Free Republic

Police are probing a case of what might be described as "Redbox rage" in which a man allegedly assaulted a woman Saturday night after he apparently grew angry over the length of time she took to select a movie from the rental kiosk inside the foyer of the Super Stop & Shop on North Main Street. Sgt. Denis Sheehan said the woman was not seriously injured in the incident, which was reported shortly after 6 p.m. outside the 470 North Main St. store. Sheehan said the suspect, who was accompanied by a female, had been waiting behind the 26-year-old victim...

Police have identified a 17-year-old Somers High School student, seriously injured(update: died Thursday at Baystate) in a single-car crash on Prospect Street Wednesday night, as Nicholas Coleman. Coleman, who lives on Concord Terrace, was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. His condition was not immediately available. Police believe the accident, in which Coleman lost control and hit a tree near 615 Prospect St., could have occurred as early as 6:30 p.m. Officers, canvassing the neighborhood, found a resident who may have heard the crash around 6:30 or 6:35 p.m., Sgt. Patrick Manley said. “One of the neighbors heard a...

Secretary of State William Galvin has opened an investigation into allegations that a large number of East Longmeadow voters had their party affiliations changed without permission. Town officials were notified Friday that Galvin’s office is looking into voter registration fraud for the upcoming Sept. 6 primary. The investigation will determine if a large number of voter registrations “were improperly altered and changed ... in violation of law,” according to Michelle K. Tassinari, director of the office’s election division. “Secretary Galvin considers this a matter of urgent circumstance,” she added. Brian S. McNiff, a spokesman for Galvin, would not say how...

Two days after posting lowered earnings for the first quarter of 2012, Hasbro Games reportedly will not recall approximately 150 union employees who had been out on temporary layoffs. The employees received notification earlier this week that their layoffs would now be considered permanent. The company, which said the East Longmeadow facility “has been operating very efficiently” with a workforce of about 330 unionized employees. “Hasbro expects this facility will continue to operate at this level of employment, which means that we will not be recalling certain employees who have been out on temporary layoff.” Hasbro Inc. posted a first-quarter...

The School Committee voted Monday to increase the school lunch price by $0.25 cents starting in January of 2012. The committee met with Food Services Director Lori Pahl and School Business Manager Theresa A. Olejarz to discuss the increase. The federal government has asked for equity in school lunch pricing, Olejarz said. If you're charging less than $2.46 for school lunch then the federal government reimbursement you receive is subsidizing the school lunch program and you can't do that, she said. Olejarz said the only solutions are to increase lunch prices or take the money out of the school department...

NECN is doing a stellar job of tracking two or three "historic" tornado storms.