The final glorious spring weekend before UMass finals went well, with fewer large gatherings compared to last week where the Mill River Recreation area was trashed and the usual spots -- Hobart Lane and Townehouse Apartments -- swelled with college aged youth like an old fashioned beach party.
Only Townehouse Apartments quad area grew large and loud on Saturday with a peak crowd of perhaps 1,500, a little less than last week.
A handful of Amherst police stood by most of the day to observe and interact with students coming and going but pretty much allowed the students to have fun.
UMass Community Liaison Eric Beal and APD's Neighborhood Liaison Officer Bill Laramee has spent plenty of time during the week interacting with students at the usual hot spots.
Townehouse west quad 6:30 PM
At one point late in the day a Townehouse security guard reported a bottle was thrown at him by someone who disappeared back into the crowd, but fortunately the incident did not escalate.
And, unlike last week, nobody set any furniture on fire in the middle of the quad.
APD having a chat with college aged youth carrying a 12 pack Townhouse Apartments
The long weekend went a l-o-t better than I thought it would as far as (serious) rowdyism goes.
Sure there were the usual problems associated with our annual spike in population, returning Amherst to a "college town" after a quiet summer: zombie herds traipsing up and down Phillips Street, North Pleasant and Fearing Streets, large gatherings in the west quad of Townhouse Apartments and of course old standby Hobart Lane.
Townhouse Apartments Saturday afternoon
But there were no serious incidents of drunken mob mentality manifesting itself in the form of rocks, bottles and cans being hurled at police officers, aka Blarney Blowout.
Although Amherst Fire Department had the usual tie up in services due to drunk runs with ETOH students.
The Rental Permit Bylaw ordinance that went into effect 18 months ago is making a significant difference by holding landlords accountable for the (late night) activities of their tenants.
And UMass, by building newer plusher accommodations on campus -- North Apartment (800 beds) and Commonwealth Honors College apartments (1,500 beds) -- gives young tenants a reason to be proud of their humble abode and much more likely to treat it with respect.
Sagacious Fade user figured it out well before noon
UPDATE Sunday afternoon:
Ultra-reliable source confirms the total number of Law Enforcement Officers involved with snuffing out the Blarney Blowout yesterday was 225.
Since the Western Mass Mutual Aid regional agreement calls for the "host community" to cover the bill for a "pre-planned event," UMass has graciously stepped up to accept full responsibility, rather than the town of Amherst.
Classy move UMass/Amherst!
#####
A sea of uniformed officers strategically stationed in all the usual trouble spots snuffed out the Blarney Blowout. Decisively. With very few arrests and NO violence.
Brisk start to the morning
The main difference this year was advance planning, a seemingly endless supply of police personnel and of course THE WEATHER. Townhouse Apartments, ground zero the last few years for rowdy behavior, remained a cold barren tundra.
Hard to miss contingent of state and local PD at Townhouseand North Village Apartments
Hobart Lane
Lincoln Avenue/Fearing Street intersection near UMass Southwest
Puffton Village
Police also blocked off the main entrances to these trouble spots and allowed only residents entry. A modus operandi that was also used at North Village, Puffton Village, Phillips Street, Nutting Ave and of course Hobart Lane.
Phillips Street
No guest policy at UMass and no visitor parking at apartment complexes kept down the crowds
The MSP helicopter paid a visit bright and early to North Amherst and maintained a highly visible -- and auditory -- presence.
MSP Air One
The Mullins Center concert attracted thousands of students off the streets so that too was a BIG help.
Long line of students waiting to get into Mullins Center concert 11:30 AM
And yes, maybe having the half dozen downtown bars not open until 4:00 PM also contributed since it certainly kept college aged youth from swamping town center like they did in previous years.
Long line waiting for Stacker's to open at 4:00 PM
Girl Scouts cookies for sale town center
Equipment:
UMPD Incident Command vehicle set up at Puffton Village Apartments
APD Personal Transport Vehicle
Mass Fire Services Special Operations vehicle staged at Wildwood School
Many police vehicles staged at Wildwood School
The price tag for all the additional personnel and equipment plus the free concert at the Mullins Center is indeed sizable. But the damage done last year to the town, University and student body is incalculable.
Whatever the cost for today ... it was worth it!
Only 365 days until Blarney 2016.
— ZooMass (@ZooMass) March 8, 2015
So I should have stayed up a little later last night because sometime just before midnight the milestone one millionth visitor came a calling. Not that my sitemeter gives me their email so I can award him/her a prize.
Over the past seven years I have tried to cover the stories that my friends in the bricks and mortar media may have missed, or to cover them in a way that offers more of the backstory.
Living here all my life and having operated a small service-oriented business for 28 years gives me Google-like institutional memory and a fairly extensive list of ultra-reliable sources.
Sources who trust my use of "off the record," knowing that North Koreans could hold a flamethrower to my head and I would never give them up.
If you looked at my widget for "popular posts" (which is continuously updated real time) four months ago, six of the top ten stories had nothing to do with "rowdy student behavior."
Cowardly Anon Nitwits constantly accuse me, a proud UMass grad, of being "anti-student" where all I ever write about is the tiny minority of students who screw up.
So I kind of liked that I could respond with, "60% of my top ten stories have nothing to do with students behaving badly." Well unfortunately, that is no longer the case. This year's Blarney Blowout -- not exactly a "tiny minority" of students -- pushed not one, but two new posts into the top ten.
Now 60% of my "popular posts" do involve student bad behavior (4 of them specifically related to Blarney Blowout).
But I take great journo pride in the two stories that were pushed out of the top ten:
The potentially catastrophic basement fire at a Hobart Lane (students) apartment that exposed a (well known) landlord coverupof shoddy conditions -- including orchestrated violations of the bylaw restricting one family units to no more than four unrelated tenants.
A case that came at just the right time to help pass the Amherst Rental Registration & Permit Bylaw last year, the most important piece of legislation enacted by Town Meeting in a generation.
And the other case that you have also read about here more than any other media outlet: A working class family unfairly sanctioned by an overly PC Amherst School system. A sad story that is still ongoing.
The rains held off today. A good thing if you're into frisbee, running or cycling. Not so good if you're a public safety first responder dealing with the final weekend before graduation in a college town.
Town center midnight. Somebody plugged in the Merry Maple
UPDATE: Sunday morning
So no, thankfully, there were no Hobart Hoedown or Blarney Blowout type incidents last night into the early morning.
As usual the bewitching hours (10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.) produced the usual alcohol related calls: Large noisy party at 351 Potwine Lane around 1:30 a.m. and another one busted up 15 minutes later at 310 West Street and around that same time a backyard camp fire/party at 140 Sunset Avenue doused.
Hobart Lane private security also caught and detained a young man trying to set fire to the dumpster that was torched a couple dozen times last year.
Police were also requested by a reporting party who sounded drunk, complaining that his girlfriend was escorted into a Party House on the corner of Main Street and South Whitney (pictured above), but he was rejected.
And APD also responded to an apartment complex on East Hadley Road for another caller, who also sounded drunk, complaining he had been, "punched in the face."
Yeah, it's all fun and games until somebody gets punched in the face.
So not only did we garner the awful headline in Boston Magazine highlighting our town having more arrests than Boston, now UMass has been awarded the #1 ranking by Barstool Sports, the King of Juvenile, for 2013 "World Series College Riots".
#####
In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning 15 UMass students had "not guilty" pleas entered in their behalf by Judge John M. Payne Jr. who asked each individual perp if they planned to hire an attorney.
Most did not know, saying they would have to "ask their parents." The Judge then strongly hinted they should consult an attorney before they come back to court later in January (and I don't think it's because the Judge is concerned about the defense attorney business).
Yes, once again a tiny minority of of troublemakers brings disrepute on the vast majority of hard working, law abiding students you wouldn't mind having your own kids befriend. Hard to believe little old Amherst had more arrests than in Boston.
AFD extinguished a dumpster fire at Hobart Lane 12:30 AM
Charged by UMPD with "Failure to Disperse", "Rioting" with a mixture of "Resisting Arrest", 'Disorderly Conduct " or Assault & Battery on an officer" thrown it:
Zachary Orcott, Molly Fitzgerald, John Milligan, Patrick Rogers, Miranda Murphy, Carolyn Malone, Travis Connolly, Nicholas Barry, Lawrence Green, Alexander Booth, Casey Adams, Michael Bertrand, Evan Jacob, Jonathan Ennis, and Justin Markuson.
Last night into early this morning seemed to be the busiest time this Labor Day weekend for Amherst public safety personnel. With all hands on deck APD managed to keep things under control, with no major disruptions -- aka Blarney Blowout-- to report.
Around 10:00 PM the alcohol related arrests began -- open container, underage drinking (usually in combination) -- in and around the immediate neighboring streets to our UMass flagship: Fearing, Phillips, Alan streets, Nutting and Lincoln Avenues, Hobart Lane, Meadow Street and with assist from UMass Police Department, all along North Pleasant Street.
These early interventions send the message that law and order will be maintained.
Amherst Fire Department, on the other hand, was pushed to the breaking point. Around midnight, just after dispatch issued a call for two off duty personnel to come in for station coverage.
Northampton Fire Department had to respond for a call to a high rise Southwest dorm for a female with a head injury.
At the time all five of our ambulances were tied up -- the majority of them dealing with passed out drunk students. Late Sunday into early Monday morning AFD responded to UMass for a total of 11 emergency medical calls -- seven of them for ETOH students.
Over the course of the evening I passed by the scene of a young person down (usually female) with concerned friends trying to help them up at least a half-dozen times. Particularly concerning because a young woman died last year after falling and hitting her head while staggering down Fearing Street with friends.
The previous night APD and AFD responded to 45 Phillips Streetfor a young woman passed out in the yard. She was only seventeen.
127 E. Pleasant St. around midnight "First and last party of the semester."
By the time an Amherst police patrol confirmed "smoke coming from the building" Amherst Fire Department had already committed three engines dispatched in a hurry to 195 College Street after the "box alarm" first sounded around 10:10 PM last night.
Yes, another basement fire. And like the Hobart Lane basement firelast September this one also narrowly missed becoming a tragedy. Especially since the building inspector discovered far more bedrooms than allowed by law.
While it was only a dryer fire, I'm told the machine and all the clothes inside were incinerated with thick smoke filling the entire structure. Like my six year old daughter, fire loves to climb.
So if it starts at the lowest point possible in a wood frame structure, it's ravenous appetite is all the better served.
Fortunately AFD stopped it in a hurry. But when the building inspector arrived, as is standard procedure with any structure fire, he found inadequate smoke alarm system and more than twice as many bedrooms as shown on the official town property card (seven vs three).
Kind of makes you wonder why anyone would need seven bedrooms in a single family unit only zoned for four unrelated housemates?
The house is owned by195 Amherst LLC not to be confused with 197 Amherst LLC or 162 Amherst LLC all three "sold" for $1 each by Sandra Weisman of Brooklyn, NY. In addition Ms Weisman also sold for $1 162 South East Streetwith all these transactions dated December 24, 2112.
UMPD hands out ticket this morning on Fearing Street (town property)
UPDATE Midnight:
Baby Berk
The Baby Berk, a large UMass food truck, was not doing a whole lot of business around 11:30 PM, parked alongside Mass Ave in a parking lot near Lincoln Avenue. The food truck was supposed to draw students away from migrating down Fearing Streets and Lincoln Avenue by giving kids an incentive to walk through campus.
A large group of perhaps a dozen volunteers were stationed at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Fearing Street attempting to redirect students away from the residential neighborhoods, but they were gone by midnight (althoughadvertised to be out until 2:00 AM).
APD has been busy all night doing "liquor violations" and they have made many arrests. The Personal Transport Vehicle was activated at 11:00 PM to efficiently cart the perps to APD headquarters.
UPDATE 10:15 PM
I can almost guarantee there will be no problems on Phillips Street this evening as the APD/UMPD joint patrol includes UMPD's mounted patrol unit. Unlike last September.
UPDATE: 9:00 PM
Fire at Mill Valley Estates 7:30 PM
A "box alarm" at Mill Valley Estates apartments in South Amherst around 7:30 PM brought a massive and swift response from both APD and AFD. The stove fire was quickly put down by an officer first on the scene with a portable extinguisher carried in the trunk of his cruiser.
UPDATE 3:15 PM
Hadley police just chased a motorcycle into Amherst on Rt 9 at speeds over 100 mph, sometimes on the wrong side of the road.
The errant bike took a right in town center and headed south on Rt 116.
And no, he did not slow down two miles down the road for Crocker Farm Elementary school, which was just getting ready to let out for the day. Grrrr.
The perp abandoned his bike, and APD now has it tagged as evidence.
Original Post 1:00 PM
Amherst Police patrols have been doing CP (Community Policing) activity all morning with the usual suspects: rental properties along Fearing, Phillips, Meadow streets, and the infamous Hobart Lane.
Thus, if after knocking on doors and politely informing residents to be on civilized behavior over the weekend and then later having to respond to said location for bad behavior, let's just say a stern response is more easily justified.
Amherst PD and UMPD joint patrols start in earnest this weekend, AFD will have two extra ambulances staffed and ready to go -- paid for by UMass -- and State Police are but a phone call away. Yes, the little college town of Amherst is ready. For anything.
Stan Rosenberg reports on his Facebook page (and Twitter) that he met this morning with Amherst and UMass officials to discuss student off campus bad behavior.
Let's hope he champions the idea of anoff campus RA bouncerto nip problems in the bud, as done at Boston College.
If ever a term described Amherst Police Department's capital equipment requests for next year it would be "the usual". Well, almost. (No drones however).
Three front line cruisers, AKA patrol cars, i.e. "black-and-whites," at a total cost of $105,000. These vital vehicles are on the go 24 hours a day, seven days a week and as a result only last two or three years. The department is currently on a four year replacement cycle: replace three cruisers annually for three consecutive years and then four in the fourth year.
Since the iconic Crown Vics are no longer manufactured, the replacement vehicles will all be Ford Taurus Police Interceptors, which are crash rated to 75 MPH. Thus the vehicles are safer, as well as roomier for extra comfort, and fiscally sound via better gas mileage.
A reliable response vehicle is required for first responders
Last year was a replace-four year but there is still money left over from that appropriation, so the department is putting $45,000 of it towards a new Personal Transport Vehicle or PTV.
Not to be confused with the racially insensitive term "paddy wagon." Although I heard a number of college aged youth use that term as they were being loaded into the vehicle last fall. The current van has over 136,000 miles on it.
Left over FY13 money ($12,000) will also be used to purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle
coming off lease (with only 1,492 miles on it). A few years ago APD had
a mounted horse division but that was put out to pasture due to budget
constraints.
No horse patrol but we have (2) Harleys
Also requested is an in-cruiser wireless camera system for two cars ($10,500) that shoots digital audio and video and immediately downloads as the patrol car pulls into the station parking lot. The raw video protects officers from liability (false claims of inappropriate conduct) and can be used in a court of law for evidence in drunk driving arrests.
The department requested these two camera systems last year but was delayed to save money. That year the department had to upgrade its communication system at a cost of $125,000 to come into compliance with FCC "narrow band" regulations.
Captain Pronovost left, Chief Livingstone left center Kay Moran JCPC Chair right
Joint Capital Planning Committee's target goal is to spend 7% of total budget for capital items.
While a total police request of $172,500 ($57,000 already
appropriated) may sound like a lot, considering the FY14 APD operation
budget is, like the Amherst Fire Department, just over $4 million, a 7% slice for capital should come to $280,000.
About the only thing worse than losing all your possessions in a structure fire (besides your life of course) is to later have a lawyer publicly brand you as the culprit who caused the conflagration.
As another lawyer so famously asked of a bully on network TV, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"
According to the Amherst Fire Department the cause of the 9/13/12 blaze at #28 Hobart Lane was "accidental" and "undetermined".
But according to Attorney Farber, hired gun for property owner Grandonico Properties, LLC, the blaze was caused by an occupant of a (illegal) basement bedroom.
Oddly, he puts forth a scenario that is remarkably close to an another fire that occurred in South Amherst over a year before due to the Halloween Snowmageddon storm. A young lady was drying her hair when the power went out, so she dropped the hairdryer on the bed and a few days later when the power finally returned, puff.
The fire department report clearly traces the fire origin to a bedside table, not the bed itself. Miss X also reports she does not own a "curling iron."
Yes the Hobart Lane basement area had one smoke detector but it was too badly damaged in the fire to determine if it was in proper working order. Either way, with a basement illegally subdivided into two bedrooms, three smoke detectors are required and they need to be hardwired rather than battery operated.
Plus the entire basement area has only one window as a second means of egress, so the person with the bedroom that did not have a window could easily be trapped and turned into toast.
#28 Hobart Lane: One basement window, two bedrooms
The other vital safety equipment missing that day was a carbon monoxide detector. Attorney Farber even admits there were none, and that the Gilreath Manor complex uses gas water heaters located in -- you guessed it -- the basement.
In fact, a safety inspection immediately after the fire discovered one of the water heaters was not operating properly because it was covered by a blanket, a potential two-way death sentence by carbon monoxide poisoning, or a gas explosion.
Attorney Farber also admitted Miss X had concerns over unlabeled fire extinguishers. Since there were no labels on them she would not have known they only contained water and therefore, should NOT be used on an electrical fire, which would have only made things worse.
Miss X also confirms she never tested any smoke detectors in the basement, only on the first floor, as she was unaware there was even one there. The fire department inspector found one on the second floor was not working on the day of the fire and issued the Grandonicos a $100 fine.
ZBA Chair Eric Beal (also an attorney) was obviously upset by the written testimony put before his board, and he spent a fair amount of time "reading it into the public record".
Just as obvious on display -- via attorney Farber -- was the Grandonicos wish to place blame anywhere but where it belongs: on them.
As a result, a hard working young woman who -- through no fault of her own -- suffered the trauma of losing possessions to fire, gets thrown under a burning bus.
To quote that iconic theme song of the 60s, "What do you do when you're branded, will you fight for your name?"
ZBA Chair Eric Beal, Thomas Ehrgoodmember, Rob Morra Building Commish, Attorney Larry Farber in hot seat
It took two hours and ZBA Chair Eric Beal seemed to want to let the public thrashing of a prominent local landlord go on for two more hours, but he finally relented and voted along with his two fellow board members to allow Grandonico Properties, LLC -- AKA Lincoln Realty -- to withdraw their appeal of the Building Commissioner's $100/day fine for violation of the town bylaw restricting one family units to four unrelated housemates.
Town Attorney Joel Bard, Jeff Bagg town planner, Hilda Greenbaum ZBA member
Originally the Grandonicos appealed the Building Commissioner's decision, claiming they should not be fined because they were unaware of their tenants (overcrowding) actions and should therefor not be held accountable.
The tenants -- all UMass students -- contacted UMass legal services and their attorney, Carol Booth, put together overwhelming testimony showing the Grandonicos were well aware, and in fact encouraged, violation of the town zoning bylaw.
Seven roommates!
After a potentially catastrophic fire that started in an illegal basement bedroom of #20 Gilreath Manor on September 13, the tenants were told by their landlord to hide evidence of bedrooms in the basements, which borders on obstruction of justice -- a criminal charge.
After these documents became public due to the ZBA hearing (and this blog), the Grandonicos wished to turn off the spotlight by simply withdrawing their appeal. Tonight they got their wish.
Click to enlarge/read
But the ZBA still strongly reaffirmed the right of the Building Commissioner to levy fines on the landlords for infractions that occur on their property. A message that will not be lost on other landlords in town.
