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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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VOL. 82 NO. 305
“Poverty
is the mother of crime.” Marcus Aurelius
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013
STORIES 2013:The Year in
75 cents
Northamptom crash kills Westfield man By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man died Friday afternoon in an automotive crash in Northampton. Charles “Carl” Pierce, 84, of Westfield had been operating a vehicle in Northampton on North King Street Friday when it was struck on the driver’s side by a pickup truck, a spokesperson from the Northwestern District
Attorney’s office reported this morning. The operators of both the vehicles were alone at the time of the crash and both were transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where Pierce was pronounced dead. The other operator, who was not identified, was reportedly treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
Northampton District Court
Westfield nurse accused of stealing nearly $10k Brian Barnes, manager of Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, left, checks one of the runway lights along the new $15.6 million 9,000-foot runway with Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik, center, and City Advancement Officer Jeffrey Daley during a tour this fall. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
Projects improve airport By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A number of significant projects are improving Barnes Regional Airport, making it safer and more desirable for further development in both aviation and industry. A major airport improvement project, at a cost of $16.7 million, was the rehabilitation of the main runway, 2-20, which was completed in the late fall. A dedication ceremony with airport, city and state officials was held on Nov. 25. “To be able to pull off a new runway in this economy is amazing,” Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said. “All of the pieces of the airport puzzle are coming together, and better days
are ahead.” Airport Commission Chairman Joe Mitchell said the runway rehabilitation project was a truly collaborative undertaking involving city, state and federal agencies. “It was made up of a combination of funding from the City of Westfield, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the National Guard Bureau, and the Federal Aviation Administration,” said Mitchell, before adding that the final price tag was four million less than the $20 million estimate of the project. “This project will maintain the viability of this airport, the economy it supports, and the city, for the next 50 years,” Mitchell said. “I’ll See Airport, Page 3
City scrambles to regulate medical marijuana By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD- The City Council voted to impose a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana facilities in the city at its June 6 meeting and must adopt local legislation to regulate that new industry by May 1, 2014 or until a local ordinance is put into place. The citizens of the Commonwealth approved a referendum to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes and the law went into effect in January, before the state Department of Health could provide regulations to control
establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, marijuana growing facilities and other aspects of the new law. The city cannot ban those facilities outright, but it can identify certain zoning districts and establish other requirements, such as 1,000foot buffers from churches, schools and other institutions. The Planning Board has been working with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to develop appropriate zoning regulations. Board See Marijuana, Page 3
By BOB DUNN @BDGazette NORTHAMPTON — A former visiting nurse faces charges after police say she stole nearly $9,800 from an 85-year-old woman she was caring for in Easthampton — and may have used some of the money to pay for a funeral and an abortion. Tanya A. Redick, 34, of Westfield, pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court Tuesday to charges of larceny over $250 from a person over 60 or disabled and larceny over $250 by a single scheme. Police accuse Redick of using an ATM card belonging to the Easthampton woman in her care to make withdrawals totalling about $9,473 and of taking another $350 in cash from the woman, according to court records. Police said Redick admitted she used some of the money to cover funeral expenses for a friend and to pay for an abortion. According to court records, the victim’s son, who has access to his mother’s account and lives in Texas, noticed some unusual withdrawals from the account beginning in August and continuing through early November. Easthampton police investigated the unauthorized withdrawals and interviewed the victim and her son as well as Commonwealth Registry of Nurses, the agency that employed Redick. The registry is represented by attorney Alfred Chamberland of Easthampton who said in over 25 years of serving clients in Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties, this is the first time allegations like this have been made against one of its nurses. Chamberland said when the registry learned of the investigation, it provided all documents and information requested by police. As the investigation continued, Redick was suspended Nov. 30 and was not allowed to interact with any of the agency’s clients, including the victim, Chamberland said. Chamberland said when the registry learned the police had enough evidence to bring charges, the decision was made to fire Redick. According to court records, Redick was one of five nurses from the registry who
visited the victim in two-hour shifts, but the only one with access to her ATM card. According to court files, the other nurses told the victim they weren’t allowed to handle finances for their patients, and a representative from the registry confirmed that policy with police. Redick told police she was aware of the policy but agreed to make some withdrawals for the victim at her request because she “felt bad for her,” according to court records. Police said at first Redick told them she made withdrawals but only at the victim’s request and only for the amounts she asked for with receipts for each of them. Redick said the victim asked her to make large withdrawals every month between $1,000 and $1,500, according to court papers. The victim’s son told police that amount went far beyond the cash his mother needs for monthly out-of-pocket expenses. The victim’s son said, based on bank statements before Redick started working with his mother, ATM withdrawals were typically between $100 and $150 and only about once or twice a month. Out of 43 transactions between Aug. 19 and Dec. 1, the victim told police she only authorized Redick to make five of those, totalling $1,450. The remaining 38 withdrawals total $9,473 and were not approved by the victim, police said. Most of the suspicious withdrawals were from ATMs and banks in Easthampton, but several were made in Westfield and one was made in Worcester, according to court records. Also, the victim reported to police that Redick took $350 in cash from a plastic bin where valuables were kept when Redick thought she was sleeping. Redick told police she believed she went to the ATM between 20 and 30 times and estimated the amount of money she took between $800 and $1,000. Redick was released on $250 cash bail and is due back in court Feb. 14 for a pre-trial hearing. ——— Bob Dunn can be reached at bdunn@gazettenet.com.
Westfield Police report robberies top year in crime By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – City police have worked diligently in 2013 and, with their many successes during the year, the thin blue line protecting the city is holding. The police face a variety of crime, both overt and hidden, much of it driven by heroin addiction, alcohol abuse or simple human frailties. Much of the crime city police deal with involves larcenies and police report that the vast majority of those crimes are committed by drug addicts who have a never-ending need for cash to supply their habit.
“These B&Es to car, B&Es to houses have underlying issues with drugs,” Capt Hipolito Nunez said. Det. Sgt. Stephen K. Dickinson agrees. He said that many officers can clearly see the progression that addicts take in their efforts to fund their addictions. Both officers agree that usually an addict will exhaust his or her own money and then start stealing from family members. “A lot of them begin with prescription drugs,” he said, “taking them from family members” before they start to buy heroin. When they exhaust their own money, Nunez said, they begin stealing from their relatives
both tangible items which can be sold, like jewelry and electronics, and the intangibles that allow for identity theft. When addicts can no longer steal from their families, they often turn to crimes against others by breaking into cars and houses to take property they can sell to buy drugs. “B&Es seem to be increasing” Nunez said “but our clearance rate is relatively high.” 2013 saw a large number of break-ins to houses but Dickinson and the detectives under his command were able to clear at least 41 cases since the beginning of the year. Dickinson said that the investigators found that three teams of burglars – usually an active
thief who actually enters residences and a driver who drops him of and picks him up – were responsible for the vast majority of the house breaks. The common element among the teams of house breakers is that all three were apparently using the proceeds to buy heroin. Dickinson explained that the vast majority of heroin used in the city is purchased elsewhere, usually in Holyoke, because there are believed to be no large scale heroin dealers in the city. A narcotics detective has said that, if he had See Year in Crime, Page 5
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