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WESTFIELD — Organizers preparing for the 70th annual Westfield River Wildwater Race are launching a fundraising drive to cover the more than $30,000 in cash they need to run the event. Race Chairman Harry Rock said that while participant fees cover about half the cost of the race, cash donations and in-kind services are needed to continue the longest running canoe race in the country. He is confident the April 19 race will persevere. “We discovered last year that the fees charged participants was not enough to run the races,” he said. “We nearly had to cancel the race if not for the generosity of some supporters and businesses who stepped up at the last minute.” “This year we are starting early and looking to our supporters to step up again,” he said. Rock said organizers are creating a guide for donations. Any amount given up to $100 falls under the “Starting Line” level, while a “Rapids” designation covers any donation between $100 and $249, followed by a “Kayak” for donations of $250 to $499. The guide continues with the “Canoe” level at $500 to $999, with “Paddlers” in the $1,000 to $2,499 range, where Rock himself has contributed. “White Water” donors contribute between $2,500 and $4,999 and “Finish Line” donors are in the $5,000 and up category. So far, JL Raymaakers & Sons Inc. and Roar Inc. have again taken the lead in contributing as the first Finish Line contributors. Last year, John Raymaaker, a longtime paddler in the races, stepped up when he heard about the potential cancelation and put up $4,000 in cash, then challenged his fellow business people to get on board. They did. Champion racer Travis Wheeler started a GoFundMe page that raised over $4,000. Indian Motorcycle of Springfield added to that, as did Pioneer Valley Waste, the Wild and Scenic Westfield River committee, Westfield Bank and others. As a result of the giving, the 69th running of the Westfield River Wildwater Race was launched on time. Rock, joined by the race director, Kathryn Koegan, adopted new operational procedures to better accommodate racers’ needs. A tiered registration system will offer early registrants a discounted fee, with prices increasing as race time nears. Start times, too, will depend upon registration times. Those who register early will have the earliest launches. John Raymaaker led off the Westfield River Wildwater Race Classic Race event in April wearing a special shirt for the occasion. (Dave Canton / The Republican) Dave Canton Rock is meeting with officials in each of the communities the race passes through, smoothing over relations. “We have met with the select boards of both Russell and Huntington, great meetings with the boards, and we are pressing forward,” Rock said. “The Westfield River dominates this area. We want to know how the Westfield River Wildwater Race can increase community involvement with the race and make it better for the people who live along the race course and the towns we are in.” The race is believed to have started as a bet in the early 1950s at the Whippernon Country Club bar, formerly on Route 20 in Russell. The first race in 1953 saw nine canoes shove off on the west branch of the river at Wildcat Springs Restaurant in Chester and run 10 miles to the Whippernon. Seven canoes finished and the prize was two cases of beer. In 1965, the course was changed to its present runs, with the novice race starting at the Huntington Department of Public Works yards on Route 112 and traveling eight miles to the paper mills at Woronoco. The expert race stars at the base of the Knightville Dam and runs five miles to the rest area off Route 20 in Huntington near the Huntington Health Center. Since that first bar bet, the Westfield River Wildwater Race has seen a lot of history and a lot of evolution as tastes and technology changed how people interact with the river. Jeff DeFeo first ran the race as a lark in 1974, the year he graduated from high school. “I was lucky we didn’t get killed because we knew practically nothing,” he said Saturday. “We weren’t dressed right, and it was really cold. We ended up swimming the first four or five times we were in the race, until we figured it out.” DeFeo has participated in the race every year since and went on to become the race co-chairman in 1983. With his paddling partner, Jurgen Igel, he ran the race for 30 years. But even back then, entry fees did not cover all of the costs. “We did tag sales and golf tournaments and a couple of dances in the off-season just to keep the funding up,” he said. Later, the race attracted several corporate sponsors and their giving took pressure off, something DeFeo said needs to happen again. “We did all our own timing, all our own registration. Now they are paying for things we never had to do. They are paying way more for police,” he said. Julie Marcoulier has seen a lot of the history of the race first hand, and made some herself. After 30 consecutive races, she is the longest standing female paddler. “In 1994, John DeFeo, Jeff’s brother, took me on as a paddler and taught me and my husband how to read the river and how to use different strokes,” she said. “We ran the novice race that year.” Marcoulier was instrumental in getting more women into the races as teams. “I was coaching girls’ cross country at the Gateway High School from 2000 to 2013 and I took four or five of my runners down the river to try to get them interested,” she said. Now, her favorite partner on the river is her daughter, Jesse Marcoulier-Gladu. “For the past eight or 10 years, my daughter and I have been racing in the expert competition,” Marcoulier said. “I started with Kathy Enger as my partner and we ran a female team. Then my daughter came up and we have been racing together for the past at least 10 years.”

Poor end to the week for Greens and Reds

Game on Tesla! Stocks and the Future of Digital Game InvestmentsSchoolboys charged, CPFSA providing support to 13-y-o sexual assault victimANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's defense of the national championship has fallen woefully short. The Wolverines started the season ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25 , making them the third college football team since 1991 to be ranked worse than seventh in the preseason poll after winning a national title. Michigan (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) failed to meet those modest expectations, barely becoming eligible to play in a bowl and putting the program in danger of losing six or seven games for the first time since the Brady Hoke era ended a decade ago. The Wolverines potentially can ease some of the pain with a win against rival and second-ranked Ohio State (10-1, 7-1, No. 2 CFP) on Saturday in the Horseshoe, but that would be a stunning upset. Ohio State is a 21 1/2-point favorite, according to the BetMGM Sportsbook, and that marks just the third time this century that there has been a spread of at least 20 1/2 points in what is known as “The Game.” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore doesn't sound like someone who is motivating players with an underdog mentality. “I don’t think none of that matters in this game,” Moore said Monday. “It doesn’t matter the records. It doesn’t matter anything. The spread, that doesn’t matter.” How did Michigan end up with a relative mess of a season on the field, coming off its first national title since 1997? Winning it all with a coach and star player contemplating being in the NFL for the 2024 season seemed to have unintended consequences for the current squad. The Wolverines closed the College Football Playoff with a win over Washington on Jan. 8; several days later quarterback J.J. McCarthy announced he was skipping his senior season; and it took more than another week for Jim Harbaugh to bolt to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. In the meantime, most quality quarterbacks wanting to transfer had already enrolled at other schools and Moore was left with lackluster options. Davis Warren beat out Alex Orji to be the team's quarterback for the opener and later lost the job to Orji only to get it back again. No matter who was under center, however, would've likely struggled this year behind an offensive line that sent six players to the NFL. The Wolverines lost one of their top players on defense, safety Rod Moore, to a season-ending injury last spring and another one, preseason All-America cornerback Will Johnson, hasn't played in more than a month because of an injury. The Buckeyes are not planning to show any mercy after losing three straight in the series. “We’re going to attack them," Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said. “We know they’re going to come in here swinging, too, and they’ve still got a good team even though the record doesn’t indicate it. This game, it never matters what the records are." While a win would not suddenly make the Wolverines' season a success, it could help Moore build some momentum a week after top-rated freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan. “You come to Michigan to beat Ohio,” said defensive back Quinten Johnson, intentionally leaving the word State out when referring to the rival. "That's one of the pillars of the Michigan football program. “It doesn’t necessarily change the fact of where we are in the season, but it definitely is one of the defining moments of your career here at Michigan.” AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-pollSpecial counsel moves to dismiss election interference and classified documents cases against Trump

Google’s Online Ad Antitrust Trial In The US Draws To CloseLongest-lived US president was always happy to speak his mind

Lucknow: Municipal commissioners heading the 17 civic corporations across the state would be responsible for shortlisting the agency that would carry out civil works under the Chief Minister Green Road Infrastructure Development Scheme (CM-GRIDS). Clarifying its stance after some local bodies pointed out that the order issued in the past did not specify who would be authorised to select the best bidder among the interested ones, the urban development department stated that executive heads of the corporations would act as the final authority to recommend the agency. Under the scheme, all the 17 corporations in the state could receive up to Rs 100 crore in a financial year to develop, retrofit or remodel existing roads to make them complete for all kinds of road users. Established last year in Oct to execute the works under CM-GRIDS, work on 50 different road stretches in the state is underway under the scheme. Prayagraj, which is gearing up to host the Maha Kumbh in January, is redoing eight road stretches, the highest among the 17 cities, followed by Lucknow, where work on seven such roads is underway. Earlier, the state govt in its order stated that two separate committees would be constituted in all the civic bodies to assess the technical expertise and financial standing of the interested agency. Some officials sought clarity from the govt. While the municipal commissioner was asked to preside as chairman over the technical evaluation committee, the chief engineer was asked to head the financial evaluation committee. "It was not clear who would have the final authority to select the bidder. Municipal commissioners would have the authority to select the agency and make the final recommendation," said a senior officer. Spanning over about 85 km in length, only carriageways having a width between 10 metres and 45 metres have been taken up. As the majority of the road carriageways having a right of way over 45 metres are classified either as state or national highways, the objective was to keep only key urban roads under the project. To be different from the other urban roads, green road infrastructure has to be developed only through eco-friendly technology such as FDR (full depth reclamation) or RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement), under which primarily plastic waste is used to construct the roads.The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Josh Hill scored 26 points as Arkansas State beat Coastal Carolina 97-67 on Saturday. Hill shot 9 for 15, including 6 for 12 from beyond the arc for the Red Wolves (10-3, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference). Joseph Pinion scored 19 points while shooting 5 for 10 (4 for 7 from 3-point range) and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and three steals. Taryn Todd finished 6 of 11 from the field to finish with 13 points, while adding five rebounds and six assists. Jordan Battle finished with 20 points and seven rebounds for the Chanticleers (6-6, 0-1). Colin Granger added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Coastal Carolina. Denzel Hines also had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Arkansas State next plays Thursday against Old Dominion on the road, and Coastal Carolina will host Warner on Sunday. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .