To start with, I’m very much in favor of the PulseLine and I like The Westfield News. But has anyone noticed how long the comments in the PulseLine have become since they changed over to the electronic system? Nobody can say that much over the phone at one time but someone sitting at their computer tapping away on the keyboard, will go have a beer, and then come back to complain some more making their comments that much longer. Thank you.
Hi. This is a friend and neighbor of Jose Torres. I would just like to say that he is very missed by all of us and loved by everyone up here. We were devastated by this tragic accident. We’d like to thank the newspaper for taking the picture of the perennial garden we planted underneath his picture and banner which will be kept up at the Country Mart Store. I will be sure to take care of it and I plan to plant some mums in a week or so to keep it growing. He was just the best man in the world. I left a message for the editor of the paper informing him that I think they should publicly apologize to Jose’s family for the comment that was put in the PulseLine on the day that he was buried. The funeral was beautiful and it was a very sad day for all of us. Some man, or woman, put in a very, very disrespectful comment about policemen so I also mentioned to the editor of the paper that they publicly apologize by putting it on the front page. Your paper is not very respected at this point by a lot of us because that comment was put in. So we would like to send our condolences and our prayers to Kara and her sons. We miss Jose and we think of him every day. We all have our blue lights on and we will continue to keep them on for a very long time in his memory. Thank you.
This is in reference to Wednesday’s paper. I think your reporter owes it to the Town of Russell and to the current Select Board an apology for the way she reported the police chief hiring the other night. She was there and she took the ramblings of an emotional wife of a state trooper that was not considered for the job instead of getting the true facts. It was not three candidates being looked at for this position. The third candidate, Mr. Wiedass, she alluded to as being a candidate when in fact his application was over a year old and he did not follow up on it. Mr. Cortis, the chairman of the board, explained this at their last meeting and when your reporter was listening to the remarks of this emotional wife of the state trooper, she could have opted to turn around and walk back into the building and ask the Select Board if any of these remarks were true or not and she did not. She obviously got what was the better or juiciest story. You really do more damage than good when you have bad reporting like this. The Russell Select Board is a new board, a green board. Mr. Cortis has been on the longest with two years and granted, maybe the remaining two even though they had a quorum should have been able to make a decision. They probably shouldn’t have if they don’t have the experience. Obviously, your reporter doesn’t want to know the facts so you, as a newspaper and especially the reporter, should get a hold of Mr. Cortis and/or the Town of Russell and print a true testament of what really went on that night and what the process entailed. Thank you.
I have a question for the City of Westfield. They’ve done a fantastic job so far updating and modernizing downtown and Park Square and with all the controversy, I really give them credit and honestly think it looks good. But I do have a question that I would like to ask and have someone give me an answer to. With all the work that we’ve done and now we’re repairing the curbs and sidewalks on Elm Street underneath that big, metal, albatross of a railroad bridge that is no longer in use, it is my understanding that bridge was going to be replaced for the Bike Trail much in the same way the one crossing Main Street in the vicinity of Rocky’s was. If that is the case, why are we doing all that work under the bridge? Until that bridge is lifted out of place, aren’t we concerned that we are going to damage what we are fixing or replacing now? It seems like it should be taken out of place first so the work can be done properly and then put back into place, after the fact, like the other bridge. Just an opinion that I hope someone has the answers to. Thank you.
Southwick Police Department Safety Officer… I’m tired of calling all the numbers at the police department and getting no action so I chose the PulseLine to try and get in touch with you, sir. I’d like to see the yellow and white safety lines on the roads where Rails to Trails cross the main highways in town repainted so they will be noticeable. The majority of the traffic that crosses Rails to Trails goes right through the stop signs. So I think that if there are lines on the roads to help people out, they might realize that they need to stop before they hurt a bicyclist or runner. Thank you.
