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The Westfield News
“The worst form
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
— Aristotle
www.thewestfieldnews.com FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 220
of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
75 cents
WRA to oversee future development downtown Secretary of Education Dr. Matthew Malone of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new science building A campus map including the new Westfield State on the Westfield State University campus yesterday. (Photo by University science building. (Photo by Frederick Gore) Frederick Gore)
WSU breaks ground on new science center By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Next to a white tent in the commuter parking lot of Westfield State University yesterday, several shovels gleamed in the fall sunlight, prepared for a moment that has long been in the making. Westfield State University President Dr. Elizabeth Preston was then joined by state Secretary of Education Dr. Matthew Malone and local leaders and legislators in breaking ground on the university’s new science center, the first new academic building on the Western Avenue campus in over 40 years. The 54,000-square-foot science center, which is expected to be completed in August 2016, will house laboratory space that will be used by the allied health, biology, environmental science, nursing, and physical and chemical science programs. Made possible by a 2008 state revenue bond bill which supplied the $33 million required to construct the facility, the school is expecting to raise another $13 million to put toward the new building, including $9 million borrowed from the Massachusetts State College Building Authority and a $3 million grant submitted to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center that will go towards purchasing supplement equipment and programming.
Westfield State University Interim President Dr. Elizabeth Preston, center, is joined by a host of special guests and dignitaries during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new science building on the Westfield State University campus. (Photo by Frederick Gore) The school is also looking to fundraise an additional $1 million to put toward equipment and furnishings. Before of crowd of over 200 people, Preston spoke of what the building will mean for current and future students, as well as for neighbors. “Not only will our new science center contain state-of-the-art classrooms,
offices and meeting spaces, but its striking design is sure to be a wonderful addition to the Western Avenue streetscape,” said Preston. “Westfield State’s history has been all about blazing new trails that will benefit all of us. This new academic building is just
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted 10-3 last night to yield control of six parcels of land, which will eventually become an Elm Street development project, to the Westfield Redevelopment Authority following a highly-charged, and sometimes emotional, discussion. The idea of transferring control of the city-owned land, along Elm, Arnold and Church streets, to the Westfield Redevelopment Authority (WRA) has divided the City Council at two meetings this month. The transfer required nine affirmative votes of the council members to gain approval, but failed to gain that supermajority to pass at the Sept. 4 Council session. The Sept. 4 vote failed even though it gained eight affirmative votes, one short of the supermajority. The 8-4 vote occurred when Council President Brent B. Bean was out of town for that meeting. The City Council approved the first reading of a request to transfer city-owned property to WRA at its July 7 meeting at which a number of concerns about the WRA’s ability to successfully attract private investment in the project were raised. Typically the second reading and final passage of the order transferring the land would have occurred at the Aug. 21 council session, but was tabled to the Sept. 4 meeting on the motion of At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty, who requested City Advancement Officer and WRA Executive Director, Joseph Mitchell, to provide the councilors with revised maps and legal documents pertaining to easements. DAVID The issue was debated by council FLAHERTY members again at the Sept. 4 meeting when Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell, who noted against the transfer again last night, argued that the council “should not abdicate our responsibility, to turn over authority and control to the WRA.” Flaherty, who voted in support of the land transfer at both meetings, said he shared concerns similar to those of O’Connell. “We used to have City Council representation on the WRA, but not anymore,” Flaherty said. “We should have someone on that board. We should have more control.” Last night Flaherty, who made the motion for reconsideration after the order failed to pass as the Sept. 4 meeting, expressed those same reservations, while O’Connell said she objected to the transfer of authority over city-owned property to the non-elected quasi-governmental agency whose members are appointed by the mayor and governor. “The WRA is not an elected board,” O’Connell said. “I don’t see why the city cannot maintain control over this board. Where is that in state law or city ordinance? I’m having a hard time that this council can’t maintain control over those six parcels.” Mitchell said that under state law there are only two municipal agencies which can execute urban renewal plans: development authorities and housing authorities.
See WSU Science Center, Page 8 See WRA, Page 8
Dispatchers clear ‘dead-end’ case By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – An apparent ‘dead-end’ case has been cleared, and a suspect has been arraigned, thanks to the work of a pair of city dispatchers. Det. Sgt. Stephen K. Dickinson reports that he responded to a shoplifting incident Aug. 14 in which a male party had attempted to push a shopping cart, laden Joseph with merchandise valued at $641, out of a F. Rego local supermarket. When the man was accosted by the store manager, Dickinson reports, he told the manager that he had to return to his vehicle to get his wallet and left the cart when See Dispatchers, Page 3
Final primary results reflect low turnout
Liquor supplied, supplier charged
BOSTON — Final official results from the Massachusetts primary election show fewer than 20 percent of eligible voters participated. Secretary of State William Galvin said yesterday that about 726,000 voters went to the polls on Sept. 9, with about 566,092 casting ballots in the Democratic primary and 159,936 voting in the Republican primary. The turnout was significantly lower than in 2006, the last time the state had an open race for governor with a contested primary and nearly 912,000 voters participated. Official results from last week’s election show Martha Coakley winning the Democratic gubernatorial nomination with 229,156 votes, to 196,594 votes for Steven Grossman and 113,988 for Don Berwick.
By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The manager of a city pizzeria has been charged after he told police that he purchased a bottle of whiskey for a 19-year-old employee. City police report that officers Michael Csekovsky and Michael Gibbons responded to a 9:58 p.m. call Wednesday from a young Noble Avenue man who said that he had received a garbled text message from his girlfriend which also stated that she needed help at her workplace, a city pizza restaurant. The caller had told the dispatcher that he and his father went to the restaurant where they found his girlfriend in the darkened store with the manager and both appeared to be
See Primary Results, Page 3
See Liquor, Page 3
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