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WEATHER TONIGHT
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
Cloudy. Low of 37.
— HENRY FORD
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 81
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–The Whip City Crew has raised enough money and is ready to participate in this year’s Relay for Life at Westfield State University. The team is made of 16 members from various departments in city hall, and is co-captained by Westfield mayoral assistants Leanne Cloutier and Gerri Riga. The Whip City Crew was able to raise over $1,000 for the Relay for Life in Westfield, which is the fourth annual installment of the event at WSU. The event happens in the Woodward Athletic Center at WSU, on Friday, April 7, starting at 6 p.m. “We wanted to promote team bonding in city hall and bring people together for a great cause,” Cloutier said. “It’s a great event.” The Relay for Life is an overnight team fundraising event where participating teams have members walking around a track or designated area, with at least one member on the path walking at all times. This represents the fact that “cancer never sleeps,” according to the Relay for Life website. Teams also set up unique booths and tents for their teams, where additional fundraising can occur. Some notable set-ups in other Relay for Life events include barbeques, dunk tanks and games. During the event, there are also ceremonies and events to honor those who have battled or are battling cancer.
Movie scenes filmed in Westfield By PETER CURRIER WSU Intern ’17 WESTFIELD – Making a movie is no simple task, and outside Hollywood, nobody knows this better than Grace Giffune and her crew of New York University students. Giffune is a senior at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Westfield native working on her senior thesis. However rather than spending days on end typing away at a word document, she spent a week in March sitting behind a camera directing a short film. The film, titled Unprotected, tells the story of Shay, a pregnant 17-year-old who does not know who the father is begins to develop superpowers. Rather than film on campus in New York, Giffune chose to do See Scenes, Page 3
75 cents
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017
City hall to have presence at Relay for Life
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”
CINDY HARRIS
DAVID FLAHERTY
City Council tackles long agenda Transit pavilion almost ready for public By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The city’s soon-to-be unveiled transit pavilion officially has a name and a ribbon-cutting date. The new John Olver Transit Pavilion for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) on Arnold Street will be opening its doors for the public on April 28. This date will include a ribbon-cutting that will include several noted local and state-level politicians, according to Westfield city advancement officer Joe Mitchell. According to Mary MacInnes, administrator for the PVTA, the final cost of the project totaled $3.65 million. The pavilion is expected to service around 650 riders a day during the academic year and about 245 during the non-academic portion of the year. The pavilion’s namesake is former Massachusetts US Rep. John Olver, who Mitchell credited with helping to create the pavilion through funding acquisition. He also said that Olver’s actions got a bulk of the funding for the project. “He was very much into this subject matter and he had a lot to do with the funding of the transit pavilion,” MacInnes said of Olver. “He did a lot of other things for PVTA as well, so I thought it was important to acknowledge him.” Olver served as representative of the first congressional district in Massachusetts from 1991 to 2013. Olver did not seek reelection for the position since the first congressional district was lost following the 2010 US Census. Previous to his service as a US representative, Olver served in the Massachusetts senate and house, and was also previously a professor of chemistry at the University of Massachusetts. According to MacInnes, this will be the first designation of any building in honor
of Olver in the PVTA. There is another transit facility in nearby Greenfield which was also named in honor of Olver, but that belongs to the Franklin Regional Transit Authority.
See Long Agenda, Page 8
Term extension of mayor to go on city ballot By AMY PORTER Correspondent Westfield – The final item on the agenda at the City Council meeting on Thursday was a motion by Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy to place a nonbinding question on the City Election ballot on November 7, to read: “Shall the City of Westfield extend the term of Mayor from 2 years to 4 years.” “This is the outcome of numerous L&O (Legislative & Ordinance) meetings over 18 months,” Figy said. He said there was a general consensus to move the term of mayor from two to four years, which he called “not a bad idea.” He also said the general feeling was See On The Ballot, Page 8
City Council accepts gift of Eagle Scout project
Life scout John Peloquin and asst. scoutmaster Heidi Trottier of Troop 821, Blessed Sacrament. (Photo by Amy Porter)
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – The City Council tackled a long agenda on Thursday with determination and little dissent, approving most items unanimously, and sending many others on their way to sub-committee review. Among the items approved unanimously with no further discussion was a resolution for the City of Westfield to enter into a Host Community Agreement with HEKA Health. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy said the Legislative & Ordinance committee recommended 3-0 to support the agreement for the medical marijuana business, calling it a good deal for the city, with 3% revenue, and a 1% infrastructure fee for the lifetime of the business. Figy said the infrastructure fee will cover paving on Sgt. T.M Dion Way and possibly a traffic light the first year. He said although the business is not-forprofit, the city will be collecting taxes. He said there is a potential for 300 employees at the company.
Large crowd attends W.A.R.M. community gathering
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – During his briefing to the City Council prior to the meeting, Mayor Brian P. Sullivan submitted a resolution for the acceptance of a gift for playground enhancements at Southampton Road Elementary School. He then invited Westfield High School junior John Peloquin to address the City Council about the project. Peloquin, who is seeking to attain
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent WESTFIELD – W.A.R.M. (Welcoming and Assisting Refugee Ministry) held another community information session on Thursday night at the First Congregational Church in Westfield. Aida Mansoor, who was the guest speaker for the event, spoke to a crowd of 60 or more people. The topic was called “Learning About Islam and Muslims’ – a clarification of the basic tenants of Islam and the way of life of its followers. Mansoor is a board member and past president of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut. In 2011, she received the Human Relations Award for the National Conference for Community and Justice.
See Eagle Scout, Page 3
See W.A.R.M., Page 8