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WEATHER TONIGHT Mainly clear. Cold. Low of 12.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 304
In observance of the New Year, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015 The Westfield News will not publish.
75 cents
Potential tenants consider gallery space
First Night nixed By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Plans for a city-wide event to ring in 2015 did not pan out but organizers are already working on a celebration for 2016. Stephen Dondley spearheaded a group to host a First Night type of event at the new clock tower and parks surrounding the Great River Bridges. The event centered around an Elm Street road race that would end with a midnight countdown at what Dondley called the city’s “iconic clock tower.” Time constraints and safety concerns halted that effort. “We didn’t get together until August and got rolling with the race in September,” Dondley said. “[Westfield Police] Chief Camerota had concerns about safety and manpower, with it being New Year’s Eve. We just couldn’t pull it off.” Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said all parties agreed it was a good idea to celebrate New Year’s Eve at that location. “There just wasn’t enough time to work on it,” Knapik said, adding that he would like to see a full day of activities to ring in 2016, including family friendly events. “I think next year it will be even better and WOW (Westfield On Weekends) will be part of the event,” he added. . WOW sponsors and promotes Dickens Days in Westfield each December. Dondley said the organizing group has about 10 members and others are welcome to join the group, which can be reached via www.newyearswestfield.com. “We are going to start meeting earlier this year and I think progress will come quickly,” Dondley said. Dondley plans to offer Westfield residents and people from other communities a safe, fun way to celebrate 2016. This year, people looking for
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Following the closing of Westfield State University’s downtown art gallery earlier this week, potential tenants for the space in the Rinnova Building at 105 Elm Street are looking at setting up shop there. The Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail and Westfield on Weekends (WOW) have emerged as two possible suitors for the space. “There has been some conversation, although our board of directors has not come to any decision,” said Jeffrey LaValley of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway. “We’re still weighing our options and the benefits.” LaValley said that having a downtown office location would undoubtedly be beneficial for the organization and the potential opportunity to collaborate with other organizations and small businesses is an appealing one. “It would provide office and meeting space, but would also be multi-functional and provide workshops and trainings, and other services,” he said. “But any financial decision has to be approved by our board of directors and we’re not there yet. There are many benefits and we will weigh them as we make our decision.” Ann Lentini, executive director of Domus, Inc., is the landlord of the Elm Street building and is excited about the possibility of welcoming both groups as tenants in a “dual partnership.” “Those two agencies would be able to go in and share that space,” said Lentini. “For the Greenway, because they are redoing all the trails, that would give See Tenants, Page 8
local First Night activities can head to Northampton. Since 1985, First Night Northampton has filled the Paradise City with a 12-hour, family-friendly festival of the arts culminating in a traditional ball-raising from the
roof of the Hotel Northampton. Information on that event can be found at www.firstnightnorthampton.org. Those looking to celebrate kid-style can opt to visit First Night Junior at Holyoke
Heritage State Park. The event takes place from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 per person and are available at the Holyoke Merry-GoRound and Holyoke Children’s Museum, both located at the park.
WCE ready for 2015 HiSET session By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Local residents looking to take the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) and earn a high school diploma will have another opportunity in 2015, as Westfield Community Education (WCE) will be holding a registration at the Westfield Athenaeum on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. for students to prepare to take the HiSET. Now in the eighth year of operation, HiSET, formerly the General Equivalency Diploma or GED, has served a total of 483 disadvantaged teens, at-risk youth and adults, many living in poverty, with both Pre-HiSET and HiSET preparation classes, tutoring and academic counseling. The program achieved an 84.5 percent success
rate for students passing the HiSET exam in 2014. According to Kelly Pelkey, WCE’s program coordinator, the program’s rigorous curricula, driven educators, high expectations of student performance, daily homework, and constant acknowledgement of academic success have contributed in the program’s staggering success. As to who is eligible to participate, Pelkey stated that anyone who has not finished their high school education is eligible to participate in the classes. “These free classes will be held at the Athenaeum, begin on Monday, January 12, and will run for 15 weeks,” said Pelkey, adding that students have come from Southwick and West Springfield in addition to Westfield. “We have three dif-
ferent classes and the tops that we can accomodate are 55 (students) per session, so that’s 18 students per class.” Pelkey said 2014 saw 91 students enroll in the program, with eight students passing the test, 12 graduating from preHiSET to HiSET Level 1 coursework. An additional four students enrolled in college, while another six secured full or part-time jobs and another 23 are still in study. Asked what it means to be able to help residents go back to school and finish their high school education, Pelkey said helping students improve their lives is a profound, incredible feeling. “Lack of education and poverty are See HiSET, Page 3
AG-elect Healey weighs targeting drug cos. By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Attorney General-elect Maura Healey says she would consider taking legal action against pharmaceutical companies to help rein in prescription drug abuse that can lead to heroin addiction. In an interview with The Associated Press, Healey pointed to a lawsuit brought by Kentucky against Purdue Pharma alleging the company misled health care providers, consumers and government officials regarding the risk of addiction associated with the drug OxyContin. “It’s something I want to look at,” Healey told the AP. “I certainly won’t hesitate to take action against pharmaceutical companies that
are engaged in unfair or deceptive marketing practices and aren’t being straight with the public.” Healey said the problem of opiate addiction has been growing in part because prescription painkillers have been come so powerful while the cost of illegal drugs like heroin has plummeted as their potency has increased. That’s led to a rise of overdoses, she said. “I talked to people who got hurt on the job, had a sports injury, were prescribed these medicines, became addicted, the next thing we know their homes are in foreclosure or they’ve moved to heroin,” she said. See Healey, Page 8
Massachusetts Attorney General-elect Maura Healey. (AP Photo)
Man threatened, warrant requested By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A warrant application has been filed charging a West Springfield man after he allegedly threatened a city man with bodily harm. Officer Michael Csekovsky reports that the city man came to the station Monday to complain of threatening messages he received on his phone. The man told Csekovsky that he received about 20 calls after he was awarded custody of his daughter and the messages left included threats to assault him. The victim said that he recognized the caller’s voice and knew it to be that of his former girlfriend’s new boyfriend. The man explained that he and the woman have a child in common and that he had been involved in a dispute with the woman over custody of the girl. He said that he was recently granted custody and, after that, he started to receive threatening messages from the mother’s new boyfriend. He said that the man is believed to have access to a firearm and knows where he lives. He said that he is afraid the man may fire at his home and is concerned that other residents of the house may be injured. The victim said that he had secured a harassment prevention order with the help of the West Springfield police but does not know if the order has been served. Csekovsky reports that he found that the suspect is the subject of an outstanding warrant. He applied for a new warrant charging the man with criminal harassment, intimidating a witness and threatening to commit a crime, assault and battery.