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WEATHER TONIGHT Scattered t-storms. Low of 64.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Individualism is rather like innocence; there must be something unconscious about it.” — LOUIS KRONENBERGER
www.thewestfieldnews.com THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 190
75 cents
Nomination deadlines approaching quickly
Running Whalley Park is just one of the responsibilities of the Parks and Recreation Commission, which is seeking two new members. (Photos by Hope E. Tremblay)
Southwick Parks and Recreation Commission seeks two members By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Parks and Recreation Commission has two vacancies with the resignation of longtime members Kelly Magni and Susan Grabowski. The Board of Selectmen accepted the resignations and approved advertising the seats. Commissioner Daniel Call, now the most senior member of the Commission, said the board meets twice per month on Tuesday evenings, or more often if necessary. “It depends on what is on the agenda,” said Call. Although there is no resume requirements to be a Commissioner, Call said he would ideally like the next two members to have some experience. “Candidates with outdoor recreation experience would certainly be a plus,” said Call. “Anyone with experience working with parks would be great.” The Southwick Parks and Recreation Commission run Whalley Park, as well as Prifti Park and the Town Beach. It also maintains the town’s rail trail. The Parks and Recreation Commission is in the process of creating a plan for Whalley Park, which opened in late June. “We have a lot of ideas and we need a full Commission to get them done,” said Call. Magni was the chairman of the Commission and Call said the board needs to reorganize. “We definitely need to do that but we want all five mem-
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Candidates for election to city office this fall may begin to experience a sense of urgency to meet qualification requirements which have several deadlines in August. The first deadline, at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, is the last day a potential candidate may draw nomination papers from the City Clerk. The campaign season officially opened on April 6 when nomination papers were first issued. Candidates who have procrastinated until the Aug. 7 nomination paper deadline with have only four days to collect the 50 signatures of registered voters because the deadline for returning those documents for certification is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015. Candidates may withdraw their nomination until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27 and the drawing for ballot position is slated to occur on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. A preliminary election is scheduled, if needed, for Tuesday, Sept. 22. The need for a preliminary election is based upon the formula of 2X+1, where the X is the number of seats available. An example is the mayoral race, where three candidates of taken out nomination papers for one post. At the present time only one candidate, Brian P. Sullivan, has returned nomination documents which have been certified by the clerk’s office. The other two candidates, Harold Alan Phelps and Michael L. Roeder have yet to turn in their nomination papers for certification. If both Phelps and Roeder return papers, which are certified, it will trigger a preliminary election in September to reduce that number to two for the general election slated for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. The formula for the general election is 2X. Currently there are also two City Council ward seat races which could trigger a preliminary election, but See Deadlines, Page 3
bers,” he said. Current Commissioners are Call, Jeanne Reed-Waldron and John Whalley. Any resident interested in the position should forward a letter of interest and resume to the Southwick Board of Selectmen, 454 College Highway. “We will have a joint interview process and the commission will make a recommendation to the selectmen for an appointment,” said Call.
Fire strikes multi-family home on Lawmakers move to restore vetoed budget items Franklin Street By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Lawmakers moved Wednesday to restore nearly $100 million in spending vetoed from the state budget by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, including funds for full-day kindergarten programs and for the University of Massachusetts system. Baker used his line-item veto power to shave $162 million from the more than $38 billion budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, saying that while the overall spending plan approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature was a responsible one with no new taxes, the cuts were required to assure a balanced budget “and maintain fiscal stability.” Baker said upon taking office in January that he had inherited from the administration of former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick a budget deficit for the fiscal year that ended last month, along with a potential $1.8 billion shortfall in the current year. House leaders said earlier Wednesday that they hoped to See Budget, Page 3
Gov. Charlie Baker signs the 38.1 billion dollar fiscal 2016 budget as Lt Gov Polito, far right , Sec A&F Kristen Laporous and Stephanie Pollack state transportation secretary look on at The Massachusetts Statehouse on Friday, July 17, in Boston. (David L. Ryan /The Boston Globe via AP)
WESTFIELD (WWLP) – Firefighters put out a fire on Franklin Street in Westfield early Thursday morning. The fire started just before 3 a.m. Thursday. Westfield Fire Deputy Chief Patrick Kane said the fire was in a four-family home. There were five adults and four children in the home when the fire started and they all made it out safely. Deptuty Chief Kane said the smoke detectors were working and going off when firefighters got there. Deputy Chief Kane also said there were several pets on the third floor of the home, including four cats and a bird, who are all safe, as well. He said the fire likely started in the hallway on the second floor. He said everyone had their doors to the apartments closed which helped to keep the fire contained. West Springfield and Holyoke fire departments were also called in to help put out the flames. The Red Cross is now offering assistance to the families. The State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Review: ‘I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers’ By MARK AUERBACH Correspondent HARTFORD — Hollywood “Superagent” Sue Mengers (1932-2011), advisor to Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Burt Reynolds, and Ali McGraw, was a Tinseltown legend. A young German/Jewish emigre before World War II, who began her rise to the top in Hollywood as a secretary in a talent agency, Mengers became the first major woman powerbroker in an allmale behind-the-scenes game of showbiz. She cultivated her clients’ careers, brashly offered her clients to directors, and became one of the most important Hollywood influencers, and party-givers. Her meteor crashed and burned, after she put her client Streisand into a
film directed by her husband. It flopped, and as the business model in Hollywood changed, her clients went elsewhere, and Mengers lost her seat on the throne. John Logan, Tony Award-winning author of Red, wrote the play I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers, which starred Bette Midler in her return to Broadway in 2013, her first Great White Way role in a non-concert since she’d been in Fiddler on The Roof in the late 1960s. Hartford’s TheaterWorks presents the New England premiere, this time staged by Don Stephenson (who just directed Guys and Dolls at Goodspeed). Stephenson brought his Guys and Dolls star Karen Murphy, a Broadway veteran, to Hartford to recreate the role originated by Midler.
The character of Sue Mengers is bold, brash, foul-mouthed, grandiose, delicious, naughty, and sometimes pathetic, and Murphy, in this 80-minute solo performance mines Mengers’ barbed quotes, coarse jabs, snarky gossip, and chainsmoking and toking repartee effortlessly. She also hints at the subtle tragedy of Mengers’ out-of-control spiral into view. Mengers has already been canned by Streisand’s people as the show begins; Mengers is waiting for Streisand’s personal call as the show ends. Stephenson’s direction helps Murphy find her strong performance, but the undercurrent of Mengers’ struggles seem lost in the laughs. I couldn’t help but See Review, Page 3
Karen Murphy as Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers. (Photo by Lanny Nagler)