Has this happened to anyone else? We just had an unsolicited door to door college “intern” trying to sell us books for hundreds of dollars, who claimed he was trying to make money to pay for college. He asked a lot of personal questions and took up nearly forty five minutes of our time but wouldn’t give any information about who we worked for and details. He came the night before after dark and rang the bell but we didn’t answer as we were busy. Is there a law in town about door to door solicitations, and do they need to be licensed? What do the police recommend we do? Westfield Police Chief John Camerota said that department policy requires that all solicitors working in the city must check in with police before starting to work. He said that groups making money by solicitations must have a permit issued by the state before they can apply for the city permit, which is also required. He said that background checks of applicants and vehicle checks are needed before a permit is issued. Camerota said the license process usually takes two or three days to complete. He said that while non-profit solicitors, such as religious groups, do not need to be licensed, their door-to-door activities do generate calls to the police, so it is in their best interest to inform police before they start ringing doorbells, in order to limit delays inevitably caused if police have to come to check on their activities. Residents who question the legitimacy of solicitors who come to their doors should call police.
Thank you for your response about the “wolfman” at the Big Y. I told the store manager and he told me he would take care of it. I didn’t wait another minute to find out what was going to happen – I left as fast as I could. Thank you.
I’m very saddened to see Dig Safe has marked up all the brick at the new park across from Holy Trinity Church. This is nothing new. They go up and down the road marking where gas and water lines are on brand new sidewalks everywhere. This is not paint that washes off easily; it’s there for years. It’s an absolute shame. I think the City of Westfield should have an ordinance that the companies that mark for Dig Safe use water soluble paint or mark it in some other way. This is a travesty and it borders on vandalism. I doubt if our City Council cares very much but when everyone is down there for the big bridge celebration they can look at the nice job Dig Safe did for us.
Hello, residents of Westfield. Do you feel safe with all the homeless people walking around downtown at night? Do you really feel safe? Why don’t the police do something about it? I thought it was against the law to not have any money or an I.D.
Good morning, Pulse Line. Even in 100 degree weather, The Westfield News photographers show up to take pictures of our young people playing sports. Thank you so much for all the wonderful photos that are in your paper. I really enjoy them. Thank you very much for the kind words. Our local students, athletes and citizens deserve to be recognized no matter the weather.
I am not happy with the new registration process at Noble Hospital. I make three to four visits per month to our local hospital for various procedures. Normally I park in the front patient lot, enter the main lobby, go through registration, and walk directly down the hall to the lab. This week, the nice lady at the desk informed me that all lab and x-ray patients must now register in the Surgical Center. She explained that I had two options. I could walk from the lobby area to the opposite side of the hospital (by emergency) which, by the way, is a very long walk or I could walk back to my car and drive to the new location. I decided that it would be easier and faster to drive. I arrived at the new location and the parking lot (which only has 10 spaces) was full. I had no other choice but to drive back to the original lot. By this time, the first lot was full so I had to park in the second overflow section. Once again I am in the main lobby. I asked for walking directions to the Surgical Center. I was told to turn right at the elevators, take the first left, walk down the hall by the vending machines, turn left then right, then the next left, and right again. Walk down that hall and pass the urgent care desk, turn left, then right, and the registration desk is straight ahead. Note to self and others: After my 5 minute lab work is complete, I have to do all of this in reverse. Do you get the picture and understand my frustration? An administration employee told me that this procedure was put into place to be more efficient. My lab work usually takes 15 minutes but that day it took one hour! How is this more efficient? Lucky for me I was able to walk the distance but an elderly patient could not make this hike. I have a question for management: Before implementing a new procedure, do you test it first? I certainly cannot be the only person who is unhappy with this process. When something is not broke – don’t fix it!
