Sturbridge 7-27-07 (Page 1) - Stonebridge Press and Villager ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14 STURBRIDGE VILLAGER • Friday, October 31, 2008 Ground breaking ceremony spotlights construction CANCER continued from page 1 most of the actual building construction. His company works under the project’s general contractor, Suffolk Construction. “I’ve found the people from the city [Southbridge] are easy to work with,” Spirito said. “Often, when you’re this far from home, you don’t know what to expect, especially since our yard’s not nearby.” According to hospital spokesman Thomas Nutile, the project as a whole should be complete in June 2009. It will be a 21,000-squarefoot facility featuring a chemotherapy suite, linear accelerator for radiation therapy, advanced clinical trails and support services, plus additional space for future uses, according to the plans. About $9 million of the cost will go into construction; the rest is for equipment, he said. The facility is a joint venture between the nonprofit Harrington and a for-profit company called 21st Century Oncology, which runs similar centers in 16 states. Their nearest one is in Holyoke. “I have to thank the people who supported this project through good and bad times,” said 21st Century’s vice president, Hugo Myslicki. “… This is not about going to the big institutions, it’s about bringing the big institution environment to the community.” Myslicki was referring to the company’s claims that this facility will be providing services akin to those usually seen at major university hospitals. Today, Harrington offers chemotherapy and support, but not radiation. Southbridge cancer patients typically have to travel to Worcester or Boston for that. En route to the dig site after the formal speeches indoors, hospital CEO Edward Moore was overheard talking to Myslicki, saying, “You haven’t seen it yet, have you? It’s not your typical one-story building in the middle of a strip mall in Florida like you usually do.” Moore said the project owes a lot to elected officials, workers and individuals from the community who have given it their support. He specifically identified two of the latter —Finally Lisa’s Salon in Southbridge, which raised $3,800 selling hair extensions and related items, and Warren teenager Matthew Koslowski, who ran a golf tournament that raised $4,000. Koslowski said he held the tournament in honor of a grandmother who died of cancer two years ago, and was aided by his other grandmother who works at the hospital. “I felt kind of bad, and that’s how it started,” he said, simply. Jokingly identifying the hospital CEO as his “cousin,” Senator Richard Moore, D- Uxbridge, said one key point of siting a cancer facility here is Southbridge’s “demographic makeup.” Studies show Hispanics have higher rates of some kinds of cancer, including lung, prostate and breast tumors, and this area has a higher than average Hispanic population, he said. Doing this “will help eliminate and at least reduce health care disparity,” he said, later noting, “everyone has had this affect our lives and families directly.” “Bringing the facility and treatment closer to the patients is critical to their healing and recovery,” the senator said. “… More people will be more willing to make that shorter trip.” Gus Steeves can be reached at 508-909-4135 or by e-mail at gsteeves@stonebridgepress.com. Left: Harrington CEO Edward Moore thanks Matthew Koslowski of Warren for running a golf tournament that raised $4,000 for the new cancer center. Right: Dozens of well-wishers look on the formal groundbreaking ceremony from the parking lot above the worksite. Facts about Harrington Cancer Center When: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 8:45 a.m. Where: Harrington Hospital, 100 South St., Southbridge. Details: • 21,000-square-foot, two-story, $9 million building with $5 million in equipment • Latest radiation therapies and medical oncology coming to Southbridge, Mass., and surrounding communities • Comprehensive cancer center on the hospital’s campus in Southbridge, Mass. • Freestanding, two-story facility • Area’s only state-of-the-art radiation therapy, providing cuttingedge radiation and medical oncology to thousands of residents in Central Massachusetts and Northeastern Connecticut • The radiation therapy technologies and chemotherapy protocols at the new cancer center will be equal to those found at major academic and privately owned and operated medical centers in Massachusetts and Connecticut • Center will include a chemotherapy suite, state-of-the-art linear accelerator and treatment planning equipment, advanced clinical trials, and cancer support services • Patients will no longer need to travel to Worcester or Boston to receive world-class cancer care • Joint venture between Harrington Hospital and 21st Century Oncology, operator of facilities throughout the United States • First floor will house radiation oncology • Second floor will house infusion center for chemotherapy, a breast surgeon, and oncology specialists Chinese Restaurant We bring the tradition to you! Take-out Service Catering Party to Your Place Please call 508.765.0398 • 508.765.9816 Full Liquor License ~ We Have Delivery Service Open 6 days: Tuesday-Sunday11am-10pm Fri.-Sat 11am-11pm • Sun. 12 pm-10pm • Closed Monday 344 Main St. (Rte. 131) • Southbridge MA 01550 WANT TAKE-OUT? FROM SUSHI TO SANDWICHES, YOU CAN FIND IT ALL ON OUR EASY-TO-USE ONLINE DIRECTORY. All local. All the time. TheHeartOfMassachusetts.com • Completion scheduled for June 2009 INTERESTED IN BECOMING A NURSE Introducing a New Practical Nursing Program at Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School PEOPLE ARE LINING UP for • Current Complete Local News • Community Events • Local Classifieds and Merchant Advertising • and Lots More! DON’T MISS IT - SUBSCRIBE TODAY! AND GET 4 WEEKS FREE Name _____________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________ City________________________________State___________Zip ____________ Phone ( ) ________________________________________________________ ❑ Please Bill me after my 4 Week Trial. ❑ Check/Money Order Enclosed _______________________________________ ❏ VISA# __________________________________________________________ ❏ M/C # __________________________________________________________ ❏ DISCOVER______________________________________________________ Expiration Date _____________________________________________________ Signature __________________________________________________________ IN COUNTY ❑ 8 WEEKS - $19.25 ❑ 13 WEEKS - $31.25 ❑ 26 WEEKS - $61.00 ❑ 52 WEEKS - $120.00 OUT OF COUNTY ❑ 13 WEEKS - $61.50 ❑ 26 WEEKS - $111.00 ❑ 52 WEEKS - $197.50 For More Information Call 1-800-367-9898 ext. 139 Circulation Department • P.O. Box 90 • Southbridge, MA 01550 40 week full-time post graduate program Looking for caring interested adults Entrance testing starts now for Fall 2009 applicants Small Classes Personal Attention Hands on learning Convenient Location Opportunity to gain a recession proof career Call Practical Nursing Department at Bay Path R.V.T.H.S. Phone: 508.248.5971 or 508.987.0326 Ext. 1674 Website: www.baypath.tec.ma.us 57 Old Mugget Hill Road • Charlton, MA 01507
Friday, October 31, 2008 • STURBRIDGE VILLAGER 15 ‘Super trail’ seeks real name, advocates BY GUS STEEVES NEWS STAFF WRITER Advocates of the so-called “Super Trail” are looking for ideas for a permanent name and for people to befriend certain parts of its route. At the moment largely an entity on paper, the trail is an 80-mile combination of segments of already-existing multi-use paths from Palmer to Franklin. Among them are the Quinebaug Valley Rail Trail and the Grand Trunk Trail, running through the Southbridge area, and the Southern New England Trunkline Trail (SNETT), through the Blackstone Valley. “I’m pretty frustrated at not being able to call it something, and before long these newspapers will have it be the ‘super trail’ forever,” said Grand Trunk Trailblazers President Pat McGarrah of Sturbridge. “[Regarding members,] we’re pretty good through Thompson to Sturbridge, with lots of coverage in between … but there’s several towns [to the east].” Proponents from several of the towns gathered at Thompson Library last week to update each other on where things stand. Among the ideas already suggested are the Titanic Trail, named in part after the fact the first man who thought of a rail trail here died on the Titanic, the Pioneer Blackstone Trail, after the two major river valleys at either end, and the Quittemug Trail. The latter was a Nipmuc Indian who carried food from this area to Boston along the Indians’ extensive network of foot trails during the 1630s, according to proponent Ken Butkewicz of Dudley. McGarrah said he’d accept other suggestions for a while at www.grandtrunktrailblazers.org, after which members of the groups involved will vote on their favorite. The requirements are fairly simple — they need to be “easy to spell, pronounce and write” and “unique — at least to the area, preferably to the trail universe,” McGarrah said. “We really want to respect our history.” The latter requirement was a reason the easier to spell Nipmuc Trail was rejected — there’s already one in Connecticut, he noted. “Our plan is not to have it be exclusively a bike trail,” he added later. “Currently, the biggest users on the SNETT are equestrians, so in time we may have a dual-use trail. We never want to exclude equestrians.” McGarrah said the effort especially needs people from the Palmer area and the Blackstone Valley; ideally, “friends of the trail” groups or trail committees should form in every town along its length so that local people are speaking up for it to the various town governments involved. Informal efforts exist in Brimfield, Sturbridge, Southbridge, Webster and Thompson; Dudley is forming a trail committee; and the Douglas section is shepherded largely by representatives of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Bay State Trail Riders, an equestrian group. DCR’s Cary Van den Akker is coordinating a trail clearing day with power tools in Douglas for sometime after Jan. 1. All of the areas need people, they said. Southbridge’s Scott Benoit said he plans to visit all of the towns along the route to talk to their selectmen and advocates for creation of such groups. He also noted an umbrella group is forming to advocate for rail trails statewide, with a database allowing people to look up individual trails, towns or groups. Ken Pickren, chairman of the Southbridge Trail Committee and Conservation Commission, agreed that’s necessary, noting that it’s often hard to get government or chambers of commerce interested when they “don’t have a clue. They don’t hike and don’t bike.” Pickren noted town governments often want financial estimates and other evidence, at least. “We’re dotting our ‘i’s and crossing our ‘t’s, but don’t have a finite cost assessment,” he said. “We need some tangible to show them, especially pictures and maps.” In fact, the Southbridge Town Council just accepted a $2,900 grant to create a map of its section detailing the existing conditions. Pickren said the group should compile a CD/DVD for the entire route of maps, details of attractions along the route, side trails, and a “punch list” of what needs to be done with cost estimates. Because the route is not a coherent whole, the trail tends to become either overgrown due to lack of maintenance, needs bridges, or deteriorates due to dumping and ATV use (which is illegal on most trails except in a few state forests out west, according to Retired DCR Ranger Bill Annese). “If you open it up, you’re going to invite trouble,” he said. “I’d clear it out and put big boulders up. That’ll block access pretty cheaply.” Several participants had ideas of how to solve the work problem. Annese said DCR twice used the National Guard, a Rotary Club project cleared and widened about a mile of it from “a narrow foot trail to 40’ wide,” and other community service projects are helpful. McGarrah also noted the county jail loans prisoners to work on community projects and might be amenable to trail work. Furthermore, he said, local construction firms are usually helpful with loaning equipment, but “dirt and diesel” are what tend to be expensive. In general, he added, the state tends to support trail projects, but exactly how they do so is sometimes a mixed blessing. MassHighway, for example, held a recent weekend forum on them, is able “to squash negative comments pretty quickly” because of successful projects, and is usually willing to fund projects. But the agency’s construction requirements tend to be rigid, with regulations that require agency-funded projects to handle the weight of ambulances even if there’s no way for an ambulance to get to the stretch of trail they’re funding. “We’ve had such poor experience with MassHighway [on the ground]. They build roads, and to them a bike trail is just another road,” McGarrah said. Gus Steeves can be reached at 508-909-4135 or by e-mail at gsteeves@stonebridgepress.com. Police urge motorists to lock cars after Arnold Road incidents CARS continued from page 1 As of midday yesterday, no additional incidents had been reported, nor had any definitive suspects been identified. “We don’t have a suspect yet,” Sturbridge Detective Mark Saloio said yesterday. “That could change either today or tomorrow.” Saloio said that the investigation would take a more definite shape once interviews were conducted with a few individuals the police were working on locating. Saloio also said that besides the ATV theft, the cars that were broken into had been left unlocked, allowing easy access to the assailants who did not have to break any glass to gain entry to the cars. The detective said that, “change and whatnot,” had been taken from the vehicles. To safeguard against further break-ins, Saloio said, “Lock your car, that’s common sense.” “Not to condone what’s being done,” Saloio continued. “But when we make it easier for people to do things like that, this is what happens.” Whereas these last few crimes have been committed in a concentrated area, this is not the first time Sturbridge has had to deal with auto break-ins. “It has happened in other areas in the past,” Saloio said. “We’ve charged other individuals with the breaks, but we don’t believe those individuals have anything to do with the Arnold Road incident,” he explained. “Over the last year or so, there seems to be a pattern of breaks,” Saloio added, saying that surrounding towns have all dealt with similar issues in the recent past. Last year at this time, police in the town of Leicester had their hands full with more than 60 car break-ins that took place over a series of weekends between July and September. One Arnold Road resident said that with the current economic climate, increased crime was foreseeable. “It’s been going on in other towns, but you hope that it won’t hit your town,” said the resident who wished to remain anonymous. “I hope they catch the people that are doing it,” the resident continued, explaining that the car kept at that particular residence is always locked and is parked beneath a motion activated light. “The light goes on when you walk in the driveway,” making the atmosphere outside the home safer, the resident said. An Arnold Road neighbor, who also wished to remain anonymous, said she was surprised to hear about the rash of crime on that one street. “It seems to be a decent neighborhood,” she said. “It’s probably just kids being kids,” she added. “Unfortunately I think it happens in every neighborhood at one point or another.” Police are actively pursuing information in the car break-ins and ATV theft. Any suspicious activity should be reported to the Sturbridge Police Department. News staff writer Christopher Tanguay may be reached at (508) 909-4132, or by e-mail at ctanguay@stonebridgepress.com. Call Kathy 1-800-353-2476 Helping you take great care of your pet. Quality grooming for dogs and cats Grooming advise by a knowledgeable staff Skin treatment products for many needs Furminator Shed-Less treatment Frontline Plus and flea control supplies Nail services Laser ID tag made while you wait Self Serve Pet Wash by appointment 562 Main Street, Sturbridge, MA Call: 508.347.3773 or visit:barkandbubbles.com P LS &CUES & SPAS,T 760 SOUTHBRIDGE STREET (RT. 12) AUBURN, MA • 508-832-6566 POOL TABLES CUES HOT TUBS DARTS Over PRO SHOP Cue & Table repairs. Table mover & recloths. 30% OFF SUPPLIES & SERVICE FOR ALL BRANDS SWIMMING POOLS In & Above ground LAYAWAY for Spring No Interest INGROUND Turn-key SPECIAL $25,000!
Page 1 and 2: Mailed free to requesting homes in
Page 3 and 4: BY RYAN GRANNAN-DOLL STAFF WRITER W
Page 5 and 6: Friday, October 31, 2008 • STURBR
Page 11 and 12: Friday, October 31, 2008 ELECTION 2
Page 13: Friday, October 31, 2008 • STURBR
Page 17 and 18: Friday, October 31, 2008 SPORTS •
Page 19 and 20: STURBRIDGE VILLAGER Serving Sturbri
Page 21 and 22: Friday, October 31, 2008 • THE VI
Page 23 and 24: ★★★★★★★★★★★
Page 25 and 26: OCTOBER, 29, 2008 ☎ TOWN-TO-TOWN

Sturbridge 7-27-07 (Page 1) - Stonebridge Press and Villager ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?