By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON — Ward 1 incumbent Maureen T. Carney thinks the city has a revenue problem; her opponent, Andrew J. Vidal-McNair, believes it has a spending problem.
That was just one of many issues the two candidates for city council disagreed on Thursday night, including how to attract new businesses to the city and where best to cut at the city’s budget, at a debate that drew a crowd of more than 30 to City Council Chambers.
For the first time in four years, Carney, 52, of 13 Church St., has competition for the council seat. She used her opening statement to defend her record and blast Vidal-McNair for running what she called a “negative campaign,” and for advertising on his Web site that she doesn’t care about ward residents.
“He has even gone door-to-door telling people that I don’t go to City Council meetings, and if Andrew had checked he would know that I have a 94 percent attendance record,” she said, adding that “you would have to be a gymnast” to understand his position on an override passed in June.
Vidal-McNair, 33, of 58 Gleason Road, said the current economic climate requires a fresh approach to solving some of the city’s financial problems. He vowed to keep all public schools in the city open and to establish a Ward 1 community organization to clarify issues specific to the neighborhood and to step up in the instance of insufficient funding.
“I have worked hard going door-to-door listening to residents’ concerns and expectations, and I will reach out to the community for advice and will vote in your best interest,” Vidal-McNair said.
Candidates’ responses to questions from members of the League of Women Voters of the Northampton Area, which sponsored the debate, as well as those from audience members, emphasized the differences between them, such as their stance on a meals and hotels tax passed by the council earlier this year.
Vidal-McNair said he approved of the council’s decision to pass the hotel tax but disagreed with the meals portion of the legislation because it placed an unfair burden on both residents and visitors to the city. Carney, who voted in favor of the motion, said the price increase to restaurant-goers is minimal and both taxes will bring the city much-needed revenue.
Despite calls from the audience for a clear stance, both candidates declined to specify where they stand on a proposed landfill expansion, but agreed that the city has to do more to encourage residents to recycle and make a concerted effort to limit the amount of waste they produce.
When asked what they thought were the most important issues facing Ward 1 specifically, Carney said she would focus on congested traffic and issues with the neighborhood water system, and Vidal-McNair said his top goal was revitalizing the empty storefronts on King Street.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
Friday, October 30, 2009
CDH's blood donor service draws to a close
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - In an attempt to save money, officials at Cooley Dickinson Hospital have decided to discontinue its blood donor program.
Starting today, the hospital will no longer offer in-house blood donation services and the future of the Cooley Dickinson Bloodmobile is unclear. The closing will result in an unknown number of job losses at the Locust Street hospital, according to spokeswoman Christina Trinchero.
"There will be layoffs associated with this closure, but I don't have a specific number at this time," Trinchero said.
Craig N. Melin, the hospital's president and CEO, said in a statement the decision to close the program is a cost-cutting measure and comes at a time when hospitals across the state are pressed by escalating health-care costs and decreasing payments.
Although the program previously provided a source of revenue for the hospital, the cost of running it has increased. Free of those costs, and with substantially lower prices on blood bought in larger volume, the hospital should see a considerable savings over the long term, Trinchero said.
In the hospital's press release, Melin said he hopes those savings will allow the hospital to funnel more resources into services that only a community hospital can provide, and that services such as blood acquisition are "better left to agencies that have a greater economy of scale and can give a higher degree of specialization."
To maintain a blood supply for surgery and transfusions, the hospital has temporarily contracted with an unidentified outside agency for its blood and has entered into talks with several local organizations who might provide a longer-term solution.
"We know and appreciate that there are many people in this community who are committed to donating blood," Catherine Reed, the hospital's director of laboratory services, said in a statement. "While discussions are preliminary, we are working with several outside agencies who may fill this need locally."
The American Red Cross still handles blood donations and supplies local hospitals, according to the Pioneer Valley chapter's Web site.
The hospital, the release states, plans to call area residents who have donated 10 gallons of blood or more to notify them of the change.
It will also mail all blood donors a letter notifying them of the changes in service. Additional letters will be sent to businesses and organizations that have hosted the hospital's Bloodmobile in the past.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Flu still sweeping through Valley schools
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON — When Cindy Mahoney’s eldest daughter came down with a fever last Thursday, she assumed the fever was a result of a rapidly spreading H1N1 virus.
Mahoney and her husband kept their sick daughter home from John F. Kennedy Middle School and stowed away in her bedroom, regularly delivering Motrin, Tylenol and stacks of DVDs to keep her occupied.
“We were fairly fortunate because she is healthy and involved in athletics, so she responded well to it,” Mahoney said.
Aside from closely monitoring her daughter’s symptoms to make sure she didn’t take an unexpected turn for the worse, Mahoney said ensuring that the illness didn’t spread throughout the rest of the family, including her 3- and 11-year-old daughters, was a difficult task.
“It just seemed to ripple right through her social scene at JFK,” Mahoney said.
Meanwhile, Mahoney’s middle daughter attends the Smith College Campus School, where a flu-like illness was making the rounds. A handful of this daughter’s soccer teammates stayed home from a game last weekend with flu-like symptoms, and she also had to scratch a birthday party she planned to attend because the guest of honor came down with the illness.
All three of her daughters, Mahoney said, received their seasonal flu vaccinations in September, and as soon as vaccines for H1N1 are available to the general public, she plans to have her entire family vaccinated.
Mahoney said her middle daughter noticed about three-quarters of sixth-graders at Campus School were out sick Monday, a significant increase from the previous week.
“I heard from a parent that out of 40 children in the grade that only about 14 were in school the other day,” Mahoney said, before adding that she felt entitled to a call from school administrators letting her know that there was an uptick in illness-related absences — a call she said she never received.
“If parents know what is happening at the school, they can be a little more vigilant,” she said.
Cathy Reid, the Campus School’s administrator, said only sixth-grade parents were notified via an email last weekend.
The outbreak among these students arose during a five-day Nature’s Classroom program in Andover, Conn., last week, during which the illness seemed to spread quickly among the children, who were living in cabins in very close quarters.
“Some of the students, unbeknownst to us because they weren’t showing any symptoms, went on the trip (and) were coming down with the flu. By the time the kids got home, there were a lot of them out sick,” Reid said.
The flu’s effect on the rest of the school has been minimal so far, but Reid said she expects many more cases in near future.
Easthampton
In Easthampton, the bug remains most prevalent at the private Williston Northampton School, where 30 of its 88 middle school students were absent last week before fall break. About 15 percent, or as many as 80 of Williston’s 530 students were out sick last week before the school’s annual long weekend commenced Saturday, prompting the school to cancel sports competitions Wednesday and middle school classes Friday.
The majority of illnesses last week were reported in Williston’s middle school, causing Director Sarah Kotwicki to close school Friday. Classes are to resume for all Williston students today.
Also affected is the public Maple Elementary School, according to Superintendent Deborah Carter, who said 30 percent of approximately 263 students are out sick.
Amherst
In Amherst, the focus of concern shifted Tuesday from the Regional Middle School to Fort River Elementary School, where 86 out of 450 students, or 19 percent, were absent.
Middle school absenteeism, which peaked at 123 Friday, or over 25 percent, fell back to 78 Tuesday. At Amherst Regional High School, it was holding steady at 152 absent (12 percent) Tuesday. Other schools saw no significant increase in absenteeism, said Debbie Westmoreland, the superintendent’s assistant.
An absentee rate of 5 percent is considered typical.
The schools are screening for fever and flu symptoms, increasing the distance between people, and considering closures if “abstenteeism among either students or staff makes it impossible to function adequately,” high school and middle school Principal Mark Jackson wrote in a letter that parents will receive today.
Hadley
Hadley Superintendent Nicholas Young said about 10 percent of students were absent Monday, while 4 percent is typical, he said. Although some strep throat has been going around, flu is suspected as the main reason for what he called “an outbreak.”
In a letter delivered Tuesday, Young urged parents to keep children home when they are sick, and make plans for who will stay with them or pick them up if they have to leave school. He said the schools are increasing the level of cleaning and making more hand sanitizers available.
Young said he hopes to be able to provide vaccinations in December, but parents shouldn’t wait until then if they have other opportunities.
Deerfield
Officials at Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield reported 100 students absent Tuesday out of student body of 705 students, numbers that are usually not seen until February.
“Normally we have 29 to 30 absent,” said Principal Martha Barrett of her grade seven-through-12 middle and high school. “They are flu-related; we are making the assumption that everyone has the flu.”
“We’re concerned but not overly concerned,” she said. “Our nurses did a very good job informing parents, students and faculty about precautions.”
To return after an illness, “A student must be temperature-free for 24 hours without taking a medication to keep a fever down,” said Barrett.
Mohawk Trail Regional High School
On Tuesday, Mohawk Trail Regional High School in Buckland had 160 students absent out of a student body of 600 in grades 7 through 12.
“Starting this week, we’re starting to see an increase in absences,” said Susan Mitchell, nursing supervisor for the district. “It’s hard to say if they are all out for flu-like symptoms.”
These figures follow a jam-packed Booster Day Week and weekend, when officials always expect more absences. However, these figures are notably higher than the 60 to 70 students absent that typically follow Booster Week, she said.
PVPA
“There’s definitely a big spike in absences, and at least half are due to flu-like symptoms,” said Mimi Whitcomb, school nurse at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School.
About 12 percent of the 400 students were absent Tuesday, about twice the typical number, Whitcomb said. The school has begun asking parents of absent students about their child’s symptoms, and 24 of the 48 students absent reported flu-like symptoms. Seven students’ families could not be reached.
If the absentee rate continues to climb, she and the school administration will consult with infectious disease experts on whether to close the school, Whitcomb said.
South Hadley
The absentee rate for South Hadley students jumped to 13 percent Monday, said Superintendent of Schools Gus Sayer, although it is not known how many of those students have flu-like symptoms.
“That’s certainly far from the number we would take any action on,” he said, such as closing schools. The issue would become more serious if so many members of the staff are out that the educational process suffers, he said.
The absentee rate usually holds steady at 5 percent, which it did until last week, Sayer said.
Cummington
Berkshire Trail Regional Elementary School Principal Laura Dumouchel said there were flu-related absences, but declined further comment. “Yes, we have flu, we have absences,” said Dumouchel.
Calls to the Central Berkshire Regional District’s Acting Superintendent James Stankiewicz were not returned by press time.
Gazette writers Laura Rodley, Nick Grabbe, Stephen C. Hill and Catherine Baum contributed to this story.
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON — When Cindy Mahoney’s eldest daughter came down with a fever last Thursday, she assumed the fever was a result of a rapidly spreading H1N1 virus.
Mahoney and her husband kept their sick daughter home from John F. Kennedy Middle School and stowed away in her bedroom, regularly delivering Motrin, Tylenol and stacks of DVDs to keep her occupied.
“We were fairly fortunate because she is healthy and involved in athletics, so she responded well to it,” Mahoney said.
Aside from closely monitoring her daughter’s symptoms to make sure she didn’t take an unexpected turn for the worse, Mahoney said ensuring that the illness didn’t spread throughout the rest of the family, including her 3- and 11-year-old daughters, was a difficult task.
“It just seemed to ripple right through her social scene at JFK,” Mahoney said.
Meanwhile, Mahoney’s middle daughter attends the Smith College Campus School, where a flu-like illness was making the rounds. A handful of this daughter’s soccer teammates stayed home from a game last weekend with flu-like symptoms, and she also had to scratch a birthday party she planned to attend because the guest of honor came down with the illness.
All three of her daughters, Mahoney said, received their seasonal flu vaccinations in September, and as soon as vaccines for H1N1 are available to the general public, she plans to have her entire family vaccinated.
Mahoney said her middle daughter noticed about three-quarters of sixth-graders at Campus School were out sick Monday, a significant increase from the previous week.
“I heard from a parent that out of 40 children in the grade that only about 14 were in school the other day,” Mahoney said, before adding that she felt entitled to a call from school administrators letting her know that there was an uptick in illness-related absences — a call she said she never received.
“If parents know what is happening at the school, they can be a little more vigilant,” she said.
Cathy Reid, the Campus School’s administrator, said only sixth-grade parents were notified via an email last weekend.
The outbreak among these students arose during a five-day Nature’s Classroom program in Andover, Conn., last week, during which the illness seemed to spread quickly among the children, who were living in cabins in very close quarters.
“Some of the students, unbeknownst to us because they weren’t showing any symptoms, went on the trip (and) were coming down with the flu. By the time the kids got home, there were a lot of them out sick,” Reid said.
The flu’s effect on the rest of the school has been minimal so far, but Reid said she expects many more cases in near future.
Easthampton
In Easthampton, the bug remains most prevalent at the private Williston Northampton School, where 30 of its 88 middle school students were absent last week before fall break. About 15 percent, or as many as 80 of Williston’s 530 students were out sick last week before the school’s annual long weekend commenced Saturday, prompting the school to cancel sports competitions Wednesday and middle school classes Friday.
The majority of illnesses last week were reported in Williston’s middle school, causing Director Sarah Kotwicki to close school Friday. Classes are to resume for all Williston students today.
Also affected is the public Maple Elementary School, according to Superintendent Deborah Carter, who said 30 percent of approximately 263 students are out sick.
Amherst
In Amherst, the focus of concern shifted Tuesday from the Regional Middle School to Fort River Elementary School, where 86 out of 450 students, or 19 percent, were absent.
Middle school absenteeism, which peaked at 123 Friday, or over 25 percent, fell back to 78 Tuesday. At Amherst Regional High School, it was holding steady at 152 absent (12 percent) Tuesday. Other schools saw no significant increase in absenteeism, said Debbie Westmoreland, the superintendent’s assistant.
An absentee rate of 5 percent is considered typical.
The schools are screening for fever and flu symptoms, increasing the distance between people, and considering closures if “abstenteeism among either students or staff makes it impossible to function adequately,” high school and middle school Principal Mark Jackson wrote in a letter that parents will receive today.
Hadley
Hadley Superintendent Nicholas Young said about 10 percent of students were absent Monday, while 4 percent is typical, he said. Although some strep throat has been going around, flu is suspected as the main reason for what he called “an outbreak.”
In a letter delivered Tuesday, Young urged parents to keep children home when they are sick, and make plans for who will stay with them or pick them up if they have to leave school. He said the schools are increasing the level of cleaning and making more hand sanitizers available.
Young said he hopes to be able to provide vaccinations in December, but parents shouldn’t wait until then if they have other opportunities.
Deerfield
Officials at Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield reported 100 students absent Tuesday out of student body of 705 students, numbers that are usually not seen until February.
“Normally we have 29 to 30 absent,” said Principal Martha Barrett of her grade seven-through-12 middle and high school. “They are flu-related; we are making the assumption that everyone has the flu.”
“We’re concerned but not overly concerned,” she said. “Our nurses did a very good job informing parents, students and faculty about precautions.”
To return after an illness, “A student must be temperature-free for 24 hours without taking a medication to keep a fever down,” said Barrett.
Mohawk Trail Regional High School
On Tuesday, Mohawk Trail Regional High School in Buckland had 160 students absent out of a student body of 600 in grades 7 through 12.
“Starting this week, we’re starting to see an increase in absences,” said Susan Mitchell, nursing supervisor for the district. “It’s hard to say if they are all out for flu-like symptoms.”
These figures follow a jam-packed Booster Day Week and weekend, when officials always expect more absences. However, these figures are notably higher than the 60 to 70 students absent that typically follow Booster Week, she said.
PVPA
“There’s definitely a big spike in absences, and at least half are due to flu-like symptoms,” said Mimi Whitcomb, school nurse at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School.
About 12 percent of the 400 students were absent Tuesday, about twice the typical number, Whitcomb said. The school has begun asking parents of absent students about their child’s symptoms, and 24 of the 48 students absent reported flu-like symptoms. Seven students’ families could not be reached.
If the absentee rate continues to climb, she and the school administration will consult with infectious disease experts on whether to close the school, Whitcomb said.
South Hadley
The absentee rate for South Hadley students jumped to 13 percent Monday, said Superintendent of Schools Gus Sayer, although it is not known how many of those students have flu-like symptoms.
“That’s certainly far from the number we would take any action on,” he said, such as closing schools. The issue would become more serious if so many members of the staff are out that the educational process suffers, he said.
The absentee rate usually holds steady at 5 percent, which it did until last week, Sayer said.
Cummington
Berkshire Trail Regional Elementary School Principal Laura Dumouchel said there were flu-related absences, but declined further comment. “Yes, we have flu, we have absences,” said Dumouchel.
Calls to the Central Berkshire Regional District’s Acting Superintendent James Stankiewicz were not returned by press time.
Gazette writers Laura Rodley, Nick Grabbe, Stephen C. Hill and Catherine Baum contributed to this story.
Teen charged in South Hadley pot-garden case
SOUTH HADLEY - Acting on a tip, local and state police converged on a Susan Avenue home and reportedly discovered more than 20 marijuana plants growing in a backyard garden and a ledger tracking sales in one of the home's bedrooms, allegations the teen charged with the cultivation denied in court Monday.
Raymond J. Gagne, 19, of 50 Susan Ave., pleaded innocent in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of possessing a class D substance (marijuana) with intent to distribute and possessing a class D substance.
According to court documents, Detective Todd Dineen heard from a confidential informant that Gagne, who police said had been known in the past to grow marijuana plants in front of his house, had a fresh batch of new plants growing out back. After receiving a search warrant out of Eastern Hampshire District Court, local officers and state police troopers searched the home Aug. 4 and found 24 marijuana plants growing in the garden and dried marijuana plants, assorted drug paraphernalia and a drug ledger recording names and amounts owed in Gagne's bedroom, according to a police report.
Judge John Payne Jr. ordered Gagne released on his own recognizance and scheduled him to reappear in court for a pretrial hearing next week.
- OWEN BOSS
Friday, October 23, 2009
Bottle's contents non-hazardous
GRANBY — A suspicious package containing a bottle with an unknown liquid arrived in a local resident’s mailbox Friday morning and resulted in the temporary closure of South Street.
According to police, at 10:20 a.m., local police, fire, and HAZ-MAT units responded to the area of South Street for a report that a local homeowner had opened a suspicious package and found a plastic bottle with an unknown liquid placed inside. Members of the state police Bomb Squad and Crime Lab also responded to the scene, according to a release. Members of the responding HAZ-MAT team, police reported, deemed the contents of the bottle non-hazardous and the street was re-opened around noon.
Police declined to identify the liquid found inside the bottle Friday night and said the investigation is ongoing.
— OWEN BOSS
According to police, at 10:20 a.m., local police, fire, and HAZ-MAT units responded to the area of South Street for a report that a local homeowner had opened a suspicious package and found a plastic bottle with an unknown liquid placed inside. Members of the state police Bomb Squad and Crime Lab also responded to the scene, according to a release. Members of the responding HAZ-MAT team, police reported, deemed the contents of the bottle non-hazardous and the street was re-opened around noon.
Police declined to identify the liquid found inside the bottle Friday night and said the investigation is ongoing.
— OWEN BOSS
Thursday, October 22, 2009
H1N1 prevalent but not severe, doctors say
By OWEN BOSS
and REBECCA EVERETT
Gazette Writers
Ever since a preschool student at the Learning Loft day care in Goshen was diagnosed with H1N1 on Friday, owner Cathy Karowski has been working hard to make sure it remains an isolated case.
The student, a 4-year-old girl from Goshen, was unofficially diagnosed at Northampton Pediatrics after attending the day care for almost a week with flu-like symptoms.
Karowski said the girl showed symptoms such as a fever, upset stomach and “terrible headaches” before she was diagnosed. Not surprisingly, Karowski said she has upped the day care’s already meticulous cleaning regimen.
She is also entreating the parents of her 20 day care children to keep their kids home if they show any symptoms, to limit the spread of the virus. Dr. Jonathan Schwab, a pediatrician at Northampton Area Pediatrics, agreed that potentially affected children should stay home.
“If your child is sick, don’t send them to school,” Schwab said. “When a 4-year-old goes to day care with H1N1 symptoms, there’s a decent chance the other kids there will come down with it, too.”
Schwab said that though he could not speak specifically about the 4-year-old, it is very likely it is an H1N1 case. “I’m sure it is (H1N1),” Schwab said. “We’ve seen a lot of cases this week and the week before. It’s all around Hampshire County.”
Schwab said that the cases he has seen do not seem severe. “The H1N1 virus is very prevalent here, but the good news is that it most of the cases we’re seeing are mild or medium,” Schwab said.
Schwab said that he, like most doctors, is not doing the rapid nasal swab test to determine if a patient has the flu, because the test is only about 50 percent accurate and does not differentiate between H1N1 and seasonal flu.
“We examine someone with flu symptoms, and if there is no sign of bacterial infection it’s pretty safe bet it’s the flu,” Schwab said. “Regular seasonal flu isn’t usually seen this early in the year, so you can be pretty sure it’s H1N1.”
Schwab said that he is confident that the more than 50 students at the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton have H1N1, because it is too early for the seasonal flu.
“I’ve seen 10 cases this morning that I’m sure are H1N1,” Schwab said at noon on Wednesday. He said he is not testing for H1N1 because it would not change whether he treated them. For most patients, no treatment is given, unless the patient is at high risk such as someone with asthma, immune deficiency or metabolic disorders, children under 2 and pregnant women.
The Goshen girl, now virus-free, returned to the day care on Tuesday.
The rush for vaccines
The short supply of the vaccines, for both the seasonal virus and the more dangerous H1N1 variety, has some residents worried doses won’t be available when they need them.
But local doctors are reassuring them that vaccines for both viruses, which are spread through coughing, sneezing or by touching an object with the flu virus on it and then touching one’s mouth, nose or eyes, will be more readily available later on this fall.
Sarah Haessler, an infectious disease specialist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, said like every other state hospital, they have received a limited amount of H1N1 vaccine to be administered to those most at risk, including children, pregnant women, people between the ages of 24 and 64 with chronic underlying conditions and adults who care for children who are less than six months old.
“We cannot vaccinate children under 6 months old, so what we try to do is put them in a cocoon surrounded by people who have already been vaccinated,” Haessler said.
The increased demand for H1N1 vaccinations nationwide, Haessler said, has greatly affected the availability of seasonal flu shots. The federal government’s call for 200 million H1N1 vaccinations meant the companies who normally produce seasonal shots weren’t doing so.
“Only four companies make flu vaccines, and it is a very labor-intensive process,” Haessler said. “When the federal government called for more swine flu vaccinations, some of the companies switched over their production from seasonal shots to those for the H1N1 virus, and therefore there is a shortage of both.” While the current shortage has some patients worried, Haessler said plenty more of both vaccines will become available as the government begins a more widespread distribution process later this fall.
and REBECCA EVERETT
Gazette Writers
Ever since a preschool student at the Learning Loft day care in Goshen was diagnosed with H1N1 on Friday, owner Cathy Karowski has been working hard to make sure it remains an isolated case.
The student, a 4-year-old girl from Goshen, was unofficially diagnosed at Northampton Pediatrics after attending the day care for almost a week with flu-like symptoms.
Karowski said the girl showed symptoms such as a fever, upset stomach and “terrible headaches” before she was diagnosed. Not surprisingly, Karowski said she has upped the day care’s already meticulous cleaning regimen.
She is also entreating the parents of her 20 day care children to keep their kids home if they show any symptoms, to limit the spread of the virus. Dr. Jonathan Schwab, a pediatrician at Northampton Area Pediatrics, agreed that potentially affected children should stay home.
“If your child is sick, don’t send them to school,” Schwab said. “When a 4-year-old goes to day care with H1N1 symptoms, there’s a decent chance the other kids there will come down with it, too.”
Schwab said that though he could not speak specifically about the 4-year-old, it is very likely it is an H1N1 case. “I’m sure it is (H1N1),” Schwab said. “We’ve seen a lot of cases this week and the week before. It’s all around Hampshire County.”
Schwab said that the cases he has seen do not seem severe. “The H1N1 virus is very prevalent here, but the good news is that it most of the cases we’re seeing are mild or medium,” Schwab said.
Schwab said that he, like most doctors, is not doing the rapid nasal swab test to determine if a patient has the flu, because the test is only about 50 percent accurate and does not differentiate between H1N1 and seasonal flu.
“We examine someone with flu symptoms, and if there is no sign of bacterial infection it’s pretty safe bet it’s the flu,” Schwab said. “Regular seasonal flu isn’t usually seen this early in the year, so you can be pretty sure it’s H1N1.”
Schwab said that he is confident that the more than 50 students at the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton have H1N1, because it is too early for the seasonal flu.
“I’ve seen 10 cases this morning that I’m sure are H1N1,” Schwab said at noon on Wednesday. He said he is not testing for H1N1 because it would not change whether he treated them. For most patients, no treatment is given, unless the patient is at high risk such as someone with asthma, immune deficiency or metabolic disorders, children under 2 and pregnant women.
The Goshen girl, now virus-free, returned to the day care on Tuesday.
The rush for vaccines
The short supply of the vaccines, for both the seasonal virus and the more dangerous H1N1 variety, has some residents worried doses won’t be available when they need them.
But local doctors are reassuring them that vaccines for both viruses, which are spread through coughing, sneezing or by touching an object with the flu virus on it and then touching one’s mouth, nose or eyes, will be more readily available later on this fall.
Sarah Haessler, an infectious disease specialist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, said like every other state hospital, they have received a limited amount of H1N1 vaccine to be administered to those most at risk, including children, pregnant women, people between the ages of 24 and 64 with chronic underlying conditions and adults who care for children who are less than six months old.
“We cannot vaccinate children under 6 months old, so what we try to do is put them in a cocoon surrounded by people who have already been vaccinated,” Haessler said.
The increased demand for H1N1 vaccinations nationwide, Haessler said, has greatly affected the availability of seasonal flu shots. The federal government’s call for 200 million H1N1 vaccinations meant the companies who normally produce seasonal shots weren’t doing so.
“Only four companies make flu vaccines, and it is a very labor-intensive process,” Haessler said. “When the federal government called for more swine flu vaccinations, some of the companies switched over their production from seasonal shots to those for the H1N1 virus, and therefore there is a shortage of both.” While the current shortage has some patients worried, Haessler said plenty more of both vaccines will become available as the government begins a more widespread distribution process later this fall.
Easthampton man faces charges in alleged bike theft
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - A local man charged with beating and threatening to kill a cyclist on an Easthampton street before stealing his bike denied his involvement in court Wednesday.
Jonathan P. Ortiz, 20, of 15 Arlington St. in Easthampton, pleaded innocent in Northampton District Court to charges of unarmed robbery and assault and battery.
According to police, at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, officer Nicholas Weidhass responded to Grove Street for a report that a man had just been beaten and his bicycle stolen.
The alleged victim told police that he was riding down Cottage Street when Ortiz began following him in a gray Jeep Cherokee and gestured to him. After following him to Williston Avenue, according to police reports, Ortiz pulled over and began punching the victim in the face and tried to put his mountain bike into the back of his vehicle, according to court documents.
After wrestling the bike away from Ortiz, the cyclist told police he tried to flee the area but couldn't because the gears had been damaged. Ortiz pushed him off the bike and told him, "If you ride away I'm going to break your neck and kill you," according to a police report.
A witness to the alleged attack told police he saw Ortiz striking the cyclist before loading a mountain bike into the back of his car and driving away, according to court documents.
After police began questioning Ortiz about the incident at his home, the cyclist was called in and identified Ortiz as the man who took his bike, according to police.
Judge W. Michael Goggins ordered Ortiz released on his own recognizance on the condition that he stay away from and have no contact with the victim. He is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing Dec. 11.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettnet.com.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Belchertown driver faces third oui
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
BELCHERTOWN — A local man is facing his third drunken-driving charge after he was seen crossing the dividing line Saturday and nearly hitting several vehicles on Franklin Street, police said.
Kenneth R. Jerome, 33, of 25 Depot, Apt. L, Belchertown pleaded innocent Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, third offense.
At 2:44 p.m., Officer Jacob Strange responded to 400 Franklin St. after receiving a call from a motorist who reportedly saw Jerome’s green Dodge pickup driving into oncoming traffic and “swerving all over the road,” according to court documents.
After being stopped by police, Jerome reportedly failed three field sobriety tests before refusing a Breathalyzer. While being placed under arrest, Strange reported that Jerome became combative, attempted to bite Officer Jason Cristofori and tried to kick out the cage inside the police cruiser that separates the officer from the person detained.
Judge William Mazanec III released Jerome on his own recognizance and he is scheduled to reappear in court on Dec. 2 for a pretrial hearing.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Staff Writer
BELCHERTOWN — A local man is facing his third drunken-driving charge after he was seen crossing the dividing line Saturday and nearly hitting several vehicles on Franklin Street, police said.
Kenneth R. Jerome, 33, of 25 Depot, Apt. L, Belchertown pleaded innocent Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, third offense.
At 2:44 p.m., Officer Jacob Strange responded to 400 Franklin St. after receiving a call from a motorist who reportedly saw Jerome’s green Dodge pickup driving into oncoming traffic and “swerving all over the road,” according to court documents.
After being stopped by police, Jerome reportedly failed three field sobriety tests before refusing a Breathalyzer. While being placed under arrest, Strange reported that Jerome became combative, attempted to bite Officer Jason Cristofori and tried to kick out the cage inside the police cruiser that separates the officer from the person detained.
Judge William Mazanec III released Jerome on his own recognizance and he is scheduled to reappear in court on Dec. 2 for a pretrial hearing.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Ward 3 hopefuls air override, drugs
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - Angela Plassmann used the same candidates forum she originally declined to participate in Monday night to separate herself from incumbent Robert C. Reckman on issues including the severity of the city's drug problem and the decision to pass a Proposition 2½ override.
The forum, which drew a crowd of more than 75 residents to the Bridge Street School's cafeteria, was sponsored by the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association and allowed Plassmann and Reckman to touch on a number of issues specific to the city's third ward.
Though both candidates agreed that a drug problem exists in the city, Reckman, 61, of Fruit Street, said he believed local police were doing a commendable job dealing with it using the resources they have available.
"If there were a drug problem, I'd be happy to have the City Council talk about it, but I really don't think there is a substantial drug problem in Northampton," Reckman said.
Plassmann, who mentioned that one of her teenage sons told her he came into contact with drugs in a Northampton High School bathroom, said she thought it was time to confront the issue and stop "sweeping the problem under the rug."
Also up for debate was the city's decision to pass a Proposition 2½ override, a motion that Reckman said he "regrettably supported" because of the city's dire financial situation and wouldn't endorse in the next several years.
"We were faced with such a perfect storm of events, (including) cutbacks in state aid and increases in the city's health care costs that I thought having an override was the responsible thing to do," he said.
Plassmann, 39, of Fair Street, said she disagreed with the override because she felt it treated certain city departments fairly but didn't offer any alternative solution.
"It is frustrating to me that every time there is an override, four departments are held hostage, the DPW, fire, police and teachers," Plassmann said.
"I'm more inclined to be in favor of an override aimed at a specific thing like a school or police station, but generally I am not."
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Mayoral candidates address Ward 3 concerns
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - The city's mayoral candidates fielded a series of questions specific to Ward 3 Monday night and offered opposing views about how best to develop the neighborhood and how to keep the city's budget balanced in the years to come.
Challenger Michael R. Bardsley and five-term incumbent Clare Higgins were both audience members during the debate for the position of Ward 3 city councilor before taking the stage at Bridge Street School. Once in the spotlight, they found themselves answering many of the same questions.
Both candidates recognized that a substantial decrease in state funding forecasted over the next term will bring with it tough decisions for whoever is elected mayor.
Higgins said she doesn't expect another override in the near future, and she vowed to closely examine every department for potential cutbacks in order to balance the city's budget.
"We're looking at every area (of the budget) and no area is sacred, including personnel," Higgins said. "And I think the big challenge next year will be to keep the health insurance prices as level as possible."
Bardsley, who said he supported hiring a grant-writer to aggressively pursue any funding that could be made available to the city, committed to working one-on-one with companies looking to come to the city.
"I've written up a plan to bring in, at least on a part-time basis, a grant-writer because I don't think we are aggressive enough about going after funds that exist," Bardsley said.
He said he thought the city missed opportunities to acquire funding that would support environmental energy and the arts.
Also raised at the debate was growing concern among neighborhood residents that development of open space would be done quickly in an attempt to create a new source of tax revenue for the city.
In response, Higgins said she expects Village Hill Northampton, a development on the grounds of the former state-hospital, will provide ample space to develop "green, small-footprint" housing. Bardsley, who said he would look elsewhere for future developments, said more time must be spent focusing on how to develop structures in the city that will benefit the community in the next 100 to 150 years.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Friday, October 16, 2009
Four teens deny bomb-making charges
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON — Four area teenagers accused of mixing common household cleaning products inside plastic bottles in order to create “chemical bombs” and throwing them onto a road in Southampton denied their involvement in court Friday afternoon.
Matthew C. Mientka, 18, of 20 Lead Mine Road in Southampton; Keith M. Robbins, 19, of 9 Reservoir Road in Westhampton; Matthew Pooler, 18, of 128 Middle Road in Southampton; and Trevor M. Devine, 18, of 90 North Road in Westhampton each pleaded innocent in Northampton District Court to a charge of possessing an infernal machine.
According to a police report, on Oct. 6 at 9:31 p.m., officers responded to the area of 31 Leadmine Road for a report of gunshots. Once on scene, officers reportedly spoke with a resident who told them he saw a bottle in the middle of the street and slowed his car down to pick it up because he walks his dogs on the road and he has been finding a lot of broken glass.
As he pulled his car over to the side of the road, the witness told police he heard what he thought were two gunshots and then saw a large cloud of smoke. He then fled the scene because he thought someone was shooting a gun at him, at which point he notified the police, according to reports.
The bottle, which was still in the roadway, was found to be half-full of an unknown liquid and was reportedly still smoking when police arrived. Nearby, police found a toilet bowl cleaner bottle on the shoulder of the roadway and a search of an adjacent wooded area revealed four more exploded plastic bottles that had tin foil and an unknown liquid in them.
Using a police dog tracking unit, police tracked the scent of the chemicals to 20 Leadmine Road where Mientka, Robbins, Pooler and Devine reportedly admitted to constructing, throwing and detonating the homemade explosives, which the state’s Fire and Explosion Investigation unit deemed “chemical bombs.”
Judge Robert Gordon released all four men on their own recognizance and they are scheduled to reappear in court for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 4.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON — Four area teenagers accused of mixing common household cleaning products inside plastic bottles in order to create “chemical bombs” and throwing them onto a road in Southampton denied their involvement in court Friday afternoon.
Matthew C. Mientka, 18, of 20 Lead Mine Road in Southampton; Keith M. Robbins, 19, of 9 Reservoir Road in Westhampton; Matthew Pooler, 18, of 128 Middle Road in Southampton; and Trevor M. Devine, 18, of 90 North Road in Westhampton each pleaded innocent in Northampton District Court to a charge of possessing an infernal machine.
According to a police report, on Oct. 6 at 9:31 p.m., officers responded to the area of 31 Leadmine Road for a report of gunshots. Once on scene, officers reportedly spoke with a resident who told them he saw a bottle in the middle of the street and slowed his car down to pick it up because he walks his dogs on the road and he has been finding a lot of broken glass.
As he pulled his car over to the side of the road, the witness told police he heard what he thought were two gunshots and then saw a large cloud of smoke. He then fled the scene because he thought someone was shooting a gun at him, at which point he notified the police, according to reports.
The bottle, which was still in the roadway, was found to be half-full of an unknown liquid and was reportedly still smoking when police arrived. Nearby, police found a toilet bowl cleaner bottle on the shoulder of the roadway and a search of an adjacent wooded area revealed four more exploded plastic bottles that had tin foil and an unknown liquid in them.
Using a police dog tracking unit, police tracked the scent of the chemicals to 20 Leadmine Road where Mientka, Robbins, Pooler and Devine reportedly admitted to constructing, throwing and detonating the homemade explosives, which the state’s Fire and Explosion Investigation unit deemed “chemical bombs.”
Judge Robert Gordon released all four men on their own recognizance and they are scheduled to reappear in court for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 4.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Hilltown CDC sets series of planning meetings
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
Over the next four weeks, residents of the seven Hilltowns will have a chance to come together for public meetings aimed at setting priorities for community projects, acquiring grant funding to support them and gathering input from local residents.
Town officials from Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington, will enlist the support of Community Development Corp. representatives to complete their town’s Community Development Strategy which is a seven-page document that summarizes the town’s planning efforts and outlines its goals.
Andrew Baker, the Hilltown CDC’s executive director, said completing each town’s community development strategy document will take several meetings and residents are strongly encouraged to attend. The first meeting, Baker said, focuses mainly on gathering public comment from residents looking to showcase a particular project. At a second, follow-up meeting a few weeks later, Baker said each town’s Board of Selectmen will review public input and decide which projects should be included in the final document.
“This is a way of saying here in these seven pages are our goals and here is our priority list of what we want to accomplish in the next three to five years,” Baker said. “And the projects don’t have to be necessarily block-grant related, they can be pretty much anything a resident wants to see officials do to improve the town.”
Baker said an annual update of a town’s development strategy is required to qualify for the state’s block-grant program.
“One other important piece of these meetings is that if someone wants to participate in block grant fuding, we need to first gather information about the town’s bonus points,” Baker said. “In order to get bonus points, which can be essential to getting a project funded, the town has to show evidence of another initiative that had been done without the support of block grant funding.”
Examples of such projects, Baker said, includes the construction of a new library in Westhampton and a home under construction for an injured Iraq War veteran.
For more information about the CDS review process or to request a copy of your town’s CDS document, residents are encouraged to contact Baker’s Hilltown CDC’s office at 413-296-4536, ext. 18 or visit the organization’s Web site at www.hilltowncdc.org.
The meetings begin Monday with one in Chesterfield at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Offices, 422 Main Road.
Others are: Worthington, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, Huntington Road; Williamsburg: Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, 141 Main St., Haydenville; Westhampton, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, 1 South Road; Plainfield: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 304 Main St.; Cummington: Thursday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m., Cummington Community House, Main Street; Goshen: Monday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m., Town Hall, Main Street.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Staff Writer
Over the next four weeks, residents of the seven Hilltowns will have a chance to come together for public meetings aimed at setting priorities for community projects, acquiring grant funding to support them and gathering input from local residents.
Town officials from Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington, will enlist the support of Community Development Corp. representatives to complete their town’s Community Development Strategy which is a seven-page document that summarizes the town’s planning efforts and outlines its goals.
Andrew Baker, the Hilltown CDC’s executive director, said completing each town’s community development strategy document will take several meetings and residents are strongly encouraged to attend. The first meeting, Baker said, focuses mainly on gathering public comment from residents looking to showcase a particular project. At a second, follow-up meeting a few weeks later, Baker said each town’s Board of Selectmen will review public input and decide which projects should be included in the final document.
“This is a way of saying here in these seven pages are our goals and here is our priority list of what we want to accomplish in the next three to five years,” Baker said. “And the projects don’t have to be necessarily block-grant related, they can be pretty much anything a resident wants to see officials do to improve the town.”
Baker said an annual update of a town’s development strategy is required to qualify for the state’s block-grant program.
“One other important piece of these meetings is that if someone wants to participate in block grant fuding, we need to first gather information about the town’s bonus points,” Baker said. “In order to get bonus points, which can be essential to getting a project funded, the town has to show evidence of another initiative that had been done without the support of block grant funding.”
Examples of such projects, Baker said, includes the construction of a new library in Westhampton and a home under construction for an injured Iraq War veteran.
For more information about the CDS review process or to request a copy of your town’s CDS document, residents are encouraged to contact Baker’s Hilltown CDC’s office at 413-296-4536, ext. 18 or visit the organization’s Web site at www.hilltowncdc.org.
The meetings begin Monday with one in Chesterfield at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Offices, 422 Main Road.
Others are: Worthington, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, Huntington Road; Williamsburg: Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, 141 Main St., Haydenville; Westhampton, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, 1 South Road; Plainfield: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m., Town Hall, 304 Main St.; Cummington: Thursday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m., Cummington Community House, Main Street; Goshen: Monday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m., Town Hall, Main Street.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Easthampton man arrested in string of business break-ins
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - An Easthampton man told police he was just looking for a place to sleep after he was arrested in connection with a series of break-ins at two Easthampton businesses, during which he allegedly broke into a soda machine and took a company's truck out for a joyride before smashing it into one of the buildings, according to court records.
Edward J. Cooper, 34, of 44 Briggs St., pleaded innocent Wednesday in Northampton District Court to charges of larceny from a building, two counts of breaking and entering a building during the nighttime for a felony, two counts of malicious destruction of property valued above $250 and two counts of using a motor vehicle without the owner's authority.
Over the past month, local police said they have been investigating four separate overnight break-ins that occurred at the DOS Concrete Services Inc. building on Wemelco Way and the Grace building, which is located next door. After an investigation into the break-ins led to Cooper's arrest, he reportedly admitted to police that he had broken into both buildings on six different occasions over a two month period because he needed a place to sleep, according to a police report contained in the court file.
While inside the Grace building on July 29 and July 30, Cooper reportedly told police he broke into a soda machine and stole money and sodas, causing more than $300 in damage, according to court documents. On those same nights, Cooper reportedly took the Ford Explorer found inside the DOS Concrete Services building out for a joy ride, and on July 30, smashed it into an office wall inside the building when he returned, doing thousands of dollars in damage to the interior office area.
Judge W. Michael Goggins released Cooper on his own recognizance and he is scheduled to return for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 14.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Easthampton's 4 mayoral hopefuls tackle the issues
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
EASTHAMPTON — The four candidates vying for the mayor’s office came together Wednesday night in a moderated forum, during which each had a chance to weigh in on key issues, including improvements to the school system, how to attract new businesses to the city and the proposed expansion of the Northampton landfill.
The forum, sponsored by the city’s Democratic Committee, drew a capacity crowd of more than 250 residents to Williston Northampton School’s Phillips Stevens Chapel. Timed responses to questions from panelists and audience members alike allowed six-term mayoral incumbent Michael A. Tautznik and his challengers, Albert J. DiCarlo, James P. Kwiecinski and Margaret Prendergast, the opportunity to address the challenges facing the city and highlight the differences between their respective campaigns.
The candidates
DiCarlo, 62, of Campbell Drive, who sits on the Conservation Commission, said he has always been interested in city government, but his 40 years with the state police kept him from pursuing a political career. Throughout the debate, DiCarlo focused on ways to make the city a more attractive destination for larger, big-box businesses to alleviate the heavy tax burden on residential property owners.
Kwiecinski, 56, of Hannum Brook Drive, a three-term city councilor and real estate agent at Northampton agencies since 1983, said the skills he learned during his seven years as an administrator with the University of Massachusetts would translate well if he won the position of mayor.
Prendergast, 48, of Gaugh Street, who has served on the School Committee, is co-president of the Friends of Emily Williston Library and works at Easthampton Savings Bank and Big E’s Supermarket deli, said she is proud to not be “your average candidate,” and said her ability to network with area residents and business owners separates her from the competition.
Tautznik, 56, of Hendricks Street, who became the city’s first mayor in 1996 and has held the job ever since, pointed to his experience in the post and promised to continue advocating for the protection of the city’s environmental, historical and cultural resources.
School system improvements
One of the first questions posed at the forum asked candidates to consider how they would improve the city’s public school system in order to ensure that local students don’t opt out for school choice and to weigh on the proposed construction of a new $48 million high school.
All four candidates noted that the city was losing considerable money to school choice and that maintaining a high standard for teachers and paying them attractively would help promote the city’s school system.
Prendergast and Kwiecinski were critical of Tautznik’s decision not to build a new high school several years ago when construction costs would have been cheaper and said that if residents approved, they would support the new building.
Tautznik, who called the new high school a must-have for the future of the city, vowed that if elected he would keep the project within its $48 million budget. DiCarlo, while noting that “the mark of a good city is the school system,” was hesitant because of the current economic climate. “I’m not denying that we should have (a new high school), but the economic times are such that we could gravely suffer from saying yes right now,” he said.
Landfill expansion
While not one of the candidates openly supported the expansion of the Northampton sanitary landfill, which its opponents say could pollute a nearby aquifer, only Kwiecinski, Prendergast and DiCarlo stood adamantly opposed. Although Tautznik didn’t support the expansion, he said it was “a very complicated issue” and promoted a continued conversation about the city’s waste management system.
“I have never wavered or hesitated in my opposition to the Northampton landfill,” Kwiecinski said. “If the incumbent had taken the positions I had taken four years ago, I don’t think Northampton would be pursuing this landfill expansion. I have stated on numerous occasions that landfills and aquifers don’t mix.”
Prendergast added that she would demand a $100 million bond requiring Northampton to test the water on a regular basis. “I don’t understand why the city of Northampton was the only city in the state of Massachusetts allowed a waiver to spread out over an aquifer,” she said. “And I want to find out who said yes.”
Attracting new businesses
All four agreed that bringing new businesses to the city would be the key to lessening the current burden on residential taxpayers, but each had their own approach to promoting the city’s economic development.
Prendergast said she would aim to foster the arts by enticing new artists to open businesses in the city. DiCarlo reiterated his commitment to making Easthampton as attractive as possible to larger companies, and Kwiecinski said he would take a diversified approach, promoting the city’s cultural resources while looking to land larger retailers. Tautznik said he would focus on bringing in companies seeking to develop green technologies.
“We need to make value-added technological products, and I think that fits Easthampton very well ... we have wonderful old buildings that will support all kinds of activities,” he said.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
Staff Writer
EASTHAMPTON — The four candidates vying for the mayor’s office came together Wednesday night in a moderated forum, during which each had a chance to weigh in on key issues, including improvements to the school system, how to attract new businesses to the city and the proposed expansion of the Northampton landfill.
The forum, sponsored by the city’s Democratic Committee, drew a capacity crowd of more than 250 residents to Williston Northampton School’s Phillips Stevens Chapel. Timed responses to questions from panelists and audience members alike allowed six-term mayoral incumbent Michael A. Tautznik and his challengers, Albert J. DiCarlo, James P. Kwiecinski and Margaret Prendergast, the opportunity to address the challenges facing the city and highlight the differences between their respective campaigns.
The candidates
DiCarlo, 62, of Campbell Drive, who sits on the Conservation Commission, said he has always been interested in city government, but his 40 years with the state police kept him from pursuing a political career. Throughout the debate, DiCarlo focused on ways to make the city a more attractive destination for larger, big-box businesses to alleviate the heavy tax burden on residential property owners.
Kwiecinski, 56, of Hannum Brook Drive, a three-term city councilor and real estate agent at Northampton agencies since 1983, said the skills he learned during his seven years as an administrator with the University of Massachusetts would translate well if he won the position of mayor.
Prendergast, 48, of Gaugh Street, who has served on the School Committee, is co-president of the Friends of Emily Williston Library and works at Easthampton Savings Bank and Big E’s Supermarket deli, said she is proud to not be “your average candidate,” and said her ability to network with area residents and business owners separates her from the competition.
Tautznik, 56, of Hendricks Street, who became the city’s first mayor in 1996 and has held the job ever since, pointed to his experience in the post and promised to continue advocating for the protection of the city’s environmental, historical and cultural resources.
School system improvements
One of the first questions posed at the forum asked candidates to consider how they would improve the city’s public school system in order to ensure that local students don’t opt out for school choice and to weigh on the proposed construction of a new $48 million high school.
All four candidates noted that the city was losing considerable money to school choice and that maintaining a high standard for teachers and paying them attractively would help promote the city’s school system.
Prendergast and Kwiecinski were critical of Tautznik’s decision not to build a new high school several years ago when construction costs would have been cheaper and said that if residents approved, they would support the new building.
Tautznik, who called the new high school a must-have for the future of the city, vowed that if elected he would keep the project within its $48 million budget. DiCarlo, while noting that “the mark of a good city is the school system,” was hesitant because of the current economic climate. “I’m not denying that we should have (a new high school), but the economic times are such that we could gravely suffer from saying yes right now,” he said.
Landfill expansion
While not one of the candidates openly supported the expansion of the Northampton sanitary landfill, which its opponents say could pollute a nearby aquifer, only Kwiecinski, Prendergast and DiCarlo stood adamantly opposed. Although Tautznik didn’t support the expansion, he said it was “a very complicated issue” and promoted a continued conversation about the city’s waste management system.
“I have never wavered or hesitated in my opposition to the Northampton landfill,” Kwiecinski said. “If the incumbent had taken the positions I had taken four years ago, I don’t think Northampton would be pursuing this landfill expansion. I have stated on numerous occasions that landfills and aquifers don’t mix.”
Prendergast added that she would demand a $100 million bond requiring Northampton to test the water on a regular basis. “I don’t understand why the city of Northampton was the only city in the state of Massachusetts allowed a waiver to spread out over an aquifer,” she said. “And I want to find out who said yes.”
Attracting new businesses
All four agreed that bringing new businesses to the city would be the key to lessening the current burden on residential taxpayers, but each had their own approach to promoting the city’s economic development.
Prendergast said she would aim to foster the arts by enticing new artists to open businesses in the city. DiCarlo reiterated his commitment to making Easthampton as attractive as possible to larger companies, and Kwiecinski said he would take a diversified approach, promoting the city’s cultural resources while looking to land larger retailers. Tautznik said he would focus on bringing in companies seeking to develop green technologies.
“We need to make value-added technological products, and I think that fits Easthampton very well ... we have wonderful old buildings that will support all kinds of activities,” he said.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Food bank ends CSA operation
Hadley program said to have been area’s 1st
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
HADLEY — This year’s harvest at the region’s oldest community-supported agriculture farm will be its last.
The nonprofit Food Bank of Western Massachusetts said Friday it will discontinue its CSA program at its farm on Bay Road in Hadley.
The reason: to refocus on its main mission of fighting hunger.
Andrew Morehouse, the food bank’s executive director, said Friday that people who now pay to buy shares of the harvest at the Food Bank Farm have many alternatives, including the opening of a new CSA on abutting land will.
Morehouse said Ben and Liz Perrault, who have been tilling the Mountain View Farm CSA on East Street in Easthampton for the past two years, will continue to farm the land in Hadley and have agreed to donate fresh produce to the food bank.
Meanwhile, founding Food Bank Farm director Michael Docter, in partnership with former Food Bank Farm manager Ray Young, will launch a new CSA on Route 47, temporarily named “the next barn over.”
“Those two options should be able to accommodate everyone who wants a share and if for some reason they would rather (use) another location, we have provided a list of the 16 other CSAs available in the area,” Morehouse said. “No one who wants a share should be deprived of a CSA.”
The decision to close the Bay Road CSA, Morehouse said, came after more than a year of information gathering and strategic planning aimed at protecting the best interests of the farmers, the land and the food bank’s mission of providing fresh and healthy food the region’s hungry.
The land itself needs to recover. Production on the Hadley land has been affected by blight and other diseases, according to the food bank.
Some acreage will lie fallow through a crop rotation system designed to counter the spread of plant illnesses.
The Food Bank farm was founded in 1991 as the first CSA in the region. Over the past 18 years, the farm has served more than 700 community shareholders while annually providing about 200,000 pounds of fresh produce to the food bank.
With the closing of the Hadley location, Morehouse said the Food Bank Farm Thanksgiving Store, an annual two-day event during which the Farm Store opens for the public to purchase pies, turkeys and other holiday foods, will also end after the 2009 season.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer
HADLEY — This year’s harvest at the region’s oldest community-supported agriculture farm will be its last.
The nonprofit Food Bank of Western Massachusetts said Friday it will discontinue its CSA program at its farm on Bay Road in Hadley.
The reason: to refocus on its main mission of fighting hunger.
Andrew Morehouse, the food bank’s executive director, said Friday that people who now pay to buy shares of the harvest at the Food Bank Farm have many alternatives, including the opening of a new CSA on abutting land will.
Morehouse said Ben and Liz Perrault, who have been tilling the Mountain View Farm CSA on East Street in Easthampton for the past two years, will continue to farm the land in Hadley and have agreed to donate fresh produce to the food bank.
Meanwhile, founding Food Bank Farm director Michael Docter, in partnership with former Food Bank Farm manager Ray Young, will launch a new CSA on Route 47, temporarily named “the next barn over.”
“Those two options should be able to accommodate everyone who wants a share and if for some reason they would rather (use) another location, we have provided a list of the 16 other CSAs available in the area,” Morehouse said. “No one who wants a share should be deprived of a CSA.”
The decision to close the Bay Road CSA, Morehouse said, came after more than a year of information gathering and strategic planning aimed at protecting the best interests of the farmers, the land and the food bank’s mission of providing fresh and healthy food the region’s hungry.
The land itself needs to recover. Production on the Hadley land has been affected by blight and other diseases, according to the food bank.
Some acreage will lie fallow through a crop rotation system designed to counter the spread of plant illnesses.
The Food Bank farm was founded in 1991 as the first CSA in the region. Over the past 18 years, the farm has served more than 700 community shareholders while annually providing about 200,000 pounds of fresh produce to the food bank.
With the closing of the Hadley location, Morehouse said the Food Bank Farm Thanksgiving Store, an annual two-day event during which the Farm Store opens for the public to purchase pies, turkeys and other holiday foods, will also end after the 2009 season.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
South Hadley police arrest two linked to storage unit break-ins
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
SOUTH HADLEY - After getting a report of a suspicious vehicle parked near a self-storage business, police staked out the area and hit pay dirt, arresting two men who allegedly used bolt-cutters to snap padlocks and enter 44 storage units Wednesday night.
The men were found with an array of stolen property and a prescription narcotic packaged for distribution, authorities say.
Artur P. Lesinowski, 19, of East Longmeadow and Corey A. Coulombe, 20, of Chicopee pleaded innocent Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of breaking and entering a building during the nighttime for a felony, malicious destruction of property valued above $250 and larceny over $250.
Lesinowski also pleaded innocent to charges of possessing a class A substance (Suboxone) and possessing a class A substance (Suboxone) with intent to distribute.
According to Lt. Steven Parentella, at 10:20 p.m. police received a call reporting a suspicious vehicle parked on Eagle Drive, a street that runs next to Community Self Storage on Industrial Drive and was a known staging area for previous break-ins.
Parentella said police sent a cruiser to keep an eye on the car, which reportedly sat unoccupied for more than an hour before the witness called again to report that two men were leaving the storage facility through a hole cut in a fence and were running toward the vehicle.
Lesinowski and Coulombe, Parentella said, were captured a short distance from the storage facility and were taken to the parked car, where police reportedly found bolt-cutters and a plethora of stolen goods, including car amplifiers, power tools, electronics and an electric boat motor.
While being placed under arrest, police discovered that Lesinowski had several individually packaged Suboxone tablets, a medication commonly used to treat opiate addictions.
Judge John Payne Jr., set Lesinowski's bail at $500 cash and Coulombe's at $1,000 personal surety. Neither man had posted bail Thursday afternoon and both are scheduled to reappear for a pretrial hearing Nov. 23.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
Man badly hurt when tractor rolls in Hadley
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
HADLEY - Local firefighters frantically searched a field off Mill Valley Road Thursday afternoon for a critically injured farmer who used his cell phone to call for help as he lay trapped under his tractor, which had rolled over down an embankment and into a brook.
When the man was finally found, he was transported by Life Flight helicopter to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield to be treated for the numerous injuries he suffered in the rollover, Deputy Fire Chief George Moriarty said.
Hadley police declined to identify the accident victim Thursday evening without permission from the police chief, who was unavailable.
At 3:40 p.m., police said they began receiving calls from the farmer, who repeatedly told them he was injured and under his tractor off Mill Valley Road but couldn't specify where he was. Moriarty said he was trapped for "quite a while," as firefighters combed the property for the upturned vehicle.
By 4:15 p.m., from the transmission sent when the man called 9-1-1, state police determined his exact position on the farm using satellite imagery and directed responders to the scene of the accident, among a row of trees in a narrow brook about a quarter-mile from the street.
After enlisting the help of a bucket loader from a nearby farm, firefighters freed the man from underneath the vehicle about 25 minutes later, Moriarty said.
Paramedics then loaded the farmer into a waiting helicopter that had landed on the access road leading to the brook and rushed him to the hospital. His condition was unknown Thursday night.
Kenneth J. Parsons, a farmer who lives at 140 Mill Valley Road, said the man was injured on farmland belonging to Allard's Farm Inc.
Local police and firefighters were assisted on scene by members of the state police and the Amherst Fire Department.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
School's visitors get a wildcat welcome
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
Last week, students at Westhampton Elementary School celebrated the hanging of a mosaic depicting a wildcat, the school's mascot, that was completed last year with help from the school's longtime art teacher, Joanne Lucia.
The project, which was sectioned out and assigned to art students ranging from preschool to Grade 6, required that students bring in their own tile pieces, work together, and learn about the history behind the medium's use throughout history.
"Students were encouraged to bring in pieces of their own plates and cups and there was a really good response," Lucia said. "They were really excited about bringing things in and I plan to do more projects like it in the future."
To help students complete the 4-by-8 foot mosaic, Lucia said the town's Cultural Council arranged for Edite Cuncha, an artist from Turners Falls, to come in and show students how to make their own individual tile pieces and to give a lecture about how the art form has influenced artists across the centuries.
With help from music teacher Beth Besser, Lucia said students sang a song called "mosaic" during a short dedication ceremony as the piece was hung in the foyer of the school's main entrance way. While there is still some work to be done in terms of framing the mosaic, Lucia expects it will be completed in time for the school's open house on Oct. 15.
"It was a nice way of showing to the students that they can do their individual part and combining everyone's efforts will make the overall image more powerful," Lucia said. "Every one of them knows exactly where their individual pieces are."
Sanctuary opens
Mass Audubon is extending an invitation to all area residents to attend the grand opening of the Lynes Wildlife Sanctuary, a site that features 260 acres of conservation land located about a mile off Edwards Road.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., residents are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy guided nature walks along the sanctuary's trails that criss-cross the former farm and orchard and are marked with some of the region's most beautiful wildflowers.
"Earlier this spring some volunteers came together and cleared a one-mile trail that leads to the sanctuary. Prior to that there weren't any trails on the property at all," said Jan Kruse, a spokeswoman for Mass Audubon.
The trail head, Kruse said, is located about a half a mile down Edwards Road from where it intersects with Crowley Road and parking is available in a marked parking lot near the entrance to the trail.
The grand opening is free and open to the public and residents with questions are encouraged to contact Mass Audubon's Connecticut River Valley Sanctuaries at 584-3009, ext. 812, or email arcadia@massaudobon.org.
Fall Fest preparations
A large group of community volunteers are preparing to set up for the town's fourth annual Fall Festival, an event that organizers hope will bring together town residents and help educate them about the area's historical roots.
The festival, which begins at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 18, will be held in a field near the center of town behind the site of the future library. Kicking off the event is a repeat of the Westhampton Hills 5K race, which will begin at Town Hall. Throughout the afternoon, coordinators have planned to have a variety of snack foods and lunch before a community supper, scheduled for 4:30 p.m., and a bonfire sing-along in the evening.
Thecia Hancewicz, one of the event's coordinators, said efforts have been made to feature presentations from local residents who can demonstrate some of the town's older professions.
"We are going to have a blacksmith and we also now have two or more folks who will be spinning wool," Hancewicz said. "During a tour that climbs (the steps) to the steeple of the church, Seth Clark will be playing the organ and demonstrating how it works and some of the history behind it, which is very interesting."
The festival is sponsored by the town's Friends of the Westhampton Memorial Library and the proceeds, Hancewicz said, will support the ongoing construction of the town's new library.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
Friday, October 2, 2009
Massachusetts research gets slice of recovery pie
By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
Massachusetts is in line for more than $434 million in federal stimulus dollars aimed at developing cutting edge medical research. Three local institutions received a share of the pie in an announcement made Thursday.
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst was awarded 18 grants totaling more than $11.2 million to fund a wide variety of research projects and help pay for the construction of a $7 million, 23,400-square-foot research facility inside the college's Lederle Graduate Research Center.
Mount Holyoke College and Amherst College, meanwhile, will receive $48,000 for a DNA study and $141,310 to study metabolism respectively.
In a prepared statement, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he was pleased to see so much Recovery Act funding distributed to in-state institutions. He attributed the success in securing the grants to the quality of medical research being done locally.
"These significant investments in medical research across Massachusetts will save lives, create jobs and ensure that our state remains a world leader in medical technology," Kerry's statement reads. Of the 12,000 grants awarded nationwide more than 1,000 were given to Massachusetts institutions. "I'm grateful that President Obama has once again recognized the cutting edge work being done by our medical institutions," he said.
The study at Mount Holyoke College, which will be investigated by Chemistry Professor Megan Elizabeth Nunez, will use $48,250 to study several ways human DNA is damaged and how to repair it in the hopes of easing the aging process and helping prevent the development of certain types of cancer.
Amherst College's Associate Professor John-Paul Baird will use $141,310 in grant funding to study how feeding and metabolic disorders, such as obesity, anorexia and gastric reflux disease can be treated medically by affecting the neural systems that control feeding.
For a complete list of approved Recovery Act grants nationwide, visit http://report.nih.gov/recovery/arragrants.cfm.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com
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