Rounding up the day's coverage from The Republican.

Photo by Don Treeger/The RepublicanAnthony Hall of Agawam moves wood from a pile at a friend's house on Poinsettia Dr. in Agawam as he tries to find his cellphone that he lost in the pile last night while helping his friend with storm clean-up.

Top stories:

• Kindness warms chilled neighbors still waiting for power return

• Utilities say nearly all customers to have power restored by Friday or Saturday

• Across Massachusetts, about 85,000 still waiting for electricity

• Line crews from Kansas among many out-of-staters working long hours to restore power to Western Massachusetts

• Gov. Patrick: Utilities not keeping pace with needed power restoration

Live updates: Western Mass. power outages stretch into the weekend

Western Mass. town reports:
(Ask a question or share stories about your town as part of our live updates)

• Note: Today's story Utilities say nearly all customers to have power restored by Friday or Saturday includes a roundup of the following towns: Agawam, Amherst, Belchertown, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Hampden, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Monson, Northampton, Palmer, South Hadley, Southwick, Springfield, Ware, West Springfield, Westfield, Wilbraham

• Agawam: Agawam Mayor Richard Cohen rips WMECO's handling of power restoration following snowstorm

• Belchertown: Shelter at Belchertown High School closing; school slated to resume next week

• East Longmeadow: Power expected to be restored to most East Longmeadow homes in a day, Selectman Enrico Villamaino says

• Longmeadow: WMECo representatives to discuss power failure with Longmeadow residents

• Monson: Half of Monson still without power

• Palmer: Palmer electricity expected to be restored in 3 days; trick or treating scheduled in Bondsville

• Springfield: Springfield shelter, meals and warming centers stay as more power restored

• Ware: Ware schools to remain closed; half of town still without electricity

Fatalities:

• Dorothy Hall, 86, of North Brookfield, found dead in unheated home

Resources:

• WMECo estimates for Western Mass

• National Grid estimates

• Worcester County WMECo estimates

• CL&P estimates

Tensions were high as 40 Belchertown residents – most of whom have been surviving without electricity since the Oct. 29 snowstorm – packed into the selectmen's meeting room for a visit from Gov. Deval Patrick.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities is investigating the response by utilities to Saturday’s snowstorm, which has left tens of thousands of customers still without power.

Earlier Friday, Richard K. Sullivan Jr. of Westfield, who is Gov. Deval Patrick’s energy and environmental secretary, asked the utilities department to start the investigation of the storm, which pounded Western Massachusetts with wind and snow.

“We encourage the public to share their feedback with us,” Ann Berwick, chair of the Department of Public Utilities, said.

The review will include public hearings in communities in Western Massachusetts, a department spokesman said.

Tens of thousands remain without power and heat nearly a week after a nor’easter slammed Massachusetts with wind, rain and snow. State officials reported Friday that 42,641 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. customers were without power and 42,489 more customers of National Grid were still in the dark.

Patrick visited Belchertown Friday afternoon and saw a woman dissolve into tears over the lack of electricity a week after the paralyzing nor’easter. He heard others who were angry and frustrated with National Grid’s inability to restore power to their homes. He saw a neighborhood where electrical wires and branches still hang precipitously in the street.

Tensions were high as 40 residents - most of whom have been surviving without electricity since the Oct. 29 snowstorm - packed into the selectmen’s meeting room. The media initially was kept out, to the chagrin of residents like Luke Lamoureux of South Liberty Street, who said the media should be allowed inside.

Lamoureux, who has two children ages 8 and 2, said he’s been calling the governor’s office because he’s had “no water, no power, no heat” and wants answers. He said his family has been keeping warm by using blankets. “We’ve gone six days without power here. The power company lied to our community about where the power’s been restored,” Lamoureux said. “I’ve had more than enough . . . This is an outrage.”

Patrick said he planned to get in touch with National Grid immediately, and told the residents he shares their frustration.

“We are as frustrated as you,” said Patrick, who said his office is given the same estimates as to when power will be restored as everyone else. The latest estimate was for Friday night at 11:45 p.m. for Belchertown.

At the hearing inside Town Hall, Stebbins Street resident Carl Dunne blasted officials for closing the emergency shelter at the high school that morning and for making the decision to have schools reopen Monday. He said he is worried about the power lines still down throughout town.

“You’re putting education first over the safety of the kids,” Dunne said.

The president of National Grid in Massachusetts met with Wilbraham officials Friday morning, part of a series of meetings in town halls around the region.

At a public meeting in the Longmeadow High School auditorium, WMECO President Peter J. Clarke told about 200 residents the town should have 95 percent of its power back by late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Clarke joined representatives from Verizon and Comcast, town public safety officials and elected officials at the 90-plus minute forum that dealt with power outages from the weekend storm and longer-range concerns about future weather disruptions.

Clarke thanked town residents for their patience, and expressed regret that restoring power has taken so long. But the size and intensity of the storm created problems that no advanced planning could have avoided, Clarke added.

“It created some very unique damage,” he said, adding that the town’s transfer station was essentially “flattened” by falling trees.

By hiring private contractors and bringing in crews from power companies in the south and midwest, WMECO has expanded its workforce to eight times its size in five days, Clarke said.

“No company can expand to eight times its size in two days,” Clarke said. “It takes time.”

The president of National Grid in Massachusetts met with Wilbraham officials Friday morning, part of a series of meetings in town halls around the region.

Marcy L. Reed told Wilbraham officials National Grid hoped to have power substantially restored by the end of Friday, but isolated pockets of outages in some neighborhoods will persist through the weekend.

Many in Wilbraham were still without power Friday.

Reed said National Grid has 3,300 workers on the ground and as they restore more power in lighter-hit eastern Massachusetts more of those workers are coming to the Pioneer Valley.

More workers would be available, but they are tied up with outages in Connecticut, she said.

With an influx of work crews, virtually all electric customers in Springfield should have power restored by mid-day Saturday in the aftermath of last weekend’s major snowstorm, according to a Western Massachusetts Electric Co. official.

During a press conference Friday, H. Edgar Alejandro of WMECO reported that approximately 23,000 customers in Springfield, 36 percent, still had no power Friday. That compared to 49 percent one day earlier, and 51 percent on Wednesday morning.

However, the number of WMECO crews within the city of Springfield increased from 12 truck crews on Tuesday to 94 crews by Friday, Alejandro said. The crews on Friday consisted of 50 line crews and 40 tree crews with a total of 256 workers.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the city has done its best in the removal of trees and tree debris from roadways, often hampered by live wires. Sarno had the power at his home restored Friday.

Springfield Health and Human Services Director Helen R. Caulton-Harris said the city shelter at Central High School will continue to provide lodging and meals three times a day for Springfield residents without power on Friday night and continuing through Saturday.

There were 246 people staying at the shelter on Thursday night.

The American Red Cross announced that it has provided 10,002 meals, 13,538 snacks and 1,093 overnight stays to victims of the storm and resulting power outages.

Deadly carbon monoxide fumes emanating form two gasoline-powered generators inside a North End home in Springfield sent two men to Baystate Medical Center Friday morning.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Michael R. Richard said the two men, once removed from the house, were conscious but suffering altered mental status as a result of the carbon monoxide.

Richard said carbon monoxide levels within the home were 220 parts-per-million. Anything above 9 parts-per-million is considered extremely dangerous, he said

“These two are extremely lucky,” said Richard. He said the home did not have any working smoke or carbon monoxide detectors.

Richard said generators should not be brought indoors and should be kept at least 10 or 20 feet away from all structures.

In Southampton frustrations with Western Massachusetts Electric Co.’s response here were growing as residents and town officials alike pondered the possibility of spending a seventh night without power.

Police were called to Strong Street Tuesday after an elderly man began yelling and screaming at Western Massachusetts Electric Co. personnel and a tree-cutting crew that had been temporarily blocking the road.

“It was a pretty tense moment,” said Police Chief David Silvernail. “Tempers are flaring.”

Police opted not to arrest the man and sent him on his way, Silvernail said.

Western Massachusetts Electric Co. is reporting that 17,000 customers remain without power, while National Grid has 11,641 customers without power in Hampden County and 5,065 customers without power in Hampshire County.

Utility crews continue to work to restore power to cities and towns still dealing with widespread outages a week after a devastating nor’easter struck the region, and hope that the majority of customers will be back on the grid today.

As much as two feet of heavy, wet snow, combined with high winds uprooted and split entire trees or snapped thousands of huge limbs that in turn tore down power lines, poles and equipment, paralyzing the region.

Western Massachusetts Electric Co. is reporting that 17,000 customers remain without power, while National Grid has 11,641 customers without power in Hampden County and 5,065 customers without power in Hampshire County.

Sandra Ahearn, spokeswoman for Western Massachusetts Electric Co., said she expects most customers in the greater Springfield area to have power tonight, but said work will continue to stretch into Sunday.

“We’ll continue to pick up customers throughout the day. We have over 500 crews working,” Ahearn said.

National Grid spokesman David Graves said he also hopes more customers will have their power restored tonight, though most towns, with the exception of Granby and Northampton, are expected to get their power back late Sunday night. Granby and Northampton should have electricity by 12 a.m. Sunday.

Graves is advising customers who have power to leave an outdoor light on so crews can tell if a house has electricity. He said there are 3,800 people in the field – the overwhelming majority of them in Western Massachusetts - working on power restoration.

Here is a list of WMECO communities still without power and the number of customers affected:

Agawam:1,599
Amherst: 238
Chester: 1
Deerfield: 10
Easthampton: 224
Erving: 1
Granville: 8
Greenfield: 1
Hadley: 62
Hatfield: 21
Huntington: 15
Leverett: 51
Longmeadow: 1,257
Ludlow: 673
Montague: 14
Montgomery: 6
Northfield: 10
Pelham: 26
Russell: 75
Southampton: 283
Southwick: 473
Springfield: 9,682
Sunderland: 49
Tolland: 1
West Springfield: 2987
Westhampton: 6
Whately: 17

Here are the communities services by National Grid and the number of customers affected:

Hampden County
Brimfield:819
East Longmeadow: 2,171
Hampden: 1,197
Holland:611
Monson: 1,173
Palmer:2,187
Wales: 722
Wilbraham: 2,761

Hampshire County
Belchertown: 2,770
Ware: 2,209

Worcester County
Hardwick: 397
Warren: 681
West Brookfield: 388

State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer said it is important to protect and serve veterans when they return home.

Veterans Day ceremonies will be taking place in several communities in the Pioneer Valley over the next few days, and state Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said these occasions are appropriate times not just to honor those who served in war but to concentrate on protecting and serving them as they come back home.

Most events will take place Friday, Nov. 11, which has been the nation’s official Veterans Day since 1954 and was known as Armistice Day for decades before that. Armistice Day recognized the armistice that ended World War I at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918.

Springfield, Amherst, Palmer, Northampton, Holyoke, Ludlow, Agawam, West Springfield, Wilbraham, Belchertown and Westfield are among the communities with Veterans Day ceremonies Friday.

The town of Ware will have its ceremonies Sunday, Nov. 13.

Ware’s events will include a parade that will start at American Legion Post 123 on Maple Street at 1 p.m. then travel down South Street and Main Street to Veterans Park, where a program is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m.

Al Albrecht, the oldest active member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2577, will be parade marshal in Ware, and Jack McQuaid will be master of ceremonies at the park program.

Senator Brewer and state Reps. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, and Todd M. Smola, R-Palmer, will take part in the Ware ceremony, and Patriots Pen contest winner Courtney Jacques will read her award-winning essay.

Following the Ware veterans observances, members of the town’s 250th Anniversary Committee will read a proclamation closing the anniversary events and thanking residents for their participation.

The Springfield parade will start at 11 a.m., Friday, at Springfield Technical Community College and proceed to Court Square and City Hall for a ceremony.

The Springfield Veterans Activities Committee is coordinating the city’s events, which will include placing a wreath at the War Monument.

In Amherst, there will be a ceremony Friday at 10:45 a.m. in front of Town Hall.

Westfield will have a parade at 10:30 a.m. from the intersection of Chapel and Elm streets down Broad Street to West Silver Street, where there will be a ceremony at Parker Memorial Park.

In Palmer there will be a parade starting at 10:30 a.m. from the Thorndike Post Office to the Lake Junction Memorial Boulder for the ceremony, followed by a reception at the St. Joseph’s Club.

Chicopee will celebrate Veteran’s day with several events on Friday. There will be a memorial Service at Doverbrook Road at 8:30 a.m. It will be followed by a memorial Mass at 10 a.m. St. Anthony of Padua Church on 56 Anthony St.

At 11 a.m. there will be the laying of the wreath at Chicopee Veterans’ Plaza on Front Street.

The Chicopee Veterans’ advisory Board and the Department of Veterans’ Services will also hold a veterans forum from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Charles Kennedy Post 275, on Robbins Road.

More than 30 vendors will offer a variety of information to veterans and their spouses about benefits and entitlements. Those attending should show a copy of their military or DD214 identification.

Northampton’s Friday events will start with an 11 a.m. parade starting at Lampron Park on Bridge Street and will proceed down Main Street to Memorial Hall next to Pulaski Park.

Gerry Clark, president of the Veterans Council of Northampton, Ellenor Rennell, Mayor David Narkewicz and others will speak during the program.

The Belchertown ceremonies will start with a 9:30 a.m. march from Town Hall to the Town Common Friday to honor veterans and will also feature an 11 a.m. program of music and speeches at Belchertown High School.

In Holyoke there will be a ceremony Friday at the War Memorial at Appleton and Maple streets, starting with a 9 a.m. social hour. At 10 a.m. the names of Holyoke veterans who died in the past year will be read.

Agawam veterans groups will hold a ceremony at 10:45 a.m. Friday at Veterans Green by Phelps School. They will also take part in 9:30 a.m. service with West Springfield veterans on the Agawam-West Springfield bridge.

In West Springfield, a parade will step off from the parking lot of St. Thomas School at 11 a.m. Friday and march to American Legion Post 207 on Park Avenue.

The Ludlow Veterans Day Ceremony which had been scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. at the Exit 7 Theater on Chestnut Street in Ludlow has been moved to the Ludlow High School auditorium at Chapin Street in Ludlow.

Veterans Day ceremonies in Wilbraham will be Friday at 11 a.m. at Crane Park on Main Street. Rev. Brian Tracy, pastor of Evangel Assembly of God Church on Stony Hill Road, will deliver the invocation. Kathy Dion, a student at Minnechaug Regional High School, will sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Veterans Agent Richard Prochnow will deliver the welcome. Prochnow will be honored for 25 years of service as veterans agent.

Senator Brewer said that in addition to the ceremonies in the next few days, the month of November has been designated as “Hire a Veteran Month” in Massachusetts.

“Just as our nation vows to honor our soldiers, Massachusetts has also made a vow to protect and serve our troops coming home,” Brewer said.


Peter Goonan, Lori Stabile, Mike Plaisance, Suzanne McLaughlin, Jeanette Deforge, Sandy Constantine, Fred Contrada, Diane Lederman and Ted Laborde contributed to this story.

Under the proposal, four April vacation days would be lost and a June 8 professional development day altered.

LUDLOW - Town officials are surveying parents about how to best make up the five school days lost to the Oct. 29 nor'easter.

Using an automated telephone call, interim Superintendent of Schools Kenneth J. Grew's office detailed a plan to make up the five days by eliminating four of the April vacation days and having students attend a half-day of school on June 8. Originally, students were to have June 8 off because of teachers' professional development.

Parents were asked to signal their approval or disapproval using their telephone keypad.

The United States currently has about 40,000 troops still in Iraq.

File photo by David Molnar / The RepublicanMajor General L. Scott Rice, Commander of Massachusetts Air National Guard, seen in September during services in Springfield to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, says the time is right for American troops to leave Iraq.

WESTFIELD – Veterans Day will be observed throughout the region Friday with the knowledge that the war in Iraq is nearly over.

President Barack H. Obama last month ordered that all troops stationed in Iraq will be home by the end of the year.

That order has been met with overwhelming support from area veterans who have served there either as part of Desert Storm in the 1990s or Iraqi Freedom that has been ongoing since late 2002.

They say it is time for the Iraqi people to take ownership of their own fate now that the United States has completed its mission in the Middle East country.

“It is admirable to withdraw from a place where our job has been done,” said retired Massachusetts Air National Guard Col. Michael R. Boulanger.

Boulanger led the 387th Air Expeditionary Group as part of Iraqi Freedom from December, 2002 to May of 2003. That 1,300 member group built its own fighter base and flew 892 successful combat missions during that five-month period.

While Boulanger supports the military withdraw, he questioned the wisdom of a public announcement of U.S. plans to withdraw.

“It is never a good thing to let your adversary know your game plan,” the former commander of the ANG’s 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Regional Airport, said.

Air Force TechSgt. Christopher D. Wiggs, now stationed in Germany, also supports the president’s order to withdraw. “He makes the decisions but personally I am glad we are pulling our people out of Iraq,” the son of Westfield’s Emergency Management Director Jimmie D. Wiggs, said in a telephone interview.

Wiggs served in Iraq in 2008 in a maintenance support unit for helicopter combat search and rescue. “Once the job is finished, it is time for us to get out of there,” he said.

Army Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey A. Baillargeon said “It is time for the Iraq to fight its own war. It is definitely time for the United States to remove our assets, all our combat elements, from there,” the Westfield police patrolman said.

Baillargeon was a combat soldier in the first Gulf war in 1991 and has already served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, a member of the 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry.

Jared A. Rondeau, of Ludlow, called his Iraq deployment as an Army Sergeant in 2003-2004 as “quite an experience. The first day there I wished we had been called back.”

“There was a lot to be done when we got there. But, if our job is done then is it time for us to get out. I do believe there will continue to be a U.S. presence in Iraq, maybe not a combat presence, but a presence for some time to come,” said Rondeau.

Air National Guard Maj. Gen. L. Scott Rice, commander of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, also support’s the withdraw of military troops from Iraq.

The Southampton resident said “I am very much in favor of the withdraw. Now is the time to allow the Iraqi people to take ownership of their future. Our departure will make them responsible for their fate.”

Rice was Boulanger’s deputy commander during their Iraqi Freedom assignment.

At age 90, Westfield’s Robert A. Greenleaf did not serve during either Iraq conflict but he has been outspoken about this country’s combat missions there.

Greenleaf, the city’s only living survivor of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, has said on several occasions that the United States should not have invaded Iraq.

“I believed that when it first started and I believe it even more today. We had no business being there and we need to get out of there,” he said.

U.S. military presence in Iraq is currently about 40,000 troops. More than 4,400 military men and women have been killed in Iraq since 2003.

The Massachusetts National Guard earlier this year had an estimated 1,400 of its members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Presently there are 152 guard members from Massachusetts serving in Iraq, 150 Army and 2 Air National Guard, according to Lt. Col. James Sahady, state public affairs officer.

Massachusetts Army National Guard has suffered seven fatalities in Iraq, Sahady said.

The Springfield ceremony was preceded by a parade that traveled from Springfield Technical Community College to Court Square.

SPRINGFIELD – The crowd that gathered at Court Square on Friday for the annual Veterans Day ceremony ranged from the World War II veteran who comes every year to the 1-year-old boy being held by his proud military dad.

Staff Sgt. Jonathan E. Turner of Springfield, who recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan, said he came with his 1-year-old, Jonathan Jr., because “I wanted to share the experience with my son.”

“I missed him,” Turner said. “He turned one while I was overseas. I want to make sure he knows what I did.”

Turner, a 15-year member of the Massachusetts National Guard, said he also attended to recognize and honor those in the military “who can’t be here and didn’t come home.”

Communities with Veterans Day ceremonies on Friday also included Holyoke, Agawam, West Springfield, Westfield, Northampton, Amherst, Palmer, Ludlow, Wilbraham and Belchertown.

The Springfield ceremony was preceded by a parade that began outside Springfield Technical Community College, traveled down State Street, and over to Court Square.

The ceremony was conducted on the steps of City Hall, and was followed by the laying of the wreath at the War Monument by: Springfield Veteran of the Year Gerald W. Dolloff; Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet who was this year’s parade marshall; and Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

The Springfield high schools’ Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and the Melha Shriners were among groups that participated in the Court Square ceremony and parade, sponsored by the Springfield Veterans Activities Committee.

“I come every year to honor the guys that are fighting today,” said Thomas Cooney of East Longmeadow, a World War II veteran. “It’s important. There are dangerous areas and they are risking their lives.”

Cooney served in the U.S. Navy, and was on the destroyer, USS Rall.

Theresa Royland of Holyoke stood with her three children: Abigail, 7; Olivia, 5; and Amanda, 3.

“I came to support our military and to expose my children to them and what they do for us,” Royland said.

She said it was the family’s first time coming to the Court Square ceremony. She was moved to come after reading an article in the Sunday Parade magazine which, she said, shared that military members really appreciate being acknowledged for their service to their country.

“Being here is a way to stand with them,” Royland said.

Cara Pagnoni, 8, of East Longmeadow, said she enjoyed being with her dad, Joseph A. Pagnoni, a member of the U.S. Army since 1987 and her sister Kate, 6. His service has included deployment to Iraq and being stationed in Landstuhl, Germany.

Cara said she enjoyed the music and marching, and said Veterans Day is all about the people who serve their country.

Sarno called on returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to raise their hands, and they were applauded by the Court Square gathering, believed to number a few hundred people including participants.

“I know it’s Veterans Day but every day we should be thankful to veterans,” Sarno said.

Fitchet said the people march and pay tribute to the past veterans and their sacrifice, current veterans who continue to serve the country here and abroad, and the families of veterans and their sacrifice.

Dolloff said people cannot do enough for veterans — “the more we can do, the better.” He urged people to personally thank veterans.

Gov. Daval Patrick also honored veterans during a State House ceremony, including the presentation of an award to Smith & Wesson of Springfield, recognizing the manufacturing company’s long term commitment to support re-employment and training opportunities for Massachusetts veterans, according to a prepared release from Patrick’s office.

Smith & Wesson has hired veterans who have graduated from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership workforce training program.

There is a waiting list of people who want to move into the assisted living community on West Street, project manager Frederick Mielke told the board.

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The Republican Keystone Commons founder Victor J. Field, and Beth Cardillo, executive director of Keystone Commons, look over the exterior of the project under construction in 2007 at 450 West St. in Ludlow.

LUDLOW - The Planning Board on Thursday continued until Dec. 8 a proposal to add 10 one-bedroom units to Keystone Commons, an independent assisted living facility at 460 West Street.

The facility opened three and a half years ago with 90 units.

There has been a waiting list at the facility, project manager Frederick Mielke told the Planning Board.

He said there is demand for additional units by Ludlow residents who do not want to move their relatives out of town.

Sometimes an elderly parent needs help which relatives are unable to provide because of their work schedules, Mielke said.

Sometimes elderly relatives are no longer eating right or taking their medications on schedule, he said.

“They may have a falling risk,” Mielke said.

Keystone Commons is proposing to add a 1,000-square-foot addition to the existing 48,000-square-foot structure and to increase the number of units from 90 to 100.

The plan is to build nine more studio apartments and one, one-bedroom unit, he said, in a three-story addition.

In response to a question raised by the Fire Department, Mielke said all the units will be served by a sprinkler system.

The Planning Board will act on the proposed addition at its Dec. 8 meeting. Keystone Commons was asked to provide the maximum number of residents who will be housed in the facility.

Both women refused medical attention.

LUDLOW – A Springfield man was held on $10,000 bail after being arrested for choking his pregnant girlfriend and assaulting his sister early Sunday morning.

Jason Joubert, 35, of 116 Pineville St., Springfield, was charged with two counts of domestic assault and battery, Ludlow police Sgt. Daniel Valadas said.

Joubert is being accused of attacking his girlfriend, putting her in a choke hold with his arm and lifting her off the ground. He is also accused of shoving his sister so hard she fell. Both women refused medical attention, Valadas said.

The assault happened on Shawinigan Drive at about 12:19 a.m. Joubert was arrested about two hours later in his home. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, he said.

"All in all, in the economy we're in, I think we did OK," Treasurer-Collector Leigh Deveneau-Martinelli said.

The Republican/Lori StabilePaul T. Zekos, president of The Zekos Group, standing, discusses the properties available through the town of Ware's auction of town-owned property at Ware Town Hall on Thursday.

WARE - The public auction of town-owned property netted approximately $100,000 for the town last week.

"All in all, in the economy we're in, I think we did OK," Treasurer-Collector Leigh Deveneau-Martinelli said.

Of the seven properties for sale, only four sold. The auction was conducted by The Zekos Group of Shrewbury.

Paul T. Zekos, president of The Zekos Group, used humor to liven up the auction as he encouraged the 20 people in attendance to bid. At one point, he jumped on a chair, slapped his papers down, and told a bidder, "Stop holding onto your money!"

That happened during the most spirited bidding for 9 Cottage St., a Victorian-style, two-family residence on less than a quarter of an acre that sold for $26,000 to Kenneth E. Abro, of Northborough. Abro beat out two other people who were involved in the bidding.

"It looks like a nice, old property. It seemed like a good investment," said Abro, who added he plans to rent it out after he fixes it up.

Zekos started bidding on that home at $40,000, when no one responded, he asked the crowd, "What's your pleasure?"

"Five thousand," a man replied.

"That's not very pleasurable," Zekos said.

A 1,600-square-foot single-family home at 33 Vigeant St. sold for $3,000 to Jeffrey M. Parent, who said he plans to tear down the 1,600-square-foot home and turn it into a parking lot for his apartment complex at 28-36 Vigeant St. Parent was the lone bidder on the property.

Kevin Davis, of Palmer, was the only bidder on seven contiguous parcels on Coffey Hill Road, buying it for the starting bid of $50,000. Davis and his partner are in the process of forming a limited liability company, and want to develop the property, which is approximately 10 acres. He said they don't know exactly what they will put there yet.

Three parcels on nearly 3 acres on Old Belchertown Road sold for $11,000 to Sergio A. Dias, of Ludlow, who said he plans to build on the lot, possibly a house.

Properties on Monson Turnpike Road (34,176-square-feet), 108 Gilbertville Road (6,969-square-feet) and West Warren Road (1.65 acres) were passed over because no one bid on them.

At the beginning of the auction, Zekos explained that all the properties were taken over by the town for nonpayment of taxes, and are being sold as is, and the intent is to return them to the tax rolls. He explained that a 10 percent buyer's premium also would be charged on all the properties, plus a $250 legal services fee.

Deveneau-Martinelli said hopefully another auction will be held in the spring. The proceeds from the auction will go into the town's general fund, she said.

Retired Baird Middle School Principal Donna Hogan has agreed to step in for Grew and will begin on Monday as interim superintendent.

The Republican | Don TreegerInterim Ludlow School Superintendent Kenneth Grew told the School Committee that he was resigning on the advice of his doctor

LUDLOW – Interim School Superintendent Kenneth J. Grew on Wednesday informed the School Committee he was resigning on the advice of his doctor.

Grew, who is a retired superintendent, took the job of interim superintendent in Ludlow after former Superintendent Theresa M. Kane announced her resignation, effective last July. His last day on the job was Friday.

School Committee Chairman Michael J. Kelliher said that Grew in his brief tenure in Ludlow has done “an incredible job of stabilizing the district.”

“He gives 110 percent,” Kelliher said. “We are very sad to see him go, but we respect that he is taking the advice of his doctor who is recommending less stress.”

Retired Baird Middle School Principal Donna Hogan has agreed to step in for Grew and will begin on Monday as interim superintendent, Kelliher said.

“We are fortunate that Donna is able to do this on such short notice,” Kelliher said. He said she has been working in the district mentoring some of the new principals.

The School Committee is making progress in finding a permanent superintendent, Kelliher said. A Superintendent Search Committee will be appointed at the Nov. 22 meeting, he said, and the committee is scheduled to meet with the consultant assisting with the superintendent search on Nov. 29.

The School Committee’s goal is to bring a permanent superintendent on board by July 1, 2012 at the latest, Kelliher said.

Sheriff Michael Ashe said the Hampden County Sheriff's Department's re-entry program brings state inmates who will be returning to live in the Springfield area once they are out, and who are within a year of their release dates, to facilities and programs at the Ludlow jail.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayHampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe, pictured outside the Hampden County Jail and House of Correction in Ludlow, recently accepted an award for the jail's program to help inmates return to life outside the prison system.

LUDLOW — The Hampden County Jail and House of Correction was recently honored for its work with the state Department of Correction on offender re-entry.

Sheriff Michael J. Ashe Jr. accepted the “Innovations in Corrections” award, presented by Correction Commissioner Luis S. Spencer.

Ashe said the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department’s re-entry program brings state inmates who will be returning to live in the Springfield area once they are out, and who are within a year of their release dates, to facilities and programs here.

The transfer of those inmates here allows them a smoother transition to life on the outside and have housing, jobs and supportive services in place, Ashe said.

“When you think about years ago in corrections, they were just dropped off at the bus station, and they became shadows in the community,” Ashe said. “We want the neighborhoods to be safe and to enhance public safety.”

Ashe said the sherrif’s department has been doing so for seven or eight years, and has further refined the practice during the last three or four years.

“I was reallly honored and humbled by the award and its acknowledgement, as well, of the dedication and commitment of the Hampden County Sherrif Department’s staff who have been trailblazers,” Ashe said.

Ashe said that for him, the recognition acknoledges the increased coordination and cooperation between the state Department of Corrections and county corrections personnel.

“I like to feel that this recognition enhances more of a sense of oneness in bringing the department together,” Ashe said.

“We don’t just want them to be isolated. We don’t want them to be just dropped off and dunped into the community. We want to provide this more professional re-integration process, which is so important to ehance public safety.”

The state Department of Corrections recognized more than 50 employees during its annual “DOC 2011 Beyond Excellence” awards ceremony held on Nov. 4 in Wrentham.

Jeanette Crumb has been recognized for her work - two years ago, she came in second place for advanced cake decorating at a Connecticut cake show for her four-tier cake covered in fondant with flowers on every layer.

The Republican/Lori StabileJeanette D. Crumb, of Belchertown, is making pearls out of fondant during her cake decorating class at Top Floor Learning in Palmer.

PALMER – Jeanette D. Crumb can make cupcakes look like ghosts, witches and spiders.

And, she can make cakes with intricate designs including trees, pearls and flowers.

Crumb, of Belchertown, teaches at Holyoke Community College, Holyoke Creative Arts Center and at Top Floor Learning here, where she recently wrapped up a class on cake decorating. A new class is expected to be offered in Palmer early next year, and the next class at Holyoke Community College is slated for the end of February.

“It’s just so wonderful when you see folks make their first rose. They get so excited,” Crumb said.

Crumb – an appropriate name for a baker – got into cake decorating 10 years ago, and enjoys teaching others. She started off as a decorative painter, then moved from the canvas to cakes. She is following in the footsteps of her father, a former Navy cook who decorated all her birthday cakes when she was growing up.

Crumb was busy teaching her students on a recent weeknight at the Palmer Public Library, where Top Floor Leaning is on the top floor. All the supplies were out – already made cakes, ready-to-use rolled fondant, gum paste, and tools to make designs such as pearls. One of her students was her 92-year-old mother, Genevieve Story, of Ludlow.

Amber L. Roberge, of Palmer, said she was drawn to the class because there’s only so much she could teach herself on the Internet. She said she has enjoyed learning how to make flowers out of gum paste.

"You needs hands-on,” Roberge said.

“I like the class,” chimed in Maria Nunes, of Ludlow.

“Plus, it’s local,” Roberge said.

Crumb explained that a lot of the cake decorating materials can be found at craft stores such as Michael’s or AC Moore. She also instructed her students how to make their own homemade fondant out of marshmallows and sugar.

Crumb would wet her fingers before she touched the fondant so she could make it more pliable as she rolled it into lines. She also sprinkled some cornstarch into the molds they were using, so it would be easier to get the fondant out of them.

She explained that gum paste is used for more intricate designs, such as flower petals. But it gets hard, unlike fondant, so specific tools are used to shape it. Gum paste also is a sugar mixture, Crumb explained.

In previous classes, she taught them how to make designs with buttercream frosting, such as piping, borders, leaves and roses. She said fondant, which has a “smooth look,” adheres to the buttercream frosting.

Crumb has been recognized for her work - two years ago, she came in second place for advanced cake decorating at a Connecticut cake show for her four-tier cake covered in fondant with flowers on every layer.

Her students are familiar with the show “Cake Boss” on TLC, which features the staff of Carlo’s Bakery in New Jersey. As she rolled fondant into a mold to make a pearl border, Nunes revealed that she saw the show’s star Buddy Valastro when he came to Symphony Hall in Springfield in January for his “Bakin’ with the Boss” tour.

Nunes said she is eager to put a new twist on her baked goods, thanks to the class.

“With the holidays coming up I want to be able to make a different kind of cake,” Nunes said.

“Nice, Maria, nice,” Crumb said as she watched Nunes work.

Crumb offered six classes at Top Floor Learning, which ended Nov. 8. The cost was $85, plus a $20 kit.

The decision was made because of the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

LUDLOW – The School Committee has taken steps to alter the school calendar after the crippling Oct. 29 nor’easter that left hundreds of thousands of people without power, many for a week.

“We have canceled four days of the April vacation,” School Committee Chairman Michael J. Kelliher said.

He said there is a Monday holiday during the week so there will still be no school on Monday, April 16, which is Patriot’s Day.

The other four days of April vacation have been canceled. The revised school calendar is available on the Ludlow public schools website.

“We are giving people enough notice so they can plan accordingly,” Kelliher said.

Due to the Oct. 29 snowstorm, school districts in the area have already used a week of snow days.

By canceling four days of April vacation, school will get out for the summer on June 15. If five additional snow days are used this winter, school will get out for the summer on June 22, Kelliher said.

Many school districts last year were going to the end of June because of the heavy snowstorms last winter.

“We experimented with having two weeks of vacation at Christmas in recent years to save on the heating oil bill,” Kelliher said.

He said the savings was not as large as projected. He said that closing the schools for two weeks at Christmas caused disruptions to school sports teams that could not practice.

“We decided to go back to a one week vacation at Christmas,” Kelliher said, which will make it easier for students to get out of school before the end of June.

The state has a requirement that students be in school for 180 days per year and will not waive the requirement, Kelliher said.

Students will be given one extra day off following the Christmas vacation – Jan. 3. Teachers will have a professional development day on that date, Kelliher said.

“The weather has sent us a curveball already,” Kelliher said. “We wanted parents and staff to have enough notice to deal with it.”

Accidents on the Massachusetts Turnpike in central were causing traffic jams in the Worcester area.

Republican file photo

Police are reporting traffic on the major highways in Western Massachusetts is heavy but steady as motorists return home Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

On the Massachusetts Turnpike there were no serious back-ups or accidents from Ludlow through the New York border. Several accidents in the Worcester area did create serious traffic jams in central Massachusetts, State Trooper Joseph Tetrault said.

Traffic on Interstate 91 was moving smoothly but was also heavy, Springfield troopers said.

Patricia Correira of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, who is coordinating the search for the School Committee, said she expects approximately 30 applicants before the Dec. 30 deadline.

LUDLOW – A newly appointed Superintendent Search Committee is planning to interview semifinalists for the school superintendent position Jan. 23-26.

The committee, appointed by the School Committee, held its first meeting Tuesday night.

The School Committee has advertised the superintendent position in the national publication, Education Week. The deadline for applications is Dec. 30. The salary has been advertised at $130,000 to $150,000, with negotiable benefits and a three-year contract.

Patricia Correira of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, who is coordinating the search for the School Committee, said she expects approximately 30 applicants for the position. She said she will bring 12 applicants to the Search Committee for the committee to interview.

The Search Committee has been directed to bring three to five finalists to the School Committee.

The School Committee is planning to interview finalists for the position on March 1, 5 and 6, and to appoint a new superintendent on March 6. The School Committee would like a new superintendent to begin serving in the school district July 1, 2012.

Retired Baird Middle School Principal Donna Hogan is serving as interim school superintendent.

Kenneth J. Grew had been serving as interim superintendent, but recently resigned for health reasons. Grew replaced former School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane, who resigned last July to take a job as superintendent of the East Windsor, Conn., public schools.

School Committee Chairman Michael J. Kelliher credited Grew with “stabilizing the district” following Kane’s tenure.

Kane’s decision to reorganize the elementary schools was very controversial with parents and School Committee members.

The existing McDonald's on Center Street will be razed and a new one built.

Associated Press

LUDLOW – The Planning Board on Thursday approved a special permit for McDonald’s USA to raze the existing McDonald’s restaurant at 420 Center Street and replace it with a modernized building.

The special permit also allows for the installation of a new two-lane drive through which will help to keep traffic moving if one customer is placing a large order.

The vote by the Planning Board to approve the special permit was 5 to 0. Planning Board member Carlos Chaves said the applicant “met all expectations” of the Planning Board and addressed concerns by doing a traffic study.

At a prior Planning Board meeting, McDonald’s was asked to show that traffic flow within the site will be safe and to show the proposed landscaping and area for deliveries on the site plan.

Planning Board Chairman Christopher Coelho said McDonald’s presented an improved site plan and has “dotted its i’s and crossed its t’s.”

Edgar Minnie, who owns commercial property adjacent to McDonald’s, had asked for a curb cut between his property and McDonald’s to help his customers negotiate a traffic light on Center Street. Planning Board member Raymond Phoenix said the town’s Safety Committee expressed a concern that a curb cut midway between the two properties would create a traffic hazard on the McDonald’s property.

Planning Board members said an internal parking lot with a drive-through is not appropriate for a shared access.

John Kusek of Bohler Engineering, who represented McDonald’s, said the new building will be more state of the art and will take up less space on the existing lot.

Seventy percent of McDonald’s business is drive-through business, Kusek told the Planning Board.

The new building is expected to open in 2012, town planner Douglas Stefancik said.

The facility opened three and a half years ago with 90 units.

LUDLOW - The Planning Board on Thursday approved an amended site plan for Keystone Commons at 460 West Street which will allow for a 10-unit addition to the assisted living facility.

Planning Board Chairman Christopher Coelho said he is satisfied with the plan now that the site plan shows the proposed parking for all of the units and the maximum sleeping capacity of the units.

The facility opened three and a half years ago with 90 units.

There has been a waiting list at the facility, project manager Frederick Mielke told the Planning Board.

He said there is demand for additional units by Ludlow residents who do not want to move their relatives out of town.

Sometimes an elderly patient needs help which relatives are unable to provide because of their work schedules, he said.

Sometimes elderly relatives are no longer eating right or taking their medicines on schedule, he said.

“They may have falling risk,” he added.

Keystone Commons proposed to add a 1,000-square-foot addition to the existing 48,000-square-foot structure and to increase the number of units from 90 to 100.

The plan is to build nine more studio apartments and one, one-bedroom unit, Mielke said, in a three-story addition.

The proposed addition still needs the approval of the Conservation Commission.

Coelho said, “If something is wrong with the plan, the Conservation Commission will squash it even if we approve it.”

Mielke said the proposed work is outside the wetland buffer. He said Keystone Commons will maintain a detention basin as directed by the Conservation Commission.

Also announced Tuesday were plans by Boston-based Winn Development to build a $20 million 83-unit senior housing complex at the site.

File photo | The RepublicanThe Ludlow Mills complex.

LUDLOW – HealthSouth plans to relocate its rehabilitation hospital to the Ludlow Mills property as part of a $70 million rejuvenation of the industrial complex.

Also announced Tuesday were plans by Boston-based Winn Development to build a $20 million 83-unit senior housing complex at the site in Mill Building 10.

The former jute mill, located on State Street and underutilized since the 1960s, is being redeveloped by Winn and Westmass Area Development Corporation.

The HealthSouth project will cost $25 million and result in the relocation of 53 beds and 240 employees by 2013. HealthSouth CEO Scott R. Keen said the for-profit health care provider is moving out of the former Ludlow hospital because the building is outdated. The new structure will have all private room and an open floor plan gym.

Kenneth Delude, president of WestMass, predicted that the projects will create hundreds of construction jobs beginning in 2012, with both projects expected to be complete in 2013.

The Ludlow Mills complex totals 170 acres and 1.45 million square feet of floor space.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 10:52 this morning.

The Republican / Michael S. GordonRichard K. Sullivan Jr. secretary of the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs speaks, at right, during an announcement Tuesday in which the Westmass Area Development Corporation development plans for the Ludlow Mills complex. Others in attendance include, from left, Lawrence Curtis, president, WinnDevelopment, Scott Keen, CEO, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts, Kenneth W. Delude, president Westmass, Aaron Saunders, chair, Ludlow Board of Selectmen, and (behind Sullivan) state Representatives Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow and Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee.

LUDLOW – The open floors pace with widely-spaced columns and banks of high and wide windows flooded with sunlight made the Mill 10 building at Ludlow Mills perfect for turning jute fiber into twine and burlap sacks.

Those attributes also make the four-floor, 99,440-square-foot building perfect for conversion into independent-living apartments for senior citizens, said Lawrence H. Curtis, president and managing partner of WinnDevelopment.

WinnDevelopment announced its $20 million plans for Building 10 Tuesday. They want to create 83 apartments on four floors. Building 10 was built in 1907.

“Just imagine this space here between the pillars as a central hallway. The logical thing to do is put one apartment on one side and another apartment on the other. They both have access to the central hallway, and they both have access to natural light. You don’t have to build them too deep and waste a lot of space,” Curtis said Tuesday following a news conference inside the dusty cavernous mill building.

Best known locally for rehabilitating the Longhill Gardens apartment complex in Springfield, WinnDevelopment has done 17 mill-redevelopment projects around the state. In Worcester, WinnDevelopment recently completed Canal Lofts, a 64-unit apartment building in the former Chevalier Furniture factory.

“What’s great about this is that we are right here in the center of Ludlow. It is a residential setting,” Curtis said. “We’ve had projects at mills in Maine we had to abandon because the mills were so isolated.”

Also announced Tuesday, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts will build a new $25 million rehabilitation hospital on property at the 170-acre Ludlow Mills Complex. The 53-bed rehabilitation hospital will replace space HealthSouth has in the old Ludlow Hospital a few blocks away. That facility that has become outdated, said Scott R. Kean, chief executive officer of HealthSouth.

“The new hospital will be state-of-the-art with all private rooms and gym with an open floor plan,” Kean said.

HealthSouth has 240 employees who will move, he said.

Both HealthSouth and the WinnDevelopment plan to start construction on their projects late in 2012 and have them open in 2013.

Both are part of what new owner Westmass Area Development Corp. envisions as a $60 million rehabilitation of the Ludlow Mills project.

Kenneth W. Delude, president of Westmass Area Development Corp. said Tuesday that Westmass has finalized the purchase of Ludlow Mills from the Fastenberg family of New York City for about $7 million financed through a consortium of banks: PeoplesBank, Chicopee Savings, Hampden Bank, United Bank, Nuvo Bank and Trust Co., and First Niagara. Westmass has already received a $1.5 million grant from the state.

The town of Ludlow also has $3.7 million in state money to rebuild State Street in front of the complex with new utilities, including a high-pressure natural gas line.

Delude said there will be hundreds of construction jobs at the site once work begins.

The property will stay on the town tax rolls.

Founded in 1848, Ludlow Manufacturing and Sales Co. made cloth, rope and twine out of Indian-grown jute, flax and hemp, according to industrial histories of the region.

Delude said it had about 4,000 employees, many of them children, at its height in the years before World War I. But the Great War disrupted the supply of jute fiber from India, so the company decided to open a mill there instead and shifting production overseas.

The mill went into a long period of decline before closing in the 1960s. After that, the property hosted a number of smaller industrial tenants. Some of those tenants still remain at the mills.

“They’ll have the ability to buy their space if they want to,” Delude said.

Aaron L. Saunders, chairman of the Ludlow Board of Selectmen, said pretty much everyone in town has either worked in the Ludlow Mills or had a friend or family member who worked there years ago.

“What is great is that we have the environmental concerns addressed, not that they were ever very bad,” he said. “So often that concern holds up developments like this.”