The city of Springfield reaches a settlement with a black school principal who was allegedly attacked by five white police officers. Douglas Greer was pulled from his car by the officers in November 2004 as he was having a diabetic attack while parked at a convenience store. Greer, who at the time was the principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield, says the officers kicked and choked him and accused him of being on drugs.


A Chicopee man is sentanced to nearly 7 years in prison for killing a Westfield State College student outside of a bar. Frank Bruso showed no emotion when he was sentanced in Hampden Superiour Court.


Connecticut customers won't be getting any kick from ``Cocaine,'' the energy drink.
The state Department of Consumer Protection has reached an agreement with the maker of the energy drink to withdraw and not sell the drink in Connecticut. Commissioner Jerry Farrell says the agreement with Redux Beverages settles questions raised about product misbranding and future sales and distribution of the product in its current form. No word from the Massachusetts A-G as to what the status of the product is in this state.


Problems at the jail. Springfield State Senator Steve Buonicounti tells WHYN NEWS that they are four million dollars short in completing the new Women's Prison in Chicopee. And, the shortfall may delay this year's opening of the facility. Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe says that there are more women in trouble with the law thean ever before and the prison would provide valuable services to getting them back into society.


There is a great amount of speculation as to who we are going to see this Friday when the Springfield Control Board meets. Officials had indicated we were going to see a new Control Board team announced on Wednesday. But, now there is an indication that although the announcement could be made on Wednesday, the three current members will continue to serve through the end of June so they can vote on the budget and not force a new Control Board to virtually start from scratch.


A crackdown on illegal drivers coming soon. West Springfield State Representative Jim Welch has filed a bill which increases fines for unregistered and uninsured drivers in the state to 250 dollars in addition to suspending the right to drive. Welch says the latest figures indicate that a little more than 15% of the drivers in this state are driving illegally.


As expected, the Springfield City Council has approved a Ward Representation Ballot question and if everything goes according to plan it could finally hit the ballot this November. Now Beacon Hill Lawmakers must give routine approval before the measure goes to the voters. Under the proposal, voters are being asked to approve 8 ward councilors and five elected at large. If the voters approve then the federal Ward Rep case will be dropped.


Springfield School Superintedent Dr Joe Burke is out with next fiscal year's budget proposal. It is a little more than 400 million dollars and he says he's breathing a little easier now then he was about a month ago. Burke says thanks to the legislatuive delegation bringing in an additional 9% in educational funding he is able to hire a few more teachers...bring in additional resources and add support staff to increase standards within the school system. And, as for a potential new contract, Burke says he is keeping his fingers crossed for the end of the week.


We still don't know whether that constitutional convention is going to get off the ground later this week. Some lawmakers say it would be chaos to try to deal with the gay marriage issue in the middle of a budget cycle. And, Matt McTie, the Political Director of Mass Equality says that if jsut eight lawmakers, who voted for the amendment, change their mind then they can keep the issue off the November ballot. The convention is set for Thurday.


Governor Patrick tells dozens of commissioners and agency heads that they must reapply for their jobs or be replaced. The 50 top managers are holdovers from the previous Republican administrations. They received a letter from the Patrick
administration telling them to forward their resume, accomplishments and other ``relevant information'' if they want to be considered for reappointment.

Listen to WHYN NewsTalk 560 for more information on any of these stories.