>> NOW BERKSHIRE EAGLE REPORTER CARRIE SALDO IS JOINED BY ROBERT
RIZZUTO OF THE REPUBLICAN AND MASSLIVE, HENRY EPP FROM THE NEW
ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO, AND GEORGE FORCIER FROM THE GREENFIELD
RECORDER, TO DISCUSS THE LATEST HEADLINES MAKING STORIES IN THE
REGION AND BEYOND IN APRIL'S REPORTERS' ROUNDTABLE.
>> SOMETIMES YOU FORGET IT IS THE MOST RURAL COUNTY IN
MASSACHUSETTS, BUT THAT WAS BOURNE OUT WHEN WE LOOKED AT
FIRE STATISTICS FROM A STATE FIRE PREVENTION SERVICES.
TURNS OUT THAT FRANKLIN COUNTY IS THE ONLY COUNTY IN THE STATE
WHERE HEAT, OR HEATING APPLIANCES IS THE MAJOR SOURCE
OF STRUCTURE FIRES.
>> LIKE 48% THERE?
>> YEAH, CLOSE TO HALF OF THE FIRES IN THE COUNTY ARE THE
RESULT OF ESSENTIALLY WOOD STOVES.
PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE ELSE, THAT NUMBER IS AT A QUARTER OR
LESS, SO FOR EXAMPLE, IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY THE NUMBER, I
THINK, IS 24% IN HAMPDEN, IT'S 16%.
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IT'S ABOUT A QUARTER.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE RELATIONSHIP IS FLIPPED IN FRANKLIN.
>> AND THE SENSE IS THAT MORE PEOPLE BURN WITH A PELLET STOVE
OR WOOD HEAT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY BECAUSE THE PEOPLE ARE MORE APT
TO LOSE ELECTRICITY THERE AND THIS IS A MORE CONSISTENT WAY TO
HEAT THE HOME OR WHY ARE MORE PEOPLE USING THAT?
>> A VARIETY OF REASONS.
THE ONE ABOUT THE BACKUP HEAT IS CERTAINLY ONE, AND WE GO -- WHEN
THE POWER GOES OUT IT GOES OUT FOR TWO OR THREE OR FOUR DAYS AT
A TIME.
AND SO IT'S NICE TO HAVE A SOURCE OF HEAT NOT RELIANT ON
ELECTRICITY.
>> THERE WAS A QUOTE FROM NORTHFIELD FIRE CHIEF, FLOYD
SKIPDUNEL, AND HE SAID THE BIGGEST ISSUE STATEWIDE AND
NATION-WIDE IS THE ATTITUDE THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
>> YEAH.
HE KNOWS BECAUSE HE'S BEEN A FIREFIGHTER FOR OVER FOUR
DECADES, SO HE'S SEEN HIS SHARE, AND I THINK HE'S RIGHT, AND
THAT'S PROBABLY TRUE OF A LOT OF THINGS.
WE THINK IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN TO US.
>> HOPEFULLY WE HAVE HAD OUR LAST TASTE OF VERY COLD WEATHER,
BUT ROB THE PAPER LOOKED AT A STORY IN THE MIDDLE OF MARCH WE
HAD A HUGE SNOW STORM YET AGAIN, AND UNFORTUNATELY IN LONGMEADOW
A FATAL ACCIDENT.
AND THAT LED TO A SEARS FROM THE NEWSPAPER, LOOKING INTO WHAT
HAPPENED AT THAT RAILROAD CROSSING AND WHY, PERHAPS,
SOMEONE'S LIFE WAS LOST.
WHAT HAS THE PAPER LEARNED THERE WAS A MEETING IN LONGMEADOW
RECENTLY?
>> SO BASICALLY DURING STORM STELLA, LONGMEADOW DPW WORKER
DAMON WAS COVERING THE STREETS.
HE BACKED ONTO THE RAILROAD TRACKS AT THE BERNIE ROAD
CROSSING IN LONGMEADOW.
THERE IS NOTHING OTHER THAN A STOP SIGN SO YOU HAVE NO IDEA IF
A TRAIN IS COMING.
ONE WAS.
THE TRAIN WAS NORTHBOUND CLEARING THE TRACKS, AND HE
BACKED ONTO THE TRACKS WITH HIS DPW TRUCK AND WAS KILLED.
IT TURNS OUT THIS HAPPENED, WE QUESTIONED 2017, HOW CAN THIS
HAPPEN?
AND WAS IT THE FIRST?
TURNS OUT UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS NOT.
THERE HAD BEEN SEVEN COLLISIONS THAT WE KNOW OF, FIVE FATALITIES
AND AT LEAST TWO LAWSUITS THAT AMTRAK HAS SETTLED, ONE OF WHICH
THE TOWN PAID OUT MONEY AS WELL.
IT SEEMS LIKE -- >> OVER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME?
>> OVER THE 21ST CENTURY.
>> OK.
AS FAR AS WE DUG WE WENT THROUGH FEDERAL RECORDS AND STATE
RECORDS, STATE RECORDS WERE NOT THAT EASILY ATTAINABLE.
IT TOOK GREG SOLOMON SEVERAL HOURS DIGGING THROUGH A
WAREHOUSE IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS TO GO THROUGH A
LOT OF THESE DOCUMENTS.
AND THEN HE SPENT ABOUT NINE HOURS OVER THE COURSE OF TWO
DAYS DIGGING THROUGH LONGMEADOW TOWN MEETING MINUTES.
AND WE FOUND OUT THAT THERE HAS BEEN AN ONGOING, I GUESS
SPORADIC EFFORT OVER THE PAST 20, 30 YEARS.
>> BUT IT TURNED OUT THAT THERE ARE NOT EVEN GATES AT THIS
CROSSING AND IT WAS ALSO MARKED CLOSED?
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT A BIT?
>> YEAH.
SO ALL RAILROAD CROSSINGS ARE SUBJECT TO SAFETY INVESTIGATIONS
AND REGULATIONS.
SO THIS PARTICULAR CROSSING WAS LISTED INCORRECTLY AS CLOSED FOR
THE PAST 60 YEARS, WHICH MEANS THAT FEDERALLY THERE IS NO
REVIEWS.
CLOSED MEANS THAT THERE IS NO CASS PASSING OVER IT SO IT'S
CONSIDERED A LOW SAFETY RISK.
THAT WAS NOT CORRECT.
IT TURNS OUT ON THE STATE LEVEL THIS PARTICULAR CROSSING HAS
BEEN INSPECTED IN THE 1990s, 1993 AND 1994, THERE WAS A FULL
STATE REVIEW.
THEY DETERMINED EVERYTHING WAS FINE.
THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, THREE YEARS AFTER A FATALITY IN 1990
OCCURRED AT THE SAME PLACE SO WE LOOKED AT A STATEWIDE STUDY OF
ALL RAILROAD CROSSINGS, AND ACCORDING TO DATA, THIS IS,
ACTUALLY, THE MOST DANGEROUS RAILROAD CROSSING IN THE STATE
OF MASSACHUSETTS.
>> AMONG ABOUT 3,000 RAILROAD CROSSINGS?
>> RIGHT, WHICH IS TELLING.
>> THERE'S BEEN CHANGE IN THE, IN THE NEAR TERM, RIGHT, WHERE
IT'S MARKED AS AN OPEN CROSSING AND SOME OTHER CHANGES.
>> YEAH, IT HAS BEEN CORRECTED ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL, AS FAR AS
WHAT THE PAPERWORK SAYS.
WE HAVE -- WE HAVE ASKED ENOUGH TOUGH QUESTIONS AND REALLY WE
HAVE KIND OF -- I GUESS WE HAVE YELLED ENOUGH FOR THE STATE TO
REALLY STEP UP AND PAY A BIT CLOSER ATTENTION.
I CAN TELL YOU OUR FIRST ROUND OF QUESTIONS TO THE STATE, THERE
WAS NOT A LOT OF RESPONSE, KIND OF REALLY HAD TO PROD IT OUT OF
THEM.
THERE IS A LOT OF PUNTING, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SOMEBODY ELSE'S
AREA BECAUSE IT'S RAILROADS AND THAT'S THE MURKY AREA THAT WE
CROSS INTO WHERE IT'S EASY FOR ONE AGENCY TO SAY THIS IS THIS
AGENCY SO TALK TO THEM, AND AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS OF THE
RUN-AROUND WE CRYSTALLIZED WHO THE PLAYERS WERE AND WE HAVE --
LIKE I SAID, I ASKED ENOUGH TOUGH QUESTIONS TO WHERE I THINK
THAT FOLKS ARE PAYING ATTENTION.
>> BUT DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS THE KIND OF THING WHERE IF THE
NEWSPAPER HAD NOT PUT ALL THESE RESOURCES TOWARDS LOOKING AT
THIS ONE RAILROAD CROSSING WHERE REALLY THE ISSUE IS THAT THERE
IS STOP SIGNS INSTEAD OF AN ARM AND SOME SIGNALS THAT WOULD
ANYTHING HAVE EVER HAPPENED?
>> I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
THE WAY IT'S LOOKED FROM US REVIEWING THINGS OVER THE PAST
40 YEARS, EVEN WHEN THERE WAS A FATALITY, AND WHEN SOMETHING
TRAGIC HAPPENED, PEOPLE'S LONGEVITY OF MEMORY IS SHORT, SO
YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY IT HAPPENS IN WINTER, YOU KNOW, BY SPRING
THERE MIGHT BE A LITTLE DISCUSSION BUT BY SUMMER, YOU
KNOW, MEMORIES FADE AND YOU KNOW, PRIORITIES KIND OF SHIFT.
NO, I DON'T THINK THAT WITHOUT US STAYING ON IT AND REALLY GREG
SOLOMON DIGGING AND SPENDING A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF HOURS THAT
HE DID TO GET TO THE ANSWERS THAT WE HAVE THAT PEOPLE WOULD
STILL BE TALKING ABOUT IT TO THE SAME DEGREE THAT THEY ARE.
>> SO HENRY YOU'VE BEEN ASKING QUESTIONS IN SOUTHBRIDGE LOOKING
AT THE RECEIVERSHIP OF THIS SCHOOL DISTRICT THERE, MEANING
THAT THE STATE IN JANUARY OF 2016 CAME IN AND SAID YOU HAVE A
SUPERINTENDENT APPOINTED BY THE STATE.
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE DISTRICT THERE?
>> SO I WENT TO SOUTHBRIDGE AND THEY HAVE HAD THIS STATE
APPOINTED RECEIVER WHO CAME FROM CAMBRIDGE.
SHE'S BEEN THERE SINCE, I THINK, MAY OF LAST YEAR, SO APPROACHING
IS A FULL YEAR IN SOUTHBRIDGE SO I WAS CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT -- HOW
THE DISTRICT WAS SORT OF TAKING THE TAKE-OVER.
THEY ARE DEFINITELY -- THEY HAVE A PLAN OF ACTION, AND THEY HAVE
A TURNAROUND PLAN, IS WHAT THEY ARE CALLING IT, AND ABLE TO
IMPROVE STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS AND THE WAY YOU SEE THAT
IS ON THE STANDARDIZED TESTS.
>> THE DISTRICT WAS CONSISTENTLY UNDERPERFORMING IN THE EYES OF
THE STATE, IT WAS NOT LIKE THE STATE CAME IN AND SAID WE PICK
YOU, YOU KNOW, WE'RE IN CHARGE OF YOU NOW.
>> YEAH, THERE WAS A LONG -- THERE WAS STATE INVOLVEMENT IN
SOUTHBRIDGE GOING BACK TO, I BELIEVE, TO 2004, YOU KNOW, SORT
OF MONITORING AND THAT KIND OF THING.
BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL LAST YEAR THAT THEY FINALLY SAID THAT
WE'RE TAKING YOU OVER, AND ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THAT THERE
HAD BEEN THIS INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF TURNOVER IN THE
SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE.
THERE HAD BEEN -- I WAS TOLD BY THE HEAD OF THE TEACHERS' UNION
THERE SOMETHING LIKE EIGHT DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT WERE IN
THE SORT OF -- THE HEAD OF THE DISTRICT OVER THE LAST LIKE SIX
YEARS.
>> A BIT TOO SOON TO TELL IN TERMS OF NUMBERS COMING OUT OF
SOUTH SIDEBRIDGE BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, STARTED IN
JANUARY 2016.
SO WE DON'T HAVE THE TEST RESULTS YET TO HAVE A SENSE OF
WHETHER RECEIVERSHIP IS EFFECTIVE THERE YET?
>> YEAH, THERE IS NOT A FULL SCHOOL YEAR'S WORTH OF RESULTS
TO LOOK AT.
BUT THAT WILL BE COMING IN A FEW MONTHS.
>> AND SOMETHING THAT'S IMPACTING WESTERN MASS AS A
WHOLE IS THE PROPOSED RATE INCREASE BY EVER SOURCE,
SOMETHING THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE HAS BEEN LOOKING AT.
I LOOKED AT IT AS WELL AS OUR BUSINESS EDITOR.
TONY HAS BEEN DOING SOME REPORTING ON THIS, AND THERE
HAVE BEEN HEARINGS NOT ONLY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS BUT ACROSS
THE STATE.
EVER SOURCE HAS PROPOSED A 96 MILLION RATE INCREASE, AND
50 MILLION ANNUALLY FOR FOUR YEARS AFTER THAT, ACCORDING TO
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
THIS MEANS THAT ABOUT $11.64 ON THE AVERAGE CUSTOMERS BILL IN
WESTERN MASS, LESS IN THE EAST, $8.45, AND I ATTENDED A PUBLIC
HEARING A FEW WEEKS AGO ABOUT THE ISSUE AND PEOPLE FROM BOTH
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY CAME OUT
AND REALLY SPOKE OUT VERY LOUDLY AGAINST THIS.
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING THAT THEY WERE OVER 10,000
SHUT-OFF NOTICES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, AND MEANING THAT
PEOPLE RIGHT NOW ARE HAVING A HARD TIME PAYING THEIR BILLS SO
IF THIS WERE TO BE APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
UTILITIES, WOULD BE A REAL BURDEN, ADDITIONAL BURDEN ON
THOSE PEOPLE.
AND THEN INDUSTRIAL PEOPLE CAME OUT, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO ARE
ELECTRIC, SUCH AS CRANE PAPER OR ANOTHER PAPER MILL IN THE
BERKSHIRES SAID, THIS WILL HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT ON
THEIR INDUSTRIES BECAUSE IT WILL INHIBIT THEIR ABILITIES TO GROW
IF THEY ARE SPENDING ADDITIONAL MONEY TO PAY THEIR ELECTRIC
BILLS, AND WHILE NO ONE, NONE OF THE INDUSTRIAL LEADERS WHO SPOKE
ABOUT CLOSING IMMEDIATELY, YOU CAN GET THE SENSE THAT THERE WAS
THE UNDERTONE THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY WERE TELLING THE DPU,
RIGHT, THIS IS GOING TO BE A BURDEN THAT WE WILL HAVE TO
SHOULDER AS OPPOSED TO INVESTING IN OUR BUSINESS, INVESTING IN
NEW EMPLOYEES.
AND WE DID SEE IN THE BERKSHIRES THAT IN THE MID 2000s, WHEN
THE DPU DID APPROVE A RATE INCREASE, WE DID SEE A PAPER
MILL CLOSE AND A FEW PAPER MILLS CLOSE IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF
THE BERKSHIRES SO CLEARLY NOT UNHEARD OF.
DPU WILL CONTINUE TO HOLD THESE HEARINGS, AND THEN IN JUNE IN
BOSTON THERE WILL BE ANOTHER SERIES OF HEARINGS, SOME --
WHETHER OR NOT THE RATE INCREASE IS APPROVED BY THE DPU, AND WILL
BE KNOWN IN NOVEMBER.
AND I SHOULD SAY FOR EVERSOURCE'S PART, THEY SAY THAT
THEY ARE ASKING FOR THE RATE INCREASE BECAUSE THEY ARE FACING
A 35.7 MILLION OPERATING DEFICIT IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE
STATE, AND 60.2 MILLION IN THE SOUTHEASTERN PART OF THE STATE.
>> OK.
ARE THEY SAYING THAT THE FUEL PRICES FOR GENERATORS IS PART OF
THIS PROBLEM?
>> YOU KNOW, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT DID NOT COME UP AT THE
HEARING SO I AM NOT QUITE SURE ABOUT THAT.
BUT YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHEN THEY SPOKE UP, THEY SAID THAT THEY
ARE CONCERNED THAT THERE IS A TWO TIER RATE WHERE IF YOU ARE
USING LESS ELECTRICITY YOU ARE GOING TO PAY LESS FOR THAT FIRST
600 KILOWATTS AND IF YOU USE MORE THAN THAT, YOU PAY A
SEPARATE RATE INCREASE.
IS A SEPARATE RATE, IN THE PROPOSED INCREASE, THAT WOULD BE
FLAT.
SO SORT OF NEW ENGLAND THRIFT GETS PENALIZED THERE, RIGHT,
BECAUSE IF YOU ARE A SOLAR PROVIDER OR IF YOU ARE A SOLAR
USER, OR HAVING SOME OTHER SORT OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE
POWERING YOUR HOME OR YOU ARE USING LEDs OR HAVE GONE
THROUGH AN ENERGY AUDIT, THOSE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING
HERE'S ANOTHER WAY THAT WE ARE BEING PENALIZED.
SO THE ISSUE WILL BE CONTINUED TO WATCH AND LIKE I SAID THE DPU
IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE ITS DECISION IN NOVEMBER.
MORE STORIES OF THE ROUNDTABLE COMING UP.
THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANKS.
>> THANKS FOR HAVING US.