Under the proposal, the typical household water and sewer bill would increase an average of $46.80 annually, or about $3.90 per month.

SPRINGFIELD – A proposed $51.2 million budget for the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission that includes water and sewer rate increases, effective July 1, generated little public interest at the commission’s annual hearing on Tuesday night.

Just two residents attended the hearing at City Hall, outnumbered by the three-member commission and 10 commission officials who provided a detailed presentation on the proposed budget, capital projects, rate increases and fee changes.

“It’s sad there is not bigger participation,” said Carmen E. Serrano-Gerena, commission chairwoman.

As proposed, the combined water and sewer rate for residential customers will increase by approximately 8 percent, effective July 1. The typical household water and sewer bill is estimated to increase an average of $46.80 annually, or about $3.90 per month.

The budget is increasing from approximately $50 million to $51.2 million, representing a 2.4 percent increase.

The commission may vote on the budget and rate increases on June 10.

The rates affect Springfield and Ludlow customers. In addition, several communities in the region receive water under contracts with the commission and are billed for the cost of discharging sewage at the regional wastewater treatment facility at Bondi’s Island.

The city and many other communities nationwide are under a mandate by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate the sewage overflows by creating separate pipes to handle stormwater and sewage in place of single older pipes.

In 2009, the commission completed two combined sewer overflow projects targeting the Chicopee River in Springfield at a total cost of $36.4 million, assisted by a state revolving loan fund with an interest rate of 2.5 percent.

One of the residents who did attend the meeting Tuesday night, John Wojcik of Greenlawn Street in Sixteen Acres, raised concerns that the commission’s long-term debt has risen to approximately $106 million, largely related to federally mandated projects to eliminate combined sewer overflows that have long harmed the Chicopee and Connecticut rivers.

Wojcik said he sympathizes with the commission’s task, but is also concerned as a ratepayer about the cost of the work and debt payback including interest.

The commission is scheduled to finish $84 million in combined sewer overflow projects by 2011, but will still have approximately $300 million in additional mandated projects in future years, according to commission spokeswoman Katherine J. Pedersen. That work is in addition to ongoing projects to maintain, clean and repair water and sewer systems, much of which is a century old, she said.

The second hearing attendee, Sheila McElwaine of Meredith Street in Forest Park, asked the commission to ensure that a contractor repairing a water transmission line in the North End take better care of the area, particularly near a walkway-bikeway that abuts the Connecticut River.

National World War II Museum estimates there are now fewer than 2 million of the nation’s 16 million veterans from the war alive.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanFrancis M. Lamoureux, of East Longmeadow, holds a photograph of the men he fought beside during World War II. Of his group of 18 that parachuted in to Normandy on D-Day only half survived. Lamoureux is third from the left, top row, and was fourth to jump.A generation or more ago, the 6th of June was synonymous with D-Day.

The greatest amphibious operation in military history. A major turning point in World War II. The beginning of the end for Adolph Hitler’s Nazi forces.

Francis M. Lamoureux, of East Longmeadow, lived that piece of history. Sixty-six years ago Sunday, he was jumping off a plane about an hour past midnight.

Of course, it wasn’t history on that momentous day, but rather a blistering and bloody reality of war.

Lamoureux is among the dwindling numbers of men and women who are still around to recount their roles in the Allies’ invasion of France on June 6, 1944 and the rest of World War II. The National World War II Museum in New Orleans estimates there are now fewer than 2 million of the nation’s 16 million veterans from the world war alive.

“Jumping that night was a nightmare,” recalls Lamoureux, who volunteered to be one of the first to jump in the invasion. “All hell broke loose on the coast of Normandy.”

Lamoureux, who fought with a specially-trained Army Pathfinders unit, said the plane he was aboard took flak and gunfire as it approached their drop zone, about 10 miles inland from the soon-to-be bloody beaches of Normandy.

The 90-year-old Lamoureux, then 24, remembers the events of that day in vivid detail, from how he instinctively curled up his toes within his boots as he awaited his jump to the rapid-fire shout, “Go! Go! Go!” which marked the time to jump to his fate.

“I didn’t want my toes to get shot off. I didn’t want the soles of my feet to get mangled by gunfire before I left the plane,” he said. Lamoureux was the fourth man out of the plane and landed in an apple orchard. “When we finally landed it was a revelation and relief,” he said. “I said ‘I am safe. I didn’t get hit. Maybe I can escape further hits.’”

The Pathfinders’ mission was to mark drop zones for the main Army Airborne force, then to seize bridges and crossroads to block the German counterattack.

“We were there to protect the men who were coming after us,” said Lamoureux, who recently moved from Ludlow to East Longmeadow with his wife, Hildegarde. “We had to protect them from the rear.”

Dubbed “The Longest Day” by historians, D-Day turned into 33 days of round-the-clock combat for the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, with half of Lamoureux’ 2,000-member unit killed or wounded by early July.

Lamoureux’ particular task that morning was to set up a Eureka radar unit that would allow planes carrying the ensuing invasion force to hone in on its signal. His unit was attached to the 82nd Airborne Division.

Lamoureux said the radar unit, strapped to his abdomen, weighed 40 or 50 pounds and would have interfered with his ability to deploy his reserve chute should the main one fail. And so, he, and a buddy, also carrying a Eureka, decided to ditch their reserve chutes in England before their departure.

Of the 18 paratroopers in that plane, a unit known as a “stick,” only nine would survive the night, Lamoureux said.

Daniel M. Walsh, director of veterans’ services for the city of Springfield, says men like Lamoureux with stories to tell about the massive D-Day invasion that turned the tide of World War II are growing few and far between.

“Unfortunately, we are losing over 1,500 (World War II veterans) a day who actually saved our way of life,” Walsh said. “Every day they are dying.”

Over the past year, prominent Western Massachusetts veterans who took part in D-Day are among those who have died. Milton R. Berman, longtime owner of the former Yale Genton clothing store in West Springfield, died in February. Berman served as a captain in the U.S. Army and flew a P-47 Thunderbolt during the invasion, providing aerial support for the ground troops and help move fuel and ammunition from England to France.

Earl D. Clark Jr., of West Springfield, died in November; he served with the Army’s 1st "Big Red One" Division and referred to himself as “one of the lucky ones” who went ashore at Normandy in the first wave of troops that day and survived. Of the 195 men Clark went off to war with, only five returned home alive.

“I went ashore at 6 in the morning (at Omaha Beach), one of the first waves,” the then-86-year-old Clark recalled from his home in West Springfield a year ago. “All you could do was go up that beach and run like hell.”

The D-Day invasion – aimed to break down Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall” and stop the Nazi conquest of Europe – involved 5,000 ships, backed by thousands more smaller craft, 11,000 aircraft and 200,000 men. Before the day was over, thousands – Allied and German soldiers, as well as French civilians – would perish.

Those with information on the boy are asked to call Ludlow Police at (413) 583-8305.

LUDLOW – Police are seeking the public’s help in finding a 15-year-old boy who failed to show up at school Tuesday and has been missing ever since.

Cody Shameklis is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and about 135 pounds with short brown hair and blue eyes. He has a scar on the left side of his nose and was wearing jeans and a gray Wyoming T-shirt.

The boy’s parents, Brian and Molly Shameklis told police they believe he may have returned home Tuesday for a short time because his bicycle was found at home.

Police officers and a K-9 unit searched the area. Those with information on the boy are asked to call Ludlow Police at (413) 583-8305.

A police officer found the teen in a wooded area near Whitney Park.

LUDLOW – A 15-year-old boy, who failed to show up at school Tuesday and was missing ever since, was safely found Wednesday morning, apparently after spending a night in the woods.

Lt. Paul B. Madera said Cody Shameklis was found in a wooded area near Whitney Park about 7:30 a.m.

Police believed the teen had intended to spend the night in the woods and searched for most of the night, Madera said.

Ludlow police are looking for an unknown man who robbed Chicopee Savings Bank, 477A Center St., just before 10 a.m. Thursday, police said.

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LUDLOW - Police are looking for an unknown man who robbed Chicopee Savings Bank, 477A Center St., just before 10 a.m. Thursday, police said.

The man handed the teller a note demanding cash, said Sgt. Daniel Valadas. An undisclosed amount of money was placed in a brown paper bag for him and he walked out the door and then fled on foot.

He was described as white, about 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. He had no facial hair and was wearing either a black or blue hooded sweatshirt over a plaid flannel shirt. He was also wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses.

Police were called to the scene by a silent alarm at 9:52 a.m. Detectives are reviewing fingerprints and video footage to try to determine the robber’s identity.

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

Traffic between Belchertown and Ludlow on Route 21 was being detoured due to a downed tree on some power lines Thursday night, police said.

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LUDLOW - A section of Center Street remains closed to traffic while crews remove a downed tree off some power lines, police said.

There was no outage caused by the fallen tree, but police closed Center Street, also known as Route 21, to allow for the removal of the tree and to assess any damage to the wires, police said.

Traffic is being detoured at Bondsville Road in Ludlow and at Bardswell Street in Belchertown.

The tree fell shortly before 8 p.m. The road was closed to traffic about 20 minutes later.

Police said it is not clear when the road will reopen.

The task force will ask South Hadley residents to adopt a community code of conduct.

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Srodulcki, of Warren, and Gallagher, of West Brookfield, were arrested for the attempted robbery of the Bank of Western Massachusetts.

This is an update to a story that was first posted a story that was first posted at 2:11 p.m.

Springfield police cars outside the Bank of Western Massachusetts, 1630 Boston Road, which was the scene of an attempted robbery Friday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD – Police arrested a 27-year-old Warren man and a 23-year-old woman from West Brookfield Friday afternoon for the attempted robbery of the Bank of Western Massachusetts, 1630 Boston Road, police said.

The pair was stopped when Springfield and Ludlow police boxed in their getaway car on Center Street in Ludlow at about 2:15 p.m., roughly 20 minutes after the attempted robbery was reported, said Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

Arrested were Jeffery Srodulcki of 23 Bacon Road, Warren, and Chazeri Gallagher of 29 East Main St., West Brookfield.

Each was charged with attempted robbery.

The pair was also charged an additional count of unarmed robbery by Ludlow police in connection the robbery Thursday of Chicopee Savings Bank on Center Street, said Sgt. Thomas F. Foye.

Delaney said Srodulcki walked into the bank with a hooded sweatshirt covering his face and handed a teller a note demanding cash. No weapon was shown but the note indicated he was armed, Delaney said.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanThis suspect was taken into custody by Springfield police Friday following the robbery of the Bank of Western Massachusetts on Boston Road.

For some reason Srodulcki “got spooked and ran out of the bank,” Delaney said.

As he ran from the bank with his hoodie still covering his face, he was spotted by Springfield detective Thomas Korzec, who was driving by the bank in an unmarked police car.

Korzec observed Srodulcki run behind the Firestone Auto Care, 1666 Boston Road, where he climbed into a white Ford Escort, driven by Gallagher.

Korzec radioed for back up and continued to tail the car down Boston Road to Parker Street and ultimately into Ludlow. When enough cars were in position, they blocked the car in in the area of 152 Center St., Delaney said.

No money was taken in the attempted robbery.

Foye said Ludlow police were able to determine Srodulcki and Gallagher were involved in the Thursday robbery in Ludlow.

In that robbery a man with a hooded sweatshirt passed a note to a teller and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Foye said police were able to determine the white Ford was used as a getaway vehicle in both incidents.

Principal Gordon Smith praised the class for its character, integrity and poise.

Photo by Jeff BrownThe Ludlow High School Class of 2010 graduation was held at the Mullins Center in Amherst on Friday. Left to right, Becca E. Simonoko, Jessica A. McClintock and Aubrey M. Romani, all of Ludlow, meet before the ceremonies.

AMHERST – The Ludlow High School Class of 2010 followed tradition Friday night and processed under arches held by juniors to graduate at the Mullins Center at UMass.

Class President Rebecca Simonoko said she learned at Ludlow High School that if you want something, you have to go a little further to get it.

“I am saddened to leave the teachers and friends who have inspired me,” she said.

Class valedictorian was Michael Goncalves. Class salutatorian was Christina Stevens.

Ludlow High School Principal Gordon C. Smith praised the 223 members of the class for their “character, integrity and poise.”

He said the class has been very goal oriented.

School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane urged the class to be positive. She said that during a recession and high unemployment Americans have become angry.

View full sizePhoto by Jeff BrownJames L. Provost, left, and Shane G. Caron, both of Ludlow, at the Ludlow High School graduation.

“I challenge you to remain positive,” she said. “Be a part of the solution. Create the energy to make your projects succeed.”

She told the students to believe that good will triumph.

She urged them to keep as their motto, “passion, persistence and possibility.”

“Believe in love, believe in others, believe in Santa Claus, believe in yourselves,” Kane told the class.

She added, “Life is not a dress rehearsal. There is one show only.”

She offered good wishes to Smith, who is leaving Ludlow High School this year to take over as East Longmeadow school superintendent.

“We thank him for his years of service, and we wish him well,” Kane said.

The Monday afternoon fire at 209 East State St. was in vacant two-story home. The house was unoccupied while the owners tried to sell it, according to officials.

View Larger MapGRANBY - Area firefighters from four communities and Westover Air Reserve Base battled a house fire Monday afternoon in an unoccupied residence at 209 East State Street, Granby police said.

No one was injured in the 4:30 p.m. blaze. The house was empty while the owners were in the process of trying to sell it, police said.

The first firefighters on scene reported heavy smoke coming from the two-story wood-frame home, police said.

A call for mutual aid was issued and fire units from Amherst, Ludlow, South Hadley District 2 and Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee responded. An ambulance from South Hadley District 1 also responded.

An official with the state Fire Marshal’s Office was on scene Monday night.

No cause has yet been determined but it is not believed to be of suspicious origin, police said.

William J. Smith, 32, was was arrested Tuesday afternoon after Ludlow police found 22 pounds of marijuana, some oxycodone tablets, and $32,000 during a search of his 65 West Belmont St residence.

William J. Smith

LUDLOW – A 32-year-old Ludlow man was arrested on drug charges Tuesday morning after police found 22 pounds of marijuana, several oxycodone tablets, some ammunition and $32,000 in cash during a search of his residence at 65 West Belmont St., Ludlow police said.

William J. Smith was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of oxycodone, and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, police said.

Ludlow police were called to the residence on West Belmont St., by members of the state police Fugitive Apprehension, who had gone to that address to serve an arrest warrant, police said. The person named in the warrant was not present, but state police spotted evidence of drugs in plain sight in the residence, police said.

Ludlow PolicePhoto of marijuana and money seized by Ludlow police from raid Tuesday at 65 West Belmont St.

Ludlow police sealed off the house and then applied for a district court search warrant. Once it was granted, they searched the property and found the drugs, pills, cash and bullets, police said.

No weapon was found on the property.

The marijuana had an estimated street value of between $25,000 and $30,000 police said.

Smith was not the person named in the state police arrest warrant, Ludlow
police said.

A committee is finishing work on a town master plan

LUDLOW – An economist with the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University told the town's master plan committee that implementing a smooth and transparent permitting process is one of the easiest things the town could do to improve its marketability for commercial and industrial growth.

Nancy Lee, economist with Northeastern University, said potential private sector developers want to know how quickly permitting can take place.

She said the town should post permitting procedures on its website along with check lists and flow charts for the procedures.

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanLudlow Town Planner Douglas J. Stefancik is seen here in his office.

She also recommended a central point person for permitting procedures such as the town planner.

The economic study is being done in conjunction with the town’s master plan.

The economic study evaluates the town’s economic strengths and weaknesses and identifies practical strategies to promote private sector investment.

Lee said that in many areas such as proximity to highways, quality of the school system, proximity to colleges and traffic issues the town is on a par with other communities which have done similar surveys.

“It will be up to the town how it uses this information,” Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Senior Planner Jessica Allan said.

With a $100,000 appropriation from Town Meeting, the town is developing a master plan with the help of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and some University of Massachusetts regional planning graduate students.

The master plan committee, formed in May 2009, consists of 15 town officials and citizen volunteers. The plan is expected to be completed by December 2010.

Town Planner Douglas Stefancik said the master plan will guide initiatives of the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen for years to come.

A master plan could determine whether there is support for a Community Preservation Act bylaw, for example, and whether residents think there is a need for more open space or affordable housing.

It also could guide the town regarding whether residents would support initiatives for higher density housing and where they feel additional residential, commercial and industrial development should be located.

For more information about the master plan, visit the Master Plan website at www.ludlowmp.org or call Stefancik at 413-583-5624 or Allan at 413-781-6045.

Judge Cornelius Moriarty ruled before the trial began that there would be no mention of the fact that Alicia Rodrigues was killed hours after the alleged alcohol purchase.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanMichelle Zygarowski, of Ludlow, listens during her trial in Hampden Superior Court Tuesday. She is charged with provided alcohol to three minors, including her seventeen-year-old daughter, Alicia Rodrigues, who was killed in an October 2009 car crash which allegedly was caused by underage drinking.

SPRINGFIELD – Two young men testified on Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court that Michelle Zygarowski went into a liquor store in Indian Orchard on Oct. 1, 2009, and bought a bottle of Bacardi rum for them and her daughter.

Zygarowski, 43, of Ludlow, is on trial on three counts of providing liquor to a person under 21 years old.

She is charged with purchasing a 750 milliliter size bottle of the rum for the two young men, Michael Demaio and Corey Harrington, and her daughter, Alicia Rodrigues, who was then 17 years old.

According to the young men they drove Zygarowski to the store, gave her money, and she went into the store to purchase the rum while they and her daughter waited in the car.

What the Hampden Superior Court jury did not hear that Rodrigues was killed hours after the alleged alcohol purchase in a fatal accident on Allen Street near Sumner Avenue.

Rodrigues was a passenger in a car driven by Jake Trombley, 18, of Springfield, who faces a charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and negligent operation in a separate case. Rodrigues, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pinned underneath the car when Trombley lost control, struck a light pole and flipped the car onto its roof. Demaio and Harrington were also passengers but uninjured in the crash.

Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty ruled before Zygarowski’s trial began Tuesday that there would be no mention of the fact that Rodrigues is dead. He said that the crash is not relevant to this case and mention of it would be prejudicial to Zygarowski.

In fact, one juror was dismissed after she told the judge that she recognized Rodrigues’ name, knew she had died in the crash, and didn’t believe she could be impartial during the trial.

Assistant District Attorney James M. Forsyth said that the fatality did not need to be mentioned because Zygarowski is being tried for the act of purchasing the liquor for minors. She is not charged with purchasing liquor for Trombley and he was not present when the alleged purchase happened.

Defense lawyer Edward C. Bryant Jr. had argued to Moriarty that it would be impossible for him to cross-examine witnesses if the fatal accident could not be mentioned.

He also said that he expected jurors would wonder why there had been such an extensive investigation, including state police, into whether Zygarowski had purchased liquor for her daughter and the two young men.

Harrington, 19, did refer to a car accident on the stand. In response to a question from Bryant about what he told a police sergeant that night, Harrington said he “was not in my right mind after the car accident.”

Harrington and Demaio testified that after Zygarowski bought the rum for the three teens they dropped her off at home and went to Harrington’s house with the bottle where they were joined by Trombley. The crash happened in the early morning hours of Oct. 2 after the four left Harrington’s house in his car with Trombley driving.

The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

Alicia Rodrigues, Zygarowski’s 17-year-old daughter, was killed in a car accident hours after her mother allegedly bought rum for her and two others.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanMichelle Zygarowski, of Ludlow, listens during her trial in Hampden Superior Court Tuesday. She was convicted Wednesday with providing alcohol to three minors.

This is a 4:22 p.m. update of a story posted at 3:36 this afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD – A Ludlow woman, convicted of buying rum for some of the teenagers involved in a car crash that killed her daughter last year, must complete 800 hours of community service.

A jury in Hampden Superior Court on Wednesday found Michelle Zygarowski guilty of buying the alcohol for her daughter and two other teens who were passengers in the Oct. 2 accident in Springfield’s East Forest Park neighborhood.

Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty II declined to impose a six-month jail sentence requested by a prosecutor in the case, saying the mother “has lost her daughter. She has paid a terrific price for her actions.” He ordered the woman serve a two-year probationary sentence.

Alicia Rodrigues, Zygarowski’s 17-year-old daughter, was killed when she was a passenger in a car driven by Jake Trombley, 18, of Springfield. Trombley faces a charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and negligent operation in a separate case.

Zygarowski was not charged with providing alcohol to Trombley. She was found guilty of buying a bottle of rum for her daughter and two other people who were under 21 years old on the night of Oct. 1.

Her daughter and the others later went on to drink alcohol with Trombley, and then all four got into a car in the early morning hours of Oct. 2.

The jury was not told that Zygarowski’s daughter had died or even that there had been a serious accident, but the judge addressed it his sentencing.

Zygarowski sobbed throughout the sentencing hearing, particularly when Moriarty talked about the loss of her daughter.

Her lawyer, Edward C. Bryant Jr. said, “I don’t believe there is any reason on earth to put her in jail.”

“This is very difficult to say the least,” Moriarty said. He said he understood assistant district attorney James M. Forsyth’s recommendation for jail since it was an “incredibly reckless act” to provide alcohol to three minors who were in a car.

Police reported Trombley was behind the wheel at about 1:15 a.m. on Oct. 2 when he crashed his 1995 Nissan Maxima at Allen Street near Sumner Avenue . Trombley was heading east on Allen Street when the car went out of control and struck a light pole, flipping onto its roof and pinning Rodrigues underneath, according to police.

The two other passengers were uninjured, police said. Police said Rodrigues was not wearing a seat belt. One of passengers told investigators that seconds before the crash, Rodrigues had shouted that they needed to put on their seat belts.

The club has been opening early for its soccer-loving patrons.

Associated Press photoPortugal's Danny, center foreground, misses a scoring opportunity against Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar, right, during the World Cup group G soccer match between Portugal and Brazil at the stadium in Durban, South Africa, Friday.

LUDLOW – Cold beer and hot expresso appeared to be the beverages of choice at the Gremio Lusitano Club Friday morning as patrons watched their beloved Portugal take on arch-rival Brazil in World Cup play.

The Winsor Street club opened early to accommodate a happy crowd of fans who watched the game unfold on three big flat-screens mounted near the bar.

Two more televisions on the periphery of things showed the World Cup match between North Korea and the Ivory Coast.

“We have been opening early since they started the World Cup,” said club bartender Michael F. Martins, adding that the town is full of World Cup fans. “It’s a pretty big crowd for early in the morning.”

“To me it’s better than the Olympics,” said Jose A. Alberto, shortly after the game started at 10 a.m., adding that watching the Cup and keeping abreast with the games is “controlling my entire life and messing up with my schedule.”

Alberto and just about everyone else inside the Lusitano Club stressed that the two countries have long been rivals on the playing field.

“It’s a huge game because of the historical significance,” Alberto said. “Portugal, for a long time, had Brazil as colony. It’s kind of a bone-of-contention between Portugal and Brazil...”Who plays better? Who plays a better style of soccer? It’s a matter of national pride.”

Those intently watching the game included Tony Goncalves. “I thought I’d take a half a day and come over and support our country,” he said.

“Portugal!” said 6-year-old Sebastian Goncalves, when asked who he thought was going to win the match. The boy came in the club to watch the game with his father, Joe Goncalves.

“I can’t go anywhere without him and he wanted to come to so I figured I’d bring him with me,” the elder Goncalves said. “He is just glad that school is over and he gets to come and doesn’t have to go to school.”

Alberto predicted a 2-1 victory for Portugal. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, however, allowing both teams to advance in the tournament.

Photo by George Graham / The RepublicanThis is the sign outside the Gremio Lusitano Club in Ludlow.

“A tie will be nice,” said Miguel G. Fernandes, vice-president of the club.

Fernandes got his draw. Portugal reached the second round of the World Cup after a 0-0 draw Brazil.

Brazil had already secured advancement and won Group G with seven points, two more than Portugal.

Portugal faces the Group H winner Tuesday in Cape Town. Not surprisingly, according to the Associated Press, its coach blamed Brazil for the lack of offense.

Brazil plays the runner-up in Group H on Monday in Johannesburg.

“You almost don’t care if they win or lose,” Alberto said. “You want them to play with style, with flair, with heart...Soccer is about balance.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Pieces of steel are being made available to fire and police departments across the nation.

Pieces of steel and other artifacts were removed from the World Trade Center site in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks and transported to an 80,000-square-foot hangar at JFK Airport, where they have been painstakingly presreved for the last eight years.

A piece of American history – steel from the collapse of the World Trade Center – is headed to Western Massachusetts.

The town of Ludlow plans to use the steel to create a memorial to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 with hopes it can be established in time to mark next year’s 10th anniversary. A national memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks is being built on the trade center site in New York City and is due to open for the anniversary.

Ludlow Fire Chief Mark Babineau received approval from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a piece of steel for his community; the steel, now being stored in a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport, is being made available to fire and police departments across the nation.

“This was certainly our generation’s Pearl Harbor, a watershed day in our history and the deadliest day in the fire service in this country,” said Babineau about why he and his department decided to seek approval for the project.

Ludlow, which in May buried its first soldier killed in action in more than 40 years, Marine Corps Sgt. Joshua Desforges, is a “very patriotic community,” said Babineau.

PHOTO GALLERY

• Click here to see a photo gallery of the World Trade Center steel being stored in a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“A week after (Sept. 11, 200l), we had a ceremony in Whitney Street Park that drew more than a thousand people,” he recalled. “Certainly the shock of that day has worn off, but a phrase emerged, ‘Never forget,’ and this (memorial) will be a constant reminder. I believe (the terrorist attacks) led us into two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and if it had not, Sgt. Desforges might still be with us. It’s important to remember.”

Ludlow native Nicholas Humber, 60, who was a graduate of Ludlow High School and lived in Newton, was among the victims at the world trade center on Sept. 11. The director of commercial sales for a California-based corporation, he was traveling on business and was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first of two jetliners which were crashed into the twin towers.

Coleman said the authority is also offering the steel to municipalities and other non-profit organizations for use in memorials to the victims of the trade center terrorist attack. Coleman said more than 1,000 requests have been received for the steel and are being processed as they arrive.

He said he did not know whether any other requests for the steel have been received from Western Massachusetts communities. More than 20 victims of the 2001 attacks had ties to area cities and towns.

Coleman said the pieces of steel from the World Trade Center vary from small to large, with larger pieces weighing many tons.

File photo / Associated PressCleanup and recovery workers look on as an excavator removes debris at the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks in New York, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2002.

There is no cost for the steel itself, but communities must pay for the cost of transporting the steel from the JFK hangar to their cities and towns.

Babineau does not know yet what size piece of steel the Ludlow Fire Department will receive or when. Donations are already being received to help with the costs.

Edward Mazur, chairman of the town’s Board of Assessors and owner of the Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home, said he always donates his $3,000 stipend for serving as an assessor to a town cause.

This year he’s decided to give $2,000 to the Fire Department to help pay for the cost of transporting the steel to Ludlow. The balance of the stipend will be given to the annual Celebrate Ludlow event, Mazur said.

Ludlow is a very patriotic community, Mazur said, and he’s pleased to see a 9/11 memorial constructed.

Mazur said there is a monument dedicated to deceased Ludlow firefighters on the Fire Department grounds, and that monument could be redesigned to honor 9/11 victims as well.

The monument to the Ludlow firefighters is too close to traffic and needs to be relocated to a more suitable location on the Fire Department grounds, Mazur said.

Cynthia Simison, managing editor of The Republican, contributed to this report.

The ring sold some 2,000 bags a week in the Greater Springfield area.

Left to right: Douglas Denmark, Matthew Denmark, Henry Parzychowski, Terrance Bowers

This is an update of a story posted at 7:36 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD – Police busted up a large-scale heroin distribution ring Friday that sold some 2,000 bags a week of an unusually potent form of the drug.

The Springfield Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit recovered nearly 1,100 bags of heroin with a combined street value of some $22,000, Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

Police arrested four suspects, three from Springfield and one from Chicopee. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said the ring supplied addicts in Indian Orchard, Chicopee, Ludlow and Springfield.

Arrested were: Matthew J. Denmark, 24, of 412 St. James Ave.; Terrance Bowers, 23, of 412 St. James Ave.; Douglas Denmark, 23, of 72 Darling St., Apt. A.; and Henry Parzychowski, 32, of 31 Rose St., Apt. 1L, Chicopee, Delaney said.

Along with heroin trafficking (28-100 grams), the suspects were charged with violation of a drug-free school zone, Delaney said.

The unit, led by Sgt. Steven Kent, arrested ringleader Douglas Denmark and Parzychowski and recovered 50 bags of heroin when they interrupted a drug deal in a parking lot near 1360 Carew St., across the street from the Mary O. Pottenger School, Delaney said.

“The heroin they were pushing is very potent and was not your typical bag usually sold on the streets of Springfield,” Delaney said, adding that the bags sold for $20 apiece, not the usual $5 going price for the city.

The heroin was in high demaned and the suspects had a large customer base, Delaney said.

After arresting the two suspects, police raided 412 St. James Ave. where they arrested the remaining two suspects and recovered another 1,032 bags of heroin.

Police also seized over $300 in cash and drug paraphernalia, Delaney said.

Springfield police arrested Douglas Denmark with 100 bags of heroin on June 6. He was out on bail when he and the others were arrested Friday, Delaney said.

No injuries were reported in the crash, state police said.

CHICOPEE – A multi-vehicle accident at Interchange 6, compounded with traffic headed for Six Flags New England in Agawam, backed up westbound traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike for about four miles Tuesday morning, state police said.

No injuries were reported in the accident which was reported about 8:50 a.m., according to state police.

State police, speaking about 11:45 a.m., said traffic, which was backed up as far as Interchange 7 in Ludlow, was improving.

A 38-year-old Ludlow man suffered severe leg injuries Thursday night when his motorcycle was struck by a car at Cherry and Fuller streets, police said.

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LUDLOW - A 38-year-old Ludlow man suffered serious leg injuries Thursday night when his motorcycle was struck by a car at Cherry and Fuller streets, police said.

The driver of the car, Carlos F. Serrazina, 29, of Ludlow, was charged with operating while under the influence of alcohol, said police Sgt. Daniel Valadas.

The motorcycle rider, Kevin Bowen of Ludlow, was taken by Ludlow ambulance to Baystate Medical Center following the 9:15 p.m. accident. Valadas said Bowen was conscious and alert at the scene but he suffered serious injuries to his lower extremities.

His Victory motorcycle was struck on the side by Serrazina's vehicle, a BMW sedan, he said.
The preliminary investigation shows the BMW crossed into the lane and struck the motorcycle, he said.

The accident remains under investigation and other charges could be filed against Serrazina, he said.

A 21-year-old man died Thursday night following a drowning accident in the swimming area at Spec Pond, police said.

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A new story identifying the victim has been posted

WILBRAHAM - A 21-year-old man died Thursday night following an apparent accidental drowning in the swimming area at Spectacle Pond Recreation Area, police said.

The man, whose name was being withheld until police could contact his family, was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, said police Capt. Raymond J. Kallaugher.

Police were called to the recreation area off Route 20 just before 8 p.m. for a report of a swimmer disappearing under water and not returning to the surface, Kallaugher said.

Police officers and lifeguards formed a line in the water to search for the swimmer. He was found after several minutes in about 12 feet of water, Kallaugher said.

Wilbraham Fire Department EMTs were waiting on shore to perform first aid and to rush him to Baystate, Kallaugher said.

The death appears to be an accidental drowning, but the Wilbraham police and state police assigned to the Hampden County Crime Prevention and Control Unit are investigating, he said.