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WEATHER TONIGHT Scattered T-storms. Low of 60.

The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns

“There are mighty few people who think what they think they think.”

— ROBERT HENRI

www.thewestfieldnews.com SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2015

VOL. 84 NO. 210

75 cents

Greenway friends urge council to approve MOU Ross Anderson, center, cutting ribbom along with Brian Hoose, Mayor Knapik, James Pelletier, Ralph Figy, Debra Boronski, Thomas Mihalek, Amber Danehey. See additional photos Page 7. (Photos by Lynn F. Boscher)

Lamson and Goodnow ceremony

By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik requested the City Council to approve a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the city’s partnership with the Friends of the Columbia Greenway. The council voted Thursday night to send the request to accept the MOU to the Legislative & Ordinance Committee for further review. Jeff LaValley, president of the Friends group, asked the council to endorse the agreement between his organization and the city to provide a legal foundation for the group to spend funds to enhance the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail which is currently being extended to the area of Main Street. “The friends group, since 2008 or 2009, has been raising money for these enhancements,” LaValley said. Some of the funds are being used to maintain the rail trail, in particular removing graffiti painted on the trail, and the three existing bridges between the Southwick Town Line and the current construction area between East Silver Street and Main Street. See MOU, Page 3

James Pelletier speaking to group of local officials at the Lamson and Goodnow Ribbon Cutting, Friday, August 21, 2015.

Local actress appearing in Ghostbusters 3 By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WEST SPRINGFIELD – Chaunty Spillane is a woman on the move. “If I could live on a movie set I would,” said Spillane. “There is nothing more exciting.” A 2007 graduate of Westfield High School, Spillane credits her family and friends for keeping her “grounded” and especially her parents, Deborah and Jeffrey Spillane, and her sister, Nicole. Her family, originally residing on Pheasant Drive in Westfield, now makes their home in West Springfield. “I was always acting in elementary and middle school but only wrote a one-act play during my senior year,” she said, adding that “Kyle D. and Kevin G.” were instrumental in bringing the project full circle. She won “Best Playwright” from the high school competition and has never looked back. Today at 26, her schedule is packed between audition calls, fielding inquiries for modeling assignments, and keeping up with all of the facets of social media.

Chaunty Spillane, a 2007 graduate of Westfield High School, will be featured in next year’s movie blockbuster “Ghostbusters 3.” In her spare time, she is putting the finishing touches on a film manuscript which she expects to debut in 2017. (Photo by Lori Szepelak) Her website is www.Chaunty.com. Additionally, she works as a certified nursing assistant for several

home care clients and will begin her studies in nursing this fall at Goodwin College in East Hartford, Conn. Her latest blockbuster assignment, done undercover from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. last month in Boston for two overnights, was filming scenes for next summer’s sci-fi comedy – “Ghostbusters3” – which will hit the big screen July 22, 2016. Directed by Paul Feig, the cast includes Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Bill Murray, Andy Garcia and Chris Hemsworth. “It was a fun role, not scandalous at all,” she said, noting she has been cast as “The Show Girl Ghost.” “I was recently SEO tagged in an article with Director Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy,” said Spillane. “A selfie I took of myself was used in that article and connected my photo to one of Melissa McCarthy’s.” Spillane said the website link questions whether she is the first ghost in the movie. “Apparently I’m causing a stir

104th participates in Exercise Atlantic Spear By Staff Sgt. MATT BENEDETTI 104th Fighter Wing Public Affairs WESTFIELD — Air Dominance Center, Savannah, Ga-Airmen and jets from the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, Ma., are participating in Exercise Atlantic Spear from Aug. 14-27. This robust training exercise is a multi-faceted event designed to test and enhance the air to air dogfighting capabilities of participating fighter pilots in a simulated combat environment. During the exercise, 104th FW pilots have the opportunity to integrate with other platforms from across the military including units from Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, Florida, Oregon and California. Exercise Atlantic Spear is being hosted at the Air Dominance Center (ADC), Savannah, Ga. Previously named the Combat Readiness Training Center, the ADC is an ideal location for large scale fighter integration training due to its proximity to neighboring aerial units and vast coastal airspace which allows aircraft to ascend up to 60 thousand feet. Lt. Col. David Halasi-Kun, the 131st Fighter Squadron commander, recognizes the value of this joint training. “We are building partnerships with all the other platforms, F-18 Falcons, F22 Raptors and F-35’s. What is unique about this deployment is that we have our own exercise, Atlantic Spear and were also invited to participate in the Boar’s Nest Exercise, a relatively large air to ground scenario, ” said HalasiKun. “We turned it into an air to ground and air to air joint exercise.” Halasi-Kun also appreciates the freedom of air space at Savannah. “Similar to our training in Hawaii, we can operate in unrestricted airspace with no supersonic restrictions and plenty of altitude. The dimensions allow

See Local Actress, Page 3

See Atlantic Spear, Page 3

Attorney general wants state to deny permit to Wynn casino By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Citing traffic concerns, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is calling upon state environmental officials to deny Wynn Resorts a key permit for its $1.7 billion casino project at the Everett waterfront. Healey said in a letter Friday to the state's environmental affairs secretary that Wynn should not get the permit until a plan is in place to address traffic around Boston's notoriously congested Sullivan Square area located not far from the waterfront site. "If you approve the Casino without a long-term traffic mitigation plan, we may never get one," she wrote. "This dangerous and congested set of roadways may be unfamiliar to many state residents, but it serves as a major regional transit hub and access point." Healey, an anti-casino Democrat, said Wynn's traffic improvement plans need to take into consideration years of planning by community stakeholders and Boston's redevelopment plans for the area. Healey lives in Charlestown, a Boston neighborhood located across the river from Wynn's proposed casino and among

the most affected by the expected increase in traffic to the resort. Her letter follows a July memo she sent to transportation officials calling for an independent review of Wynn's traffic plan. It also comes on a Friday deadline to submit comments on Wynn's permit application, which has been under review for about two years. Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton is expected to issue a decision by Aug. 28. Wynn needs the state certificate to break ground on the project, which would be Massachusetts largest casino project and would be one of the largest private developments in state history when it opens, as planned, in 2018. Project plans call for a hotel, casino, shopping, dining and entertainment complex on about 30 acres of formerly industrial land. Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver said Friday that the environmental and traffic review requires the company to "mitigate our traffic impacts, not solve decades-long traffic issues which pre-date our project." "We expect the fair treatment afforded any other developer," he said. "After two-and-a-half years, and millions of dollars and thousands of pages of traffic analysis, we are ready to

move forward with our Wynn-funded $10.9 million Sullivan Square package, which will mitigate the incremental traffic impact of our project." The Las Vegas casino giant's environmental and traffic plan has gone through many revisions since it was filed in 2013. It's now over 10,000 pages of detailed proposals to address project impacts. In its most recent filings, Wynn proposed paying the state transit authority more than $7 million over 15 years to make improvements to the subway line passing near the property. State officials at the time said it would be the first time a private developer subsidized the cost of Boston's subway operations. Besides Healey's letter, Beaton has received at least 18 written comments and nearly 700 submissions sent electronically, according to documents provided by the office. The electronic ones represent identical form letters speaking in favor of the Wynn project but signed by different people. Wynn is one of three licensed casino operators in Massachusetts. MGM is developing a resort in Springfield and Penn National Gaming is operating Plainridge Park, a slots parlor and harness racing track in Plainville.


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Saturday, August 22, 2015 by The Westfield News - Issuu