a shortcut to Massachusetts Avenue and the University of Massachusetts.

Speed humps will be placed on Lincoln Avenue after the roadway is repaved. Lincoln Avenue is also used to get from downtown to the university. Mooring said he doesn’t expected the speed humps on Sunset Avenue to cause motorists to divert to Lincoln Avenue.

Mooring said the town will be finalizing the list of roads to be paved in next year’s schedule sometime in November or December.

The town is in the midst of a $4.5 million road improvement project. Both Sunset and McClellan have been repaved.

Mooring said motorists should travel between 20 and 25 miles per hour over the humps, which are marked by white strips and some signs.

He said also said Spring Street should be repaved before the arrival of the students. The municipal parking lot on that street will be repaved also, but it is not expected to reopen before the students return.

The paving, however, is contingent on the weather, including Hurricane Irene which may hit Massachusetts next week.

The use of the Baird Middle School will delay the opening of Ludlow Public Schools by two days until Wednesday for staff and Thursday for all students.

LUDLOW – The town of Ludlow has announced it will open an emergency shelter as part of its emergency preparations ahead of Hurricane Irene.

The shelter will be located at the Paul R. Baird Middle School at 1 Rooney Road. It will open on Monday at 7 a.m.

The shelter opening is in addition to other emergency preparedness steps being taken by Ludlow Public Safety and Public Works leaders, according to a town press release.

Emergency Management Director Mark Babineau urged residents to shelter-in-place during the storm and if necessary seek alternate shelter after the end of the strong winds and heavy rain.

The use of the Baird Middle School will delay the opening of Ludlow Public Schools by two days until Wednesday for staff and Thursday for all students.

Residents are encouraged to call 2-1-1 for further non-emergency information related to the storm.

“Taking this step, while unfortunate, is necessary to ensure that the Town is properly prepared for Hurricane Irene. The school calendar will be able to absorb these missed days," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ken Grew said in the release.

“We are taking this storm seriously with the hope that the extent of our preparation is not entirely needed. We will not be caught off guard or underprepared,” Board of Selectmen Chair Aaron Saunders said.

Ludlow scheduled the first day of school for Tuesday, postponed it until Thursday and then changed it to Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Irene disrupted school schedules as superintendents canceled the first days of classes this week.

The first day of school in Springfield, Ware and Westfield was switched from Monday to Tuesday. Ludlow moved its opening from Tuesday to Wednesday and the start for schools in the Mohawk Trail Regional system has been pushed back a week until Sept. 6.

“So many bridges are damaged and we don’t know when the buses will be able to traverse the bridges,” Mohawk Superintendent Michael A. Buoniconti said.

The Franklin County towns of Shelburne, Charlemont and Buckland, which are included in the district, are among the hardest-hit by flooding created by Sunday’s storm.

Instead of being filled with high school students, the building is occupied by about 140 National Guard members working on storm cleanup. The parking lot is being used for equipment and the cafeteria and gymnasium is serving as temporary housing, Buoniconti said.

The Hawlemont elementary school was also flooded when the nearby Deerfield River overflowed. Monday afternoon, the boiler room was full of water and the grounds were covered with mud, he said.

Most superintendents delayed Monday openings because of concerns about power outages and routes blocked by downed trees and wires.

In Springfield, all schools will re-open Tuesday, with the exception of Elias Brookings School, which will begin Wednesday, said Azell M. Cavaan, spokeswoman for Superintendent Alan J. Ingram.

Brookings was damaged in the June 1 tornado and cannot be used, so temporary classrooms have been erected. Workers had expected to move in furniture over the weekend, but were ordered to stay home because of the storm, she said.

School officials said they are worried about losing a day typically set aside for cancellations because of snowstorms. All schools are required by state law to be open 180 days.

“We always build in five days and we are already down one and fall hasn’t even come yet,” Cavaan said.

Ludlow’s school opening was complicated because the town’s safety committee agreed the Baird Middle School would be the best place to locate an emergency shelter, said Kenneth J. Grew, the new superintendent.

Saturday evening, the group made a decision to postpone school from the planned Tuesday opening to Thursday, thinking Baird School could be occupied until then as a shelter for storm victims. On Sunday, when it was clear a shelter was not needed, Grew decided to start classes Wednesday.

Because cots and other equipment had to be moved from the school, the original Tuesday start was still too difficult to pull off, Grew said.

“We knew we could be ready and it wouldn’t add to the calendar,” he said. “We lost three weeks of school last year (because of snowstorms) and I didn’t want to take a chance we would lose more days,” he said.

Waiters meandered though the crowd bearing trays of such healthy hors d’oeuvres as balsamic mushroom bruschetta with sour cream and zucchini rounds with veggie bread stuffing, and brightly-colored crudites waited to be dipped into corn salsa.

HOLYOKE – With a picturesque valley spread out below them and blue mountains in the distance, about 100 women met on Wednesday evening for a “Fashion and Farmer’s Market” celebration at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke.

The program was part of the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” series presented by The Republican. It was sponsored by Lux Boutique and Hampden Bank.

Waiters meandered though the crowd bearing trays of such healthy hors d’oeuvres as balsamic mushroom bruschetta with sour cream and zucchini rounds with veggie bread stuffing, and brightly-colored crudites waited to be dipped into corn salsa.

Women browsed among the 26 vendors, talked in clusters, or sat at round tables set up on two tiers to offer a splendid view down the mountain.

“It’s beautiful,” said Joyce Smalley, of Holyoke, who was holding a dark rose-colored drink designed especially for the event. She described it as “very good, on the tart side, with sugar on the rim, because women are sweet.”

Smalley was socializing with a group of women she had run into who had all graduated from Holyoke Catholic High School decades earlier.

“This is great,” said Joanne LaPlante, of Ludlow. “I always enjoy this.”

“Fantastic,” said Joanne Spence, of Holyoke, who attended the event with her mom, Jane Magdalenski of Easthampton.

“They always seem to have it in a nice place,” said Marjolaine Linares, of Feeding Hills, “and the women are all in a party mood.”

Donna Simpter, of Greenfield, was attending a "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" event for the first time. She and a colleague who work at Amherst College decided it would make “a nice night out.”

A highlight of the evening was the fashion show, which included outfits for both men and women. The clothes came from the new Lux Boutique in East Longmeadow, Urban Exchange in Northampton and Kate Gray in Longmeadow.

The fashion show was coordinated by Debbie Wright of Project Closet and the Design Team from the Brush Salon in East Longmeadow. The Ethel Lee Ensemble provided music.

Vendor Pam Desjardins was selling items made with llama fur from her Owl Acres Farm in Granby, while Atkins Farm Country Market in Amherst had stacked its booth with its famous apple cider doughnuts.

Other Vendors included Lux Boutique, Tie Food, Summersault Soaps, Mountain to Seas Knits, Touchstone Crystals, Bugg Hill Gardens, Stella and Dot Jewelry, Baystate Spirit of Women, Jennifer Corridan Photography, Creative Memories Consultants, Silpada Designs, Blueberry Hill Farm, Shoe Diva, Mary Kay, Williams Distributing, Shaklee, Denise Smith Photograph, Jockey and the Soupy for Loopy Foundation.

Door prizes and gifts rounded out the evening.

James Collins Jr., 64, of Chicopee is being treated at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt. following the accident which is still under investigation by the Vermont State Police.

Clouds rise up over Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vt., on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

NORTH HERO, Vermont - A Chicopee man is in critical condition at a Vermont hospital after a boat he was on collided with another on Lake Champlain Wednesday morning.

James Collins Jr., 64, of Chicopee is being treated at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt. following the accident which is still under investigation by the Vermont State Police.

According to Vermont troopers, around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Collins Jr. was a passenger on his 1998 Javelin bass boat being operated by James Collins III, 44, of Ludlow.

The boat collided with a 2009 Stratos bass boat operated by Alphonse Gambardella, 39, of North Haven, Conn., causing a series of events that would leave the elder Collins critically injured.

According to police, the collision took place near Stephenson Point on Lake Champlain, off the north shore of North Hero State Park, not far from the Canadian border.

Troopers said that Collins' boat was traveling north in the channel between North Hero and Alburg, Vt. while Gambardella's boat was idling in a southwesterly direction. As Collins' boat approached, the Connecticut man apparently tried to accelerate to avoid the collision when the front of his boat came out of the water.

The two boats did collide, however, and a trolling motor became detached. The motor was sent flying through the passenger's side windshield of Collins' boat, striking the elder Collins in the head.

Upon impact, Gambardella was thrown from the boat into the water. Police said he wasn't wearing a life jacket but was pulled from the water by the younger Collins.

The elder Collins was taken to the Burlington hospital by Grand Island Rescue and Vermont troopers said the investigation is ongoing.

World Trade Center beams were distributed to several Western Mass. cities and towns.

SPRINGFIELD- Dozens of people lined up in front of the 2,950 pound steel beam that once belonged to the World Trade Center buildings and touched it or took pictures of it.

The beam was displayed at the Raymond J. Sullivan Public Safety Complex at 1212 Carew St. on Sunday during a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

“It’s an important moment in our history and I think ceremonies like this are necessary,” said Tom Feeley, of Springfield. He was one of thousands of people across Western Mass that participated in events Sunday.

In Springfield more than 400 people gathered to see the 12-foot-long beam, which was transported from John F. Kennedy International Airport to the city by William Arment, of Charlie Arment Trucking Inc. of Springfield. There was no cost for the steel, but communities had to pay for the cost of transporting it from a hangar at the airport.

Springfield Fire Commissioner Gary G. Cassanelli said the beam is representative of the emergency personal including the 343 firefighters who died on that day.

“How fitting that a column of steel from the twin towers should be the focal point of this ceremony. Much like firefighters the steel is tough, forged to be strong enough to withstand great pressure. It is resilient and adaptable under the right circumstances, but unbending and unrelenting when necessary,” he said. “This steel will forever remind us of the firefighters who like the steel within the towers struggled until the very end to hold the weight of those who cried out for their help.”

The beam given to Springfield will be placed somewhere in Forest Park in a memorial to the firefighters and all of those lost on that day, said Judith A. Matt, president of the Spirit of Springfield, who worked with the New York and New Jersey Port Authority to obtain one of the beams.

Enfield received two 16-foot beams each weighing about 2,400 pounds in February. Sunday they dedicated a permanent memorial at the fire department on Weymouth Road.

“We had about 800 people in attendance and we had help from Stop and Shop, Shop Rite, Costco and the Country Diner, so we could give refreshments to everyone,” said Lt. Brian Ellis, of the Enfield Fire Department.

In Ludlow Fire Chief Mark Babineau said it took six weeks to build the memorial, which was placed outside the public safety complex on Chapin Street.

“A lot of people worked together to make this possible,” he said.

Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati was one of many local officials(D-Ludlow) including Sen. Gale D. Candaras (D- Wilbraham) and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Springfield) who attended the event.

“There are no words, no ceremonies, no plaques no stones and no amount of tears that will replace the losses we had on that day,” Petrolati said.

He said he hopes the memorial will offer people a way to remember.

“I hope it will provide a solemn place to remember and mourn,” he said. “I hope it will serve as a daily reminder to take nothing for granted, to appreciate our freedom and to cherish our friends and family.”

Nicholas Humber, a native of Ludlow, died on American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed by al-Qaida hijackers into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. His stepsister Dorothy McKeon, attended the ceremony and said she was touched by the memorial, which will honor her step brother and the other victims of the attacks.

Humber’s siblings, which also grew up in Ludlow, were in New York Sunday at a ceremony at Ground Zero. James F. Shea, father of Tara Shea Creamer, also attended the trade center ceremonies, as did Brian J. Murphy’s brother and sister, Harold and Cynthia, his widow, Judy, and their children Jessica and Leila. Murphy’s nephew, Joshua Rothstein, read his name as part of the ceremony. Lourdes LeBron, of Northampton, who lost her sister Waleska Martinez on Flight 93, was at a ceremony in Pennsylvania.

In Westfield, the Sons of Erin held its annual tribute to city natives Shea Creamer, Brian J. Murphy and Daniel P. Trant during a ceremony at the club attended by state and local dignitaries, as well several hundred family members, friends and police officers and firefighters.

Shea Creamer was also a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. Murphy and Trant were both bond traders for Cantor Fitzgerald – Murphy on the 104th floor and Trant on the 105th.

In West Springfield a few hundred people commemorated the anniversary with a solemn ceremony on the Park Street Common on Sunday morning, its focal point a monument to native Melissa Harrington-Hughes, who was killed that day.

Harrington-Hughes was 31 years old and living in San Francisco when she was killed while attending a conference on the 101st floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center, the first target of radical Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda that morning. A hijacked airplane hit the tower between the 93rd and 99th floors at 8:46 a.m.

The ceremony featured honor guards from the police and fire departments, music by the West Springfield High School and middle school bands, speeches, remembrances and poems about Harrington-Hughes and the others killed that day 10 years ago, which includes more than 20 from Western Massachusetts.

Harrington-Hughes called her father about nine minutes after the plane’s impact, then placed a call to her husband, Sean.

“Sean, it’s me. ... I just wanted to let you know I love you, and I’m stuck in this building in New York. A plane hit the building or a bomb went off, they don’t know. But there’s lots of smoke, and I just wanted you to know that I love you always,” she said in a message.

Robert Harrington, her father, said he felt “wonderful” that so many people showed up to honor his daughter, the other victims and their country.

“We can never talk to her again,” he said. “That’s a cross we have to bear.” But he said he didn’t want to express animosity or say anything negative about “anyone” for the loss of his daughter.

Other speakers asked for remembrance of Spc. Kenneth J. Iwasinski, 22, of Belchertown, an Army infantryman who was killed in Iraq in 2007; those killed at Pearl Harbor in World War II; and the men and women who died trying to subdue hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11.

Mayor Edward J. Gibson said the perpetrators attacked an “international symbol” of diversity and freedom.

“America’s strengths come through all of us through our unity in the face of adversity,” said Gibson. “We will not beaten and those who perished in those acts of war on Sept. 11, 2001, will never be forgotten.”

Reporters Brian Steele and Manon Mirabelli contributed to this report.

The money for communities to stay open three extra hours for state and national elections is dispersed by the state every two years, a spokesman in the Ludlow town clerk’s office said.

WILBRAHAM - The state will give cities and towns more than $2.48 million to cover the cost of extra mandated polling hours for the 2012 March Presidential primary, the September state primary and the November elections, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump said.

She said the state will pay cities and towns a total of $2.48 million more to stay open three extra hours on those dates.

Wilbraham Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield said that for town elections polls are usually open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

A 1983 law requires municipalities to keep voting places open three extra hours for state and national elections.

For state and national elections, polls in Wilbraham will be from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to give residents a greater opportunity to get to the polls before or after work, Litchfield said.

In 1983 the Auditor’s Division of Local Mandates determined that the state law was an unfunded mandate and that the state is required to pay for the increase in election-day staffing costs.

“The state has been covering these costs,” Litchfield said.

For Wilbraham, the additional costs are $3,834, for Ludlow, the additional costs are $8,562 and for Springfield the additional costs are $73,790.

For Boston, the additional cost is $244,684.

The money for communities to stay open three extra hours for state and national elections is dispersed by the state every two years, a spokesman in the Ludlow town clerk’s office said.

“The intent of the mandate was to make it easier for citizens to get to the polls before and after work and to increase participation in national and state elections,” Bump said.

She added that the extra hours increased the financial burden on cities and towns which the Auditor’s office determined should be the responsibility of the state.

Christopher J. Thompson, spokesman for the Auditor’s office, said that this year for the first time an electronic certification form was developed which all cities and towns were required to submit by the end of July.

Forms which had been submitted by mail this year were submitted electronically which is “quicker, simpler and cheaper,” Thompson said.

Bump forwarded a report detailing the additional costs to the Secretary of State on Sept. 15, Thompson said.

He said it will be up to the Secretary of State to distribute the money to each community prior to the scheduled elections.

Massachusetts Polling Hour Community Disbursments for cities and towns

Borrego Solar Systems is proposing to lease the landfill from the town for 20 years.

File photo by Mark M. MurrayRonald C.DeCurzio and David Tuohey, from left, of Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, stand in front of the company's solar panels located on their property in Ludlow. A private company is currently negotiating with the town to put a similar installation on the former landfill property.

LUDLOW - The Board of Selectmen agreed on Tuesday to negotiate a contract with Borrego Solar Systems of Lowell for solar installation panels which will cover 14 acres of the closed town landfill on Holyoke Street.

Borrego Solar Systems is proposing to lease the landfill from the town for 20 years for the installation of solar panels for the production of electricity which would be sold to Western Massachusetts Electric Co.

James P.”Chip” Harrington, the chair of the town’s Energy Committee, told the Board of Selectmen that if electricity costs the town 9 cents per killowatt hour, if the solar operation is built, the town could purchase electricity for municipal use from Borrego Solar Systems for 5.5 cents per killowatt hour.

“We are projecting a municipal electricity savings of $80,000 to $150,000 per year,” Harrington said.

He added, “That would be a significant cost savings to the town.”

Harrington said that voters at the Oct. 3 special Town Meeting will be asked to vote to give the Board of Selectmen the authority to enter into the 20-year lease agreement with Borrego Solar Systems.

Harrington said he believes an agreement can be negotiated in 30 to 40 days.

After that, permitting by the state could take approximately six months, and there will be a six month construction timetable, Harrington said.

Harrington said Borrego will build and maintain the solar system.

Jared Connell, senior project developer for Borrego Solar Systems, said the project also will come with an educational component including a solar energy curriculum which can be provided for the Ludlow public schools.

Selectmen said they will appoint a committee to negotiate a contract with Borrego Solar Systems. The committee will include representatives from the Board of Selectmen, the Energy Committee and the Board of Public Works.

Authorization to enter into a contract between the Board of Selectmen and Borrego Solar Systems is subject to approval by voters at the special Town Meeting, Harrington said.

“I want to thank you for signing our charter. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

CHICOPEE – Five hundred students are on the waiting list for the Hampden Charter School of Science.

That’s one of the things state Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester learned when he toured that school on Friday.

He also learned that the school, founded in 2009, serves 292 students from Springfield, West Springfield, Chicopee and Ludlow. This year it covers grades 6 to 11. Next year grade 12 will be added.

The commissioner spoke to students, staff and parents.

Harun Celik, principal at the school, gave him some of the reasons his school is in high demand: small classes, individualized attention, emphasis on college preparation, strong math and science curriculum.

Applicants are chosen by lottery to give everyone a fair chance. The school’s population will max out at 350 to preserve its intimacy.

Parents who had come to meet the commissioner were eager to praise the school. “It’s done so much for our son,” said Bob Lafleur, of Springfield. “That’s why we love to show our support.”

Joseph Grasty, of Springfield, said his son entered the school last year. “My son’s autistic,” he said, “and he was actually getting lost in the Springfield school system. When he got here, he grew right away. He’s very bright. The sky’s the limit.”

As the commissioner toured the classrooms, he found kids clustered in little groups, all looking sharp in tan slacks and navy (middle school) and maroon (high school) tops.

One young man was using a marker to answer questions about chloroplast and mitochondrion cells on a Smartboard. Another was measuring the force needed to drag a weight up a hill improvised out of two textbooks.

Chester also visited English and social studies classrooms and heard a student chorus sing an old English ballad.

Ninth-grader Miles Hyman, of Springfield, whose younger brother Maxwell also attends the school, presented the commissioner with a gift of a landscape he had painted.

“I want to thank you for signing our charter,” said Miles. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

Close partnerships between parents and the school includes home visits. Parents soon learn the school has many ways to involve them, from “Parents’ Night” to “Donuts with Dad” to a Website that allows them to check homework.

Celik is big on the state-wide Science Olympiad competition, and said the school has been steadily creeping upward ever since placing seventh out of 30 the first year.

The school is also heavy on multiculturalism. Celik himself was born in Turkey, graduated from college in Russia, earned his master’s degree at Farleigh-Dickinson in New Jersey. He taught at a charter school in New Jersey before being recruited for the School of Science.

“You have a great opportunity here,” Chester told students. “Work hard!”

Northbound traffic on Route 5 and Interstate 91 was reportedly backed up to Connecticut.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - State police reported slow-going on Interstate 91 north and on the Massachusetts Turnpike Friday afternoon as people, perhaps spurred by the summery weather, flocked to the Big E.

“It’s backed up to the Connecticut line,” said Trooper Christina A. Albano, who is attached to the Springfield barracks, of northbound traffic on Interstate 91. “Route 5 has some congestion too...I think it’s because it’s a nice day.”

Longmeadow police reported traffic on Route 5 was backed up to the state line and beyond.

State police on the Massachusetts Turnpike reported heavy traffic between Ludlow and West Springfield because of the Big E and an ongoing power line installation project on both side the turnpike in Chicopee,

“It’s pretty widespread,” said Trooper Alvin Lockhart, who is attached to the Westfield barracks.

Friday morning, a truck fire on I-91 northbound by the Interstate 291 exit caused an earlier traffic backup.

Springfield boasted partly sunny skies Friday afternoon with temperatures in the high 70s. Saturday and Sunday will see wetter and cooler weather, according to abc40/ fox 6 meteorologists.

Those gathered at the Wilbraham Funeral Home were from motorcycle groups which included Hells Angels, the Phantom Lords and the Whip City Riders.

The Republican | Dave RobackMotorcyclists form a procession behind a motorcycle hearse bearing the casket of Nathan Stebbins of Ludlow at the start of a memorial ride at the Wilbraham Funeral Home on Friday afternoon.

WILBRAHAM – More than 200 motorcyclists converged at the Wilbraham Funeral Home Friday afternoon to give Hells Angels member Nathan T. Stebbins his “last ride.”

Some people in the crowd put the number of bikers at more than 400, but police estimated the number was closer to 200. Police said the motorcycle ride was orderly.

The motorcyclists traveled to Palmer and back along Route 20 to honor one of their own, Nathan T. Stebbins, 25, of West Avenue in Ludlow, who died Sept. 22 as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Fairfield, Conn.

Those gathered at the Wilbraham Funeral Home, 2551 Boston Road, were from motorcycle groups that included Hells Angels, the Phantom Lords and the Whip City Riders.

Nathan T. Stebbins

“There are people here from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island and Italy,” said a Westfield woman who declined to give her name.

She said she met Stebbins because her husband is a member of the Whip City Riders.

“Hells Angels is a good organization,” she said. “They do a lot of things for children. They hold collections for Toys for Tots.”

She added that Stebbins was devoted to his young daughter.

Stebbins leaves his mother, Doris Neal-Bump, and step-father, Carl Bump, of Ludlow; his father, Thomas Stebbins of Huntington; his fiancee, Pamela Graf, and his 2-year-old daughter, Billie Lee Stebbins, both of Ludlow.

He also leaves his siblings, Vincent and Alonzo Caputo of Ludlow, Amber Hoague of Agawam and Emily Maxwell of Franklin.

Stebbins is a 2004 graduate of Gateway Regional High School. He worked as a construction laborer and carpenter for various firms in the area. He was a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, CT Nomads.

The vandalism was mostly reported Saturday morning.

Republican file photo

LUDLOW – Vandals shattered windows at three businesses and a house and shot holes in cars with pellet guns.

Nine victims reported the vandalism on Saturday, starting at about 5 a.m. when employees for Central Bakery, on 270 East St., discovered a window in the front door of the business was shattered, Ludlow police Sgt. Daniel Valadas said.

Front windows at Radical Roaster Coffee Europium, 249 East St., and the Davinci Salon, on Sewall Street, were also shattered and a window of a house on Erin Lane was broken. Cars were reported damaged on Lake View Avenue, Birch Street, Yale Street, Wedgewood Drive and Hubbard Street, he said.

The vandalism is believed to have taken place late Friday night and early Saturday morning. Police suspect a gun powered with carbon dioxide cartridges and uses larger pellets was used.

Officers are asking anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious behavior to call the station at 583-8305.

The car was recovered about two hours after it was stolen.

The Republican / File photo

LUDLOW – A 19-year-old Monson resident was assaulted and the car he was driving was stolen at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday on Center Street.

The victim and a passenger, who is also 19, reported they realized they were being followed and pulled over. Two men approached them and one grabbed the driver around his neck, pulled him out of the car he was driving and stole it. The passenger fled when he saw the two approaching, Police Sgt. Daniel Valadas said.

The car, which is owned by the victim’s mother, was recovered about two hours later on Maple Street. Police are investigating and searching for a white Toyota driven by the two assailants, Valadas said.

Energy Committee chair James Harrington said estimates are Ludlow would save $150,000 per year in municipal electricity costs.

solar panels

LUDLOW – Voters at Monday’s special Town Meeting voted to give the selectmen the authority to enter into a 20-year contract for the lease of 14 acres of the town landfill for a photovoltaic generation system.

Borrego Solar Systems of Lowell is proposing to lease the landfill from the town for 20 years for the installation of solar panels on the capped town landfill on Holyoke Street for the production of electricity that would be sold to Western Massachusetts Electric Co.

James P. “Chip” Harrington, chair of the town’s Energy Committee, said that in exchange for the lease of the property to the solar company the town would get a credit for its electricity purchases. Harrington said estimates are that the town would save $150,000 per year in municipal electricity costs.

Electricity now costs the town 9 cents per killowatt hour, Harrington said. Estimates are that the cost would come down to 4 or 5 cents per kilowatt hour, he said.

Town Meeting member Joseph Santos asked whether the capped landfill on Holyoke Street would not be better used for athletic fields.

Harrington replied that such a proposal would require the relocation of ventilation pipes at the landfill. He said parents are unlikely to support having their children playing sports on a capped landfill.

Santos also said competitive bids should be sought before a solar company is selected. The Energy Committee already sought bids and reviewed them and has recommended Borrego Solar Systems to the selectmen due to the company’s track record and financial stability, Harrington said.

The proposal was approved by a majority show of hands by voters at the Town Meeting.

Borrego Solar Systems is about to begin construction of a solar facility on a landfill in Easthampton, Harrington said.

He said he expects an agreement with Borrego Solar Systems will be negotiated in 30 to 40 days. After that, permitting by the state could take approximately six months, and there will be a six-month construction timetable, Harrington said.

Selectmen said they will appoint a committee to negotiate a contract with Borrego Solar Systems. The committee will include representatives from the Board of Selectmen, the Energy Committee and the Board of Public Works.

The ceiling collapsed twice during the last school year.

LUDLOW - Voters at Monday's special Town Meeting approved the appropriation of up to $75,000 from the town’s stabilization fund to repair the ceiling in the school business office at School Department headquarters at 63 Chestnut Street.

School Committee Chairman Michael J. Kelliher told Town Meeting members that the second floor drop ceiling first collapsed last March. At that time School Department staff was moved to Baird Middle School during the cleanup, Kelliher said.

In May there was a second ceiling collapse on the second floor and the second floor was declared unsafe, Kelliher said. The staff was moved to the first floor, he said.

He said the drop ceiling was removed and it was discovered that the original plaster ceiling needs to be replaced. Lighting also had to be removed to make the repairs, and the lighting needs to be reinstated after all the repairs are made, Kelliher said.

Kelliher said no more than $75,000 would be spent on the repairs.

Selectman Antonio Dos Santos said that without the repairs the area would be a hazard.

“This is an important obligation,” Dos Santos said. He urged Town Meeting members to approve the transfer from the town’s Stabilization Account to make the repairs.

“That’s what the Stabilization Account is for,” he said.

Kelliher said that Interim School Superintendent Kenneth J. Grew has agreed to implement a five-year plan for building maintenance so there will not be future large unexpected repairs.

The appropriation of the $75,000 was approved by a large majority show of hands.

Town Moderator Jason Thompson said a two-thirds vote was needed, since the funds were being taken out of the town’s Stabilization Account.