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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
— HARRY S. TRUMAN
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 015
75 cents
HCC backs Obama community college plan By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer HOLYOKE – Following last week’s announcement of President Barack Obama’s plan to make two years of community college free for all Americans, reaction has been predictable – most Democrats have cheered, some Republicans have booed and everyone is wondering how such an endeavor would be paid for. For administrators at Holyoke Community College, the ambitious plan – which would cost in the neighborhood of $10 billion in federal and state funds over the next decade – puts an institution like HCC in the spotlight. “I think it’s a recognition that more and more folks are understanding that community colleges can play a critical role in the economic development of the country,” said HCC President Bill Messner. “Over the last 15 years, policymakers – both liberal and conservative – have come to an understanding that workforce issues aren’t going away and that we need an educated workforce.” Messner believes Obama’s support has been a key step in legitimizing community colleges as more than just the “poor cousins of higher education” as he feels they have been portrayed and that removing large obstacles such as tuition would help more people get educated. “Even with federal student aid, many Americans, even low-income Americans who are able to access federal aid, are shut out of education,” he said. “The cost of education isn’t just what you pay in fees, it is what do you pay for all the ancillary issues of transportation, childcare, food and housing… all of those issues come to the fore.” Messner said he hopes to soon speak with Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal of the 1st District and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey regarding the breakdown of how the Obama proposal would potentially be funded. “We’ll go into those conversations with our eyes open. We know the state has budget issues right now,” he said, adding that recently inaugurated Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has his work cut out for him. “The last thing he probably wants to hear about is a new initiative that is going to cost significant dollars. We’re realistic about the chances in the short run of this proposal getting legs, but the important thing is that it is out there and getting discussed.” Ken White, dean of community services at HCC, said that he has felt a sense of excitement come over those people he has spoken to with regarding last week’s announcement. “Classes don’t start again for another two weeks, but we want to hear more,” he said. “It is all about the students. We serve a lot of folks who are at low income levels or are unemployed and, See HCC, Page 3
“If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military.”
Council supports aviation program By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted Thursday night to approve an appropriation of Community Preservation Act funding to repair an historic hangar at Barnes Regional Airport which will house the Westfield Vocation Technical High School aviation program. The council unanimously approved the appropriation of $166,000 for the repair of the hangar. The council also approved the first reading of a $334,000 bond which will also be used to restore the envelope of Hangar #2, constructed by the federal Work Project Administration (WPA) in 1939. That bond will be financed with future CPA funding. The city’s Historical Commission has listed the hangar as an historic structure, a vote required to support the Community Preservation Committee’s decision to allocate funding to restore the exterior of the structure. The 10,000-square-foot hangar was built in 1939 with a brick, wood and steel structure that fell into disrepair in the 1970s when the original facade was covered with aluminum siding. See Council, Page 8 Protesters block the morning commute Thursday in Milton. Activists protesting what they call “police and state violence against black people” chained themselves to concrete-filled barrels and blocked a busy Boston area highway in two places at the height of the morning commute. (AP Photo/The Boston Herald, Mark Garfinkel)
State legislators seek crackdown on protests By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer BOSTON (AP) — Some state lawmakers are proposing getting tougher on protesters who block highways following a demonstration that tied up rush hour traffic on Interstate 93 and diverted an ambulance. The proposals, submitted before Friday’s bill-filing deadline at the Statehouse, could increase fines or lengthen jail sentences for demonstrators. Activists alleging police and state violence against black people attached themselves to concrete-filled barrels or chained themselves together using plastic pipes, causing miles-long backups. Grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers involved in the recent
Vets ski free Sunday at Blandford Ski Area
deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City have led to protests nationwide. Nearly 30 protesters were arrested and arraigned on charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and willfully obstructing an emergency vehicle. State police said an ambulance transporting a seriously injured car crash victim to a Boston hospital was forced to divert to a hospital outside the city that did not have a trauma unit. The man survived. Members of both chambers on Beacon Hill have spoken in favor of legislation, with Rep. Colleen Garry, D-Dracut and Sen. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, filing
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer BLANDFORD – All active military personnel and veterans can ski or ride for free with proper military identification Sunday at the Blandford Ski Area. At the start of the day, there will be a raising of the American flag on the deck outside the new lodge, with Susan Whitman, wife of retired Col. William T. Whitman, presenting the red, white and blue, along with Westfield’s American Legion Post 124. Club members will join in the singing of God Bless America led by Blandford Ski Area member Megan Cole. The Col. William T. Whitman Jr. Memorial Giant Slalom Race will also be taking place, an event for participants of all ages, and an event Blandford’s Children’s Coordinator Lisa Mascidrelli, Col. Whitman’s daughter, started in 2006 after her father’s death.
See Protest, Page 3
See Blandford, Page 8
West Springfield man held on gun charges By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A man is back in jail after he was arraigned Friday for five counts of larceny of a firearm. In May, 2014, Det. Brian Freeman reports in a court document, a caseworker for Highland Valley Elder Services called city police to report that client who could not speak for herself had been the victim of the theft of several firearms. Freeman found that the victim’s husband had recently died and the victim had previously complained that some of his family members had been removing property from his home without permission. Freeman’s investigation into the theft of the firearms found a family member who reported that another family member, Timothy J. Lynch,
20, of 88 Harby Road, West Springfield, had been seen removing “several rifles and bows that where wrapped in a trash bag from the home.” Freeman reports that, in July, Lynch was found to be in possession of two shotguns, two rifles and “part of a rifle with Nazi markings (still able to be fired)” and a criminal complaint was filed for five charges of larceny of a firearm. He said that one of the rifles, a 1893 Marlin lever action rifle, was a valuable gun worth as much as $2,500. Because he had not been issued a firearms identification card Lynch was also charged with possession of firearms without a FID card. Lynch was summoned to court to answer the charges and was arraigned on Friday. Judge Philip A. Contant ordered bail in the amount of $100 by Lynch’s situation was more
complicated because he was free on $5,000 bail ordered in a case pending in Hampden Superior Court. In that case Lynch had pleaded not guilty to charges of armed and masked robbery and conspiracy stemming from an incident in the city on Dec. 15, 2013. Lynch and three companions had been taken into custody less than an hour after the Stop & Go convenience store on Mill Street had been robbed at gunpoint. At the time, police reported that one member of the crew, allegedly Lynch, had gone inside to check out the store before a second member of the gang went inside. The second man, reportedly wearing a hooded sweatshirt backwards with eye See Hope, Page 3
TIMOTHY J. LYNCH