Mailed free to requesting homes in East Brookfield, West Brookfield, North Brookfield, Brookfield, Leicester and Spencer Vol. 32, No. 42 COMPLIMENTARY HOME DELIVERY, 75 CENTS ON NEWSSTANDS ONLINE: WWW.SPENCERNEWLEADER.COM ‘I see great things in baseball. It's our game — the American game.’ Friday, October 17, 2008 FAIR RETURNS FOR A 30TH YEAR Brewer warns of tough times STATE TO PROPOSE SCHOOL DISTRICT MERGERS BY ALANA MELANSON percent to 20 percent NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER decrease. SPENCER — State Sen. Brewer (D-Barre) said he Stephen Brewer visited the attended the Monday, Oct. 6 Spencer-East Brookfield meeting “to give them a prog- Financial Management nostication of where we are Task Force to warn mem- now and where we will be in bers to prepare for large Paul Guida cuts in state aid for the next Turn To BREWER, 17 fiscal year, as much as a 10 page New club pride Above: Riley Sloan, 2 1/2, of West Brookfield says hello from the moon- walk provided by Quaboag Valley Real Estate. of West Brookfield Top right: Kylie Laviolette, 6, and Jayden Wehbe, 2, of Brookfield play with YoYo balloons provided by Chris and Heidi Paul of Wilbraham. YoYo bal- loons are small water and air-filled balloons made out of a thick latex mate- IONS CARRY ON MISSION OF rial and can stay inflated for as long as two weeks. L Alana Melanson photos FIGHTING BLINDNESS BROOKFIELD — Despite worries there might not be enough BY ALANA MELANSON Held Oct. 4, the event was attended volunteers to help out this year, the Brookfield Community Club NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER by state Sen. Stephen Brewer, state succeeded in holding the 30th edition of the annual Apple Front to back, Nate Damon, 4, and Will WEST BROOKFIELD — Members Rep. Anne Gobi, many local Lions Country Fair Saturday, Oct. 11 on the Brookfield Common. Damon, 6, of West Brookfield and Amber of the newly founded West Brookfield Clubs, and members of the Executive Duncan, 6, of Charlton decorate cookies Lions Club celebrated their charter- Board of Lions in District 33A. provided by Brookfield Congregational ing by Lions International two weeks MORE PHOTOS, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE A14. church. ago. Turn To LIONS, page 16 Part-timers sought for police squad OFFICER SEEKS HOURS TO RELIEVE SHORTAGE BY ALANA MELANSON “We’ve had two individuals leave and part-time officer, who was not named, NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER go to other departments, and two other that has asked to work 30 hours per BROOKFIELD — Facing an extreme individuals who are out injured. They week, but town bylaws mandate that shortage of officers, Brookfield Police weren’t injured on duty, but they are part-time officers can work no more Chief Ross Ackerman asked the Board injured and they are out, so technically than 20 hours per week. of Selectmen for help in hiring part-time we are out four officers,” Ackerman said officers until the full-time officers at the Tuesday, Oct. 7 meeting. return from sick leave. Ackerman currently has one casual Turn To BOS, page 16 House hopefuls talk on the issues CHERNISKY, COMTOIS, ALICEA SHOW GOBI SPAR DIFFERENCES OVER TAXES BY ALANA MELANSON NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER BY ALANA MELANSON NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER SPENCER — Candidates for the 5th SPENCER — Incument and 6th Worcester Fifth Worcester District state District Massachusetts Rep. Anne Gobi (D-Spencer) House of Representatives and Republican challenger seats sat down with resi- Stephen Comtois II of dents to discuss the state Brookfield debated alongside income tax question, Sixth Worcester District can- local aid, and other con- didates at last week’s “Meet David Dore photo the Candidates Night.” cerns of this year’s elec- Alana Melanson photo tion at “Meet the Candidates State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer (D- GIMME SHELTER Night” held Thursday,Oct. 9 at the Barre) was also present at the Spencer American Legion. From left, 5th Worcester District Republican candidate event, held Thursday, Oct. 9 at the Question 1 on the November bal- Stephen Comtois of Brookfield, 6th Worcester District Spencer American Legion and WEST BROOKFIELD — Jennifer Witaszek of Warren pets her 1-year- sponsored by the Spencer old cat, Adelaide, before she and other animals were blessed lot drew a heated discussion. The Republican candidate Ron Chernisky of Southbridge, question, which state Sen. Sen. Stephen M. Brewer (D-Barre), 5th Worcester Taxpayers Association. Sunday, Oct. 5 at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. The blessing is Question 1, which would elimi- done every year around the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, a Stephen M. Brewer (D-Barre) said incumbent Anne Gobi (D-Spencer) and 6th Worcester Catholic saint perhaps best known for taming a wolf that was ter- incumbent Geraldo Alicea (D-Charlton) participate in a “Meet The Candidates Night” sponsored by the rorizing the residents of the Italian village of Gubbio. Turn To CANDIDATES, 16 Turn To STATE REP., 18 page Spencer Taxpayers Association. page INSIDE THE NEW LEADER ON PAGE A2 ON PAGE A3 Calendar .......................B5 Police Logs .................A12 Classroom Corner ...........A6 Public Meetings.............A3 Search for local Brookfield’s Elm Obituaries......................B2 Sports ....................A10-11 Our Towns .....................B4 Viewpoint ...................A8-9 man called off Hill Sanctuary 2 SPENCER NEW LEADER • Friday, October 17, 2008 Search for missing man called off NEW LEADER ALMANAC QUOTATION OF THE WEEK BY ALANA MELANSON as hunters and guides, combed the munications and later in staff NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER mountainous terrain for Gray until inspection. He previously was a “I think that’s outrageous. What does it the search was called off. Sheriff ’s member of the North Brookfield solve by making it someone else’s problem?” GRANGEVILLE, Idaho — A Department Chief Deputy John Nida Police Department. He retired from spokesperson for the Idaho County said previously Gray could be in a 50- the State Police in October 2007, and Sheriff ’s Department said Monday, to 100-square-mile area that had also is a member of the North Brookfield — West Brookfield resident Lynda Plante, after a hearing last week on a dog Oct. 13 the search efforts for missing been searched via Black Hawk heli- Conservation Commission. that allegedly attacked her Lhasa Apso, Tinker Bell. retired Massachusetts State Police copters. He served in the Marine Corps and Capt. Ronald Gray have been called Army National Guard members of fought in the Vietnam War with the off indefinitely. the 116th Air Cavalry in Boise have 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, a unit THE STATS Gray, 62, of North Brookfield, dis- aided in the search, as well as dogs known as the Walking Dead. BIRTHPLACE appeared during a hunting trip to trained in searching for cadavers. Members of this unit are known for Nez Perce National Forest and was Some friends and family from turning down Purple Heart medals to Town Born in another state reported missing after failing to meet Massachusetts also flew to Idaho to continue fighting in the war. Auburn 1,869 with a local outfitter, or hired wilder- assist in the search. Brimfield 751 ness guide, on Sept. 23. Gray, a State Police officer for 26 Alana Melanson may be reached at Brookfield 454 Members of the Idaho County years, worked for the Metropolitan (508) 909-4144, or by e-mail at amelan- Charlton 2,071 Sheriff ’s Department Posse, a volun- District Commission in Boston as a [email protected]. Douglas 1,624 teer search and rescue unit, as well canine officer before working in com- Dudley 1,601 Holland 721 Leicester 1,209 Northbridge 2,349 Oxford 1,809 Southbridge 2,377 Cause of fish deaths still unknown Spencer 1,359 Sturbridge 1,892 Uxbridge 2,595 Wales 547 DEP INVESTIGATES QUABOAG RIVER INCIDENT Webster 2,563 BY ALANA MELANSON inconclusive and there were no known pollutants found SUNRISE/SUNSET NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER in the samples.” BROOKFIELD — The cause of the fish kill in the The testing of the samples was done at the Wall Saturday, Oct. 18 —— 7:05 a.m. —— 6:01 p.m. Quaboag River near White’s Landing in August remains Experimental Station, the state laboratory in Lawrence. Sunday, Oct. 19 —— 7:06 a.m. —— 6:00 p.m. undetermined, but does not appear to be a recurring Ferson said testing included looking for poly-cyclical Monday, Oct. 20 —— 7:07 a.m. —— 5:58 p.m. problem. biphenyls (PCBs), carcinogenic electronic compounds Tuesday, Oct. 21 —— 7:08 a.m. —— 5:57 p.m. Initial tests performed on both fish tissue and river that can be found in transistors. He said these compounds Wednesday, Oct. 22 — 7:09 a.m. —— 5:55 p.m. water samples by the state Department of Environmental accumulate over time and do not degrade. Thursday, Oct. 23 —— 7:11 a.m. —— 5:54 p.m. Protection (DEP) were inconclusive, showing no evidence “The problem is that these compounds often make it Friday, Oct. 24 ——— 7:12 a.m. —— 5:52 p.m. of toxins. According to DEP spokesman Joseph M. into the water, and get eaten by fish. They accumulate in Ferson, a second sampling of water was taken from the fish tissue, and then humans can end up eating these same location shortly after the incident. Testing during fish,” Ferson said. REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS the second round still did not detect any man-made or He said scientists also looked for the presence of a long natural toxins that could have caused the deaths of 40 yel- list of metals, including lead and mercury,in the samples, BROOKFIELD low perch, 15 white perch, six chain pickerel, six brown as well as volatile organic compounds, toxic chemicals $381,000, 83 Town Farm Road, American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc.