North Adams Transcript from North Adams, Massachusetts • 10

A A The Transcript 10 Thursday, December 29, 1994 In Brie: judge feared for father's Springfield District Judge said court did all that safety it could do And times when legions of police officers, judges and counselors cannot persuade a person that a loved one poses a potential threat of harm. Three times in the past two years, the father had gone so far as to file assault charges against his son, described by friends as a brilliant, but very troubled man. Yet, each time the father ended up pleading for leniency for his son and taking him back into his home. Three months after swearing out a complaint in February 1992 that his son had grabbed him by the throat, pushed him up against the kitchen wall and threatened to throw him down the cellar stairs, the father asked Judge George Bregianes, now retired, to dismiss the charges. He even offered to pay the $50 court costs.

Bregianes refused, but agreed to continue the case for six months with supervision by probation. In September 1993, Judge Herbert Hodos sentenced the son to a suspended one-year term and ordered him to stay away from the father for a second assault in July 1992. Less than a month later he appeared be fore Sheedy. Again against the father's wishes, Sheedy jailed the son for 15 months for violating the terms of his probation. "The father literally cried in order to prevent his son from going to jail," the judge said wincing at the memory of trying so desperately to persuade the elderly man that he even accused him of having a death wish.

When the son was released from jail three weeks ago the judge tried again. "We had elder counselors in court and social services agencies ready to provide the father with any help he would need so the son would not go back into the home," Sheedy said. "But we could not persuade him. He didn't want a restraining order. He wanted his son back home with him." "This was totally against all the advice of the professionals," Sheedy said.

"But the courts are not omnipotent. We can't say we know better than you. We can only go so far. And we could not change his mind." The father's attitude is not uncom-? mon, the judge said. "More normally it is a woman who comes to court asking a restrain-' ing order be vacated on the hollow promise of an abusive husband or1 boyfriend," he said.

"When asked what positive steps the man has taken to seek help with his alcoholism or other problems, the answer is usually he hasn't, but plans to do some-' thing next week." i "We try to encourage them to re- quire the man to do something posi" live show by some demonstrable means, not just words, that they art taking steps to resolve their problems before letting down their he said. "A restraining order is not some sort of magic wand, but it does pro vide real protection in situations where you can get to a telephone to call police," he said. "The law enforcement community takes them very seriously now and violations are not treated lightly. "But," the judge said, "in all too many cases all we can do is watch them leave the courtroom and hope nothing happens." WeDdl's members decide which nrisnn inmatp Coyiraeiloir criticises BOSTON (AP) Gov. William to the state Parole Board, a Republican legislator voted out last month, isn't qualified for the job, a member of the Governor's Council charged.

Councilor Dorothy Kelly Gay said Weld was rushing through the nomination of Newburyport Rep. Thomas Palumbo, a lawyer who owns an Amesbury restaurant recently cited for liquor violations. "I don't think this guy passes the smell lest," Kelly Gay said Wednesday. "I think we have to be very careful who we put on the parole board." Weld nominated Palumbo two weeks ago, the interview was scheduled last week, and the 10-year legislator was interviewed Wednesday by the council, which has veto power over the governor's picks. The council will vote next Wednesday in its last session before new members are sworn in.

Kelly Gay's move to postpone next week's vote was rejected 5-1. Kelly Gay said council members were given no information on Palumbo until the day of the interview, when they received a one-page resume. She said Palumbo's biggest selling point with Weld appeared to be his voting record, which mirrors the governor's policies. "To give us a name last week, without any information, and have a hearing today to me says that something's wrong. It has never happened before," she said.

Weld said he did not think the process was moving too quickly. "I do support Palumbo (but) not on the basis of his restaurant expertise," Weld said. "Because of his service on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety committees. And he agrees with us on law enforcement before their sentences expire. They also the governor whether prisoners should have their sentences commuted.

has served on the House Ways and Criminal Justice and Public Safety they will talk about my qualifications I hope that I will be appointed," he hearing. restaurant, the Blue Moon Cafe, recently Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But recently was cited for serving liquor after police access and failing to notify town changes in management. the restaurant, which he said he the violations. The Amesbury Board voted to suspend the establishment's' five days when it reopens sometime even those who were sympathetic, needed to acquaint himself with the responsibilities procedures of the Parole Board.

O'Brien told Palumbo that was hostile the questions members asked him, particularly Blue.Moon Cafe. me the feeling of being a very defensive, angry, human being Ddid we catch he said. Palumbo: "I'm just the type of person is." legislators, and Palumbo's high school testified on his behalf Wednesday. No nomination. IVIan fakes home burglary BOSTON (AP) A Brockton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he faked the robbery of his own house so he could collect almost $9,000 from his insurance company, the stale attorney general said.

Scott Poole, 28, was sentenced to six years' probation, with the stipulation that he will go to prison for one year if he violates the probation. Brockton District Court Judge Ann Driscoll also ordered Poole to pay $8,725 to his insurance company. Prosecutors said Poole staged the burglary of his house in Jan. 1991, and claimed in a police report that he had been robbed of more than $20,000 worth of computers, jewelry, camera equipment and electronics. He then filed a claim with Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance which eventually paid him $4,000 in cash and replaced worth of jewelry, including a diamond ring.

Poole then sold the jewelry, according to Attorney General Scott Harshbargcr. Harshbargcr's office, state police and the slate bureau of insurance fraud investigated the case. Poole was charged with insurance fraud, larceny over $250, and filing a false police report. Pay raise can't be repealed BOSTON (AP) Foes of the legislative pay raise that goes into effect next week cannot repeal it with a referendum petition because it was contained in an appropriations bill, the attorney general's office said Wednesday. Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks' ruling dealt with the technical issue of whether a section of the law could be struck down separately.

Money is set aside in one section of the law, and it is earmarked to pay for the legislators' pay raises in the next section. Therefore, Sacks wrote in a letter to the secretary of stale's office, the pay raise portion cannot be repealed because it would "eliminate an essential condition for the expenditure of the amounts appropriated for the compensation of legislators Lawmakers and Gov. William Weld rushed the $16,410 pay raise through the Legislature in 48 hours earlier this month, angering many people who have watched other bills languish all year on Beacon Hill. Criticism increased when it was revealed that legislative leaders quietly sent a capital gains tax cut to Weld's desk, furthering the aura of a political deal. Opponents of the pay raise, who have vowed to eliminate it one way or another, still can wipe it out by filing an initiative petition.

That process is more cumbersome than an outright repeal effort. Plea for 'sexual predator' BOSTON (AP) A fugitive described by prosecutors as a sexual predator would rather die than go back to jail, a family friend says. Guy Cummings, 30, of Brockton, was declared a fugitive when he failed to show up for a scheduled court hearing last Thursday. "He told me he would rather take a bullet than ever go back to jail," said Sharon Hutton, the fiance of Cummings brother. "He just can't take it" Hutton and other friends and family members say they want Cummings to surrender.

Cummings is accused of threatening and holding a 22-year-old Raynham woman against her will. Hutton pleaded with Cummings before television cameras Wednesday night to surrender before he does, in her words, "something stupid." Hutton said that she believes Cummings is still in Massachusetts. "This man is not dangerous," she said. "He is not a threat to anybody but himself at this point." Hutton said Cummings did not want a life in jail. Trooper Bruce Lint told WHDH-TV that the best thing for Cummings to do would be to turn himself in.

Cummings is a self-styled Rambo figure who had told police he "would not be taken alive." No bail for Carver man BROO KLINE, Mass. (AP) A Carver man accused of attacking 1 1 women in Boston and Brookline in a span of two hours and 20 minutes is being held without bail. Kenneth Osborne, 32, who used to run a martial arts school in Carver, already had pleaded innocent to two counts of indecent assault and battery and one count of assault with intent to murder a police officer stemming from the crime spree last week. On Wednesday, he pleaded innocent in Brookline District Court to two more counts of indecent assault and battery and two counts of assault and battery, said Nina Flaherty, spokeswoman for Norfolk County District Attorney William Delahunt. Charges in the Boston attacks are pending.

Osborne also is suspected in attacks in Cambridge and Somerville, Flaherty said. In Brookline, Prosecutor Francis Mclntyre argued that Osborne should be denied bail under a new state law permitting judges to consider whether a suspect poses a danger to society. She called the swiftness of the Dec. 22 assaults "breathtaking." Between 6:50 a.m. and 9:10 a.m., Osborne allegedly grabbed the buttocks of 10 women and tried to rape a woman in an underground garage in Boston's Fenway area.

There a maintenance man scared off the attacker, who then was spotted by a security guard. The guard managed to jot down the fleeing car's license plate. Mumpton, sports editor, dies WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) Roy Mumpton, a sports writer and editor for the Telegram Gazette of Worcester for nearly five decades, has died. He was 91.

Mumpton wrote for the Telegram Gazette for 47 years before retiring as executive sports editor in 1973. He died at his home on Tuesday. He covered everything from archery to track and field, but readers knew him best for his coverage of the Red Sox, the Holy Cross football team and major golf tournaments. He covered sports legends Jim Thorpe, Joe Louis and Arnold Palmer, and considered Red Sox slugger Ted Williams a friend. But he paid as much attention to local sports events as he did to the big leagues.

"Roy was always a guy who was proud of his city and the accomplishments of the people he covered," said Dee Rowe, a former University of Connecticut basketball coach. "He's the last of a very special group." Bob Cousy, the former Holy Cross and Boston Celtics great, said Mumpton was a sports observer from the "old school." "I don't think he was quite into the controversy and sensationalism that the prcscnt-day sports writer has to write," he said. Friends and colleagues described him as a "no-nonsense" writer who rarely criticized. Two charged in lulling WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) Two teen-agers face charges in the shooting death of a pregnant Worcester woman on Christmas Eve.

Carlos Ramos, 19, of Worcester, and a 15-year-old Worcester resident not being identified because he is a juvenile, were arrested Tuesday night in Hartford, Conn. A tip led police to the two, who were staying with acquaintances, Hartford police Sgt. Mike Manzi said. Worcester police said they would seek murder warrants charging the two with the death of Ibi Mejia, 23. Mejia was four months pregnant when she was felled Saturday night by a single shot from a handgun.

The bullet struck Mejia in the arm and then entered her chest. Neighbors found Mejia in the hallway of her Austin Street apartment house crying, "Mommy, mommy." "My baby, my baby," she also said is she clutched her abdomen. She died 45 minutes later. The Telegram Gazette of Worcester reported that the juvenile allegedly pulled the trigger. WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass.

(AP) More than a year ago, Springfield District Court Judge George Sheedy was worried about the safety of an elderly father. So worried that he set a high bail of $50,000 for Stanley V. Sharris Jr. and jotted a note on the court record: "If defendant remains at father's home indications are that father's life would be in grave danger." On Tuesday Sharris was back in Springfield District Court before another judge charged with stabbing his father, Stanley V. Sharris 86, to death over the Christmas holiday.

The son, 51, pleaded innocent and was ordered held without bail for psychiatric tests to determine his competency to stand trial. "We did all we could," Judge Sheedy said Wednesday, agreeing to talk about the prior history of the case in hopes of reaching other abuse victims. "If the alleged acts are proven, it just underscores the fact that there are situations involving abuse where the courts cannot provide all the protection," he said. New heart repair Fixes aorta without major surgery BOSTON (AP) Doctors are inserting cloth-covered mesh tubes into the body to repair weak spots in the aorta, the body's main blood vessel, without major surgery. The approach, developed at Stanford University, has the advantage of allowing patients to recover much more quickly.

However, it is still highly experimental, and doctors warn they need to know more about its long-term risks and effectiveness before it is used routinely. The technique is being used to fix aneurysms, bulging weak places in the aorta. These weaknesses are fatal if they burst The aorta carries blood from the heart to the abdomen, where it splits into the iliac arteries that run down the legs. The Stanford doctors used their tubes to fix aortic aneurysms in the chest. Drs.

Michael D. Dake and R. Craig Miller described their results in a report in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Ordinarily, doctors must open the chest to patch weak spots in the aorta. About 12 percent of patients die during this surgery.

And about 5 percent of survivors are paralyzed in their leg, because the operatign cuts off the flow of blood to the spine. So far, the Stanford doctors have used the new approach on 33 patients. Two were paralyzed, and two including one of the paralyzed patients died. In the new technique, doctors custom-build tubes of stainless steel wire and cover them with Dacron cloth. They cut into the aorta in the groin and insert the tube, which is folded up.

The lube is then pushed to the aneurysm and opened up. There it keeps the artery wall rigid, preventing rupture. Bard slashes earnings MURRAY HILL, NJ. (AP) Legal troubles, including a $61 million federal fine for selling catheters that caused two deaths, will slice projected quarterly profits of medical products maker C.R. Bard Inc.

by about 70 percent Bard said Wednesday that it is reducing fourth-quarter earnings, after taxes, by $16.9 million or 33 cents per share. The money will help settle a lawsuit and defend six current and former officials who are being prosecuted in connection with a 1993 scandal involving flawed catheters. Wall Street analysts have been predicting Bard will earn 47 cents per share during the quarter. The company's stock declined 25 cents to close at $27 in trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Bard pioneered catheters long, thin tubes that are snaked through blood vessels in the 1930s.

Last December, the company pleaded guilty to 391 criminal counts and agreed to pay $61 million in fines for making faulty catheters, covering up the defects and lying to the Food and Drug Administration about it. F. Weld's nominee Parole board LUNY TUNZ FRIDAY DECEMBER No Cover! New Year's Eve Party SOLD OUT! Watch for our great line up of entertainment in 1995 The Good Time Place 13 VICTORY ADAMS 743-9753 Friday Saturday Dancing Positive I.D. required Duggan's Pub ora This Thursday V) 1229 Dancing jp 1 8 over are released recommend to be pardoned or Palumbo, 44, Means, Judiciary, committees. "I expect that among them, and said after the Palumbo's emerged from the restaurant hours, blocking officials about Palumbo closed hopes to sell, after of Selectmen liquor license for next month.

Many councilors, said Palumbo and Councilor James to many of about the "You're giving if not very you at a bad day?" Responded who tells it like it A handrul of football coach, one opposed the Mayors fishy wager CLEVELAND (AP) Boston Mayor Thomas Menino looks sure of a New England Patriots' victory over 'the Browns in their NFL playoff game in Cleveland Sunday. Menino is staking 10 pounds of lobster against an equal amount of Lake Erie walleye put up by Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White. Actually, the wagers are more even than they look. While walleye is less renowned than its crustacean counterpart, the meaty white fish sells at about the same price per pound.

And there's no shell. "We're going to let the Dog Pound chew on the Patriots, then we're going to feast on Mayor Meni-no's fine New England lobsters," White said in a news release. TONIGHT Karaoke hosted by Denning Entertainment Mark Parsons D.J. Dancing to follow LADIES NIGHT No Cover For The ladles Open Frl. Sat.

Doors open at 8:30 P.M. Be Early Get A Table NoCovrBfor10P.M. Rt. 8, Lane.boro 499-3993 Hauls CINEMAS TIMES GOOD TO0AY ONLY THE JUNGLE BOOK (PC) 12:55 STREET RGHTER (PG-H RICHIE RICH (PG) 12:35 3:30 7:00 9:40 DUMB AND DUMBER (PG-iJ) 12 05 230 5 DISCLOSURE (PG) 6:40 9:35 THE SANTA CLAUSE (PC) I BARGAIN MATINEES BEFORE 6PM THE JUNGLE BOOK (PS) 200 420 700 930 LITTLE WOMEN (PC) 12:35 3.45 6:50 9:25 MIXED NUTS (PC-m RICHIE RICH (PC) 12:30 325 625 9:30 STREET FIGHTER (PC-m 2:10 425 7:10 9:45 DUMB AND DUMBER (PG-13) 1 1 50 2:1 5 4:30 705 9 40 SPEECHLESS (PG-13) THE SANTA CLAUSE (PG) 11:55 2:20 4:40 6:55 9:20 DISCLOSURE (R) 12:20 3:50 6:35 DROP ZONE (W) 11:45 I.Q. (PG) 2:05 4:15 6:45 9:55 JUNIOR (PG-13) 11:40 THE LION KING (G) 12:00 Come celebrate with at our New Year's Eve Gala In the Banquet Room $20peron Includes: Buffet Fabulous Dancing 9-2, Champagne Toast, Continental Breakfast Dinner alto terved at Brannlng'a OPEN NEW YEAR'S DAY SUNDAY AT A I BARGAIN MATINEES BEFORE 6PM 5 BRtNNING'S Mi Curran Highway, N.

Adams 413-664-8787 2T.