3 Swansea firefighters have graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

Swansea firefighters Lucas Canario, Madden Huck and James Stellakis were among 22 graduates from the Call/Volunteer Recruit Class #115.

“I’d like to congratulate all three of our recruits who worked hard to complete the Call/Volunteer training program,” Chief Hajder said. “They’re now equipped with some of the foundational training they’ll need to protect life and property in the Town of Swansea.”

The graduates received certificates of completion at a ceremony held Tuesday evening.

“Massachusetts firefighters are on the frontlines protecting their communities every day, and today’s graduates are needed now more than ever,” said State Fire Marshal Jon Davine. “The hundreds of hours of foundational training they’ve received will provide them with the physical, mental, and technical skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely.”

The graduating firefighters of Call/Volunteer Recruit Class #115 represent the fire departments of Avon, Berkley, Dartmouth Fire District 1, Dartmouth Fire District 2, Dartmouth Fire District 3, Dighton, Freetown, Kingston, Lincoln, Plympton, and Swansea.

“Massachusetts Firefighting Academy instructors draw on decades of experience in the fire service to train new recruits,” said MFA Deputy Director of Training Dennis A. Ball. “Through consistent classroom instruction and practical exercises, tonight’s graduates have developed the tools they’ll need to protect their communities.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

CNN
 — 

Forty-six years after a double homicide case in western Massachusetts went cold, an unexpected tip has led to an arrest, officials announced Wednesday.

Authorities charged 71-year-old Timothy Joley with two counts of murder on October 29 in connection to the 1978 deaths of Theresa Marcoux, 18, and Mark Harnish, 20.

Marcoux and Harnish were last seen leaving a friend’s party in the early hours of November 17, 1978.

Two days later, a police officer found Harnish’s green Dodge pickup truck parked at a rest stop in West Springfield. The window on the driver’s side was damaged and there was blood in and around the vehicle. The officer found the two victims’ remains over a guardrail not far from the truck, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said during a news conference Wednesday.

An autopsy determined both victims had died of multiple gunshot wounds, and a ballistics report showed all shots had been fired from the same gun. Investigators concluded Marcoux and Harnish had been shot dead in the passenger compartment of the truck before their bodies were moved to the guardrail.

A witness who lived nearby reported hearing multiple gunshots at around 4 a.m., Gulluni said. Police never recovered a gun.

Investigators at the time found a fingerprint on the passenger vent window of the pickup truck that did not belong to Marcoux or Harnish, Gulluni said. It was entered into the Massachusetts Automated Fingerprint Identification System. It was also manually compared to around 70,000 known fingerprints, he said.

No identification was made, and the case went cold.

A break in the case came in October, when the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office received a call naming Joley as a potential person of interest. Investigators found that Joley, who resides in Clearwater, Florida, lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, around the time of the killings.

Investigators obtained a fingerprint identification card for Joley from the Springfield Police Department, which had it on file after he had been fingerprinted in 2000 for a taxicab license. A comparative analysis verified Joley’s fingerprint matched the one recovered from the murder site, Gulluni said.

“Investigators also learned that Joley was a licensed gun owner in November of 1978, and that he purchased a Colt handgun approximately one month before the murders,” Gulluni said.

The Springfield District Court issued a two-count murder complaint and arrest warrant on October 29, and authorities arrested Joley at his home in Clearwater on October 30. He is being held without bond at the Pinellas County Jail and will be moved to Massachusetts in the coming weeks, according to Gulluni.

Joley has not publicly commented on his arrest, and it is unclear whether he has an attorney.

Joley does not have a significant criminal record, the district attorney’s office said, and investigators are unaware of any motive or connection between the suspect and the victims.

Gulluni addressed members from Marcoux and Harnish’s family present at the news conference.

“I admire and respect you for your patience, resolve and the faith that I know you’ve maintained over these many years. I thank you for being here today,” he said. “While we may have crested a hill today and we can see justice in the distance, there are many more uphill battles ahead.”

He said both victims’ parents are now dead.

Massachusetts Democrat Seth Moulton isn’t the only congressman receiving blowback for saying that biological males and transgenders shouldn’t be competing in women’s sports.

More than 30 LGBTQ leaders across the country wrote a letter Friday demanding an apology from Moulton and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-New York, for spreading “harmful misinformation about our community, particularly transgender youth.”

Moulton continues to face stiff backlash after he told the New York Times last week that he’s concerned about his daughters’ safety on the playing field should they be forced to compete against transgender athletes, a subject he noted he’s not even supposed to broach as a member of the Democratic Party.

Suozzi also echoed similar comments to the New York Times after President-elect Trump won reelection: “The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left. I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports.”

Suozzi, re-elected in a swing district last week, added: “Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.”

In their letter Friday, dozens of LGTBQ leaders blasted Moulton and Suozzi for blaming their party for Trump’s victory and the Republican red wave across the country, saying the claim is “not only inaccurate but also fails to recognize the reality.”

“Americans overwhelmingly support the rights of transgender people,” the letter states. “This support is evident from the recent election of openly transgender candidates across the country, including in traditionally conservative areas.”

“Attacking the transgender community is a distraction tactic that Republicans have used time and again when they lack solutions to real problems,” it continues. “Democrats cannot fall into this trap. Instead of blaming marginalized communities, we should focus on addressing the challenges that impact all Americans, such as healthcare access, economic inequality, and public safety.

Jeremy Comeau, co-chairman of the Bay State Stonewall Democrats, an advocacy group for the LGBTQIA+ community, and a Cape and Islands representative on the Democratic State Committee, is leading the push for an apology from Moulton and Suozzi.

Massachusetts state Reps. John Moran, Jack Patrick Lewis and Natalie Higgins, and state Sens. Jo Comerford and Julian Cyr, had all signed onto the letter as of Friday morning.

The letter follows an initial demand for an apology that former interns and staffers penned to Moulton last weekend. That request also took exception to the congressman saying that pronouns in email signatures are “kind of weird.”

MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan has stated that Moulton’s comments don’t reflect the state party’s values, while Gov. Maura Healey is alleging the Salem representative of “playing politics.”

Despite the backlash, Moulton told the Herald on Tuesday that he is not anti-trans. The demands for an apology and calls for him to resign, he said, demonstrate the exact problem he was describing.

“That’s why it’s important for Democrats to win this debate,” he said. “Because, if we refuse to have the debate, Republicans will settle it on their terms and that’s dangerous for trans people and all other kinds of minorities across America.”

Originally Published: November 15, 2024 at 7:41 PM EST