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WEATHER TONIGHT Clear and cold. Low of 8.
The Westfield News
“Morality
is moral only when it is voluntary.”
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
- LINCOLN STEFFENS
www.thewestfieldnews.com
75 cents
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 039
Stores stay stocked for snowstorms By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Boy Scouts of America are not the only ones who live by the mantra “be prepared”, as numerous grocery stores and markets in the city also try to always be one step ahead of the weather New England has seen several feet of snow fall since superstorm Juno dropped by four weeks ago, stores such Westfield’s two Big Y Supermarkets, located on East Silver and East Main Streets, receive several product deliveries daily and receive goods in even larger bulk when inclement weather is scheduled on the horizon. “We live in New England so most people know how to deal with the snow. The difficulty comes when the trucks don’t show up,” said Brian Pepe, store manager of the Big Y on East Silver Street. Aside from the traditional blizzard staples such as bread and milk, Pepe said that customers routinely pick up other items in bulk. “We sell a lot of bottled water,” he added, as well as non-food items. “A lot of windshield fluid, rock salt and those sorts of items.” Pepe stated that, within Big Y’s network of stores, the needs of each store are different for each load they receive. “It depends on the business of the store. We get different trucks every See Stocked Stores,Page 3
East Main Street Big Y Supermarket. (Photo submitted)
Westfield snow removal remains ongoing battle
Residents attempt to maneuver on an untreated sidewalk as another snowstorm moved through the area yesterday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
City: Shovel sidewalks for safety’s sake By PETER FRANCIS ers from frigid snow drifts. Staff Writer Westfield School WESTFIELD – Winter Superintendent Dr. Suzanne snowstorms create hazardous Scallion said the safety of stutraveling conditions for everydents who walk to school is one: drivers of motor vehicles, endangered even more by patrons of public transportaunplowed sidewalks. tion and even those traveling “Our neighbors can really by air. help us by getting their sideFor those who get to their walks cleared,” she said, referdaily destinations by foot, encing the neighborhoods snowstorms can be especially around Franklin Avenue and dangerous, as ice underfoot Abner Gibbs Elementary CASEY can lead to dangerous falls and Schools as areas that need to take BERUBE unshoveled walkways can lead to better care of their sidewalks. pedestrians resorting to walking in streets, Of course, shoveling sidewalks often creleaving them vulnerable to oncoming traf- ates large snowbanks which can wall off fic. city streets from sidewalks, creating differStudents in the city have been treated to ent safety problems. four straight Monday snow days due to Scallion asks for drivers to exercise care inclement weather and officials have made some of these cancellations to protect walkSee Sidewalks, Page 3
New MX promoter presents schedule By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The new face of Southwick Motocross – Keith Johnson – met with the Board of Selectmen last night and presented a schedule of events for the year. Johnson is the new promoter for Motocross 338 and is working with the American Legion to revive the sport. Johnson, who lives in the eastern part of the state and runs a motocros school, grew up racing motocross and raced for the first time at Southwick in 1977. “By the time I was 16 I’d raced in Southwick hundreds of times,”
Motocross promoter Keith Johnson speaks to the Southwick Board of Selectmen Monday night. (Photo
said Johnson. “I grew up racing here – it’s my hometown track.” From age 18-36, Johnson raced professionally and traveled the world, but Southwick has always felt like home. When former promoter Mike Grondahl asked him to step in, Johnson was happy to do it. “I am excited about this,” he said. “Anywhere you go across the country for motocross, people know about Southwick.” Johnson said the sand pit in Southwick is a prestigious track and he hopes to revitalize it this
by Hope E. Tremblay)
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The city of Westfield’s Department of Public Works has had a busy year so far and Deputy Superintendent Casey Berube said the DPW is “chipping away at it.” “We’re going to be cutting the contractors loose shortly and bringing our guys in,” said Berube at around 5:30 p.m. yesterday. “They’re pretty road weary, as you can imagine.” Workers had been tackling the storm, which deposited about a half-foot of snow yesterday, clearing the city’s over 250 miles of road for most of the day and Berube said that over 70 city-contracted workers had started at 3 a.m. Monday and wrapped up at 6 p.m. Berube added that the city ordered 39,000 tons of salt last year in preparation for weather and conditions such as these. “It has been a busy winter thus far. It seems like we’ve been at it every three days,” he said. “The rumor is that we’re supposed to get another significant event on Thursday going into Friday.” See Snow Removal, Page 3
MATTHEW A. CYR
TIMOTHY J. LYNCH
SCOTT A. PEABODY
Robbery suspects sentenced By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Three defendants accused of a 2013 armed robbery at the Stop & Go convenience store on Mill Street have had their day in court and all three are now in jail. Matthew A. Cyr, 30, of 44 River St., Agawam, Scott A. Peabody, 27, of 108 Lawton St., Springfield, and Timothy J. Lynch, 20, of 88 Harby Road, West Springfield, were taken into custody Dec. 15, 2013, while driving out of the city after they allegedly robbed the store at gunpoint. A fourth person in the car was initially arrested but charges were later dropped. Investigators said at the time that they came to believe that he had not known of the planned robbery and thought that his companions were going to buy marijuana. Police reported that Lynch had first entered the store alone to determine if any customers were present and, when he reported to his companions that the clerk was
See Schedule, Page 8
See Robbery Suspects, Page 8
Council supports substation expansion
BRENT BEAN II
Noble Express Care
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last week to approve two appropriations totaling $245,000 for the design of an addition to the Little River Fire Substation which will improve emergency response times in the city’s southeast quadrant. The Council approved the use of $122,500 from the city’s free cash account and an appropriation of $122,500 from the Fire Department’s ambulance reserve account to fund the architectural design and bid document preparation. At-large Councilor Brent B. Bean II, who is Finance Committee chairman, said the project has been under development since 2001 because the current facility does not support a larger deployment of firefighters/paramedics. “The Ward 5 area of the city needs to be served better,” Bean
Minimum Wait. Maximum Care.
said this morning. “Right now when those two firefighters/ paramedics are out on a call, the station is closed. We’re not using it properly.” “Westfield has the second largest land mass in the state, so the two substations, Little River and Southampton Road, are very important when it comes to fire and EMS (emergency medical services) response,” Bean said. “This will provide the design and architectural drawings, the construction documents, needed to out the project out to bid.” Bean said that the original Little River substation expansion was estimated at $450,000, but that inflation and expansion of the proposed addition have increase the project cost. “It includes a storage facility, to be shared by police and fire,
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