DUI Triple Dishonor Roll

The errant vehicle demolished a bus shelter and killed a man waiting there Sunday night

Bus Stop late this afternoon

So I often get criticized on Twitter for using thumbnails from Google images of drunk driving fatal crashes to illustrate a drunk driving post because it does not reflect the actual incidents I cover with my routine "DUI Dishonor Roll" series shedding light on weekend arrests for drunk driving.

But every now and then, sadly, a local incident occurs that drives home my point:  Drunk drivers kill!  Last year over 10,000 innocent people.

Last weekend, in addition to the three drunk drivers APD took off the road, one still at large drunk driver screamed through town center on a beautiful Sunday night and directly trampled a 55-year-man sitting on a bench waiting for a PVTA bus.

Since the perp was piloting a commercial style heavy-duty truck and the victim was sitting, he stood no chance whatsoever of surviving.

 The Death Machine

Police have impounded the vehicle, but since it was reported stolen early the next morning, it is exceedingly hard to prove who was driving it.

About to graduate UMass student Danny Haley, age 24, was slaughtered by a wrong way drunk driver on Rt 116 in Hadley in 2012.  To this day his family keeps up a memorial

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In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday all three APD weekend arrests had their cases continued until next month.

 Matthew Vasquez, age 27

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Kyle Kitlinski, age 21

Luis Gonzales, age 21

Salute

Amherst Town Common 11:00 AM

About 50 citizens showed up for the town ceremony on the historic North Common somewhat under the big ceremonial US flag the town flies on special occasions along with the 30 commemorative flags now flying in the downtown.

Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer gave a short measured speech about how the town needs to be accepting of veterans even if they seem somewhat different from our usual demographic.

 Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer briefly addresses the crowd

The Veterans Day ceremony/observance was revived exactly 15 years ago in the immediate wake of 9/11.

It had been at least a generation or maybe two since the town hosted a Veterans Day ceremony as back then the town was far more interested in hosting/celebrating the anti-war movement, which occasionally crossed into anti-veteran territory.

In fact the newly revived ceremony in 2001 was crashed by abrasive protesters (the invasion of Afghanistan to get Osama bin Laden had just begun) who outnumbered the more respectful celebrants who dared to show up.

Just when things were about to escalate to a riot stage, a pair of majestic A-10 warthogs screamed in from the south and flew over the heated crowd at the lowest altitude I have ever seen.

Everything came to a dead silent stop -- kind of like slapping a person who has briefly gone hysterical.  Folks on both sides came to their senses, and quietly left the field of battle. 

 Today's ceremony was nothing but respectful

Don't Mess With AFD!

Jordan Ortiz

On Monday morning in Eastern Hampshire District Court I had the distinct pleasure of sitting next to AFD Chief Tim Nelson who took time out of his busy schedule to attend the arraignment of a UMass student who assaulted two of his highly trained employees.

You know, the good guys (and gals) who are only trying to help.

Since the young woman they were trying to assist was overly intoxicated it's a safe bet that alcohol played a major role in Mr. Ortiz's combative behavior.  But like a drunk driver that slaughters an innocent bystander (as we saw in town center that same weekend) alcohol is no excuse.

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His case was continued to next month and by then he will probably come to a plea deal that will certainly call for purchasing a new jacket for the EMT, a letter of apology to AFD, and court costs.

Narrowly Winning The Popular Vote

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote Tuesday by a razor thin margin

If narrowly winning the popular vote was the end-all-be-all we would have a different President elect today, but according to the system we've used since our inception -- the electoral college -- she got clobbered.

Just as the Amherst ballot question that same day for the new $67 Mega School passed by the same razor thin margin as Secretary Clinton did nationwide, but if Town Meeting perfectly mirrors that vote on Monday night it will be considered a blow out failure because 66.67% support is required.

This morning despite the best efforts of Chair Alisa Brewer the Select Board decided not to overly play politics with the issue by simply putting out a statement saying the ballot question -- which was originally reported by a mainstream newspaper to have failed -- has passed by a comfortable enough margin (122 votes or less than 1%) to consider it passed.

The Chair also threatened to all but castigate anyone who would dare request a recount as being politically motivated to sabotage the process.  Ouch.

In order for the bulldozers to break ground the Mass School Building Authority requires a majority vote at the ballot box AND a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting.  Should the motion fail to garner two thirds support on Monday night the Select Board could call another Town Meeting before February 2nd to get the required approval.

Twenty years ago Town Meeting overwhelmingly supported the $22 million debt exclusion Override for the High School renovation/expansion but it failed at the ballot box the first time.  Town official brought it back within the 120 day deadline and it passed the second time (but still not even close to the wide margin shown by "Representative" Town Meeting).

In fact only once before out of all the Overrides over the past 25 years did the Select Board put the question to the voters first before having Town Meeting take it up.  In that case it passed because the pressure was put on Town Meeting to "support the will of the voters".

In this case, however, considering the high number of student voters who turned out -- which is typical for a Presidential election -- and how razor thin the margin of victory for the Override ballot question, Town Meeting will be under no such pressure.

The Select Board previously voted 100% unanimously to support the Mega School

Not By (Nearly) Enough

Wildwood $67 million Mega School faces crucial vote next week in Town Meeting

In a democratic society such as ours, when is a 50.38% majority of the vote not even close?  When it requires 66.67% super majority.

Already the spinmeisters are saying Town Meeting will have to support the new $67 million Mega School because "the people have spoken," and if they don't critics will say they do not represent the town.

And archaic Town Meeting is currently in the cross hairs for extermination by the Charter Commission.

Okay fine, if Town Meeting votes next week EXACTLY as the town voted yesterday, with an extremely narrow mirror image 50.38% of the vote then the measure fails.  Not even close.

In the past whenever a borrowing or zoning measure that requires a two-thirds vote only garners 50.38% of Town Meeting support it is pretty much considered an almost embarrassing loss.

Since newbie college student voters probably accounted for 30% of the total (14,695 voters or 66.27% overall turnout) many middle of the road Town Meeting members will be perfectly comfortable questioning their wisdom on this issue, which will impact year round homeowners for the next 25 years.

Finance Committee graph on Mega School Override impact

Too Big To Fail?

Direct mail is still a very effective form of advertising (more so than newspapers)

UPDATE:  Question 5 passed by the narrowest of margin:  6,627 yes to 6,604 (or 50.09% of the vote), which will not be overly convincing to Town Meeting where it will require a 66.67% vote of support.

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The Select Board has called an unusual Thursday meeting to discuss the $67 million Mega School and react to today's vote, which I'm guessing will be No.

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The No folks showed far more enthusiasm, did better research, raised more money and simply outmaneuverd the phoned in old style campaign of the Yes folks.

An early large contribution allowed SASS to use direct mail which even in this digital age is still a powerful way to get the word out.

The Select Board should have taken Question 5 off the table when Superintendent Maria Geryk took her $300K and ran.

Although her chosen blueprint of (sort of) twin co-located schools grades 2-6 will never pass muster with a majority of parents and teachers who prefer two independent K-6 schools even if they are "co-located."

So what happens if Question 5 fails?  Town Meeting still has to vote on it and could conceivably still give it a two-thirds vote of support.  But then, that's about as likely as Donald Trump winning Amherst today.

And even if it narrowly passes today it still needs that hard to achieve two thirds vote of Town Meeting, and some members will argue the only reason it won today was because of the student voter turnout, which could easily be 30% or more of today's total.

You don't have to offer a Chinese Immersion program to appreciate the old saying, "May we live in interesting times."

   Ballot Question 5 Get Out The Vote Costs by Larry Kelley on Scribd

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Carriage Shops Sunday 11/6

Carriage Shops Monday 11/7

The l-o-n-g awaiting demolition of ye old Carriage Shops originally built as the Carriage Inn Motel back in the early 1960s happened today and the actual demolition took less than six hours.

   One East Pleasant, Amherst by Larry Kelley on Scribd

Archipelago will soon start construction of One East Pleasant Street not far from their other five story mixed use Kendrick Place or further uptown's Boltwood Place.

 Archipelago will have built three new 5-story mixed use buildings this decade

The downtown is finally seeing revitalization. Now we just need a new improved government.

Like A Bomb Went Off

Chaos in town center

Probably the busiest PVTA bus stop dead in the center of town was ravaged by a large vehicle that left one innocent bystander critically injured dead and left a trail of debris in front of the Post Office and  down Kellogg Avenue.

UPDATE:  Monday morning.  Unfortunately the victim did not survive

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Please excuse my language

Amherst police have called in UMass, Hadley and Amherst College police to help secure the crime scene and Massachusetts State police are enroute.

 Vehicle found around the corner on Triangle St behind Primo Pizza abandoned

Sleepy Sunday?

UMass Campus Pond sometime this morning (depending if you turned back the clock)

Fort River, Amherst College, town center, UMass

Well it started off pretty nice with a vibrant morning light you tend to see after late night thunderstorms, and then the realization you have not turned back the clock so suddenly an extra hour is available.  

What do do?

 Catching rays at Fine Arts Center Same location UMass but looking straight down.

Well fly of course.

 Townehouse quad follow up to yesterday's play date

APD has been on scene between Shays Street and South East Street all day today after a neighbor reported suspicious activity of two men in the woods where last week the assault by would be Ninjas took place on a South East Street rental property where drugs and cash were stolen.

 APD off Shays Street searching the woods with metal detectors and using leaf blowers

Staging at alternative South East Stree High School this afternoon.

Patrick Bemben was battered by the occupants of the house defending their stash and captured by APD, but his co-conspirators managed to escape a manhunt that included K9 dogs and Mass State Police helicopter.

Patrick Bemben intake photo courtesy APD

 
If they were Bemben's fellow Ninjas maybe they were looking for drugs they dropped or the glock handgun.  One of the first officers on scene today reported finding a "tactical glove" sitting on the ground which would seem to indicate it was dropped recently rather than last week since a lot of leaves have fallen over the past few days.

Rock The Early Vote!

Town Clerk's computer 5:08 PM:  5,634 votes cast (about 1/3 UMass students) out of 22,294 bottom number is time until Tuesday election

Well I for one am willing to declare "early voting" a ballot box landslide success as Amherst already processed 25.3% of the registered voters in town.  Northampton did almost as well with 22.7%

So that means if Tuesday we have an average Presidential election turnout (around 65%) more than one third will not be clogging up the system because they already voted.

Unfortunately it will take an act of the state legislature to allow for early voting at our local annual election in the spring.  And with those more important elections only drawing an average turnout of 15.5% over the past ten years maybe early voting will stimulate a better turnout.

The Charter change in government question will be on the local ballot in the spring of 2017 and charter change questions always double the turnout, so early voting would still come in handy.

Nick Grabbe presentation to Charter Commission:  local election turnout fell from 29% in the 1970s to only 15.5% in the past ten years.  Pathetic!

Not Worth A Bucket Of Warm Spit

Amherst Select Board at last night's Charter Commission Hearing

At least Vice President Garner played second fiddle to one of our greatest Presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Pity your basic Amherst Selectman as they are best described as "one-fifth of a Mayor" with all the real power vested in an unelected Town Manager.

Last night the entire 5 person Select "Board" appeared before the Charter Commission to give their take on our town government, and not surprisingly were kind of like the lookout on the Titanic ten minutes before she hit the iceberg proclaiming it "All clear.  Keep steaming full speed ahead."

All five were big fans of maintaining  a professional full-time Town Manager, although support for Town Meeting was not nearly so overwhelming.

Connie Kruger was her usual forthright self in describing Town Meting:

"About as polarized as I’ve ever seen it.  They distrust staff and board members and it got in the way of good decisions. Really uncalled for.  The number of nights presents a barrier to participation.  Acrimony over Library expansion last spring was particularly appalling."

Even Chair Alisa Brewer, who gets paid more than the other four but has no more real power stated:

"I fought to save Town Meeting last time. But now I’m concerned.  Public hearings attract the same people, with the same complaints.  Need to make the entire system easier for average person to engage. "

The Select Board members all reaffiremd that they are collegial and caring among themselves as a board and even try to act Mayor-like in attending public events.

But again the problem is each member has only a one-fifth official say in anything official. Which makes them hard to take seriously when anytime one of them is in room of heavy hitters from UMass, Beacon Hill or even a major business convention.

The big mistake the last Charter Commission made 15 years ago was keeping a powerful Town Manager and throwing in a weak Mayor to the mix.  The big thing they got right was dumping Town Meeting in favor of a full time professional town council.

Since Amherst is such an academic little college town lets hope this Charter Commission will not fail to learn from history, and doom this vital endeavor to repeat a monumental mistake.

Last Chance To Early Vote

Pro (green) and anti (red) new mega school signs created a gauntlet for student voters to negotiate

Friday at Town Hall is the last opportunity for Amherst registered voters to do the their civic duty in a most convient manner i.e. not standing in a long line. 

 Line at Student Union was consistent all day long

Today was the final day for UMass early voting and it was a pretty impressive turnout: 640 voters. Amherst Town Hall precinct handled 360. 

I couldn't help but notice advocates for and against ballot Question 5 -- the $67 million mega school -- were standing on the Student Union stairs, well within the 150 foot distance that is supposed to be maintained for campaign materials.

The Town Clerk said that rule does not apply for early voting although inside the Student Union a sign warned against campaigning "within the voting area."

Last chance Amherst Town Hall Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

DUI Dishonor Roll

 

In 2014, three times as many males were arrested for drunk driving as females

Considering how many drunk runs AFD had over the Halloween weekend I was actually a little surprised there were not more drunk driving arrests. 

In all Amherst "only" had three total, two of them APD and the other one by UMPD.  All three took the legally admissible breath test and the results were not even close.

Only one however, Steven Ferry, came to an immediate pleas deal with the Commonwealth, a standard 24D disposition. 

 Steven Ferry, age 22, stands before Judge Thomas Estes

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Judge Estes was uncomfortable with him making such a quick decision so he assigned him a public defender who did not talk him out of it.  Probably a good thing, with a BAC three times the legal limit.

So an hour later he came back before Judge Estes. After the Judge accepted his signed plea -- aka "green sheet" -- he asked the standard question of "where did you have your last drink."   Mr. Ferry responded "Mission Cantina" in South Amherst. 

 Luke Toomey, age 22

 

Luke Wallace decided to hire his own private attorney and Keith Diaz had a public defender assigned to him.  Both will return to District Court next month. 

 

Keith Diaz, age 20

 

Fireground: Tamarack Drive

Fire appears to have started upstairs westernmost side of building

Fortunately there were no injures today but the house at Tamarack Drive appears to be a total loss.  Unfortunately two dogs did perish in the conflagration. 

 APD was also on scene in force to assist

The box alarm was struck around noon and only minutes after Assistant Chief Lindsay Stromgren arrived on the scene he requested a second alarm which brought mutual aid from Northampton, Hadley, South Hadley, Pelham and Belchertown EMS.

 Probably around 25,000 gallons of water was used

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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Chief Nelson on the scene

And yes, B2 got a little too close to a tree and required rescue (but she's fine).

 Engine 1 and Engine 2 were first on the scene