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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Cheer up! The worst is yet to come!” — PHILANDER CHASE JOHNSON
www.thewestfieldnews.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 207
75 cents
Fireworks set off mayoral campaign explosion
MICHAEL MCCABE
MARY REGAN
Funds for radio system upgrade endorsed By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Two City Council committees voted Tuesday night to support approval of a $2.15 million bond to upgrade radio communication capabilities for municipal departments citywide. The Finance Committee and the Legislative & Ordinance Committee met in joint session last night to hear details of the proposed radio system presented by department heads and supervisors. About two dozen police officers and firefighters also attended the session as a show of support. Technology director Lenore Bernashe said the tornado and Halloween storm of 2011 exposed the lack of ability to communicate during a crisis, that departments could not speak directly with each other to coordinate a response and that in many part of the city the current radio system has dead
spots. The proposed radio system “is not just for public safety departments, although public safety is a large component, but we’re looking at a city-wide system for all departments,” Bernashe said. Fran Cain of the Department of Public Works water division said that in those emergencies “people were calling each other on personal cell phones, so we didn’t have situational awareness because guys were not hearing what was going on.” Fire Chief Mary Regan said that the proposed radio system will reduce or eliminate “dead spots” and that the new radios are waterproof “so they’ll hold up better in a fire situation.” Police Captain Michael McCabe said the “hole in the present system” was discovered when city department began participating in interdepartmental drills, mock
disasters “and those departments couldn’t communicate. The new radios make it safer for everybody and for citizens of the community, he said, and not to be able to communicate directly between the police and fire responders boggles the mind. Police Captain Hipolito (Paul) Nunez framed the issue for the councilors. “I can’t stress enough the need for officers on the streets to be able to communicate with dispatch and other officers,” Nunez said. “They need these radios for their safety, to make sure they get home.” Bernashe said about $750,000 of the proposed bond will be invested into new radios and infrastructure and that while the vendor warrantees the equipment the first year, the cost of subsequent warrantee years is $75,000 with funding for See Upgrade, Page 3
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – More than fireworks lit up the city Sunday night as one mayoral candidate charged the other with violating city zoning codes by erecting campaign signs along the approaches to Stanley Park Sunday. Mayoral candidate Michael L. Roeder posted a Facebook page charging mayoral candidate Brian P. Sullivan with jumping the gun by posting campaign signs Sunday, more than 60 days prior to the Nov. 3 general election, a violation of zoning code, Article VIII, section 8-10.3, paragraph 3 which pertains to temporary SULLIVAN ROEDER signs. “I was disappointed to say the least but several supporters were irate since it is illegal under city ordinance to put up political signs before Sept. 3,” Roeder stated in the post. “These signs were a calculated, arrogant attempt on the part of the Sullivan campaign team to ignore the law in order to gain an advantage in this campaign. It was blatantly illegal and they knew it.” Sullivan said Tuesday morning that his campaign had planned to do a “stand out” in which campaign workers hold signs at the Highland Elementary School on Western Avenue. Campaign workers holding a sign is allowed at any time under the current zoning See Fireworks, Page 3
PD: Alleged drunk driver causes 4-vehicle accident and sends 3 to hospital By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – An alleged drunk driver caused a four-vehicle accident Saturday night that sent three people, including an toddler, to the hospital. Michelle Grasso, one of the drivers, phoned Westfield police shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday night to report an accident near Bertera Dodge, located at 167 Springfield Road. When police officers arrived at the scene, they found Matthew W. Long of West Springfield standing beside his vehicle without a shirt on, according to court records. Westfield Police Capt. Hipolito Nunez said it was a chain-reaction accident caused by a drunk driver, allegedly Long. Long, 41, rear-ended a 1998 Jeep Cherokee driven by Barbara Sadler, and then a 2013 Nissan Rogue driven by Grasso hit Long’s See Accident, Page 3
Water Dept. worker escapes injury after flipping tractor By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A water department worker narrowly escaped injury Monday after the tractor he was operating flipped over. Police received a call just before 3:30 Monday afternoon of an accident at Ponders Hollow Road. Joseph Lambert of Westfield was driving a John Deere tractor along the bike trail when he lost control of the vehicle, which rolled down the embankment and landed in a ditch approximately 100 feet from the roadway, Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe said Tuesday.
Francis Cain, deputy superintendent of the Westfield Water Department, said that Lambert, 39, managed to jump off the tractor as it started going over. Lambert was exiting the gate to the bike trail when he got too close to the edge and the ground gave way, Cain said. According to Cain, Lambert went to a Workers’ Compensation clinic in Holyoke to be checked out and was found to be uninjured. A drug test was administered, which is standard procedure, said Cain. The tractor did not fair so well and suffered thousands of dollars worth of damage. “It is pretty banged up,” Cain
said, “but we think we’ll be able to salvage it.” Interstate Towing retrieved the vehicle from the ditch and towed it back to the Water Department. The Water Department is responsible for mowing thousands of acres of watershed property, according to Cain. Monday’s mowing along the trail was actually an experiment, he said, to see whether their equipment could be used to mow along the edge of the bike trail. Other than this accident, their equipment worked well. Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at christinec@ thewestfieldnewsgroup.com
By CHRISTINE CHARNOSKY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A Chicopee man was arraigned Monday on charges of stealing nearly $2,000 from a 95-year-old Westfield woman. Justin M. Cressotti, 30, was released on his personal recognizance after being arraigned in Westfield District Court on charges of larceny over $250 from a person over 60 years old and nine counts of uttering a false check. According to Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 267, Section 7, uttering false check is intending to injure or defraud by falsely making, altering, forging or counterfeiting a note, certificate or other bill of credit issued by the state treasurer. “It shall be punished by imprisonment
in the state prison for life or for any term of years,” according to malegislature.gov. Cressotti, who is known to the victim, allegedly stole checks from the victim’s Westfield residence after visiting the victim’s home earlier this year, according to court records. The defendant wrote out nine checks to himself and cashed them at St. James Check Cashing located at 31 Franklin Street. The checks were cashed between May 5 and June 3, ranging from $250 to $800 each, totaling $3,050, according to court records. The checks were cashed against Cressotti’s St. James check cashing account and positive identification was obtained each time a check was cashed. Additionally, video surveillance was able to catch the defendant cashing some of
the checks, according to court records. The victim told police she did not authorize these checks to be cashed by Cressotti and only became aware of the transactions when Metlife informed her that her account was overdrawn, according to court records. St. James initially absorbed the loss from three overdrawn checks until Cressotti paid $1,350 in restitution to St. James Check Cashing. The victim, who was born in 1920, had $1,700 stolen from her account, allegedly from Cressotti. The defendant is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on September 14. Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at christinec@ thewestfieldnewsgroup.com
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