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Certain private ways closer to becoming public roads Alberta Humason reading about the suffrage movement to Kelly McMahon’s fourth grade students.
Rix and the fifth grade students had a lively discussion.
ROAR volunteers read to elementary school students By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – 57 volunteers from the Westfield community, including local business people, Westfield State hockey players, parents and school administrators visited the six Westfield elementary schools on Thursday as part of the Reach Out And Read (ROAR) program. Organized by VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) coordinator Tiny Macy, the readers brought new books donated by Shurtleff Children’s Services and read them to children in grades 3, 4 and 5, before presenting the books to the schools for their libraries. Westfield Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Ronald R. Rix volunteered to read at Russell Elementary School. The school had practiced a lockdown drill earlier that day, according to Principal Alison Hamilton, who said other readers that morning had included two of the WSU hockey team players who wore their jerseys when they read to the third graders. “The kids thought that was fabulous,” Hamilton said. Before reading, Rix introduced himself to fifth grade teacher Amy Haramut’s class, who were sitting on a rug in a circle before him. He said he works for the school district, used to be the principal of South Middle School and North Middle School, and before that he was a science and health teacher. One student said he liked Rix’s tie, which was covered with math symbols. Rix said it was one of the school ties his daughter gave him and that he used to wear it to math meetings. He said he also has a science tie. Opening the book, “Seven and a Half Tons of Steel” by Janet Nolan, Rix said he hadn’t read it himself yet because he wanted to learn the book with the class. Rix asked how the students pick a book
Students in Kelly McMahon’s fourth grade class played with homemade slime before cleaning up from recess.
to read. Some said by looking at the cover, on the back, and at the information inside the cover “Sometimes I take a look through it,” Rix said. Opening to various illustrations, the class surmised that the book was about a tragic event somewhere. Opening to the first page, there was an illustration of a jet flying into the two towers, and Rix said the story was about 9-11. Some of the children had never heard about 9-11. Their teacher told them they weren’t born yet when it happened. Rix read that the World Trade Center towers came down, and almost 3,000 people lost their lives. People brought flowers, photographs and candles to Ground Zero. The book showed workers melting down the steel from the towers. Seven and a half tons of steel, once a beam in the World Trade Center, was now the bow of a Navy ship, the USS New York. Rix read that once built, the USS New York sailed past the Statue of Liberty to
a 21-gun salute. He explained that in a 21-gun salute, seven guns are shot three times in the air to honor those that passed away. One girl expressed concern about planes flying overhead. Rix said they shoot blanks. He read that when the ceremony ended, the ship sailed to do its work out to sea. On Sept. 11, 2011, on the 10th anniversary of 9-11, the USS New York sailed back home, bearing the crest, “Never Forget.” Rix said the theme of the book is that something bad happened, but was turned into something good. During an informal discussion following the reading, one student asked Rix if he was going to come back. Rix explained that he comes to the school once a month, and is in charge of maintenance, technology, and also works with Food Service. “If you’re a part of the Food Services, See ROAR, Page 3
Construction project updates in Westfield
Two car accident Thursday evening
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Construction projects throughout the city are getting close to wrapping up, but there is still some time for work. Several projects in the city are going through the last few weeks of work before they are suspended for the winter. Depending on the weather, the projects may be able to go into December before they are suspended, then will be restarted in the spring. Among the projects is the Route 187 improvement, which is a state-level project. “They’re continuing work now, still plan on working, weather dependent, potentially into December,” assistant city engineer Jeremy Cigal said.
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – At approximately 4:58 p.m. on Thursday, a two-vehicle accident occurred on Route 10 and 202 on College Hwy. As one vehicle was heading north on College Hwy, the operator attempted to make a left turn onto Sunnyside Road when it came into contact with the second vehicle operating south bound. Both individuals involved in the accident were transported to Baystate Noble Hospital and no major injuries were indicated at that time. According to Southwick Police Lieutenant Kevin Bishop, there was a heavy downpour at the time of the accident. As to who is at fault, that is still under investigation by Southwick Police.
See Construction, Page 8
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The city will be sending a resolution to the state legislature to help convert certain private ways into public roads after the City Council voted in favor of the resolution Thursday. The City Council voted 11 to 2 in favor of the resolution during their Nov. 16 meeting. The resolution is now set to go to the state legislature in Boston where it will be decided upon and sent MARY JOHN back to the city. O’CONNELL BELTRANDI The resolution total streets in the could affect 61 city, though each roadway would still have to go through an individualized process to be accepted as a public street. “I’ve been working on this for 12 years, since I got on the council,” Ward Four Councilor Mary O’Connell said the day after the meeting. “It’s a system that’s broken, what we have currently.” “I feel as if it’s a good solution for a pathway towards accepting private ways as public roads,” she said. The resolution would move to allow the city to accept the private ways listed in the resolution as public streets. One potential benefit is that as streets are accepted as public ways, it can add to the amount of Chapter 90 funding the city receives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). According to At-Large City Councilor David Flaherty during the meeting, Chapter 90 funding is currently set at $3,930.14 per mile per year for cities. This could mean that the private ways that are turned into public ways may provide additional funds to the city. A total of 61 streets are part of the list, with those streets coming from wards as follows: -Ward one, 12 streets -Ward two, one street -Ward three, zero streets -Ward four, seven streets -Ward five, 21 streets -Ward six, 20 streets According to O’Connell during the meeting, the roads See Streets, Page 8
WSU addresses more complaints By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—According to statements released from Westfield State University President Ramon S. Torrecilha, two more incidents, one including a racist note and another including anti-Semitic symbols, allegedly occurred on the university’s campus on Wednesday evening. According to statements from Torrecilha released on the Westfield State University (WSU) website, the two reported incidents included one that occurred during the evening of See WSU, Page 7
Thanksgiving Schedule at Westfield Gas And Electric WESTFIELD – In recognition of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the 100 Elm Street Business office of the Westfield Gas and Electric will close at 5PM on Wednesday, November 22nd and will re-open on Monday, November 27th at 8:30AM. The 24/7 Dispatch Center will remain open and available for calls at 572-0000 if you have an issue with your gas, electric or Whip City Fiber service.