18-year-old Jonathan Ramos was on High Rock in the Jones Point Section, and slipped and fell.

He was pulled under by the strong current just before 8 o’clock.

On Tuesday, those who knew him were visibly somber. “It was shocking because he used to come here and get his hair cut. He was a really good kid. He didn’t deserve to die like that. It was an accident, but, it was weird,” said his barber, Jesus Flora.

Others tweeted their sentiments mere hours after learning of his death. On Monday night, authorities spent hours looking for Ramos after they say he slipped off of high rock and into the Connecticut River.

Friends too shaken to speak on camera remember the former Holyoke High School student as quiet and humble.

Affectionately known as “Wabu”, he could usually be found back flipping around the city.

After Monday’s incident, they’re thinking twice about returning to the popular hang out where they lost Ramos. “It’s dangerous. I wouldn’t go up there. It’s not worth it,” Flora shared.

The Hampden County District Attorney is continuing the investigation of the case.

There will be a memorial held for Ramos next Friday in Heritage Park.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse had this to say in a statement:

“The death of Jonathan “Wabu” Ramos has left a lot of people devastated, but none more than his mother. We are asking for donations to help support the family during this time of sorrow. Donations can be brought to the mayor’s office at Holyoke’s City Hall with checks made payable to Maria Carmona.”

Proceeds from sales of “I Am Holyoke t-shirts will also go to his mother or funeral arrangements.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Last month, we told you about students at Porter and Chester Institute in Chicopee who were concerned they weren’t getting the education for which they paid.

Since our story aired even more students have come forward and now the state is involved.

“We attend this school to obtain hours to become an electrician at Porter and Chester. Even though we are paying $30,000, we’re only receiving half of our education.”

That was PCI student Tim Holcomb at the Chicopee campus talking to us back in May, after he learned the schools electrician program wasn’t what it had been represented to be.

“Like I said, we were offered the OJT and that was a big part on my decision on coming to this school was having those hours and getting my 600 hours done now and going out into my apprenticeship afterwards,” and that’s Chris Antolick, voicing the same concerns a month later at a different PCI campus in Woburn.

The problem stems from the way Porter and Chester marketed their Electrician program to prospective students.

They were told some of those ‘hands-on’ hours at PCI – 600 hours – would count as state approved On-The-Job Training, or OJT

In fact, up until just recently, the school’s catalog said as much: “Part of the training hours you acquire at Porter and Chester qualify as OJT.”

But it turns out, that’s not true.

“This was the basis of most of our decision to come to this school and had I known I wouldn’t be given these hours, I would have went to an alternate school and saved myself a lot of money,” said Antolick.

The state mandates two things to get an electricians license: 600 hours of classroom instruction – for which PCI is approved – and 8,000 hours of OJT for which PCI is not state approved.

ABC40 has learned the Massachusetts Electrical Board is meeting next week in closed session to discuss any complaints about Porter and Chester.

A spokeswoman for the Division of Professional Licensure said they’re “going over a stack of paperwork regarding PCI going back as far as 2006.”

But Antolick, who’s less than 6 months away from graduating, wants answers now.

“I spoke with a school official and they told me they wouldn’t be making any changes because we’re getting what we paid for,” said Antolick.

That’s echoed in this email from President and CEO James Bologa. “PCI is committed to seeing its students succeed. Should the state determine that PCI’s hands-on experience will not count towards licensure, PCI will continue to find employment and internships that move them closer to achieving their career goals.”

Antolick doesn’t deny his classroom training is valuable, but he and his fellow students paid for – and were promised – more.

“We are still getting that education, which is a great education, but my whole decision would have not been this had I known the difference. So, I do believe there should be some financial negations with students in some way.”

Representatives from the school still refuse to go on-camera to address those specific concerns, though while we were conducting this interview, we were asked to leave.

Before we did, I tried to get an answer: “We’re talking to students who feel the amount they’ve spent for a yearlong program which promised them accredited OJT in black and white is not worth what they’re getting. Did you want to address that?”

“I do not. I have no comment at this time,” said an unidentified woman from PCI’s Woburn campus.

Just today, Porter and Chester did release this statement to ABC40 News: “Prior to January 2013, Porter and Chester operated on the understanding that a portion of its hands-on training counted towards OJT. Because we are actively working with the state towards a resolution, it would be premature to speculate on any potential outcome at this time.”

As mentioned, the State Electrical Board meets Monday and their spokeswoman says if they do rule on PCI, it could be one of three outcomes: they could grant the student their OJT hours, they could refuse OJT going forward but grandfather in current students, or ask the school to revise its program to potentially gain accreditation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic congressman has released the full transcript of congressional investigators’ interview with an Internal Revenue Service manager and self-described conservative Republican who said the close scrutiny of tea party groups’ tax forms originated in his Cincinnati IRS office, not in Washington.

John Shafer oversaw a group of IRS workers who screen applications for tax-exempt status. He said he was unaware of any involvement by the White House in decisions to screen tea party groups.

Shafer said that in February 2010, his group sent its first tea party application to higher-ranking supervisors because media attention such groups were getting seemed likely to make their treatment a high-profile case.

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings released the transcript. He had released excerpts from Shafer’s interview earlier this month.

Associated Press

From left, Deputy Attorney General James Cole; National Security Agency (NSA) Deputy Director Chris Inglis; NSA Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander; Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce; and Robert Litt, general counsel to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing regarding NSA surveillance. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

From left, Deputy Attorney General James Cole; National Security Agency (NSA) Deputy Director Chris Inglis; NSA Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander; Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce; and Robert Litt, general counsel to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing regarding NSA surveillance. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, by National Security Agency (NSA) Gen. Keith B. Alexander during the committee’s hearing regarding NSA surveillance. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

National Security Agency (NSA) Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander approaches the witness table on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, to testify before the House Intelligence Committee hearing regarding NSA surveillance. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance programs at the heart of a debate over national security and personal privacy, officials said Tuesday at a rare open hearing on intelligence led by lawmakers sympathetic to the spying.

The House Intelligence Committee hearing provided a venue for officials to defend the once-secret programs and did little probing of claims that the collection of people’s phone records and Internet usage has disrupted dozens of terrorist plots. Few details were volunteered.

Army Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, said the two recently disclosed programs — one that gathers U.S. phone records and another that is designed to track the use of U.S.-based Internet servers by foreigners with possible links to terrorism — are critical. But details about them were not closely held within the secretive agency. Alexander said after the hearing that most of the documents accessed by Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former systems analyst on contract to the NSA, were on a web forum available to many NSA employees. Others were on a site that required a special credential to access. Alexander said investigators are studying how Snowden did that.

He told lawmakers Snowden’s leaks have caused “irreversible and significant damage to this nation” and undermined the U.S. relationship with allies.

When Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce was asked what is next for Snowden, he said, simply, “justice.” Snowden fled to Hong Kong and is hiding.

In the days after the leaks, House Intelligence committee Chairman Mike Rogers cited one attack that he said was thwarted by the programs. In the comments of other intelligence officials, that number grew to two, then 10, then dozens. On Tuesday, Alexander said more than 50 attacks were averted because of the surveillance. These included plots against the New York subway system and a Danish newspaper office that had published cartoon depictions of Muhammad.

In a new example, Joyce said the NSA was able to identify an extremist in Yemen who was in touch with Khalid Ouazzani in Kansas City, Mo., enabling authorities to identify co-conspirators and thwart a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.

Ouazzani pleaded guilty in May 2010 in federal court in Missouri to charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, bank fraud and money laundering. Ouazzani was not charged with the alleged plot against the stock exchange. Joyce said the arrest was made possible by the Internet surveillance program disclosed by Snowden.

Joyce also said a terrorist financier in San Diego was identified and arrested in October 2007 because of a phone record provided by the NSA.

The individual was making phone calls to a known designated terrorist group overseas, Joyce said. He confirmed under questioning that the calls were to Somalia.

Alexander said the Internet program had helped stop 90 percent of the 50-plus plots he cited. He said just over 10 of the plots thwarted had a connection inside the U.S. and most were helped by the review of phone records. Still, little was offered to substantiate claims that the programs have been successful in stopping acts of terrorism that would not have been caught with narrower surveillance. In the New York subway bombing case, President Barack Obama conceded the would-be bomber might have been caught with less sweeping surveillance.

Officials have long had the authority to monitor email accounts linked to terrorists but, before the law changed, needed to get a warrant by showing that the target was a suspected member of a terrorist group. In the disclosed Internet program named PRISM, the government collects vast amounts of online data and email, sometimes sweeping up information on ordinary American citizens. Officials now can collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.

Committee chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the panel’s top Democrat, said the programs were vital to the intelligence community and assailed Snowden’s actions as criminal.

“It is at times like these where our enemies within become almost as damaging as our enemies on the outside,” Rogers said.

Ruppersberger said the “brazen disclosures” put the United States and its allies at risk.

Committee members were incredulous about the scope of the information that Snowden was able to access and then disclose.

Alexander said Snowden had worked for 12 months in an information technology position at the NSA office in Hawaii under another contract preceding his three-month contract with Booz Allen.

“Egregious, egregious leaks,” Joyce said.

But after the hearing, Alexander said almost all of the documents Snowden leaked were on an internal online library.

“They are on web forums that are publicly available in the NSA,” he said.

The general counsel for the intelligence community said the NSA cannot target phone conversations between callers inside the U.S. — even if one of those callers was targeted for surveillance when outside the country.

The director of national intelligence’s legal chief, Robert S. Litt, said that if the NSA finds it has accidentally gathered a phone call by a target who had traveled into the U.S. without the agency’s knowledge, it has to “purge” that from system. The same goes for an accidental collection of any conversation because of an error.

Litt said those incidents are then reported to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which “pushes back” and asks how it happened, and what the NSA is doing to fix the problem so it doesn’t happen again.

Deputy NSA Director Chris Inglis said a limited number of officials at the agency could authorize dissemination of information to the FBI related to a U.S. citizen, and only after determining it was necessary to understand a counterterrorism issue. Information related to an American who is found not to be relevant to a counterterrorism investigation must be destroyed, he added.

Alexander said 10 people were involved in that process, including himself and Inglis.

The hearing came the morning after President Barack Obama vigorously defended the surveillance programs in a lengthy interview, calling them transparent — even though they are authorized in secret.

Obama said he has named representatives to a privacy and civil liberties oversight board first established in 2004 to help in the debate over just how far government data gathering should be allowed to go. The discussion is complicated by the secrecy surrounding the surveillance court, with hearings held at undisclosed locations and with only government lawyers present. The orders that result are all highly classified.

Snowden on Monday accused members of Congress and administration officials of exaggerating their claims about the success of the data gathering programs, including pointing to the arrest of the would-be New York subway bomber, Najibullah Zazi, in 2009.

In an online interview with The Guardian in which he posted answers to questions, he said Zazi could have been caught with narrower, targeted surveillance programs — a point Obama conceded in his interview without mentioning Snowden.

“We might have caught him some other way,” Obama said. “We might have disrupted it because a New York cop saw he was suspicious. Maybe he turned out to be incompetent and the bomb didn’t go off. But, at the margins, we are increasing our chances of preventing a catastrophe like that through these programs.”

___

Follow Kimberly Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kimberlydozier and Donna Cassata at https://twitter.com/DonnaCassataAP?

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — BusinessWest recently unveiled the recipients of their “40 Under 40″ awards, designed to recognize those in western Mass. who are making a difference in their communities.

Tonight, the story of a professor and caregiver who is helping others lead healthier lives.

Kam Cappoccia lives to share her knowledge with others. She is an associate professor at Western New England University and Director of the Consultation and Wellness Center inside the Big Y on Cooley Street.

Cappoccia’s goal: helping others live healthier lives.

“I believe its a privilege and an honor to be able to partake in someones health and to be able to share that with the learners is very rewarding,” says Capoccia.

Capoccia is a licensed pharmacist, but directs her time to one-on-one consultations with people in need. Her facilities are donated by Big Y and patients are cared for free of charge

Cappoccia adds, “It makes my job easier. I love coming to work and being part of the community really makes it feel worthwhile in a sense of you can give back and there’s a benefit. It goes both ways.”

One of the areas Capoccia is most passionate about is the treatment of Diabetes.

“I do a lot with diabetes. Diabetes is self managed. It’s really how the person controls that disease and so education is a huge piece of that,” Cappoccia notes.

WNE allows Capoccia to devote time to the clinic. She develops one-on-one relationships with her patients and says she aims to push forward to get her message of wellness out to the community

“I am planning at continuing to do this we are looking at building a diabetes self management program that’s actually accredited by a national organization so were hoping on expanding that even further,” Cappoccia says.

The “40 Under 40″ awards ceremony is Thursday at The Log Cabin in Holyoke

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno says he’s standing by a decision to close two branch libraries and expand hours at other branches.

Following the recommendations of an outside consultant, Mayor Sarno says the Pine Point and Liberty Street libraries will be closed and re-purposed for other use.

On Monday, the city council voted 12-to-1 to urge Mayor Sarno the keep the Pine Point branch open.

“The effort to keep the Pine Point library open is being led by city councilor Clodo Concepcion, who says the people of this neighborhood will be losing a valuable and a needed service.

“That area is a poor area of the city,  all they got over there is used car dealerships , they don’t ae a park, they don’t have anything for the kids,” says Concepcion.

Mayor Sarno defends the action. “My decision is about making sure we have sustainability and maximizing our library services,” he says.

Sarno says he’s increased funding for libraries by $500,000, and that hours at other branches are being expanded from 18 to 30 hours a week.

But Clodo Concepcion says he won’t go down without a fight.

“It’s like having a sore in your foot, you’ve got to take care of it , it’s not going to go away I’m not going to allow it to go away,” says Concepcion.

Mayor Sarno says it makes no sense to keep the branches open 6 to 8 hours a week and some tough choices had to be made.

“You have to be realistic about this. I cannot be everything to all that everybody wants. We continue to have these budget constraints” says Sarno.

Meanwhile, Concepcion says a petition is being signed to save the library and a rally is being planned to oppose the closing.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — On Beacon Hill, Senate leaders are proposing a sweeping overhaul of the state’s welfare system.

Under the bill unveiled on Monday, able-bodied people would be required to seek work, first on their own and later with the help of state-sponsored job training programs, before they can collect benefits.

Senate President Therese Murray says the new welfare reform plan, will help reduce waste and abuse, and help people find jobs and get off welfare rolls.

State Senator Michael Knapik says the welfare reform bill will help give people a path to self-sufficiency.

“Holding folks accountable for the opportunity to receive public assistance. In many ways, some of it will be providing more resources and to find jobs because the job component was always supposed to be part of welfare reform. It wasn’t supposed to be a long-term way of life,” says Knapik.

But some who advocate for the poor are skeptical that the jobs will be there.

“I doubt it very much. I’ll be interested in seeing the plans,” says Michaelann Bewsee, Director of Arise for Social Justice in Springfield.

Bewsee says people want jobs and until the economy improves, the poor will be hurting.

“We have less than 50 percent of the number of recipients than we did 20 years ago. Every welfare reform proposal pushes more people off the system but it doesn’t mean there are fewer poor people,” says Bewsee.

The welfare reform bill would also require photo identification on electronic benefit transfer cards used by welfare recipients and increase the number of welfare fraud investigators.

Miley Cyrus won’t comment on her relationship with Liam Hemsworth, but she will talk openly about her stance on marijuana.

See photos of Miley Cyrus through the years

In the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone, the 20-year-old admits she thinks alcohol is worse than weed, according US Weekly. “I think alcohol is way more dangerous than marijuana — people can be mad at me for saying that, but I don’t care,” she says. “I’ve seen a lot of people spiral down with alcohol, but I’ve never seen that happen with weed.”

Read More >

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• Snoop Dogg
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• Liam Hemsworth

Who is Axe Cop? Fox has finally been given the green light to confirm that Nick Offerman is indeed providing the voice behind the upcoming cartoon superhero.

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In the battle of old money vs. new money, who will win?

On the Royal Pains premiere, Hank (Mark Feuerstein) and Evan (Paulo Costanzo) met Hamptonite Blythe Ballard (Frances Conroy), who went from a new patient to their biggest adversary yet. Before the Lawsons knew it, Blythe was presenting them with a cease-and-desist letter, ordering HankMed to stop practicing in the Hamptons immediately. But the brothers are never ones to stay quiet. With Hank dealing with his own issues stemming from his brain surgery, Evan will take it upon himself to wage war.

Royal Pains bosses, cast spill on the season premiere shocker

“One of the big arcs for the season, both narratively and emotionally, is Evan finally confronting this outsider status that he’s always felt since he got [to the Hamptons], creator Andrew Lenchewski tells TVGuide.com. “Blythe … represents everything he’s always felt rejected by — the old Hamptons guard, old money, the very exclusive tightknit elite — and he feels like this is the opportunity for him to finally be included and at the same time give voice to Hank Med’s interest.”

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Other Links From TVGuide.com

• Frances Conroy
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WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Police in West Springfield are on the hunt for a man accused of breaking into a convenience story Tuesday morning.

West Springfield Police Det. Jay Gearing says that just after 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, a man allegedly drove a van through the front door of the Quick Stop convenience store on River Street.

The suspect then went into the store, stole several items, jumped back in the van, and fled the scene.

Gearing adds that the van was last seen traveling east on Memorial Avenue.

Detectives are following several leads, but are asking for the public’s help in trying to identify the man seen in surveillance pictures.

Anyone with information can make an anonymous call to the West Springfield Police detective bureau at (413) 263-3210.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amtrak’s president says long-distance trains and some short-haul routes would be jeopardized and service in the busy Northeast corridor might have to be slowed if federal subsidy cuts proposed by a House subcommittee are realized.

Iowa Republican Rep. Tom Latham is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee. He proposed a fiscal 2014 transportation budget Tuesday that includes $950 million in operating and capital subsidies for Amtrak, nearly a third less than the railroad received last year.

Amtrak’s Joseph Boardman says the House has decided the nation should be connected by train service but doesn’t want to pay for the money-losing routes to needed to achieve that.

He says Amtrak lost $558 million on long-distance service last year but profited from its high-speed Acela service in the Northeast.

(Image Courtesy: YouTube)

Paul Carbone, chief financial officer for Dunkin Brands Group Inc., said at the Jefferies Global Consumer Conference Tuesday that the company gets asked all the time when it’s going to bring back the ad starring the perpetually tired baker who gets up early every morning to make doughnuts.

“He’s not coming back,” Carbone said, noting that the chain has shifted toward beverages, which are the “holy grail” when it comes to profitability.

Dunkin’ says the “Time to make the doughnuts” ads ran for 15 years until 1997, when the actor who played Fred the Baker announced his retirement under a giant inflatable doughnut in Boston.

The actor, Michael Vale, died in 2005.

By TOM KRISHER, AP Autos Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler says it has resolved its differences with the government and will recall older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs that could be at risk of a fuel tank fire.

Earlier this month the company refused the government’s request to recall the Jeeps. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contended that the gas tanks could rupture if hit from the rear, causing fires. NHTSA said 51 people had died in fiery crashes.

But Chrysler says in a statement Tuesday that dealers will inspect the vehicles and upgrade the rear structure if needed to better handle low-speed crashes.

The company maintains that the vehicles aren’t defective.

The government had asked Chrysler to recall 2.7 million Jeep Grand Cherokees from model years 1993 through 2004 and Jeep Libertys from 2002 through 2007

LUDLOW, Mass. (WGGB) — A suspicious package call has closed down the service plaza on the eastbound side of the Mass. Turnpike.

State Police spokesperson David Procopio says someone noticed an unattended suitcase at the plaza around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The plaza has now been shutdown and the State Police bomb squad is on its way to the plaza to conduct further testing and investigation.

No injuries have been reported.

ABC40 has a crew at the scene and we will have the latest as it becomes available.