A sad story of intersecting smiles

So once again the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette has demonstrated poor taste, or perhaps their layout editor was simply suffering from a "senior moment." Most Amherst readers will recognize the smiling woman--or at least her distinctive name--dominating today's top right half of page B-3 local section, which is usually dominated by Amherst news.

As a former practicing Irish Catholic I know you are supposed to turn the other cheek, forgive and forget and all that. After all, it was a tragic accident.

But the Gazette should have considered how friends and family of slain cyclist Misty Bassi would feel seeing the smiling photo of the woman who ran her down and then ran away.

This photo op comes at a particularly disconcerting time, since this Christmas will only be their second one without Misty--a young woman who had a beautiful smile and, so I'm told, a personality to match.

Ashes to ashes...

Remembering Misty

As millions of Americans from sea to shining sea marked the day with somber ceremonies commemorating those military men and women who gave up their lives in service to our country, the Ghost Bike reappeared for the one-year anniversary of the untimely demise of lone cyclist Misty Bassi, heading to work on a bright sunny Memorial Day morning only days after graduating from Umass (also her employer) unfortunately fated to interact with a distracted driver who fled the horrific scene.

The family recently endowed a scholarship to University Without Walls so others can pick up where Misty left off.

The Springfield Republican reported

But above all, she's remembered in the hearts and minds of friends, family and many who never met her: Misty is the Poster Child reminding us that those we hold most dear, without warning or regards to fairness, can be suddenly ripped away...forever.

A better reminder

The family of Misty Bassi have found a most noble way to honor her short life and remember her long after the Ghost Bike disappeared from the location of her horrible demise almost one year ago.

If there is such a thing as a perfect fit for the Happy Valley Misty Bassi was it. Like a lot of folks, Umass was both her place of employ and place for finding herself through education. Now with this scholarship others like her will have a chance to better themselves the same way Misty did, and if life is fair, get the opportunity to put that degree to work.

Only days after graduating from the University Without Walls program while on route to work on Memorial Day--when most Americans were celebrating a day off, her path intersected with a 75-year old woman driving while distracted by tears.

For Misty's friends and family, the tears continue to this day.

The Republican Reports

Tragic Catch-22

No matter the sentence imposed by our system of justice on 75- year-old Parvin Niroomand, who drove W-A-Y over the centerline into the opposite lane to impale 33-year-old cyclist Misty Bassi on a bright sunny Memorial Day morning and then fled the scene, nobody wins...absolutely nobody.

(I should point out her excuse that she simply thought she hit a tree, but if you believe that you probably also believe 9/11 was an inside job orchestrated by our government.)

Since the family of Misty Bassi asked the court for leniency on her killer, I'm not going to argue. And, thank God, Ms. Niroomand will never drive again. But I wonder about the killer of 21-year-old Blake Goodman run over the night of September 12 in North Amherst by a hit-and-driver who is still at large.

Yeah, maybe it sends a positive message: Turn yourself in, show remorse and you will be let off easy (especially if you are a female senior citizen).

At the very least, it should remind cyclist (and their immediate family): you're on your own.

The Springfield Republican reports

A haunting reminder

This "ghost bike" appeared near the spot on University Drive where cyclist Misty Bassi was run down by a hit-and-run driver on Memorial Day morning. She was hit head on, so at least her death was instantaneous.

When Umass students return and The Hanger starts packing them in again, maybe more folks will be reminded that a car is a deadly weapon.

CBS reports

In Amherst, it matters.

UPDATE 10:40 PM

The Gazette and Republican (and a few TV stations) covered today's court hearing. And as I just said on Gazettenet feedback: if that pretty boy, over paid attorney had the audacity to come up to me in a public setting and offer his condolences after his client had run over, say, my daughter--I would have kicked him upside his pretty boy head.

The Republican Reports:

Original Post: Sometime this afternoon (it all starts to blend)

So my Anon commenter reminded me why “religion” had anything to do with the local media coverage of the sorry saga of 33-year-old Misty Bassi and her exceedingly tragic interaction with 75- year-old Parvin Niroomand (both Amherst residents) on that fateful Memorial Day sunny morning on a normally busy but--at the time--almost abandoned roadway, specifically designed for heavy traffic.

Ms. Niroomand piloted a 4,000-pound car, Misty was navigating a 20-pound bicycle; and the collision was head-on because Ms. Niroomand went well over the centerline of the roadway into the other lane (and beyond). Misty is now ashes.

Since Tommy Devine, the local blogesphere guru, is now doing a retrospective—bringing into Blogger, stuff he published many years ago on a pioneering website about to vaporize—it reminded me of why "religion” matters in the People’s Republic of Amherst.

Even a complete neophyte knows that if the roles had been reversed: had 33-year-old Misty Bassi shredded Parvin Niroomand with an automobile then fled the scene; and the Gazette discovered that Ms Bassi patronized the “pagan club” at Umass and Ms. Niroomand was a devout “Muslim,” you can bet they would never have published a puff piece extolling the virtues of Ms. Bassi days before the funeral.

Amherst sponsored Pro-Muslim Rally one month after 9/11

When bad things happen...

UPDATE: Monday 2:20PM

So the Daily Hampshire Gazette must feel bad about Friday's (below the fold) front page puff piece on the 75-year-old hit and run driver. This morning they published an (above the fold) front page sympathetic piece on 33-year-old cyclist Misty Bassi who was tragically killed on Memorial Day morning, written by Nick Grabbe their most experienced reporter; and the Gazette also did a somber editorial on the "tragedy in Amherst".


Original Post: Saturday morning

Having trained for ten consecutive years to summit Mt. Washington on a bike, I spent a lot of time in the saddle. And over the past 25 years probably cycled up or down University Drive a thousand times.

While 'Swift Way,' the bike path connector to Umass, has only been around since 2002 I have never used it; and not simply because of my prior habit of using the shoulder of the road but because of all the activity on the east side.

The west side has its own access road, so it seems less conjested for cars entering University Drive. But yeah, it can still get hairy with folks coming and going to the Post Office or Big-Y supermarket. On Memorial Day morning I took my two-year-old for a ride on the back of my mountain bike, but fortunately went uptown.

Ten years ago when I was on a training ride near Hadley center a driver backed out of his driveway directly into me. And while he was only going 5 MPH or so and I was doing close to 20 MPH a 4,000-pound car vs. 19-pound bike always results in a TKO'd cyclist.

My business partner said the man called the Athletic Club and was so distraught as to be almost unintelligible. And while I did little damage to his car a fully-grown body cascading over the top of a vehicle is pretty hard to ignore.

But apparently that’s exactly what a 75-year-old Amherst woman did when she left her lane, crossed into the southbound lane of University Drive and hit Misty Bassi, 33, who probably died instantly.

Yesterday the Gazette published an overly sympathetic front-page profile—not of the innocent 33-year-old victim going about her daily routine, but of the woman who ran her down and fled the scene. Although a friend did admit it was a tad out of character considering her Mother Teresa persona.

Yes, we all make mistakes and for most of them folks deserve a second chance. Misty Bassi did not make a mistake; yet she gets no second chance.