Wednesday, November 26, 2014 by The Westfield News

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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns

www.thewestfieldnews.com WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014

VOL. 83 NO. 277

In observance of Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 27th, the Westfield News will not publish.

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Knife attack sends city man to jail By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man was sentenced to serve two concurrent 18-month terms in the house of corrections after a jury found him to be guilty of two charges of reckless assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The jury found him to be not guilty of a charge of attempting to commit the crime of murder. The charges stem from a backyard incident on June 18, 2011, at a Meadow Street address. Officer Richard Mazza reports that he responded to a report of a fight and found three people “covered with blood.” The two victims, a Meadow Street resident and his father, said that a man, later identified as Robert S. Williams, 41, of 12 Meadow St., had come to their backyard fence from his property complaining about the loud exhaust noise from the victim’s truck and threatened to stab and kill them while holding a knife over his head. The two men told Mazza that after about five minutes Williams came into the younger victim’s yard and, as they were backing away from him, their assailant lunged at the older man and knocked him to the ground. The elder victim said that while he was on the g r o u n d Williams stabbed his bicep with the knife. The younger man then “jumped on the back of Robert S. Williams to Williams gain control of the knife and to keep Williams from stabbing his father again and he received a slice to his left hand in the struggle for the knife”, Mazza reports. Mazza reports that, when he interviewed Williams, on two occasions the suspect “boasted and bragged” that he had stabbed the chief of police. Mazza notes that the elder victim “closely resembles the chief of police.” Williams’ first attorney, Maria T. Barroso filed a motion to suppress that statement, and others, but her motion was denied. After Barroso was allowed to withdraw, William’s next attorney, Edward M. Marasi, motioned at his trial both for a mistrial and for a directed verdict of not guilty based on the claim that a district court does not have jurisdiction over a charge of attempted murder which, he argued, must be heard in superior court. Moreover, Marasi argued, by tainting the jurors’ minds with the implication that he was guilty of attempted murder the judge had influenced their ability to fairly adjudicate the two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon with which Williams was also charged. Judge Philip A. Contant denied Marasi’s motions and the jury found his client to be guilty of the two assault and battery charges. The jury found Williams to be not guilty of attempting to commit a crime, murder. Contant imposed a sentence of two and a half years in the house of correction for each of the charges he was found guilty of and ordered that Williams serve two concurrent 18-month terms in the house of correction with the balance of the sentences to be suspended. Contant ordered that, after his release, Williams be placed on probation until Nov. 21, 2017.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Rain, snow could mess up Thanksgiving travel

Diana McLean of the city’s Department of Community Development leads a meeting of the Youth Commission Monday night in Westfield City Hall. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)

Commission gives young people a voice By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The city of Westfield’s Youth Commission met Monday evening to discuss their thoughts and ideas about their schools and the city. During the meeting, eight students – from Westfield and Westfield VocationalTechnical High School all the way down to the city’s middle schools – sat down with the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Coordinator Diana McLean to discuss events like St. Mary’s hosting a geography bee on December 8, basketball tryouts beginning at the high school after Thanksgiving and a turkey trot at one of the middle schools. Students even floated ideas for future activities, such as organizing dances and marching as a commission in the annual Lantern Light Parade. According McLean, the Commission is important because it gives its membership insight into how the slowly turning wheels of city government work, along with giving a voice for kids in the community. “Getting a say in the community,” said newly appointed Commissioner Emily LaFond, a student at St. Mary’s, when asked what she is looking forward to most about serving. “It’s important in Westfield to have the youth say what’s on their mind,” said Westfield Voc-Tech junior Raquel Ramos. “Having a big say in the city is a good thing. For me, when I go to student council at my school, I like having a say on what sort of things we do.” Commissioners come from a wide array

of backgrounds and situations and the commission has had to alter ordinances to allow some students to serve, such as RJ Boyer of South Middle School, who lived in neighboring Russell at the start of his tenure on the commission but has since moved to the Westfield. “It was really cool that they gave me the opportunity,” he said. “Even though I didn’t live here, I got a say on what happens here.” “I’ve been more interested in politics lately,” said WHS student member Griff Massey. “It kind of shows you how to make decisions for the betterment of the community,” said Massey’s WHS colleague Gabriel Santos, who serves on the commission with his twin brother Javier. Though not a voting member of the commission, which is made up of 17 total students and two adult members, Pamela Kryzek and Jim Blascak, McLean said that the commission also discusses the actions of the state legislature and has made its presence known in Boston. “We talked about one of the House bills to promote services for homeless teens because Westfield has approximately 33 homeless teens,” said McLean. “So we took a group picture in front of our banner and signed it. They wanted to send a message to the legislature that this is an important thing.” “They are involved in communicating to us what their needs are and also learning the process,” she said, adding that several commissioners were present at a public meeting the previous week on how to make the city a more bicycle-friendly community.

By FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Thanksgiving travelers scrambled to change their plans and beat a storm expected to bring snow, slush and rain to the crowded Washington-to-Boston corridor Wednesday on one of the busiest, most stressful days of the year. Forecasters said major Northeast cities will probably see moderate to heavy rain most of the day, though New York and other places were also gearing up for several inches of snow. “Locally, expecting the highest snow totals “I’d rather be in the higher elevations safe than sorry, of Worcester County and if it doesn’t plus the Berkshires and snow, then I just Mondadnock region of southern NH,” said have an extra day WBZ-TV Chief at home with Meterologist Eric my family.” Fisher. “We should see 6-10 inches, but I Jenna Bouffard wouldn’t be surprised if a few of those spots hit a foot. The heaviest snow is expected Wednesday afternoon and evening.” “A sloppy storm either way,” said Fisher. “A rain/ snow/sleet mix is likely in the 95 corridor and will likely sneak up toward the Pike near Boston for a brief time Wednesday afternoon. I’d expect most of the Pike and I-84/I-91 to be a very slow go from midday onward.” “The good news is – this is a really progressive storm. Or in other words, it’s a fast mover,” he said. “It’ll already be heading out during the overnight and will be long gone by Thanksgiving morning with no travel issues expected at all on Turkey Day.” “I always go on Tuesday to try to avoid the Wednesday rush, but it seems like more people are leaving on Tuesday now,” said Bill Fraser, a landscaper from Henniker, New Hampshire, who was taking a train from Boston to New Rochelle, New York, to visit his mother for Thanksgiving. Jenna Bouffard, a New York City public relations executive headed in the opposite direction, changed her bus ticket from Wednesday to Tuesday. “I don’t want to risk it,” she said. “I’d rather be safe than sorry, and if it doesn’t snow, then I just have an extra day at home with my family” in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Major airlines dropped their ticket-change fees for people flying in and out of the Northeast, allowing passengers to try to sneak on an earlier flight, though that appeared to be a challenging proposition, since most planes were filled. By midafternoon Tuesday, just 14 flights within the U.S. were canceled for Wednesday, according to tracking service FlightAware. That’s well below the norm for even a sunny day. United said it was planning to cancel 100 flights Wednesday in and out of Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey — a small fraction of See Travel, Page 6

A safe Thanksgiving is a happy Thanksgiving By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – While Thanksgiving is a joyous day for families to gather and count their blessings it is also, at least for the past five years, the day of the year with the most fires. Massachusetts Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said recently that the holiday “can be ruined with a cooking or candle fire, a burn injury or a carbon monoxide incident from long-term use of the oven” and points to those hazards to aver “Every home should have working smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.” Coan suggests that the

chances of cooking fires and injuries can be reduced by following guidelines which include “stand by your pan” while boiling, frying or broiling and to never leave the house with a turkey (or anything else) cooking in the oven. Coan also suggests that short or tightly fitting sleeves should be worn while cooking and by making sure that the handles of pots on the stove be turned inward over the stove. Children should not be allowed near the stove while anyone is cooking. He points out that a stovetop fire can be best extinguished by putting a lid on the burning pot and by turning off the heat.

Stephen D. Coan Massachusetts Fire Marshal A fire in the oven should also be address by turning off the heat and the by keeping the oven door

closed. If those methods do not extinguish the fire quickly, residents should call the fire department and evacuate the building, Coan suggests. If burns do occur, he said, cool water flowing over minor burns may be sufficient but an ambulance should be summoned for more serious burns. Coan said that carbon monoxide produced by an oven is not usually a concern but, when an oven is in use for a lengthy time, such as when a turkey is roasting, an exhaust fan should be used. If a fan is not an option, Coan suggests cracking a window when a stove is in use for

an extended period. He also points out that festive candles can also be a potential hazard and urges candle users to maintain a one foot circle of non-flammable area around each candle. He said that candles in festive centerpieces should not be lit if the display includes flammable elements. He points out that battery powered flameless candles may be an option. Coan also said that candles holders should not be combustible and that lit candles should never be left unattended. If clothing does ignite, Coan urges victims to remember to “stop, drop, cover and roll.”