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Deliberations to continue in marathon bombing penalty phase
Invasive water chestnuts plague pond By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Conservation Commission is embarking on a project to rid the old Brickyard Ponds of water chestnuts. Not to be confused with the chinese vegetable, the Eurasian invasive water chestnut is a nuisance to water. They cover lakes, reducing light and oxygen for aquatic species, displacing food sources for waterfowl,and interfering with water recreation. Karen Leigh of the Westfield Conservation Commission said in July, local Boy Scout volunteers will begin clearing the privately owned pond of the plants.
WATER CHESTNUT INVASIVE SPECIES “I’m not a fan of using chemicals to treat the water, so we will be manually removing the water chestnits,” said Leigh. Leigh became aware of the water chestnuts last summer when local fisherman alerted her to the growing problem. “They can change the water quality,” Leigh said. “And they spread rapidly.” Leigh said one acre of water chestnuts can become 100 acres in just a year and their seeds are viable for up
to a dozen years. Because of the rapid growth and ability to live for so long, Leigh expects to remove the invasives for several years. “This will be a multi-year project and then it will become a maintenance issue,” she said. “I expect to have three good years of removal.” The volunteers will traverse one section of the pond at a time in canoes and gather the water chestnuts by See Water Chestnuts, Page 3
WSU to launch eradication program By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Conservation Commission approved a Westfield State University invasive species eradication program which will target several non-native plants causing harm to native
not what he thinks, feels, or believes.” — EMILY DICKINSON
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 122
“Behavior is what a man does,
plants. Dr. Tim Parchall of the WSU Biology Department appeared before the commission Tuesday with graduating seniors Ella McPherson and Joshua Peny to present details of the invasive plant species removal program.
The targeted property belongs to WSU and was formerly known as the Sheraton Inn on Russell Road, and contains several resource areas that fall under the jurisdiction of the commission. The land is used currently by the university for both
A Westfield State University tudent points to the damage done to a university tree by the invasive oriental bittersweet. (Photo submitted)
environmental science and biology class. McPherson and Peny performed a survey of the invasive species, such as oriental bittersweet and multiflora rose. The bittersweet is a vine that chokes native trees by growing into the canopy of the tree and effectively stealing sunlight. The multiflora rose is a ground plant that forms dense impenetrable thickets because it is armed with large thorns. Parchall said the students have developed a program for students in the future “to curb” the expansion of the invasive species by mechanically harvesting the multiflora rose and other low-growing species, and by cutting the bittersweet vines. The problem is that the roots will send up new vine shoots unless treated with a herbicide that is “painted” onto the vine at the top of the cut. “The cutting only spawns more (vines) from the roots,” Parchall said. Commission James Murphy asked if the use of herbicide will cause “lateral damage” to other plant species. The students responded that the herbicide will not be a spray, but painted onto the vines. Parchall said that a licensed See Eradication, Page 3
By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer BOSTON (AP) — Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are deliberating for a second full day Friday on whether he should be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. The jury deliberated about 8½ hours Wednesday and Thursday without reaching a verdict. Seventeen of the 30 charges Tsarnaev was convicted of carry the possibility of the death penalty. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when two pressure-cooker bombs packed with shrapnel exploded near the marathon finish line. As they deliberate, jurors must fill TSARNAEV out a lengthy, complicated verdict form that asks them to make findings on 12 aggravating factors prosecutors say support a death sentence and 21 mitigating factors his lawyers say support a decision to instead sentence him to life in prison. The 24-page verdict form is like a worksheet for the jury. It walks jurors through a process before they get to the decision on whether Tsarnaev is sentenced to death or life in prison. First, the jurors must decide whether any “gateway,” or threshold, factors exists, including whether Tsarnaev intentionally: killed the victim or victims; inflicted serious bodily injury that resulted in death; participated in an act contemplating that the life of a person would be taken; or engaged in an act of violence knowing that it created a grave risk of death so that it constitutes reckless disregard for human life. Then, they must begin deciding on the various mitigating and aggravating factors. It isn’t until Page 21 of the form that the jury is asked to check off what Tsarnaev’s sentence will be. Prosecutors told the jury Tsarnaev, 21, is a remorse-free terrorist who bombed the marathon to retaliate against the U.S. for wars in Muslim countries. His lawyers say he was a “good kid” who was led down the path to terrorism by his radicalized older brother.
Winston Warfield, of Boston, second from left, holds a placard while standing with other protesters outside federal court as they demonstrate against the death penalty, Thursday, in Boston. Jurors continue deliberations at the court Thursday to determine the fate of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: life in prison or the death penalty. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Governor presses Boston Olympic bid organizers on planning By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker again appears to be showing impatience with the progress of Boston’s Olympic bid organizers in completing a detailed plan for hosting the 2024 Summer Games. The governor told reporters at the Statehouse on Thursday that the Boston 2024 group needs to release the plan within the next month to allow enough time for public discussion of it. He noted the group faces a mid-September deadline to formally notify the International Olympic Committee of the city’s bid, with a formal presentation to the IOC due in January. “If you work the clock back from when the final presentation has to be made and you allow an appropriate time for the public to vet this issue, I think it’s important that sometime soon there be a plan that people can review and then discuss,” Baker
said. Boston 2024’s chief executive, Richard Davey, has said the group expected to release next month a revised plan that will include specific details on key items such as the Olympic Stadium and athletes’ village as well as other smaller venues where events could be held if Boston hosts the games. “We’ve been working really hard on the detailed plan,” Davey, a former state transportation secretary, told The Boston Globe on Wednesday. In March, Baker also complained of “unanswered questions” and slow progress by Boston 2024, a nonprofit group, in finalizing key elements of the Olympic bid, including venues. The Republican governor and Democratic legislative leaders later announced plans to hire an outside consultant to independently analyze the Olympic bid and advise state
government on whether the effort could place an unfair burden on taxpayers. Baker indicated on Thursday that a consultant would be named shortly. Boston was tapped by the United States Olympic Committee in January as the U.S. bid city for the
2024 Olympics. Public opinion polls have pointed to some skepticism among Massachusetts residents about the wisdom of hosting the games, and organizers have promised to abide by the results of a statewide referendum likely to be held in November 2016. The IOC is scheduled to make its selection in 2017, with Rome, Paris and Hamburg, Germany, among other likely contenders. 2020 host contract the last under old Olympic bid process Meanwhile in Denver, the U.S. Olympic Committee released a copy of the host city contract for the 2020 Tokyo Games — a boilerplate document that will be outdated when Boston, Rome, Hamburg and other cities prepare their bids for the 2024 Olympics. The contract is filled with stipulations a city must fulfill to host the Summer Games — including security, agreements not to sue the IOC,
and an outline of the very important marketing agreements. But the template is being altered now that a new bidding process is in place. Leaders in Boston said they have reviewed the 2020 contract but they did not make it public because it wasn’t their document. The USOC released it Thursday. It was virtually identical to the boilerplate material for previous Summer Olympics that all candidate cities sign. The USOC gave the 2020 document to Boston and other cities when they were considering bidding for 2024. But since that contract was written, the IOC has adopted Agenda 2020 in an attempt to streamline the bidding process and make the Games less expensive and unwieldy. “Because the template was created prior to the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020, it is not a reliable model for the 2024 Host City See Olympic Bid, Page 3