Photo exhibit: Alaska’s Erin Voss qualifies
disappearing glaciers for Olympic trials
Two local finalists for
Rutland administrator
ARTS | PAGE C1
TOWNS | PAGE B1
SPORTS | PAGE D1
Established 1786
THURSDAY
Northampton, Massachusetts
March 19, 2015
Volume 229, No. 166
$1.00
Grain mill
owner cited
for fire safety
violations
CREATIVE ENERGY
By TOM RELIHAN
Recorder Staff
By LAURIE LOISEL
@LaurieLoisel
DEERFIELD — The owner of an old
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Yard didn’t have the proper permits
to be performing work that sparked
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March 6.
Phillip Nash of Northampton has
been cited by the state Department of
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VWDWHÀUHFRGHIDLOXUHWRPDLQWDLQÀUH
extinguishers, failure to obtain a “hot
works” permit, failure to ensure emSOR\HHVDUHIDPLOLDUZLWKWKHÀUHFRGH
IDLOXUHWRSRVVHVVDSHUPLWIRUOLTXHÀHG
petroleum gas, and failure to have a
ÀUH VDIHW\ SODQ IRU UHQRYDWLRQV DOWHUations or demolition.
Jennifer Mieth,
Department of Fire Services
7KH 0DUFK ÀUH ZDV LJQLWHG E\ DQ
employee using a cutting torch to remove machinery from the building.
$IWHUDVPDOOÀUHEURNHRXWWKHHPployee extinguished it and left. But the
ÀUHZDVQRWSURSHUO\H[WLQJXLVKHGDQG
broke out again around 3 a.m., resultLQJ LQ D UHVSRQVH IURP ÀUH GHSDUWments, with emergency crews and
engines coming from as far away as
Vermont, New Hampshire and Ware.
The cutting torches are powered by
OLTXHÀHGSHWUROHXPJDV
Additionally, Nash did not have a
permit from the town’s building inspector to perform the work being done in
the building.
Richard Calisewski, the town’s building inspector, has ordered Nash to seFXUH WKH ÀYHVWRU\ EXLOGLQJ DQG VWRS
performing any work on it until it has
EHHQ LQVSHFWHG E\ D FHUWLÀHG GHVLJQ
professional.
Calisewski said Nash was issued a
demolition permit for the property last
fall, but the metal-cutting work that
Ӎ See DEERFIELD / Page A5
INDEX
Business ............................................................A8
Cities & Towns ..........................................B1-B3
Comics/Crossword.........................................D5
CODssiÀed....................................................C5-C6
Editorial..............................................................A6
Arts............................................................... C1-C4
Nation/World ..................... A3, A4, A7, B4, B5
Obituaries..........................................................B2
Public Notices ..................................................C6
Sports ..........................................................D1-D4
TV........................................................................ D6
CAROL LOLLIS
Rheal Labrie, 14, of Southampton experiments with finding the center of gravity while
balancing forks on a salt shaker as part of a Hampshire Regional Middle School field trip to
the Mechanics Playground at Smith College.
Hampshire Regional eighth-graders explore
intersection of art and science at Smith College
By CHRIS LINDAHL
@cmlindahl
NORTHAMPTON — Nearly 60
eighth-graders from Hampshire
Regional Middle School descended on the Smith College campus
Wednesday to spill water, melt
SODVWLF DQG VSLQ RQ RIÀFH FKDLUV
until dizzy — all in the name of
science.
7KHÀHOGWULSZDVMXVWRQHVWHS
in the students’ exploration of the
intersection of science and art
that will lead to their creating a
kinetic sculpture — a moving creation that will demonstrate scienWLÀF FRQFHSWV 7KH PRVW FRPPRQ
example of that type of sculpture
is a baby’s mobile.
Throughout the year, Hampshire Regional science teacher
Sue Tracy said she’s been cramCAROL LOLLIS
ming her students with concepts
Sarah Constantine, 14, of Easthampton, left, and Becca
such as Newton’s laws of motion.
Ӎ See SCIENCE / Page A4
WEATHER TODAY
Sunny/cold. High 32, low 12.
More snow coming ...
Page A2
Drawing by: Zoe Chang TeVelde
Leverett Elementary School
Walunas, 13, of Southampton experiment with the properties
of light as part of the field trip to the Mechanics Playground.
NORTHAMPTON — The sprawling,
eye-catching red brick building at 50
Union St. was the county jail from the
time it was built in 1851 until it was decommissioned after a new jail was constructed on Rocky Hill Road in 1984.
The historic building and its 1.7 acres
in Ward 3 were sold to a private developer who turned it into Coolidge Park Condominiums, where 27 homeowners now
live in a building that may be too much
for them to care for on their own.
With the building’s signature exterior
granite staircases now crumbling — a
set facing Cherry Street on one side and
Union Street on the other — the condo
association has asked the city’s Community Preservation Act Committee for
WRÀ[WKHP
“Because this historic building
is a distinctive and notable part of
Northampton, any damage to its historic
LQWHJULW\ ZRXOG FRQVWLWXWH D VLJQLÀFDQW
loss for the Northampton community,”
the association wrote in its application
for CPA funding.
The request has raised questions
about the use of CPA money for private
dwellings, and the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association recently voted not to
support the application because of concerns about that.
The Community Preservation Act, a
state law passed in 2000, allows communities to assess a surcharge of up to 3
percent on property taxes to establish
D IXQG XVHG IRU WKHVH VSHFLÀF SXUSRVHVRSHQVSDFHSUHVHUYDWLRQDIIRUGDEOH
housing development, the creation of
outdoor recreation facilities, and historic preservation.
The Coolidge Condominium residents maintain their building falls in
that last category.
According to Sarah LaValley, community preservation planner for the city, it
is legal to use CPA funding for private
building projects of a historic preservation nature.
At its meeting Wednesday night, the
CPA Committee heard from several
supporters of the former Union Street
jail’s granite staircase project — and
one city resident who raised objections.
In the end, the panel postponed its decision on the request until its next meet-
Ӎ See CONDO / Page A5
Wood firm’s CEO ousted after Va. lawsuit
SC company sold faulty product that delayed Summit House reopening
Technologies of Greenville, South Carolina, also appears to have shut down
its manufacturing plant. A jury earlier
NORTHAMPTON — Karen M. Slimak, KDGIRXQG6OLPDN·VÀUPUHVSRQVLEOHIRU
the founder and CEO of a lumber com- GLYHUWLQJ FRPSDQ\ IXQGV DQG ÀQDQFLDO
pany that sold a problematic wood mismanagement after she brought a
product to the state for the Mount lawsuit against former employees and
Holyoke Summit House renovations in a group of investors, alleging conspiraHadley, has been removed as manager cy.
of the company by a Virginia judge in
“It’s over, we sort of won, she didn’t,
a civil case involving investors and for- that’s the big thing,” said Wendell Raby
mer employees.
of Virginia, who said he invested $30,000
The company, Timber Treatment in the company and was a defendant in
By DAN CROWLEY
Staff Writer
the lawsuit.
Massachusetts had used the company’s glass-infused wood, called TimberSIL, which had been marketed as
a non-toxic, environmentally friendly
product, for the historic porch restoration at the Summit House. However,
the wood was deemed to have had a
high moisture content and would not
hold paint, problems that forced lengthy
delays and resulted in cost overruns of
Ӎ See CEO / Page A5
3321577
“No one knew what they were
doing in there. You can’t just
go in there willy-nilly and
start cutting things out. The
big thing for fire departments
is that they had no idea what
alterations had been made.”
CPA funds
sought for
staircase fix
at old jail
A4 Daily Hampshire Gazette • gazettenet.com
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Bill to update chemical
regulations draws fire
Japan probes death
threats to US envoy
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
TOKYO — Japanese police
are investigating phone calls
threatening to kill U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy
and another American envoy,
authorities said Wednesday.
The calls to the U.S. Embassy targeted Kennedy and
Alfred Magleby, the U.S. consul
general on the southern island
of Okinawa, according to an
2NLQDZD SROLFH RIÀFLDO ZKR
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on an investigation by Tokyo authorities.
Kennedy, the daughter of the
late President John F. Kennedy, arrived in Tokyo in NovemEHUDVWKHÀUVWZRPDQWR
serve as U.S. ambassador to
Japan. She was appointed by
President Barack Obama after helping with his re-election
campaign.
Tokyo police declined to
comment on the threats. State
Department
spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said the U.S. govern-
ment takes threats to American diplomats seriously.
“We are working with the
Japanese government to ensure the necessary measures
are in place. We will not comPHQW RQ WKH VSHFLÀF GHWDLOV RI
any threats or the steps we take
to address them,” she said.
Earlier this month, the U.S.
ambassador to South Korea,
Mark Lippert, was slashed in
the face and wrist by an anti-U.S. activist in Seoul and was
hospitalized for several days.
Kennedy, 57, is the sole survivor of a family repeatedly
touched by tragedy.
6KH ZDV ÀYH GD\V VKRUW RI
her sixth birthday when her
father was assassinated on
Nov. 22, 1963. Robert F. Kennedy, the uncle who stepped in to
serve as a sort of surrogate father after JFK’s assassination,
ZDVKLPVHOIVKRWDQGNLOOHGÀYH
years later. After losing her
mother to cancer in 1994, Caroline lost her brother John in a
1999 plane crash at age 38.
Kennedy has drawn considerable attention since arriv-
By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press
AP PHOTO
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy waves
before she delivers opening remarks during JFK
International Symposium at Waseda University in
Tokyo, Wednesday.
ing in Japan. She has made
well-publicized visits to the
Fukushima nuclear plant devastated by a 2011 earthquake
and tsunami, and to the annual
commemorations of the U.S.
atomic bombings of the cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Okinawa is home to about
half of the 50,000 American
troops based in Japan, and
residents have frequently complained about crime, noise and
other issues related to the U.S.
bases. The U.S. government
wants to relocate one base,
the Marine Corps Futenma air
station, to another area of Oki-
nawa, but many people want
it moved completely off the island.
Kennedy visited Okinawa in February last year in
an attempt to win support
for the base relocation plan,
and pledged that Washington
would do its best to reduce the
burden of its heavy troop presence.
Japanese media reports
said the death threats came
last month from a caller speaking in English, and that police
were looking into the case on
suspicion of blackmailing. No
other details were known.
Air Force Science, art intersect for middle schoolers
vet denies
terrorism
charges
Ӎ Continued from A1
NEW YORK — A U.S. Air Force
veteran and former airplane
mechanic charged with attempting to join the Islamic
State group in Syria pleaded not
guilty Wednesday to terrorism
charges.
A bearded Tairod Nathan
Webster Pugh, wearing prison-issued khaki pants and a blue
short-sleeved shirt, repeated his
full name when asked but said
nothing else before Judge NichoODV*DUDXÀVLQD1HZ<RUNIHGHUal courthouse. His attorney, Michael K. Schneider, entered the
plea on his behalf. He declined to
address reporters after the brief
court appearance.
Pugh, 47, of Neptune, New
Jersey, was indicted Tuesday on
charges of attempting to provide
material support to a terrorist
group and obstructing justice.
He was stopped at a Turkish
airport in January carrying a
laptop containing information
on Turkey-Syria border crossing
points as well as 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one
featuring an Islamic State prisoner beheading, according to an
indictment.
In a letter addressed to a woman investigators believe is Pugh’s
Egyptian wife, Pugh declared:
“I will use the talents and skills
given to me by Allah to establish
and defend the Islamic States,”
according to court papers.
“There is only two possible
outcomes for me,” said the letter,
which was recovered from his
computer. “Victory or martyr.”
The computer, as well as
thumb drive data-storage devices
and other recovered equipment,
appeared to have been intentionally destroyed to deny investigators access, the indictment said.
*DUDXÀV VFKHGXOHG D 0D\
8 status conference to review
prosecutors’ evidence and discuss any possible plea negotiations. Schneider said in court he
would need time for his own forensic expert to review the data
seized by federal authorities and
to coordinate interviews with
potential witnesses in Turkey,
Egypt and elsewhere.
Pugh has been living overseas
for the past year and a half, most
recently in Egypt, the court papers show.
Pugh served in the Air Force
from 1986 to 1990 and was trained
in installing and maintaining aircraft engines and navigation and
weapons systems. The airman
ÀUVW FODVV ZDV ÀUVW DVVLJQHG LQ
July 1987 to the Woodbridge Air
Base in England and then to the
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
in Arizona in July 1989, the Air
Force said.
CAROL LOLLIS
Kyleen Labrecque, 13, of Westhampton, bends an
acrylic rod with a heat gun as part of a Hampshire
Regional field trip Wednesday to the Mechanics
Playground at Smith College.
plore how the changes would
refract light cast from an LED
placed at their ends.
“It’s really cool,” eighth-grader Caroline O’Connor of Southampton said of the way the light
refracted.
She said she enjoyed the creativity of being in the lab, because, “It’s a lot of physically
doing the activity, not just reading about it.”
Just feet away, a mop was at
the ready for a number of cleanups during the day. Sophia Ten+XLVHQDÀUVW\HDUHQJLQHHULQJ
major, was standing by a ladder.
Three containers were perched
on the ladder’s steps in an arrangement known as a Heron’s
fountain, designed to demonstrate basic principles of physics.
TenHuisen explained that a
change of air pressure caused
the water to move between the
containers. The chain reaction
continued until the bottom conWDLQHU ÀOOHG DQG DOO WKH DLU ZDV
driven from it.
She said she was inspired to
volunteer because she had not
been introduced to engineering
during her high school career. “I
thought it would be really good
to expose other people to some
fun aspects of engineering,” she
said.
HQWLÀFSXUSRVHV
Students were encouraged to
VSLQLQDVHULHVRIRIÀFHFKDLUVWR
demonstrate inertia. They were
then given objects of various
masses and encouraged to hold
them at varying distances from
their bodies.
The closer the students held
the objects to their bodies, the
faster they would spin.
“It made me very, very dizzy,” said Ryan Wilcox, 14, of
Westhampton.
Wilcox, who took part in the
spinning chair demonstration
DERXWÀYHWLPHVVDLGKHOHDUQV
best through hands-on activities. “It’s a lot more fun than sitting in the classroom,” he said.
As for his project, he said he
might create something that
uses water power, inspired by
the Heron’s fountain.
And Tracy said that’s perIHFWO\ ÀQH 6KH SODQV WR GLVplay the completed projects
at Hampshire Regional so the
whole school can learn from the
hands-on science.
“If they wanted to do something with water, it can be in the
courtyard — they can make a
mess,” she said.
Froehlich said she is always
amazed when she sees the
Hampshire Regional students
taking the concepts they experience in her lab and apply them
to their projects.
to build a smaller one for his ki- have the opportunity to go to a
netic sculpture.
college and use their materials
and explore and do things.”
Simple circuit
Vargas explained to the stuAt another station, contain- dents that in adding an addiers of materials including tacks, tional LED to the circuit, the
cardboard, paper clips and positive side of the battery must
wires, gave students a chance connect to the positive side of
to construct their own simple the LED.
The students got a chance
circuit to power an LED light.
Angelica Vargas, a sopho- to use those circuits in a more
more engineering major, said grand experiment across the
she loves working with young- room. Boxes of new Plexiglas
rods were quickly transformed Spinning
sters.
“It’s fun to see how they get into bent creations. Using heat
In the open space of the hallexcited about it,” she said. and sandpaper, the students way, the simplest of childhood
Chris Lindahl can be reached
“When I was in school, I didn’t PRGLÀHG WKH FOHDU URGV WR H[- pleasures was recreated for sci- at clindahl@gazettenet.com.
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By JAKE PEARSON
Associated Press
On Wednesday, they had the
chance to see, touch and feel
those ideas in action at the
Smith College Picker Engineering Program’s Mechanics Playground.
“I want to get them having
some application for these principles,” Tracy said.
Five years ago, Tracy teamed
up with Smith lab supervisor
Sue Froehlich to move middle
school lessons out of the classroom. Since then, the duo have
SODQQHG WKH DQQXDO ÀHOG WULS
which also includes a visit to
the Smith Museum of Art, to
include concepts from several
disciplines.
“We work really hard to integrate the (school) curriculum,”
said Froehlich, a Williamsburg
resident, who with about 10
Smith
student
assistants
demonstrated different forms of
energy at seven stations in the
Smith lab.
The most striking was perhaps the 9-foot-tall tornado machine. Its two precisely mountHGIDQVRQHRQWKHÁRRUDQGRQH
on the ceiling, have the ability to
create a mini-tornado inside the
lab using water mist.
Oliver Roberts, 14, of ChesterÀHOG VSHQW ÀYH PLQXWHV LQWHQWly watching the contraption’s
miniature weather system and
operating the fans. He said he
was so impressed that he plans
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill
that would update regulation
of harmful chemicals for the
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drawing opposition from some
Democrats and environmental groups, who charged on
Wednesday that the measure is
a step backward in protecting
health and the environment.
The bill is proposed by Sens.
David Vitter, R-La., and Tom
Udall, D-N.M., who call it a commonsense update to a 1976 law
widely seen as ineffective.
The bill would set safety standards for tens of thousands of
chemicals that are now unregulated and offer protections for
those vulnerable to their effects
such as pregnant women, children and workers. It also would
set deadlines for the Environmental Protection Agency to act,
while blocking states’ action in
cases where EPA is addressing
the same issues.
Regulation of chemicals took
on new urgency after a crippling
spill in West Virginia last year
contaminated drinking water
for 300,000 people. The chemical,
crude MCHM, is one of thousands unregulated under current law.
The bill, a product of two
years’ negotiations, is named
after the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat
who pushed for chemical reform
before his death in 2013.
Lautenberg’s widow, Bonnie,
WHVWLÀHG :HGQHVGD\ WKDW ZKLOH
the bill is not perfect, it is an improvement over current law and
would protect families from toxic chemicals such as asbestos,
formaldehyde and hundreds of
others.
“Please work out your differences for every family,” she
implored her husband’s former
colleagues. “Far too many chemicals are on the market without
any sort of testing.”
The hearing before the Senate
Environment and Public Works
Committee featured a role reversal from usual positions taken by
the two parties. Republicans,
who often push for the rights of
states to set their own guidelines,
backed a bill that would create a
national standard for chemicals
while granting enforcement
power to an agency Republicans
often criticize — the EPA.
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