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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 36
“In reality,
we are all travelers - even explorers of mortality.” — Thomas S. Monson
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014
75 cents
‘Lucky’ parrot survives fall
Residents concerned about garage proposal
By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – A Southwick woman was placed on probation after she accepted responsibility for a charge of cruelty to an animal. The woman allegedly threw a pet parrot over an embankment because she was angry with the parrot’s owner. Officer Thomas Krutka reports, in a court document, that he and Officer Michael Taggart responded to a 10:20 p.m. call on June 26, 2013, from a Granaudo Circle resident who had reported that a relative had thrown her parrot over a bluff during an argument. Krutka reports that he arrived to find the victim, who was crying and obviously distraught, outside the residence. The woman said that her aunt was intoxicated and had just thrown her parrot over the backyard embankment. She told Krutka that the parrot could not fly because its wings had been clipped. When Krutka asked her for clarification the woman explained that she had been involved in an argument with her aunt who became very angry and they began to “yell and scream at each other.” She said that when she told her aunt that she was going to call the police the woman became even angrier. While the victim was on the phone with the police, she said, she heard her aunt say “I’m going to throw your bird” and then heard the birdcage open. She said that, when she went back into the room, that she saw the bird cage was empty and asked her aunt where ‘Lucky’ was. The woman reportedly replied, “I threw him over the embankment.” Krutka reports that the woman said she had been looking for Lucky when he arrived. Krutka and Taggart then entered the house and Taggart then began to interview the suspect, subsequently identified as Gail Nowak, 51, of 12 Granaudo Circle. When Krutka asked Nowak where the parrot was she replied that she did not know. When he asked her directly if she had thrown the bird over the embankment she said “no” and when he pointed to the empty bird cage she repeated “I don’t know.”
but under conditions which prevented the sale of that license or transfer to another location. Patel purchased the business, but the former owner had to surrender the liquor license to the License Commission and remove the liquor inventory, usually by returning it to distributors. Patel then has to apply for the license, which can only be used at that location, and accept all of the conditions and limitations attached to the original license. One of those restrictions was to submit documents from the Department of
By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – A group of residents of Rosewood Estates expressed concern over a proposed bus maintenance garage at 809 College Highway during a Planning Board hearing this week. The property is owned by the Lecrenski family and its company Five Star Bus is seeking a special permit to put a 7,400 square-foot maintenance facility there for their school buses. Architect Rob Levesque presented plans during the hearing that he said would change a bit before the final hearing. This week’s hearing was continued to Feb. 25. “We have been working with the site contractor and builder to manage the cost of the project,” said Levesque. Cost savings would includes changes in the drainage system so that there would be less impervious surface. Another cost saving not reflected on the current design plan is a change in fencing from PVC to galvanized chain link with an arborvitae hedge to be aesthetically pleasing and hide the facility from the neighbors. Planning Board Vice Chairperson Roz Terry asked about the total number of buses in Five Star’s fleet and how many would be at the garage at any given time. Nathan Lecrenski, who owns a home across from the property on College Highway, said Five Star has 61 buses and on average there would be far fewer than 10 buses on site. “In the summer would be the only time there would be that many buses,” he said, adding that there would likely be three or four buses at a time throughout the year. Terry asked that the design reflect the maximum number of buses that the property could hold. Cynthia Marshall, a Rosewood resident, asked about fencing and setbacks and said she did not think another business was needed in that area. “There are 290 units within less than a quarter-mile of this area, and these are 55 and over residences,” she said. “I feel personally we have our share of businesses.” Terry said the lot is zoned Business Restricted and the board cannot block a business from going there if it fits the
See Liquor License, Page 3
See Garage, Page 3
See Parrot, Page 3
Storm targets region After pummeling wide swaths of the South, a winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region as it marched Northeast and threatened power outages, traffic headaches and widespread closures for local residents. (Photo submited)
Committee approves liquor license By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The License Commission approved a package store license after learning details of the proposed business at a public hearing conducted Monday night. Himali Patel submitted a petition for the full liquor license at the Four Mile Country Store on Russell Road which had been operated for the past several years under a license granted through a home-rule petition to the Legislature. The store had held a seasonal all-liquor license prior to being granted the special license,
Local students to test new PARCC exam By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ recent selection of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, test is gathering momentum, as 1,097 schools statewide have been selected to participate in the pilot test, including schools in Westfield. “PARCC is a follow-up to the Common Core standards accepted by state government and the state education commissioner,” said Ronald Rix, the director of technology & business services for Westfield Public Schools. “(The Common Core) gave us data to compare states from all over the country, from Tennessee to Massachusetts.” Rix added that, prior to the adoption of the Common Core, the state of Massachusetts was routinely ranked atop the nation in certain exams, but due to the rigorous nature of some
its tests, it struggled in others. “States chose either the PARCC or the Smarter Balanced Assessment,” he said. “(PARCC) is a 21st century tool to measure student knowledge as opposed to the traditional paper and pencil methods.” In Westfield, seven schools will be taking the test, with Highland, Southampton Road, and Juniper Park Elementary Schools taking a paper version, while North and South Middle Schools, Westfield High School and Westfield Vocational-Technical High School will be taking it online. “The students will be taking the performance-based assessment in March and April, in which they’ll be working on solving problems in real life situations,” Rix said. “By the end of the school year, by May and June, they’ll be tested again to see their mastery of the standards.” He also said that the district’s plan is to send
notifications to the parents of students whose classes have been selected for the test “two weeks after February break”, and that the test wouldn’t be issued to tenth graders, who are already engrossed in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS, test. Rix reiterated that the test is only a pilot in English Language Arts and Math, but Gateway Superintendent Dr. David Hopson, whose district also has classes taking the exam, hopes the pilot gets expanded upon, “given the amount of money the state has put into it.” “The state chose which schools it wanted to test and we have two classes that will taking it,” Hopson said. “We’re in pretty decent shape (for the test) because we have enough laptops in the classrooms.” While the exam is being given to students from grades 3 to 11 throughout the state, Hopson’s district will only see two classrooms
taking the pilot test. A third class was dropped due to only having a small number of students. “Implementing the test for all those grade levels is a challenging bar that the state DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) has set,” he said. In Southwick, School Superintendent Dr. John Barry is skeptical of the amount of time being devoted to the pilot, which is being implemented in Woodland and Granville Elementary, and Powder Mill Middle School next month. “We don’t have much choice,” he said regarding the state’s selection of schools for the pilot. “I think the testing sessions are a little longer than I would want it to be, especially because of how close it is to the MCAS. But we’re only being tested in eight classrooms across the district, so it’s a small percentage.”
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AGAWAM • EAST LONGMEADOW • GREENFIELD SOUTH HADLEY • SPRINGFIELD • WARE
136838-12/13 ME
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