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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO.141
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2014
Morse conviction overturned by SJC By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man, found guilty of two of eight charges stemming from a fatal boating accident on Norwich Lake in 2010, saw his convictions reduced to one recently when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered his appeal and overturned his felony conviction for misleading police while affirming his conviction for misdemeanor homicide. Steven J. Morse, 41, of 65 Deborah Lane, had faced eight charges after a collision between a power boat he was driving while pulling water skiers on the lake and a kayak in which a Ludlow man and his 10-year-old son were fishing. The man, James Adamopoulos, survived his injuries but his son, Gus, perished. Morse has contended that he was blinded by the glare of the setting sun on the lake while the prosecution maintained that he had been operating the boat while impaired by alcohol and marijuana. State police investigating the crash determined that Morse had consumed two beers after work before he went to the lake and he told them that he had consumed two beers on the shore, after his initial recreational sortie on the water with his children and before he went back out to drive a friend’s water skiing boat. His conviction on the charge of misleading police stems from his response when a trooper asked him whether he had “consume[d] any other, you know, substances that could’ve impaired [his] ability to, you know, be aware of what was going on around [him].” Morse replied “no” and the prosecution maintains that because of his answer troopers did not seek a warrant to test for marijuana in his system or for other evidence that marijuana might have affected his operation of the boat. He was later found to have smoked one See Morse, Page 8
means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.” — Abba Eban
75 cents
Councilors call for special meeting
104th Fighter Wing
She attributed the increase in prices to a required equity in pricing imposed by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. “(The act) mandated that if you get a free lunch program, you have subsequently increase your regular meal plans,” she said. “We’re still way below average, even at $2.30. We’ve got districts that have started before us that are already up to $2.50 for elementary, and then for the middle and high schools, they’re up to $3.” Petrola said that the act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010, gives schools five years to reach a $2.65 minimum price, which is used to offset the cost of free and reduced meals, and that she would like to see the district increase in slow increments. “There is a timeline that we have to meet this,” she said, prompting committee member Cindy Sullivan to add that the district could be
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Three City Council members have submitted a petition to conduct a special meeting on the proposed 2015 fiscal year budget Thursday before the regular meeting is called to order. At-large Councilors David A. Flaherty and Dan Allie and Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell submitted the petition under City Charter and Council Rules Section 2-37 which allows a group of no less than three (3) City Council members to call their own meeting. The meeting was posted on the city’s website for 6 p.m. on June 19th for the purpose of presenting the proposed budget to attendees and then to conduct a hearing to allow public comment. The meeting can be held only if there is a quorum of seven City Council members present, which in the case of Thursday when two council members will be absent, means that seven of the remaining 11 members have to be present. Flaherty and O’Connell have called for special meetings in the past, requesting a special meeting on October of 2012 to fill the Ward 2 seat vacated by James Brown Jr., who resigned. O’Connell filed that special meeting petition, joined by Flaherty and At-large Councilor Agma Sweeney for a special meeting on three separate nights, including Thursday before a regular meeting of the City Council, and failed to attain the quorum required to open the special meeting. “That’s the risk they take,” said Finance Chairman Christopher Keefe, who last week concluded an intense review of the major departmental cost centers in the FY 2015 budget, this morning. “There is no guarantee that you will get a quorum.” Keefe said that the Finance Committee will present the budget, as amended Wednesday by a Committee of the Whole at which all councilor members can make motions to cut spending, and requested the council members to suspend the rules to allow two separate votes on the budget. If any council member objects to suspending the rules, as Flaherty has done in the past, the council may not have sufficient time to call another meeting 10 days later to vote on the amended budget. If a second reading and final passage vote is not taken, the budget as submitted by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik goes into effect, by default, on July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. “This is not unexpected” said Councilor Flaherty said in a prepared release sent to media outlets yesterday. “Nobody has been willing to admit that we have a spending problem, and nobody has been willing to do what it takes to live within our means. “Last year we had problems, this year bigger problems, and next year even bigger problems,” Flaherty said. “That’s what happens when you spend more than you can possible take in. This year’s city spending is going up over 3 percent.” “The math just doesn’t work when property
See Lunches, Page 8
See Special Meeting, Page 3
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor from the 154th Wing, Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii, and U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle from the 131st Fighter Squadron, 104th Fighter Wing, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Mass., fly over Penang, Malaysia, during Cope Taufan 14, June 16, 2014. See additional photos Page 5. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)
License Commission suspends licenses By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The License Commission voted Last night to impose two suspensions on businesses found to have violated state law and regulations after conducting public hearings to collect information. The Commission conducted a hearing
on the violation of selling an alcoholic beverage to a person under the age of 21 at Ryan’s Package Store on Franklin Street. The violation occurred on Friday, March 28 during an alcohol compliance sting operation conducted by the Westfield Police Department. See Suspensions, Page 3
Driveway group stuck in neutral By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen met with members of the Driveway Subcommittee last night to discuss how far a driveway bylaw should go. Planning Board Vice
Chairperson Roz Terry is a member of the subcommittee and said the group, which formed originally to regulate common driveways, has met four times and has hammered out nearly all aspects of a bylaw, with the exception of one major sticking point. “How far do you want
RANDAL BROWN government to go?” Terry asked the board. See Neutral, Page 8
Westfield School lunch prices to increase By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A late dinner is usually the most discussed meal at Westfield School Committee meetings, but school lunches were a hot topic last night, as the school committee approved a small hike in the cost of those meals this fall. The motion increased elementary school lunches from $2.20 to $2.30, while middle and high school lunches will go from $2.35 to $2.45. Adult lunches will see an increase from $3.40 to $3.75, while the respective breakfast and reduced breakfast prices of $1 and 20 cents will see no changes. “The adult lunch would be going up 12 cents, and the rest of it is a sales tax that they have to pay on an adult meal,” said Susan Petrola, the district’s supervisor of cafeterias.
“A consensus
Westfield Voc-Tech adds science requirement
Westfield VocationalTechnical High School Principal Stefan Czaporowski addresses the 114 seniors during a graduation ceremony at Billy Bullens Field, June 5. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The science requirement credits needed to graduate from Westfield Vocational Technical High School has been bumped from 22 to 32. The changes, accepted last night at a meeting of the Westfield School Committee, are related to the number of science credits required for students, regardless of their program or shop. These new requirements will start in the fall when the class of 2018 begins their freshmen year at the school. “Basically, we were at two. We went to two and a half (credits per class). That’s the only real adjust-
ment that we made,” said WVTHS Principal Stefan Czaporowski. “We want to make sure that our kids are taking more science classes, to keep up with the MassCore and what the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recommends.” Czaporowski added that his students already take on a four-year course load in other subjects, so the additional science credits only made sense. “We already have four years of English, four years of math, so now they’re going to have three years of science and three years of social studies,” he said. “It’s kind of already happening,” he said. “It’s not like we have a ton of electives, so kids that are looking to fill (a schedule) and take classes senior year
end up taking a science anyway. So now we’re just giving them the credit for it.” At last night’s meeting, Czaporowski also took the opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of Megan Ilnicky, the school’s valedictorian for the the class of 2014. Ilnicky, who will be attending Western New England University this fall, was unable to attend last night’s meeting due to a work commitment with United Technologies. Czaporowski said that is a testament to the quality of student coming out of WVTHS. “We fill a void,” he said. “There are jobs out there and they hire our kids.”