You can run, but...

After a year of waiting 2 new Dodge Chargers are, finally, here. Six cylinders rather than eight so they will get a bit better mileage than the Crown Victoria’s. Although some Town Meeting members wanted the Chief to purchase "hybrid vehicles" for even less of a carbon impact.

Country road

Let the sun shine

So the Town Manager wants to experiment with two photovoltaic solar panels, one on the DPW and another at the transfer station at a cost of $24,000 but will produce twice that amount in savings over the five year buy-out period.

Almost sounds too good to be true.

But I can’t help but wonder if the Town Manager went before the Planning Board, Zoning Board, Design Review Board and Historical Commission to get approval for the placement on the roof of the DPW building, which was originally the turn-of-the-century main Trolley station.

The Springfield Republican reports

Abierto! (Finally!)

So after leaping more hurdles than an Olympic track star, Latinos, the little restaurant underneath my health club is finally open. Only took and extra 15 months.

Because, yeah, going from the Amherst Fish Market with take out, eat in and delivery to a Latino Restaurant with take out, eat in and delivery is such a monumental change in use.

And you wonder why Amherst has an anti-business reputation?

Grin and Bair it

So FDIC Chair Sheila Bair she may be the “second most powerful woman in the world” and might even make the ‘top ten’ for most famous person to live in the People’s Republic of Amherst, but that still does not garner her an over 50% profit when selling her humble Amherst abode.

Purchased for $355, 000 in 2002 and renovated to the tune of another $89,500 the Victorian house went on the market this spring for $795,000 then quickly dropped to $695,000 to almost exactly its assessed value ($692,800) then, puff, came off the market to await better times.

The (currently rented) house is directly across the street from Amherst’s by far most famous resident, Miss Emily’s brick family home, owned by Amherst College. You would think (since the Dickinson Homestead will never be torn down to make room for a Wal-Mart) that would increase the value any property within spitting distance.

Oh well. I’m sure Ms. Bair’s salary and benefits, as FDIC Chair will allow her to carry the property for a year or two. And even if she gets the higher price, it probably will not be enough buy her a comparable sized home in Washington, DC.

Thus highlighting one of the problems in bucolic Amherst. Whiz kids come to our illustrious flagship Umass simply to use that position as a stepping-stone to BIGGER-and-BETTER things, and then want to flip their property for 50% over what they paid a few years earlier.

Thus the town Assessor considers those sales and, like a rising tide, increases the evaluations of every home in the neighborhood. Where some folks have lived all their lives (and their parents and grandparents before them) and simply can’t afford to pay those outrageous town property taxes.

Gentrification—of the snobby kind.

What's old is new

The "Reclaimer": This bad boy digs down 18" and shreds the material for reuse.
Job is farmed out to Warner Bros. but under oversight by Amherst DPW

Work, finally, begins on repaving North Pleasant street--the gateway to Umass. Let's hope it's completed by Labor Day in time for the 'The Surge' of students returning to The People's Republic.

Safe bet it will be done by September 27 for the official Amherst 250th celebration Parade (you know the one that does not allow protesters.)

Lazy summer day

Yesterday: 7:00 PM

One of Amherst's "loved to death" treasures (kind of like Free Speech.)

The Springfield Republican reports:

A stand up guy comes out

State Senator Stan Rosenberg, Dave Sullivan (our next DA) and Congressman Olver march in the Amherst July 4 Parade.

UPDATE: 4:00 PM: The Associated Press picked up the story (from the Springfield Republican, not the Gazette.) Yikes!

UPDATE: Tuesday 10:00 AM
The Springfield Republican reports:

I had wondered how my friends at the Springfield Republican were going to handle this story. After all, it is news.

But then, Stan went to their competition the Daily Hampshire Gazette (with a five or ten times smaller readership) with his coming out column, although he also distributed it July 4th morning to a large email listserve as well.

Safe bet the Amherst Bulletin will reprint Stan's column this Thursday, but it will be interesting to see if they assign a reporter to also do a follow up story on the reactions thus far (note to reporters: feel free to quote any of my Anon Nitwits.)

#########

Original Post: Monday morning
So Stan's well-written, well-timed coming out column in the July 4 edition of the Daily Hampshire Gazette reminded me of Michael Jackson's sudden death: initially shocking but after a second or two of reflection, hardly surprising.

And yes, kind of like the courtship/marriage of Anne Awad and Robie Hubley--the Select Board sweethearts--it was one of the worst kept secrets in Amherst.

If the American flag and July 4 represent anything at all it's freedom. Gay marriage, a Massachusetts's milestone, certainly qualifies. Stan Rosenberg has always been a stand up guy. On July 4th he never stood taller.

From: Rosenberg, Stan (SEN)
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Mon, Jul 6, 2009 11:30 am
Subject: RE: Today's July 4 Gazette column

Thanks again both for your email and for coming up to me at the parade. It means a lot to have such a positive response to the column and from a very wide ranging group of people all across my district and beyond. Have a great summer now that he sun has returned!

From: amherstac@aol.com [mailto:amherstac@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:35 AM
To: Rosenberg, Stan (SEN)
Subject: Re: Today's July 4 Gazette column

Hey Stan,
You're welcome.

Getting on my bike right now!
Larry

The new Quint is here, the new Quint it here

Yeah, you would kind of think a town with a $60+ million budget could afford a press relations person to let folks know when cool new equipment like the Quint arrive--especially since we paid almost $635,000 for it.

Old fashioned July 4th Parade (even in Amherst!)

Amherst PD motorcycle cops lead the parade.
Immediately followed by VFW color guard
And then Parade Co-Grand Marshal's Police Chief Charlie Scherpa and Fire Chief Keith Hoyle (both BIG men in more ways than one)

Tractors representing Amherst's agrarian youth
Smokey the bear (he too is anti-smoking)
A very, very BIG tractor.
Hadley's colorful Quint (Amherst has one coming soon)
Yeah, the Amherst League of Women Voters carried "approved" signs although I'm told they were pretty aggressive about handing out literature along the parade route and turned off a lot of women and children (my family for sure.)

And what if they gave a war protest and nobody showed up? John Langford (at age 70, the epitome of aging hippie) had an unapproved war protest sign but never managed to actually hoist it in the air.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it does it make a sound?

Amherst July 4: And so it ends

Amherst July 4 Parade: And so it begins...

Amherst VFW 12:30 PM

"full of sound and fury..."

UPDATE: July 3'rd 2:30 PM
The Republican Reports
(and of course the League of Women Voters did not make a contribution to the Parade to offsets significant costs to produce.)

#################################################################
So after eight years of constant sniping, brief skirmishes and a few outright battles over the First Amendment “rights” of anti-war protesters to advertise, oops I mean march, in the Amherst July 4’th Parade—privately organized, privately funded and supported by a 9-0 Supreme Court decision (and most recently the local ACLU) to exclude offtopic messages-- it has come to this.

Last year under extreme town government pressure the Parade Committee relaxed the rules to allow any group to march with a sign designating their name; if that name had an anti-war component, so be it. And what happened?

The local chapter of the 'Iraq Veterans against the War' allowed aging hippies who never served their country to march behind their officially approved banner with signs contrary to the spirit of the Parade.

This year the Town Mangler banned town equipment unless the Parade was open to all who wished to march--no matter the spirit of their signage. Even though the Parade Committee wished to honor outgoing Police Chief Charlie Scherpa and Fire Chief Keith Hoyle by making them Co-Grand Marshal’s.

Once again the Parade Committee relaxed the restriction (so the Chiefs' can--and will-- march) allowing additional signage other than just the official name of the group but they had to “meet with the Parade Committee to ensure that the sign plans are consistent with the spirit of the Parade”.

That deadline was even extended after the Friday 6/5 meeting with SB Chair Princess Stephanie and our good friend SB member Alisa Brewer to well beyond 6/19. And the result?

Only the 'League of Women Voters' (you know that “non-partisan group”) petitioned and was approved to march and their signage concerns voting, universal health care, pro-abortion but nothing concerning war.

The conflict in Iraq is over, and we won. President Bush is gone, replaced by the second-coming-of-Christ, President Obama who is now tougher than Bush on the war in Afghanistan (where the Son of a Bitch who vaporized the Towers is probably hiding in a hole.)

Just yesterday--under President Obama's orders--the US launched a new major offensive against the Taliban. But not a peep from Amherst liberals.

Hmmm…

The loophole has been closed!

Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 9:31 AM

To: Rosenberg, Stan (SEN)
Subject: Campus Center Hotel to pay local hotel/motel tax?????

Hey Stan,

A fellow Amherst Blogger and Town Meeting member is reporting that in the current budget the loophole for the Campus Center Hotel has been closed:

SECTION 50. The first paragraph of section 2 of chapter 64G of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (b) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:- (b) lodging accommodations, including dormitories, at religious, charitable, educational and philanthropic institutions; provided, however, that this exemption shall not apply to accommodations provided by any such institution at a hotel or motel operated by the institution.

Any truth to this???

Larry K
(See ya at the Parade!)

-----Original Message-----
From: Rosenberg, Stan (SEN) <Stan.Rosenberg@state.ma.us>
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Wed, Jul 1, 2009 9:52 am
Subject: RE: Campus Center Hotel to pay local hotel/motel tax?????

Yes, I put this in my amendment to expand the local option hotel motel tax. I have been pressing the university quietly for more than a decade without result so as a matter of fairness I included the language in my amendment. The Governor signed it as part of the budget. It goes into effect on August 1 resulting in revenue both the the state and the Town.

stan

To: Stan.Rosenberg@state.ma.us
Sent: Wed, Jul 1, 2009 9:58 am
Subject: Re: Campus Center Hotel to pay local hotel/motel tax?????

Hey Stan,

Thanks! I think it will make a significant difference to the town in these very trying times!

Larry

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.)

Does anybody really know what time it is?

A newly refurbished clock and a new UN flag spruce up Town Hall. Now if we could just fill those potholes.

Heart & Seoul

Americans being, well, Americans

According to some folks "All Asians look alike." In Korea that ism is closer to being true. The only difference between North and South Korea is ideology, resulting in completely differing economies. And there the difference is like night and day.

When viewed at night from outer space North Korea is black as coal while Seoul, the capital of South Korea, glows like a giant Christmas tree. doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/2006/10/13/

If allowed one photo in the restricted zone (you had to check your camera) during the tour of the "Third Tunnel of Aggression," our second stop on the DMZ tour, I would have shot the point of intersection where South Korea had dug a tunnel down deep and steep to the unfinished North Korean effort.

The South Korean tunnel was well lit, ventilated, about eight feet high by 8 feet wide, smoothly cylindrical and completely coated in concrete; the North Korean tunnel was as crude as it was cramped. Perhaps 5.5 feet high by 5.5 wide, with rough jagged edges all around. The average person had to duck the entire time.

Fortunately, as I whacked my head four or five times, yellow construction hard hats were required.

When North Korea hastily abandoned their pernicious project, they left behind definitive evidence: small holes drilled in the solid rock just large enough to hold the dynamite used for excavation.

Obviously the placement of the holes--now highlighted in red paint--indicated the tunnel was a North to South endeavor.

According to our tour guide (and Wikipedia) if the tunnel had become operational an entire division of soldiers with artillery could have passed per hour. Since we had to walk single file while hunched over I doubt even highly-trained soldiers could move at a rate of 30,000 per hour. But I'm sure an awful lot of them could.

And they would then have had a terrifying advantage: the element of surprise.

To date South Korea has uncovered four different tunnels all pointed towards the capital city of Seoul, where one-quarter of the population resides. And government officials fear many more tunnels are out there.

So now a Great Wall of barbed wire extends all the way from the city limit of Seoul to the DMZ, running parallel to the Imjin River and Freedom Highway. Interspersed every half-mile or so, an elevated guard tower staffed by soldiers with machine guns.

At a military checkpoint we are boarded for a passport check by a young soldier dressed in camouflage uniform and sporting black reflective sunglasses. About half way to the back of the bus he slowly raises his glasses and says sternly in broken English "Who took picture?"

Everybody looks surprised (myself included) while shaking our heads side-to-side. "I saw a flash!," he declares and then looks around for a reaction. Getting none, he turns and marches off the bus after hardly glancing at our passports.

This was about 11:00 AM on a beautifully clear sunny day, so I'm fairly sure a digital camera would not have flashed. It could simply have been bright sunshine bouncing off a shiny object on the bus...or maybe the border guards always play that game just to reinforce the posted warnings (verbally reinforced many times by our tour guide).

In South Korea men are required to perform 2 years of military service. Every 6 months they get a bar added to a shoulder patch on their uniform to indicate length of experience, and by easy deduction amount of time left to serve. Our interrogator had earned only one bar.

Seated behind me on the bus three American 20-something women had been chatting up a storm on the one-hour journey from Seoul, pausing now and then to softy sing Beatles songs. Immediately after passing the military checkpoint one dials her cellphone: "Sorry Mom, I forgot about that...(probably referring to the 13-hour time difference.) "But we're here, we're at the DMZ!"

After the brief conversation ends she said to her friend soberly "Grandma had two brothers who served here, and they're still missing."

Freedom Bridge was our first stop on the tour, so named because when prisoners of war were exchanged after the 1953 cease fire they shouted "freedom" as they sprinted towards their respective homelands.

Now it is unused and heavily guarded on both sides. Overhead a helicopter gunship flies in a slow--but probably very precise--grid pattern.

Our 3'rd stop was the furthermost observation outpost of the ROK army, the ground where--according to a dedication plaque on cite--outnumbered American and South Korean soldiers stood "shoulder to shoulder" to withstand a massive assault by fanatical Chinese troops.

Naturally the base is located atop a peak of one of the ubiquitous Korean mountains.

Perhaps 100 people hover around the dozen binocular stations that allowed a view of yet another neighboring mountain, only this one was located in North Korea. Young South Korean soldiers numbering in the dozens were among those who came to gawk.

The last stop on the tour was Dorasan Train Station, a beautiful modern facility that opened in 2002 with the hope that reunification would allow passenger service thru North Korea. The architect designed the building roof to resemble a hand shaking another hand.Click to enlarge



Women who volunteer serve in the military. And they start at higher rank.

The $35 half-day tour ended at noon so I did not get to up to Panmunjom where the cease fire treaty was signed in a building now--like the country itself--a "house divided". Where guards stand glaring at each other from within spitting distance.

The Korean (undeclared) War never concluded...they just came to an official truce, which at times--particularly now--seems precarious. Yet at all the stops along the DMZ, powerful symbols exist dedicated to reunification: A sculpture of the globe split in half with Koreans on opposite sides trying to push it back together.

Or the repetitive use of the terms "freedom" and "reunification" for infrastructure around the DMZ, including roads, bridges and even entire villages. When asked, our young S. Korean tour guide said quite confidently that reunification would happen within the next ten years.

Meanwhile a North Korean inter ballistic missile--capable of hitting Hawaii--warms up in a silo with an estimated launch date of July 4, perhaps a symbolic message to the United States.

Thursday June 23'rd marked the 59'Th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, a day that South Koreans treat with the same respect as Americans do Memorial Day. In North Korea's Pyongyang 100,000 residents turned out for an anti-American rally.

Millions perished in the Korean War and even now 59 years later, the catastrophic conflict is agonizingly unresolved. But still, they have hope. And it is strong.

If indeed, hope is a muscle--then South Korea is the strongest nation on earth.

Last Korean sundown

For the Kelley's anyway.

PS: I did get in and out of the DMZ without incident. But it will take a day or two to get my head around it for upload.

Like a bridge over troubled water...

Click to enlarge

Strictly business (of the non-profit kind)

A recommendation from the Amherst College Advisory Budget Committee:

"Plans for major renovation or building projects, with the possible exception of the Merrill Science Center project, should remain on hold"

It sounds like they dare not speak the name but that recommendation must mean the Lord Jeffery Inn will remain shuttered, so it can continue to cast a grim shadow over the downtown.

Great timing guys! The state will up the local hotel/motel tax from 4% to 6% (the last year of operation the Lord Jeff generated $40,000 to the town at the old rate.)

And it's not like the Umass Campus Center Hotel is going to start paying the tax anytime soon (North and South Korea will be reunited first) since Senator Stan Rosenberg wants town officials to lay off picking on poor little Umass for more money.

Amherst College can buy the Fiber Arts building for $2.3 million (twice accessed value) renovate houses on Snell street and Hitchcock Street into offices taking them all off the tax rolls and spend millions more renovating the tax exempt ornate buildings leading into town center, but to Hell with the Lord Jeff.

A pox upon them!

A fish story

The Coax is a giant mega-mall/convention center in the heart of downtown Seoul that hosted the International Council for Small Business World conference my wife was attending to both present and moderate a presentation.

While she worked I went to the Aquarium.
Fish in a harp (maybe they were Irish.)
Obviously the designer had a sense of humor.
Fresh fish in a refrigerator
Alien turtle with two heads.
Another Alien fish eating small child
Back to "school".

What you lookin at

Reflections

Fountain at entry to Seoul National University of Technology.

Welcome Amherst Fire Department

The greatest thing about the Internet is you can still feel close to home. Got an email an hour ago requesting a link on my blog to the AFD Local 1764 web site. Happy to oblige--and sorry for not thinking about it sooner.

Interestingly the person reported that they had a hotlink on the official town website, but it disappeared a while back. Hmmm....

Probably about the time the Firefighter Union had problems with the way the Town Mangler was portraying ambulance service costs in his "negotiations" with Hadley. Where, like his "Strategic Agreement" with Umass, he was taken to the cleaners.

Kind of ironic that a town supposedly into 'Free Speech' is pretty quick to squelch it when they don't like the message.

AFD