WGGB Springfield

Springfield Receives Tornado Relief Funds

Ray Hershel — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:47:52 +0000

(SPRINGFIELD, Mass.) (WGGB)– The city of Springfield gets more financial help from the state in its tornado rebuilding effort.

When a tornado swept through Western Massachusetts last June first including parts of Springfield, it was a devastating blow.

But the community has pulled together to get back on its feet.

Springfield developed a master plan to help businesses and homeowners.

On Wednesday, Lt. Governor Tim Murray announced a 300-thousand dollar grant for Develop Springfield to help in tornado rebuilding efforts.”It’s going to help Develop Springfield continue to work with the mayor, to work with community leaders on issues around housing, on how we rebuild,” says Murray.

Progress is being made but much work remains.

City leaders like mayor Domenic Sarno say the public-private partnership has helped Springfield move forward in redeveloping the city bigger, better, and stronger,” This complements it very well, we continue to not only rebuild the city of Springfield but more importantly to re-define the city of Springfield,” says Sarno.

Develop Springfield Chairman Nick Fyntrilakis also says the state partnership has been a catalyst for Springfield to move forward,”,”This is certainly a step in the right direction, and it’s very appreciated, it’s very important to us to be able to sustain the work we’re doing, and drive the work we’re moving forward , it’s a huge help,” says Fyntrilakis.

Springfield hosted 19 community meetings .

It received feedback from thousands of its residents.

It’s a response that the lieutenant governor calls unprecedented,”Taking a stake in ownership, how they want their community, their city rebuilt ,and that’s how it’s going to get done,” says Murray.

Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Estranged Wife Mary Kennedy Found Dead

TV Guide News — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:45:02 +0000

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s estranged wife Mary Kennedy was found dead Wednesday, TMZ.com reports. She was 52.

Kennedy was found in her Mount Kisco, N.Y. home after…

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VIDEO: First Look at CBS’ New Shows Elementary, Vegas and More!

TV Guide News — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:40:04 +0000

CBS has released trailers for its new fall series Elementary, Partners and more. Check them out below.

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VIDEO: First Look at CBS’ New Shows Elementary, Vegas and More!

TV Guide News — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:40:03 +0000

CBS has released trailers for its new fall series Elementary, Partners and more. Check them out below.

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Teen Mom 2′s Jenelle Evans Is Engaged

TV Guide News — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:40:02 +0000

Jenelle Evans is engaged to boyfriend Gary Head, US Weekly reports.

Teen Mom’s Jenelle Evans’ new breasts are the “perfect size”

Head…

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Teen Mom 2′s Jenelle Evans Is Engaged

TV Guide News — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:40:02 +0000

Jenelle Evans is engaged to boyfriend Gary Head, US Weekly reports.

Teen Mom’s Jenelle Evans’ new breasts are the “perfect size”

Head…

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GI killed in Cambodia clash awarded Medal of Honor

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:30:08 +0000

President Barack Obama awards posthumously the Medal of Honor to Rose Mary Sabo-Brown, widow of Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., US Army, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Sabo was killed in 1970 in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama awards posthumously the Medal of Honor to Rose Mary Sabo-Brown, widow of Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., US Army, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Sabo was killed in 1970 in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Members of Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., US Army unit stand as they are acknowledged by President Barack Obama and audience members during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, where the president awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor to Rose Mary Sabo-Brown, widow of Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., US Army. Sabo was killed in 1970 in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

In a May 10, 2012 photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brown talks about the pride she feels for her husband, Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., as she holds a photo of him at her home in New Castle, Pa. He was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)

In an undated photo Rose Mary Sabo-Brownis shown with her husband Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. Sabo was killed in Cambodia and is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor in a ceremony next week. (AP Photo/Andrew Russell, Tribune-Review)

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WASHINGTON (AP) â” Leslie Sabo’s Vietnam War ended in the flash of his own grenade, hurled at an enemy bunker in Cambodia to save surrounded comrades. Forty years later â” and a dozen years after the long-lost paperwork turned up in military archives â” he was honored by President Obama on Wednesday with the nation’s highest award for gallantry.

Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Sabo’s widow, Rose Mary, and said doing so helps right the wrongs done to a generation that served freedom’s cause but came home to a brooding and resentful nation.

“Instead of being celebrated, our Vietnam veterans were often shunned,” Obama said in a hushed East Room. “They were called many things when there was only one thing that they deserved to be called and that was American patriots.”

Spec. Leslie H. Sabo Jr. of Elwood City, Pa., was serving with U.S. forces near the village of Se San in eastern Cambodia in May of 1970 when his unit was ambushed and nearly overrun by North Vietnamese forces.

Comrades testified that the rifleman charged up from the rear, grabbed an enemy grenade and tossed it away, using his body to shield a fellow soldier. And shrugging off his own injuries, Sabo advanced on an enemy bunker that had poured fire onto the U.S. troops â” and then, pulled the pin on his own grenade.

“It’s said he held that grenade and didn’t throw it until the last possible moment, knowing it would take his own life but knowing he could silence that bunker,” Obama recounted. “And he did. He saved his comrades, who meant more to him than life.”

After the ceremony, Rose Mary Sabo-Brown told reporters, “I know a piece of cloth and a medal won’t bring him back, but my heart beams with pride for Leslie because he is finally receiving tribute for his sacrifices and bravery,” she said.

Not long after the battle, survivors from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division filed reports attesting to Sabo’s heroism. But somehow the documentation was lost.

“The fog of war and paperwork that seemed to get lost in the shuffle meant that this story was almost lost to history,” Obama said, adding that for decades, Sabo’s family never knew of his valor.

But in 1999, Alton Mabb, another veteran from the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles” found the original paperwork at the National Archives while researching an article for the division’s magazine. A few weeks later he asked archives personnel to send him copies and began the push to get Sabo recognized.

According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, before Sabo the medal had been awarded 3,458 times since it was first issued in 1863. There are fewer than 90 living recipients.

At the ceremony, Obama recognized Mabb for his persistence.

But the biggest applause â” a cheering, standing ovation unusual for such events â” went to two dozen survivors from Bravo Company who stood to acknowledge the president’s homage.

“On days such as these, we can pay tribute,” Obama said. “We can express our gratitude that there are patriots and families such as these.”

___

Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.

Associated Press

2 Navy ships collide in Pacific; no injuries

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:30:06 +0000

SAN DIEGO (AP) â” The U.S. Navy says an amphibious assault ship and a replenishment tanker collided in the Pacific Ocean but there were no injuries and no fuel spills.

A Third Fleet public affairs statement says the collision between the assault ship USS Essex and the oiler USNS Yukon occurred at midmorning Wednesday approximately 120 miles off Southern California.

The Navy says an apparent steering malfunction occurred as Essex approached the Yukon for replenishment while under way.

Neither ships’ fuel tanks or systems were compromised, but the Navy says a full assessment of any damage is continuing.

The Essex is due to return to San Diego on Thursday after 12 years based in Sasebo, Japan.

Associated Press

Two Navy Ships Collide in Pacific, No Injuries Reported

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:19:23 +0000

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Navy says an amphibious assault ship and a replenishment tanker collided in the Pacific Ocean but there were no injuries and no fuel spills.

A Third Fleet public affairs statement says the collision between the assault ship USS Essex and the oiler USNS Yukon occurred at midmorning Wednesday approximately 120 miles off Southern California.

The Navy says an apparent steering malfunction occurred as Essex approached the Yukon for replenishment while under way.

Neither ships’ fuel tanks or systems were compromised, but the Navy says a full assessment of any damage is continuing.

The Essex is due to return to San Diego on Thursday after 12 years based in Sasebo, Japan.

Sturbridge High School Student Arrested for Threats on Facebook

Jessica Michalski — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:18:47 +0000

Sturbridge, Mass. (WGGB) – A 16 year-old male student of Tantasqua Regional High School was arrested this morning by Sturbridge Police after making threats to bring a firearm with him to school.

The threats, posted during the late evening hours Tuesday on FaceBook, were reported to police by the parent of a friend of the arrested subject.

The 16 year-old was taken into custody at Tantasqua Regional High School, by Sturbridge Police and later transported to Dudley Juvenile Court. The threats were reportedly due to conflicts the subject was having with other students at the school. The school administration was notified of this incident by police.

Police Chief Thomas Ford told ABC40 News, “Police and School officials took immediate action upon learning about the posts. A parent informed us of them. We feel that at no time were the students or faculty in any danger today.”

He was charged with violating Chapter 269, sec 14 of Mass General Laws concerning “making firearm threats toward a school.”

City of Springfield Announces Tornado Anniversary Interfaith Service

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:17:10 +0000

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Wednesday, the City of Springfield announced an interfaith prayer service to commemorate the one year anniversary of the June 1st tornado.

Clergy from different churches in the Valley will be on hand to offer prayers and testimonies of faith.

“We want to continue to offer prayers and inspiration to the leaders who are leading in the efforts of hte rebuilding of springfield. Especially the mayor of springfield and those surrounding communities, it’s important that we come together and do this,” says Timothy Paul from the Council of Churches of Greater Springfield.

The prayer meeting will start at 4:00 p.m. on June 1st at the First Church of Christ, in Court Square, in Springfield.

At 4:37 p.m. bells will chime, marking the time the tornado touched down.

Is Jennifer Lopez Leaving American Idol?

TV Guide News — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:15:01 +0000

Jennifer Lopez may be saying farewell to American Idol.

The singer-actress-reality show judge seemed…

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Davitt Bridge Closure Set for Monday

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:12:58 +0000

(File Photo Courtesy: John Suchocki / The Republican)

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB) – A new date has been set for the closure of a major bridge in Downtown Chicopee.

MassDOT spokesperson Mike Verseckes officials say that Davitt Bridge, which connects Route 116 over the Chicopee River, is now slated to close Monday, May 21.

The closure will remain in effect until around August 2014.

The project will include demoliting the existing bridge, including repairing and removing substantial portions of the concrete abutments and piers.

As part of the work, an entirely new bridge will be built in place of the old structure.

Verseckes adds that a temporary foot bridge has been built to help pedestrians cross the span while the bridge is closed.

TB patient charged in Calif for not taking meds

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:00:07 +0000

In this undated photo supplied by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office, Armando Rodriguez is seen wearing a protective mask. Prosecutors say 34-year-old Armando Rodriguez, a tuberculosis patient, has been arrested for refusing to take his medication and missing doctor appointments, and is endangering public health by not treating the airborne disease. (AP Photo/San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office)

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) â” Authorities in California took the unusual step of jailing and charging a tuberculosis patient who they say refused to take medication to keep his disease from becoming contagious.

Health officials said Armando Rodriguez, 34, of Stockton has active pulmonary tuberculosis, which can include coughing up blood or sputum and can spread through the air.

“He is noncompliant with his tuberculosis treatment and because of this there is a danger that he may become contagious and/or develop multidrug resistant tuberculosis,” Ginger Wick, nursing director for San Joaquin County, said in a letter requesting a warrant for Rodriguez’s arrest.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs.

Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday and is expected to be arraigned Thursday on two counts of refusing to comply with a tuberculosis order to be at home at certain times and make appointments to take his medication.

He will likely be appointed a public defender.

The county has had more than 30 tuberculosis prosecutions since 1984, prosecutor Stephen Taylor said. It also has prosecuted a woman accused of knowingly giving syphilis to her sex partners and refusing treatment.

Taylor said San Joaquin County is more aggressive than other jurisdictions in prosecuting tuberculosis patients to get them to take their medication.

The criminal prosecutions are an extension of the practice of medicine, he said.

“The criminal cases we’re dealing with generally involve drug users who are harder to treat and manage because the TB medicines conflict with street drugs,” he said. “We have to throw these people in jail and treat them as in-patients. They don’t cooperate as out-patients.”

Rodriguez was discharged in March from San Joaquin General Hospital with four medications for active tuberculosis and agreed to take the drugs under observation by a county health official on weekdays and on his own on weekends, authorities said.

He failed to self-administer the drugs on one day, telling a nurse he had gone on an alcohol binge and taken methamphetamine and didn’t want to hurt his liver, Wick said in her letter.

He allegedly refused to take the drugs on another day and then was not at home on three occasions and missed an appointment.

Each charge against Ramirez carries a maximum penalty of a year behind bars. In her letter, Wick said Rodriguez would need nine months of treatment.

Associated Press

Study links vets to brain disease seen in athletes

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:00:06 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) â” A small study raises more concern about the long-term consequences of brain injuries suffered by thousands of soldiers â” suggesting they may be at risk of developing the same degenerative brain disease as some retired football players.

Autopsies of four young veterans found the earliest signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in their brain tissue, Boston researchers reported Wednesday.

They compared the brain tissue of some of the youngest athletes ever found with signs of early CTE, in their teens and 20s, and concluded the abnormalities were nearly identical.

“It’s very distinctive,” said Dr. Lee Goldstein of Boston University, who led the study with Dr. Ann McKee of the VA New England Healthcare System. “You don’t see this in normal individuals.”

The research suggests that the cause of the injury, whether a blast or repeated blows, doesn’t matter â” it can trigger the same disease-causing process, said McKee, who has long studied the athlete connection.

Further experiments with mice showed that a single blast, equivalent to a roadside bomb, was enough to start the damage â” offering a model to help scientists better understand these wounds and perhaps how to treat them, the team reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

CTE is a progressive disease linked to multiple concussions. It has made headlines in recent years with the deaths of some former professional athletes, and lawsuits filed against the National Football League by others worried about the still unclear toll of a sport that can bring repeated blows to the head. Symptoms include memory problems, behavior changes including aggression, and eventually dementia. For now, only an autopsy confirms a diagnosis.

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is a signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of them closed-head injuries caused by being near an explosion. While many recover fine, others have some lasting cognitive or psychiatric symptoms â” and traditional medical exams can’t see the damage, making it incredibly difficult to diagnose what’s wrong. Additionally, scientists have long warned that many of those veterans may be at risk of long-term problems such as Alzheimer’s-like dementia.

Wednesday’s study, while very small, sheds important light on how damaging those TBIs can be even if the person walks away from the blast.

The four young veterans, ages 22 to 45, lived for a year or longer after their military TBIs, but complained of problems with memory, irritability, sleep and other issues before dying of suicide or other causes. Goldstein and McKee found their brains contained broken axons, the nerve fibers that act as the brain’s telephone system.

More surprising: Abnormal tangles of a brain protein named tau are a hallmark of early CTE, and researchers found that tau buildup in the brains of the veterans’ and the young athletes, three of them who played high school or college football and the fourth a professional wrestler. They didn’t see it in the brains of four other young men who hadn’t experienced concussions before death.

Three of the veterans had been exposed to blasts, while one had a different kind of concussion while deployed â” and all had had at least one pre-military concussion, from football, wrecks or fights.

While that begs the question of whether the blast was to blame, Goldstein said the mouse study shows a single explosion could trigger that kind of damage. Wind from a simulated blast whipped the animals’ heads like a bobble-head doll, severely shaking the brain, he explained. They experienced broken axons and blood vessels, inflammation and problems with learning and memory â” and two weeks later, were forming abnormal tau.

When the animals’ heads were immobilized, they escaped that damage, Goldstein said.

He said helmets may be crucial in protecting the skulls of soldiers and athletes, but they cannot protect the brain from that kind of rattling injury and might even worsen it by increasing the load on the neck.

Specialists not connected to Wednesday’s study caution that far more research is needed on the possible link between this brain degeneration and TBIs, especially in veterans.

Still, “they are very important findings,” said TBI researcher Dr. Amy Wagner of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

For abnormalities to begin so soon after injury triggers questions about how resilient different people are, she said: Who’s more likely to recover? How many blows are too many? What other factors could make this slow-moving disease eventually worsen?

A key next step will be for brain banks, which store donated brain tissue for research, to look more closely for CTE so scientists can learn how often it occurs and in whom, said neuroscientist Dr. Sam Gandy of New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He predicts that people who carry genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease would be more prone to lasting damage from TBI. In an editorial in the same journal on Wednesday, he suggested studying if gene testing of would-be high school athletes or military recruits might one day help persuade the most vulnerable to avoid those occupations.

McKee said her lab so far has found evidence of CTE in more than 65 athletes and veterans, ranging from the early abnormalities to profound degeneration. She now is researching how to diagnose CTE before death, perhaps with brain scans or by measuring tau in spinal fluid.

“This work raises a number of questions for researchers to explore in further studies. In particular, the animal model developed by the researchers will enable a better understanding of the brain pathology involved in blast injuries and ideally lead to new therapies to help service members and veterans with TBIs,” Dr. Joel Kupersmith, research chief at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said in a statement.

Associated Press

Healthier Food to Push Up Chicopee School Lunch Price

Nathan O'Leary — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:42:17 +0000

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB) — Come next school year, the price of a school lunch in Chicopee will go up 40 cents in order to cover the cost of federally mandated changes nationwide to make school meals more nutritious.

“Whole grain bread, fat free milk, increasing our consumption of fruits and vegetables, lower fat, lower salt intake,” said Joanne Lennon, Director of Food Services in Chicopee.

September is the deadline for all public schools in the U.S. to meet the guidelines of the federal Healthier, Hunger- Free Kids Act of 2010. It aims to increase nutrition, eliminate child hunger and child obesity.

Understanding kids are picky eaters, Lennon said Chicopee schools began introducing better foods slowly over the last couple of years.

“You can’t just throw hamburger or whole grain at them and expect them to eat it right away,” said Lennon. “So, all these changes have been implemented slowly so they can get used to these new food items.”

The act also encourages schools to buy local produce. Lennon said she’s ordered everything from potatoes to asparagus to strawberries from local farms. She’s hoping families see the increase in school lunch prices as an investment that goes beyond nutrition .

“It’s a win-win situation because it helps our local farmer,” said Lennon. “It helps our local economy. And less pollution because the trick isn’t driving from california all the way to the east coast. So, the product’s fresher and it’s got a better taste and the students can tell the difference.”

Billy Bob Thornton Talks About His New Book

Dave Madsen — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:32:50 +0000

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — From Sling Blade to Bad Santa and Monsters Ball, he is one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors.

And now Billy Bob Thornton is the author of, ‘The Billy Bob Tapes: A Cave Full of Ghosts’. I spoke with the Oscar winning actor Wednesday afternoon about opening up about dealing with OCD and dyslexia and feeling insecure. He hopes it will help others and says, “Yes, absolutely, you always hope that. If you’re able to put your own sort of problems out there if it can help someone else it’s always a great thing and there are a lot of people with those type of things.”

His ex-wife, Angelina Jolie wrote the forward to his book. He talks more about his book and his life Wednesday on Nightline at 11:30 pm, on ABC40.

World leaders set for busy US weekend of summitry

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:25:16 +0000

FILE – In this May 8, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Washington. President Barack Obama will play host this weekend to an extraordinary confluence of international summitry, with world leaders scuttling from the Maryland mountains to downtown Chicago as they grapple for fixes to Europe’s mounting economic woes and solidify plans for winding down the decade-long war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE -In this March 26, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul, South Korea. President Barack Obama will play host this weekend to an extraordinary confluence of international summitry, with world leaders scuttling from the Maryland mountains to downtown Chicago as they grapple for fixes to Europe’s mounting economic woes and solidify plans for winding down the decade-long war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE – In this May 15, 2012 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, talks to new French President Francois Hollande in Berlin. President Barack Obama will play host this weekend to an extraordinary confluence of international summitry, with world leaders scuttling from the Maryland mountains to downtown Chicago as they grapple for fixes to Europe’s mounting economic woes and solidify plans for winding down the decade-long war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

FILE – In this May 10, 2012 file photo, British Prime Minister David Cameron is seen in London. President Barack Obama will play host this weekend to an extraordinary confluence of international summitry, with world leaders scuttling from the Maryland mountains to downtown Chicago as they grapple for fixes to Europe’s mounting economic woes and solidify plans for winding down the decade-long war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Carl Court, File)

FILE – In this May 1, 2012 file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda speaks in Washington. President Barack Obama will play host this weekend to an extraordinary confluence of international summitry, with world leaders scuttling from the Maryland mountains to downtown Chicago as they grapple for fixes to Europe’s mounting economic woes and solidify plans for winding down the decade-long war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) â” More than two dozen world leaders will join President Barack Obama in an extraordinary weekend of back-to-back summits to tackle Europe’s mounting economic woes and solidify plans for winding down the decade-long war in Afghanistan.

The Group of Eight economic summit and the national security-focused NATO meeting will be infused with politics from every angle. For Obama, the summits are a unique election-year opportunity to show leadership on the world stage without having to leave the U.S.

But with some new faces around the conference tables, Obama and the other leaders will be confronted by the stark reminder of the political turmoil from Asia to Europe that cost several of their old counterparts their jobs.

Since late 2011, public frustration with Europe’s debt crisis has led to the ouster of leaders in Italy, Spain, Greece and most recently, France. Two other members of the G-8, Britain and Japan, have had leadership shake-ups since Obama took office.

Obama is fighting for his own job in a campaign expected to hinge on the economy. He has had the good fortune of being able to hold both summits this year in the U.S., allowing him to tailor the meetings around his election-year messages of expanding the economy, creating jobs and ending the war

The summit locations rotate annually for each organization.

Leaders from the world’s eight leading industrialized nations arrive in the Washington area on Friday for meetings at Camp David, the wooded presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains. Immediately following the G-8 summit, Obama and most of the other leaders will fly to Chicago Saturday evening to join other heads of state from NATO.

Obama originally planned both meetings for Chicago, his hometown. But the White House abruptly scraped those plans in March, announcing with little explanation that the G-8 would shift to Camp David.

It was an unexpected move from Obama, who rarely spends time at Camp David and has never hosted a world leader there, unlike many of his predecessors. The White House said that location would lend itself to more intimate talks. It also will keep them far from the protests that usually flare on the summit fringes.

But U.S. and other diplomats said a major reason for the switch was to appear welcoming to Vladimir Putin, who recently reclaimed the presidency in Russia. Putin planned to skip NATO because of his staunch opposition to the alliance’s planned missile defense shield, and separating the two meetings was seen as a way to give Putin cover to slip away less awkwardly.

Ultimately those efforts were in vain. In a diplomatic snub, Putin told Obama last week that he was skipping the G-8 as well in order to stay in Russia and focus on forming his government. Russia’s former president and current prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, will attend the G-8 sessions, which also include the U.S., Japan, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.

The G-8 talks are expected to be dominated by the eurozone crisis, though Obama administration officials are keeping expectations for tangible agreements low. While the health of the U.S. economy is closely linked to Europe’s stability, Obama has made clear that he has no appetite for ponying up American money to help bail out the continent.

Instead, Obama will largely play the role of facilitator, urging European leaders to balance calls for austerity, largely driven by Germany, with a growth agenda.

“This is really for Europe to sort out,” said Heather Conley, a Europe expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We are sitting on the bleachers a bit. And we are going to have to watch how this plays out with the frustration in recognizing that it will have a profound impact for the global economy and for the U.S. economy.”

Obama will have a new ally in his calls for a growth agenda in Europe, new French President Francois Hollande. But administration officials say Obama plans to caution Hollande, France’s first socialist president in 17 years, that Europe cannot abandon budget-cutting entirely.

Obama will host Hollande at the White House for a meeting Friday before the G-8 summit begins.

Hollande will be in the spotlight as the weekend of summitry moves to Chicago, where NATO will firm up plans for how the alliance will finish its shift from a combat role in Afghanistan to an advisory role next year. The alliance will also reaffirm its commitment to fully ending the combat mission in Afghanistan by 2015.

Hollande campaigned on pledge to speed up the withdrawal of France’s 3,400 troops from Afghanistan and pull them out by the end of the year. But he recently acknowledged that a fast-track pullout might force the French to leave behind some military gear, and some U.S. officials believe he is likely to try to find some wiggle room, perhaps by leaving some forces in Afghanistan in an advisory role.

The NATO-backed plan for drawing down in Afghanistan is an important part of Obama’s campaign message about the increasingly unpopular war. But Obama is not expected to announce the next steps in the U.S. withdrawal plan from Afghanistan during the summit.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be in Chicago, and NATO also has extended an invitation to Pakistan, which has a vital role in ensuring stability in the region after the U.S. and other foreign forces draw down. The invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari was a signal of rapprochement between the U.S. and Pakistan and a sign that Islamabad is ready to reopen its western border to U.S. and NATO military supplies heading to Afghanistan.

The NATO meeting also will showcase the effort to get firm financial commitments from inside and outside the alliance for support for Afghan forces. NATO argues that even the projected bill of about $4 billion annually is cheaper than the cost of war. But it is not clear that several European governments have the budget or the will to keep paying. The U.S. expects to pay much of the total, but U.S. officials say Washington cannot do it alone.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.

Associated Press

World leaders set for busy US weekend of summitry

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:25:16 +0000

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The summit locations rotate annually for each organization.

Obama originally planned both meetings for Chicago, his hometown. But the White House abruptly scraped those plans in March, announcing with little explanation that the G-8 would shift to Camp David.

Instead, Obama will largely play the role of facilitator, urging European leaders to balance calls for austerity, largely driven by Germany, with a growth agenda.

Obama will host Hollande at the White House for a meeting Friday before the G-8 summit begins.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.

Associated Press

World leaders set for busy US weekend of summitry

The Associated Press — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:25:16 +0000

Buy AP Photo Reprints

The summit locations rotate annually for each organization.

Obama originally planned both meetings for Chicago, his hometown. But the White House abruptly scraped those plans in March, announcing with little explanation that the G-8 would shift to Camp David.

Instead, Obama will largely play the role of facilitator, urging European leaders to balance calls for austerity, largely driven by Germany, with a growth agenda.

Obama will host Hollande at the White House for a meeting Friday before the G-8 summit begins.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.

Associated Press