Selectmen said the tax rate increase is too high.

LUDLOW - The Board of Assessors Tuesday night announced a fiscal 2012 residential tax rate of $16.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 8.2 percent over the current year’s rate of $15.70 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

Assessors Chairman Beverly Barry told the Board of Selectmen that the new tax rate is based on the budget approved by voters at last spring’s annual Town Meeting.

“I live in Ludlow, and I don’t like to see the increase,” Barry said.

The new tax rate, which still needs approval by the state Department of Revenue, means that taxes on the average $212,000 home in town will increase by $232 from $3,382 last year to $3,613 this year, Barry said.

Selectman John Da Cruz said, “This is a huge increase. My eyes popped out of my head when I imagine the phone calls from residents.”

Selectman Antonio Dos Santos said that in the future the town is going to need to “tighten its belt.”

“We are going to need to spend less at Town Meeting, going forward,” he said. He said the town is going to have to lower personnel cuts even if it means providing fewer services.”

Selectman William Rooney said, “From the perspective of the average taxpayer, we are spending too much.”

Da Cruz said, “People are out of work and laid off. The timing could not be worse.”

Rooney said that for next year the state is projecting a $1 billion budget deficit, so there is not likely to be any increases in state or federal aid next year.

“This is sobering,” Da Cruz said.

Dos Santos said, “The picture is not going to be pretty next year.”

The assessors said the average commercial tax bill next year is going to be increased by $554 from $6,629 to $7,183 on a $423,000 commercial property.

There were too many elderly residents without telephone service, Saunders said.

LUDLOW - Selectmen told representatives from Charter Communications they were disappointed with the communication between the company and the Police and Fire Departments following the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

Selectmen Chairman Aaron Saunders said the town received no communication from Charter Communications until Nov. 1 following the Oct. 29 snowstorm after which the town lost power.

“This is not just a matter of people being without their HBO,” Saunders said.

He said many residents purchase a package from Charter Communications in which they get their telephone service from Charter as well as their Internet and television service.

There were many elderly residents in town without telephone service, Saunders said. He added that the Police and Fire Departments did hundreds of wellness checks during the week after the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

“People were calling from across the country asking us to check on their elderly mothers and grandmothers,” Saunders said.

He added that the town in the future needs better communication with Charter Communications.

The town cannot afford the overtime to make so many checks because there is no telephone service, he said.

Other selectmen criticized Charter because cable lines were down across the road during the week following the storm.

Thomas Cohen, a spokesman for Charter Communications, said the services provided by Charter could not be restored until power was restored in the town.

“We're getting the message that we have to communicate better,” Cohen said.

Selectman William Rooney said Charter’s customers should not have to apply for a credit for the days they were without service.

Rooney said in his opinion Charter should reach out to its customers and automatically credit customers with a credit for lost service.

Cohen said customers will have to apply for the credit.

He added, “We will work harder on communication next time.”

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association requires student athletes to take four “recognized courses,” and pass two.

File photo by Michael Beswick / The Republican02/12/11 Springfield Republican Photo by Michael Beswick - Kara Lacoste of Chicopee Comp during her Timed Finals of the Girls 200 Yard IM at the Western Mass. Girls swimming championships at Springfield College.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanChicopee Comprehensive High school senior Kara A. Lacoste is part of a task force that is reviewing student academic eligibility requirements.

Kara A. Lacoste says even students think it’s too easy to qualify for high-school sports teams in Chicopee.

“I don’t know if they like the idea, but I feel the majority of students here feel the academic eligibility standard should be raised,” says the Chicopee Comprehensive High School senior.

If all student-athletes were like Lacoste, there would be no issue in Chicopee or elsewhere. Not only is she a swimmer who holds most of her school’s records, Lacoste is also an academic honor student and a member of the school’s Student Advisory Council.

Not every teenager falls into those categories, and she understands.

Nonetheless, Lacoste belongs to a task force that is looking at the rules governing eligibility for Chicopee’s high-school athletic teams, and she does not like what she sees.

“Playing sports is a perk, a privilege. It is not a right,” Lacoste said. “School should come first. That’s why we’re here.”

Athletes at Chicopee’s two public high schools must pass at least four classes out of a course-load that can include as many as seven courses per marking period to remain eligible to compete.

The task force of students, faculty and parents had its first meeting on Thursday. It is expected to develop a proposal for the Chicopee School Committee, which has been wrestling with the issue for months without action.

At issue is whether raising the standard would disqualify students whose interest in remaining in school is pinned to playing sports.

Proponents of retaining the current standard say it is all too easy to dismiss that argument on the grounds that academics should come first.

Losing teenagers from the school system will eventually cause problems later for the students – and for society.

Earlier this year, that point was made by Chicopee Ward 5 School Committee member Deborah A. Styckiewicz. She said many students come from disadvantaged personal situations, including broken homes, that are not conducive to learning.

School is often their last hope, Styckiewicz argues, and losing them altogether will ultimately cause more hardship to the student – and the community – than retaining a relatively easily attainable standard.

Even some students are questioning that view.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanChiccopee High School senior Taylor McAndrew is a three-sport athlete and a member of the task force.

“You would think teachers and the School Committee would want to see our students come out with better grades,” said Chicopee High School senior Taylor L. McAndrew, a three-sport athlete. “I definitely think teachers want kids to step up to the plate. It almost boggles my mind (that) they are still debating this (on the School Committee).”

The eligibility debate is being waged in Chicopee, but it applies to every school district.

Chicopee School Committee member John Mruk did a survey of 16 systems throughout the region, and found that Chicopee ranked near the bottom in expectations.

He thinks if students are required to improve their classwork, they will.

“I think they will rise to the occasion. Five (passing grades) out of seven would be a start; I would be comfortable with six,” Mruk said.

Only four of the 16 districts in Mruk’s survey allowed for no failures. Most also allow for an appeal process.

West Springfield requires five passing grades in a seven-class schedule.

“You can make the standards more stringent. We have toyed with that idea, but we are not prepared to make a change at this time,” West Springfield principal Michael J. Richard said.

Ludlow practices an unusual policy which is similar to allowing a “mulligan” in golf. As a rule, no failures are allowed. Ineligible student-athletes can apply for a waiver, but only once during their high school careers.

Ludlow’s policy also applies not only to sports, but to all clubs and activities. That is true in some other systems, but not all.

Holyoke’s policy, like Chicopee’s, requires four of seven courses to be passed. Athletic director Aaron Patterson said he is not opposed to stiffening the rules.

“It is hard to look at a report card with all Ds and Fs, and you still allow the kid to play,” said Patterson, who did a college master’s thesis on the effect of academics on teams.

Teams with stricter rules often have more success on the field because their athletes become more disciplined, says Patterson.

Chicopee’s current standards sent a bad message within the schools, McAndrew said.

“Teachers get upset when kids fail classes and still think they’re ‘all it.’ A lot of kids do sports but take school seriously, and it makes me mad when some don’t,” she said.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association governs high school sports statewide. It sets guidelines for eligibility but does not wish to make the rules for individual communities, a spokesman said.

“Some schools use our guidelines as a benchmark, but if a school wants to maintain a higher standard, they are welcome and encouraged to do it,” Paul Wetzel, spokesman for the association, said.

The MIAA requires students to take four “recognized courses,” and pass two, Wetzel said. This policy is at the basis of formulas used by many communities who require passage of 50 percent of the course load, or slightly more.

A more detailed MIAA policy is impractical because course schedules vary. Districts such as Northampton’s carry as few as four “block” courses, while other systems carry as many as seven.

Northampton requires three passing grades, one more than the MIAA guidelines.

“Athletics are important. Academics are more important,” said Northampton High School athletic director Jim Miller.

If students in any district meet the MIAA standard but fall short of their own district’s requirement, they are not eligible to play, according to Wetzel.

He said many urban communities, including Boston, opt for a higher standard than the MIAA's.

Most local systems seem satisfied with their own rules.

“We do lose a few athletes here and there, but I wouldn’t consider it a problem,” said Agawam athletic director David J. Stratton, whose system demands five of seven passing grades. “Most of our athletes are students first.”

“Our kids have not complained about it,” said Ludlow athletic director Tim Brillo. “We say, this is our standard. Live up to it.”

The policy does come into question “once in a while,” Brillo added. “We had a parent question it, and I asked them, if your kid came home with an F, would that be acceptable to you. The answer was no,” he said.

If educators and even students are lining up to support rigid standards, though, their view is by no means unanimous.

On Friday, Styckiewicz said she was not opposed in principle to raising standards in Chicopee. She was skeptical it could be done without having students fall by the wayside, though.

"If we could do it without hurting the kids ... the most important thing is to keep the kids engaged,'' said Styckiewicz, whose husband, Al, coaches hockey at Chicopee High School.

Springfield Public Schools’ athletic director Michael Martin believes the view that losing athletes to grades could mean losing them altogether has merit.

“I don’t discount it. A lot of kids are not in school for the right reasons, but they have stayed long enough to turn themselves around,” Martin said.

He said he has seen the importance of keeping kids in school first-hand.

“It helped a lot of kids when I coached basketball at (the High School of) Commerce (in the 1970s). Your only chance of getting them (to become productive) is if they’re in school,” Martin said.

Azell Cavaan, chief communications officer for the Springfield Public Schools, said formal discussions have been held within the past two years about whether the rules should be modified. Springfield requires a 1.67 grade-point average and a maximum of one failing grade for eligibility.

One danger in toughening grades, Martin said, is the risk of expecting students to improve their classwork, without providing support systems that help them do it.

A basketball player once failed typing “because his fingers were too big,” Martin said.

Even Martin acknowledged the dual response such cases provoke. To some, it sounds like the kind of of cop-out tougher guidelines are designed to eliminate. To others, including himself, the episode might seem frivolous, but in fact unnecessarily jeopardized a student’s future.

James P. Blain, athletic director for Chicopee’s two high schools, said the necessary support system for student-athletes exists in his district. Students are allowed and even encouraged to miss practice, for instance, in order to do necessary work on academics or school projects, Blain said.

That sentiment is echoed elsewhere. Northampton students, for example, can miss practice for academics, as long as they bring a note, according to Miller.

In Agawam, parents can track students’ progress by computer on a daily basis, Stratton said.

Such steps don’t entirely answer Styckiewicz’ concern that toughening the rules will shut out kids who don’t always have interested, supportive parents, helping them work through the challenges of high school.

Blain has seen that world, too. A former coach and assistant principal at Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School, he serves as chairman of Chicopee’s task force. He tries to take the role of mediator for the group, but said it does not keep him from expressing a strong belief that Chicopee’s rules are too weak.

“At Putnam, we had more stringent rules than Chicopee did, and the students would do exactly what you would tell them,” Blain said. “If all we are about as educators is making kids eligible to play, we’ve failed. And to fail three classes and still be eligible says our system lacks high enough expectations for the student-athletes.”

Those comments, and for that matter those of the other side of the issue, go to the heart of the eligibility debate.

By keeping kids in school through any reasonable means, are systems recognizing the greater good and showing the wisdom or patience, especially with students from disadvantaged backgrounds who just need a chance?

Or, are relatively easy standards not only making a poor statement about the priorities of an academic system, but underselling the talent and potential of the very kids it is serving?

Lacoste, the star student-athlete at Chicopee Comp, knows where she stands.

“(Almost) every other community has higher standards than ours, and they do fine,” she said. “If we raise the bar, kids will raise their grades.”

Staff writers Sandra Constantine, Jeannette DeForge, Jack Flynn, Diane Lederman, Elizabeth Roman and Ted LaBorde contributed to this report.

During hard times and with high gasoline prices, volunteers still come out to help.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanVolunteers from the New North Citizens Council help sort toys at the Baystate Medical Center annual Community Toy Drive last week in the medical center's Chestnut Conference Center. The two in front are Sandra Munier and Terry Rodriguez. Standing, from left, are Elizabeth Santos, state Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley Rivera, D-Springfield, Iris Feliciano, Yoan Marrero, Eva Vasquez and Carlos Rodriguez.

Economic slowdown or not, nonprofits and other agencies that serve people in need in the region say they have been blessed with a multitude of volunteers.

“We had 36 volunteers come to distribute toys in the Toy for Joy campaign, compared to 20 who showed up at the same time last year,” said Maj. Thomas D. Perks, co-commander of the Salvation Army’s Greater Springfield Citadel.

The numbers of families signing up for toys also increased, so the volunteers were very useful, said Perks “There is an overwhelming need,” he said. Along with the Greater Springfield Citadel, Salvation Army units in Holyoke, Westfield and Greenfield participated in the holiday campaign.

“The Salvation Army had a great response by volunteers during the tornado, and many of those people have returned,” Perks said.

He added that the Salvation Army has seen a decrease in the number of volunteers who hold red kettles and ask for donations for the Army’s traditional fund-raising effort outside of stores during the winter holidays.

“We need more volunteers for our kettle collections,” he said.

Rebecca Moriarty, executive director of the Hampden Senior Center, said the center is blessed with many devoted volunteers, but has an increasing need for more volunteers to drive elderly residents to the senior center and to doctor’s appointments, to pick up prescriptions and go on other shopping errands.

“The numbers of people who have to give up their driver’s licenses as they age keeps increasing,” Moriarty said.

“We have dedicated volunteers, but we can’t meet the need,” she added.

The senior center is unable to reimburse its volunteer drivers for gasoline, but if people give donations, the senior center will periodically give the volunteers gasoline gift cards to help with the expense of gasoline.

“Gasoline is very costly,” Moriarty said. “We have some volunteers who will drive in town, but are not willing to go out of town to take elderly residents to Springfield for doctor’s appointments,” she added.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in December in Massachusetts was $3.32, compared to $3.01 a year ago.

The senior center has a group of volunteer drivers, but the one person it has relied upon the most is Joseph Lawrence.

“We try not to rely on him too much because he has many favors he has already promised to elderly residents,” Moriarty said.

In providing drivers, the senior center prioritizes nutrition at the senior center and helping the elderly get to medical appointments, Moriarty said.

The senior center also has a good group of core volunteers who work in the kitchen serving lunch Monday to Friday.

“We try to get additional volunteers, so that people do not volunteer so much that they get burnout,” Moriarty said.

Holly Farrar, executive director of the Community Survival Center in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, said her agency, which is in its 28th year and provides food, household goods and clothing to people in need, has very loyal volunteers, some of whom have served for years and years.

Many of the churches in the area supply goods and volunteers to the Survival Center, she said.

“We have many retired people who volunteer. Some stop volunteering during the winter when they go down to Florida, and they come back in the spring,” she said.

Farrar said she expects the number of volunteers will increase as baby boomers continue to retire. “People want to have something to do and to feel productive after they retire,” she said. “They enjoy interacting with others.”

She said the recession has made more people realize they may be only one job or one chronic illness away from a financial crisis.

Patricia Flaherty, a member of St. Elizabeth Church in Ludlow who does communications for the parish, said that last year during the meat pie sale, there was a person who had been laid off from their job but came every day to help with making the pies.

There are a lot of people who volunteer at church, Flaherty said, some of whom do religious education, Parish Council, Eucharistic ministers, lectoring and visiting shut-ins.

The parents at St. John’s Elementary School, which is run by the parish, also are an active group of volunteers, she said.

“There are some people who are lifelong volunteers,” Flaherty said.

The clerk told police a man with a revolver-style handgun entered the store and demanded cash from the register.

Ludlow police photoSurveilance photo of a suspect in a Thursday night robbery at Cumberland Farms, 105 West St., Ludlow

LUDLOW - Police are looking for a man who robbed a West Street convenience store at gunpoint late Thursday, police said.

Police were called to Cumberland Farms, 105 West St., at about 10:40 p.m. for a reported robbery, said Lt. Paul Madera.

The clerk told police a man with a revolver-style handgun entered the store and demanded cash from the register.

He fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash in a black Pontiac Grand Prix. The car was last seen heading south on West Street and may have gone to Springfield, Madera said.

Springfield police were notified to look out for the vehicle, he said.

The robber was described as a light-skinned man, possibly Hispanic, and between 5 feet, 6 inches and 5 feet, 7 inches tall. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, Madera said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Ludlow Police Detective Bureau at (413) 583-8305.

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With the threat of more snow in the coming weeks, at least 15 communities in the Pioneer Valley chose to go with the lone company on the state bid list for debris clean-up: Florida-based AshBritt, which is known for its disaster work.

Photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanThe last load of storm debris at the Palmer leaf pit on Old Warren Road is loaded up by Rocky Mountain Wood Company on Dec. 15

After a nor’ easter pummeled the region just two days before Halloween, communities in Western Massachusetts were left with more than the usual snowy mess to deal with. Trees, still full of leaves, toppled by the heavy snow, were littering the public ways.

With the threat of more snow in the coming weeks, at least 15 communities in the Pioneer Valley chose to go with the lone company on the state bid list for debris clean-up: Florida-based AshBritt Inc., which is known for its disaster work.

Many feared it could take weeks before they could start cleaning up the debris if they put the work out to bid themselves.

Now, as the clean-up from the historic snowstorm is wrapping up, communities are dealing with how to pay for it.

For some, the cost is in the millions, and they are hopeful that the president will issue a disaster declaration, which would open up funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, allowing it to reimburse 75 percent.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick recently sent a letter to President Barack H. Obama requesting the federal disaster declaration for the commonwealth.

In Monson, town officials grew concerned as storm clean-up costs mounted, and warned of a worst-case scenario of a government shutdown for two years if no federal or state assistance came through. Monson, still in recovery mode after the June 1 tornado ravaged the town, racked up a $2.5 million bill for the October snowstorm.

Monson, along with Chicopee, Springfield, Longmeadow, West Springfield, Ludlow, Holyoke, Wilbraham, Agawam, Holland, Palmer, Wales, Southwick, Ware and Warren, hired AshBritt. Monson was familiar with the company, which also worked in the town after the June 1 tornado.

“We didn’t have time to go out to bid. There was concern about snow. We had no other choice,” said Monson chief procurement officer Gretchen Neggers.

“I personally would be an advocate for the state to review that contract. A little competition goes a long way,” Neggers added. “I am confident they will be reviewing it.”

Neggers said at $31 per cubic yard, she thinks AshBritt’s prices were high. Monson had approximately 35,000 cubic yards of debris, as well as approximately 5,5000 “hangers” (dangling tree limbs that needed to be removed), and nearly 200 leaning trees that had to be taken away.

Plus, there was the cost of the monitor, O’Brien’s Response Management, also of Florida, and also on the state bid list, that oversaw the process. Many of the communities that used Ashbritt also hired O’Brien’s.

Neggers said AshBritt stands to make millions from the snowstorm and tornado clean-up. “Our tax dollars,” she said, going out of state. While costly, she said AshBritt did “great work” for the town.

“The quality of work is nothing I would question,” she said.

Monson recently ended its contract with AshBritt, turning over the remaining work to the town’s highway department in an effort to save money.

In Palmer, interim Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard said storm clean-up cost $2.2 million; Palmer had 50,000 cubic yards of debris.

“Obviously we are very concerned about the cost of the storm, but clean-up was necessary,” said Blanchard, adding that either so-called “free cash” will be used or borrowing will be authorized to pay for the remaining 25 percent after FEMA provides funding.

Blanchard hopes the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency steps in and provides part of the funding for the 25 percent.

As of Dec. 7, Longmeadow had 285,000 cubic yards of debris picked up, one of the largest amounts, at a cost of approximately $12 million.

“It was ridiculously devastating. Nearly every street was obstructed,” Town Manager Robin L. Crosbie said. “To do it on our own would be inconceivable.”

Crosbie said she is confident a presidential declaration will be issued to help the communities pay for the storm. She said AshBritt had the experience needed to document the clean-up, something FEMA requires. Criticism of the selection of AshBritt was voiced in the Longmeadow News by Alex Grant, but Crosbie said she personally got nothing but positive feedback.

Grant, a lawyer, said, “It’s a little hard looking in from the outside” regarding the cost of the work. Grant, in his column, cited the company’s post-Hurricane Katrina work, and how it paid the subcontractors substantially less than the price it was charged.

AshBritt’s general counsel and executive vice president of business development, Jared E. Moskowitz, said like other companies, AshBritt is in the business of making money. He would not say how much the subcontractors – which are brought in from all over the country – were paid, saying it is proprietary information, as was how they arrive at the cost per yard.

“Our numbers have to allow us the ability to perform and perform in an emergency. We are mindful of city, county and state budgets right now and our numbers take that into account,” Moskowitz said.

“Somebody has to clean this up .. At the end of the day, the debris will stay on the ground if someone doesn’t pick it up,” he said.

In Holyoke, William D. Fuqua, general superintendent of the Holyoke Department of Public Works, said the city contracted with AshBritt for debris removal and O’Brien’s Response Management for monitoring and documentation of the clean-up. Fuqua said Holyoke’s bill is approximately $4 million, and whatever is not covered by FEMA may be funded through cash reserves or borrowing.

In Wilbraham, Town Administrator Robert A. Weitz said there was more than 106,000 cubic yards of debris to clean up, at a cost of approximately $5 million. Wilbraham, like Monson, used AshBritt after the tornado. Weitz said the damage was too severe to just use town crews.

Springfield’s clean-up cost is $25 million to $30 million, said Thomas T. Walsh, communications director for the city. Walsh said if the city did not hire AshBritt, “streets would still be closed.”

Agawam Mayor Richard A. Cohen said his city used AshBritt because it is on a list of contractors approved by the state so that work could start right away rather than having to put the job out to bid.

As of Dec. 14, Cohen said the city had spent $4.68 million on clean-up. Workers had collected about 139,000 cubic yards of debris.

“This was just astronomical,” Cohen said of the cost of the disaster. “This storm was epic.”

AshBritt workers, who are on break for the holidays, will return Jan. 3 to remove remaining hanging tree limbs and make another sweep of the city to pick up debris people have left curbside, the mayor said

Cohen said he is hopeful of possibly getting some aid from the state. Whatever it ends up costing Agawam can be covered from available funds, the mayor said.

In West Springfield, Mayor Edward J. Gibson said the city’s cost of the clean-up is $4.5 million to $5 million and that he, too, is hopeful about a FEMA reimbursement.

The remainder of the costs would have to come from the city’s free cash or its stabilization fund, according to Gibson.

Like other communities in the area, West Springfield used AshBritt for cleaning up debris because it could piggyback onto the state’s contract. That way work could start right away rather than officials having to go through the lengthy process of putting it out to bid, according to Department of Public Works Director Jack L. Dowd.

Dowd said 98 percent of the city’s share of the clean-up is finished, but that some public works crews are still combing through the community to pick up any of the remaining debris property owners put out at curbside for collection.

Chicopee, which ended its contract with AshBritt in early December, is estimating it will cost nearly $6 million to clean up after the Oct. 29 snowstorm. Already the City Council has approved spending $1 million from its $5.9 free cash surplus and is examining a proposal from Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette to approve another $4 million.

Any reimbursements will be deposited into the city’s stabilization account.

A private company was hired to collect brush from city property, and from residents who left fallen limbs on the tree belts. It collected about 153,000 cubic yards of downed limbs before it finished the first week of December.

The Department of Public Works is continuing to collect scattered brush throughout the city and is now working on cleaning up parks and the Chicopee Municipal Golf Course.

In Ludlow, Board of Selectmen Chairman Aaron L. Saunders said the storm cost $3 million to $3.5 million. Saunders said public safety was the first priority, and the community did not have the resources in-house to clean the debris itself, so it hired AshBritt.

"We needed the type of outfit that could do the job," Saunders said.

Towns that did not use AshBritt spent considerably less on the storm clean-up.

Carol M. DelNegro, the selectmen’s assistant in Brimfield, said the town used the same company as it did after the tornado, Jennifer M. Cook Inc. in Upton. She said the quote for the work was $220,000; it did not cover removing debris from private property, however.

“We did it our way and it has cost us a lot less money,” DelNegro said, adding that Cook did a “phenomenal job.” She said the town got around using AshBritt because it applied for an emergency waiver from the state Division of Capital Asset Management, allowing it to get cost estimates for the work quickly.

In East Longmeadow, John F. Maybury, a member of the Board of Public Works, said the town estimates the cost of the storm clean-up to be less than $1 million.

“We don’t know the exact figures just yet, but we were able to save a lot of money by using our own employees and local contractors,” he said.

The town used all of its Department of Public Works employees and equipment to clean up the bulk of the snow and fallen trees. They also worked with ArborTech Tree Services LLC in East Longmeadow, to do the after-storm clean-up.

“I am extremely proud of the employees for working long hours to get the job done. By using local resources we were able to save a lot of money,” Maybury said.

As far as reimbursement from the state, Maybury said whatever money is left for the town to pay will go through the regular Town Meeting process.

Northampton also opted to perform the clean-up itself, according to Edward S. Huntley, the director of the city’s Department of Public Works.

Huntley estimated the clean-up costs for Northampton at $50,000 to $60,000. All of the city’s streets have already been cleared, he said. The only task that remains is cleaning up the bike paths, a job he expects his crews to complete soon.

In Amherst, officials believe storm clean-up will cost about $42,000, said Town Manager John P. Musante.

The town hired Wagner Wood to help with removal through the bid process, and used money from the public works budget to pay the costs.

“We’ve been monitoring it very carefully to see what shortfalls (there might be,)” he said. The town expects to have things cleaned up within the next few weeks. It is also offering residents the opportunity, for a fee, to have their tree debris picked up as well and taken to the transfer station.

In Easthampton, Mayor Michael Tautznik said he expects the city will spend about $200,000 in clean-up costs. The city has done all the work with town crews. “It’s much more expensive (to hire).”

He said that most of the debris has been picked up, but they have not yet ground what they collected and need about $50,000 for that. “We don’t have the cash resources,” he said. But, he said, it’s out of the way and can be dealt with later.

Belchertown Town Administrator Gary L. Brougham said a combination of the town’s public works employees and outside contractors were used on the storm response. Brougham said they used companies with which the town already had existing contracts, and estimated the cost of clean-up at approximately $500,000. He said the employees started the clean-up the day after the Oct. 29 snowstorm and didn’t stop. Belchertown was one of the hardest hit communities, where power was out for a week or more.

“We oftentimes take the path less traveled,” Brougham said, adding that Belchertown too could have racked up a multi-million-dollar bill using a different method.

Staff writers Fred Contrada, Jeanette Deforge, Sandra Constantine, Elizabeth Roman, Michael Plaisance and Diane Lederman contributed to this report.

2 passengers in Widor's car, including a 56-year-old Ludlow woman, suffered minor injuries.

state

Republican file photo

LUDLOW – A 69-year-old Ludlow man was fatally injured Wednesday night when his disabled car was hit by a passing vehicle on Route 195 in Marion.

Edward Widor was in or near near his vehicle, which was disabled about a half-mile east of Exit 20, when it was struck shortly before 8:45 p.m., according to a press release issued by Massachusetts State Police.

Preliminary investigation by Trooper Paul Doyle indicates that Widor’s 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo was facing west, partially in the right travel lane and partially in the breakdown lane, when it was hit by a 2004 Suburu Forester driven by a 69-year-old Acushnet man.

Two passengers in Widor’s car, a 56-year-old Ludlow woman and a 33-year-old Sagamore woman, suffered minor injuries and were taken by ambulances to Tobey Hospital in Ware.

The driver of the Suburu also suffered minor injuries and was taken to Tobey Hospital. State police have not released the names of the injured.

The investigation determined that there were no rear-facing lights activated on the disabled Monte Carlo and the driver’s door was open.

State police said evidence suggests Widor was either standing alongside his disabled car or was sitting in it with his legs outside the vehicle when impact occurred. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The roadway and lane markings at the crash site were in excellent condition and the area was extremely dark, according to state police.

Marion, not far from Cape Cod, is on the South Shore.

The graduating class had 71 members from 35 separate departments across the state.

View full sizecourtesy of the state Department of Fire ServicesThe most recent graduates of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy pose for a class picture

STOW - Eleven firefighters from seven area departments were among the recent graduates of the MassachusettsFireighting Academy's Recruit Firefighter Program.

In all, the 193rd academy graduating class had 71 members from 35 separate departments across the state. The ceremony was last week at the state Department of Fire Services in Stow.

Local graduates were Marc A. Periera, Agawam, Michael J. Cachat Jr. and Andrew C. Eisch of Greenfield, Andrew J. Markt and Michael F. Northe of Longmeadow, Robert E. Dooley and Matthew R. Niles of Ludlow, Shawn P. Crimmins and Jeremy W. McPherson of Northampton, Trisha L.F. Mieczkowski of Turners Falls, and Matthew A. Pacinella of Westfield.

To graduate, students must demonstrate proficiency in various firefighting skills and tactics, including search and rescue, ladder operations, pump operation, and fire attack. Upon completion of the program, graduates have met national standards of National Fire Protection Association 1001 and are certified to the level of Firefighter I and II, and Hazardous Materials First Responder Operational Level by the Massachusetts Fire Training Council.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said “This rigorous professional training provides our newest firefighters with the basic skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely."

Moore was let go because at the time of the robbery he had more than $75 in the register drawer, the maximum amount allowed by Cumberland Farms

Staff photo by Patrick JohnsonDouglas Moore, 24, stands outside the Cumberland Farms store on West Street in Ludlow where he used to work. The morning after he was robbed at gunpoint, the store fired him for having too much cash in the drawer.

LUDLOW – Three nights before Christmas, Douglas Moore was at his job at the Cumberland Farms on West Street when a man stuck a gun in his face and told him to empty the cash register.

The next morning, Moore’s boss called him at home to ask him to come to the store for a talk.

“I thought she was going to see how I was doing,” he said.

Hours after being surprised by a gunman, Moore, 24, of Springfield, was surprised again – he was fired.

“I didn’t think I’d be fired,” he said. “Right before Christmas doesn’t seem right.”

Moore, who worked there for about 18 months putting in 40 hours a week for just less than $9 an hour, was let go because at the time of the robbery he had more than $75 in the register drawer.

The amount of money taken in the Dec. 22 robbery was never disclosed by police, but anything more than $75 is a violation of Cumberland Farms policy, he said.

Moore said management told him they could tell from the overhead surveillance tapes that the robber made off with more than $200.

He does not deny that there was more than $75 in the register, but said it was not much more. It might have been $100, or maybe as high as $150, but he disputes it was more than $200.

Cumberland Farms spokeswoman Karen Warner said the chain has a policy requiring cashiers to limit the amount of money in register drawers. She said she did not know the limit amount.

Limiting the amount of cash is said to deter robberies because criminals know they will not score much money in a holdup, she said.

“We limit the amount of cash in the drawer so it doesn’t encourage robberies,” she said. “It’s for the protection of employees and customers.”

She said she could not speak about the penalty to any employee who violates the policy.

Cumberland Farms requires clerks to make frequent cash drops into the safe behind the counter when the register drawer gets full.

Moore said he had made three drops that night before losing track of the amount in the drawer.

The store was unusually busy up until that point of the night with people coming in to buy lottery tickets, gift cards and last-minute Christmas presents, he said. In addition to ringing up customers, he was busy cleaning the store, restocking the coolers and shelves and refreshing pots of coffee.

“Of course there are going to be times when there is going to be more than $75,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be fired for being a little over.”

Nancy Cardaropoli, of East Longmeadow, is a regular customer of that West Street store. Or at least, she said she used to be. Cardaropoli said she and other regular customers were furious when they heard Moore was let go, and she is refusing to do business at any Cumberland Farms store.

“It is appalling what they did to him. Doug could have been killed, and all they cared about was the little bit of money in the drawer,” she said. “That is so wrong on so many levels.”

She said Moore was nice to customers so he encouraged repeat business. That is how she came to know him, she said.

In the days since his dismissal, customers have called the Cumberland Farms home office to complain about the action taken against Moore.

In the meantime, Moore said he was forced to put on hold pursuit of his bachelor’s degree in accounting that he is taking through the online program at Colorado Technical University while he looks for work.

“I can’t sit at home. I’ve got bills to pay,” he said. “Unemployment is not for me.”

The property was sold to the Church of the Nazarene.

The Republican file photo | Mark M. MurrayThe former St. Mary of the Assumption church in Ludlow has been sold to the Church of the Nazarene.

LUDLOW – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has sold the former St. Mary of the Assumption Church at 499 East St. to the Church of the Nazarene for $750,000.

Mark Dupont, spokesman for the diocese, said the church was sold after the diocese made a decision to merge the church with St. John the Baptist Church in Ludlow. The two parishes became the new parish of St. Elizabeth Church.

Dupont said Colebrook Realty handled the sale, which took place after the Protestant evangelical Church of the Nazarene expressed interest in the property.

No spokesman from the Church of the Nazarene could be reached for comment Friday.

The proceeds from the sale will go to the newly formed St. Elizabeth Parish, Dupont said.

He said there is a misconception that the proceeds from the sale of church property go back to the coffers of the diocese. Dupoint said that only happens if the closed church has debts which must be paid off.

St. Mary of the Assumption Church closed in January 2010.

The brothers say they plan to continue to chop wood in Monson for as long as there is a need.

The Republican/Lori StabileFrom right to left, Shane A. Chase, 13, and McKinley A. Chase, 16, of Ludlow, stand with their chainsaws in front of a wood chipper at 34 Ely Road in Monson on Saturday. The boys have been helping clear properties in town since the tornado struck on June 1.

MONSON - After the tornado struck Monson, 13-year-old Shane A. Chase told his dad, Alan, that they had to help.

Since then, Shane and his older brother McKinley A. Chase, 16, have spent most weekends somewhere in Monson, armed with their seven chainsaws, and ready to help wherever they can.

Saturday was no exception, as volunteers took advantage of springlike temperatures to continue to clear trees downed by the June 1 twister.

Amid a small cadre of volunteers, the Chase brothers used the chainsaws they got for Christmas to help clean two properties, one at 20 King St., the other at 34 Ely Road.

With their father, Alan, watching, the boys from Ludlow explained why they like coming to the small town that still bears tornado scars.

“As a boy scout, you try to help whoever you can. Honestly I like helping people, and I like cutting wood so it’s a win both ways . . . I like helping the people that went through the tornado,” Shane, an eighth-grader at Baird Middle School in Ludlow, said.

Shane said they started coming to Monson a day or two after the tornado hit.

McKinley, a junior at Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School in Palmer, recalled that it was Shane who suggested they bring their wood-cutting skills to Monson. McKinley said they learned how to use chainsaws by cutting trees in their backyard.

“We get to do what we like and we get to help people at the same time, so it helps everybody. And I’ve had a great time doing it. It’s an awesome experience, and just to say that you’ve done it . . . How many 16 year olds and 13 year olds do you know that can say, ‘What do you do on the weekends? I go cut trees down in Monson that are storm damaged,’” McKinley said.

While their father is disabled and cannot do the type of work his sons are performing, he is there watching them, making sure they don’t get hurt. Alan Chase said if it weren’t for Shane’s insistence to go to Monson, he wouldn’t be there.

“It’s for them. It’s not for me. I had days where I didn’t want to be up here this summer, but Shane wanted to go,” Alan Chase said.

At 34 Ely Road, homeowner Mary E. Kostorizos said she was grateful for the help.

“It would take me years to do this and a lot of money,” Kostorizos said. “The kids have been great. Everybody has been working hard.”

“They’re awesome. It’s refreshing to see the younger generation out here and helping out,” Timothy White, a member of the street angels and Monson tornado volunteers groups, said about the boys.

Alan Chase said they accept donations to keep their equipment running and pay for fuel and oil; they have their own Facebook page, Chase and Sons Chainsaw Volunteers; checks also can be sent to Chase and Sons Chainsaw Volunteers, c/o Alan Chase, 174 Poole St., Ludlow, MA, 01056, and made payable to Alan Chase. They temporarily halted their work in Monson after the October snowstorm to help other communities.

“After the snowstorm we were all over the place, helping people for that,” Alan Chase said.

Shane said he has logged 300 community service hours since he first started in Monson. The boys are part of Boy Scout Troop 164 in Palmer.

Alan Chase said the tornado had a big effect on his younger son, and shook him up. But he said coming to Monson is like therapy for Shane. Alan Chase said some of the homeowners want to keep the wood, while others don’t. They plan to donate some wood to the boy scout troop.

Baird teacher Rita N. Laferriere, in a letter to the editor in the Ludlow Register, referred to Shane as a “hero” for helping those with tornado damage. One of the people Shane and his family helped was her son Michael and his wife Geri, who live on Ely Road.

“While other students his age are devoutly enjoying video games and sports, Shane is out there making a huge difference in many lives,” Laferriere said.

Geri Laferriere said the boys have been coming to her house since the end of August, up to 20 different times. She said they couldn’t find anyone with a chainsaw big enough to cut up a tree on their property. That’s when the Chase brothers entered the picture.

“It amazes me that all the weekends they have spent helping, and not just us. For them to take their time and do all this has just been great. They come after school . . . We consider them like family,” Geri Laferriere said.

As for Shane and McKinley, they say they will continue to go to Monson and cut wood for as long as there is a need.

The finalists are: Eileen Barrett, 21; Meghan Sullivan, 18; Mariah M. McNamara, 18; Nora M. Garrity, 18; and Martha M. Crowley, 17. All are from Springfield except Barrett, who is from Ludlow.

The Republican / David MolnarThe five finalists for Springfield colleen chosen Saturday at the John Boyle O'Reilly Club in Springfield are, from left, Meghan Sullivan, of Springfield; Eileen Barrett, of Ludlow; Martha Crowley, of Springfield; Nora Garrity, of Springfield, and Mariah McNamara, of Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – Five young women were chosen on Saturday night to serve in the colleen’s court during the March 18 Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade, and one of them next month will earn the distinction of being named the Springfield colleen.

The finalists, picked from a group of 22 during the event at the John Boyle O’Reilly Club, are: Eileen Barrett, 21; Meghan Sullivan, 18; Mariah M. McNamara, 18; Nora M. Garrity, 18; and Martha M. Crowley, 17. All are from Springfield except Barrett, who is from Ludlow.

They said they were happy to have been selected, and are looking forward to representing the city.

Barrett, a senior at Lasell College in Newton, said she had wanted to compete last year, but was sidelined by ankle surgery.

“I’m in shock of it, a little bit,” Barrett said, shortly after her name was announced.

Sullivan, an Elms College freshman, said she was elated to be able to represent her heritage, her family and her community. She said she met the Springfield colleen when she was in first grade and the experience left a lasting impression on her.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan also was the recipient of the scholarship award.

McNamara, a senior at Central High School, said her parents, William and Kathleen, are very proud of their Irish heritage, and this is a way to make them proud. Her father, who was nearby during her interview, piped up, “We are proud.”

Garrity and Crowley, both seniors at Cathedral High School, said they are excited about being named finalists. Crowley said the competition has been a tradition in her family, and she donned the same dress that her cousin wore for the occasion.

Mollie M. Bresnahan, who is part of the Springfield St. Patrick’s Parade Committee and a former member of the colleen’s court herself, said all the young women have to go through an application process to compete, and are interviewed by a panel of judges.

The finalists chosen based on their academic performance, extracurricular activities, involvement in the community, and knowledge of their Irish heritage, she said.

The contest is open to young women of Irish descent who are 17 to 22 years of age and at least a high school senior. The Springfield colleen will be chosen on Feb. 11 at Cedars Banquet Hall, and the remaining finalists will comprise her court.

Soffen pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the second degree in the 1972 killings of Gary Dube, of Agawam, and Stephen Perrot, of Springfield.

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

The Massachusetts Parole Board has denied parole to Francis Soffen, saying he has an extraordinary criminal history that marks him as an especially dangerous person.

According to a copy of the decision, the board voted 7-0 to deny parole for Soffen, with another review set for five years from now. Soffen, 72, formerly of Ludlow, pleaded for his release during a parole board hearing on Aug. 19, saying he now is a Christian and ashamed of killing two people.

The board had denied parole for Soffen on 10 previous occasions, most recently 2006. Soffen has been in jail for 39 years.

"Soffen has repeatedly lied to the parole board in his hearings," said the decision signed today by Joshua Wall, chairman of the parole board. "His disciplinary record in prison is poor and he is not participating in rehabilitative programs. There is no basis to conclude that Francis Soffen is rehabilitated, and his parole is, therefore, denied."

Soffen had pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the second degree in the 1972 killings of Gary J. Dube, 24, of Agawam, and Stephen J. Perrot of Springfield, 28.

Soffen was involved in a series of masked armed robberies and sought to kill the two men because they knew of his participation in the robberies and were cooperating with police, according to the decision.

A sister of Dube, Bonnie J. Dube Clark, of Agawam, said today she was elated with the decision.

"I don't feel he deserves to have freedom," she said. "He murdered two people execution-style in cold blood."

She said she is hopeful that Soffen will die in prison before his next parole hearing in five years. She said Soffen showed no remorse during his hearing in August.

She said she wanted to thank people who wrote letters in opposition to Soffen's parole and also Hampden Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Dillon, who opposed parole for Soffen.

A spokeswoman for the Framingham-based convenience store chain said the call to terminate Moore was not a decision that was made easily or hastily.

Staff photo by Patrick JohnsonDouglas Moore, 24, was fired as a clerk at the Cumberland Farms store on West Street in Ludlow following a Dec. 22 gunpoint robbery. Moore was terminated for having too much cash in the drawer, according to the Framingham-based convenience store chain.

SPRINGFIELD – The Cumberland Farms convenience store chain is defending its decision to fire Douglas Moore, a clerk who was robbed at gunpoint last month, citing the company's "desire to maintain employee privacy" as the reason for not releasing more details about Moore's termination.

The story of Moore, who until Dec. 23 had worked as a clerk at a Cumberland Farms store in Ludlow, elicited a strong response from readers of The Republican and MassLive.com. Dozens made online comments supporting the 24-year-old Springfield man and faulting the Framingham-based company for its perceived callous treatment of Moore, who was let go just days before Christmas – and after having a gun stuck in his face.

But the company is firing back, saying Moore was let go because he violated a strict policy governing how much money can be kept in a cash register at any given time.

"The discharge of Mr. Moore is a decision that we do not take lightly nor arrive at easily," Cumberland Farms spokeswoman Carin Warner told abc40, media partner of The Republican and MassLive.

"Mr. Moore was absolutely not terminated because he was a victim of a robbery, nor because the company suffered a financial loss due to the robbery," Warner said in a statement to the TV station.

"Due to a desire to maintain employee privacy, the facts surrounding (Moore's) termination must remain private," Warner said. "However, the policy that limits the amount of money that can be held in the register is only there to provide a safer environment, as well as to act as a deterrent to crime."

On the night of Dec. 22, Moore was robbed at gunpoint as he manned the counter at the Cumberland Farms store on West Street in Ludlow. A man pointed a pistol at his face and ordered him to empty the cash register, Moore told The Republican last week.

Ludlow Police DepartmentLudlow police released this surveillance image of the suspected armed robber who held up the Cumberland Farms store on West Street in Ludlow on the night of Dec. 22.

The following morning, Moore’s boss asked him to come to the store for a talk.

"I thought she was going to see how I was doing," he said, but instead the conversation quickly veered toward his employment.

"I didn't think I'd be fired," he said.

Moore, who spent about 18 months working 40-hour weeks earning less than $9 per hour, said he was fired because more than $75 was in the cash register drawer when the store was robbed.

Police haven't disclosed how much money was stolen, but Moore said management claims it was more than $200. Company policy only allows a maximum of $75 to be kept in a register, though Moore believes the gunman got away with $100 to $150.

Cumberland Farms reviews each worker violation "to determine if an exception to employee discharge can be made," Warner said. But company policies must be "close to zero tolerance," she said, considering "the potentially significant safety risks" to employees and customers.

"Unfortunately, the facts in this case, even after thorough review, could not allow for an exception," Warner said. "As is always the case in these rare circumstances, crisis counseling was offered to Mr. Moore."

On the night of the robbery, the store was busy with people buying lottery tickets, gift cards and last-minute Christmas presents, Moore said. When the clerk wasn't operating the cash register, he was busy restocking coolers and shelves, cleaning up messes, and brewing fresh pots of coffee, he said.

Moore said it's virtually inevitable that more than $75 will accumulate in the register during the course of a shift, but he didn't think he'd be fired for accidentally exceeding that limit on the busy night of the robbery.

East Longmeadow resident Nancy Cardaropoli said she and other regular customers of the West Street store were furious when they learned Moore had been fired. Cardaropoli vowed to boycott all Cumberland Farms stores because of the company's mistreatment of Moore.

"It is appalling what they did to him," she said. "Doug could have been killed, and all they cared about was the little bit of money in the drawer. That is so wrong on so many levels."

Moore said he had been chipping away at a college degree, but his sudden unemployment has forced him to suspend his studies. "I can't sit at home; I've got bills to pay," he said. "Unemployment is not for me."

Ludlow Police Lt. Paul Madera described the Dec. 22 robbery suspect as a light-skinned man, possibly Hispanic, who's around 5½ feet tall and was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Madera said the suspect showed a revolver-style handgun, demanded cash from the register, then fled the scene in a dark Pontiac Grand Prix that was last seen southbound on West Street.

WATCH an abc40 report on this topic:

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Members of the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow, American International College's nursing department and the CRUDEM Foundation of Ludlow are involved in the effort.

Villagers of Milot, Haiti help expand the Sacred Heart Hospital supported by the Ludlow-based CRUDEM Foundation.

Two years after an earthquake devastated impoverished Haiti, two local organizations are working to improve the country.

Members of a Longmeadow church are rebuilding and enlarging a school which collapsed on Jan. 12, 2010, killing most of its nursing students.

At the same time, a Ludlow-based group is expanding the Sacred Heart Hospital in northern Haiti to offer better health care and many specialized services not offered elsewhere in the country.

“Every time I come down here it is amazing to see the progress,” said Mark H. Pohlman, of Longmeadow, referring to the rebuilding of the CONASPEH School in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

The four-story building that housed a kindergarten through grade 12 school and a nursing and seminary program collapsed during the earthquake. Children had been dismissed for the day, but at least 20 people were killed. Most were nursing students.

Before the earthquake CONASPEH, a council of about 5,000, ministries which helps fund the school, had purchased a plot of land to expand. The earthquake did not end the plans, said Pohlman, who has been involved with the school through the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow, which has been providing scholarships for the school for years.

Pohlman is in Haiti this week at the second anniversary of the earthquake. In a phone interview he said he was delighted at the progress the school has made in 11 months.

“In February (2010) they dedicated the new headquarters buildings on the grounds of the original school,” he said. “Since February they have put up the frameworks for two classrooms.”

All of the buildings are designed to withstand future earthquakes. The complex includes a library, computer laboratories and an auditorium, which were mostly lacking in the original school.

Within six months of the earthquake, the school re-opened under tents, where classes are still being conducted. Despite the conditions, enrollment has expanded from the about 400 before the disaster to at least 750 students this fall, Pohlman said.

The nursing school has also received one of the first accreditation from the Haitian government.

“There has been an effort to launch a standardized curriculum and upgrade health care in Haiti,” he said.

This year American International College’s department of nursing also started working with CONASPEH to develop help the nursing department.

“It has been an unofficial thing,” said Ayesha Ali, associate professor of nursing at the Springfield college. “We have taken a keen interest in the school in the hopes we will be able to develop something over time.”

The department recently raised about $1,000 to purchase copies of French language nursing text books in subjects such as pediatrics, psychiatry, and maternity. Because the books are so expensive, the school was given one copy of each to be used for the school, she said.

“They lost a lot of books in the earthquake,” Ali said.

Ali, associate nursing professor Elizabeth George, and two nursing students, including one who was born in Haiti but grew up in the United States, are now in Haiti with Pohlman. During the trip they have met the nursing school director and some of the students, are discussing their curriculum and comparing the different programs.

Eventually Ali would like to develop a stronger partnership and possibly an exchange program where students from Haiti, who have learned some English, can spend time at American International College.

Despite the encouraging signs that the CONASPEH School is progressing, Pohlman and other Western Massachusetts residents who frequently visit Haiti say the improvements seem like an aberration since so many people are still living in makeshift homes.

“We are seeing new construction but not a lot,” Pohlman said.

Pohlman said residents do seem more hopeful. One told him recently since the elections electricity is more reliable, more students have returned to school and the water supply is improved.

“I go in-and-out of Port-au-Prince all the time and the sense that I get is the rebuilding still has not taken root,” said Timothy Traynor, of Wilbraham, who is working at the Sacred Heart Hospital, operated by the CRUDEM Foundation based in Ludlow. “There is still debris around, it is a slow and arduous process.”

In the months following the earthquake, $486 million was raised through the American Red Cross. About $330 million has been spent in the last two years on emergency services and rebuilding, said Jana T. Sweeny, director of international communications for the American Red Cross.

Some of the money has been spent to rebuild businesses, improving the water, sewer and road infrastructure and repair homes. The American Red Cross has been working with a number of agencies to coordinate the efforts, she said.

Much of the remaining funds are expected to be used to create so-called integrated neighborhoods with good housing, water, sanitation and health care, Sweeny said.

That effort has been complicated by the lack of land records. An imperfect system in the first place, many were destroyed or lost in the earthquake and organizations do not want to build on property where the owner is in question, she said.

In the Pioneer Valley alone an estimated $408,000 was raised much of it through a canister drive from Big Y supermarkets and donations from the family of Chief Executive Officer Donald H. D’Amour. MassMutal Financial Group in Springfield also collected more than $200,000 partly by matching funds that its employees gave. Many organizations and individuals also donated smaller sums, said Richard A. Lee, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Red Cross chapter.

It is hard to tell how much money residents really gave because so many people followed a texting program where they could donate $10 to the national chapter, he said.

“The Red Cross money is being spent in a lot of different ways,” he said. Some of it is being used to provide financing to help people re-start businesses.

The international agency expects to be in Haiti for years. It is especially difficult since it is was already one of the poorest countries in the world and then it was hit with one of the worst catastrophes, he said.

“We know how difficult it was to recover from the tornado” that hit Western Massachusetts June 1. “Imagine the scale in Haiti,” Lee said. The Red Cross was also involved with relief efforts from tornado which hit six communities in Western Massachusetts.

Few donations are still coming for the Haiti relief, although the Pioneer Valley Chapter will accept them. Of every $1 collected 93 cents goes directly to relief, he said.

The Sacred Heart Hospital, operated through the CRUDEM Foundation of Ludlow, was not damaged in the earthquake but quickly became known as one of the places where people could get desperately needed medical care.

The hospital was inundated with hundreds of badly injured patients. It set up large tents as makeshift hospital rooms and took over a school building to help treat patients. Hundreds of trained doctors, nurses and physical therapists flew from the United States to augment its Haitian staff.

National media attention helped the CRUDEM Foundation to raise more than $1 million, most of which went to direct care. Other fund-raising efforts are now being operated to help expand and improve the hospital, located in Milot.

“We have done quite a bit. We have built a number of facilities and we are in the process of putting in a clinic that will serve children,” said Traynor, who travels to the hospital frequently.

Timothy Traynor, of Wilbraham, talks with residents of Milot, Haiti about efforts to expand the Sacred Heart Hospital.

With the help of some major donations from the Philips Company of Andover, the hospital has been able to add high-tech equipment including medical monitors, a digital X-ray machine and a reliable Internet communications system that allows local doctors to contact specialists in the United States, including those at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, to seek information.

“We have become known for our ability to manage some pretty complex issues,” he said.

Since the earthquake, a fully-staffed prosthetic lab and a therapy center was developed to help people who were seriously injured in the earthquake and continue to need therapy, he said.

It has also added two large power generating systems that triple the electrical power generation since the Haitian electrical grid is unreliable and constant power is needed for critical medical equipment such as the oxygen generator, Traynor said.

Employees reconfigured the hospital to add a maternity and women’s wing to the space and is in the process of building a family center, crucial to the culture of Haiti because relatives stay with ill family members, cook for them and provide otherwise unskilled care such as helping the bathe, Traynor said.

“We need to raise $50,000 to $70,000 for the center,” he said.

Before the earthquake, the CRUDEM Foundation planned to expand the hospital and had purchased land to do so. When the earthquake hit, Traynor was visiting the hospital to begin planning that addition.

The project, estimated at least $4 million, is now taking shape and is expected to double the hospital size to about 150 beds, expand the operating rooms, provide an emergency center and a burn center, he said.

With the expansion of the hospital has come a number of benefits from the desperately poor residents who live around the hospital. Small farms and other businesses have sprung up as residents realize they have a place to sell their goods. Others have been hired to help with the hospital building and are learning a trade as well as earning a paycheck, Traynor said.

“If you take that disaster and you try to find a silver lining .¤.¤. it brought a lot of attention to the problems that are here and there are a lot of good people trying to help,” Traynor said.

Authorities are seeking criminal charges against a Springfield man, 24-year-old Barry Davis, who allegedly was speeding and driving recklessly when he crashed a car at the intersection of Cady and Grimes streets in Ludlow.

LUDLOW – Police here are seeking criminal charges against a Springfield man who crashed a vehicle at the intersection of Cady and Grimes streets Friday night, sheering a utility pole in half, toppling power lines and injuring himself and three passengers

Barry C. Davis, 24, of 38 Brook St. has a suspended driver's license and should not have been driving in the first place, according to Ludlow Police Sgt. Daniel Valadas, who said police will seek criminal charges in Palmer District Court.

A preliminary police investigation indicated excessive speed and reckless operation were factors in the 9:07 p.m. crash, Valadas said.

The incident prompted Ludlow and Chicopee police to close a stretch of Cady Street and New Lombard Road while crews from Western Massachusetts Electric Co. repaired the damaged pole and downed wires. Cady Street was expected to remain closed into Saturday morning, police said.

An update on the conditions of Davis and his passengers was unavailable early Saturday, but Valadas said all four were "seriously injured" and had to be transported by Ludlow Fire Department ambulances to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a Friday night car crash in Ludlow that sent four people, including the driver, to the hospital with injuries:

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Field said he will run for the position in the March 26 town election.

LUDLOW – The Board of Selectmen Tuesday night interviewed two applicants for a vacancy on the Board of Health and appointed Victor Field to the position.

Victor Field

Field will serve until the March 26 town election when a new member will be elected to the position.

Interviewed for the position were Field and Timothy Fontaine.

Field has served in town government positions for 15 years. He served on the Planning Board, the Personnel Board and the Board of Health for six years, until he was defeated three years ago by Neil Paquette.

Field also has had a career in health care management.

He served as administrator of the former Ludlow Hospital, was an administrator of nursing homes in Northampton and Great Barrington, was an administrator of a nursing home in Florida and in 1999 opened Keystone Commons in Ludlow, an assisted living center.

Fontaine has worked as a health inspector for the town for six years. He said he has worked in commercial kitchens and does inspections of commercial kitchens for the town.

Both Field and Fontaine said they plan to run for the position in the March 26 town election.

“We are forced to choose between two good candidates,” Selectman William Rooney said. “I favor Mr. Field.”

He said he is impressed that Field was defeated for the position three years ago, but is again seeking the position. “I think that says a lot about the character of Mr. Field,” Rooney said.

Other selectmen said Field has very diverse experience as a health care administrator and is a good candidate for the position.

Health board member Paquette also voted for Field for the position. He asked Field if he would be willing to help if an emergency shelter again had to be set up as it was during by the Oct. 29 snowstorm. Field said he would.

“Ultimately this will be up to the voters,” Selectman Antonio Dos Santos said. “Both applicants are qualified.”

Pendrick's lawyer said all drugs were for personal use for pain.

SPRINGFIELD – A 51-year-old Ludlow man was found guilty Wednesday of selling drugs from his house and later going to the home of the lead investigator in the case and trying to intimidate him.

James Pendrick, of 108 Holy Cross Circle, had chosen a jury-waived trial so the verdict was reached by Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis.

Velis found Pendrick guilty of trafficking in the class of drug that includes heroin, morphine and opium; possession of cocaine with intent to distribute; and a count of possession with intent to distribute drugs in the same class as cocaine.

Thomas F. Foye

For the actions Pendrick took at the home of Ludlow Police Sgt. Thomas F. Foye, Velis found Pendrick guilty of trespass, intimidation of a witness, and resisting arrest.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 13. Pendrick had been out on bail pending trial but Velis revoked his bail after the guilty verdict, so Pendrick was taken into custody.

Defense lawyer J. Timothy Mannion had argued the state did not prove Pendrick was a drug dealer, saying his client had legitimate prescriptions for drugs for personal use because of pain and disability. Any use of illegal drugs was for pain, Mannion argued.

“He’s drug-dependent and he’s got a myriad of physical problems,” Mannion said of Pendrick.

As for the incident at Foye’s house, Mannion said Pendrick was simply taking his dog for a walk and “may have been exercising his right to confront authority” when “there may have been some verbiage” at Foye’s home.

Velis acquitted Pendrick of three other drugs charges.

Assistant District Attorney Neil Desroches said in his closing argument police had set up surveillance different nights over several weeks in 2010 and had seen a succession of cars pull up to Pendrick’s house, with drivers spending a short time inside the house and then leaving.

Police, with a search warrant, raided the house April 9, 2010. Among items found, Desroches said, were two pill bottles filled April 8 containing together 330 pills. The next day at the time of the raid only 120 pills were left, he said. One of those bottles contained oxycodone, he said.

“The only explanation is that he was distributing them,” Desroches said. Police testified inside the house were crack pipes and ledgers investigators testified were drug sale ledgers.

Mannion called the raid a “15-man invasion army” and criticized the treatment of Pendrick, his wife and his 14-year-old son.

When Mannion attacked Foye’s testimony about the confrontation at Foye’s home May 4, 2010, after Pendrick was released on bail on the drug charges, Velis told Mannion he (Velis) did not question Foye’s credibility.

Foye had testified Pendrick was sitting on an electrical box on his property when he drove in and he heard Pendrick say, “Well, looks like the lead detective is home early.”

Foye said Pendrick first would not get off the box and then did and came toward him continuing to make remarks such as a threat to get Foye even from jail.

“When I told him I would arrest him, he said that won’t happen. He walked toward me and bumped me in the chest,” Foye said.

Foye said he grabbed onto Pendrick and there was a scuffle, until he restrained Pendrick and called the Ludlow police department and another officer arrived to aid in the arrest.

Selectmen voted 4 to 0 to put the proposal on the Ludlow Town Meeting ballot.

LUDLOW - The Board of Selectmen considered a suggestion by a former selectman to bring a proposal to increase the restaurant meals tax back to the Town Meeting for consideration.

After a long discussion, selectmen voted 4 to 0 to put the proposal on the May annual Town Meeting warrant.

Antonio Dos Santos

“We’ll let the Town Meeting decide,” said Selectman Antonio Dos Santos.

Matthew Pszeniczny, a town resident and a former selectman, wrote in a letter to the Board of Selectmen that the town could realize an additional $18,000 per month or $215,000 annually if it increased the restaurant meals tax from 6.25 percent to 7 percent.

The town considered this three years ago, but Town Meeting members voted against it.

Dos Santos said the restaurant business in town was adamantly opposed.

Selectmen Chairman Aaron Saunders said that increasing the restaurant meals tax is an opportunity for the town to recoup some revenue from non-residents who eat at the restaurants off the Massachusetts Turnpike while they are traveling through town.

Dos Santos said there are restaurants in town such as Villa Rose and Tony & Penny’s which have many local customers.

Selectman William Rooney said many neighboring communities have adopted the local option increasing the meals tax including Amherst, Belchertown, Chicopee, West Springfield, Springfield, Monson, Northampton, Palmer and South Hadley.

With increasing taxes and expenses, it is difficult to turn “a blind eye” to increased revenue, Rooney said.

Saunders said that if an additional $215,000 could be raised, it is money which would not have to come from local property taxes.

“I wish to thank Mr. Pszeniczny for bringing this forward,” Rooney said. He added that voters at the annual Town Meeting will make the final decision.

Saunders said he would support the proposal “not for extra spending, but for property tax relief.”

The suspect, armed with a box cutter, came out of a bathroom and threatened police.

Republican file photo03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – A West Springfield Police Department cruiser.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Police required pepper spray to subdue a 47-year-old Ludlow man after he allegedly threatened them with a box cutter as they tended to his injured wife in a room at the Red Carpet Inn early Monday.

Capt. Daniel Spaulding said the incident began shortly before 4:20 a.m. when they received a call regarding a woman who was going to hurt herself at the hotel.

Arriving police met with the caller who took them to a room with an open door where they found a woman on the bed with a wound to her lower abdomen. When police began to administer first aid to the woman she became combative - yelling, hitting, kicking, biting and spitting, Spaulding said.

As this was going on, Glen Reynolds, of 75 Ventura St., Ludlow, armed with a box cutter, came out of the bathroom and threatened the officers, Spaulding said.

Police disarmed Reynolds with a blast of pepper spray and arrested him, Spaulding said.

The woman, Amy Lagacy, 36, of 85 Williams St., Springfield, continued to be combative, Spaulding said. She resisted the aid of responding emergency medical personnel and was ultimately removed from the room on a gurney and taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment of her injury.

Reynolds was charged with disorderly conduct, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of cocaine, police documents state.

Police said Lagacy will be charged with two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery on ambulance personnel and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, Spaulding said.