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“Either you think, or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
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THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016
VOL. 85 NO. 71
Deedy announces re-election bid
The Gateway School Committee met Wednesday in the Littleville Elementary School cafeteria in an effort to find a more accessible meeting room. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Gateway School Committee thanks towns for input By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – At Wednesday’s Gateway Regional School Committee meeting, members reviewed a letter written by chair Michele Crane of Blandford to the Gateway district towns, thanking them for their input in the budget process. The School Committee voted at its March 9 meeting to adopt the FY17 budget with an amendment to reconsider town assessments once the Senate and House of Representatives pass their versions of the state budget. Crane stated in the letter that reductions will be possible if the state makes good “on promises to help increase transportation reimbursement and Chapter 70 funding.” The budget that the School Committee passed was reduced by over $400,000 from last year, but assessments to the towns increased by approximately $190,000 overall. Prior to the vote, the towns of Blandford, Chester, Huntington and Middlefield had sent identical letters to the commit-
tee requesting that town assessments be kept at last year’s levels. “The members of the school committee heard your concerns about assessments, and we are hoping to be able to make further reductions in those assessments,” Crane wrote. She also stated that the School Committee is required to use any additional Chapter 70 funding to reduce assessments. “The committee wants to keep the lines of communication open,” Crane said in the letter. “We are willing to hear your ideas on how to make the budget assessments affordable while keeping up the quality of our educational offerings for our students.” The budget will be reconsidered at the next School Committee meeting on April 27, and adjustments will be made if any additional funding has been received, in advance of annual town meetings in May and June. Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Gateway Superintendent Dr. David B. Hopson reported that earlier in the day he had attended a rural school organizational meeting at Mohawk Trail
Regional School District in Shelburne Falls. Hopson said 16 superintendents attended the meeting. “Everyone is facing the same issues we are,” Hopson said, adding that their purpose for organizing is to form a group to “lobby” together for increased funding to rural schools in the face of financial unsustainability. Rural schools comprise 19 percent of the public school districts, 9 percent of the public school population and 69 percent of the geographic footprint in Massachusetts, according to the Mohawk Trail presentation. Hopson also reported that 13 Requests for Proposal (RFPs) were picked up. The RFPs will allow a consultant to help move the district forward, as required by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) when it took over Dec. 1 after Gateway member towns failed to pass a FY16 budget. Hopson said one party already declined because the time frame of six months was too tight. The due date for the RFP is March 29.
City man arrested twice in ten days By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man who is known to Westfield police is not having a good month. Tens days after being arrested on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, Jacob Samborski was arrested on charges of municipal bylaw violation, i.e. violating the open container law. Chapter 10, entitled “offenses and miscellaneous provisions” of the Westfield Code of Ordinances, section 10-23 states: “Consumption of alcoholic or malt beverag-
es in public; open container. No person shall drink or consume any alcoholic beverage or any malt beverage, or posses an open container full or partially full of any alcoholic beverage or of any malt beverage, while on, in, or upon any municipal sidewalk or any public way or other sidewalk or way to which the public has a right of access,” according to city ordinances. Other provisions in this chapter include not urinating in public (sec. 10-25) and not See Twice, Page 3
By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Board of Selectmen Chairman Joseph Deedy is seeking re-election this spring. Deedy said he wants to continue the work he started in his first three-year term on the Board. “It takes about a year-and-ahalf to figure out what you’re doing and we have a board that complements each other, so I would like to serve another three years and continue the work we’ve started,” said Deedy. Deedy cited the next phase of the sewer system as one of the major projects not complete yet that he would like to see through to completion. JOSEPH DEEDY “We have a lot of loose ends,” he said about other ongoing town concerns. Deedy is running as a Republican, although the party has not held its caucus yet. “They are having the caucus April 1 and I hope to receive the nomination,” he said. The Democratic Town Party caucus did not result in a nomination, and deadline to run as an unenrolled candidate was earlier this week. “It has been a true honor to have served as a selectmen in our community these past three years and I hope to continue in that See Deedy, Page 3
Charges of driving drunk, crashing car with 4-year-old in it, dropped By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city woman narrowly escaped jail time for driving under the influence, a second offense, this time with her child in the car. Ashley R. Gignac, 25, was sentenced to nine months in the House of Correction suspended with probation till March 22, 2018, after pleading guilty to operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor second offense and a marked lanes violation. If the defendant violates any conditions of her probation, she would be required to serve the nine months in the House of Correction. She had charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and child endangerment with OUI dismissed. At approximately 11:30 p.m. Sunday night, December 21, 2014, Westfield Police Officer Brendan Irujo was dispatched to Little River Road at Pontoosic Road for a single vehicle accident. He found a brown Ford Explorer on Little River Road “perpendicular to the road, blocking both lanes of travel,” according to court logs. “The vehicle had extensive front end and side damage,” Irujo wrote in his report. “It was evident that the vehicle had
JACOB SAMBORSKI
See Charges Dropped, Page 3
Global warming researcher to address climate change at Westfield State at elevations of nearly 19,000 feet, in an effort to understand contemporary climate change and the subsequent glacier responses, as well as to better understand past climate from ice core records. “In many ways Kilimanjaro is an iconic image of climate change with its rapidly disappearing ice caps,” said event organizer James Wright, associate professor of mathematics. “The role of climate change and local deforestation in this change at the top of Kilimanjaro is very interesting and Doug’s research helps gauge what is contributing to those changes.” Westfield State has also had a presence in researching glaciers in Kilimanjaro. Hardy partnered with Carsten Braun, associate professor of Geography and Regional Planning, and the two climbed Kilimanjaro in the fall of 2011 to survey
the remaining glaciers and to service their satellitelinked weather station on the Northern Icefield. Students at Westfield State followed their progress up the mountain on social media. The event is sponsored by the Westfield State University Departments of Mathematics, Environmental Science, and Geography and Regional Planning. The Guest Lecture Series is supported by funding from the Academic Affairs budget with the goal to enhance student learning and service to the larger community. An advisory committee with representation by the faculty and librarians, staff, and students review proposals and recommend selection for the year. For more information on upcoming speakers in the Guest Lecture Series, please visit http://www.westfield.ma.edu/ guest-lecture-series.
Westfield Technical Academy Presents
WESTFIELD – The Westfield State University Guest Lecture Series will host University of Massachusetts Senior Research Fellow Doug Hardy who will present his lecture “Islands in the Sky: Glaciers and Climate on Kilimanjaro and Other Tropical Mountains” on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Savignano Auditorium in Wilson Hall. Hardy studies high-elevation climate and glaciers with the Climate Systems Research Center at UMass Amherst. His research sites include the summit glaciers of Kilimanjaro in Africa, and Earth’s largest tropical glacier, the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru. At the UMass Climate Systems Research Center, research is focused on the climate system and global change issues. Hardy’s current research involves operating climate stations and conducting glacier measurements
Westfield Technical Academy Auditorium Friday May 6 7:30 PM The National Touring Production of Eaglemania Live in Concert. The Complete Eagle’s Experience with Songs: Take It Easy, Desperado, Lyin Eyes, Hotel California and more. Visit the band at www.eaglemaniaband.wordpress.com. Tickets: Purplepass.com, Rocky’s Ace Hardware, The Press Room, WTA Main Office Sponsored By:
RESEARCHER DOUG HARDY