We're #1

 Amherst's new them song:  "Where have all the hippies gone?"

So this is certainly not the kind of Internet poll result you will see our Chamber of Commerce, Business Improvement District or UMass Office of News & Media Relations proudly hype in a press release.

But, considering the source, maybe they should.

Internet troll and anonymous provocateur Turtle Boy Sports named us #1 on the list of his (obviously he's a he)  "Top Ten Hippie Towns in Massachusetts Where Turtle Boy Would Lose His Mind"

Not that he has much of a mind to begin with.  But hey, at least he can count to ten.

First of all Amherst has the lowest median age in the state, with 58% of our population comprised of "college aged youth."  The "hippie" demographic died off a while ago.

These days we have more homeless hanging out in town center than we do hippies.

In other words the Vietnam war is l-o-n-g over.  And Turtle Boy should know that since he -- like Barstool Sports -- revels in bad boy, party hardy, rowdy student behavior.

If immaturity was a good thing, Turtle Boy would be a saint. 

But that's kind of the modus operandi for Turtle Boy:  Cite a cliche or two, add a pinch of snark and a few lousy photos and voilà, you have a listicle "story."  Now bring on the hits. 

Funny thing is in his "takedown" of little old me last spring he clearly says, "Downtown Amherst has tons of cool shops, restaurants, and bars, none of which would exist were it not for the fact that 20,000 carpetbaggers live there in three out of the four seasons."

And he even closed with, "it’s actually got a nice downtown area with tons of nice looking things."

But that's Turtle Boy: spew so much verbiage that you soon forget what you have said in the past.  And he's too lazy to bother with a simple Google search -- even of his own website.

And w-a-y too cowardly to stand by his opinions under his own name.

Amherst: Colorful College Town

Hampshire College, South Amherst: student population 1,400

Who needs psychedelic drugs when you have this outside your dorm?

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UMass Amherst, our state flagship: student population 28,635

UMass Southwest area houses 5,500 mostly freshmen, err, 1st year students

$10 million Paradis Steam Boiler Plant  that never worked

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Amherst College: largest property owner in town.  1,785 students 

Now you know why we call this College Street (or RT 9)

Fabulous Fall Sunday

Puffer's Pond dam

The weather could not be much more perfect on this gorgeous Sunday in one of the best college towns in America. Get out and enjoy it!

 Amherst College overlook off South Pleasant Street

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!
 

Treetop bouquet 

Check out the Mill District, the hip new North Amherst magnet

Hike around Puffer's Pond to work up an appetite

South Amherst is also looking pretty

With the long holiday weekend many of our college aged youth have returned to their hometowns

Take a balloon ride

Attention To Detail

Chestnut Court on the northern outskirts of Amherst town center

Residents of Chestnut Court brought their complaints to a Board of Commissioners meeting last week (10/5/15) about outside renovations done during the summer that left a lot to be desired with some of the final details, like landscaping.

 Rocks in a large bald patch of lawn 10/6/15

Interestingly the Department of Housing & Community Development had given Precise Paving a "Notice To Proceed" on May 7, 2015 for the project, which had a 90 day completion date built in. 

The contractor did not actually start until July 13, 2015 but was still under contract to complete the project by August 5, 2015.

The loam used appeared substandard with too many rocks and pebbles and the grass seed was planted in a haphazard hit-or-miss manner.

 Bigger rocks and globs of seed 10/6/15

AHA Director Denise LeDuc had complained to the contractor a few days before the residents appeared at the meeting.   She was pretty much told to go pound sand.

But after sending photographs of the lousy workmanship to the architect and telling them she would be withholding payment on the $300,000 contract, a worker showed up the very next day to rerake the lawn areas to remove the abundance of rocks and then he hydroseeded the entire area.

 Although they could have been a little more precise with the application 10/9/15

Oldest rule in the book:  If you wish to get someone's attention, threaten their pocketbook.

 AHA Commissioner Peter Jessop and Director Denise LeDuc at sight visit Friday 10/9/15

A Clear & Present Danger?

 UMass Southwest Towers.  JQA in the middle

Last week 22-year-old Zachary Simeone from Dalton Massachusetts threatened to come to UMass, assault/murder his former girlfriend, crash his truck into John Quincy Adams Tower and shoot up the campus.

 Zach Simeone and his truck

All at a time when gun violence on college campuses is paramount in people's minds.

 Click to enlarge/read

He was arrested by Dalton PD after being alerted by UMPD and originally found by Judge Patricia Poehler too dangerous for release, either on his own personal recognizance or via bail.

   Judge Poehler Dangerous decree

Simeone admitted he was dangerous

This morning a new deal -- "Joint Proposal RE Conditions Of Release" -- was struck at Hampshire Superior Court allowing his release under many, many conditions.

Let's hope it works.

   Zach Simeone Conditons for Release by Larry Kelley

Most of the retweets came from UMass students

Digital Time

APD on scene Fort River School 11:45 ish

I was on my way to Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown to pick up documents relating to a very scary story from last weekend when I first heard the call and knew simply because Dispatch was addressing it to multiple patrol units and the shift supervisor (X1) that it was not going to be a routine event.

Fort River Elementary School went into "shelter in place" mode due to reports of an intruder.  Although the original call did mention a possible weapon involved I chose not to report that.  And I used the slightly less scary term "lockdown" in my original Tweet/Facebook post.

When I arrived on the scene about 5 minutes later three APD cruisers were scattered about the area but two school employees were out front doing routine lawn maintenance.  So far so good.

Since the school was locked down officers were having trouble getting in, as apparently a key fob was not working properly.  At one point an officer told Dispatch that if school officials did not come to open the door they would have to "breach it."  That too I chose not to report.

Fortunately a moment later someone opened the door for them.

Within minutes APD had answered my original Tweet saying no intruder found.

@amherstac no intruder at this time found at fort river school

— AmherstMApolice (@AmherstMApolice) October 9, 2015

Follow @AmherstMApolice on Twitter to stay informed

I had gone from Twitter over to Facebook to file a quick report and then got distracted by questions and comments, so I did not see the original APD response tweet to me for a few minutes.

But by then I had already figured out things were under control and stated that fairly quickly in a follow up post.

As I was leaving the scene I saw Chief Livingstone coming out the main entry and he confirmed "Everything is fine."  And that was one statement I was happy to post on Facebook and Twitter.

By that time some of the responding units had already left Fort River School and headed to all the other schools in town just to be extra safe.

School Superintendent Maria Geryk, within 45 minutes of the original start of the incident, issued a robocall reassuring parents there was "no threat to the school."

Amherst officials are getting better at combining transparency with modern means of communication.

click to enlarge/read

Expensive Swap

Amherst Regional Middle School, currently holding 7 & 8 grades

The Joint Capital Planning Committee -- made up of members from Town, Schools, Library, and Finance Committee -- unanimously recommended approval of Article 9, to spend $150,000 to carve out a spot (4,000 sq ft) at the Regional Middle School for the town's Leisure Services & Supplemental Education, aka Recreation Department.

They also unanimously supported Article 8 which would "repurpose" the $150K from money already approved by Town Meeting to rehab the East Street School.   In 2014 $700,000 was appropriated to renovate the former school so LSSE could relocate there,  but bids came in much too high -- mainly for ADA improvements.

 JCPC:  Schools, Library, Select Board, Finance Committee

That renovation plan, after completing roof work, has been put on hold with about $565,000 remaining.

 East Street School:  Expensive White Elephant?

The Amherst Regional Public Schools are considering merging Middle School students (grades 6-8) into the High School thus freeing up the building for other activities.  Greenfield Community College has expressed an interest in using it as a satellite school.

LSSE currently uses the Bangs Community Center as their home base but that spot is being taken by Community Health Center a satellite operation of the Hilltown Community Health Center.  The program will bring medical and dental services to those without health insurance.

JCPC also unanimously supported spending $26,000 for electronic voting hand sets to bring antiquated Town Meeting into the 21st century.  Finance Director Sandy Pooler confirmed town officials had set aside $27,000 in monies from the previous Fiscal Year.

Town Meeting, which starts November 2,  is the final authority on all spending but they usually follow the advice of JCPC.

Mandi Jo Hanneke (right) from Town Meeting Electronic Voting Studey Committee pitches the JCPC on time saving and accountability attributes of newfangled voting devices.  Later that night the Finance Committee also endorsed spending the $26K

Don't Do Drugs

 APD K9 Unit:  Dash (the shorter one) and Officer Clark

Not only do you party hardy types have to get by a pretty savvy crew of front line Amherst police officers on the late night weekends -- especially in neighborhoods near UMass -- but they also have a secret weapon:  Dash.

Click to enlarge/read

Don't mess with Dash.

Patrick O'Malley, age 21, arraigned before Judge John Payne.  Case continued so he could consult a lawyer

Better This Time

 Agawam FD on scene Mullins Center last night enroute to CDH

Thanks to a requirement from Amherst Fire Chief Tim Nelson that the Mullins Center hire outside contractors to be on site (well, close by at North Station anyway) there were no serious problems last night with ambulance supply-and-demand at the Mullins Center.

Agawam and Easthampton FD ambulances were able to handle the medical transports to Cooley Dickinson Hospital, all of them alcohol related.   "About what we expected" according to Chief Nelson.

AFD responding to the Mullins Center for vomiting drunk college aged female urinating herself.

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) October 8, 2015

A good thing of course since we are talking about potentially life and death scenarios for the rest of us living in town, where a quick arriving ambulance can make all the difference in the world.

Although you would be amazed at some of the ambulance calls Dispatch deals with.

Mullins Center Command, staffed by AFD personnel, saw a total of 15 concert goers last night with four of them requiring transport. Nothing compared to last month's concert.

The next test of our Emergency Medical System will come on Halloween: Another Mullins Center show and with the holiday falling on a weekend the college aged zombie hoards will be out in full strength looking to party.

Prime Parking Rehab

Amity Street lot yesterday afternoon, Jones Library top center

Amherst Town Meeting, which starts November 2,  will be asked to spend $200,000 to completely renovate one of the busiest parking lots in town, the 33 space Amity Street surface lot.


The centrally located lot is contiguous with the Amherst Cinema, with the Jones Library directly across the street.  A 2007 parking study found it was 96.5% full between the hours of 11:00 AM until 6:00 PM.

Of course what Amherst really needs to do is increase the supply of parking in the downtown, which doesn't come cheap.

There's been increasing talk about building a parking garage behind the CVS, which was the original preferred location back when the town ended up constructing the tiny Boltwood Walk Garage on the other side of North Pleasant Street.

  CVS parking and town owned lot would require Town Meeting zoning change for a garage

A Lasting Legacy

It's fitting the first expenditure out of the $200,000+  Eva Schiffer fund, established when her gifted home on Kendrick Place was sold to benefit Amherst Housing Authority lower income clients, will be a charitable donation in the name of beloved Town Manger John Musante, who died unexpectedly on an otherwise glorious Sunday morning a few weeks back.

 27 Kendrick Place sold for $225,000 netting the AHA $209,000

The home was eventually purchased in an open bidding process by Finance Director Sandy Pooler who was Town Manager Musante's first appointment almost five years ago after he replaced Larry Shaffer.

Connie Kruger, at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, who also worked closely with Mr. Musante in her other role as a Select Board member, liked the idea of a donation to the Amherst Community Center.  That project was one of his last major endeavors.

Since the community health facility will be locating in the nearby Bangs Community Center, chances are many AHA tenants will be using its services.  Kruger deemed that, "resonate with what we do."

But she also suggested the money go towards something tangible like a dental chair that would be long lasting and could hold a plaque attributing the donation in his honor.

The Board did not come up with a final amount, leaving that until their next meeting, but did unanimously pass a motion "to contribute in John Musante's name to the Community Health Center with funds coming from Eva Schiffer account."

AHA Commissioner Peter Jessop confirmed, "I think Eva would approve."

Denise LeDuc Director, Judy Brooks Chair, Laura Quinn, Connie Kruger, Peter Jessop

Regionalization Snoozer

Only a half dozen parents participated in last night's public forum

Last night's public forum in Amherst -- the first of four in our public school Region -- does not bode well for those who champion public involvement in major bureaucratic/governmental decisions.

In this case the expansion of the current grades 7-12 public education empire that combined the little towns of Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury with the not so little town of Amherst over sixty years ago.

Thirty people came to the Regional High School library for the not overly well advertised event, but the vast majority were town or school officials.  Only six spectators who came to the microphone with questions -- four from Amherst -- identified themselves as parents.

 Town Moderator Jim Pistrang, Sandy Pooler, Katherine Appy, Alisa Brewer

Town Finance Director Sandy Pooler was forthright about the dollar aspect of the decision saying, "There's no significant financial impact one way or the other. Finances shouldn't drive this decision."

 About half the $600K "savings" comes from Amherst medicaid money

And like any good public speaker he closed on the same theme:  "This is not a financial decision for the town of Amherst, it's an educational decision."

The usual theme of unifying education was the pitch promoted by school officials, although some in the audience worried about too much conformity.

And the time saved by only having to file one report with the state for the Region rather than the current three (at about 1,000 pages per year per report).

Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer tried to handle the governance issue but like that Facebook relationship status, "It's complicated."  Amherst would have 7 elected members on the newly expanded 13 member Regional School Committee, with the other three towns each having two representatives.

But all voters in all four towns would get to vote on all 13 members.   One Shutesbury official wondered how it would make a Shutesbury representative feel when he/she were elected with over 90% input from voters outside of Shutesbury.

And town official Marylou Theilman pointed out a town could decide not to join the expanded Region (but as long as they vote yes to reopening the Regional Agreement the expansion can still happen) and therefor their representative would still have a say over elementary schools even though they do not have a financial stake in the matter.

Town Meeting member, parent and Regionalization watch dog Janet McGowan sent an email earlier in the day to the School Committee requesting officials hold another public meeting in November with better advance information distribution. 

Simply put, when education is your product the smarter approach is indeed transparency.

Vince O'Connor:  "It's depressing to go to meetings like this and see how ineffective public officials are at getting parents of color to attend."

DUI Dishonor Roll

Ryan West, age 20, stands before Judge John Payne. Case continued to October 19 

Considering he took both the PBT (Portable Breath Test), which is not admissible in Court, AND the chemical Breath Test back at APD headquarters, which is admissible in Court, Mr. West should save himself steep legal fees and simply take the standard state plea deal offer of a 1st time offender 24D disposition.

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