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WEATHER TONIGHT
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
Rain Showres. Low of 46
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 48
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2017
“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” — Daniel J. Boorstin
75 cents
Westfield Fire and MassDEP team up to contain spill
Technical rescue instructor Dan Meloche is demonstrating to members of the Southwick Fire Department about how to execute a rescue using the sled. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Fire Dept. performs ice rescue training on Congamond Lake By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – Although there was no ice, members of the Southwick Fire Department held an ice rescue training on Congamond Lake on Monday night. Southwick Fire Chief Russ Anderson reached out to Dan Meloche, a native of Central Massachusetts who teaches technical rescue classes and trainings, to run the training. Ice or not, this training is something that the Southwick Fire Department does every year.
“This is just part of their pre-planning,” said Meloche. “They know what they have to do” Not every firefighter or EMT in the department has experience doing any of the training in the water. Meloche started off the training by having a couple individuals who have never done it before do a mock situation. Each person wore a cold water immersion suit that is made of neoprene. These 18 pound suits protect the individual from the cold water and are also buoyant keeping the individual afloat.
The first encounter on the South end of Congamond Lake featured four members of the fire department. Two were on the boat raft and served as the helpers, and then there was a rescuer in the water as well as a victim floating from a distance away. Firefighter and EMT Chris Garvey was able to play the role of the victim and get a good sense of being in the cold temperatures in the water. “The suits do a good job of keeping us See Ice Rescue Training, Page 3
Ideas are flowing for 350th Anniversary
See Spill, Page 7
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – At Monday’s meeting of the 350th Anniversary Committee, members reviewed a sub-committee structure proposed by leaders Amber Danahey, community outreach coordinator and Peter J. Miller, community development director for the City of Westfield. The committee is making plans for the May 2019 350th anniversary of the city’s incorporation on May 19, 1669. Members present at the meeting, besides Danahey and Miller, included Ken Stomski, Paula Ceglowski, Vanessa Diana, Cindy Gaylord, Mary O’Connell, Danny Nason, Jay and Marion Pagluica, Candy Pennington, Harry Rock, Bernie Rosenblum, Diane Snyder, and Patrick Berry. Previously, a survey was done to garner ideas from the community for appropriate ways to mark the
Westfield Police arrest one over the weekend
when vocational schools were the school of last resort are gone and that nowadays employers are eager to hire graduates with technical skills. He said that there is a “skills gap” both across the nation and in the local area which has created a severe shortage of workers with technical skills – the very skills that students learn at The Westfield Technical Academy and similar
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–The city’s police reportedly arrested one following a brief pursuit that was terminated by police. Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe reported that Timmy N. Taskey, 21, of Westfield, was arrested and charged with motor vehicle operator refusing to identify self, failing to stop TIMMY for police and a tire outside a TASKEY fender. According to the police report and McCabe, a brief pursuit occurred after Taskey allegedly would not provide a license and registration to police but was terminated when the vehicle being pursued reportedly began traveling at a safe speed. Police reported that there was another occupant in the vehicle as well, but they were not arrested. According to McCabe, police stopped the vehicle Taskey was allegedly operating on Court Street and had reportedly smelled an odor of “burnt marijuana” emanating from the vehicle. McCabe said that police requested Taskey’s license and registration, and according to police Taskey refused. Police reportedly told him that he “could be arrested for not providing license and registration,” according to McCabe.
See Rotarians, Page 7
See Arrest, Page 7
Among those involved in planning for Westfield’s 350th Anniversary in 2019 are Harry Rock, See 350th, Page 7 Ken Stomski, Marion and Jay Pagluica, Cindy Gaylord and Danny Nason. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Academy principal meets Rotarians WESTFIELD– Joe Langone, the principal of Westfield Technical Academy, told the members of the Rotary Club of Westfield that the educational paradigm has changed and explained how his school is meeting the challenges which come with that change. On Monday, Langone was the guest speaker at the club’s regular weekly meeting at the Genesis Spiritual Life Center when he discussed changes both at his
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—A diesel fuel spill drew the response of the city’s fire department, as well as the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) over the weekend. According to Westfield Fire Deputy Chief Patrick Kane, the department received a report from bystanders that a pickup truck in the Stop and Shop plaza on Main Street had a tank in its bed and it was leaking “some sort of fluid.” Westfield Fire first received the report around 1:40 p.m. and found that Westfield Fire Deputy the leak was actually Chief Patrick Kane diesel fuel. (WNG file photo) Knowing this, the firefighters acted fast. “We responded and found that a 100-gallon tank in the back of a pick-up truck had a slow leak,” Kane said. Kane said that the department acted quickly, cordoning off the area of the spill and making sure that the fuel did not reach any storm drains, which could cause problems with the city’s water supply. “We diked off the storm drains and prevented the diesel from going there and prevented it from going any further with a kiddie pool put underneath the truck,” Kane said. The department then focused its efforts on cleaning up what was on the ground, and deployed specially designed absorbent pads to soak up the fuel. The pads, according to Kane, are used to specifically absorb hydrocarbons—which can be items like fossil fuels and some oils—and not water. While the Westfield Fire Department continued to contain and clean the spill, Kane said that MassDEP responded to the scene. MassDEP also contributed to the process of cleaning up according to Kane, with larger and more effective oil -absorbing and -containment products called booms. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) website on oil and chemical spill containment methods, booms are “floating, physical barriers to oil, made of plastic, metal, or other materials, which slow the
school and across the nation. Last July Langone was appointed principal of the school which started as Westfield Trade School in 1911 and morphed into Westfield Vocational High School and Westfield Vocational-Technical High School before becoming Westfield Technical Academy at the start of the 2015 academic years, his first year as principal in Westfield. Langone told the Rotarians that the days