It’s heartbreaking. For the second time this year a person has died in a local house fire blamed on improper disposal of cigarettes and lack of working smoke alarms.
Like airbags in cars, smoke detectors do save lives.
State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey has lamented that “One common denominator in so many of these fire deaths has been the lack of working smoke alarms.” And Orange Fire Chief James Young, in whose town two fatal fires struck this year, points out that without smoke alarms there is no early warning of the danger.
“I ask everyone to make sure they have working smoke alarms before going to bed tonight,” he said after the last fire.
Let’s all heed his deeply felt advice.
What a nice finishing touch at the new Olive Street parking garage: a “pocket park” adjacent to Bank Row dedicated to the town’s role in the history of dinosaur study, which began just feet away.
Sandy Thomas, a Greenfield civic leader who always seems at the heart of good ideas – like the Energy Park – for making the city special, said the concept for this park was to honor two Greenfield residents who have made scientific innovations. Those 19th century figures are Lorenzo Langstroth, who invented the modern bee hive and was a minister at Second Congregational Church across the street, and Dexter Marsh, who discovered what turned out to be dinosaur fossil tracks on Bank Row stone pavers.
Thomas said she teamed up with people like artist Thor Holbek to create structures in the park including dinosaur track facsimiles in the sidewalk, a sculpture of a beehive, and a boulder-like structure with facsimiles of dinosaur fossils. There will even be a Dilophosaurus “skeleton” that will serve as a bicycle rack.
“It’s important to honor and help tell the story of Greenfield’s history,” Thomas said. “Maybe we’ll inspire someone else’s curiosity or discovery.”
Pass it on, Sandy.
Finally, the state bureaucracy has given the green light to Thomas Aquinas College of California to open its East Coast campus in Northfield.
After what the college said was a thorough and rigorous application process that began in spring 2017, it received approval on Tuesday from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education to open next fall.
In May 2017, the National Christian Foundation gave the college the former Northfield campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School, which is now in Gill. The Northfield campus closed in 2005. That historic property consists of about 100 acres and includes residence halls, a library, a chapel, a gymnasium and classrooms and administrative office space.
After years of wondering what will befall the campus that lies in the heart of downtown Northfield, residents will begin to see life return.
Previously, Aquinas officials have said they hope eventually to enroll between 350 and 400 students. Close to the 500 students enrolled during the campus’ peak as a prep school.
Pioneer Valley Regionally School District – beset by concerns about budget deficits, spending cuts and possible school closures – has something to crow about.
The high school ranked highly in the Department of Education’s recently released “accountability profile” based on MCAS scores.
Historically, the profile has only reflected year-over-year changes in MCAS scores in English, math and science, in which Pioneer continues to rank highly.
This year the state added measurements based on graduation rates, chronic absenteeism and advanced coursework offerings, all categories in which Pioneer improved over its already high ratings from the previous year.
Overall, Pioneer is in the 65th percentile of the state, placing it ahead of nearly all its peer schools in the county.
Nice going.
Local radio personality DJ “Bobby C” Campbell and friends are at it again.
Halloween hasn’t arrived yet, but Campbell is preparing for his annual Thanksgiving dinner fundraiser for needy families in Franklin County. This is the third time.
Community members can sponsor a family for $50. Last year, the fundraiser fed more than 750 people — more than three times as many as the first year. Some families received dinner ingredients and others ate at a Salvation Army or Living Waters Assembly of God dinner.
Big project. Big heart.