Search for The Westfield News
WEATHER TONIGHT Rain and sleet late. Low fo 31.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” — PABLO PICASSO
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 088
75 cents
ON THE STREET
“What programs would you like to see on community cable channel 15?”
GARY COUTURE I would like to see more local events covered around town.
ERESE DUCLOS I would like programs similar to shows that are on Animal Planet.
KATHLEEN NIELSEN Definity cooking shows.
DAVID MASTERS JR. I would like to see more cooking shows and volunteer opportunities around the area.
ALICE DAWICKI I have Direct TV so it really doesn’t affect me.
ALAN SUDENTAS I would like to see more live remote broadcasting from events throughout the city. PHOTOS BY FREDERICK GORE
Jurors to deliberate for 2nd day in Boston Marathon trial
Students from the Southwick-Tolland Regional High School celebrate their graduation in the soccer field of the Powder Mill Middle School as part of a long-standing tradition. This year the ceremony will be staged indoors. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
Students make plea for outdoor graduation By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Students at Southwick-TollandGranville Regional High School (STGRHS) made their case for an outdoor graduation during last night’s regional school committee meeting. Senior Class Officers Alyssa Kelleher and Sarah Bodzinski told the committee numerous classmates were upset when they heard the ceremony would be held
indoors. “It’s a tradition we don’t want taken from us,” said Kelleher. Kelleher speculated that behavior at past graduations is the reason for the switch. Last year, the ceremony could not be held outside because of work on the track. Kelleher said she did not believe there was cause for concern. “If it’s an issue of behavior, we just got back pep rallies and everyone behaved well, I don’t think it will be a prob-
lem,” she said. Bodzinski said students look forward to the outdoor ceremony for years. “We want to walk down the hill – we’ve been dreaming about it since freshman year,” she said. Beside keeping a tradition, the girls said many students are upset because an indoor ceremony would limit the number of family and friends able to attend graduation. Kelleher and Bodzinski said the class would rather
have people standing or bring lawn chairs rather than hold the event inside. “We strongly hope you will consider our proposal and keep graduation outside,” Kelleher said. Superintendent John Barry said the high school council would make the decision and he would bring their concerns to Principal Joseph Turmel. “You did a great job putting your opinion out there,” said Barry.
STRHS accreditation standards to be evaluated next month 2,000 public schools, colleges and universities, independent schools, and vocational, technical, and career institutions. Of these, over 650 secondary schools have been accredited through the Association’s Commission on Public Secondary Schools. The Commission works with individual public schools to improve the quality of education through a continuous process of accreditation and evaluation.
Hernandez’s fate now in hands of jury FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — The fate of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is now in the hands of a jury, which has begun its first full day of deliberations in his murder trial. Hernandez is charged with the June 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee’s sister. Twelve jurors returned to deliberate Wednesday after getting the case Tuesday afternoon. Hernandez was brought into court for the brief hearing. His lawyer acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that Hernandez was there when Lloyd was killed. But he described him as a 23-year-old kid who did not know what to do. He pinned the killing on two of Hernandez’s friends. Prosecutors say Hernandez planned the crime, drove Lloyd to a secluded area, killed him, and then tried to cover it up.
The Westfield News Radio Show Thursday Line-Up 6am-8am
This Thursday... 6am-8am:
Dave Flaherty Westfield At Large City Councilor
SOUTHWICK-TOLLAND-GRANVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Download WSKB from your Tune In Radio App or watch on Comcast Cable CH. 15
RADIO FOR THE WESTFIELD MASSES
SOUTHWICK – Sixteen educators will make an on-site evaluation of Southwick-Tolland Regional High School (STRHS) from May 3-6, Principal Joseph Turmel announced today. The evaluation visit will be conducted under the direction of the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). The visiting committee will be chaired by Dr. Joseph Maruszczak, superintendent of the Mendon-Upton School District. Maruszczak has had extensive experience in the association’s evaluation process. “The purpose of this evaluation visit is to review and determine from an outside professional viewpoint the extent to which STRHS is meeting the standards for accreditation,” Turmel said. “As part of the evaluation, the visiting committee will meet with all school constituents, review the school’s selfstudy, visit a number of classes, and examine examples of student work. During the comprehensive self-study, the faculty attempted to identify our school’s strengths and determined those areas in which changes would be beneficial.” “The members of the visiting committee are contributing their services to our school community. This spirit of professional cooperation is one of the noted features of NEASC. The goal of an evaluation visit is to stimulate a continuing drive for improvement in the school,” Turmel said. The members of the visiting committee are teachers and administrators from a variety of schools all over New England. NEASC is a voluntary membership organization of more than
By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer BOSTON (AP) — Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are set to resume deliberations for a second day in the first phase of his federal death penalty trial. The jury of seven women and five men began deliberations DZHOKHAR Tuesday on 30 federal charges TSARNAEV against Tsarnaev. Jurors will return to U.S. District Court on Wednesday. During the trial, Tsarnaev’s lawyer admitted he participated in the deadly 2013 attack, but said his now-dead brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind. If Tsaranev is convicted, the same jury will hear more evidence in a second phase of the trial to decide whether he is sentenced to death or life in prison. Seventeen of the charges against Tsarnaev carry the possibility of the death penalty. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon’s finish line on April 15, 2013. Prosecutors told the jury that Tsarnaev, then 19, and his brother, 26, detonated the bombs to punish the U.S. for its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tsarnaev’s lawyers portrayed him as an aimless teenager who fell under the influence of his radicalized older brother. Just before dismissing the jury Tuesday, Judge George O’Toole Jr. said he had received two notes from the panel containing questions. He did not reveal the questions, but told the jury he would answer them Wednesday when deliberations resumed.