The independent review paints a picture of many legislators, not just Petrolati, using their influence to get people hired at the probation department.

The Republican file photoState Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, is frequently mentioned in the review by independent counsel Paul Ware of the Massachusetts Probation Department, but Petrolati's lawyer said nothing in the report indicates that Petrolati could be charged with a criminal offense.

BOSTON - A scathing independent review warned that hiring and promotion in the state’s probation department “has been thoroughly compromised” by systemic rigging in favor of candidates who have political or other personal connections with state legislators.

The report frequently mentions state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, of Ludlow, but the legislator’s lawyer said nothing in the report indicates that Petrolati could be charged with a criminal offense. The report paints a picture of many legislators, not just Petrolati, using their influence to get people hired at the probation department.

Petrolati said previously that he recommended qualified candidates for jobs, but didn’t make the final hiring decision.

In a statement accompanying the release of independent counsel Paul F. Ware’s 307-page report, justices on the state Supreme Judicial Court said the state’s top administrative judge will immediately begin proceedings to fire Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien and will place on leave three deputy commissioners who will face disciplinary actions including possible job termination.

“The report describes in careful detail a systemic abuse and corruption of the hiring and promotion processes of the Probation Department,” the justices of the state Supreme Judicial Court said in their statement.

“Such abuse and corruption are intolerable and are a betrayal of the just expectations of the public and of employees in the judicial branch, including those in the Probation Department.”

The report was filed on Thursday by Ware, a Boston lawyer appointed by the state Supreme Judicial Court in May to look at patronage and other hiring in the state’s troubled probation department.

Ware said that probation employees were solicited for political donations in violation of state campaign finance law.

With some limited exceptions involving Petrolati, O’Brien determined the candidates on behalf of whom the hiring and promotion process would be rigged, the report said.

O’Brien, suspended with pay since May, and a deputy commissioner solicited donations for Petrolati in the cafeteria of a state office building, the report said.

The report said it was “especially troubling” that O’Brien and other probation leaders solicited probation officers and other employees for contributions to politicians, such as Petrolati, widely thought within the department to be influential in hiring and promotion decisions.

Petrolati, the No. 3 power in the state House of Representatives, and former House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, a Boston Democrat, both cited the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify under oath in front of Ware during his investigation, the report said.

Petrolati’s wife, Kathleen Petrolati, a regional program manager in probation’s electronic monitoring program, also refused to testify under oath, the report said.

The report found the hiring and promotion process in probation is corrupt and has disproportionately favored politically connected candidates.

Republican file photoMassachusetts House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, D-Boston, and State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, seen in this file photo, both plead the fifth during a lengthy investigation into the hiring practices of the state's Probation Department.

O’Brien and certain of his deputies refused to cooperate or testify in the investigation, the report said.

The report said “politically anointed” candidates were hired in the department. In return, legislators saw to it that the probation budget increased at a steady rate.

John P. Pucci, a Northampton lawyer for Petrolati in the probation investigation, said that report indicates that Petrolati will face no criminal charges.

“There is nothing in this report - zero - suggesting any evidence that Tom Petrolati participated in any criminal activity,” Pucci said.

Pucci said Petrolati refused to testify on his advice, partly because he considered some of the rules for testimony unfair.

Petrolati’s name is included almost 90 times in the report.

In one instance, a regional supervisor in probation testified that he felt pressure to attend Petrolati’s annual fundraiser in Ludlow because he was invited by a deputy commissioner and the commissioner would be there. Probation officers believed they had to contribute to politicians to get promoted, the former head of the probation officers union and another regional supervisor testified.

Petrolati has denied any such quid pro quo arrangements.

The Ludlow Democrat was not among the 10 state legislators who most frequently sponsored job candidates at probation, the report said.

But William Burke, a former deputy probation commissioner, testified that he sometimes received calls from Petrolati with the names of favored candidates in Western Massachusetts and he acted on them without going through the commissioner.

“That, plus additional evidence, suggests that Petrolati’s involvement in patronage hiring within probation is far greater than the sponsor lists demonstrate,” the report said.

Burke testified that Petrolati’s support was useful to those probation employees seeking promotions in Hampden and Hampshire counties partly because the department’s relations with Petrolati were important for the probation budget.

Ware said he did not uncover direct evidence that legislators offered to sponsor candidates in exchange for campaign contributions but there is statistical evidence that “pay for play” was the reality.

To compile the statistical evidence, the report looked at the 10 legislators who most frequently sponsored candidates for probation jobs, plus House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, D-Winthrop, and Petrolati, a 24-year veteran of Beacon Hill.

In the aggregate, the sponsored contributors to these 12 legislators had a 62 percent success rate for being hired or promoted within a year of being sponsored while sponsored people who did not contribute only had a 25 percent success rate, the report said.

Petrolati was far and away the leader on a list of 20 legislators who most frequently accepted campaign contributions from probation employees since 2000.

Report of Independent Counsel, In the Matter of the Probation Department of the Trial Court

Petrolati received 87 contributions from probation employees, and state Sen. Stephen J. Buoniconti, a West Springfield Democrat who lost the Nov. 2 contest for Hampden district attorney, was No. 6 on the list with 20 contributions.

Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, was ranked No. 2 on a top 10 list of legislators who most frequently sponsored candidates for jobs. Brewer, the only Western Massachusetts lawmaker on the list, sponsored 44 candidates, but accepted campaign contributions from only six of those.

Brewer welcomed the report, saying it would lead to an overhaul of the way hiring and promotion is done at probation.

The report makes no mention of a dismissed 14-year-old sexual harassment complaint against Petrolati. A former program director at the Ludlow Boys & Girls Club had filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in 1996, charging she was fired after she protested the advances of Petrolati, then a honorary board member.

The state commission found no probable cause and dismissed the complaint. But during its investigation, the wife of a witness was invited to interview for a probation job after being told earlier that she was not being considered for the position, according to The Boston Globe.

The witness, James G. Moriarty, chief executive officer of the boys club, confirmed that he and his wife did testify in Ware’s investigation of the probation department.

Ware did not explain why he took testimony from Moriarty and his wife but left it out of the report. Ware did write that his report on probation was incomplete. He said many obvious avenues could not be fully explored given limits on time and resources.

Ware said that dozens of probation employees took part in rigging the application process to leave the appearance of an objective system. Ware said, however, that O’Brien ahead of time selected candidates for almost every opening in the agency, which has 2,025 employees.

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanSuspended Probation Commissioner John J. O'Brien is seen here during a visit to Springfield in 2003.

The report cites examples of O’Brien and other probation leaders hiring and promoting substandard applicants pushed by legislators including a man who had been convicted of a felony drug charge and later relapsed into drug use and left the department.

In a positive move for the Petrolati camp, the report said there is no evidence that Petrolati was a determinative factor in the hiring of Robert P. Ryan, the husband of Petrolati’s chief of staff, Colleen Ryan, as $93,000 chief probation officer in Eastern Hampshire District Court.

Ryan is extremely well qualified for the position, with experience that included 25 years in the federal probation service, the report said.

The justices said that pending disciplinary proceedings, Judge Robert A. Mulligan, the state’s chief administrative judge, will place on leave First Deputy Probation Commissioner Elizabeth V. Tavares, Deputy Commissioner Francis M. Wall and Deputy Commissioner and Legal Counsel Christopher J. Bulger, the son of William M. Bulger, former state Senate president and former president of the University of Massachusetts.

The court also provided a copy of Ware’s report to U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, state Attorney General Martha M. Coakley, state Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan and the Office of the Bar Counsel of the Board of Bar Overseers.

In addition, the high court set up a task force to be chaired by former Attorney General L. Scott Harshbarger for a comprehensive review of hiring and promotion within the Probation Department.

Brantley faces up to 5 years in prison with 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

SPRINGFIELD - A Ludlow man pleaded guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court to charges for the possession of contraband cigarettes.

William Brantley, 39, admitted to buying more than 100 cartons of cigarettes without the required state excise tax stamps. Evidence showed that he planned to resell the cigarettes before he was caught with them during a traffic stop, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Judge Michael A. Ponsor accepted Brantley’s plea and set sentencing for March 14. Brantley faces up to five years in prison with three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

The communities that cut 3 percent of their energy usage will receive a free, 1 kilowatt solar panel that may be used at a municipal building.

EASTHAMPTON – A solar panel for a city building is the carrot in a program aiming to get Easthampton residents to cut their electricity use.

Easthampton is one of four communities in Western Massachusetts chosen to participate in the Western Mass Saves Challenge. Along with Amherst, Sunderland and Ludlow, the residential users here are being asked to pare 3 percent off their electricity consumption. The communities that achieve that goal will receive a free, 1 kilowatt solar panel that may be used at a municipal building.

The challenge is being promoted by SmartPower, a national, nonprofit organization that has teamed with Western Massachusetts Electrical Co. to run the program. Having achieved success in other parts of the country, SmartPower wanted to started the pilot program here, according to Maryellen Rousseau, a member of Easthampton’s new Energy Committee.

“We’re in the very beginning stages of getting the word out,” she said.

Rousseau made a presentation to the Easthampton City Council Wednesday, and she is encouraging residents to visit WesternMassSaves.com, the program’s website, for tips on how to conserve energy. After setting up an account, consumers can use the site to learn about more than 250 ways to reduce electricity use in their homes. These range from finding energy efficient household appliances to keeping certain lights turned off. There are also heating tips.

“We’re trying to put (energy saving) in the forefront of people’s minds,” Rousseau said.

Electricity conservation will be calculated at the end of the year-long program.

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert also announced that he is planning to overhaul the troubled probation department to restore public trust.

The Republican file photoState Rep. Thomas Petrolati, D-Ludlow, above, has agreed to give up his No. 3 position in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

BOSTON - State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati on Tuesday “mutually agreed” to relinquish his No. 3 leadership position as speaker pro tempore in the state House of Representatives following a stinging report that outlined his role in a patronage hiring scandal in the state’s Probation Department.

Saying he is saddened and upset by an independent counsel’s findings on probation, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, D-Winthrop, issued a statement that suggests Petrolati, a Ludlow Democrat, may go back to being a back bencher at the Statehouse after six years as speaker pro tempore. DeLeo did not rule out appointing Petrolati to another leadership post.

“After considerable thought and discussion with Representative Petrolati, we have mutually agreed it would be in the best interests of the House of Representatives that he not seek re-appointment to the post of speaker pro tempore when the House reconvenes in January,” DeLeo said in the statement.

Petrolati, who cited the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions from an independent counsel, has declined comment on the probation investigation. An aide on Tuesday did not respond to a phone call or an e-mail seeking Petrolati’s comment on his loss of the leadership post, which pays $15,000-a-year bonus atop the regular legislator’s salary of $61,440.

As speaker pro tempore, Petrolati has been the speaker’s alter ego, leading formal sessions in the House, representing the speaker at some events and acting as liaison between the speaker and members when crafting and advancing legislation.

Petrolati, a 24-year legislator, was frequently mentioned in a report issued on Thursday by lawyer Paul F. Ware, of Boston, an independent lawyer appointed by the state Supreme Judicial Court to investigate hiring in probation.

Ware’s report concluded that the hiring and promotion process in probation was fraudulent and rigged because the probation commissioner almost always hired candidates anointed by Petrolati or other former and current legislators.

The report offered testimony that the suspended commissioner of probation, John J. O’Brien, solicited campaign donations for Petrolati in a state office building and that a deputy commissioner, also now suspended, would collect money from probation employees for tickets to attend Petrolati’s annual fundraiser in Ludlow.

In his only statement, issued in May, Petrolati said it is irresponsible to suggest he would accept campaign contributions in return for recommending people for jobs.

He said he simply has recommended qualified candidates for jobs, and the state’s chief judge for administration and management, currently Judge Robert A. Mulligan, has the “final say” on probation jobs.

According to Ware’s report, Mulligan said his authority over hiring people in probation was limited to making sure the hiring complied with personnel policies and procedures and affirmative action. Mulligan said he also checked to make sure the funds were available.

The report concludes that Mulligan faced a hostile probation commissioner determined to enforce “a corrupt and fraudulent hiring process.” The report said Mulligan’s power over hiring and promotions was also limited by laws passed by legislators that gave the commissioner the power to appoint.

Former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, now under federal indictment, appointed Petrolati to the then newly-created position of speaker pro tempore in 2005. DiMasi reappointed him in 2007 and then DeLeo kept him in the position in 2009.

Pamela H. Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said it’s appropriate that Petrolati no longer be speaker pro tempore given the concerns raised by Ware’s report.

“Representative Petrolati at this moment is not facing criminal or civil action, but there very well may be in the future,” Wilmot said.

Petrolati’s lawyer, John P. Pucci, of Northampton, said Ware held nothing back in his report. Pucci said there is nothing in the report to even suggest that Petrolati could face a criminal charge.

Ware’s report was forwarded to the attorney general and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for further investigation.

Rep. Sean F. Curran, D-Springfield, said local legislators will continue to have a strong voice on Beacon Hill despite Petrolati’s pending demotion.

Curran said the public is demanding transparency in probation and that any hiring or promotions be based strictly on merit.

Curran said one change could be to require probation officers to take exams to be hired or promoted.

In a statement, DeLeo said the findings in Ware’s report are severe, significant and disturbing.

“It is clear the probation department cries out for reform and, as the speaker of the House, I intend to lead these reform efforts,” DeLeo said. “These glaring problems in the department do not stem solely from actions carried out by individuals. Rather, the organization itself failed to provide adequate safeguards ... In response to this report, it is the Legislature’s responsibility to contemplate every possible remedy for this problem, including a complete reorganization of the department’s governance structure - and to make changes as soon as possible.”

DeLeo said he met today with Gov. Deval L. Patrick to discuss a plan for overhauling probation. DeLeo said the current structure of probation is flawed and must be changed. He said a bill to reform probation will be a top priority.

Patrick has legislation to remove probation from the judicial branch and combine it with parole under the executive branch.

Fillion said he is getting a degree in information security from Holyoke Community College.

LUDLOW – The Board of Selectmen has approved the appointment of Daniel Fillion to the Historical Commission.

Fillion told selectmen that both sides of his family are from Ludlow and he has read two histories of the town and developed an interest in the town’s history.

He also has created a website of the town’s history, Ludlowhistory.com.

“Thank you for coming forward,” said Selectman Aaron Saunders.

Fillion said he is getting a degree in information security from Holyoke Community College.

Selectman John DaCruz said he has become interested in Ludlow’s history, and he said he plans to go to Fillion’s website to learn more about it.

Selectman Antonio Dos Santos said the website created by Fillion should be helpful to the Historical Commission.

Historical Commission Chairman Betty Kibbe said, “I’m glad to have someone new and so young to serve on the board.”

She praised Fillion’s website and said Fillion was careful to cite his references.

Kibbe said she is pleased to have a fifth member of the Historical Commission, which she said will make it easier to get a quorum.

One of the Historical Commission’s last projects was putting historic district signs at the historic district at Ludlow Center, Kibbe said.

Kibbe said she also expects the Historical Commission to be consulted as plans are put together for the redevelopment of the old Ludlow mills into commercial and residential space.

Alarmed by the report, the five-man Republican delegation in the state Senate said it will file a bill to eliminate a law that gave the probation commissioner hiring authority.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, left, said that he and state Rep. Thomas A. Petrolati, right, agreed that Petrolati should quit his speaker pro tempore position in the wake of a scathing report on hiring practices in the Massachusetts Probation Department.

BOSTON – A former deputy probation commissioner in Springfield provided a direct link to patronage for state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, according to a special investigator and his report.

The link allowed the powerful Ludlow legislator to bypass Boston and avoid landing on incriminating sponsor lists kept by the commissioner’s office as part of a corrupted hiring and promotion process, the report said.

William H. Burke III, of Hatfield, a 35-year veteran of the probation department in Western Massachusetts, who retired last year with an $83,000 pension, was enmeshed in the hiring at probation, according to a 307-page report issued last week by an independent counsel appointed in May to investigate probation hiring.

Like Burke, Francine M. Ryan, of East Longmeadow, a $113,000-a-year regional supervisor in the Springfield probation office and daughter of the late Hampden District Attorney Matthew J. Ryan, and Nicholas DeAngelis, retired regional supervisor, also testified under subpoena from investigators.

Burke, DeAngelis and Ryan could not be reached for comment.

In the report, the three portrayed a hiring process in Western Massachusetts that was rigged right to the top in favor of candidates hand-picked by Petrolati and other influential politicians or judges.

Alarmed by the report, the five-man Republican delegation in the state Senate on Wednesday said it would file a bill to eliminate a 2001 law that gave the probation commissioner hiring authority and return those powers to the state’s chief administrative judge, Robert A. Mulligan. The judge would also have to come up with a plan to assure that hiring and promotion hinges only on merit and qualifications.

Sen. Michael R. Knapik, of Westfield, and the four other GOP senators also sent a letter to state and federal prosecutors, calling for a swift and cooperative investigation.

Petrolati, a Democrat whose $537,000 campaign account is one of the largest in the state Legislature, is also coming under scrutiny for raising campaign money from probation employees, though he denies the donations were in return for his recommendation for jobs. Ryan testified that Petrolati’s annual fund-raiser was considered “a party” by probation employees.

Caught up in the probation scandal, Petrolati, the No. 3 ranking member in the state House of Representatives for the past five years, on Tuesday spoke with House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and the two agreed that Petrolati should quit his speaker pro tempore’s position when the state Legislature starts a new session in January, DeLeo said.

Burke testified that he would sometimes receive calls directly from Petrolati on behalf of favored candidates and would act on them without checking with the commissioner’s office.

That enabled the legislator to largely circumvent a paper and computer trail that is implicating other top legislators in the scandal, the report said.

“As I suggest in the report, it may have been the avenue that enabled Representative Petrolati to make recommendations without calling the commissioner’s office and finding those recommendations recorded on a sponsor list,” Paul F. Ware, the independent counsel, told The Republican.

Petrolati, the dean of the Western Massachusetts legislative delegation, was not included in a top 10 list of legislators who sponsored the candidates for jobs in probation. However, Petrolati was the runaway No. 1 on a list of 20 legislators who were recipients of campaign donations from probation employees since 2000.

Petrolati has declined comment on the probation investigation and referred questions to his lawyer, John P. Pucci, of Northampton.

Pucci said there is no suggestion in the report that Petrolati participated in the actual hiring or promotion process at probation. Pucci said Petrolati would put in a good word for candidates at certain times.

“He did not go out and seek people who wanted probation jobs,” said Pucci, a former federal prosecutor for 10 years including four years as chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Springfield. “People sought him.”

On its face, hiring and promotion in probation was objective, with rules for multiple rounds of interviews and scores for standardized questions, the report said. In reality, the process was corrupted and heavily weighed in favor of candidates called “the commissioner’s choice,” and pushed mostly by state legislators but also by judges, mayors and others, the report said.

Burke provided critical testimony about a “quid pro quo” for hiring and promotion, the report said. Burke said that the state’s suspended probation commissioner, John J. O’Brien, manipulated the process in return for a boost in the probation budget.

Burke was also blunt in admitting that fixing interviews meant that less qualified candidates were hired or promoted over the more qualified, the report said. That violated Trial Court rules that demand hiring be based solely on the merits with limited sway for affirmative action and provisions in union contracts, the report said.

Burke, former chief probation officer in Northampton District Court, said he would advance any favored candidate from the commissioner’s office unless they were “really, really – and I mean really bad.”

Burke, described as an ally of Petrolati’s, also testified about Petrolati’s clout in the hiring process. Broadly speaking, Burke said, Petrolati’s support was needed for a promotion in probation in Hampshire and Hampden counties.

Burke said that the probation commissioner forged such a tight relationship with Petrolati and other legislators, that O’Brien would see to it that the Legislature appropriated enough money to avoid layoffs of probation employees, the report said.

Burke said that O’Brien’s ties to legislative leaders were essential in winning state budget money to support hiring and growth in probation. In return for funding, legislators would get some jobs, because one hand “washes the other,” he said.

According to his lawyer, Petrolati recused himself from votes on probation items, meaning there was no written evidence that he advocated for the probation budget.

Ryan testified that now-suspended First Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth V. Tavares would give her the names of favored candidates in advance of interviews.

The process was so institutionalized that Ryan sometimes would call Tavares in advance of interviews to see if there were names that had to be on the list of finalists, the report said.

Ryan also testified that she and other probation employees would attend Petrolati’s fund-raisers. Ryan testified that probation employees would ask if she was “going to the party” ahead of the event.

DeAngelis, a retired regional supervisor in Western Massachusetts with $75,500 pension, said Deputy Commissioners Francis M. Wall and Tavares would provide him with names of candidates who “had to make the list” of finalists for positions.

DeAngelis testified that he was concerned the names from the commissioner’s office would undermine the selection process.

DeAngelis said that elected officials “higher up” in the Legislature had more pull in getting jobs in probation including Petrolati. He said he assumed that people were more interested in contributing to Petrolati for that reason.

In the wake of the report, Wall and Tavares were suspended last week by the state’s top administrative judge, joining O’Brien, who was suspended in May.

The report singles out O’Brien and Wall for allegedly soliciting probation employees in the cafeteria of a state office building to donate to Petrolati’s campaign and the campaigns of other powerful legislators in violation of state law.

The report said O’Brien and others repeatedly violated campaign finance law in raising money for Petrolati.

State law bans state employees from raising money for political candidates and it prohibits any campaign fundraising in public buildings.

Edward Rideout, a regional supervisor for probation, said that Wall tied attendance at Petrolati’s annual fund-raiser in Ludlow to the legislator’s help on the budget.

“Would have been Frannie Wall at the time, “We’re going out to see Representative Petrolati. Why don’t we all get together and go out and support him? Because he’s helping us try to get the funding for the jobs, for the program,’” said Rideout.

Rideout was referring to funding needed to start the department’s electronic monitoring program, where Petrolati’s wife now works as $93,000-a-year program manager. She joined her husband in citing the Fifth Amendment right not to testify in front of the independent counsel.

Ware said he couldn’t speculate on whether Petrolati would face criminal charges. He said that would be a function of investigations by the attorney general or the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to the report, public officials who fix hiring and promotion in favor of politically-wired applicants could be violating federal fraud laws and state law.

Violations of state conflict and ethics laws may also have occurred, the report said.

Pucci, lawyer for Petrolati, said he sees no evidence or even of a suggestion in the report of criminal charges against the legislator.

“I don’t see any suggestions that cause me concern,” Pucci said.

Lavoie had been scheduled to plead guilty to some charges from her multi-state fling with a Maurice Donahue Elementary School student last year.

File photo / The RepublicanFormer Holyoke teacher Lisa Lavoie is seen at an earlier court appearance.

SPRINGFIELD - Plea negotiations broke down over the weekend for former Holyoke teacher Lisa M. Lavoie, who is accused of running off with a 15-year-old student, scuttling a change of plea hearing scheduled for Monday.

Lavoie, 25, of Ludlow, was scheduled to plead guilty in Hampden Superior Court before Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty to some charges related to her multi-state flight with an eight-grader at the Maurice A. Donahue Elementary School in 2009.

Assistant District Attorney Patrick S. Sabbs told the judge that sentencing discussions between Lavoie’s lawyer and his office broke off during the weekend, leaving the outcome of the case uncertain.

“I think we will be able to work something out by the end of the year,” Sabbs said, referring to the end of William M. Bennett’s tenure as district attorney.

Lavoie’s lawyer, David P. Hoose, of Northampton, who was awaiting a jury verdict in a federal court case, could not be reached for comment. At Saab’s request, Moriarty set a Jan. 20 trial date in case no plea deal could be arranged.

The former teacher at the Maurice A. Donahue Elementary School has been free on $25,000 cash bail since pleading innocent in March 2009 to six counts of statutory rape and one of enticement of a child under the age of 16 in a case involving a then-eighth-grader.

Investigators said a relationship developed between Lavoie and her student in fall 2008, and the two began texting and e-mailing before having sex.

In February 2009, the pair fled Western Massachusetts after learning their relationship had been discovered. They were found a week later in a motel room in Morgantown, W.Va.

Prosecutors have said that Lavoie and the teen drove through Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania as authorities pursued them.

The six statutory rape counts include three of aggravated statutory rape, a charge established under a bill known as “Jessica’s Law” that was signed into law a year ago, prosecutors have said. Those charges carry a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

The aggravated rape charges were issued because, as a teacher, Lavoie was a so-called mandatory reporter responsible for reporting any suspected physical or sexual abuse of her students. The teen was placed in foster care after his return to Massachusetts, officials said in previous court proceedings.

The men were told that they earned too much money to qualify for free lawyers.

SPRINGFIELD - An East Longmeadow man and his nephew are under federal indictment for an alleged insider-trading scam that reaped $600,000 in profits, with one of the defendants telling securities watchdogs a stock tip came from his late sister who appeared to him in a dream, according to the charges.

Peter E. Talbot, 42, and his nephew, Carl E. Binette, 29, of Ludlow, appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to answer securities fraud, conspiracy and other charges.

The men appeared without attorneys because they said they had too many bills to afford private ones, and hoped a federal magistrate judge would assign them taxpayer-financed lawyers.

After some discussion, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman said they earned too much money to qualify for free lawyers, but told Talbot he may consider charging them $2,000 a month for subsidized appointed attorneys.

“Could you see your way to $1,500?” Talbot asked.

“We’re negotiating now?” Neiman responded, adding that he would go no lower than $1,800 monthly considering Talbot makes about $70,000 annually as a utilities financial specialist for the state of Connecticut.

A former assistant vice president for the Hartford Investment Management Company, a subsidiary of the Hartford Financial Services Group, Talbot is accused of tapping into confidential company files and tipping his nephew to a potential acquisition of a Seattle-based insurance firm.

However, Liberty Mutual, not the Hartford Group, ultimately bought Safeco Corp. in 2008. The purchase yielded a $616,000 profit for the defendants, who had stockpiled Safeco options and common stock through an on-line brokerage account in Binette’s name, according to the charges.

A spokesman for Liberty Mutual said that company and the Hartford are not affiliated. An official at the Hartford confirmed that Talbot no longer works there but could not comment further on the case.

When the acquisition of Safeco became public on April 23, 2008, the defendants dumped all of their shares the same day, investigators say; the stock value had leapt more than $20.

The indictment states that Talbot called Binette eight days earlier to tell him that Safeco would be a good investment and was a potential acquisition target for the Hartford. Witnesses told investigators that Talbot accessed confidential analyses of Safeco on the Hartford’s network drive.

Binette, a financial manager at a car sales company in Palmer, immediately began borrowing money from his bosses and relatives to bankroll his new, very targeted passion for the stock market, the charges state. Prosecutors argue that Talbot schooled Binette in the market and made some of the buys himself, though never at work.

Confronted by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigators in May of 2008, Binette attempted to rebuff their suspicions. According to the indictment, he said his interest in Safeco was piqued by buzz in Internet chat rooms “as well as a dream he had in which a deceased relative told him she was ‘safe.’”

Binette also is charged with obstruction of justice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Vassili Thomadakis told Neiman that Talbot, a father of three, faces more than six years in federal prison if convicted. Binette faces more than four years, Vassili said.

Both men declined comment outside the courtroom after the hearing. However, they vehemently deny any wrongdoing in court filings related to a civil action by the SEC, which was closed before the men were indicted.

A lawyer for Talbot argues it wasn’t even Talbot’s former employer that purchased Safeco. Binette, arguing in his own defense, said he was assured that he was acting legally.

Neither was arraigned because of their contentions that they are too deeply in debt to hire lawyers. Talbot said he was unemployed for nearly a year after the SEC launched its investigation - which cost him $60,000 in legal fees - and his family was forced to apply for Food Stamps and move in with his in-laws.

Also a father of three, Binette said that when the investigation became public earlier this year, his bosses demoted him from a salaried position to a commission-based job and he, too, is struggling financially.

Talbot asked Neiman about the possibility of defending himself “pro se,” which Neiman said he would strongly advise against.

“Are there any motions to file?” Talbot asked.

The judge told the pair to mull their financial pictures and return to court for arraignments on Dec. 13.

Longtime business owners in Ludlow still praise Petrolati as the consummate hometown legislator and dismiss the investigation as a "political head hunt."

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanState Rep.Thomas Petrolati, hands out candy to students from St. John the Baptist School, as part of the annual Ludlow tree decorating ceremony Thursday morning. While there, he spoke briefly with a reporter about an investigation of the Massachusetts Probation Department.

LUDLOW - Beleaguered state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati gamely distributed candy among elementary school students participating in the town’s annual tree-lighting ceremony on Wednesday morning, an annual event sponsored by the Ludlow Business Action Committee, a coalition of primarily mom-and-pop businesses in this tight-knit town.

Though Blow Pops and Butterfingers were the draw among the young set, Petrolati, D-Ludlow, conceded a burgeoning joint state and federal investigation into an alleged “rigged” system of doling out probation and court jobs in which he reportedly had a major role was taking its toll.

“If I ever thought that 24 years ago, when I took office, I’d be under this spotlight for helping people, for seeking jobs ....I'd have said: no way,” Petrolati said, pausing during the festivities as children sheathed Christmas trees in the business district on East Street with hand-painted ornaments.

“Recommending for jobs; they were only recommendations,” Petrolati’s chief of staff, Colleen Ryan, interjected. “You were never part of the hiring process.”

Ryan’s husband, Robert P. Ryan, also works as a $93,000-per-year probation manager while Petrolati’s wife, Kathleen, holds a probation job at the same salary, according to public records.

Petrolati essentially stepped down from his longtime post as House Speaker pro tempore, the third-ranking position in the body on Nov. 23, after a withering 300-page report by special investigator Paul F. Ware focused on probation hiring practices was released.

“I understand. I understand the dynamic ... I don't want to take the focus off the issues. And they’re major issues. Economic development has not progressed as we had hoped. We expect to be worse off this year than we were last,” he said.

Business owners including “Purple Bob” Starzyk of Purple Bob’s Ludlow Flowers and Chairman of the Ludlow Business Action Committee, said the investigation is nothing more than a “political head hunt.”

“I’m very upset about this,” said Starzyk. “Beacon Hill just doesn’t like a guy from western Massachusetts taking the number three spot.”

It was the first time Petrolati talked publicly about the Probation Department probe, and was hesitant to answer specific questions about the investigation.

When asked how he felt, in retrospect, about invoking his 5th amendment right not to incriminate himself when subpoenaed during the Ware inquiry, Petrolati shrugged and said: “I was advised by counsel to do that. I don’t know how to feel about it.”

The legislator said constituents appear unconcerned about the report and allegations he slid unqualified candidates into court jobs, which he denies.

“They haven’t found one (unqualified person) yet,” he said. “I’ve always looked at the power of government through a parochial lens: district first, district first.”

Belchertown, East Longmeadow, Hadley, Ludlow, South Hadley, UMass, Ware and Wilbraham are part of a regionalization study.

AMHERST - Consultants with Virginia-based AECOM will be back in town later this month to meet with communities interested in joining a regional emergency dispatch center.

Amherst began looking at regionalizing with Hadley and the University of Massachusetts in the spring of 2008. Belchertown expressed an interest soon after. Later, Pelham, South Hadley, South Hadley Fire District 2, Ludlow, Ware, Wilbraham and East Longmeadow asked to be part of the study. The state awarded $125,000 to pay for the feasibility study in 2009.

The cost of the return visit is part of that study, said Town Manager John P. Musante.

The state has also awarded the project a $735,000 grant to pay for pre-construction and design costs and has extended that grant until June of next year, Musante said. He said both he and the state remain committed to regionalization.

Musante became town manager Oct. 1; the project began during Laurence R. Shaffer’s tenure. Shaffer retired Sept. 30.

“I remain convinced that regionalizing public safety dispatch will further improve our already excellent operation,” Musante said, adding that regionalization will provide “better service at less cost.”

In September, Shaffer said that East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, and Ludlow said they want to participate. Musante said no agreements have been signed.

According to the study, the amount each community would save each year depends on the number of communities that participate.

For example, with four communities and UMass, the savings for Amherst would be $215,600 for the town and $93,802 for UMass. Belchertown would save $302,267, while Pelham’s cost would increase by $36,372. Hadley would save $60,334.

Nine towns, plus UMass and South Hadley Fire District 2, would increase savings and reduce Pelham’s cost to $24,683.

Both Ludlow and Wilbraham would also save about $150,000 each, according to the report.

Musante wants the consultants to meet with potential members to answer questions and look at how to solicit commitment.

The state would also contribute to operating costs as well as the pre-construction and design costs. Shaffer had said the state would contribute at least 40 percent of the operating costs.

The 10-year-old boy, whom friends and family called “Gus,” was kayaking with his father on Norwich Lake in Huntington when they were struck by a speedboat towing a skier, according to police.

File photo by Manon MirabelliThese warning signs are posted at Norwich Lake in Huntington where a 10-year-old Ludlow boy was killed this summer.

NORTHAMPTON – A Westfield man has been indicted on manslaughter and homicide counts in connection with the summer boating death of 10-year-old Augustus Adamopoulos on Huntington’s Norwich Lake.

The Ludlow boy, whom friends and family called “Gus,” was kayaking with his father on Aug. 17 when they were struck by a speedboat towing a skier, according to police. On Tuesday, a Hampshire County grand jury indicted Steven J. Morse, 37, of 65 Deborah Lane, for manslaughter, homicide by vessel while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and homicide by vessel.

In a press conference held several days after the incident, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said an autopsy showed that Augustus died of blunt force trauma after being hit by the boat. His father, James Adamopoulos, sustained a leg injury and was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment. Bystanders brought father and son ashore immediately after the crash in an effort to provide first aid. For Augustus, the help was not enough.

Augustus Adamopoulos

On Wednesday, Northwestern Deputy First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris said evidence shows that Morse ingested alcohol and marijuana prior to operating the speedboat on the day of the incident. Morse’s arraignment has been scheduled for Dec. 22 in Hampshire Superior Court.

Hundreds of mourners, including classmates of the boy’s from Veterans’ Park Elementary School, turned out for his funeral Mass at St. Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church in Ludlow a week after his death. During the funeral his father and the Rev. Gerry Blaszczak said Augustus packed a lot of life into his 10 short years.

“Gus seemed to have an old soul,” Blaszczak said.

Augustus dreamed of becoming a professional fisherman, his father said. He also wanted to play professional golf or basketball.

“Some days, he wanted to do all three,” said James Adamopoulos at the funeral.

Morse could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

The next "Learn to Skate" night will be on Dec. 18 at Cyr Arena from 4 to 5 p.m. There also will be a holiday party at that time.

Staff Photo by David Molnar -- Springfield Police Youth Athletic Association sponsors annual Learn To Skate program. Springfield police officers volunteer their time to teach children how to skate at Cyr Arena. Here, police officer Steven Barker teaches Manny Irizarry of Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – Police officers took to the ice Saturday night to help children learn how to skate.

Police Capt. Cheryl C. Clapprood said the Springfield Police Youth Athletic Association has been holding the “Learn to Skate” program for the past 10 years. The next one will be Dec. 18 from 4 to 5 p.m. at Cyr Arena in Forest Park, and also will feature a holiday party. She said additional ice skating dates will be held in January.

Children skate for free and also get free skate rentals.

Staff Photo by David Molnar -- Springfield Police Youth Athletic Association sponsors annual Learn To Skate program. Springfield police officers volunteer their time to teach children how to skate at Cyr Arena. Here, Jennifer Reigner, a Springfield police officer's wife, teaches Aivree Kus of Ludlow.

“We usually pick up more kids as we go along,” Clapprood said.

She took a break from skating with 3-year-old Ryan Clark and his mother Kara M. Clark of East Longmeadow to talk about the program.

Clapprood said the same 10 officers help with the skate night every year, as well as some other volunteers. A few of those officers, John Aberdale, Robert Ward and Maria Siciliano, used to play with Clapprood on a co-ed police recreational hockey team.

“We just enjoy doing it,” Clapprood said about the skate nights. “The cops enjoy interacting with the kids.”

She said some of the children have never been on the ice before. That was the case with Ryan Clark and his 4-year-old brother Matthew. The boys reported that skating was “good” but were a little too shy to tell a reporter much else about the experience.

“Ryan was doing good. He liked me pushing him,” Clapprood said.

Some of the children held onto milk crates as they maneuvered around on the ice, while others pushed specially made “brackets,” which resembled walkers, across the ice. Clapprood said the police made the brackets, and said they help the children stand up straight while skating. She said she’s run into kids on the street who have told her that she taught them how to ice skate.

Kara Clark said while she has skated before, it’s “not like riding a bicycle” and said “it did not come right back” to her. But she said she had fun anyway. Her husband Douglas B. Clark was happy that the police held the event.

Officer Edwin Irizarry didn’t skate but brought his two children, Manny, 4, and Jasmine, 7, to skate with his colleagues.

“He liked it. He told me he wanted to keep going,” Irizarry said about his son.

Rena M. Taddia, an administrative assistant in the police commissioner’s office, said her 6-year-old son Shane L. Dillon loved skating. She said she brought him last year too, but he liked it much better this time.

“It’s fun and I like skating fast,” Shane said.

Tiffany A. Mitchell of Springfield skated with her daughter, Aviana Mitchell, 4 ½.

“I think that this is a fabulous community partnership that they do,” Mitchell said.

Parents were encouraged to have their kids wear a hockey or bicycle helmet while on the ice.

Santa and a horse drawn team will make their way through town on Sunday, collecting toys.

This undated photo released by the office of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., shows Marine Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges, of Ludlow, in uniform.

LUDLOW – In conjunction with the United States Marine Corp and in memory of Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges of Ludlow, who was killed last May in Afghanistan, Santa and his horse drawn team will make their way through town on Sunday, collecting new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.

The Rotary Club invites Ludlow residents to gather at designated stops on Santa’s route to donate toys as Santa passes by.

After Santa completes his trip around town, he will make his way to the Ludlow Town Hall on Chapin Street to light the town Christmas tree. There will be hot chocolate and Christmas caroling starting at 4:30 p.m.

Santa’s first stop is the Ludlow Fire Department at 12:45 p.m. Then Santa and the horse drawn team will stop at the Chapin Street School at approximately 1:15 p.m.

Santa will go from Chapin Street to Holyoke Street and stop at Rick Wrona’s Garage at approximately 1:45 p.m. Then he will take a left onto Cady Street and stop at Pop N Kork at approximately 2:15 p.m.

The route will then be down Cady Street to Fuller Street to West Avenue, to Center Street to Warsaw Avenue for a stop at Christ the King Church at approximately 3 p.m.

The route will then proceed from Warsaw Avenue to Sewall Street to Winsor Street to Chestnut Street for a stop at the Ludlow Senior Center at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The route will then proceed down Winsor Street, to East Street with a stop at East Street School at 3:45 p.m. The final stop will be at Ludlow Town Hall at approximately 4:30 p.m.

James P. “Chip” Harrington, a member of the Rotary Club, said residents should give Santa enough room to pull in safely and be patient if Santa is running a little late.

Ludlow, Planning-Board, Master-Plan-Committee

LUDLOW – The town’s Planning Board and Master Plan Committee are beginning to consider a proposal being developed with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for denser housing development zoning districts in four areas of town.

The areas proposed for the higher density housing are the Ludlow Mills, an adjacent Riverside area just over the Ludlow/Indian Orchard bridge, an area off East Street referred to as downtown and the intersection of Holyoke and West Streets.

Jayne Armington, a planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, said incentive grants are being given by the state for higher density housing zoning districts.

She said the areas are seen as desirable because they provide housing for young adults not yet able to buy a home and for the elderly in need of more affordable housing.

Many young people now leave the Greater Springfield area to live in the Boston area, Armington said. She said the proposal for denser housing development zoning districts could help to keep more of Ludlow’s young people in Ludlow.

Public hearings on the “smart growth” zoning proposals will be scheduled in Ludlow in January and February with the goal of bringing a proposed zoning bylaw before voters at the spring annual Town Meeting for approval.

Westmass Area Development Corp. which is seeking to redevelop the Ludlow Mills will be seeking approval of a mixed use commercial, industrial and residential zoning district at the Town Meeting which would contain 100 units of housing for the elderly.

Armington said that apartments in the downtown, riverside and Holyoke and West Street districts might be attractive to young people.

Jason Barosso, a town selectman, said he was concerned that high density housing in the downtown area of Ludlow could put more demands on the school system and the tax rate.

James P. Harrington, a School Committee member, said he was concerned about more traffic and congestion in the downtown.

Barosso said he felt it more likely that town residents would approve one higher density zoning district for the Ludlow Mills than all four proposed districts.

Concerns such as traffic, congestion and the impact to the school system are the usual concerns raised in towns to the higher density housing proposals, Armington said.

The event was held in honor of Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges, a Ludlow resident who was killed in Afghanistan in May.

Staff photo by Michael GordonDecember 19, 2010 - Ludlow - Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - Santa Claus, center with beard, accepts unwrapped gifts for the U. S. Marine CorpToys for Tots program in exchange for candy canes from children and adults outside the Ludlow Fire and Police Departments, one of several stops around the town Sunday. Santa, Mrs. Claus and helpers travelled in Keith Ouellette's Belgian horse drawn wagon. At left is Dillan Craven, 8. At right is his sister, Rayanna Craven, 5, and his father, Walter Craven, lower right.

LUDLOW – Drivers, joggers, residents walking their dogs and Santa Clause all shared the road Sunday as Santa rode into town on a horse-drawn carriage.

Santa, Mrs. Santa Clause and a helper elf made several stops in town to collect new toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign, which collects unwrapped toys for distribution to children in need.

"The whole town really came together to make this happen," said James "Chip" Harrington, co-coordinator of the event.

Keith Ouellette, owner of Mainly Drafts, a company that offers horse drawn carriage rides in Ludlow, came up with the idea of driving the horses through town collecting toys.

The Rotary Club, the Ludlow Fire and Police Departments, Ludlow Town Hall and area business all supported the idea.

"It’s our first year doing this, but I hope we can do this every year," Ouellette said.

The event was held in honor of Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges, a Ludlow resident who was killed in Afghanistan in May.

"His family lives in town and Keith came up with this idea of honoring him and collecting gifts," Harrington said.

Many families stopped by to visit Santa and the horses and to drop-off new gifts.

Sofia Hickson, 9, of Wilbraham, brought some special gifts. For her birthday this year she asked her friends to give her toys that she could donate to Toys for Tots instead of buying her presents. She delivered the gifts with her family.

"We hope this event will attract families every year and become a real tradition in Ludlow," Harrington said.

The horses stopped at seven other locations including the Chapin Street School, Town Hall, Rick Wrona’s Garage on Holyoke Street, Pop ‘n Kork on Cady Street, Christ the King Church on Warsaw Avenue, the Ludlow Senior Center on Chestnut Street and the East Street Elementary School.

The carriage was almost filled with gifts just after the first stop.

"People have been very generous," Harrington said.

The fire was reported early Monday afternoon.

Don Treeger / The RepublicanScene of house fire that broke out early Monday afternoon at 71 Williams St. in Ludlow

Submitted photo by Dawn Fortin12.20.2010 | LUDLOW - Firefighters at the scene of a blaze on Williams St.

LUDLOW - Firefighters are at the scene of a working house fire on Williams Street in Ludlow.

The blaze was reported early Monday afternoon and smoke from the blaze can reportedly seen from a distance away. Williams Street is off East Street, a short distance away from Minechoag Pond.

Additional information was not immediately available.

A Williams Street fire that apparently started in a garage spread to the attached house, causing significant damage and displacing two residents, a fire official said. Watch video

Don Treeger / The RepublicanScene of house fire that broke out early Monday afternoon at 71 Williams St. in Ludlow

LUDLOW - A Williams Street fire that apparently started in a garage spread to the attached house, causing significant damage and displacing two residents, a fire official said.

The home at 71 Williams St. was considered a total loss, said Capt. John Moll of the Ludlow Fire Department.

There were no injuries. The two residents were home at the time but they were able to get outside before the fire department arrived, he said.

The two residents said they planned to stay with family, Moll said.

Firefighters were called to Williams Street shortly after 12:30 after receiving numerous 911 calls.

When they arrived, they found the house engulfed with flames. Five active duty firefighters responded, and a call was put out to all off-duty personnel to assist at the scene, Moll said.

The Chicopee Fire Department dispatched an engine to cover the station under mutual aid, he said.

It took 30 minutes to get the fire under control, he said.

Investigators believe the fire started in the garage and then spread into the living quarters. The house was a single-story ranch with an attached garage.

The exact cause of the fire has not been determined. The state Office of the Fire Marshal is assisting Ludlow with the investigation, Moll said. It is not considered suspicious, he said.

Binette and co-defendant, Peter Talbot of East Longmeadow, allegedly reaped more than $600,000 by using insider information to buy stock in a Seattle insurance company before its purchase by Liberty Mutual Insurance two years ago.

SPRINGFIELD – A Ludlow man pleaded innocent to securities fraud and insider trading charges on Monday in federal court and will be required to pay $800 a month to subsidize the cost of his court-appointed lawyer.

Carl E. Binette, 29, pleaded innocent to a six-count indictment in U.S. District Court and was released on personal recognizance by Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman.

Binette and his co-defendant, Peter E. Talbot, of East Longmeadow, allegedly reaped more than $600,000 by using insider information to buy stock in a Seattle-based insurance company before its purchase by Liberty Mutual Insurance in 2008. Talbot is Binette’s uncle.

Both defendants said they could not afford lawyers during their first appearance three weeks ago, and Talbot – a former vice president at Hartford Investment Management Co. – said he might represent himself.

The standoff was partly resolved this week when attorney Myles Jacobson, of Northampton, agreed to take Binette’s case as a court-appointed lawyer, but only after Neiman instructed the defendant to pay $800 a month toward his legal costs.

Talbot, originally scheduled to appear Monday, was to be arraigned separately.

Neiman agreed to release Binette on personal recognizance, after assistant U.S. attorney Karen L. Goodwin said the prosecution was not requesting bail.

Binette is charged with one count of conspiracy; five counts of securities fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, the defendant faces 47 to 52 months in prison with a guilty plea and 51 to 63 months if convicted a trial.

Prosecutors contend that Talbot tapped into his former employer’s confidential files and tipped his nephew to a potential acquisition of a Seattle-based insurance firm. The purchase yielded a $616,000 profit for the defendants, who had stockpiled Safeco options and common stock through an online brokerage account, according to the charges.

More public meetings on the housing proposals will be scheduled in January and February.

LUDLOW - The town's Planning Board and Master Plan Committee are beginning to consider a proposal being developed with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for denser housing development zoning districts in four areas of town.

The areas proposed for the higher density housing are the Ludlow Mills, an adjacent Riverside area just over the Ludlow-Indian Orchard bridge, an area off East Street referred to as downtown and the intersection of Holyoke and West streets.

Jayne Armington, a planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, said incentive grants are being given by the state for higher density housing districts.

She said the areas are seen as desirable because they provide housing for young adults not yet able to buy a home and for the elderly in need of more affordable housing.

Many young people now leave the Greater Springfield area to live in the Boston area, Armington said. She said the proposal for denser housing districts could help to keep more of Ludlow’s young people in Ludlow.

Public hearings on the “smart growth” zoning proposals will be scheduled in Ludlow in January and February with the goal of bringing a proposed zoning bylaw before voters at the spring annual Town Meeting for approval.

Westmass Area Development Corp., which wants redevelop the Ludlow Mills, will seek approval of a mixed-use commercial, industrial and residential zoning district at the Town Meeting that would contain 100 units of housing for the elderly.

At a meeting last week, Armington said that apartments in the downtown, riverside and Holyoke and West Street districts might be attractive to young people.

Jason Barosso, a town selectman, said he was concerned that high density housing in the downtown area of Ludlow could put more demands on the school system and the tax rate.

James P. Harrington, a School Committee member, said he was concerned about more traffic and congestion in the downtown.

Barosso said he felt it more likely that town residents would approve one higher density zoning district for the Ludlow Mills than all four proposed districts.

Concerns such as traffic, congestion and the impact to the school system are the usual concerns raised in towns to the higher density housing proposals, Armington said.

His arraignment in Westfield District Court in connection with an Agawam case did not take place as anticipated.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanBank robbery suspect Gerund Mickens, of Bloomfield, Conn., appears in Springfield District Court on Friday.

WESTFIELD – A 35-year-old Connecticut man remained in jail at the Hampden County Correctional Facility in Ludlow Monday while local police departments tried to determine if he is responsible for six recent bank robberies.

Gerund A. Mickens of Bloomfield, Conn., is being held at the Ludlow jail pending pre-trial proceedings in Springfield District Court, Richard J. McCarthy, public affairs officer, said Monday.

A spokeswoman for Hampden County District Attorney’s office said Mickens next scheduled court appearance is Jan. 14. That will be a pre-trial conference on motor vehicle charges stemming from a police chase Dec. 23 in West Springfield and Springfield.

Police in Chicopee, South Hadley, Springfield, Agawam and Northampton continue their investigations into unarmed bank robberies in those communities from Dec. 6 to Dec. 21.

“We are coordinating our investigation with police in other communities,” Chicopee Police Chief John R. Ferraro Jr. said. “It continues to be an active investigation involving departments in communities where robberies have occurred.”

Northampton Police Capt. Scott A. Savino said Northampton detectives are sharing information with their counterparts in Chicopee, Agawam, Springfield and South Hadley.

“Information is being shared. As of right now there are no (Northampton) arrests to report,” he said.

Ferraro was referring to a Dec. 6 robbery at Berkshire Bank and a Dec. 17 robbery at Citizens Bank, both on Memorial Drive in Chicopee. Savino referred to a Dec. 22 hold up of Florence Savings Bank in Northampton.

In each robbery, the suspect is described as a black male, 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 7 inches tall, in his 30s or 40s and have a grayish beard.

Mickens was arrested inside Hampden County Physician Associates office in Springfield the morning of Dec. 23 after crashing his Chevrolet Traverse shortly after 8 a.m. at Main and Emery streets while fleeing police.

He is charged with failure to stop for police, operating with a suspended license and reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

Police found a note reading “this is a robbery” in Mickens’ vehicle.

Springfield District Court Judge Robert F. Howarth Jr., presiding at Mickens’ arraignment Dec. 24 on the motor vehicle violations, ordered him held in lieu of $5,000 pending his arraignment Monday in Westfield District Court Monday in the Agawam case.

Agawam police have a warrant naming Mickens in the Agawam bank robbery, Assistant District Attorney Ingrid Frau said last week.

Mickens remained at the Ludlow jail Monday and Westfield District Court officials had no paperwork indicating that he was supposed to be arraigned there.

Agawam police did not return repeated calls for comment Monday.

Also robbed was the TD Bank on Newton Street in South Hadley, Dec. 13; Bank of America on St. James Avenue in Springfield Dec. 13 and New Alliance Bank, North Westfield Street in Agawam on Dec. 21.