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Medical district zoning changes started
BAYSTATE NOBLE HOSPITAL
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—City councilors took the first steps toward modifying the proposed medical services district zoning last night. City councilors from the Legislative and Ordinance (L & O) and Public Health and Safety Committees held a joint meeting last night in City Council Chambers at City Hall to discuss the medical services district zoning proposal. The meeting resulted in some tentative changes proposed, but at least one more meeting is needed to determine what other changes will be made.
“We started at the top and went through the ordinance,” L & O chair and Ward two Councilor Ralph Figy said of the meeting. Figy said that the initial changes that were made were related to the title. According to Figy, the title “medical services district” is one item that is expected to be changed. The joint committee determined that calling the area a “hospital zone” would work better. Also brought up were concerns about how the zone would be defined. According to City Planner Jay Vinskey, the zone would be defined by a map that goes along with
Damon Bazzeghin and Michele Klemaszewski Kenny at an earlier showing of Collateral Damage. (Submitted photo) January of 2010. In August, 2008, Bazzeghin attended the play “No Background Music,” written and performed by Normi Noel, about Vietnam veteran nurse Penny Rock’s journey through trauma to a place of healing. Damon brought the play back to the Springfield area, and co-produced it at the Majestic Theater in the Spring of 2009. Inspired by both Ms. Noel’s play, and Penny Rock’s own written works, he began writing poetry in November 2008, finding in this a way to articulate his thoughts and feelings, reflective of his personal experiences in Vietnam, and
subsequent readjustment to civilian life. Some of Damon Bazzeghin’s work is posted on-line at www.iwvpa.net: International War Veterans Poetry Archives, a site for veterans of any nation to share their work. Woodcut artist Michele Klemaszewski Kenney is an artist and educator, working in a variety of media over her 30 year career. She has enjoyed the art of woodcut printmaking since studying with renowned woodcut artist Antonio Frasconi at State University of New York College at Purchase, School of Visual See Art and Poetry, Page 8
Veterans Day weekend activities By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—A number of Veterans Day events in the area are scheduled for this weekend. Events, including parades and ceremonies are being provided for residents and veterans alike, in Westfield, Southwick, Russell and other nearby communities. The festivities are typically happening on either Friday, Nov. 10, which is the observed holiday, and Saturday, Nov. 11, which is the actual holiday. For Westfield, the main ceremony in the city will be the Veterans Day Ceremony and Parade on Saturday, Nov. 11, hosted by American Legion 124. The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m., at the Westfield Bank Chapel Street parking lot, and will head to the Parker Memorial Park for a ceremony. The ceremony, which will feature American Legion and other veterans groups, as well as Rep. John Velis and Westfield Mayor
Brian Sullivan, will begin at 11 a.m. And on Friday, Nov. 10, The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield will be having their annual breakfast for veterans and their families at their location on East Silver Street. The breakfast will be from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and will be free to veterans, service members and all their families. Another event in Westfield this weekend will be at First United Methodist Church on Court Street. Three choirs are performing together on Sunday, Nov. 12, to benefit the Westfield Food Pantry. Admission is free and all donations will go to the Westfield Food Pantry. In Southwick, the annual Veterans Day parade will be taking place on Saturday, Nov. 11. The lineup for the parade is at 9:30 a.m. at the Summer House, which is located on 535 College Hwy. Kicking off at 10 a.m., the parade will travel down College Hwy and end at the Southwick Congregational Church, right at the intersection of College Hwy and Depot Street.
35-Year Public Media Veteran Honored SPRINGFIELD — The average American worker changes employers every 4.2 years, according to a 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics study. That makes WGBY Deputy General Manager Lynn Page far from average. For nearly 35 years, Page has been reporting to 44 Hampden Street in Springfield to continue her service in public media. This year, that exceptional tenure is being honored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) Boston/New England Chapter as it bestows on her The
See Medical District, Page 8
MCAS scores received by schools
Vietnam War inspired art and poetry show opens Saturday in Chester By AMY PORTER Correspondent CHESTER – Collateral Damage, woodcut prints by Michele Klemaszewski Kenney illustrating poems by her stepfather, Vietnam veteran Damon Bazzeghin will be on display at the Chester Common Table Restaurant, 30 Main Street, Chester from Nov. 7, 2017 to Feb. 27, 2018. An opening reception for the show will be held on Veterans Day, Saturday, Nov. 11t from 4-5:30pm. The poems by Damon Bazzeghin are influenced by his experience in the Vietnam War. He served as a combat infantryman with the Americal Division in Vietnam from Jan, 9, 1968 to Oct. 16, 1968. His tour ended with multiple gunshot wounds in Vietnam. Among the many medals Bazzeghin received for his service are two Purple Heart awards. His writings are related to his experiences in Vietnam, and by the veterans he met at the Springfield Veterans Center, where he worked as a Readjustment Counseling Therapist for over twenty years, retiring in
the ordinance. “The map is the ordinance,” he said. “It’s less cumbersome than to try to describe 300 feet this way, 300 feet that way.” Another item that was discussed were the permitted uses that would be allowed within the zone if it is successful. Discussion was had by the councilors about striking numbers 2 and 3 under “Permitted Uses” from the draft ordinance, which are “Medical or dental offices, clinics and associated services and laboratories”
Silver Circle Award. The Circle Award is a special recognition from NATAS for veteran TV professionals who have made significant contributions. Silver Circle and Gold Circle candidates must have a minimum of 25 years and 50 years, respectively, of service in television. “Lynn Page epitomizes the very best of our industry,” says WGBY Executive Producer Tony Dunne (Connecting Point and As Schools Match Wits). “Her career is both the Lynn Page, WGBY’s deputy general manager, has served the public television station nearly 35 See Honored, Page 8 years.
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said the MCAS scores have been received for 2017, the first time the new test, “next-generation MCAS” was given to students. He said the new test is more difficult, and students in grades 3-8 are being “held harmless” by the state, while a new baseline for the test is developed. Students in grade 10 took the former test. Czaporowski said the catego- Westfield Public Schools ries were also changed for student Superintendent Stefan performance. The new categories Czaporowski (WNG file are: Exceeding expectations, photo) meeting expectations, partially meeting expectations and not meeting expectations. The nextgeneration MCAS also used a scale of 440 to 560, and should not be directly compared to the former MCAS test, which used a scale of 200-280, according to the FAQs on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website. School levels will remain the same this year, while the state is “norming” the test, which means flushing out any issues. “The only way a school in Grades 3-8 can be held accountable, is if they don’t have enough participation,” which could lower a school’s rating level, Czaporowski said. He said participation is also important as data for instructors, because any standard that is not being met by a majority of students is something the teachers will “clearly have to address the following year in their instruction,” he said. WPS did not have participation issues last year, but it remains a concern for the district. The test was given partially online last spring. This coming spring, all students will take the next-generation MCAS test online, Czaporowski said. Results of the tests, which are not yet posted on the DESE website (www.doe.mass.edu) are being sent home to parents next Friday (Nov. 17).
Rep Velis to be Keynote Speaker at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Veterans’ Day Event HOLYOKE — State Representative John Velis (D-Westfield) will be this year’s keynote speaker at the annual Veterans’ Day ceremony at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke. Representative Velis is currently a Captain in the United States Army Reserve and Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs in the State Legislature. Additionally, he is a Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, where he served REP. JOHN VELIS from 2012-2013.“As a member of the Armed Forces, Veterans’ Day is extremely important to me. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to participate in the ceremony at the Soldiers’ Home this week. The residents at the Soldiers’ Home have all risked their lives to defend this country throughout the decades, and it is our duty to remember their service and the sacrifices of countless other Veterans in the Commonwealth,” says the Representative. Velis has made a point of prioritizing Veterans since assuming office in 2014. In his tenure as State Representative, he has passed the Stolen Valor Act, which criminalizes the impersonation of a military member for financial gain, and made national headlines for defending the American flag in the wake of pretests at Hampshire College following last year’s election. This session, he has been a driving force behind the push to extend a Veterans’ hiring preference to public safety jobs across Massachusetts. “Veterans’ Day is the perfect time to remind everyone of the responsibility we all have to ensure that our vets are taken care of- from young vets returning to civilian life from active See Rep. Velis, Page 8