Occupy Amherst...briefly

Agile Gazette photographer Gordon Daniels keep pace with the protesters

About 60 mostly college aged folks descended on the downtown yesterday carrying signs and banners and chanting slogans and only briefly snarling traffic. Amherst Police Department monitored the situation closely but did not interact with the crowd. The marchers retreated from town center, down Rt 9 up Triangle Street and then North Pleasant back to UMass, with a cruiser following closely behind.

Hard to walk and keep the banner taut (must be from Hampshire College)

This was the first Occupy action in Amherst since the clash with Tea Party supporters a month ago, where they seemed a tad intimidated by direct counter confrontation.

A costly legal maneuver

Amherst's Special Ed legal bill first quarter FY2012

Even though Gini Tate's $225/hour contract was terminated by a 5-4 Regional School Committee vote (9/22/10) for Special Education legal services commencing 12/1/2010, with the contract turned over to Dupere & Dupere for a $36,000 total annual cost, taxpayers recently paid the law firm of Murphy, Hesse, Toomey and Lehane (Ms. Tate's firm)$13,646 for special education legal services for only the first quarter of FY2012.

According to Regional School Committee Chair Rick Hood:

"There were three cases carried over from the transition between Dupere and MHLT (Attorney Tate). Two of the cases have reached conclusion and/or are awaiting the BSEA to issue their decision. The third case was a re-filing of a case where MHLT (Attorney Tate) had already worked extensively on it during the FY11 school year prior to Dupere being appointed the new SE attorney. Probably this is the case you are referring to.

Where MHLT was already deeply involved in a case it was thought best (and less expensive) to keep MHLT on it."

Of course that case he claims attorney Tate being "deeply involved in" had only been filed 11/13/10, less than a month after the Regional School Committee vote to terminate Ms. Tate and only two weeks before the 12/1/10 date of implementation. In fact, the case was withdrawn and refiled April 4, 2011 well after Dupere & Dupere took over.

But no, rather than let the new law firm handle it at no extra cost we have town officials opening a spigot--as though taxpayer money springs from an endless well.

Expensive "internal" copy costs

Trip the light fantastic

Town Moderator Harrison Gregg calls the meeting to order (the usual 10 minutes late)

So in addition to the usually screw ups--PowerPoint snafus and sound system screeches--two hours into Town Meeting, after I had already taken 35 photos (equally divided between pro and con speakers) from my front row seated position which is designated for media, after Mary Streeter trudged to the microphone 40 feet from me, Molly Turner interrupted with a "point of order," claiming I was distracting speakers (of course she meant those on her side who opposed the article) by "flashing" in their faces.

Moderator Harrison Gregg, who I had already photographed three times, seemed confused and asked her what she was talking about. Obviously I was not a distraction to him, even though seated almost directly in front of his podium.

And Ms. Streeter certainly did not seem to notice, as she was juggling papers and asked about removing the microphone. I was taking two photos of every speaker and you can barely notice the first flash (the lighting is lousy in the auditorium and does require a flash for usable photos) and then the second and final one a full 24 seconds later.

He then flippantly bans my flash. Now yeah, I could have done what Luke Gelinas did with the South Hadley School Committee and get arrested and then suit for a First Amendment violation. But I figured a major disruption could cost votes as most people know I favored passage of the Form Based Zoning article.

That night before Town Meeting started, the Moderator announced that a member wished to enact a rule to limit all speakers to no more than five minutes. But he said since town meeting had not formerly adopted such a rule, he could not suddenly try to enforce it now.

Last spring the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee briefly discussed the use of flash photography and photographers moving about on the floor of town meeting potentially distracting or "intimidating" speakers--but nothing ever came of it. No enforceable rule enacted.

I guess that makes me and my flash...special.

Form Based Zoning: DOA

Amherst Town Meeting members call for "tally vote" by holding up cards

Despite 80% support from the Select Board and 60% of Town Meeting members, Form Based Zoning in North Amherst village center and Atkins Corner in deep South Amherst failed to clear the high hurdle of a two thirds vote, going down to defeat after 2.5 hours of discussion with 119 yes votes and 79 no.

The majority of the discussion centered on North Amherst where Town Meeting was told by two speakers that over 100 "residents of Montague Road" had signed a petition opposing the article (turns out to be more like a dozen actual residents), but Atkins Corner in South Amherst also drew criticism because the two new roundabouts are not yet functioning and the noise from the Norwottuck Gun Club was portrayed as a major detriment to health and safety.

Unfortunately the cumulative effect of having two large separate areas involved--each with its own set of NIMBYs--doomed the ambitious undertaking. Perhaps if someone had divided the motion and let each village center be voted on separately one of them could have passed.

Overall, like the demise of the Gateway Project, the fear that increased density of development was not family friendly and would bring more student party houses to disrupt neighborhoods with late night noise, traffic, fighting, vandalism, unsightly trash and body fluids caused the defeat.

Maybe now town and UMass officials will get serious about controlling rowdy, alcohol fueled behavior of the tiny minority of students who are having such a detrimental impact on civility at large.

Selectman and North Amherst resident Jim Wald presented the article

Quintessential NIMBY Mary Streeter cited safety and environmental concerns with Atkins Corner

Atkins neighbor Seymour Epstein cited noise and pollution to a trout stream, calling the planning charrette a "charade"

Former Selectman Gerry Weiss was concerned the village centers would compete with downtown businesses

More trees to fall?

Rosemary Street North Amherst

Shade Tree Committee Chair Hope Crolius gamely gave a brief presentation/report on the opening night of Amherst Town Meeting, where she acknowledged that "trees are not everybody's favorite part of the ecosystem about now," but implored the legislative body to "keep your faith in trees, despite any havoc they may have wrought on your cars, houses or lawns."

As she retreated from the podium, Town Meeting, uncharacteristically, applauded.

So as you can imagine, she responded cautiously last night as a homeowner on Rosemary Street, a bucolic subdivision in North Amherst built in the mid-to-late 1990s, made a pitch to whack all the healthy Norway Maple trees because they are an "invasive species," and replace them with a presumably tamer "native species."

Committee member Bob Erwin thought, after the recent devastation to our urban tree canopy, this idea was doubly bad: both the timing of this request and the precedent it may set. The seven member Shade Tree Committee took no position but suggested the homeowner poll his neighbors to ascertain their opinions.

The Shade Tree Committee is a sub-committee of the more powerful Conservation Commission, and either committee can make recommendations to the Tree Warden (Alan Snow) who has state authority to remove trees in the public way. Those who disagree and wish to appeal a decision of the Tree Warden can appeal to the Select Board who has final authority over the public ways.

Tree Warden Alan Snow

The town could charge the homeowner $55/diameter inch to have the trees taken down (most are in the 6" to 10" range) by a private contractor, also at his expense. Or if the town likes the idea of clear cutting and replanting a new species, it could all be done at taxpayer expense.


Unless of course they ask the Lorax for an opinion.

Amherst Shade Tree Committee 11/15/11

Firefighters union, finally, signs contract

AFD Central Station

After more than a year of working without a contract the Amherst Firefighters Local 1764 settled with the town garnering 1% salary increase (retroactive) for last year and January 1, 2012 a 2% salary increase and July 1, 2012 another 2% salary increase. BUT, no increase in staffing!

Currently Amherst is covered 24/7 with a minimum staffing level of 7, half that of our comparable sister city Northampton, which has 14.

The teachers union recently inked a two year contract with a 1.5% pay increase while non union school employees (bus drivers, janitors, secretaries, etc) settled for 0%; and on the town side non union employees (department heads) received 2% and the Town Manager a whopping 10%. SEIU 888 with about 70 municipal members is also being offered 0% but will go into mediation for a contract resolution.

AFD Chief Tim Nelson Firefighter Union President Stephen Gaughan

Town Website breaks the news
Press release from Firefighters Union (note extra paragraph the town nixed on their post...hmmm)
3:45 PM UPDATE: So apparently between noon when I published this and late this afternoon, the town corrected their posting on the website to include the extra paragraph that had been inadvertently left off.

Say it ain't so Scott

Senator Scott Brown: dressed for a hike

I find it hard to believe that Senator Scott Brown would turn down the opportunity to speak at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, a conglomeration of every daily newspaper and about half the weeklies in the state of Massachusetts where he is now in pretty much a dead heat with a political rookie rock star, Elizabeth Warren--who is going to speak at the old fashioned Fourth Estate luncheon.

I mean, this is the guy who came to the People's Republic of Amherst--ground zero for entrenched liberal ideology dating back to the 1960s. Can a roomful of journalists possibly be any worse?

Sure newspapers are nowhere near what they used to be for providing news and information to the masses--especially those under age 30--but they are still a formidable institution, rock solid with older folks who always vote.

I don't care if your campaign is three times richer than Ms. Warren's, news coverage is priceless--and free!

Henry Street North Amherst this morning (not sure if they are a supporter or not)

Party House(s) of the Weekend

51 North East Street

I guess we should be thankful that Veterans Day fell on a Friday rather than today, because a long weekend with a Monday holiday combined with the warm weather and bright moon last night would only have made for another excuse to rock the neighborhoods of Amherst.

But the Party Boys and Girls needed no such excuse, as Friday into early Saturday seemed to be the party night of choice. Safe bet none of them were veterans.

And this week we have--to no great surprise--repeat offenders:

According to APD narrative (12:51 am)

Loud large party observed upon arrival at 51 North East Street. Residents and guest would not cooperate with officers. Tenants placed under arrest for TBL (Town Bylaw) noise.

Jackson McCabe Barber, 21 Taft St, Marblehead, MA, age 22
Samuel Casey Johnson 37 Pyramid Lane, Scituate, MA, age 22

Property ownership card for 51 North East street

571 Main Street (Midnight Friday)

571 Main Street (Painted Lady)

Loud large party at listed location. Daniel Morgan was less than cooperative and confrontational. Miles Mulman attempted to clear the house but failed to do so in adequate time. Due to Morgan's lack of cooperation he was placed under arrest for TBL noise violation and Mulman summoned for same offense.

Miles Mulman, 10 Palmer Rd, Marblehead, MA, age 22
Daniel Morgan, 100 Sampson Parkway, Pittsfield, MA, age 21
Property card for 571 Main Street

219 East Pleasant Street 12:37 AM

Loud party at listed address with yelling and screaming

Arrested for unlawful noise:
Hunter Alexander, 67 Cypress Street, Norwood, MA, age 19
Catherine McAuliffe, 219 East Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, age 19
Suzanne Katherin Metro, 16 Barker Rd, Acton, MA, age 20

Property Card for 219 East Pleasant St

All too typical scary weekend for AFD Click to view (ETOH is code for passed out drunk)

Amherst Remembers

A healthy Town Manager addresses the sparse crowd

Empty chairs probably outnumbered the veterans or spectators who never put on the uniform, but at least Amherst took the time to remember and say "thank you." I wish I could say the same for our citizenry.

UMass doubles down on AFD

AFD Central Station

Over the past couple weekends our overstretched emergency services first responders--you know the ones who proudly emblazon "Amherst" on all their vehicles--had to rely on neighboring fire departments to cover calls because all five Amherst ambulances were tied up dealing with inebriated students.

A few years back, UMass, our largest employer, essentially banned alcohol on campus--thus pushing the problem into surrounding neighborhoods and Amherst town center (much to the delight of some bars and slumlords).

Now our economic Juggernaut has arrogantly decided to reduce Health Services hours on campus thus shifting even more of the burden onto our already stressed-to-the-breaking-point Fire Department. This is unacceptable. Either UMass should donate enough money to hire a few additional Amherst firefighters or continue to be responsible for their students health needs.

According to their $100,300 annual salary Senior Public Relations Manager Ed Blaguszewski, "The reduction in hours could mean a bump in ambulance service calls to take students to area hospitals. It’s too soon to tell.”

Easy for him say--he lives in Greenfield!

UMass Health Center

No dogs at Puffer's Pond

Jake and Jada

Tonight, under a full moon, the Amherst Conservation Commission voted 4 in favor 1 opposed with 1 abstention to nix the off leash policy for dogs at Puffer's Pond North Beach, usually referred to as "Dog Beach," and simply ban dogs from both beaches (and in the water) at the popular North Amherst seasonal destination spot.

The Commission spent the vast majority of the 75 minute discussion period talking about the off leash policy at Amethyst Brook and Mill River Conservation areas.

The first vote on a motion by member Todd Walker (a long distance runner who uses the trails frequently) to enact a leash law at both Mill River and Amethyst Brook--a measure supported by animal control officer Carol Hepburn and Conservation Director David Ziomek--failed with a 3-3 vote.

The compromise motion that overwhelmingly passed 5-1, which Mr Walker considered "no compromise at all", maintains for another six months the ten year old status quo, but restricts the hours for dogs to roam free from dawn until 10:00 AM. New signage will be erected with the off leash hours and rule that dogs must always be under voice control. The commission also strongly encourages the town manager seek to establish a dog park.

With a population in town of around 1,400, it's too bad dogs can't vote.

A kid's best friend

Jada modeling "It's Pooch"

In addition to managing operations at the Amherst Boys and Girls Club in town center, directing the Amherst July 4 Parade & 9/11 Commemoration ceremony, sketching hilarious local political cartoons, former FBI agent and native born 5th generation Amherst resident Kevin Joy is now a fledgling merchandising mogul.

Kevin Joy with "It's Pooch" on the racks at Amherst downtown institution, Hastings.

"It's Pooch" is Joy's answer to "Hello Kitty" and sure to be a hit with folks who prefer dogs over felines. Sketched at the request of his young daughter, the shirts are already a hit with kids (mine for sure) and Joy also reports he sold out of them at the UMass Campus Center to college aged women as well.

Joy plans to place the image on toys, hats, lunch boxes, fridge magnets, etc, and will work with local charitable organizations to help raise contributions via shirt sales.

Maybe dog lovers attending the Conservation Commission meeting this evening at Town Hall should wear them to show support for maintaining the now endangered off leash pooch policy at Amethyst Brook Conservation area.

Hastings: Open every day since 1914 (yes, during recent power outage)

Lights On The Common 9/11/11. Photo by Greg Saulmon, MassLive

Kevin Joy can be reached at (413) 695-1725

Let the Party House crackdown begin!

Phillips Street

Now that the town has hired a new building inspector for health safety code enforcement lets put him to work--especially now that the our state Appeals Court today upheld (CITY OF WORCESTER vs.COLLEGE HILL PROPERTIES, LLC,) a Superior Court ruling enjoining landlords in Worcester from renting to more than 3 unrelated persons per house without a "lodging house" license, which requires an expensive sprinkler system in the premises.

The sagacious court found, "we have no doubt that four or more unrelated adults, sharing housing while attending college, is not an arrangement that lends itself to the formation of a stable and durable household." Indeed.

Sooooooooo, let's start enforcing Amherst's slightly more generous bylaw banning more than 4 unrelated persons from living under one roof.

And let's start with the slummier neighborhoods, like Phillips Street. We are hitting rowdy students where it hurts--their pocketbooks--with $300 noise, nuisance house and open container fines, why not treat irresponsible landlords the same way by reducing the number of sardines they can squeeze into a single dwelling at a fairly significant cost per head?

City of Worcester vs College Hill Properties. Appeals Court ruling 11/8/11

Party House runner up

The Enchanted Forest: 83 Morgan Circle

Nestled in a fairly solid, not-yet-overtaken-by-students residential neighborhood, 83 Morgan Circle made the police report this past weekend for the first time since last March . That may not sound like something to celebrate, but last year this address was party central, earning my "Party House of the Semester Award" for their repeated shenanigans.

Police responded early Sunday morning (1:45 AM) to a call complaining about a "loud party". When police arrived resident Ryan Good promised his remaining guests would "keep the noise down." Fair enough. APD issued a written warning.

Ryan Good's name did not show up last March when residents at 83 Morgan Circe were sited for the fifth separate occasion. So maybe we have had a turnover this fall with all new housemates who are not quite as outrageous as the Bad Boys who lived there all last year, but not exactly Mother Teresa types either.

Which makes you wonder what kind of background check the property owner does before turning over the keys to the front door?

Interestingly the house at 83 Morgan Circle is co-owned by Stephan Gharabegian who also owns almost half (4 of 9) the, errrr, dwellings on Phillips Street, arguable the worst slum in town. Which is why I dubbed him "King of the decadent street." One of the four he owns includes 33 Phillips Street, where white, pretty boy rapper Paul Markham proudly resides.

Mr. Markham's anthem "Welcome to The Zoo" perpetuates the party atmosphere that feeds the machine built around alcohol. Perhaps Markham will change his tune when some kid dies due to alcohol poisoning.

Former Amherst College Pres Tony Marx busted for DUI (driving a company car)

Town Meeting supports development measure

The canary in the coal mine briefly quivered, but survived, as Amherst Town Meeting passed article #5 by a 90 to 67 vote, providing $40,000 for a "housing market study" of the entire town, but mainly used to promote the ailing Gateway Corridor Project, a joint development effort Amherst started last year with UMass and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority but now pretty much a town project.

Fortunately, tonight's marketing study article required only a majority vote. Article #17, Form Based Zoning, also a pro development measure somewhat connected to the Gateway Project, will require a two-thirds vote.

And none of the No voters from this evening are going away.

Unfortunately.

Free at last

Spring Street Parking Lot noon today

Pssst, don't tell anyone but the spiffy new Spring Street Parking Lot in town center is FREE until the DPW paints numbers in the parking spots and the fancy new ticket machine is fully installed, sometime later this week.

Meanwhile about 50 yards away, state authorities (MEMA, DOT) park wherever they darn well please.

No" commercial loading or unloading" taking place; and they were still there a half hour later

Party House of the Weekend

655 Main Street, Amherst (anybody know a good house painter?)

With power and transportation restored to most of Amherst, and the weather back to whatever is considered normal for early November, and pent up demand bubbling over from last weekends devastating storm, The Usual Suspects returned to party mode. Besides, it was "Homecoming Weekend" for UMass, our largest provider of Party House patrons.

655 Main Street is not exactly a repeat offender, although I did award them a "Party House In The Making" last Spring. Welcome boys, you have now made the Big Time.

And they must have done something to tick off responding officers as all the inhabitants received both noise and nuisance house citations ($300 each ticket $600 total per perp).

1:10 AM (early Sunday morning)

Noise Complaint 655 Main St

Arrested for noise and nuisance house:
Christopher Osepowicz, 58 Greenleaf Drive, Northampton, MA, age 21
Peter Grazul, 50 Saddleback Road, Mashpee, MA, age 21
Michael James Farrell, 5 Hope Ave, Foxborough, MA, age 21
John Daniel Donovan, 77 Forest St, Middleton, MA, age 21

Arrested for Open Container Alcohol and Underage Drinking:
Shawn Michael O'Donnell, 456 Homestead Ave, Holyoke, MA, age 20

Owner Card for 655 Main St

Top of the morning!

McMurphy's Uptown Tavern 11/5/11 9:45 AM

Over 50 patrons were already lined up alongside McMurphy's Uptown Tavern entrance at 9:45 AM this morning awaiting a 10:00 AM opening. Yes folks, McMurphy's is a bar.

And even though the owner and manager described to our illustrious Select Board (acting as Liquor Commissioners) two weeks ago the customers they expected at this event to be "a little bit of an older crowd" they look, umm, kind of young to me.

Spring ahead

Spring Street parking lot, one of the most convenient for tourists or shoppers in the downtown has, after many months of construction, finally reopened. The Amherst Farmers Market is still displaced, but the extra parking will come in handy--especially since this is "Homecoming Weekend" for UMass, the town's largest employer.

Amherst Farmers Market 11/5/11 7:45 AM

Treemageddon!

East Hadley Road 10/30/11

Trying to get Amherst citizens to think positively about trees right about now is kind of like a perfume company trying to market the scent made by a dying skunk, but the Public Shade Tree Committee will do their best to remind citizens of all the positive things trees bring to the table even though Chair Hope Crolius admitted, "Animosity is going to be high; it is trees that did the damage."

This morning's meeting, with the agenda headline "Tree Calamity," was requested by member Nonny Burack who wants the committee to "make noise," as she has had what she described as "otherwise thoughtful people" disclose their plan to clear cut all the trees from their property. Yikes!

The brutal storm affected thousands of trees, hundreds came down, hundreds more will still have to come down because of significant damage received. But if the damaged tree is in the public way (even if near a private home) homeowners cannot trim or drop the tree without permission of tree warden Alan Snow. And based on how often his cell phone chimed or vibrated during the course of the one-hour meeting, he may not be all that available over the next few days.

Committee Chair Hope Crolius, Tree Warden Alan Snow

Snow told the committee that as of this morning 3,000 cubic yards of debris had been picked up off the public roads by town crews and will be turned into biomass, mulch, or animal bedding. The town has a contract with Wagner Wood to haul it away.

I asked if the 75% FEMA reimbursement for cleaning up municipal debris would be jeopardized if private material made its way into the waste stream, and it appears that the Feds would not reimburse for private debris but would still cover the municipal waste. In other words, it is not an all-or-nothing deal.

The town could schedule alternating odd/even days to distinguish between municipal and private debris, making accounting easier.

Presumably Wagner Wood, since they are home based in Amherst, is giving the town a decent disposal rate, so why not leverage that to benefit private homeowners burdened by the unprecedented fallout?

Amherst Zoning Board slaps down Frat

Clockwise: Attorney James Heffernan, Town Planner Jeff Bagg, ZBA: Hilda Greenbaum, Barbara Ford, Eric Beal

The Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously late this evening to uphold the August 26 "cease and desist order" issued by the town building inspector to a fraternity abutting UMass, Pi Kappa Phi, at 38 Nutting Avenue because the particular abode was founded as a sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, and occupied by women since 1964.

Suddenly turning it into an all male endeavor, is a "change in use" which should have required a Special Permit from the ZBA. The new fraternity did not apply for such a permit and simply moved in this past August.

One of the main factors presented as evidence differentiating a sorority from a fraternity concerned alcohol: Sororities forbid it while fraternities allow--some would say encourage--it.

In fact, early last Saturday morning (2:37 AM)--as the hellish winter storm drew a bead on our area--a young woman was discovered ETOH (alcohol overdose) at the 38 Nutting Avenue frat by Amherst police and Amherst Fire Department had to transport her to the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, thus tying up an ambulance for an hour.

Hilda Greenbaum seemed to have reservations about upholding the building inspector's order because she "did not like the stereotyping: little girls are better behaved than little boys."

But she was swayed by fellow member Eric Beal, an attorney, who cited the differences in number of health and safety code violations between fraternities and sororities, the allowance of alcohol, and on site management (lacking in fraternities).

The fraternity now has twenty days to appeal the decision of the ZBA in Hampshire Superior Court or they can simply apply to the ZBA for a Special Permit, which is probably cheaper but will require the unanimous vote of all three members for approval. The building commissioner can institute a fine of $100/day to enforce the cease and desist order now that it has been upheld by the ZBA.

Amherst Building Inspector Dave Waskiewicz

A simple gesture

Five days after the pernicious winter storm wreaked havoc, bringing death and despair throughout our entire region, with many in Amherst still without power, and schools closed for yet another day, Halloween "rescheduled", and even Town Meeting precinct meetings cancelled (bringing withdrawal to small town political junkies) Amherst needs to consider the little things that can make life just a little easier for its citizens still trying to cope.

Trees and branches were by far the number one casualty of this catastrophic event. The town has an entire tree division at the DPW and a recycling/transfer center that deals with wood on a daily basis. And of course the town owns many shade trees damaged or destroyed.

But the Powers That Be have decided only town owned deciduous dead wood will be picked up curbside by town crews over the next two weeks warning " Any tree debris placed on the side of the road from private trees will not be collected." Of course folks can lug the remains to the town transfer station and pay $50 ton.

Since the town dropped the ball by not opening a local emergency shelter to provide basic necessities--warmth being #1--something Belchertown did at a daily cost of $7,000 (without charging residents an entry fee), it would be nice to drop the Scrooge demeanor and work with our citizenry to help return life to normal--before the next storm hits.

###########################

UPDATE: Now I'm told by a reliable source that the actual price for disposal at our tax subsidized transfer station is $100/ton, but somebody made a boo boo when sending out that email blast and posting to the town website advertising the $50/ton price.

But rather than suck up and abide by what somebody put in writing (you know, like what a private sector business would do) town officials are trying to get a webmaster to change the price to the correct amount and charge that to hard pressed taxpayers.

Maybe we all should converge on the town common with a few loads of debris and a few gallons of gas and have a good old fashioned bonfire!

Fireground Longmeadow Dr. Amherst

Amherst FD Engine 2

AFD Chief Nelson inspecting the damages

Amherst's Engine 2, a Quint, was put into service again for the second time in 36 hours around 9:00 AM this morning to put down a fire at Butternut Farm in South Amherst, owned by HAP Housing, a subsidized housing development that just opened in mid June.

All town pumpers and the heavy duty ladder truck showed up at the scene as well as FD crews from Hadley, South Hadley and Northampton (who provided back up coverage at Central and North stations) and the Amherst Police Department. No injuries were reported.

Party House of the Weekend

198 Sunderland Road, North Amherst 

Yes, the old adage "weather is a cops best friend" held true this past weekend...sort of. If your worry was student party houses and the noise, vandalism and potentially life threatening overdoses of alcohol, Saturday's Godzilla-like storm smothered those problems, but of course brought on more important life threatening circumstances far more dangerous to the first responders.

 But Friday night was business as usual. Take 198 Sunderland Road in North Amherst for instance. Around midnight police responded to a disturbance call only to discover 800-1,000 party hardy students packed into the two floor residence.

As one of the initial responding officers was clearing the downstairs basement a scuffle ensued and it was all hands on deck. The melee did not last long. Police arrested five--two for assault on a police officers, one for disturbing the peace, another for noise and nuisance and one for underage drinking.

Arrested:

Ryan Apgar, Boxborough, MA, age 21 Unlawful noise, Nuisance House
Neil Vaid, 693 Main St, Amherst, MA, age 20, underage drinking
Logan Hughes, Wrentham, MA, age 20 Assault on an officer, Disorderly Conduct
Erik Silva, Middleborough, MA, age 21 Assault on an officer, resisting arrest


Property ownership card for 198 Sunderland Rd, Amherst

UPDATE:  10/12/12
Neil Vaid and Logan Hughes no longer show up as students at UMass.

Yes Virginia, there is a Halloween

Jada and Kira at the Durnakowski's

Okay fine, half the town is without power because so many lines came down in the storm and yes, some of them could be live and yeah, the roads and sidewalks still resemble a maze made from twisted tree debris...but don't tell me--more importantly my children--that Halloween is cancelled.

The town of Amherst can control roads, schools and liquor licenses, but not a major holiday. Halloween is bigger than that. It's a happy, sugar induced state of mind; and right about now folks could use a little distraction, even if it means dressing up to visit only one or two revered neighbors escorted by a vigilant parent.

And so we did.

Fireground Mt Pollux Amherst

Engine-2, a pumper with a light duty, 75' aerial device

AFD Chief Nelson on the scene

Amherst Firefighters responded to a Halloween night structure fire, probably chimney related, on Mt Pollux Drive around 10:00 PM and had it quickly under control. The house is located at the top of a short very steep incline, but enough hardware managed to make the ascent and no one was injured.