may 16, 1874 a reservoir dam gave way in western massachusetts to a nation in and tidal wave that was between 20 and 40 feet high and 300 feet wide and came down a 14-mile valley swept through williamsburg williamsburg, skinnerville, florence and new hampton. to give a sense of the power to appreciate the time it took to pass through portions of the valley. in the lower portion the land was turned into a plane and it took an hour and a half to fled northampton to flood into the connecticut river. in the of the region's the 600 million gallons of water went through a williamsburg williamsburg, skinnerville and hated bill 15 minutes each. the worst industrial disaster at the time. over $1 million of property damage was sustained almost a hundred people left homeless and 139 were killed my input book is about the only village not be built skinnerville and william skinner. what set his story apart is the success and he achieved after the disaster. skinnerville had the worst destruction, it was obliterated from the face of the earth and a one. left, his house was the only one left standing

incredible advocate for his constituents, for their industries, and for the way of life of western massachusetts. he was a very special member of this institution. he began his career in the massachusetts state legislature. he has dedicated the largest portion of his life to serving the public, to serving ordinary citizens. and he is going to be sorely missed. he made a huge difference in the lives of the people of massachusetts and our country. and i just want to say that from our entire delegation, but from the entire congress, that he is definitely going to be someone who is irreplaceable in this institution. at this point, i would like to reserve the balance of my time and to recognize the gentleman from western massachusetts, mr. neal. mr. neal: mr. speaker, i want to thank mr. markey for his -- for allow noge participate in this special order tonight and to speak on two very valued members of the massachusetts congressional delegation and to speak of two members who have had a profund influence on not just the politics of massachusetts but the important policies of massachusetts. some year

new york, connecticut, western massachusetts, we should pick up about 3 inches out of this storm. >> all right, dylan, thanks so much. >>> coming up -- a million-dollar t-rex smuggling ring. >>> adam lanza's dna will be studied. >>> plus, who are hollywood's most bankable stars. you'll find out. you're watching first look on msnbc. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you

with small groups of individuals saying enough is enough like this group of individuals and western massachusetts who gather in an attempt to stop bank of america from executing yet another foreclosure auction. the fact since i have five back to. a lack of government regulations gave banks enough rope to operate like cowboys in the wild west and they responded by lassoing homeowners with these predatory lending practices when the housing bubble burst bank of america got bailed out and those with underwater mortgages were sold out so that c.e.o.'s like brian moynihan could collect the year end bonus of over nine million dollars a week lou with that they have enough money to pay for a reasonable war gauge at today's values so this is something that all of can stand behind we believe that when folks have you know a home that they should be able to stay in that home and it's not like they're not willing to pay this is the weirdest movement i've ever worked in this way and the foreclosure movement because we are begging people to take money and they won't take it of course occupy hardly invented forec

east to west and western massachusetts, and west to syracuse. that's the audience sort of circumference that we work with. so when you go back, and you find a general population quite proud of albany's connections to henry james and irwin or even bread heart, a story writer, or just, you know, a little bit further east over to emily dickinson or a little bit further south to say hi to the friend walt witman or edith gourdman. when you have the sense of the cultural heritage, it helps to amplify writers own senses about being part of a larger story. through the whole sense of little rare tradition. there's this rich ground that is here already. and then the writer's institute comes in and becomes a beacon, it becomes a magnetic pull, it becomes a resource to make the rest of that -- [inaudible] but becomes something that feeds the whole system. it gives fuel it's fuel to the fire of peoples' imaginations, and it's very rewargd to -- rewarding to see that and encounter that. to see people in the writing workshop really catch fire with the own crea

and west into western massachusetts and syracuse that's the audience sort of circumference that we work with. so we go back and we find a general population so proud of the connection to henry james and bret harte and just a little bit further east to emily dickinson and a little bit further south to say hi to an old friend walt whitman they have this sense of the cultural heritage. it helps to amplify the writers sense of being a part of the larger story which is very important. it is a whole sense of the literary tradition. so there is this rich ground that is here already and then the writers institute comes in and becomes a begin debate could begin -- beacon and resources nothing else and the rest of that sounds too high but it becomes something that feeds the whole system. it gives fuel, fuel to the fire of people's imaginations and it's very rewarding to see that, to encounter that and to see people in the writing workshops to catch fire with their own creativity because the have been given stuff to work with. they've been challenged by excellence. .. >> tell us about the reasons

yado, the writer's colony there and writers' groups in hudson, new york, east and west into western massachusetts and west to syracuse. that's the audience sort of circumference that we work with. so when you go back and you find a general population quite proud of albany's connections to henry james and herman melville or even brett hart -- a story writer -- or just, you know, a little bit further east over to wave to emily dickenson or a little bit further south to say hi to our old friend walt whitman or edith wharton. when we have this sense of the cultural heritage, it helps to amplify writers' own senses of, you know, being part of a larger story which i think is quite important for the whole sense of literary tradition. so there's this rich ground that's here already. and then the writer's institute comes in and becomes a beacon, it becomes a magnetic pull, it becomes a resource if nothing else, and it may make the rest of that sound too high that luten. but it becomes something that feeds the whole system. it gives fuel. it's fuel to the fire of people's imaginations. and it's very reward

the hill towns of western massachusetts, of which skinnerville was one, were known for their long winters. in the year 1874, it had been no exception. it had snowed for days at the end of april with heavy storms paralyzing the countryside. and can there was still snow on the ground in patches. but for the moment in that sun-streaked car, skinner was miles from any lingering wintrywet. outside the sky was clear, the tracks were clear x he was rapidly winding down one of the most rewarding business trips he'd ever had. skinner had just been hailed as a pioneer in his field. his speech was highlighted in the papers, and his industry was considered to be one of the most exciting in american. furthermore, his store downtown was filled with activity. he'd just hired a new salesman, a strapping young man named fred warner, and he was getting ready to expand his business again. skinner wanted to branch out into the manufacture of a thread use today make ribbons which were increasingly the rage. skinner already had the requisite machinery on hand, had apparently e represented an addition to his mi

east and west into western massachusetts, west to syracuse. that is the audience, sort of circumference we work with so when you go back and you find a general population quite proud of albany's connection to henry james and herman melville or bret harte or a little bit further east, emily dickinson or further south, say hi to our old friend walt whitman or edith wharton, when we have this sense of cultural heritage, it helps to amplify the writer's own sense of being part of a larger story, quite important through the whole sense of literary tradition so there is this ridge crowd that is here already and the writers institute comes in and becomes a beacon, a magnetic pull, it becomes a resource if nothing else. it becomes something like -- that feeds the whole system, it gives fuel to the fire, and rewarding to see that and encounters that and see people in our writing workshops really catch fire with their own creativity because they have been given stuff to work with, they have been challenged by excellence that they have been able to see t

this is saturday, tonight, even though it's not snowing now in boston, it is snowing in western massachusettsnew england, be prepared for heavy snow tonight and into tomorrow morning. might be a good night to stay in by the fire. this low is going to bring substantial snow to the region. notice the cape and the islands going to see a little bit more wintry mix as you get that ocean influence. then by sunday, the low is pushed to the north. even though we've seen heavy snow recently from maine, you're go to get hit again, one-two punch with the snow hitting northeast. behind it, temperatures are colder. you see the wrap-around effect, temperatures in the 20s in the upstate area. traveling, i mentioned the delay in philadelphia. we're also anticipating delays across the country, cincinnati, atlanta, also los angeles, looking at wet weather moving into the west coast. coast to coast we have rain, snow, we have fog, a little bit of everything for this saturday in between christmas and new year's. >> snow definitely a headache -- a headache to travel in. nice to watch. it certainly looks pretty fa

holyoak is a city in western massachusetts with a population of about 40,000 people. from the late 19th century until the mid 20th century, it was the world's biggest paper manufacturer. in fact, at one point there were 25 paper mills in operation in holy oak, and that's how it got its nickname, the paper city. however this industrial city's fortunes end when the paper mills closed and holy oak now has 1/3 of its population living below the poverty line. the public library project is currently under way and involves renovating and expanding the 110-year-old library and transforming it into a 21st century education and training center. . for many years there hasn't had funding to maintain itself and it has deteriorated. nearly 40% of the interior is nearly compromised or inaccessible to the public. but thanks in large part to new markets, tax credit financing, the holyoke public library is currently being renovated and inowe advised and will provide critical public access to computers and the latest technologies. new market tax credits is a good example of how public a

well, have lingering snow showers, in up state new york and portions of vermont and western connecticut and massachusettsverall, the storm system pretty much over and done with, the wind will continue to die down and temperatures, will be chilly behind the storm. midwest, southeast, quiet for today and as we head westbound we still have big time issues out here, we have rain, wind and also, mountain snow, and, feet of snow expected along the s sierra nevada. not good for people traveling on the mountain passes, today and even tomorrow, a prolonged period of time we'll be dealing with unsettled weather out west and the stormy weather will not end as we head into monday, expecting more bad weather as we kick off the week with christmas eve monday and christmas day on tuesday, right around the corner. temperatures are much colder across the midwest, 28 in minneapolis and 31 chicago, new york city, feeling like december, 38° as you head out the door an raleigh, north carolina. look at the temperature, 46 degrees, a chilly day for you guys out there. 60s in texas and out west, nothing really too unusual but a

pennsylvania, virginia, massachusetts had quite a good sized population, north carolina was growing by leaps and bounds. people went south through pennsylvania and virginia into the western part of north carolina. -- the population centers were the biggest in pennsylvania, virginia, massachusetts, north carolina. what i call the vanguard colonies or massachusetts, connecticut, virginia, and south carolina. not new york and pennsylvania, important as they were, because they were too divided. there were not out in front in the patriot cause. they were divided. the vanguards of out in front. >> to 0.6 million. million. what about the ones who were not quite? >> 50,000 blacks. 450,000 black slaves. >> who was responsible for bringing black slaves to america? >> a lot people. a lot of people who regretted they had. a lot of the merchants brought slaves and later made pledges against it. the british and the french had the largest organized slave trade. a number of the people in the colonies were slave traders and anomaly british at the time. >> how many other countries had people's forces, military, in and around the colony's? >> the spanish were present in the caribbean and w

massachusetts had a good size population. west virginia was growing by leaps and bounds as people went south through pennsylvania and virginia to the western part of north carolina. a lot of the colonies were very small. so they had no real impact in bringing a revolution about. new hampshire and rhode island to a certain extent. new jersey and georgia was very small in population. what i call vanguard colonies were massachusetts, connecticut, virginia and south carolina. not new york and pennsylvania, important as their word, because they were too divided. the vanguards were out in front. the vanguards were out in front. >> what were the 500,000 that were not white? >> blacks, free blacks, 50,000 may be. black slaves, 450,000. >> who were responsible for bringing the black slaves to america? >> a lot of people. a lot of people who regretted that they had. a lot of the merchants were quakers bringing slaves in. and then there would not do that after a certain point. in the beginning they were. the british and the french had the largest organized slave trade. a lot of people in the colonies were slave traders, too, but there were nominally

massachusetts. saratoga. of course battles and -- off the coast of georgia and panels in canada, and in the -- battle some western europe's, but the majority of battles are fought here. the interesting, the really interesting thing to me is that most of the battles fought here, the big battles are lost, losses the really incredible achievements, logistical achievements are evacuation's. and those -- said that is proline number one reason that we don't celebrate this area in full force. >> the other x loughner side. about 8,000 americans were killed in action. >> but a 11,000 tiny and the prison ships. >> most of those are new york. 7,000 prisoners apparently perished. >> at think that to prison ships better off what is now the brooklyn navy yard, to prison ships have something like 11,000, it's an estimate. people bynum. and again, that points. they're not the people who you would necessarily build a giant memorial for singularly. but, yes, those prison ships, washington protested the malta the war. people on the ships were not being fed, barely being fed to my dying and the ships. and if you got off, if you were

western pennsylvania and ohio. it looks like some of our highest snowfall totals will be across southeastern massachusetts today.oast, the carolinas, will fade by this afternoon. it is heavy across eastern north carolina right now. and right in the middle of the country we are looking at nothing but sunshine. but nothing but cold either. temperatures only in the mid 20s and more rain making its way on shore across the west coast. lighter showers in seattle, heavier rain back into californiant >> well the snow's getting a little bit of a late start. once it getses here, we think this is what it will be. a dusting to 2 inches around the city. 2 to 4 inches north and west. >> that is your latest forecast. erica? >> thanks. >>> still to come, from the queen's diamond jubilee to news of an heir on the way, we'll look at quite an eventful you're for the royal family. >>> next, do you ever wonder where that christmas gift you returned really ends up? we'll show you. ( ♪ ) for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the days when you get a sudden call from the school, be ready. for the times you need

massachusetts and concord lexington and of course saratoga. and of course there are battles off the coast of georgia and battles in canada and western europe, all over the place but again the majority of battles are fought here. the really interesting thing to me is that most of the battles fought here, the big battles are lost, they are losses and the really incredible achievements, logistical achievements are migration. so that is probably the number one reason that we don't celebrate this area in full force. >> the other extraordinary thing you say is 8000 rebels were killed in action. 11,000 died in the prison ships. most of those are in new york. one ship has 7000. >> i think a total of the two prison ships that are off now the brooklyn navy yard two prison ships had something at 11,000 people that died on them. again they are not the people who you would necessarily build a giant memorial singularly. those prison ships, washington protests them all through the war. the people on the ships, they were not being fed and they were dying on the ships. if you were an officer or you had some money, but if you are neither of those things, then yo

western markets that had already cleared their backlog. nonjudicial states for fu foreclosures. here in the northeast we've got connecticut, massachusettsk to do here. >> it's a very fractured market. >> totally. >> take a look at phoenix. what happened in phoenix, it's up 22%? >> it's off the bolt up. if you look at where it was in '05 we've only really recovered about a third of what we lost. >> how much do the banks fight back on this tax issue? on the mortgage deduction issue? if it gets -- if it actually gets on the table. >> it's not just the banks. everybody in that business will fight back. the whole mortgage industrial complex as we call it, right? but at the same time, the congress has to look for revenue. >> right. >> that's the one issue. and i think also you're going to go back to something my friend josh riser's been saying for years. we maybe should turn it into a credit, get people to build equity in their house instead of leveraging it off interest. i think that would be a good way to change that model. encourage people to stay in their home. we were one of the first shops to start modifications because it's better for

western water supplies. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise -- rhode island -- for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? rhode island. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, our country is facing a critical financial deadline in just 19 days. while democrats are offering solutions to raise revenue and cut government spending, the house republican leadership still refuses to take action on something we all agree on, extending middle-class tax cuts. we need to give-class families in my state of rhode island and across the nation the certainty they will not see a tax increase at a time they can least afford it. i have heard from hundreds of rhode islanders who want to protect social security. working parents who want to extend tax cuts for the middle class. and t