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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” — THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
VOL. 85 NO. 53
Southwick voters turn out at Town Hall
People gather before the first community forum on opiate crisis at Westfield High School last night. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Well over 100 turn out for community forum on opioid crisis By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – An estimated 150 people attended the first community forum on the opiate crisis on Tuesday evening in the Westfield High School auditorium, sponsored by the Westfield Mayor’s Office and Westfield Police, Fire and School departments. Mayor Brian Sullivan thanked everybody for attending. “Never did I think that when I was elected a couple of months ago, that I’d have to be scheduling a forum on addiction,” he said. He said after four deaths in a matter of two weeks, he made the first call to Chief of Police John Camerota and asked him what he should do. He then called a meeting of state legislators, police, fire, teachers, the health department city council, the school department and the superintendent. “It’s touching all of us,” Sullivan said. He said the purpose of the forum was to get informa-
tion out there, make everyone aware, and answer some questions. “Tonight’s not going to stop the problem. It is going to get us talking about it,” he said. Sullivan then screened a movie called “Chasing the Dragon,” consisting of interviews with opiate addicts talking about their addictions, and one mother who had lost her daughter. The movie may be seen online at fbi. gov/chasingthedragon. In the movie, statistics were intermixed with the interviews, including the fact that 44 people a day die in this country from prescription opioids. Most of the heroin addicts in the movie said they started with prescription painkillers. Following the movie, Sullivan introduced a panel consisting of Camerota, Superintendent Suzanne Scallion, Representative John Velis, Senator Don Humason, Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan, Dr. See Community Forum, Page 7
Paper Mill shows its ‘Panther Pride’ during school election
See Paper Mill Pride, Page 7
See Southwick Voters, Page 7
Springfield pair caught quickly after Westfield home break-in WESTFIELD (WWLP) – An off-duty police officer from nearby Southwick is credited with helping Westfield police arrest two home break-in suspects. Westfield Police Capt. Hipolito Nunez said that Julio Santiago, 32, and Carlos Sanchez Martir, 26, both of Springfield, are facing multiple charges in connection with the incident Tuesday morning. Nunez said that just after 9:30 a.m., an off-duty Southwick officer spotted a suspicious vehicle parked outside a home on Pontoosic Road, and called Westfield police about it. An officer went to the home, where he spotted the suspicious car, and the two men, who, seeing the officer, ran away through the backyard. Police were able to catch one of the,, and a police dog was called-in who helped them catch the second. Nunez said that officers were able to recover items that were stolen from the house. Santiago and Sanchez Martir are both being charged with breaking and entering in the daytime, malicious destruction of property, and larceny over $250.
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Paper Mill Elementary School held an election yesterday to name its mascot. Shadow was the overwhelming winner for the Paper Mill Panther. Pictured are second grade teacher Kathy Knapik with students Andrew William, Keishnalee Neal, Haleigh St. Jean, and Sagean Peterson. With them is Principal Cynthis Kennedy. (Photo by Hope E. Tremblay)
This Thursday... Thursday... This 6am-8am: 6am-8am: BOB McKEAN HEROIN
Executive Director Stanley Park
Mark Boardman Gruzska Round Table& Jennifer Discussion Westfield Rotary Club
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By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Super Tuesday was extra special for students at Paper Mill Elementary School. As voters across the city cast their ballot in the presidential primary, students and staff at Paper Mill voted to name their school mascot. The Paper Mill Panther is now known as Shadow. A preliminary election narrowed down the name choices to three finalists. “We had three names to vote on – Paws, Shadow, and Snoop Cat,” said second grader Haleigh St. Jean. More than 500 ballots were cast and Shadow was the winner, with Paws a second close and Snoop Cat trailing behind. Second grade teacher Kathy Knapik spearheaded the election as part of the school’s Panther Pride initiative. This year, the school formed a partnership with a wildlife refuge in Florida and is now in the process of adopting a Florida Panther through its Pennies for Panthers campaign. The Panther Pride program took off this year when Knapik and
By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Voters were lined up at the polls before they even opened in Southwick Tuesday morning, and the majority of them cast their ballot for Donald Trump. Town Clerk Michelle Hill said 39-percent of registered voters came to the polls yesterday, which is 2,645 voters. Southwick has only one polling location, at the Town Hall, so everyone in the community of 9,500 must vote there. It is one of only seven communities in western Massachusetts that has more registered Republicans than Democrats. The majority of those Democrats supported Bernie Sanders. Sanders received 630 votes, while his opponent Hillary Clinton received 453. Trailing Trump’s 758 votes was Republican candidate John Kasich received 256. Marco Rubio earned 239 votes in Southwick, while Ted Cruz received 100 and Ben Carson had 42 votes.
City man accused of driving drunk with pipe bomb released By MICHAEL MAJCHROWICZ @mjmajchrowicz Daily Hampshire Gazette NORTHAMPTON — A Northampton District Court judge ruled Tuesday that the Westfield man arrested last week for driving drunk with a pipe bomb in his car can be released from jail pending trial. Joseph J. Largay, 25, had been held without bail pending the outcome of a hearing for Judge W. Michael Goggins to determine whether or not Largay is a danger to himself or others. “He’s the first one to admit he made a mistake,” Largay’s father, James E. Largay Jr., testified. “Unfortunately, some of the decisions he made weren’t the right ones.” His father told the court that his son appeared “remorseful” and “scared” when he visited him in jail last week. Largay’s relatives — some of whom sat crying and staring
down throughout Tuesday’s proceeding — watched as the police officers who arrested him early Friday recounted the moments they uncovered the bomb. Northampton officers Benjamin Beaver and Matthew Montini pulled Largay’s vehicle over after it appeared to swerve into an oncoming traffic lane, according to a police report. He told police he was on his way home after a night of drinking in Amherst. Largay failed field sobriety tests and also indicated to the officers that there was a handgun in his vehicle’s center console, according to the report. Police also found a sheathed machete. Beneath the gun, along with several boxes of ammunition, was a pipe bomb. Montini testified in court that he placed the bomb on the floor board and backed away.
“Why did you move away?” asked prosecutor Stephen Abraham, an assistant Northwestern district attorney. “Because I thought there was a potential it could detonate,” Montini testified. Largay later told police that he constructed the pipe bomb for entertainment, according to the police report. Largay “was driving around with a loaded gun and a bomb in the car,” Abraham said to Largay’s father. “I would say it was a large firework,” Largay’s father replied. James Largay also testified his son is an avid hunter and that was the reason why a handgun and machete — which he insisted was a large knife — were found in his vehicle. The father also told the court that his son had fallen on hard See Released, Page 7