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Ludlow police said witnesses told them the woman was run over by the motorcycle.

LUDLOW – Ludlow police are seeking information about a motorcyclist and his female passenger who fell off the motorcycle at about 10:13 p.m. Friday at Windsor and Warren streets by the Gremio Lusitano Club, said Sgt. Daniel Valadas.

Witnesses told police that after the woman fell she was run over by the motorcyclist who then placed her back on the motorcycle and left the area.

The motorcycle was described as a blue Suzuki or Honda. Anyone with information is asked to call Ludlow police at (413) 583-8305 or use the Text a Tip hotline by addressing a text message to “CRIMES,” or “274637,” and then beginning the body of the message with the word “SOLVE.”

Ansar Shakirov, of California, drowned while attempting to swim with a friend from the town boat ramp to the island in the middle at Haviland Pond.

LUDLOW - Safety at Haviland Pond, where a swimmer drowned on July 28, will be the subject of a meeting on Monday.

Selectmen are due to meet with representatives from the Police and Fire departments and Recreation Commission at 5 p.m. at the Town Hall.

With the town boat ramp restricted as a “no swimming” area and lifeguards on duty at the town beach where a fee is charged to swim, the meeting will be to discuss whether anything can be done to improve safety at Haviland Pond, selectmen chairman William E. Rooney said this week.

“What is the solution? I don’t know,” Rooney said.

At an Aug. 2 meeting selectmen praised work by police, firefighters and three lifeguards who tried to rescue a 19-year-old man. The man drowned while attempting to swim with a friend from the town boat ramp off Center Street to the island in the middle of Haviland Pond.

Rooney and the board extended condolences to the family of Ansar Shakirov, of California, who was staying with relatives in West Springfield when he drowned. Rooney also said selectmen wished to remind the public that the boat ramp is posted as a “no swimming” area.

The boat ramp was closed from the time of the drowning through the weekend of July 31 and Aug. 1, but it has been reopened, Rooney said.

The three lifeguards on duty, ages 17, 18 and 21, are responsible for patrolling the beach. Rooney said they made heroic efforts to rescue the man who entered the pond from the boat ramp.

Selectman Aaron L. Saunders joined Rooney in urging the public to enter the pond for swimming from the beach, not the boat ramp.

“Pay the $1 to go to the beach,” Saunders said. “Use the pond in a responsible fashion.”

The drowning victim went down in 20 to 25 feet of water and could not be revived after he was pulled from the pond, according to Rooney. It marked the third outdoor drowning in recent weeks; Keith Rainville, 45, a homeless man, drowned July 18 while swimming in the Connecticut River, and a week earlier, Carlos S. Torres, 22, of 774 State St., Springfield, drowned while swimming in Wilbraham’s Spec Pond.

A meeting to discuss safety was called following a July 28 drowning at Haviland Pond.

LUDLOW – Swimmers at Haviland Pond must take personal safety precautions, selectmen and police officials said at a Monday meeting.

The meeting was called to discuss ways to improve safety at Haviland Pond following at July 28 drowning at the pond.

“Personal responsibility is required,” Selectmen Chairman William E. Rooney who convened the meeting said.

Ansar Shakirov of California who was staying with relatives in West Springfield drowned in the pond while attempting to swim with a friend from the boat ramp off Center Street to the island in the middle of Haviland Pond.

Rooney said he wished to remind swimmers that the water off the shore gets deep quickly.

“If you’re at all shaky swimming over your head, don’t go out to the island,” he said.

The boat ramp off Center Street is posted for no swimming.

The adjacent sandy beach has three lifeguards on duty.

Sean McBride, chairman of the Recreation Commission, said some people use the boat ramp and other points along the pond to enter the water to save on the $4 beach entrance fee. The $4 fee is for non-residents. Residents can use the beach for free.

Some swimmers also avoid the beach area, McBride said, because swimmers at the beach are not permitted to swim out past the roped area.

There are also swimmers who go to the beach after it is closed, even though the beach area is closed off by a chain link fence.

Chester Giza, a member of the Pond Commission, said there have always been some swimmers who have ignored the rules and gone swimming beyond the roped in beach area.

He said kids have always delighted in swimming out to the island in the middle of the pond.

The boat ramp off Center Street was built by the state, but is maintained by the town. The state has posted the boat ramp as a no swimming area.
Douglas Cameron of the state Department of Fish & Game said the boat ramp will be posted with signs stating that swimmers off the boat ramp risk being fined $100 by the state.

The death in Haviland Pond was the third outside drowning in recent weeks
.
Keith Rainville, 45, a homeless man, drowned July 18 while swimming in the Connecticut River.

A week earlier, Carlos S. Torres, 22, of 774 State St., Springfield, drowned while swimming in Wilbraham’s Spec Pond.

Selectman John DaCruz said he supports Kane’s goal to “build morale and promote pride in the schools.”

LUDLOW - The Board of Selectmen has given School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane permission to hang banners in support of the Ludlow public schools at the Massachusetts Turnpike entrance into Ludlow and at the Putts Bridge entrance to Ludlow.

Kane sought permission to hang the banners from Aug. 7 through Sept. 14. The Board of Selectmen gave her permission to hang the banners for the weeks of Aug. 23 and Aug. 30. The first day of school is Aug. 30.

The banners will contain the school motto, “Expect Success, Every Child, Every Day.”

Town Administrator Ellie Villano told selectmen that Kane wanted to hang the banners in support of the reopening of school.

“She wants to generate excitement and support around the reopening of school,” Villano said.

Selectmen voted to approve Kane’s request, but said they need to develop a policy for requests to hang temporary signs and get the building inspector’s input.

Selectman Aaron L. Saunders said that most requests for signs to inform people about events have been granted.

“We need to develop a criteria for the signs,” Selectman Antonio Dos Santos said. He said there will always be somebody seeking permission to promote something.

Selectman John DaCruz said he supports Kane’s goal to “build morale and promote pride in the schools.” He agreed that a policy on temporary signs is needed.

“We need a policy for signs that can be applied evenly,” Saunders said.

Tina Richard drove through the front wall of the Four-Mile Country Store on Russell Road.

WESTFIELD – A Ludlow woman is believed to have fallen asleep at the wheel and drove through the front wall of the Four-Mile Country Store on Russell Road, Sunday.

The accident happened at about 6:45 p.m. when Tina Richard, 42, lost control of her car and drove through the store. Her 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee ended up entirely in the store, causing more than $10,000 in damages to the building and inventory, said Police Sgt. Raymond P. Manos.

Richard was taken to Nobel Hospital by ambulance and treated and released. The store had closed at 5 p.m. so no one else was injured, Manos said.

No citations have been issued but police are continuing to investigate.

Two of the coaches will be for English language arts and two for math, superintendent Theresa Kane said.

LUDLOW - School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane said she plans to employ four academic coaches when school opens Aug. 30.

Two of the coaches will be for English language arts and two for math, she said.

The school district had been employing six academic coaches to improve teachers’ instruction techniques.

The School Committee last spring voted to replace the six academic coaches with additional classroom teachers.

School Committee members said they felt it was more important to students’ academic performance to keep class size under 25 students.

Kane said she has determined that there will be sufficient federal stimulus funds to hire the academic coaches as well as the additional classroom teachers.

“We have sufficient funds,” she said.

Kane had said she is concerned the school district would fall back into the corrective action category in student performance on the state-mandated MCAS test without the academic coaches.

Currently, the school district is in a level 3 warning category for student math performance in some groups at Baird Middle School.

Kane said the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had recommended that academic coaches be employed to assist teachers in developing better techniques to help students perform more consistently in their math and English language arts skills.

The boy's 53-year-old father suffered a leg injury and was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

HUNTINGTON - Investigators have identified a 10-year-old boy who lost his life in a boating accident on Norwich Lake Tuesday night as Gus Adamopoulos, of Ludlow.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said the boy and his 53-year-old father, James Adamopoulos, had been paddling in a kayak shortly before 6:30 p.m. when they were struck by a motorboat that had been pulling a water-skier.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Noble Hospital in Westfield where he died, Scheibel said.

The father, who suffered a leg injury, was taken to Noble and then to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, she said. Baystate could not provide any information about him on Wednesday.

State police said the driver of the motorboat was a 37-year-old Westfield man. His name has not been released.

Gus was poised to enter the fifth grade at Veterans Park Elementary School, Ludlow School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane said.

Kane, who did not know the boy personally, said that Susan Dukeshire, principal of Veterans Park, spoke very highly of him.

“She told me that he was a very nice boy, a well-liked student, and he is certainly someone that added a lot to the school community and will be missed,” Kane said.

School starts Aug. 31 and school officials are working out plans to have some kind of counseling available that first day.

“At a minimum, we will have counselors available at the opening of school,” Kane said, adding that school officials may make counseling available in the near-term as well.

Scheibel said an investigation is under way to determine if criminal charges are warranted against the motorboat operator. “There were witnesses to the accident, statements are being taken from those witnesses,” Scheibel said.

That investigation is being led by troopers assigned to the Franklin-Hampshire County State Police Detective Unit. Troopers on scene were assisted by members of the state Environmental Police Department and the Huntington Police and Fire departments.

Scheibel said an autopsy may be conducted today.

Officials did not say how fast the motorboat was traveling. In Massachusetts, powerboats in inland waterways are generally limited to speeds of no more than 45 mph, unless the marked otherwise.

According to the state Division of Law Enforcement, motorboats are not supposed to go at a speed greater than what is considered safe taking into account weather, visibility and traffic.

The 110-acre Norwich Lake, according to the Outdoor Recreational Resources guide for Hampshire County, is described as a “jewel in the hills.”

The guide says it is ideal for small craft, rowboats, canoes, small sailboats, and low-speed motorboats. The one public boat ramp off Pisgah Road in Huntington is the only public access to the pond.

On Wednesday afternoon, quiet lake life continued as usual on Norwich Lake with a summer camp of children swimming in the beach area, residents relaxing on the banks and boaters on the water.

Michael S. Kruger, a year-round resident on Birchwood Road, said he was not on the water at the time of the fatal accident.

He wondered if the sun, which he described as blinding at that time of day, played a factor. “The sun is blazing” he said. “It comes right down and reflects off the lake. You can’t see anything.”

Kruger, himself a father of a 5-year-old who was just coming off the lake with his son, expressed his sympathy for the Adamopoulos family and that of the boaters.

He said he heard from someone who witnessed the accident that the boater pulling the water-skier was not operating the vessel recklessly.

Seasonal renter Andrew J. Aulde, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he was home at the time of the accident and saw water-skiers on the lake. Some time after spotting the water-skiers, he heard sirens and saw emergency vehicles converge on the lake.

“I thought there might have been a fire,” he said. “This is the first I’ve heard that there was a death.”

Manon Mirabelli contributed to this report.

Investigators continue to probe the accident.

An updated version of this story is now available at MassLive.

LUDLOW – Grief counseling will be available Thursday and Friday morning for the schoolmates of 10-year-old Gus Adamopoulos, fatally injured in a boating accident on Norwich Lake Tuesday night.

School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane said the counseling will be available at Veterans Park Elementary School where Gus Adamopoulos was poised to enter the fifth grade.

Seven counselors from throughout the district will be available from 9 to 11 a.m. on both days, Kane said.

“We felt strongly that waiting for the first day of school (on Aug. 31) was just too far out for the kids,” Kane said.

Investigators, meanwhile, continue to probe the boating accident that took the life of the boy and sent his father, 53-year-old James Adamopolous to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with a leg injury.

The father and son had been paddling in a kayak shortly before 6:30 p.m. when they were struck by a motorboat that had been pulling a water-skier.

Gus Adamopoulos was taken by ambulance to Noble Hospital where he died.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said Thursday morning that investigators continue to probe the accident and are obtaining statements from witnesses.

An autopsy on the boy is slated to be conducted today.

State police said the driver of the motorboat was a 37-year-old Westfield man. His name has not been released.

The investigation is being led by troopers assigned to the Franklin-Hampshire County State Police Detective Unit. Troopers on scene were assisted by members of the state Environmental Police Department and the Huntington Police and Fire departments.

St. Elizabeth Parish held a prayer service for the boy.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 8:52 this morning.

LUDLOW – More than 100 people turned out for a prayer service Thursday night in remembrance of Gus Adamopoulos, the 10-year-old boy who was fatally injured Tuesday night in a boating collision on Norwich Lake in Huntington.
The solemn service at St. Elizabeth Church on Hubbard Street featured several young children.
Rev. Edward Young said the service was a remembrance of a young boy taken too soon, but also an attempt to comfort the parents, grandparents, family and friends left to deal with his absence.
“When your husband dies, you are a widow. When your wife dies, you are a widower. When your parents die, you are an orphan. But what do we call a parent who loses a child?” Young said.
“Children are our hope, our future. They are not supposed to leave,” he said. “We cannot understand the mystery of why God allows this to happen. In our human condition, there is no explanation.”

About a dozen children and adults, grieving the death of 10-year-old Gus Adamopoulos, fatally injured in a boating accident on Norwich Lake Tuesday night, attended counseling sessions at Veterans Park Elementary School Thursday morning.

Earlier in the day, a dozen children and adults attended counseling sessions at Veterans Park Elementary School.

School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane said counseling will again be offered Friday morning, from 9 to 11 a.m., at the school. Gus was poised to enter the fifth grade there on Aug. 31.

“We are glad that we have done this,” Kane said of the sessions.

Seven counselors from throughout the district are providing the sessions.

“We felt strongly that waiting for the first day of school was just too far out for the kids,” Kane said.

Investigators, meanwhile, continue to investigate the boating accident that took the life of the boy and sent his father, 53-year-old James Adamopolous to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with a leg injury.

The father and son had been paddling in a kayak shortly before 6:30 p.m. when they were struck by a motorboat that had been pulling a water-skier.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Noble Hospital in Westfield where he died.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said Thursday morning that investigators continue to probe the accident and are obtaining statements from witnesses.

An autopsy on the boy is slated to be conducted today.

State police said the driver of the motorboat was a 37-year-old Westfield man. His name has not been released.

Scheibel said she is reluctant to release the boat driver’s name or any other information at this stage of the investigation while police are still gathering information.

The investigation is being led by troopers assigned to the Franklin-Hampshire County State Police Detective Unit. Troopers on scene were assisted by members of the state Environmental Police Department and the Huntington Police and Fire departments.

10-year-old Gus Adamopoulos died of "sharp and blunt force trauma" as a result of being hit by a speedboat, District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel said.

NORTHAMPTON – An autopsy of Augustus “Gus” Adamopoulos shows the 10-year-old Ludlow boy died of “sharp and blunt force trauma” after he was struck by a motorboat Tuesday evening on Norwich Lake in Huntington, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said Friday.

Scheibel declined to go into specifics from Friday’s autopsy report out of respect for the family.

Adamopoulos was out with his father, James, in a kayak on the lake when they were struck by a speedboat that was towing a water-skier, officials said. James Adamopoulos suffered a leg injury that required treatment at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Scheibel identified the motorboat operator as 37-year-old Steven Morse, of 65 Deborah Lane, Westfield. She stressed that no charges have been filed against Morse, and the state Environmental Police and the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office continue to investigate the accident.

In Huntington, people who live in the vicinity of Norwich Lake are troubled by the death.

Dr. Jill A. Griffin, an emergency room physician at Springfield’s Mercy Medical Hospital, and her friend, Kimberly R. Lucey, a nurse, where not home at the time of the accident. Griffin’s home overlooks the lake at a spot where several bystanders, including Lucey’s son, brought the injured father and son to shore to give first aid.

Griffin said she received a call on her phone from Lucey’s son asking what they should do to stop the bleeding.

“I just told them to apply pressure to the wound,” Griffin said.

Griffin and Lucey each aid they wish they could have been there and are now haunted by thoughts of what they could have done to help.

“There’s a lot of guilt,” Griffin said.

At the time of the accident, the evening sun reflects off the water and creates a blinding glare. Some lake residents have wondered if that played a role in the accident.

Griffin said the glare off the water may have made it difficult for a boater to see a smaller structure, such as a kayak.

Pointing out to a spot on the lake where the accident happened, Griffin said, “As you come around the bend there, the sun can be blinding.”

Calling hours for Gus will be Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Ludlow Funeral Home, 432 East St., Ludlow.

His funeral Mass is scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. at St. Elizabeth’s Parish, 181 Hubbard St., Ludlow.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking people to donate to the Gus Adamopoulos Memorial Fund, care of Chicopee Savings Bank, 477A Center St., Ludlow. The fund was established in his memory to benefit a worthy candidate for the Western Massachusetts Basketball Camp.

McCarthy is challenging incumbent Gale Candaras of Wilbraham.

LONGMEADOW - Thomas A. McCarthy, of Springfield, Republican candidate for state Senate for the First Hampden and Hampshire District, will formally announce his candidacy for the seat at a fund-raiser on Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Georgetown Condominium Clubhouse at 714 Converse St.

McCarthy is challenging incumbent Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, for the seat. The district includes Belchertown, East Longmeadow, Granby, Hampden, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Wilbraham and Springfield Wards 2, 7 and 8 and Ward 5 Precincts C, D, E, F, G and H.

Anyone with questions should contact Justin McCarthy at (413) 636-7631 or by e-mail at jrossmccarthy@gmail.com.

He was remembered as a boy who would always choose the less athletic kids when the time came for him to select players for a basketball team.

LUDLOW - Augustus “Gus” Adamopoulos was remembered Monday as a little boy with an “old soul.”

Adamopoulos, 10, was fatally injured Aug. 17 in a boating collision on Norwich Lake in Huntington.

Hundreds of mourners, many of them Gus’ classmates at Veterans Park Elementary School, packed the 400-seat St. Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Parish on Monday for a Mass of Christian burial.

“This was as senseless as any death can be. As we all know, 10 years is a tragically short time to frame life,” his father, James Adamopoulos said in a eulogy read aloud by a family friend. “But Gus packed a lot of life in those 10 years.”

James Adamopoulos and Gus were kayaking on the lake when a motorboat towing a water skier struck them. The operator has been identified as 37-year-old Steven Morse, of 65 Deborah Lane, Westfield.

James Adamopoulos was also injured in the crash and walked with the aid of a cane at Monday’s Mass.

Police investigators are still doing interviews associated with the case and no charges have been filed, Renee L. Steese, first assistant district attorney for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office in Northampton, said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. State Environmental Police have taken the lead role in that investigation.

During the Mass, the Rev. Gerry Blaszczak, chaplain at Fairfield University in Connecticut, said there is an old Christian tradition of saints called “young-old men, “boys who attain wisdom and maturity at a young age.

“Gus seemed to have an old soul,” said Blaszczak, who is a family friend.

Blaszczak addressed the question that inevitably follows the death of a child: “Why now? Why not later? I cannot answer.”

He said when it was Gus’ turn to choose teammates in basketball, he would often choose the less athletic kids first because they often didn’t get chosen by other captains.

“For Gus, winning didn’t come first, people came first,” Blaszczak said. “My understanding is that Gus always played for the love of the game.”

James Adamopoulos, in his eulogy for his son, spoke of how Gus would concentrate while fishing, almost willing a fish to take the bait. The boy vacillated, his father remembered, between wanting to become a professional fisherman in televised tournaments, playing professional golf or joining the NBA to play professional basketball.

“And some days, he wanted to do all three,” his father wrote.

Trombley pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol.

SPRINGFIELD – An 18-year-old Springfield man was given a 1½-year jail term Tuesday after pleading guilty in a drunken driving case that killed his teenage passenger.

Jake Trombley, of Brandon Avenue, pleaded guilty to a charge of vehicular homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol during a hearing in Hampden Superior Court.

Trombley apologized to the family of his victim, 17-year-old Alicia M. Rodrigues of Ludlow, and took responsibility for the early morning crash on Allen Street in October.

Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder gave the defendant a 2½-year sentence, with 1½ years to be served at the Hampden County House of Correction and one year suspended.

The courtroom was crowded with family, friends and neighbors of Trombley, who stood up and expressed remorse to the victim’s family before the sentencing. Assistant District Attorney James M. Forsyth had asked Kinder to impose a three- to five-year sentence.

Outside the courtroom, a man who identified himself as the victim’s father said his family did not want to discuss the sentence, but added: “There are no winners in something like this.”

Defense lawyer Peter P. Fenton said his client had cooperated with investigators and accepted responsibility for the fatal crash from the start.

“He’s a good kid,” Fenton said, adding that Trombley has been working two jobs, attending Holyoke Community College and performing community service since the crash.

In June, the victim’s mother, Michelle Zygarowski, was given 800 hours of community service after being found guilty of buying alcohol for her daughter and two others on the night of the crash. Her daughter and the others later went on to drink alcohol with Trombley, and all four got into a car in the early morning hours of Oct. 2, according to police.

Trombley was behind the wheel at about 1:15 a.m. when his 1995 Nissan Maxima flipped onto its roof and pinned Rodrigues underneath, according to police, who said Rodrigues was not wearing a seat belt.

Police called the attack unprovoked; 1 dog was taken into custody by animal control.

LUDLOW - A 7-year-old girl visiting her grandmother on Lakeview Avenue was bitten at least twice in what police call an unprovoked attack by two loose dogs from a house across the street. Initially, the police report said the dogs were pit bulls. It was later determined that they were bull mastifs.

The girl, whose name was not released suffered a bite on her stomach and another on the buttocks, said Sgt. Daniel Valadas of the Ludlow police.

“She was traumatized,” he said. “It was unprovoked. There was no reason for it.”

The girl was playing in front of her grandmother’s house when the dogs ran across the street and attacked her, he said.

She was treated at the scene by Ludlow Fire Department paramedics but did not require a trip to the hospital, he said.

The town animal control officer has taken one of the dogs into custody, Valadas said. That dog was considered the more aggressive of the two. There was a question if the other dog participated in the attack, and it was allowed to remain with its owner, Bruno Fernandes of 190 Lakeview Ave., after Fernandez said he would keep it restrained, Valadas said.

The dog will have remain in custody for 10 days while the animal control officer conducts an investigation. A hearing will have to be scheduled with the Board of Selectmen to determine if the dog will be released back to the owner.

The closed King's Bridge connecting Palmer and Brimfield is slated for repair in spring 2011.

WILBRAHAM - Palmer resident Frank G. Real said he was pleasantly surprised when he noticed the new Red Bridge Road bridge was open.

The bridge, which spans a Chicopee River canal, connects Wilbraham and Ludlow, will be used as a shortcut by many Palmer residents such as Real.

“I went over it yesterday. It saved me some time. It’s the best way, I think, of going to avoid Route 20” in Wilbraham, Real said on Thursday.

MAS Building & Bridge Inc., of Franklin, was the contractor for the $1.5 million project to replace the former bridge at that site. The project was financed by federal stimulus funds.

Richard Nangle, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said the new bridge opened Aug. 18.

He said work will officially finish on Friday, and besides bridge demolition and replacement, the project included clearing, excavating and reconstruction of the roadways approaching the steel bridge, as well as guardrail installation.

In other bridge news, the King’s Bridge, which connects Palmer and Brimfield and has been closed for five years, is slated for repair this spring. It spans the Quaboag River and was featured in the John Travolta film, “A Civil Action.”

Nangle said the King’s Bridge job is scheduled for advertisement in the next few weeks with a bid opening in the fall. He said the state-funded project is $2.8 million and involves widening of the roadway.

Acting Palmer Town Manager Patricia A. Kennedy said the Turley family has donated two parcels of land to the town so the bridge replacement project can begin. The land donation was accepted by the Town Council at its meeting this week.

Flanagan is the former assistant principal for curriculum and assessment at Mooresville (N.C.) High School.

LUDLOW - The new school year begins Tuesday, and Gina Flanagan will be at the helm of Ludlow High School.

Flanagan, the former assistant principal for curriculum and assessment at Mooresville High School in Mooresville, N.C., was appointed by School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane to replace Gordon C. Smith, who was hired as superintendent of the East Longmeadow public schools.

“Flanagan is very student-centered, and her expertise is in curriculum and instruction,” Kane said.

Kane said the Mooresville school district received a grant from Apple Computers and was able to provide a laptop for every student.

Kane said she expects Flanagan to have some ideas about how to improve utilization of computers by students at Ludlow High School.

The Mooresville Graded School District has gone from being the 26th school district in the state to the eighth school district to the third school district, Kane said.

Flanagan has already been doing data analysis on Ludlow High School, Kane said.

“She has already been looking at the test scores of Ludlow High School students,” Kane said.

Kane said that although test scores need improvement at the Baird Middle School in Ludlow, she said that test scores of Ludlow High School students “are very strong.”

Flanagan graduated from Barry University in Miami, Fla., in 1991, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science. She taught Advanced Placement U.S. history and social studies classes for 15 years, then she returned to school and earned a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Kane said a search committee provided two finalists for the Ludlow High School principal position: Flanagan and Lisa Nemeth, current vice principal of Chicopee High School.

Kane said both candidates were strong.

“It’s a happy dilemma to be faced with to have two strong candidates,” Kane said.

Petrolati was ordered to answer questions about his role in securing jobs for family, friends and political supporters.

LUDLOW - State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, is challenging a subpoena to testify before an independent counsel investigating hiring practices of the state Probation Department.

The third-ranking leader in the House of Representatives was ordered to appear August 25 before independent counsel Paul F. Ware Jr. to answer questions about his role in securing jobs for family, friends and political supporters.

But the testimony was postponed after Petrolati’s lawyer, John P. Pucci of Northampton, challenged the subpoena on the grounds that Ware was appointed to investigate the Probation Department, not the state Legislature.

“This is a unique and unparalleled intrusion into the legislative branch,” Pucci said Monday, adding that overriding issue is the separation of powers between the judicial and legislative branches.

“He feels obligated to raise the issue and have it addressed,” said Pucci, adding that Ware had indicated that his client is not a target of the investigation.

The probe was launched in response to a Boston Globe review of hiring and promotions in the Probation Department during the tenure of Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien, who was suspended in May.

More than 90 of Petrolati’s financial backers are on the department’s payroll, along with his wife, a former staffer and the husband of a top aide, according to the Globe, which described Petrolati as “the king of patronage” in courthouses across Western Massachusetts.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Trial Court, which oversees the Probation Office, said the agency had no comment Monday.

In a motion filed Friday with the state Supreme Judicial Court, Pucci said requiring his client to testify was unnecessary, and beyond the scope of Ware’s mandate, and could provoke a confrontation between the Legislature and the court system.

“Does this court plan to hold the petitioner in contempt? Will this court jail (Petrolati) until he submits to the subpoena? It does not strain the imagination to foresee a constitutional crisis precipitated by the judiciary’s breach of the separation of powers doctrine if this subpoena is enforced,” Pucci wrote.

The subpoena also required Petrolati to provide any documents in his possession involving a list of state employees; based on Pucci’s motion, the court ordered the list to be impounded.

No date has been set for a ruling on the challenge for Petrolati’s subpoena. Both sides were asked to file legal briefs by Sept. 10.

The new application deadline is Sept. 30 for the Palmer town manager position.

PALMER – It took nearly 45 minutes, but the Town Council finally decided to immediately reopen the search for a town manager, as it only has two semi-finalists for the position and it wanted at least three.

“I can’t believe the level of debate over reposting an ad,” Town Council President Paul E. Burns said at the council's Tuesday meeting.

The council was presented with a letter from the town manager search committee which stated that it had not yet found the three town manager candidates to present to the council, and asked for the search to be reopened.

Burns, also a member of the search committee, said only four candidates were interviewed for the position out of 26 applicants. Eight were slated to be interviewed, but four withdrew their names.

The only semi-finalists that are still being considered for the job are Carter Terenzini, town administrator in Moultonborough, N.H., and William F. Ketcham, former town administrator in Adams.

William Sheriden, chief administrative officer from Laurel, Mont. and Michael A. Szlosek, Uxbridge town manager and the former town administrator in South Hadley and Ludlow, were not selected after interviews, Burns said.

There was significant debate over the next step in the process, and how to get the word out that Palmer is looking for a town manager.

“We need to make sure we do this right,” At-large Councilor Eric A. Duda said.

Duda, also a search committee member, wanted to table the issue until the council’s Sept. 13 meeting, to give councilors more time to consider it, but only he and councilors Roger R. Duguay Jr. and Karl S. Williams voted in favor, so it failed. Burns and Councilors Barbara A. Barry, Raymond J. Remillard, Philip J. Hebert and William S. Heilman voted against tabling it. Councilor Michael R. Magiera was absent.

“I don’t think we’re getting a large enough pool of enough qualified people. I think we’re not getting out to everyone,” Duda said.

Burns, who said there are at least two potentially qualified candidates, advocated for readvertising as soon as possible, so the town will not lose them to other communities. He said of the four who withdrew their names, three had found other employment.

The council finally voted unanimously to repost the advertisement immediately with a deadline of Sept. 30 for applications. The position will be advertised on the Massachusetts Municipal Association and International City-County Management Association websites, as well as in newspapers, including The Republican.

Matthew S. Streeter was fired by the council in June over concerns about his job performance as town manager. His predecessor, Richard L. Fitzgerald, also ran afoul of the council and was terminated.

Petrolati has challenged a subpoena to testify about hiring practices at what Patrick calls a "rogue agency."

SPRINGFIELD - One week after state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati challenged a subpoena to testify about hiring practices at the state Probation Department, Gov. Deval L. Patrick and independent gubernatorial challenger Timothy P. Cahill are calling for the Ludlow legislator to cooperate with the investigation.

Patrick and Cahill expressed disappointment that the third-ranking member of the state House of Representatives is opposing a subpoena to testify and provide documents to special counsel Paul F. Ware Jr.

Calling Petrolati’s objections to testifying “very troubling,” Patrick urged probation staffers and legislators to cooperate with the investigation. The governor said the department has become a “rogue agency,” lacking transparency and accountability.

Cahill also encouraged Petrolati to testify, adding, “Anyone who is subpoenaed or asked to speak on this issue should fully participate, so a solution can be reached.”

Republican candidate Charles Baker could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Probation Department investigation began after a Boston Globe investigation linked hiring and promotions within the department to campaign donations and political ties.

The newspaper referred to Petrolati as the ‘king of patronage” in courthouse across Western Mass., and said more than 90 of his backers, including his wife and the husband of his top aide, are on the department’s payroll.

Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien was suspended with pay until the investigation is completed; no deadline for a report has been set, but O’Brien and other department staffers have already given testimony.

Petrolati’s lawyer, John P. Pucci, of Northampton, filed a motion to block Ware’s subpoena last week, arguing that the special counsel was appointed to investigate the state Trial Court employees, not legislators.

Pucci said forcing his client to testify would violate the separation of powers provision in the state constitution, which grants equal power to the legislative, judicial and executive branches.

“It might be that the people who are putting their short-term political interests are served by demanding that (Petrolati) not raise this issue; but he is raising it on behalf of an entire branch of the government,” Pucci said.

“It would be really nice if the executive office could have the same concern for the state constitution as they have for enhancing their chances to win an election,” he added.

The fire chief said he hopes to have a memorial built by September 2011, the 10-year anniversary of the attack.

LUDLOW – Fire Chief Mark Babineau, who said he has received preliminary approval from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a piece of steel for his community from the World Trade Center collapse, said he hopes to learn what piece he will receive by winter.

The steel, stored in a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport, is being made available to fire and police departments across the nation.

The Port Authority has offered the steel to municipalities and other non-profit organizations for use in memorials to the victims of the trade center attack. The requests are still being processed.

“We don’t know yet what size piece we will receive,” Babineau said. He said his goal is to have a memorial built incorporating the piece of steel outside the town’s public safety complex by Sept. 11, 2011, the 10-year anniversary of the World Trade Center attack.

The owner of a trucking company in town who wants to remain anonymous has already offered to transport the steel to Ludlow, Babineau said.

He said that with many landscapers and building contractors in town, he believes there will be no shortage of offers of services to landscape a memorial.

“Ludlow is a very patriotic community,” Babineau said.

Ludlow native Nicholas Humber, 60, a graduate of Ludlow High School who lived in Newton, was among the victims 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.

More than 20 victims of the 2001 attacks had ties to area cities and towns.

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

“I am not interested in one of the larger pieces,” Babineau said.

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Massachusetts State Rep. Thomas Petrolati of Ludlow challenging subpoena to testify about probation department hiring practices

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Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, challenger Timothy Cahill urge Ludlow State Rep. Thomas Petrolati to cooperate with Probation Department investigation

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