Andrew E. Curto

Andy Curto's motto is "Release your inner geek" - and one way he does that is via comic books. Curto is the owner of Andy's Comics and More, a Northampton store previously known as Bob's Hobbies. Curto began working there part time in the late 1990s, and in 2004 he bought the business. Now he presides over a clientele he proudly calls his "comic and gaming geeks."

Shooting pains: Though violence doesn't always travel, aspects of Springfield's drug, gang culture echo through region

SPRINGFIELD - On a cold Friday morning, a table of candles flickered outside the house where a young mother was struck by bullets Sunday, becoming Springfield's 17th murder victim and third in a five-day spate of fatal violence. On Wilmont Street, the flowers and message were for this victim's family - to ease their loss. But Springfield's crime isn't the city's problem alone, area law enforcement officials say. While violent crime seems to stay contained within pockets in the Springfield community, the drugs, the guns, the gangs, the crime and people on the lam find their way up Interstate Route 91 to Hampshire County.

Memorial Saturday for Leslie Nyman

SPRINGFIELD - A Memorial Celebration of the life of Leslie Nyman will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, at 10 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral, 34 Chestnut St., Springfield.

The devil's in the details: Maestro takes audience on Faustian journey for Symphony opener

The red carpet that will greet concertgoers at Saturday's opening night performance by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra could have a devilish double meaning: On the program that evening will be two musical pieces by Franz Liszt based on the Faustian legend - the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil.

The Springfield Symphony's season lineup

Classical

Oct. 3: Opening night - Red carpet gala

Nov. 21: Barber and Tchaikovsky

Jan. 23, 2010: Rachmaninoff and Brahms

March 13, 2010: Mozart and Beethoven

Apr. 10, 2010: Tchaikovsky and Franck

May 1, 2010: Beethoven

Pops

Oct. 17: Dionne Warwick

Dec. 5: Traditional Holiday Pops

Dec. 6: Family Holiday Festival

Census stakes are high: Full count said to be vital to earning funding from U.S.

SPRINGFIELD - If 70,000 Massachusetts residents are not counted in the coming census, the Bay State risks losing one of its 10 congressional seats in 2010. And it could happen. Census takers in 2000, the last time the constitutionally mandated count was conducted, missed about 50,000 people in Massachusetts, according to U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst.

Cuts hit area bus funding: Valley schools face state aid cutbacks

Although public education in the Valley didn't suffer the brunt of $277 million in statewide spending cuts Gov. Deval L. Patrick announced this week, it didn't come out unscathed.