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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 156
“If you look at life one way, there is always cause for alarm.” — ELIZABETH BOWEN
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Amelia Park Children’s Museum offers free admission WESTFIELD – As part of the Highland Street Foundation’s “Free Fun Fridays” initiative, Amelia Park Children’s Museum will offer free admission. “Free Fun Fridays” program offers visitors no cost admission to many of the most treasured cultural venues in Massachusetts. This summer, 70 cultural institutions throughout the Commonwealth will welcome visitors, free-ofcharge, for 10 consecutive Fridays, beginning on June 26. Seventy institutions, from art museums to zoos, will join the program, an increase from the 67 venues that took part in 2014. This summer, for 10 consecutive Fridays — beginning June 26 and continuing through August 28 – seven different venues will welcome visitors, free-of-charge. “The Highland Street Foundation’s ‘Free Fun Fridays’ Twins Grace and Natalie Blais, 4, of provides access to the best exhib- East Longmeadow, laugh and giggle as its, programs and experiences they experience the thrills of a that the city and the Hurricane Simulator which as been Commonwealth have to offer,” installed at the Westfield Children's said Boston Mayor Martin J. Museum. (WNG file photo) Walsh. “I join the Highland Street Foundation in inviting residents from across Boston and around the state to take advantage of our rich cultural community by participating in ‘Free Fun Fridays.’” Since its inception in 2009, “Free Fun Fridays” has drawn more than 800,000 visitors to venues throughout the Commonwealth. Last year alone, the program reached 150,000 people and according to Executive Director, See Free, Pag 3
Western Mass hopes to get 2024 Olympics venues SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Western Massachusetts economic development officials are hoping for Olympics venues if Boston becomes host for the 2024 games. Former Westfield Mayor Richard Sullivan, head of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, tells the Republican the area has a good chance to host preliminary-round basketball games. Sullivan says basketball arenas such as the MassMutual Center in Springfield and the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts may be too small for the finals, but are in the running for earlier games. Sullivan, who served in former Gov. Deval Patrick’s cabinet, also said western See Olympics, Page 3
(WNG FILE PHOTO)
Council initiates North Elm improvement bond By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last Thursday to amend an existing $10 million bond order for improvements to the Routes 10/202 corridor to facilitate work slated to improve the North Elm Street and Notre Dame Street intersections. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik requested immediate consideration of Bond Order 2358 to allow the intersection work to be initiated this construction season, most probably in July. The Council approved the first reading of the bond amendment and could vote on the second reading and final passage at their July 2 session. City Engineer Mark Cressotti said that intersection was always considered to be part of the improvements to the Routes 10/202 corridor but that the bonding agencies balked at selling the bond because the North Elm Street and Notre Dame Street improvements
were not specifically mentioned in the $10 million bond approved by the City Council last year. The city used $1.8 million for Arch Road improvements, which included a new larger drainage system, realigning the roadway and paving. Cressotti said the intersection improvement cost is projected at $4.4 million and will take at least a full construction season. The current construction season is almost half over, meaning that the work will be completed in 2016. Cressotti said the improvement concept is to add dedicated left turn lanes to both the northbound and southbound traffic on North Elm Street. The northbound left-turn lane will be about 250 feet long, sufficient to queue 20 vehicles intending to turn left to go up Notre Dame Street toward Prospect Hill. The traffic improvement project also includes widening Upper Notre Dame Street at the North Elm Street intersection to accom-
modate motorists, in particular trucks, intending to make a right turn onto the southbound lanes of North Elm Street. The chronic drainage problem, which had frequently resulted in flooding of that intersection, will be addressed by plugging the current drain into Powdermill Brook, which back flows into the intersection when the stream level increased. A new drainage system will be installed along North Elm Street which will have an out floor directly into the Westfield River. The city has selected Baltazar Contractor, Inc., of Ludlow to perform the intersections improvements. The company specializes in utility and road construction. The state Department of Transportation has approved a truck exclusion to diver commercial vehicles from lower Notre Dame, Harvard, Westminster, Princeton and Columbia streets as well as the Dartmouth and Moseley street neighborhood.
Ex-Ludlow cop describes descent from hero to addict By SUZANNE MCLAUGHLIN The Republican NORTHAMPTON (AP) — Former Ludlow Police Lt. Thomas Foye said drug addiction arising from a hip operation stripped him of his identity and dignity after a 26-year career in law enforcement. Foye is serving a two-year term in the Hampshire County House of Correction following his conviction for stealing drugs from the evidence room at the Ludlow Police Department. “I would have rather died in the line of duty with my dignity” saving someone than to have been arrested for tampering with evidence, he said during a jailhouse interview in Northampton. “I went from being a hero to being a drug addict,” he said. During a career highlighted with commendations and awards, he had been the head of the Detective Bureau and the K-9 unit and served on a FBI Task Force and the School Committee. He helped the community as a coach. As the town DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer, Foye spoke to parents and teens about the growing prescription drug abuse problem. “I had a good life,” he said. He said he had made good choices and he and his wife had brought their
Former Ludlow Police Lt. Thomas Foye speaking about his addition to pain killers at a forum on the opiate epidemic in western Massachusetts at the U. S. Courthouse building on April 2. (Michael S. Gordon / The Republican via AP)
three daughters up well. Foye first had a prescription for OxyContin when he had surgery for a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder. He said it alleviated the pain and gave him “a euphoric feeling.” He said he recognized the potency of the drug, but was able to get off it. The same scenario occurred when he had the other rotator cuff operated on.
A couple years later he had pain in his hip and was putting off a hip replacement. He said he started “borrowing pills” so he could stay in work. He had the hip replacement in 2012, and by then he had a drug tolerance, he said. He was given a prescription of Dilaudid, which is stronger than morphine. He realized he was having trouble
SCHOOL STREET IS RE-OPENED!
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“stepping down” from the pills. He finally went “cold turkey” on the pills and was sick in bed for four days “with sweats, vomiting, shakes and nightmares.” When back on light duty work in the Detective Bureau he would occasionally take “one pill” for soreness, he said. That became a problem. “At first you make choices, and you fear withdrawals,” he said. “Then you fall over the cliff, and there is no escape until you hit rock bottom. When you are in midair, it is too late,” he said. “You have to hit rock bottom or be rescued.” Court documents said a video feed captured Foye entering a locked narcotics locker at the Ludlow Police Station, where he appears to manipulate and open evidence bags. He was lieutenant at the time and had said he was planning to apply for the chief’s job. Foye said he first felt a sense of relief when he was arrested. He said he had feared he would either overdose or have a stroke. Foye pleaded guilty in October 2014 to tampering with substances, two counts of possession of a class B substance (cocaine and OxyContin) and two counts of larceny of a drug.