Homeless man found dead in Amherst apartment
By Scott Merzbach
02/16/2009 -
AMHERST - Police are investigating the unattended death of a 43-year-old homeless man at a South Amherst apartment Sunday.
Detective Brandon Seymour said Monday that the man's death does not appear to be suspicious and that there is no evidence of foul play.
At 12:18 p.m., police were notified by other homeless people staying at an apartment at The Boulders, 188 East Hadley Road, that their friend had not awoken with them.
The medical examiner was expected to complete an autopsy Monday in an effort to determine the cause of death.
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Okay, so I’m a tad confused here. Could some Gazette editor ask the intrepid reporter why somebody “staying at an apartment” is homeless? Sounds like a home to me. I lived in the complex next door for many years and always considered it a home.
And why would it take until after high-noon on a Sunday for “other homeless people staying at the apartment” to finally notice that their “friend had not awoken with them” Hmmm… Can we say (or spell) IMPAIRMENT?
And who exactly pays for that apartment? A kindly George Soros (moveon.org) or the taxpayers of Massachusetts via Section 8 subsidies?
Inquiring minds wants to know.
15 comments:
So rude.
#1 Visiting a home for a night does not make it yours.
#2 Many people keep different hours than you, and don't wake up before noon.
#3 What business of yours is it who pays the rent on this apartment?
#4 Have a little decency and respect, this poor soul was homeless and without proper medical care, and is now passed on, hopefully to a better place where he can rest in peace.
"...so I’m a tad confused here."
Try a tad bigoted.
How do you know his race, creed, color, or sexual orientation?
A bigot is anyone who is prejudiced against a group. It doesn't have to be race or creed. It's clear from the tenor of your remarks that you are prejudiced against the homeless. You don't have any facts but you are passing judgement. Did this person have a pre-existing health condition? You don't know. If you heard that a person was found dead at noon in their home by their children would you have posted the same post? I think not.
Probably not.
Probably would not make the front page of the Gazette either.
Last night's temperature was 12 degrees. I am sorry that this poor soul did not sleep on a park bench to satisfy your definition of homeless. When you run for office, perhaps you can detail your plan for where homeless people are supposed to go during February in Massachusetts. Please note that shelters are not just funded by George Soros (an obvious implication that helping the homeless is some uber-left-wing cause). Shelters are funded by churches, the state, nonprofit organizations and others working to deal with a problem that is as old as time. It is problem that is hard to solve when uncaring people act as if the homeless (who are victims) are freeloaders, criminals, etc. In Massachusetts there are over 100,000 homeless that are children. One of the biggest groups of homeless nationwide are war vets. People suffer from mental illness, or they lose jobs, or any number of things happen that make them homeless. Please do not cast aspersions on them.
Hey Laryy,
Open mouth, insert foot. Good job.
If we truly have 100,000 homeless children, then DSS is even more incompetent than I always thought.
A child that is homeless IS BY DEFINITION a child at risk and in need of services. Chapter 51A anyone???
Now I really don't want to have the child protective gestapo out grabbing children away from their parents on a whim, but if the parent(s) are unable to provide a home for their children, then those children should be in foster care until they can/do.
A tenth of a million homeless children and not one legally mandated 51A being filed?????
OR is it that we have a somewhat expansive definition of "homeless"? Felix Unger, of the famous play/TV/movie "Odd Couple" would be considered "homeless" because he was living with Oscar Madison.
So, I suspect, when adult children (and their children) move back in with their parents -- as did the Cali OctoMom -- they and the grandchildren are considered "homeless" although I would consider them well housed in a place that isn't ten degrees at night...
As to bigotry - lets look at it this way:
No one is bigoted when he/she/it denounces the evil UMass students for being drunk downtown and causing problems. No one even notices that drug abuse (not even "use" but ABUSE) is a far greater problem, with a couple of kids dying here and there from it.
But take the exact same people twenty years older (and the Amherst "homeless" in their 40's & 50's are the UMass students from the '70s and '80s -- still doing drugs). Now it is considered bigotry to condemn them?
Lets be consistent folks.
And I will -- someone who is productive or making a damn good effort at being productive I can respect. A layabout who never has done anything and never will do anything I can not.
And these so-called "disabled" who live on SSI and handouts and graft, well it is very interesting how we define who is and who isn't "disabled" in this country, isn't it?
You're being bigoted when you pass judgement without knowing a darn thing about this homeless person. Do you know any fact that shows that this person was a former UMass drug user layabout? No, you know absolutely nothing about the person who died. That is a sign of prejudice. You can sit next to Larry now.
Anonymous commenters, why do you people who make pretty good cases have to hide and not put in any identity? Those of of you who want to punch out Larry, well maybe that's your reason...but why do even those of you here who have reasonable and good arguments still hide? Hey, get an identity and stand up for what you believe, at least Larry does.
Look at it a different way. Larry puts his name out there because he wants attention. I post anonymously so you will only focus on the quality of my ideas, not the person behind it. If the ideas are sound they will sell themselves. If they are foolish they will collapse under their own weight.
Section 8 does not allow for opening their doors for fellow persons that are homeless. They can be terminated from the program. There are shelters for homelessness, and our tax dollor goes to pay for the help that they can receive at those shelters. I could easily qualify for Section 8, but there are other people that need it more than I do.
why put yourself and your Section 8 Voucher in jeopardy by housing several homeless, and OTHER people, in your apartment?
Until later....................
Because you care about somebody having a place to sleep on a cold night?
I became unable to work after falling nearly 40 feet from scaffolding in 2009. I worked for this particular outfit for 11 years. Sometimes 60-72 hours per week. Before that I was a high stone and marble setter on large buildings and bridges,in a Union for 7.5 years. Before that I put in 4 years in the USMC Reserve as an Armored Mechanic,including deployment during Desert Shield/Storm. So nearly 23 years of solid employment under my belt. I had a very very lean period for a couple of years before my benefits kicked in and was actually homeless for 6 months. I had two grown children who had their own homes and another who was a junior in High School. So,would any of you Einsteins describe to me how I was a layabout who should be euthanized,as some previous poster stated. During my accident I completely crushed my left leg,broke my jaw,fractured my skull,hearing loss,mild brain damage,a wired jaw and a mouthful of broken teeth. I got myself back on track after a couple of excruciating years. However,according to your definitrion,because I was homeless,I am just a worthless piece of garbage. I served Uncle Sam in Uniform,owned a home at one time,and raised Beautiful kids.
It is easy for some of you to see one of these people (the homeless,the not quite advantaged,the persons who suffer from schizophrenia (that must be entertaining to you,to watch somebody mutter to unseen voices) and label them all as trash. I will not ask you to have any compassion for any of them because some of you are pathologically incapable of empathy,perhaps sociopathically so. But please,please posters do not toss words like euthanasia around. The German SS used those words when speaking of those they viewed as less than human (The Jews,Gypsies,Slavs,Homosexuals,and people of Dark Skin Color. And consequently they exterminated millions of them. You should be deeply deeply deeply ashamed of yourselves. I am not talking embarrassed,but ashamed. Take this,go forward,and put the hate away. Your life would be better. I spent 6 months living in two different shelters. Some of the people staying there have had absoloutely horrendous things happen to them in their lives. Horrendous is not an exaggeration. However,they did not ask for sympathy,they were just looking forward to working their way out of this mess and having a better day and many of them tried to help out around the places. Cleaning,cooking,what have you. They looked out for the younger people that were having a hard time. Some were widows,widowers, a guy from Africa had his whole family wiped out in a raid on a village in Sierra Leone. Another Woman had her young son murdered by her boyfriend. Another guys son had committed suicide a month earlier and he was in the throes of a nervous breakdown. His son was his life. Like I stated,you have no idea. What I did see,overwhelmingly,was the dignity of human spirit trying to rise up out of a bad situation. We would help the volunteers,talk to them,laugh with them.
Another myth about the homeless. They go out all day and beg with signs and panhandle. Only a very small number of them do. Most of the people who do that are not homeless,They have places to live.
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