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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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www.thewestfieldnews.com
— HELEN KELLER
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 292
“There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.” 75 cents
Families of Newtown victims sue Camfour
Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old Dylan died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on Dec. 14, 2012, speaks at a news conference yesterday in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/ Pat Eaton-Robb)
By PAT EATON-ROBB DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The families of nine people killed in the Newtown school massacre filed a lawsuit against the maker and sellers of the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle used in the shooting, saying the gun should not have been sold for civilian use because of its overwhelming firepower. The lawsuit alleging wrongful death and negligence was filed in state court and announced on Monday — the day after the second anniversary of the shooting, which left 20 children and six educators dead and became a rallying point for gun-control efforts. In addition to Bushmaster, the defendants are Camfour, a firearm distributor, and
Riverview Gun Sales, the now-closed East Windsor store where the gunman’s mother purchased the Bushmaster rifle in 2010. Messages seeking comment from the defendants were not immediately returned. The complaint says the gun allows shooters to inflict “unparalleled civilian carnage.” “In order to continue profiting from the sale of AR-15s, defendants chose to disregard the unreasonable risks the rifle posed outside of specialized, highly regulated institutions like the armed forces and law enforcement,” the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint. The so-called AR-15 rifle was first built by Armalite for military use, but the design was later acquired by Colt, which in the early 1960s began marketing the semi-
See Intruder, Page 8
Board, Council to resume aquifer hearings By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Both the Planning Board and City Council will resume public hearings this week on the proposed amendment of the city’s aquifer protection (Zone II) overlay district zoning regulation. The Planning Board, which meets tonight, voted to continue its public hearing to further investigate issues raised during the 90-minute session on December 2. The Planning Board will provide a recommendation to the City Council, which opened its public hearing at its Dec. 4 session hearing on proposed amendments to the city’s aquifer protection ordinance, will resume that hearing Thursday night. See Council, Page 8
See Camfour, Page 8
State gives $1.5 million to manufacturing
Cash stolen, intruder arrested By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man got a rude surprise Friday morning when he discovered a man he knew inside his home stealing thousands of dollars from him. City police responded to a report of a breaking and entering case in the City View neighborhood shortly after 8 a.m. and the resident said that he had caught an acquaintance in the act stealing cash from a cache he keeps in his home. He said that the door of his home had not been secured. The victim told the lead investigator, Det. Anthony Tsatsos, that he had been alone in the house after his wife went to work and was in his bathroom when he heard a noise coming from another second floor room. When he investigated, the man said, he found a man he knows taking envelopes of cash from an ammo box which had been stored in a spare room. He said the noise he had heard was the sound of the intruder opening the ammunition can.
automatic AR-15 rifle as the civilian version of its fully automatic M-16. Many other companies have since begun manufacturing and selling AR-15-type rifles. The weapons are popular in shooting competitions due to the light weight of the gun and ammunition and the weapon’s accuracy. Bill Sherlach, whose wife, Mary, was killed in the shooting, said he believes in the Second Amendment but also that the gun industry needs to be held to “standard business practices” when it comes to assuming the risk for producing, making and selling a product. “These companies assume no responsibility for marketing and selling a product to
Ralph Boyd, center, president and CEO of the American Red Cross Massachusetts, enjoys a laugh with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, second from front right, during a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the new American Red Cross facility at 150 Brookdale Drive in Springfield on Wednesday, December 3. The new 16,000 square-foot facility houses the American Red Cross administration, blood services, disaster relief services, emergency communications, and health and safety training center. Joining the ceremony are, left-right, Kim Goulette, executive director of the Western Massachusetts Office, Jeff Meyer, CEO of the Massachusetts / Connecticut Blood Services Regions, and Sarah Corrigan, 1st chairman of the Board of Directors. Attendees of the hour-long ceremony were treated to refreshments and a tour of the new facility. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Red Cross consolidates, seeks local volunteers By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross has consolidated down to a single office in Springfield but will still conduct activities at some former branches, said Executive Director Kim Goulette. Goulette was named executive director for the region this summer, but has over 20 years experience working with national and local non-profit organizations, predominantly homeless shelters and soup kitchens in greater Springfield. “The office is still there, we’re still at the church and services are still the same,” said Goulette of greater Westfield Red Cross services. “Even though we’ve consolidated the back-office expenses, we still have classes there.” Goulette added that the Springfield office has been providing disaster services for four or five years now with several volunteers who live in the Westfield area. Despite the elimination of the executive director positions for Westfield and the Berkshires, Goulette believes services will remain the same. “We’re looking at expanding our team a little farther out so we can make sure that we’re serving everybody,” she said, no small task for an office that will now be handling the disaster relief needs of four counties. The challenges faced by the Pioneer Valley’s Red Cross chapter are obviously different but in
some ways easier than those in the eastern Mass. chapters. “In Boston, they have many more fires compared to what we have out here, but they struggle because, as a city, they don’t have the space to store as many vehicles,” Goulette said. “Getting volunteers and moving them around is a little bit more challenging in a city versus where we are.” The Pioneer Valley chapter also has a marked advantage not just in storage, but in office space. “We have storage in Whately, which services that area (Franklin and Hampshire Counties), the office in the Berkshires (Pittsfield), plus the space in Westfield. We still have quite a bit of space and storage for our volunteers,” said Goulette. Westfield Community Development Director Peter Miller, who also served as vice chair for the Greater Westfield chapter, said that the chapter no longer has a local governance. “Organizationally, we don’t really exist anymore as we’ve been consolidated,” said Miller. “The (Westfield) board is in a position of limbo. There’s a number of us who don’t really have a huge interest in participating in the larger valley. There may be a couple that do.” Miller spoke of the loss of former Greater Westfield Red Cross Director Rich Rubin and his staff as “really devastating” to any Red Cross efforts in the city.
See Manufacturing, Page 3
Machinist training welcomed locally
Garro said Beta has studied numerous communities and its lowest road score was in Bethany, Conn. with a 54, and its highest was Brookline with a score of 84. Beta contracted with Southwick last spring and spent several weeks taking an inventory of the town roads. Garro said Southwick has 70.07 miles of accepted roadways, plus 10.06 miles of unaccepted roads, 6.87 miles of state roads, and 6.68 miles of privates roadways, totaling 94.37 miles. Beta focused only on the accepted roads and provided Department of Public Works Director
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Governor Deval Patrick’s Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki announced a $1.5 million state funding boost to help enhance manufacturing training programs around the Commonwealth Monday. The Hampden Regional Employment Board will receive an 18-month grant worth $219,960 that will kick into effect in July 2015 to conduct an advanced manufacturing training program in partnership with the western Mass. chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association. The funding will go toward contracting local community colleges, part-time instructors from two vocational-technical high schools – including Westfield Vocational-Technical High School – and an advanced manufacturing company to train unemployed and underemployed adults in Hampden County. Jeffrey Amanti, a production manager for Westfield’s Advance Manufacturing of Turnpike Industrial Road, appreciates the support of the Patrick administration, but believes programs of this nature are merely the first step toward a career in this rewarding yet challenging industry. “Skilled labor is something that’s very key to
See Roadway, Page 3
See Training, Page 3
See Red Cross, Page 3
Roadway study reveals below average scores By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – A pavement management program was presented to the Board of Selectmen last night, and the results of a road study showed Southwick fared a bit below average. Anthony J. Garro, vice president of Beta Group, told the board Southwick’s roads scored an average of 61.75 out of a possible 100 points in the road surface rating (RSR). When compared to similar size towns receiving similar Chapter 90 funds, Southwick came in a few points below average. “Comparable towns scored in the mid-60s, so Southwick is a little low,” Garro said.
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer AMHERST – Yesterday was a good day for manufacturing in Massachusetts, as Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki announced a grant of almost $2 million in funding to support manufacturing workforce training across the state during the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC) Pioneer Valley Summit. Governor Dev al Patrick launched the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, a partnership between industry and government to help build a globally competitive manufacturing industry in Massachusetts, in 2011. Its five-point agenda brings together manufacturers, educators, academia, and other organizations to work on industry-identified priorities including promoting manufacturing; workforce and education; manufacturing innovation; the cost of doing business including energy management and sustainability; and access to capital resources. Accompanied by state Sen. Stan Rosenberg at UMass-Amherst’s Integrative Learning Center, Bialecki said that nearly $1.5 million will go to five regional workforce investment boards throughout the commonwealth, including the North Shore Workforce Investment Board ($415,000), the North Central Workforce Investment Board ($300,000), the Bristol Workforce Investment Board ($287,950), the Franklin/Hampshire Regional Employment Board ($276,705) and the Hampden Regional Employment Board, or HREB ($219,960). The HREB will use the funding to conduct an advanced manufacturing training program in partnership with the western Mass. chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association that
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When purchasing a leaf on the Noble Hospital Giving Tree, rejoice in the knowledge that your gift will help enhance and expand patient services and programs. Donations ensure that Noble Hospital is able to continue the tradition of providing the highest level of care for the greater obleHospital Westfield community. Your donation to Noble Hospital is completely tax deductible. Visit give.noblehospital.org for additional ways to donate. For more information, please contact the Community Development Office at info@noblehealth.org or (413) 568-2811 ext. 5520.