McCann Names Valedictorian, Salutatorian of 2013

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Justin Kratz, principal of McCann Technical School, has announced that Marinna Burzimati, daughter of Frank Burzimati and Ann Kozik, is valedictorian and Michael Gancarz, son of Michael and Laurie Gancarz, as salutatorian for the graduating class of 2013.

Burzimati is a senior in the Culinary Arts Program. She is a recipient of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Award for Academic Excellence. She is an active member and chapter historian of SkillsUSA and has earned numerous undergraduate awards and is a member of the National Honor Society and McCann Book Club.  

She has participated in many volunteer activities including Meals on Wheels, SkillsUSA Adopt a Family, and assisting with the McCann Tech Book Fair. Burizimati will attend MCLA in the fall, majoring in psychology.


Gancarz, a senior in the Machine Technology Program, is a recipient of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship and numerous undergraduate awards. He is an active member of SkillsUSA earning gold and silver medals at the school and district competitions in automated manufacturing technology. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, and has been an officer in SkillsUSA for the past two years.  

He will be attending Westfield State University in the fall, majoring in criminal justice.

Both students will graduate from McCann Technical School with high honors at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5, during exercises in the Amsler Campus Center, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.


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North Adams Committee Rejects Changes to Airport Commission Ordinance

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The General Government Committee is recommending the City Council reject a proposal for council approval of appointments to the Airport Commission.
 
The question had been raised after an appointment to the commission by Mayor Jennifer Macksey had come under fire at a council meeting. Macksey had withdrawn his name and appointed him without council approval, as laid out in the city charter. Prior to that, she had put forward all appointments to boards and committees for confirmation.
 
The 2-1 vote, with committee member Ashley Shade voting nay, came after a sometimes testy debate on Tuesday over whether the current language aligns with state and federal laws. 
 
The committee also recommended, again with Shade voting no, to not amend the ordinance to prohibit anyone with business at the airport from serving on the commission. Attorney Joel Bard of KP Law, the city solicitor, said state laws were in place to deal with the conflicts of interest on the independent commission that Shade sought to deter. 
 
"There's a whole apparatus at the state level to enforce the conflict of interest law. That's not self-enforcing, so if there is a violation that's occurring, somebody needs to bring it to the attention of the staff of the State Ethics Commission," Bard said, attending via Zoom. "There's a large state bureaucracy that enforces that law."
 
Shade had put forward the language she said would bring the ordinance in line with MGL Chapter 90, Section 51E that states airport commissioners "shall be appointed, in cities, by the mayor with the approval of the city council, and in towns by the selectmen." 
 
"It's this MGL provision that allowed us to establish an airport commission. Airport commissions did not exist before the charter, because this provision is what allows us to even have an airport commission," she said. "We should be following this provision in MGL to the exact letter of the law, because it is what allows us to even formulate and have the Airport Commission to run and operate."
 
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