Athol Daily News from Athol, Massachusetts • 1

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WEATHER ATLANTA jboston 4 -iV -it Tjp 'Potential Flu I px-j 7 Scenarios Mapped rVLr -y TY' TVp a 'Justice DeptiS: Admits Misconduct" Page 12 am sports Favre To Return Next Year Page 6 'Sunday Mostly sunny 4igh near 27 3 'Page 2 --1 lVtJ' i 'tTW'V A fc jrjl JOT fc J-- vji-jit JSM- yr I7 £7: 'W-T' V4i Is -J "1 i 4J- '371 -1- 4Svj VolCCLXXXVII No29 large weapons cache containing hundreds of rockets improvised explosive device-making materials small-arms munitions and dozens of anti-tank weapons south of Balad Ruz jn northern Iraq omcu photo Experts: Boston Bomb Scare Case Not Strong -iVv y'K" Page 9 5 wv fcftACT v-- A a jGS4r -c- Athol Mass By Cantor By DEBORRAH PORTER ATHOL Residents of Athol and Royalston voiced their opinions Thursday at a public hearing on the proposed of foe high school and middle school and the reorganization plan proposed by' superintendent Anthony Folito Polito said the plan to use the middle school as a high school and AHS as the middle school is the only one he has that will reverse the vole of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges who pulled accreditation in October effective July 1 Many of the estimated 17S people spoke during the three hour meeting Their sentiments were split some believe the switch would get back accreditation others thought it was a waste of money and feat fends should be spent on fixing the list of issues at AHS cited by the NEASC which caused it to pull accreditation Lee Chauvette said feat commission's report of June 2003 stated fee NEASC grave that of 12 action items fee response from fee A-R es part-time for fee last five ycare FYevi- ously she worked as a muse at fee Gardner prison Burbank Hospital and the Walter Femald School from where she retired Her unhappiness with retirement led her to the mobile clinic really like it It's easy and fee people are real Connors said the clinic keeps no records all information is given to fee veterans upon completion of fee screenings up to them to follow up wife feeir she said Connors added that the screenings i' Ft' ji' 1 'S-i -j Saturday February 3 2007 district on 10 of them was action' Ed Wheeler chairman of fee Royal-' ston Finance Committee noted fee impending March 1 deadline' lost the opportunity to address the he said fed we should address fee issues without the flip-flop" He said many schools around the area are for school choice slots at the high school level and that the flip-flop does not address many of the issues such as curriculum and books and the NEASC's comment of the and long standing fiscal concerns" He said the money which would be used to switch schools akmg wife fends from the Puthdc Grant and $600JXX) from fee towns and fix AHS think time to address the issues (before March 1 he said I we should give He said volunteers could be used to clean and paint fee school up cabinets to address the storage citation paint the lockerrooms He said willing to work wife anyone to form an ad hock accreditation Opinions Page 8 Makes Towns such as those for cholesterol and blood sugar provide only numbers but do come within a few points of the actuals one thing people don't fast before they she said Unlike a office only a finger stick Mood sample is taken for each test Instant results are provided let's people know bow they're said Connors Connors said she sees the biggest turnouts in Athol Gardner and Hardwick lot of the gays are just lcpeateis Vets Van Page 8 11 M'-V 14 -J1 16 Pages ATHOL In a vitriolic outburst in front of several people prior to an A-R School Committee meeting Thurv dat night Athol-Royal ston Regional School Superintendent Anthony Foli-to told committee vice chair Roberta Newman that he never wanted her elected vice chair did not want her chairing the meeting (the chairman was absent) and did not believe she was capable of controlling the meeting "It was one of the worst things I have ever said a committee member who witnessed the verbal attack nearly had her in tears The outburst occurred after the 10-member committee could not come up with a quorum (six members) for their public hearing on the school flip-flop plan When a quorum was not achieved by 7: 1 5 Pttlito invoked a previously unheard of 13-minute rule and said he would take over and run it as his own meeting Polito on Friday morning said the 13-minute rule is in the committee charter but then moderated his statement to say it is committee policy am the CEO of the school committee When it became apparent we would not have a quorum I exercised my leadership role and made a decision to hold a meeting rather than send all the residents home Anyone who questions that does not care about the people of Athol" MGL Chapter 71: Section 37 Powers and duties (of the school committee) states: 37 The school committee in each city and town and each regional school district shall have the power to select and to terminate the superintendent shall review and approve budgets for public education in fee district and shall establish ed- -ucational goals and policies for the schools in the district consistent with the requirements of law and statewide School Page 8 Beacon Hill Roll Call 50( $270 Mvwad said intent was to place these devices as part of an admittedly idiotic advertising said defense attor-ney Edward Ryan Jr a former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association because people got scared mean there was Peter Berdovsky 27 and Sean Stevens 28 were paid to place the devices to promote a television show on the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary Cartoon Network and even took videos documenting their work David White-Lief the state Bomb Scare Page 8 known as stand-downs A stand-down Marien explained is a kind of huge fair promoting health and other services to Conducting fee screenings on Tuesday was retired registered nurse Marion Connors of Baldwinville on fee busier stops I have Marion wife said Marien When Connors not wife him he said he either has a nurse from fee hospice along or does the screenings himself as he has been trained to do them Connors has been offering her pfoymenf rate to a fouiHnonth high of 4j6 percent and giving jobseekers bumpy start to the 1 5tfB the employment report on Friday 'suggested thejobsmarket twl tereMihape The more pobdued job cre-iv aUon In January HlJJOOi newpotdtions comparedwithv 206000 jb December is'coa with tfaeexpedstion thaii the economy! growth a1a wholewill moderateThat means the unemployment rate may weOriowlydimb this year 4 a 7 At i i-jri A i a range of employ? issotne ca- tkmlTbey arewondering bmy aq modreatida in eco- jnbmic activity win evolve aid KeaMaylaadpresidentof GearVIew EconomksAnaIysts predict tire ecmumiy will lose soineapeed la the anuary-to- Ltercb petfod foDowfog aq ergetic October-to-December ifctiiHfopiiutotnodv paniesKHne builden and ferj L'nitnre makers all cut jobs last month casnaftka of jlie housing and tbe ailing auto in- By MARK JEWELL Associated Press Writer BOSTON (AP) Some legal experts say prosecutors win have a hard time proving that two men intended to cause a scare when they planted blinking electronic devices around Boston in a publicity stunt for a cartoon show They say the key' difficulties prosecutors face are demonstrating that the men intended to cause fear and that the devices which depict a cartoon character looked dangerous The state must prove both to win felony convictions for placing a hoax device die experts I Vets Medical Clinic Van First Visit To Two Area By BRIAN GEUNAS BALDWINVILLE The fetcran Homestead Mobile Medical Clinic van made stops in Baldwinville and Phillip-ston for the first time Tuesday The van is operated by MsteranHos-pice Homestead Inc of Fitchburg Its purpose is to provide basic health screenings for all veterans who might not otherwise have access to those services by making them available locally A nurse is often present to provide fee health screenings which include blood pressure checks and cholesterol and Mood sugar testing Other health related matters are also discussed as needed The vehicle is equipped wife a lab and EKG equipment Hu shots hearing testing and preventative screenings are also offered The van visits to fee two towns were coordinated by the Northeast Quabbin bterans District which is working to -make more area veterans aware of the 5' various services available to than The District indudes the towns of Athol Fe-y lersham Phillipston Royalston and Tbm-pleton- normally be seeing a doctor oo a regular said Tom Mariai the van's driv-er and program manager A Victnam-era veteran of the UJ5 Navy Maricn of Westminster has been onfeejobforfburyearaftiartoMarien retired state trooper Tbtn Fsdc drove fee van Marien said it was Fade who initi- ated fee mobile clinic program through feteran Hospice Homestead Marien said he visits about 23 sites per month He covers an area feat stretches from southern New Hampshireto the north to to the south near the Connecticut border and he (hives as fer west as Springfield and Northampton and Acton to the easL Marien also takes the van to what are Fla Storm Survivors Are Sought By JIM ELLIS Associated Pre Writer LADY LAKE Fla (AP) Disaster crews with dogs went from one pile of debris to another in a search for bodies Friday after powerful storms including at least one tornado smashed hundreds of homes across central Florida and killed 19 people or mure- It was fee deadliest combination of thunderstorms and tornados to hit Florida in nearly a decade cutting a 40-mile swath of destruction across four counties just before daybreak terrorizing residents of' one of the nation's biggest retiremert com- munities and leaving trees and fields littered wife clothes furniture and splintered lumber Residents helped pull fee dead from the ruins 1 Y- was seay really scary" said Patrick Smith who lives in fee Paisley -area where at least 13 dcafes were reported He said he saw a weather ulerton television grabbed his wife and straight to the After fee sfom passed he pulled the bod- iesofamanandhis9-or 1 0-year-old son from a neighboring house Florida's emojjcncy management chief Craig Rigate said it could take several days to determine the exact number of dead and fee main priority was finding survivors who may be trapped Gov Charlie Crist declared a state of emeigency in four counties but fee worst damage wh reported where fee twister touched down in northern Lake County and eastern Wusra County In typical tor- nado fashion fee slam hopscotched across fee landscape demolishing some homes aid leaving others virtually untouched priority today is search and res- cue said Crist who toured fee damaged area in his fust natural disaster since tak- ing office last month being done to get them fee aid and assistance feat Storm Page 8 BYBOBKATZEN BOSTON The Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senator's votes on two roll calls from the week of Jan' 29 to Feb 2 There were no roll calls in the House last weeki- "V- All roll calls are from debate on the set of rules that the Senate will follow during the 2007-2008 session The Senate adopted the package of rules on a voice vote without a roll call 1 The Senate rejected several other proposed new rules on voice votes including one requiring that the six-member Senate Ethics Committee include three Democrats and three Republicans rather than five Democrats and one GOP member Another proposal that would have abolished the Senate system of a vote" also went down to defeat This pairing procedure allows a senator who is absent when a roll call vote is tak- Beacon Hiti Page 15 MOBILE CLINIC VISIT The Veteran Homestead Mobile Medical Clinic van made stops in Baldwinville and Phillipston for the first time on Ibesday The van visits were coordinated by the Northeast Quabbin Veterans District Which is working to make more area yet-" erans aware of the various services available to them Left to right State Sen Stephen Brewer (D-Barre) chairman of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs NQVD Veterans Services Officer Toni Phillips NQVD board of directors member jerry Skelton of Templeton and NQVD board chair William Meehan of Athol PhotabyicidfauM i A.