Deja Vu Destruction

 Triangle of land is a "wetland resource area" (Connecticut River on left)

So this unfortunate incident of clear cutting trees without permission and then saying it was all a terrible misunderstanding reminds me of the regrettable incident at UMass a few years back when a contractor demolished the historic old Trolley Station thinking it was all approved.

Trolley Station on North Pleasant Street, built 1911 demolished 2012

Or the Thomas Becket affair when old King Henry asked a little too loudly, "Who will rid me of the meddlesome priest?" And some of his henchmen did so, thinking they were doing the King a favor.

Pretty much the first thing you see when entering Hadley coming off the Calvin Coolidge Bridge is this swath of property with nothing on it now but an abandoned gas station.  And until recently the next thing you saw was the rotting remains of the Aqua Vitae restaurant.

It looked pretty lousy three months ago, and today with the clear cut trees scattered about horizontally, it still looks pretty lousy.  Although removing the old Aqua Vitae building was a huge step in the right direction.

I'm told there were at least a half-dozen trees that were in good shape and did not deserve to die.

Hadley has a right to be pissed over Pride President Robert Bolduc ignoring a Conservation Commission order to leave the darn trees alone.  Don't mess with a volunteer commission in a tight knit farm community like Hadley.

So assess a fine on Mr. Bolduc for a couple thousand per healthy tree whacked, make him replant a bunch more (some of them sizable) to replace the slaughtered ones, and allow the site to be cleaned up and construction of something nicer to commence.

It is as after all, Hadley's front yard. 

You Can Run But ...

 Zane Linehan (center) will be free on $500 bail

In this day and age when almost everyone has instant access to communication you have to be pretty stupid to rob an outdoor farm stand, in broad daylight, on a fairly well traveled street, in a close-knit community like Hadley.

That, or you have substance abuse problems.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Judge John Payne allowed a Section 35 addiction treatment commitment (90 days) for Daniel Bartusewich, age 31, aka "Ras Fire" (the Judge did not acknowledge the recent name change saying, "What is this, a comic book?"). 

His companion in crime, Zane Linehan, age 20, addressed the Judge saying he had  "enjoyed 1.5 years of being sober, but now drugs are destroying me."  His mother was said to be enroute and would be filing for a Section 35 addiction treatment commitment as well for Mr. Linehan.

The DA's office wanted bail revoked and for Lineham to stay in jail so he couldn't "continue to go on a spree."  Only the day before the Hadley theft Lineham had been arraigned in Holyoke District Court on another criminal matter.

The Judge set bail at $500.  

A neighbor of the farm stand called in the theft as it was occurring and gave Hadley police a good description of the car (with front end damage) including three digits of the license plate.

Within 10 minutes HPD had the vehicle, and in the center console they found $57 in wrinkled cash with only one $5 bill and all the rest $1 dollar bills.

The kind of thing you would expect to find in a farm stand cash box.

Farm stands:  A way of life in Hadley

A Matter Of Self Defense

Eric Bertrand is lucky a Second Amendment enthusiast was not shopping at Whole Foods Market late yesterday afternoon .  The first frantic reports from the scene via multiple 911 calls indicated a man was randomly discharging a "white powder" onto innocent bystanders.

Hadley PD at Whole Foods Market to Dispatch:  "One under arrest, we do have a few victims."
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) July 11, 2014

One customer, unhappy about the assault, got into a physical altercation with Eric Bertrand, age 59, but appears to have ended up on the wrong end of his "shod foot."

Had this odd event taken place in Texas, Mr. Bertrand would probably have been shot in self defense, since many people at first worried  the powder was potentially a terrorist HazMat (hazardous materials) incident.

Amherst Fire Department later transported Bertrand from the Hadley Police Department to Cooley Dickinson Hospital after a "psychological evaluation."

Hadley police have charged him with seven counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (Cayenne pepper).   Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to require a license to carry pepper spray, although in this particular case he used store product rather than carrying his own canister of OC spray.

Last Monday Eric Bertrand's Easthampton apartment was gutted by fire, just after he was issued an eviction notice. 

Parade Within A Parade

 

Veterans: Why we remember at Memorial Day

The Hadley Memorial Day Parade has always been a tad more celebratory than somber -- more so this year with the additional commemoration of Hopkins Academy milestone anniversary.   And there's nothing wrong with that, as long as parents remind their children at some point what the day represents.

 With all the police units in the line of march, security is never an issue

This year's parade was the largest in years, running almost 40 minutes,  and the crowd of spectators that lined Rt 9 was also the largest in years and did not seem overly put off when a raincloud directly over Hadley town center opened up about half way through the festivities.

Hopkins Academy Marching Band

An entire division of floats, vehicles and marchers was added to commemorate Hopkins Academy 350th anniversary. Where academics has always co-existed with farming (and sports), with bountiful results on all fronts.

Mapleline Farms

Devine Farm

Wet Line Dancers

Jada on candy patrol

Ernie's Towing: Now that the students are gone, more time for parades

Gray Lady up

Hadley Water Tower, East Street

The media

travels in packs.

This was more than apparent this morning in front of the Juvenile Courthouse in Hadley Center for the arraignment of three juveniles in the Phoebe Prince bullying case that has taken on the aura of the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Can you imagine how much it costs for those satellite vans and support staff? These days some yokel like me with a $100 point-and-shoot digital camera, $250 netbook and a Wifi connection can do it all instantaneously.

Fire in the hole!

12:20 PM

And I thought Amherst elections were hot.

What a difference a century makes.

Hadley was of course the birthmother of Amherst, ejecting us from the nest 250 years ago (we were swampland at the time.)

So Hadley, in celebration of their 350'Th anniversary, repainted Town Hall, decked it out in red-white-and-blue and note the absence of a UN flag. Not to mention, unlike Amherst, they have their own town town flag flying under Old Glory (and in the Boston State House.)

Almost gone...