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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016
VOL. 85 NO. 65
Finalists selected for Westfield schools RICHARD SCORZAFAVA
Nearly 200 bags of heroin found during traffic stop By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A routine traffic stop turned into a drug bust. The call came in at 5:39 p.m. Saturday night for a motor vehicle complaint at Hampton Ponds Plaza, located at 1029 North Road, according to police logs. Callers were complaining of a blue 2012 Jeep Liberty Sport being operated erratically, according to Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe. The vehicle is “all over the roadway causing a traffic hazard,” according to police logs. After Westfield Police Officer Seth Florek located the Jeep in the plaza, he followed it onto East Mountain Road. “I observed the vehicle not able to maintain its travel lane and cross the double yellow line on two occasions,” Florek wrote in his report. The Jeep was pulled over on East Mountain Road just south of Andy’s variety. The driver was identified as Westfield resident Richard A. Scorzafava, 29, who
“displayed red glassy eyes and slow speech,” according to Florek’s report. Prior to the Scorzafava taking and failing a field sobriety test, he was pat frisked. Officers found 50 bags of heroin in Scorzafava’s front pants’ pockets and another 146 bags were found in the vehicle, according to McCabe. Florek reported that he found a drug “ledger” with several names on it with dollar amounts next to each name in the defendant’s wallet. Scorzafava was arrested on charges of possession with intent to distribute Class A drug (heroin), operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs, possession of Class B drug (Suboxone), negligent operation of motor vehicle and marked lanes violation. He was released on $500 cash bail after being arraigned in Westfield District Court on Monday. Scorzafava is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on May 24. Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at christinec@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com
See Velis, Page 5
Rabies clinic scheduled for Saturday, April 9 By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD – With spring right around the corner, now is the time for pet owners to make vet appointments so their canine and feline companions are protected from rabies. For the convenience of area residents, the Westfield Animal Clinic at 422 North Elm St. will offer a rabies vaccination clinic on April 9 from 2-4 p.m. The cost is $15 per animal and animals must be on leash or in carriers, according to Dr. Denise Larochelle. “The rabies vaccination is important for several reasons,” said Larochelle. “It is required by law and more importantly, rabies is a fatal disease that animals, as well as people, can get. It is 100 percent fatal but can be prevented by proper vaccination of our pets.” Rabies in animals is fairly common in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Public Health (DPH), Bureau of Infectious Disease.
“Since 1985, more than 5,000 animals have tested positive for rabies in Massachusetts,” according to the DPH website. “Most of these cases occurred in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, woodchucks and foxes, but every year some pets (especially cats) and farm animals also get rabies.” Fortunately for pet owners, there is a vaccine to protect dogs, cats and some other kinds of animals from rabies. Birds, fish, reptiles (such as snakes, turtles and lizards), amphibians (such as frogs and salamanders) and insects cannot get nor spread rabies. The rabies clinic will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Larochelle noted that people begin lining up at 1 p.m. and she starts vaccinating at 2 p.m. until all animals are served. Her staff will also be on hand to write out certificates and collect the funds. “This is an annual service and my third year doing the rabies See Rabies Clinic, Page 5
Hometown Heroes: Sydney Bryden AGAWAM (WWLP) – An Agawam teenager is being recognized as a Red Cross Hometown Hero for helping rescue her boyfriend who fell 60 feet into a Southwick Quarry. “She remained calm and composed unlike you would ever expect anyone her age to do,” said Jessica Bishop, a Southwick Fire Department EMT. Just recently with boyfriend Antonio Bruno by her side, 17-year-old Sydney Bryden talked about her fierce determination to keep her desperately injured boyfriend alive. “He was just yelling and screaming and I took my shirt off and I wrapped it around his head, his face was bleeding a lot,” said Bryden.
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Velis receives American Legion award By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – State Rep. John Velis is the recipient of the Walter J. Zarichak Hampden County American Legion Legislative Award. Velis, a U.S. Army veteran and member of the U.S. Army Reserves, has been an advocate for veterans since being elected to office. “I made a to REP. JOHN promise every veteran VELIS that if I was fortunate enough to be elected, there would be no greater advocate for veterans in our country,” said Velis. “You can never give enough to veterans.” American Legion Commander Luis Brault said he “can’t think of anyone better to have received this award.” “We as an organization are proud to say he is not only a veteran, but also a member going to the state house every day to ensure not only are the rights of veterans not compromised, but also to see to it that western Massachusetts is taken care of,” said Brault. “He is an excellent representative and a great person – we are blessed to have him.” Velis said he is tackling the
“May your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, the angels protect you, and heaven accept you.” — IRISH SAYING
Bruno’s face still carries the scars from his injuries from that terrible fall. “It puts like love and appreciation, it puts everything on a whole new level. There are no words describing how it makes me feel,” said Bruno. Bryden’s saving of Bruno’s life on that summer day made a deep impression on others. “You don’t realize what your kids can do but she just did it. I was amazed, really very proud,” said Lori Bryden, Sydney’s mother. “She was covered in blood, just shaking… I held her until I had to leave in the ambulance. All she kept saying was, ‘I did my best, I put my shirt on him,’” said Laura Bruno, Antonio’s mother. Bryden and Bruno will graduate together as
part of the Agawam high school class of 2016 this spring, a joyous event that appeared in jeopardy at the bottom of quarry. “Without her, I SYDNEY think Antonio might BRYDEN have had a different outcome,” said Bishop. “Yes, that whole walk down, it takes fifteen minutes to get to the bottom, I was like, convinced he was dead,” said Bryden. “She acted above and beyond what a 17-year-old should ever have had to act, and she did amazing,” said Bishop.
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – At a special meeting on Wednesday evening, the three finalists for the position of superintendent of Westfield Public Schools were approved by the School Committee. The finalists are Stefan Czaporowski, Jennifer Willard, and Dr. Elizabeth Zielinski. Stefan Czaporowski is the principal of Westfield Technical Academy, a school of approximately 510 students, a position he has held since July 2012. Previously he has served as principal, assistant principal, social studies supervisor and teacher, all in Massachusetts school districts. He has been involved in instituting a “School on Saturday” program, creating bullying prevention teams and an adult-student mentoring program which has resulted in reductions in student absenteeism, improved student social skills, and improved student achievement. He holds an M.Ed. and C.A.G.S. from Westfield State University. Jennifer Willard is the director of human resources for the Westfield Public Schools, a school district of approximately 5,600 students. She has held this position since September 2012. Previously she served as principal, assistant principal, math instructional teacher (coach) and teacher, all in Massachusetts school districts. She has coordinated the training and implementation of the new teacher evaluation process, facilitated the development and implementation of the first SMART school in her district and has been a guest speaker to graduating education majors at a local university. She holds a BS from Westfield State University and M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Elizabeth Zielinski is employed as a superintendent of schools for the King Philip Regional school District which has approximately 2,300 students. She has held this position since July 2010. She has also served as assistant superintendent, school support specialist, principal, vice principal and teacher in Massachusetts. She has been involved in building and managing budgets, negotiating union contracts and working collaboratively with the school committee to improve student achievement. She holds an M.Ed. from Lesley College and an Ed.D from Boston College. Ramon Diaz, who chairs the superintendent search committee, said he wanted to publicly thank all of the members who participated. He said that at the first meeting, committee members selected who they wanted to interview from a list based solely on credential, with no names listed. The committee met with candidates last week, then voted on the finalists. Diaz said there were fifteen candidates in all, although not all were interviewed. The committee members wrote down who they thought should be the superintendent of schools, and the top three candidates were chosen. “In viewing them all, I was very pleased with how the search was run,” said Kevin Sullivan. “I think this has been one of the best things we’ve run since I’ve been on the School Committee.” “One of the instructions we had was to keep in mind the forums we held,” Diaz said. “I think we got a good list of candidates.” He said that he made sure the process was organized, but did not try to sway the committee one way or another. A site visit will be made by several members of the committee to Zielinski’s district in Norfolk on Monday morning. A public forum will then be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Monday in the City Council chambers at which each candidate will have an hour to make a public statement, answer questions, and greet those who are present. On Tuesday the School Committee will interview each candidate for an hour in City Council chambers, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with 15-minute breaks in between. This meeting will be open to the public and televised live on Channel 15, and aired again beginning at noon on Wednesday. On Wed. evening at 6:30 in City Council chambers, the School Committee will vote on a candidate.