The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 98

98 THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE FEBRUARY 19. 1989 Record number of vehicles crossed Cape Cod Canal in July and August By Kay Longcope Globe Staff WEST BARNSTABLE Last July and August, more than 100,000 vehicles a day crossed the Cape Cod Canal, a record, according to a report last week by the Joint transportation committee of the Cape Cod Planning and Economic Development Commission. Of the total, 55,000 drivers chose to cross the Sagamore Bridge, while 45,000 used the Bourne Bridge. Traffic on the Sagamore essentially remained committee, which has representatives from each Cape town, the Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works, thev Cape Cod Regional Transit Au- thority and the Federal Highway Administration, urged the Cape's State House delegation to fight to keep the Cape Cod Hyannis; Railroad in service. Last summer, 1 13,000 passen-' gers used the service, owner Mark 1 Snider of Barnstable said.

The rail line opened in 1984 as a seasonal business subsidized by the state, and last summer expanded to carry Amtrak passengers between Attleboro and Hyannis. The state has spent $40 million on the railroad, but, "given the state of the state, continued ser-. vice is impossible to Justify," Snider said, referring to the bud- get deficit. "A loss of service altogether could be a death knell for rail service on the Cape." said Bourne Selectman Robert Parady, chairman of the transportation committee and the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority. port on traffic data, compiled from 1984 to 1988, showed an annual increase of 4 to 5 percent Cape-wide and.

on the outer Cape, a 7 percent increase. Mumford said the committee's purpose in releasing the report "is not to measure traffic on Cape Cod but to help local and state officials and private engineers better plan" traffic patterns in the 15-town region, especially during the busy summer season. "Looking at traffic Cape-wide, increases between 1984 and 1987 slowed down somewhat but not significantly," Mumford said. "Volume still is increasing 4 percent a year, but mostly in pockets. Most is occurring on less heavily trafficked roads and on the outer Cape." Mumford said that on Route 28 in Yarmouth and Barnstable, "there has been a decline of steady volume" as drivers seek less congested routes.

Though local roads are handling more traffic, he said, "this may not bode well in the future. It's not a surprising finding, but could become a disturbing trend if it continues." The 19-member transportation f- I V. v. Mr Iff! the same as in previous years. But traffic on the Bourne Bridge increased by 10,000 vehicles a day.

Robert L. Mumford, the com mission's transportation specialist, attributed the Bourne increase to completion of the Route 25 ex tension. "There was more traffic on the Sagamore, but the Bourne Bridge caught up," Mumford said last week. A year earlier, the Bourne carried 35,000 vehicles a day, he said, so last summer's volume represented about a 30 percent increase. The committee's regional re Globe photoSkip Weisenburger parishioners Helen Nardowicz and Jan Pijski embrace Friday outside the locked confessional at St.

Michael the Archangel Church. iDiocese closes Polish church in Conn. if I if US REP. CHARLES DOUGLAS MARY CHAMBERS Democratic leader of N.H. House Expected to seek reelection Chambers eyes Congress, N.H.

State House some to be a watering down of the ethnic nature of the parish." Father Smyka said that both he and Father Bambol are Americans of Polish descent. Not all parishioners at St. Michael's agreed with the protesters, officials said. Parish priests and diocesan officials expressed the belief that the dissidents were in the minority of the church membership. Louise Wolczek, a parish member for 39 years, said she did not approve of the protest, adding, "It got out of hand completely." "I don't go to church because of the priests I like.

I go to church to pray." she said, pointing out that priests know that transfers are part of their life and they are required to accept them. And, she said, "this is America. You can't deny someone to go to church because they're black or Spanish. They are Catholic." Msgr. Grieco said he has received calls from parishioners of St.

Michael's "who expressed real shame and embarrassment in the way the demonstrators conducted themselves. And, of course, we feel the pain with them." He explained that under Catholic canon law, there are two types of parishes. One is determined by a geographical territory. The other permits a church to serve personal characteristics of a people, such as a language or culture. Thus, St.

Michael's is a personal or national parish, he said. Among its ethnic services are two Masses conducted daily in Polish. Many of the Polish parishioners of St. Michael's travel to their red-brick church from their homes in other parts of Bridgeport and other southern Connecticut towns. Today, they will have to attend Mass elsewhere, Msgr.

Grieco said. whose membership includes Bridgeport Bishop Edward M. Egan, the diocesan vicar general, the church pastor and two lay trustees who are parishioners. The corporation voted unanimously to close the church indefinitely, Msgr. Grieco said.

was determined that because of the imminent danger of injury to persons and property and because of recent disruptions to the orderly and reverential conduct of church services, and the disruption of the day-to-day business of the parish, and because of the grave concern for the health and welfare of those currently on a self-imposed hunger strike, it became necessary to suspend all church functions until further notice," Msgr. Grieco said. St. Michael's was built in 1889 as a Polish national church in what was then a largely Polish neighborhood. The church is located on Pulaski Street, named for Casimir Pulaski, the Polish patriot and American revolutionary general.

In the past 20 years, however, the makeup of the neighborhood has changed to mainly black and Hispanic. Father Smyka said that he and Father Bambol suggested last summer that parish membership be opened to other ethnic groups, "but it was put down." About 85 of the 188 students in St. Michael's School are black or Hispanic, said Father Smyka, who was transferred to St. Michael's 18 months ago from another Polish national church St. Stanislaus in Chicopee, Mass.

Msgr. Grieco explained that "as a pastoral gesture to the people in the area, they have allowed persons other than Polish to come to the school. And 1 think unfortunately this was perceived by fl CONNECTICUT Continued from Page 93 Protesters spent their time in Jhe church singing hymns and reciting the rosary and other prayers in Polish. I They were seeking the reinstatement of Father Palaszewski and the transfer of their pastor. Rev.

ijohn Bambol. Msgr. Grieco said if bat neither of these demands will lag 'met. He said that Father Palaszewski has been told by his Fran-jpjiean superiors to return to his jnative Poland. Brian Syc, a protest organizer, aid that the demonstrators be-jBeVe Palaszewski's transfer oc-jriStred because "his superiors $Blnk he was overly dedicated to ihe Polish immigrants in the par- Ivj He said disagreements between ifejfcent Polish immigrants and ljeir clergy have happened else-wiere in the country, including Britain, Portland, line, Chicago and Detroit.

"There's a message being jKjht," said Syc as he fingered a set beads. "The Polish immigrants arriving now are people expect the priests to work with them. they're finding a lack of sen-i8vlty." -Rev. James Smyka, associate pastor, and Msgr. Grieco said the transfer of Father Palaszewski ignited anger among certain parishioners who were already irked by suggestions to open up parish membership to neighborhood residents who are mainly black and Hispanic.

Msgr. Grieco said all church functions are suspended until further notice. Reopening of the church will determined by the parish corporation, a diocesan legal entity By John Milne Globe Staff CONCORD. N.H. Mary P.

Chambers, Democratic leader of the New Hampshire House, says she is considering running for Congress and perhaps governor in 1990 and will begin a speaking and fund-raising tour to test her popularity. Chambers, 57, a state representative from Etna since 1973, would be the first polltican to enter what many predict will be a political free-for-all in 1990. "I've decided that it's time for me to look at the options and decide what support is out there for me," Chambers said Friday. "I obviously am concerned about our having strong candidates for the next election." Chambers, a longtime opponent of the Seabrook nuclear plant, is an original sponsor of the law preventing ratepayers from footing the bill for construction charges for Seabrook and other power plants until electricity is produced. She has been Democratic leader since 1983.

Chambers considered running for Congress in 1988, but decided against it because her husband Wilbert, a physician, was ill. He has recovered and "now things are better," said her spokesman, Stephen Crystal. Nashua Mayor James W. Donchess got off to an early start in 1988 and had gained considerable po litical momentum before Chambers could make a decision. Looking to 1990, Chambers believes "it's important to get an early start" to prevent a divisive Democratic primary.

Crystal said. Chambers has lined up a series of newspaper editorial board meetings in Nashua, Keene. Lebanon and Claremont all in her western New Hampshire congressional district. She plans fund-raising receptions in Durham, Keene. Portsmouth, Littleton, Nashua and Manchester, leading up to a testimonial dinner on May 16 where Gov.

Dukakis of Massachusetts has agreed to speak. Chambers was an early Dukakis supporter in the 1988 presidential campaign. US Rep. Charles G. Douglas 3d who defeated Donchess in 1988, Is expected to seek re-election.

But the seat could be an open one if US Sen. Gordon J. Humphrey decides to retire. Humphrey has told friends that he will make a decision by March 1. US Rep.

Robert C. Smith has expressed interest in the seat, and senior Republicans predict Douglas might challenge Smith in a GOP primary. Will Abbott, who ran President Bush's New Hampshire campaign, would also be a possible candidate for a vacant Humphrey seat. Crystal said Chambers also might run for governor. Gov.

Judd Gregg, a first-term Republican, has Indicated that he expects to seek reelection. WE'VE DESIGNED A CD. THAT GROWS LIKE A TEENAGER, BUT MATURES A LOT FASTER. Vt. House hanging on to state aid bill Associated Press MONTPELIER.

Vt. The Legislature probably won't be able to tell Vermont communities how much state aid to education funding they will receive for the upcoming school year before Town Meeting Day. The House Appropriations Committee has decided to hang on to the state aid bill and combine it with the overall budget. Legislators passed the foundation state aid formula two years ago In hopes that it would be a more stable method of determining education aid and would enable town officials to know how much their communities were to receive in the upcoming school year before Town Meeting Day. Legislators met that self-imposed deadline last year.

But Rep. Michael Obuchowskl (D-Rockingham), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he wants the state-aid bill rolled into the total $586.1 million budget. "We want it to be part and parcel of all the decisions we make." Obuchowskl said. "Our message all along Is look at the whole picture. We don't want a whole bunch of one-issue trains running through the House and Senate with no particular station in mind." The Appropriations Committee will probably go along with Gov.

Madeleine Kunjn's recommenddd $137 million for state aid, Obu- banks' 1-3 year CDs. Any of our knowledgeable customer reDresentatives can srow up 'n no t'me" Now, don't you wish ff you could say the same Bank of New England introduces a different point of view to setting CD rates. Yours. The result is a CD that offers a term of less than a year and a rate comparable to those of other heln vou sim ud for our new CD. stmpiehmsiiii about some 16-year-olds Short term, high rate, your money you know? Bank of New England The 91 Da High-Rate CD.

Member FDIC. Personal accounts only. $2,500 minimum. $100,000 maximum. Penalty for early ithdrawal.

Rate subject to change..