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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 183
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2016
Aviation Maintenance Technology takes another step towards FAA certification By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were on site Wednesday at the Westfield Technical Academy’s Aviation Maintenance Technology (WTA AMT) program to determine that WTA has the equipment and tooling required to be an FAA-certified AMT. Rob Lenert of the FAA, who was inspecting a mock-up simulator of aircraft electrical systems with Boeing technical rep R.J. Horacek, a parttime coordinator of the program and Juan Navarrete, an air worthiness inspector for Gulfstream who serves as a substitute teacher, said there are many steps that have to be conducted in the certification process. “The school is doing a fine job of meeting those requirements, but we still have a ways to go yet,” Lenert said. He pointed to all of the different mock ups in the classroom simulating aircraft systems that are used for training, and noted that the program also has aircraft in the hangar at Barnes Regional Airport that are used in the training process. AMT Advisory Board chairman Ken Dromgold, a commercial pilot who flies for Janus out of Bradley and Board member Chris Bigelow of Barnes Air National Guard, both of whom helped to set up the program, were available to talk while instructor Galen Wilson was busy answering questions from inspectors. Both were obviously proud of the progress of the program, which has taken 3 ½ years from inception to now. “We set some pretty lofty goals, and we’re ahead of those goals,” Bigelow said. “We’ve been lucky that Kenny (Dromgold) reached out to hard-charging individuals in the aviation industry.” Bigelow said the inspections validate the legitimacy of the program.
Pumpkin Valley Farms owner Stan Brzoska stands with his enormous corn field in the background. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Dagmar Kelly, a regular customer at Yellow Stonehouse Farm poses in the open field at the farm with her flowers. (Photo by Greg
Greg Fitzpatrick)
Fitzpatrick)
Farms in the community dealing with the effects of mother nature By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent WESTFIELD – Whether it is fruit, vegetables, or flowers, many farms and gardens in the community have had to deal with the recent wrath of mother nature. The heat wave that has affected the Western Massachusetts area and was reaching upwards of 90 degrees, has made itself known to the farming and gardening communities. With the high temperatures and little rain becoming a constant, a drought has formed. Despite the fact that most farms and gardens are always focused on being successful with their crops, they have now had to take some time to adjust with the continuous dry season.
Yellow Stonehouse Farm in Westfield has been preparing for issues like heat waves and droughts to occur as they have been irrigating since May. Yellow Stonehouse also uses the nearby brickyard brook as a water source. Although farms like Yellow Stonehouse have put in the proper preparation for possible problems arising during the summer, sometimes no kind of preparation can fully stop heat waves and droughts from becoming a powerful effect on farms. “It slows everything down,” said coowner of Yellow Stonehouse, Connie Adams. “Once it rained everything just dropped.” As Yellow Stonehouse prides itself on providing certified organic produce to cus-
tomers, constant irrigation is crucial. Adams as well as co-owner John Keilsh, noted that every specific spot of the farm is irrigated once a week and irrigation is done five times a week in total. Less than a half mile away from Yellow Stonehouse, on Russellville Rd, Kosinski Farms has had their own way of dealing with the sudden heat wave and drought. Being that their top crops during the summer season are blueberries and corn, Kosinski has closely irrigated those crops as well as irrigating 50% of their vegetables. Sometimes the unfortunate part of heat waves and droughts is that certain crops See Farms, Page 3
Numbers show good signs for the water restriction in Southwick
See Aviation, Page 3
(L-R) AMT Advisory Board member Tom Trudeau, FAA inspector Kevin P. Godbout and new AMT assistant instructor Krysten Renihan at the inspection on Wednesday.
Westfield Home & Garden Kosinski Farms employee Assistant Manager Peter Elisa Kosinski is holding a Rizzo poses near the many box of their blueberries. flowers they have had on display all summer. (Photo by (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Southwick DPW Director Randy Brown sits in his office and discusses the progress being made with the water restriction in town. (Photo
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – Just after July 1, Southwick had a mandatory town water restriction put into effect. The restriction meant that residents would only be able to use their outdoor water once a week before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. The one day a week would be determined by living either on the North or South side as well as even and odd number properties. As it has been about a month since the ban, time has been able to tell how the new restriction has put an effect on the community. “I think it’s been received fairly
well,” said Southwick DPW Director Randy Brown. Brown said that the high majority of people have been following the mandatory ban but have reported on a small amount of people being firsttime offenders. A big reason why Brown says he has found out about some people not obeying the restriction is based on hearing it from concerned citizens in the community. The DPW has received phone calls from people making note of others who either haven’t been complying with the ban or just simply haven’t See Southwick Water, Page 3
by Greg Fitzpatrick)
(Photo by Amy Porter)
Huntington man charged in Westfield break-in By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—A local man was arraigned this week on 11 charges at Westfield District Court, stemming from an alleged robbery from a local funeral home. Igor Y. Goretskiy, 33, of Huntington, was held at the Hampden County House of Corrections on $15,000 cash bail or $150,000 surety after being arraigned on Aug. 2. Goretskiy faces 11 charges, including four counts of larceny of a firearm, breaking and
entering into a building at night, a motor vehicle and a safe, receiving over $250 worth of stolen property and larceny over $250. According to court records, Goretskiy was employed at Firtion Adams Funeral Home in Westfield, for about a year, beginning sometime in 2015 and ending in November of the same year. During this time, police alleged that he had a key to enter and exit the business. Court records alleged that while working there, Goretskiy assisted the business owner in moving a 500
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to 700 pound safe into the basement. The safe held approximately $40,000 to $50,000. Also in the basement were two rifles and a shotgun, according to records. On Feb. 25, police received a report from the funeral home’s owner that the safe, along with the guns, were missing. The items allegedly went missing on Feb. 23, and was captured on surveillance video provided by the Firtion Adams Funeral Home owner. The video alleged to have shown a white male matching the descrip-
tion of Goretskiy breaking into the building and a vehicle outside, then loading what appeared to be a safe into the back of a car. On Feb. 25, police records said they searched Goretskiy’s parent’s home where they allegedly found multiple items reported missing, including two rifles, a safe and a $1,000 money band. Police obtained a search warrant for the safe, which is where they allegedly found, among other items, several boxes of various ammunition, a handgun, six stacks of heroin bags and a box of
money that totaled $32,250. Additionally, the police record reported that police found a vehicle in Holyoke on Feb. 23, that allegedly matched the description of the vehicle that was seen in surveillance footage of the breaking and entering. The vehicle also reportedly had multiple scratches and dents that police alleged matched damage a 500- to 700-pound safe would do. The vehicle was initially reported stolen Feb. 18 from West Springfield. Goretskiy is due back in court Sept. 2 for a pretrial hearing.
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