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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 244
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2014
“The philosophies
of one age have become the absurdities of the next... .”
— Sir William Osler
75 cents
Lawmakers hold hearing on Ebola readiness here
Nurse Katie Murphy, who works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, models a standard precaution gown, outside the committee hearing room yesterday as the Legislature’s public health committee held a Statehouse hearing to assess the state’s readiness to deal with Ebola. Dr. Paul Biddinger, chief of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital, said recent federal funding cuts had impacted the ability of hospitals to train and equip their workers for public health crises. (AP Photo/ The Boston Globe, David L Ryan)
By Peter Francis Staff Writer BOSTON — Federal funding cuts have made it more difficult for the medical community to prepare for potential cases of Ebola, a Boston hospital official told state lawmakers yesterday. The Legislature’s public health committee held a Statehouse hearing to assess the readiness of Massachusetts to deal with the virus that has infected thousands in West Africa. The state has not had any confirmed Ebola cases, but a recent scare in Braintree prompted the town’s mayor to call for improved state guidelines for handling any future emergencies. In written testimony submitted to the panel, a union representing 23,000 nurses
and health care workers argued the state was not as prepared for Ebola as officials, including Gov. Deval Patrick, have declared in public statements. Dr. Paul Biddinger, chief of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital, said recent federal funding cuts had impacted the ability of hospitals to train and equip their workers for public health crises. He cited a 38 percent decline in funding to hospitals for emergency readiness that health care facilities could use to hold training exercises and purchase protective clothing. “These cuts threaten our nation’s health security,” Biddinger said. Ebola, he warned, posed “fundamentally different” challenges to the U.S. health
care system than any other disease because of its potential to disrupt hospital operations and the difficulty in relaying accurate information to patients, hospital staff and the public. Biddinger told legislators that he was not aware of any state-level budget cuts that similarly impacted readiness. The Massachusetts Nurses Association complained that its members had not been invited by the committee to share their concerns in person at the hearing. Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez, a Boston Democrat who co-chairs the panel, said nurses and other front-line health workers would be asked to appear at a follow-up session next week. “We are not prepared. We are not trained,” said Patricia Powers, an emergency room
SPIRIT WALK
See Readiness, Page 3
charges of disorderly conduct and two charges of defacing property. Three charges of vandalizing property and three charges of disorderly conduct were not prosecuted. His attorney, Dean Goldblatt, recommended fines totaling $500 but Contant also imposed surfines which brought his total penalty to $625. He was also assessed $50. Balise appeared before Judge Thomas H. Estes yesterday and was allowed to submit to facts sufficient to warrant guilty findings for two charges of disorderly conduct and two charges of defacing property. Three charges of vandalizing property and three charges of disorderly conduct were not prosecuted. The charges were continued without a finding with probation for one year. He was assessed $50. In his report to the court, Freeman expressed serious reservations regarding the defendants’ claim that the rabbits were found dead on the side of the road.
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – At-large City Councilor David A. Flaherty used City Council rules to block a request from Mayor Daniel M. Knapik for immediate consideration of a reappointment of Karin Decker, the city’s acting personnel director, for a term of 60 days beginning on Nov.3. The acting personnel director’s position terminates upon an appointment of a permanent personnel director. Knapik submitted Decker’s name later in his communication to the City Council for confirmation as the city’s permanent personnel director. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, chairman of the DAVID Personnel Action Committee (PAC), said that he FLAHERTY spoke with the Law Department to request an explanation of the reason Knapik was submitting immediate consideration of an appointment for the acting position. “I was briefed by Legal (Department) that Karin Decker’s current term as acting director will expire prior to our next (Nov. 6) meeting,” Figy said. Ward 3 Councilor Brian Hoose added that “as of Nov. 2 there will be no acting (personnel) director to supervise that department.” Under City Council rules, an immediate consideration can be blocked by the objection of a single councilor. Flaherty exercised that right last night. At-large Councilor Dan Allie asked Flaherty to retract that objection. “This is just for 60 days,” Allie said. “We need to pick our battles. This is an important position (to leave unfilled).” Flaherty said that he is objecting to the pattern of important decisions being submitted at the last moment under immediate consideration requests which, Flaherty has said in past objections, should be reserved for emergencies. “The mayor knew this was coming up and could have submitted it earlier, at our last meeting,” Flaherty said. “Yet time after time we get these requests for immediate consideration.” Figy then made a motion to send the acting appointment to the PAC, but withdrew that motion after At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan pointed out that later in the agenda Knapik was nominatng Decker for the permanent appointment. “The motion to put it into committee means nothing just to come out in two weeks,” Sullivan said. Knapik submitted Decker’s nomination for Council confirmation later in the agenda which was referred to the PAC by a 12-0 vote. Pac Chairman Figy later said the committee will interview Decker prior to the Nov. 6 council meeting and submit her name for confirmation,
See Rabbit Case, Page 3
See Councilor, Page 3
(Photo by Frederick Gore)
Southwick’s spirits to rise again tomorrow Society President Patricia Odiorne said last year’s event was very well-received and people began asking if the Spirit Walk would return. “We had a wonderful response,” said Odiorne. The idea for the event stemmed from the Longmeadow Historical Society’s Ghost Walk through that town’s old cemetery. That event takes place at night but Odiorne said Southwick’s cemetery is not as flat or smooth as Longmeadow’s and she is concerned
about having people walk through in the dark. “It’s bumpy terrain,” she said. Odiorne researched some of Southwick’s well-known, and lesser-known, residents for the walk and paired characters from the town’s past with today’s residents to portray them. This year’s spirits include Roger Moore, portrayed by Lee Hamberg, whose family See Spirit Walk, Page 3
Second suspect tried in Easter rabbit case By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The second defendant involved in a macabre Easter ‘prank’ had his day in court yesterday and received lighter penalties than his co-defendant had received in August. Joshua A. Balise, 26, of 87 Cochran St., Chicopee, and Christopher R. McHugh, 25, of 78 Corona St., Springfield were each arraigned in Westfield District Court June 20 on five charges of disorderly conduct, three charges of vandalizing property and two charges of defacing property. The charges stem from five severed rabbit heads which were found in mailboxes in the city on the Monday after Easter. Police were told that day that two rabbit heads were found in mailboxes on Pinehurst and Willis streets and, after the gruesome finds were reported in The Westfield News and subsequently by many other news outlets, three more were reported. The lead investigator, Det. Brian Freeman,
nurse at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in an interview outside the hearing room. She noted that protective gear did not prevent two Dallas nurses who treated an Ebola patient from contracting the virus, and said she was unsure how she would perform her job while wearing the bulky suits.
Councilor blocks acting appointment
Marcus Phelps, of Southwick, a spirit ghost, portrays his great-grandfather William Wallace Phelps who was born April 20, 1839 and was a practical agriculturist and businessman, in the upcoming Spirit Walk sponsored by the Southwick Historical Society. The walk will be staged from 2-4 p.m. tomorrow at the Old Cemetery on College Highway. A suggested donation of $5 for adults and children are free.
By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The ghosts of Southwick past will come to life tomorrow as the Southwick Historical Society presents its second annual Spirit Walk. The public is invited to this theatrical presentation from 2-4 p.m. at the Southwick Cemetery on College Highway where they will meet some of the town’s best-known former residents, including a returning visitor from last year.
Rep. JOHN VELIS
reports that due to the publicity the case received, a witness identified two young men who had reportedly been seen with rabbit heads on Easter morning. When Freeman spoke with the suspects, who were employed as contract delivery drivers for a Springfield newspaper, they told him that “a few days before Easter they took five dead rabbits from roads in Southwick and Granville and thought that it would be funny to cut the heads off and leave them for people to find on Easter.” Freeman reports that initially Balise said that he hit the rabbits with his car but later both men claimed to have found the dead rabbits on the side of the road. McHugh said that he rook the rabbits home and cut their heads off and then brought them to Westfield on Easter morning and the two men left them in random mailboxes as they delivered their Springfield newspapers. In August, McHugh appeared before Judge Philip A. Contant and pleaded guilty to two