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WEATHER TONIGHT Mostly cloudy. Low of 5.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
- AUGUSTA JANE EVANS
75 cents
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 040
“Life does not count by years. Some suffer a lifetime in a day, and so grow old between the rising and the setting of the sun.”
More snow expected
Knapik a finalist in Wilbraham
By PHILIP MARCELO and STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Just as southern New England residents have finished digging out from the latest storm, forecasters say more snow is on the way. National Weather Service Meteorologist Stephanie Dunten said yesterday the region, which already has seen record snowfalls, is on track to see a fairly weak system bring 2 to 4 inches of new snow to many Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities. It’s expected to happen tomorrow into Friday morning. The snowfall will vary: Cape Cod could see up to six inches while western Massachusetts and portions of Connecticut could get 1 to 3 inches. Forecasters also are watching a much larger storm that could dump higher amounts Sunday into Monday. Dunten said it’s too early to say how much that might ultimately bring. She also warned of bitterly cold temperatures Friday through the President’s Day weekend. “The snow is not going to be melting anytime soon,” Dunten said. “We recommend homeowners scrape any snow off their roofs to avoid overloading, as we’ve already seen a few roofs collapsing.” Communities, in the meantime, continue to grapple with the impact of back-to-back-to-back storms in a more than two-week span. Among the top priorities: getting commuter train and subway services back on track and assessing the growing costs to state and local governments for cleanup efforts.
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WILBRAHAM – A week after missing out on one town administrator position in Walpole, Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik is now a finalist for another position, this time much closer to home. Knapik, who announced at the start of the year that he will not be seeking another term this fall, was selected as one of the top candidates for the town administrator position for Wilbraham last night. MAYOR Unlike the race for the Walpole DANIEL position, where he finished second out M. KNAPIK of three candidates by a narrow 3-2 vote, to get this job, Knapik will have to edge out four other finalists from both near – East Longmeadow Town Administrator Nick Breault and former West Springfield Mayor and current Town Administrator for the town of Becket Edward Gibson – and far – Kevin Sutherland, chief of staff of Ithaca, New
Lee Anderson adds to the pile of snow beside the sidewalk in front of his house in Somerville. (AP
Richard Sullivan of Powers and Sullivan offers an overview of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional Schools audit Tuesday. (Photo
Southwick Schools audit favorable By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The annual audit of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional Schools was presented last night during the regional school committee meeting. Richard Sullivan of Powers and Sullivan said the audit results were very favorable. “You’ve got an unmodified opinion, which is the best opinion you can get,” said Sullivan. Sullivan said improvements were made over last year and there were “no internal control issues to report.” See Southwick Schools, Page 8
Photo)
Worthington files to dismiss Gateway suit By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer NORTHAMPTON – The town of Worthington has filed a motion for dismissal of a lawsuit in which it is listed as a defendant along with the Commonwealth’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and a host of others in state government. The suit, filed in Hampshire Superior Court by Gateway School Committee member Ruth Kennedy of Russell, was filed last month on behalf of the remaining towns in the Gateway Regional School District and the Gateway Regional School Committee. According to Kennedy, the suit is seeking to halt the town of Worthington’s unilateral withdrawal from the district, approved by the DESE last month.
See Wilbraham, Page 3
by Hope E. Tremblay)
“My original argument is that the withdrawal is unconstitutional. You can’t file a home rule petition to get out of a school district because it affects other towns,” she explained yesterday. “Home rules are supposed to only affect one town and its bylaws and charter. That’s according to the state law and the constitution. DESE does not have the authority to break a contract through home rule. It is very convoluted.” That home rule petition was filed during an informal session of the House in late 2013 by state Rep. Stephen Kulik of the 1st Franklin District, a Worthington Democrat who serves as vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. When questioned about why Kulik wasn’t named as a defendant in the suit, Kennedy said that the House of Representatives passed the legislation
along with the state Senate and finally Gov. Patrick last spring. Kennedy claims that the Governor’s Springfield office advised Patrick not to sign the legislation because it was unconstitutional, yet he signed it anyway. At a January meeting of the School Committee, Kennedy said she had confirmed that five of the six remaining Gateway towns – Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, and Montgomery – had joined the suit, but that only her town of Russell was abstaining. Asked if Russell was going to join in the suit, Kennedy said she couldn’t divulge any information but that “something is in the works.” According to the lawsuit, the town of See Worthington, Page 3
Packed agenda for Gateway committee By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer HUNTINGTON – The Gateway Regional School Committee will have a full agenda for their meeting tonight at Gateway Regional High School at 7 p.m. Recent meetings have been dominated by discussion of the town of Worthington’s ongoing separation from the district and tonight’s meeting will be no different, according to Committee Chair Michele Crane. “We’re going to have a very initial conversation about the separation and we’re starting to put together a document,” said Crane. She added that the topic of school choice for students living in Worthington who wish to still attend Gateway schools will also be broached. Budget talks will also take up much of the meeting, she said. “We’re going to be having presentations from a couple of our principals regarding the upcoming fiscal year 2016,” said Crane. “The 9C cuts to current budget will also be discussed, as those are current challenges we’re trying to overcome, dealing with cuts in the middle of the year.” See Gateway, Page 3
Gateway Regional School Committee meeting tonight at Gateway Regional High School at 7 p.m. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
How Justice Sotomayor is shaking up the Supreme Court
Author, journalist, and lawyer Joan Biskupic. (Submitted photo)
WESTFIELD – Westfield State University will host author Joan Biskupic on Wednesday, February 18 at 7 p.m. in Scanlon Banquet Hall. Joan Biskupic is a lawyer and journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering judiciary news and the Supreme Court at many different publications including USA Today, The Washington Post, and Congressional Weekly. She currently works as editor in charge for legal affairs at Reuters News. Biskupic has published three books: “Sandra Day O’Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice,” “American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia,” and most recently, “Breaking In: the Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice.” Biskupic frequently serves as commentator
on television and radio programs including Washington Week with Gwen Ifill, the NPR Diane Rehm Show, and NBC’s Today Show. Biskupic will discuss her latest book “Breaking in,” which details of the life and career of Sonia Sotomayor, who became the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court Justice in 2009. Born in the Bronx to Puerto-Rican born parents, Sotomayor’s legal career spans three decades. After graduating from Yale Law School where she was an advocate for the hiring of Latino faculty, Sotomayor worked as a district attorney in New York and joined a private practice. She was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and assumed office in the Supreme Court in 2009 after See Biskupic, Page 8