Can You Hear Me Now?

 Good crowd for community forum.  Pat Archibald UMPD front left, John Musante town manger front rt

Clearly the crowd who packed the community room at the new $12.5 million UMass police station tonight to discuss uncivil off campus behavior of some UMass students could be broken into two distinct groups:  those who seem satisfied with efforts thus far to curb unruly behavior (UMass officials) and those who are not (townsfolk). 

And townsfolk outnumbered UMass officials, who were there in force.

 UMPD Chief John Horvath

Perhaps Fearing Street resident John Fox summed it up best with the last statement taken at almost exactly 7:30 PM, the scheduled end time for the "community forum".  Mr. Fox made brief allusion to Afghanistan and declared "the surge" is simply not working.  Not enough cops, and not enough programs.  Things are getting worse!  Time for something new.

 Two Johns:  John Coul front, reacts to John Fox's final statement of the night

Unfortunately that something "new" did not come out of tonight's meeting.  To quote the cliche, "same old same old."

Almost all the townsfolk in attendance seemed to agree that unruly behavior towards Amherst police should have zero tolerance with instant repercussions.  In other words, automatic expulsion.  But Enku Gelaye, Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students did not want to say what offense garners automatic expulsion, or even illuminating what line the five students (out of 652) did cross to get expelled.  Although she did reiterate they take assault of any kind "very seriously."

An affable Enku Gelaye, perhaps too affable for chief disciplinarian 

So yes, our gracious hosts staged a successful by-the-book community event, and they will no doubt sleep well tonight.  And perhaps even some of the townsfolk in attendance will also sleep well tonight, content that at least their voices were heard.  

Problem is, how well will they sleep this coming weekend?

Truth To Power

 UMass/Amherst:  Juggernaut of the Happy Valley

Leave the torches and pitchforks behind, but do bring to the meeting a protective passion for the most important possession you own:  a home.  Because if you do not feel safe and comfortable in your own home then everything else is secondary.

And how can you feel safe and comfortable when the noise level in the dead of night is akin to a highway construction project, or hoards of strangers stream by, some taking the time to vomit or urinate (or worse) on your front lawn, or a drunken pair decided to kick in your front door while your family is fast asleep? 

When it's your life and that of your family routinely inconvenienced, it's of no consolation that the University of Massachusetts is in the top ten for housing students on campus.

The fact of the matter is rowdy student behavior from a tiny minority of off campus UMass students is a major problem, and UMass needs to hear that loud and clear. 

The answers employed -- handing out oatmeal cookies or creating whimsical cartoon characters in PR handouts -- have not worked.  Neither has the discipline meted out over the past year.

So let them hear that tonight, on their home court.  After all, a bitch session is better than nothing.  (Maybe they will have a staff psychiatrist open the meeting with,  "I'm listening.")

Bermuda Triangle For Civility

The first weekend of renewed joint patrols between University Massachusetts PD and Amherst PD has yielded (rotten) fruit as officers on foot patrolling Lincoln Avenue/McClure Street had to dodge a bottle thrown from the bushes by John Moffitt of Andover, MA, age 19, who was arrested for underage drinking and disorderly conduct. 

"Disorderly conduct" is an apt description for that entire area, a kind of town/UMass DMZ border, although -- as usual -- problem houses made their presence known in other areas far from the UMass campus.  Take for instance 120 Amity Street, almost in the center of town.

120 Amity Street, Amherst

APD was called at 1:39 AM early Saturday morning to clear a crowd of 150-200 "uncooperative" guests from the "one family" residence and arrested two uncooperative party hosts: Nikoli Sotil, 209 E Granby Rd, Granby, MA, age 21 and Nick Freiter, 257 School St, Taunton, MA, age 21

Police were called to #25 Hobart Lane yet again for a party of 100-150 inside the apartment and another 200 milling around the road in front around 12:30 AM early Saturday morning.  Two residents were issued noise tickets and another cited for underage drinking.

A half hour later on North Pleasant Street, within spitting distance of Hobart Lane, Andy Thach, 7 Olympia Drive, Amherst, MA, age 22 was arrested for disorderly conduct and was noted to be "extremely ETOH" (drunk).

Around that time (1:02 AM) a patrol car was flagged down on Sunset Ave by a female advising the officer another very drunk young man was trying to fight with people and he appeared to have urinated on himself.   After running down Sunset Avenue onto UMass property, he was arrested by UMPD

In the furthermost reaches of North Amherst (1:10 AM) police were breaking up a party at 198 Sunderland Road because of loud noise and with 30-40 guests near the road a car barrelled by almost hitting some in the crowd.

Police chased the gray sedan and pulled it over on Rt 116 (yes, the same highway where a UMass student only weeks away from graduation was killed last year by a drunk driver going the wrong way) and arrested the driver Kevin Chan, 352 Silver Lane, Sunderland, MA for drunk driving.

Also in North Amherst  (2:21 AM) at the intersection of Meadow Street and North Pleasant the commercial center of N. Amherst police arrested Christopher Wade for drunk driving.


And of course what would a weekend of revelry be without Phillips Street?

 45 Phillips Street

Early Sunday morning (1:16 AM) police responded yet again to 45 Phillips for a loud stereo and guests up on the roof who were "very uncooperative."  One of the guests tried to prevent the arrest of his brother and he was also arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Arrested for both Noise and Nuisance House:
Ian Reeb, 285 Highland St, Dedham, MA, age 21
Alex Bazin, 112 Country Club Rd, E. Longmeadown, MA, age 20
Joshua Scott, 33 Portulace Dr, Spfld, MA, age 20
Matthew Scott, 33 Portulace Dr, Spfld, MA, age 26
Joseph Dingmann, 814 Shore Rd, Rocassett, MA, age 21

Late Friday around midnight police observed two youthful looking individuals exiting #19 Phillips Street carrying a 12 pack of beer, an address where police had visited previously to speak to tenants about civility.  Both were issued summons for underage possession of alcohol.  

 19 Phillips Street

Around midnight Saturday police were called to 84 Sunset Avenue, a one family home actually occupied by a family, for a Breaking & Entering.  Arrested for underage drinking, open container, and destruction of property over $250 in value:

Joseph Murphy, 6227 82nd St, Middle Village, NY, age 19
Amasith Phrommavanh, 5 Fawn Circle, Old Saybrook, CT, age 18

51 Phillips Street Monday morning. Rooftop party remains.

 AFD kept busy at our institutes of higher education with ETOH (passed out drunk) and  false fire alarms

AFD Mid October Weekend 

Sugarloaf High

View from Mt Sugarloaf, Sunderland

iPhone Panaram

No Scarlet Letters Here

Abandoned house (but not the property) on South East Street

So to repeat what I wrote yesterday about the coordinated PR surge Amherst and UMass are now jointly putting forth on the their solutions to problem party houses in town, I question if either has the will to actually back up their tough talk.  And now, for your consideration, I present exhibit B:

Board of Health Problem Houses

Interesting that this "list" of dwellings the Board of Health has dealt with since the June 30 start of FY13 does not give exact addresses?

When a public health problem rises to the level of being placed on a watch list, that list becomes a public document.   And since the Board of Health is an investigatory body with state mandated powers I assume they put the exact address on their list.

So why protect them from public exposure?  Don't neighbors have a right to know about a problem house in their neighborhood (although they are usually all too familiar).  Isn't that why the state has a Sex Offender rule for public exposure of their whereabouts?

Notice the Board of Health has issued only one fine (to a house somewhere on Glendale Road) out of the 60 or so locations on the list, or under 2%.  No indication if it was for the $50 minimum or $1,000 maximum, or anywhere in between.

And it's also interesting that this fine was issued only last week.  Since this powerpoint slide is to be presented tomorrow night to the Amherst Select Board as part of the Town Manager's report on "Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods", a conspiracy theorist might think they just randomly picked one token house to fine in order to demonstrate toughness. 

At least the 9/13 basement apartment fire at Gilreath Manor on Hobart Lane shows up (but only as "Hobart Lane").  At least we now have an official admission from the town that those basement apartments were indeed illegal.  And they have given the owners an "Order To Correct"... at least.

That seems to be an apt description for the efforts the town and UMass are showing for enforcement action:  At least.

And a sternly worded letter too!

AFD Central Open House

The quint reaches up over Amherst center into a brilliant blue sky

Unfortunately I could not make my annual trek to the top of the ladder towering over Amherst center because Ladder 1 is in need of repair for the electronics that make the big stick go up and maneuver, so today the quint with a smaller and more difficult ladder apparatus was on display instead.

Target practice with a fire extinguisher

And the Chief was worried about liability should I take a tumble (I do get a tad preoccupied when framing a photo).

Jaws of Life make short work of entering a crumpled vehicle

But as always seems to be the case, the weather was perfect -- a crisp day of radiant sunshine under an almost cloudless blue sky ... a haunting reminder of the potential cost these public safety stalwarts deal with daily.

Unlike last year Smokey Bear managed to make it this time around

Ladder points to a commercial jet's  vapor trail

Crying Wolf?

Two days before the "Celebrate Amherst Block Party"-- the inaugural debut of the Business Improvement District -- the Amherst Board of Health issued a stern public health advisory/warning to stay indoors to avoid contracting a mosquito borne illness.

The next day they pretty much retracted it -- at least for the downtown block party. So I wonder how seriously local landlords are going to take this threat of heavy fines from the Board of Health for having a slumlike demeanor?

After all, the town's Nuisance House Bylaw has always had the provision for fining property owners $300 for the actions of their rowdy tenants ... but have never employed it.

And even when serious -- potentially life threatening -- infractions are found, like faulty smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, blocked fire escapes, or illegal bedrooms in basements without a second means of egress, the town seems to do nothing of note to the rental property owners.

Board of Health Nuisance Threat

The (less than) 1%

Storm clouds over UMass/Amherst 

So out of 652 UMass students cited by APD for bad behavior last year only 5 were expelled.  Yeah, five.  Three quarters of 1%, but I bet the UMass spinmeisters will round up to the whopping 1%.

Although UMass probably stopped giving the offenders oatmeal cookies as well. That certainly ought to do it.

The problem with using citations/arrests as a baseline is that those numbers don't always reflect the true gravity of a particular situation, simply because outnumbered police don't have the time or personnel required to arrest/cite all the offenders.

Take the Meadow Street Riot from last year for instance.  Only one person was cited by police (and he was not expelled) but far more than that hurled objects at police.  At the very least, that particular nitwit should be gone.

And another of the more riotous/dangerous party incidents with assaults on APD resulted in, at most, 2-out-of-5 expulsions (assuming they simply did not flunk out on their own).

UMass should  append the Code of Student Conduct to clearly state that any incident of resisting arrest or assaults on a police officer -- spitting, shoving, punching/kicking, or using them for target practice with hurled objects -- is grounds for immediate expulsion.

And sure, with party house citations -- be it civil or criminal -- everybody is entitled to a second chance (assuming the charge is not assault on an officer) ... but on the second offense, OUT.

Same goes for DUI.

Maybe they will be serving chocolate chip cookies


Student Conduct Stats

Never Mind

The incomparable Rosanne Rosannadanna

From: XXX
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Tue, Oct 9, 2012 2:49 pm

Hi Mr. Kelley,

My name is XXX and recently you posted in your "Only in the Republic of Amherst" blog about myself and my three roommates that were (unfortunately) arrested for violating the town's noise by-laws.

I understand this information is public knowledge, and you have every right to post it, but I'd like to ask that you at least edit the post and remove the comment about us being "obstinate."

This is a false statement. Even if you were to refer to the police report, there are no suggestions that myself nor my roommate XY acted in an obstinate manner with the police.

Again, I would very much appreciate you doing this,

Best,

XXX

#### 

From: XXX
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Wed, Oct 10, 2012 9:38 am

Hi Mr. Kelley,

This is in regards to the previous email I sent you.

I have just spoken with my landlord and I would like to retract what I said and requested.

Despite my perspective of what happened Friday night and my behavior, I understand there are different opinions among others, perhaps such as yourself. Based on your opinion, you have every right to post that we acted in an obstinate manner.

I apologize for my original email, and can assure you that my roommates and myself have learned our lesson and you will never have a need to post about us again! (at least for this kind of reason)

Have a great day,

 XXX

Amherst/Hamp ReBID

Amherst BID website (nice header photo)

On August 7 Governor Patrick signed into law a change affecting Business Improvement Disticts, a tweak that will have a profound impact on a minority of businesses located within the target area, namely those who originally "opted out" of the enterprise (thus avoiding the increased taxation assessment, but also the benefits).

And neither Amherst or Northampton are grandfathered from these changes.

Now a BID, rather than being given a lifetime operation permit at inception, has to be renewed every five years by a simple majority vote, and businesses originally allowed to opt out can no longer avoid paying the higher surcharge if the majority votes in favor. 

In other words, you are in whether you like it or not.

 Alex Krogh-Grabbe addresses Amherst Select Board mid-July (hence the sandals)

According to Amherst BID Director Alex Krogh-Grabbe, "Twenty one of 92 property owners within the district opted out initially, representing 17% of the property value & 15% of the properties within the district."

The increased tax burden falls on the property owner not the business renting the commercial space, although any increase in overhead for an owner is usually passed on to tenants.

 UMass and Amherst College, as tax-exempt property owners in the downtown district, cannot be assessed fees but have volunteered to pay $15,000 each annually plus assist with in kind contributions such as providing interns and distributing promotional materials to students.

The Amherst BID is still in its rookie year of operation, so they are in no great hurry to take a revote (which can happen anytime within five years of the 8/7/12 change in the law).  Krogh-Grabbe states the Amherst vote will take place sometime in early 2013,  "after all affected property owners understand what the change means".

In Northampton the BID was bitterly opposed by reclusive entertainment mogul Eric Suher, so it will be interesting to see his reaction to this heavy handed change in the rules that will cost him thousands of dollars annually.

At least in Amherst, businesses have a few months to get used to it.

Yet Another Smoking Gun

Email sent by AFD to select influential Amherst individuals:

From: "McKay, Donald" <McKayD@amherstma.gov>
Date: September 18, 2012 1:44:49 PM EDT

I thought that I would apprise you of a situation in which your assistance would be welcomed. Last Thursday the Fire Department responded to a basement fire at # 28 Hobart Lane. 28 Hobart Lane is one of the 14 units that Lincoln Realty owns and manages in the 3 apartment buildings collectively called Gillreath Manor Apartments. The basement contained 2 illegal bedrooms. One of these would be considered to be OK as a bedroom with some modifications as directed by the Building Commissioner. The second bedroom 1) physically cannot be used as bedroom and 2) exceeds the maximum occupancy of 4.

Currently, the Fire Department, Health Department, and Building Commissioners office are awaiting the opportunity to inspect all 14 units in the complex. On Monday the 17^th of September, we were invited to inspect 2 of the 14 units. We observed two rooms, constructed without permits, in each basement with no beds contained therein. We did observe two beds that had been stacked beneath the stairs in each occupancy.

The issue: We have one email and now one phone call from the displaced occupants that clearly indicate that they have been instructed by Lincoln reality to remove the evidence of the two illegal bedrooms until after the combined inspections. We are working with the University to acquire permanent residence hall accommodations for the 14 students who will be displaced from the 5^th bedroom in each unit. It appears that the 28 students displaced from the basement bedrooms are in need of temporary accommodations and I believe that Lincoln Realty needs to step up and procure these temporary living arrangements.

The charade needs to end and these kids need safe housing.. To date, we believe that we (the combined inspection departments) have not proceeded in an untoward manner, we have withheld action through an administrative search warrant instead seeking to act cooperatively with Lincoln Realty to inspect the apartments and we are very cautiously approaching a cease and desist order to compel Lincoln Realty to reduce the occupancy of the apartments to 4.

Any assistance you may be able to provide in motivating Lincoln Realty to provide the necessary temporary housing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Don

Assistant Chief Donald R. McKay, EMT-P, MPH

Amherst Fire Department

Discussion on UMass Reddit 

Fire Postmortem

 Gilreath Manor, main building, six units

Two violations jump out in this AFD report, one not so serious, one deadly serious.  Amherst has a zoning bylaw limiting unrelated tenants to four per household -- that's the not so serious violation.

State building codes requires two means of egress from a basement bedroom -- that's the deadly serious infraction.

As I pointed out in my original post, what if the fire had happened in the wee hours of the morning rather than 12:00 noon?  A fire across the main floor would have trapped anybody asleep in those basements.

Two bedrooms per unit times six units:  "Nobody gets out of here alive."

Hobart Lane Fire Redacted

Smoking Gun?

 Town Hall in a storm

UPDATE (12:45 PM) The town and UMass have just announced an "open forum" to address concerns over student off-campus behavior.  Looks like we're getting their attention.  Of course none of the students who cause the problems will attend.

#####

Well it took a while longer than the ten days required by Public Documents Law, and some of my request was carefully ignored, and the moment of release timed for the start of a slow news cycle (beginning of a long holiday weekend) ... even so, the slightly panicky email to town officials concerning the fire at Gilreath Manor from "Heather" who lives there (still) tells an interesting story, one town officials obviously did not want you to see:

Smoking Email Town Officials

The backstory in emails

Party Houses of the long Weekend

132 Northampton Road, Amherst 

In spite of the mass exodus for the first l-o-n-g weekend of the semester, Amherst police were kept busy all over town dealing with the usual byproducts of too much alcohol:  noise, nuisance and the potentially lethal, Driving Under the Influence.

But not all the party houses citations were a result of students.  Take for instance, 132 Northampton Road where one of the occupants called a responding APD officer "honey" and that he was "going back inside because I don't have time for this."

Well, he ended up making time for it -- lots of time (at 1:33 AM), as he and three other friends were arrested for violating the town's noise bylaw.

Jeff Keedy, 54 Amity Place, Amherst, Ma, age 28

Keith Toffling, 132 Northampton Rd, Amherst, Ma, age 30
Daniel Shimlaus, 19 Stearns Ln, Sudbury, Ma, age 21
Michael Borgenieht, 4 Saddle Ridge Rd, Dover, Ma, age 20

164 Sunset Avenue, Amherst

 

My next "winner", 164 Sunset Avenue, (practically touching Southwest Towers, UMass) is a repeat offender. The house, not this particular resident.

As police arrived at 12:34 AM early Sunday morning two young ladies leaving the party boasted they were underage, and the remaining 150 guests were not as anxious to leave, requiring 15 minutes for officers to clear.

And even then the large throng of partiers required addition police units to clear from Sunset Avenue. Arrested for Noise and Nuisance House violations:
Erik Brown, 20 Keith Drive, Norton, Ma, age 22

36 Hallock Street, Amherst town center

As police were moving along a crowd of college aged patrons attending this party, I overheard one young lady say to her friend, "Oh well, from Hallock Street to North East Street." Because sure enough, the police were breaking this one up relatively early for a Friday night (12:21 AM).

And sure enough, an hour later APD broke up a party at 30 North East Street with over 200 "guests". But the host was a lot more cooperative with police, so he only received a $300 noise ticket rather than the four more obstinate party hosts at 36 Hallock Street.

Arrested for noise:
Jeffery Larnard, 13 Carpenter St, Amesbury, Ma, age 21
John Oshea, 25 Douglas Rd, Dracut, Ma, age 22
Molly Stevens, 23 Albright, W. Roxbury, Ma, age 22
Benjamin Chase, 58 Bridge St, Hatfield, Ma, age 22

"There's a killer on the road" gallery:

Stopped for operating without headlights (at 1:29 AM) and subsequently failing a FST (field sobriety test) on South Pleasant Street (about 500 yards from my house):

Christopher David Mackey, 245 Potwine Lane, Amherst, Ma, age 22, DUI

3:35 AM stopped for erratic driving and subsequently failed FST.  Found to be repeat offender.

Jose Ernesto Moreno, 22 Yale St, South Hadley, Ma, age 38, DUI 2nd offense.

A Worse Chance

Amherst A Better Chance 

Social service agencies in Amherst must be on a bad karma list, as nothing but negative news seems to come this way.

Last week the town announced a $900,000 federal dollar hit as annual Community Development Block Grant funding is about to vaporize because Amherst no longer meets the minimum qualifications for mini-entitlement status.

A maxi problem for agencies such as the newly expanded homeless shelter, Craig's Doors, or the Amherst Survival Center.

Now via her Facebook page, AABC board member Julie Marcus sounded the alarm about the iconic, ever-so-Amherst program where the name says it all: "A Better Chance".

The Juggernaut of charities, the United Way of Hampshire County, has axed all funding to this longtime Amherst institution.

Ms. Marcus reports AABC has received UW funding for at least the past 15 years that she has been involved, although a few years back they did reduce annual revenues from $25,000 to $13,000.

The total annual budget for the 44-year-old Amherst program is only $100,000, so 13% is a pretty big hit to absorb all at once. And it's not like the agency doesn't work at fundraising:  October 20 will mark the 41st "Fall Foliage Walk," a major fundraiser for the program and a popular, fun, family outing.

One has to wonder how all the participants in that heartwarming event are going to feel about this cold hearted decision?  Perhaps -- as donors -- they will tell the United Way of Hampshire County to take a hike.

While others rush out ...

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service

Scandinavian Nicknacks to Chinese Food

25 South Pleasant Street (rt)

Oriental Flavor LLC will appear before the Amherst Planning Board on 10/17 to Request Site Plan approval for a change of use from a retail store (former Scandihoovians) to a Class I Restaurant, including renovations to the interior space and exterior renovations.

Amherst is becoming has become a destination spot for dining, like Northampton did many years ago.  Restaurants, however, have the highest mortality rate for business start ups and the downtown currently has  a few spaces that play musical chairs with food service businesses.

The current high profile problems the owners of iconic Main Street restaurant, Amherst Chinese, are experiencing may of course help a new competing enterprise, but when all is said and done -- quality of food, service and price will play the dominant role.

I just say No

 Don't Drink and Drive: especially in Amherst!

From: XXX@student.umass.edu
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Fri, Oct 5, 2012 5:16 pm
Subject: Your blog

Hello,

My name is Ms. XXX.

I have noticed that my name, address, age, and arrest information are all on your blog. I am asking that you take that information down, as you are not a police blog for the public, and I do not want employers or anyone being able to google my name and knowing that personal information. If you do not comply, I am willing to go to the Amherst Police and advise them of the situation.

Thanks,
XXX

From: Larry Kelley  
To: XXX student.umass.edu
Sent: Fri, Oct 5, 2012 5:34 pm 
Subject: Your blog

Actually it is not "personal information", it is "public information." And the Amherst Police Department is very respectful when it comes to the First Amendment.

Too Much Information?

Anybody who has covered the rowdy student party scene over the past year should know how weather related the problem is:  the better the weather the larger and more pernicious the parties.

Amherst Town Center 12:00 Noon

Tonight promises to be a summer-like warm and clear -- probably the best Friday night weather since the semester started.  And the weekends have certainly been nothing if not calamitous since the semester began.

Thus I question whether the local newspapers should have mentioned prominently that UMPD and APD beefed up, joint patrols specifically targeting rowdy party houses will start next weekend. 

It does however give me an idea for a twitter hashtag tonight: #LastchanceFriday

Wield a Big Stick

Even the diffident Amherst Bulletin has, after all these years, finally gotten it!

About the only thing missing in today's scorching editorial is an illustration borrowed from Vlad the Impaler with students heads on display at the former Frat Row -- the main gateway to UMass, and with streets like Fearing, Phillips and Lincoln Avenue, Ground Zero for rowdy, unsocial, dangerous out-of-control partying (like it's 1999).

As we discovered on 9/11 with the horrific destruction of the Twin Towers or the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi 4 days in to a grueling 31 day battle, symbols are vitally important in war.

The bucolic -- some would say bumpkin -- college town of Amherst, named after a British general, and the flagship of higher education in a state renowned for academia, UMass/Amherst, need to declare war on rowdy student parties.

And they both need to stop taking prisoners!

Achilles Heel

 New Cisco emitters await being installed on streetlights in the town center

The public WiFi overhaul bringing downtown Amherst a stronger more reliable system has potentially one minor problem with reliability (actually kind of major):  a power failure like the one we experienced almost a year ago on Halloween weekend will take out most of the system, as the vast majority of the 24 new emitters are still tied into the street lights for power.

Note huge spike in traffic to town website seeking info immediately after storm 

Last year, because the main router is located in Town Hall and the municipal seat of government had no generator, the entire system went down lock, stock and bandwidth.  Although the town website did stay up the entire time since the servers for our presence on the Web are located in Holyoke in one of the few areas unaffected by the storm. 

A new $85,000 generator is being installed soon, but will only cover the building itself and not any of the adjacent street lights.   

The Police station and Central Fire Station have generators and are being outfitted with the new Cisco emitters, as will Town Hall.   So if we do experience another major prolonged power outage, those three buildings will attract us smart phones and tablets addicts like insects to a bright light on a hot summer night.

The Shadow Knows!

 "Who Knows What Evil Lurks In the Hearts of Men ..."

So if I really were a Fox News fanatical parrot, I would now be squawking about this morning's above the fold front page photo appearing in my favorite Massachusetts newspaper, 7th largest in the state, The Republican.

Besides being a lousy photo -- especially for the AP -- one could Tweet that they decapitated the guy standing in for Mitt Romney.  Not only that, but the shadow they so "artfully" wish to highlight looks like it's giving a Nazi salute (from a Nazi who lost his right arm in combat).  Yikes!

Anyone remember when Time magazine artfully photoshopped a cover pic of O.J. Simpson to make him look more sinister?  Or speaking of Fox News, the "bombshell" video they are currently playing that makes the president seem at tad too, err, black.

In politics this is called the "muddy season".  And for a good reason.  I just expect a little more from the AP (or Time Magazine, if they are still in business).

Online version (interesting fair-and-balanced pic of the President)

The Little School That Could

 Old School indeed

Forty years ago when I was at St Michael's High School suffering discipline at the wrinkled hands of scary nuns you could learn a lot about another school from their basketball team.  Back then Hopkins Acadamy was a winner.

So it comes as no surprise that they hold up well when compared academically to the paragon of education in the Happy Valley, Amherst Regional High School.  According to SchoolDigger.com, using the new MCAS scores just announced, ARHS has a rating of 123 out of 325 or top 38% in the state.  Hopkins Academy on the other hand has a ranking of 94/325 or top 29%

But the astounding difference is in the financial component of each operation.  According the Mass Dept of Education website, Amherst is in the top 11% statewide for costs per student at $17,916 while our neighbors in Hadley manage to run their schools coming  in at the bottom 1% for costs, or $9,770  per student.

Thus Hadley educates its 301 middle and high schools students for a cost savings of $2,508,233 had they been enrolled in the ARHS and ARMS.  Of course one telling difference is Hadley only has one administrator making over $85K and the Amherst Region has over 20.

Yes, Hadley has less of a minority population and a much higher percentage of home ownership (three quarters vs Amherst's one half).  But they still have farms, like they did 40 years ago, so kids can learn the value of hard work.  And that is priceless.

Tale of the Tape according to US News:

Hopkins Academy

Amherst Regional High School

Cat On A Cool Stone Wall

Party House of the Weekend

 1107 North Pleasant Street, Amherst

In addition to being assaulted with cans, bottles and pepper spray this past weekend, responding Amherst police officers also had to dodge beer poured from the second story of this humble abode just north of campus.

Yes, 1107 North Pleasant street is a repeat offender although the cars in the driveway are different from last year, so probably the perps are also different. Maybe the house is haunted and makes denizens act that way, or perhaps the landlord is lousy at screenting tenants.

Arrested late Friday night for Resisting Arrest and Underage Drinking:

Kyle Edward Darosa, 106 Edgement, Braintree, MA, age 19 (UMass student)

Arrested for Noise and Nuisance House:

Bryan Gudewich, 31 Meadow St, Lowell, MA,  age 21, (UMass student)
Adam Harrington, 21 Michael Ave,  Nashua, NH, age 21, (UMass student)
John Bulman, 7 Laurel Lane, Tyngsborough, MA, age 22, (UMass student)
William Collins, 9 Winter St, Tyngsborough, MA, age 21, (UMass student)

 #####

Another busy weekend for AFD with alcohol or drug overdoses (ETOH) and false alarms from UMass Frats 

AFD Weekend Run Summary 9-28-2012

Let's get Physical

 45 Phillips Street

Student rowdyism escalated yet another notch late last night as Amherst Police officers had to physically defend themselves against combative college aged youth jet-fueled by alcohol, a danger to innocent bystanders, first responders and themselves.

Last week two drunk students unabashedly fighting in a downtown restaurant got physical with a female Amherst police officer who was attempting to break it up, and early this morning the violent response to APD officers continued unabated.

Around 12:30 AM an officer noticed a disturbance at 45 Phillips Street with about 20-30 males on the front porch yelling and throwing punches at each other.  In trying to break up the melee one of the perps "attempted to free his friend" from the cops hold and had to be pinned against a fence and placed under arrest.:


Officers later cited the house, owned by Stephan Gharabegian, with a $300 ticket for violation of the town's Nuisance House Bylaw.

Arrested for Disorderly Conduct and possession of liquor under age 21:

Kevin John Defusco, 5 Depot Road, Westford, MA, age 19  (UMass student)

Gilreath Manor, Hobart Lane 

 Around 2:00 AM police were called to Hobart Lane apartment #26 Gilreath Manor for reports of a fight involving ten individuals.  In breaking up the disturbance an officer was hit with pepper spray and required a response from AFD to rinse his eyes.

Arrested for Assault & Battery on a police officer, A&B with a dangerous weapon (pepper spray), Resisting Arrest, and Disorderly Conduct:

James M Robinson, 10 Truman Circle, Springfield, MA, age 19   (UMass student)

Around 2:45 AM police responded to 15/17 Fearing Street for reports of a "highly ETOH" (drunk) individual "throwing bottles at people."

 15 Fearing Street    (managed by Kendrick Management)

The responding officer was greeted by a dozen young men on the front porch who stated Jonathan Jacobs was "going crazy," throwing bottles and other items at them.  Due to his violent behavior they had evacuated the house.  Jacobs was located in his upstairs room but immediately became combative, assaulting one officer with his shoulder and knocking over another.  At APD headquarters he refused to identify himself and was held on $2,500 bail.

Arrested for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (bottles), Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest, A & B on a police officer:

Jonathan Daniel Jacobs, 225 Maryann Way, North Attleborough, MA, age 22  (UMass student)

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Meanwhile around 1:15 AM police responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash on Mattoon Street near Amherst Regional High School.  The driver reported swerving to avoid a pedestrian and lost control because of the "wet roads", but an eyewitness had another different version not involving a pedestrian.  The driver was given a field sobriety test and failed. 

Arrested for OUI Liquor and Marked Lanes Violation:

Daniel T. Kearney, 21 Wing Rd, Lynnfield, MA, age 21  (UMass student)

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Sadly, at 1:43 AM, UMass police, APD and AFD responded to a male who fell and hit his head near the Newman Center, UMass.  The first officer on the scene reported the male was on the ground surrounded by friends who confirmed he "had been drinking" and suddenly collapsed, hitting his head.  

AFD transported the unconscious young man to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he is reported to be on a breathing machine in the Critical Care Unit.

UPDATE (Monday afternoon): The young man was released from the hospital Sunday at 2:30 PM.  Let's hope he learned a lesson.

License To Fail

 No, the UMass license plate was not issued in June

After today's fail at Gillette Stadium in front of a sparse crowd -- making it five losses in a row -- it's unlikely the UMass Alumni Association will suddenly see an urgently needed surge in orders for the UMass license plate, now seriously stalled two-thirds of the way to the goal line.

After all, a license plate is the kind of thing serious sports minded fan boys savor more so than your average academic high achiever, who was probably too busy studying to attend tailgate parties and all the other fun things built around sports.

 Fourth loss in a row equals "strong showing."  Gotta love PR flaks

On August 3rd I received an email from the Alumni Association with the headline "UMass license plate is a go!" that certainly gave the impression 1,500 orders required by the Registry of Motor Vehicles had been attained.

Of course what they meant was the "overwhelming interest" had generated 1,500 pledges to buy the plate, but when it came time for the $40 down payment, over a third of those pledges went MIA.  And even though the original pitch set an order deadline of September 7 their Facebook page (with only 139 likes) is still passively soliciting buyers.

Interestingly the Alumni email uses the term "UMass Amherst License Plate" but the actual plate does not contain the name of our beloved town, Amherst.  Hmm ...

With a potential client base of over 110,000 UMass graduates living in Massachusetts you have to wonder why the organizers of this drive can't seem to motivate 1.4% of them to "Ride with UMass pride."

First off, the plate really costs $110, not $40.

A vanity plate requires a  $50 "special fee" on top of the  $40 "regular fee", plus an initial $20 swap fee or $110 total.  Then, every two years renewal is $90 -- more than twice the amount as a "regular" plate.

Then there's the matter of where the "profits" actually go.  The Alumni Association pitch  originally pulled at the heartstrings by suggesting all the money raised would fund scholarships for deserving in state students.

But the Alumni Association website leaves a lot of wiggle room:  "Proceeds from the special plate fee will support scholarships and programs provided by the Alumni Association that advance UMass Amherst." 

When the Alumni Association suddenly dropped annual dues in 2010 and automatically made every UMass graduate a member.  At the time the Vice Chancellor of alumni relations was claiming about 5,000 dues paying members at $40 each.

Although an alumni program still exists for "investors" at $50 each annually, the number of takers comprises less than half the former dues paying membership.

So it must be awful tempting to dip into a new source of funds (if they ever materialize).

Even if the Alumni Association does get 1,500 fans to pony up all associated costs, there's still a catch:  The RMV requires the sponsoring body post a $100,000 performance bond to guarantee an additional 1,500 plates will be sold in the second year or else forfeit some of the insurance bond money.

And if the Alumni Association is having this much trouble with the initial 1,500 sales, the second batch will be an even steeper hill to climb.  

Perhaps it's time for the Alumni Association to punt.  

When the People Lead ...

 Amherst Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe needs a better script

Sick of town officials lip service over the serious problem of rowdy student party houses springing up all over Amherst -- no longer just the areas contiguous with our #1 employer, UMass -- neighbors in and around the traditionally impacted areas (Lincoln Avenue and Fearing Street) have taken matters into their own hands by collecting the 150 signatures necessary to get tougher warrant articles before Amherst Town Meeting next month. 

If enacted the bylaw tweaks would force town officials to address the real culprits in this sad affair: slumlords and high volume management companies who specialize in enabling slumlords. 

UMass seems to specialize in token, feel good strategies to address this serious problem, like a child trying to befriend a swarm of angry bees swirling around their downed nest.

Last year Umass, town officials and DA Dave Sullivan handed out oatmeal cookies in the southern campus while the northern sector burned.  I'm surprised none of them played a violin.

Two weeks ago on "Umass Umake a Difference Day" day 200 mature, helpful students donated their time to cleaning up the town, while 2,000 students congregated on the quad area of Townhouse apartments making a mess.  When police responded they were greeted with a barrage of cans and bottles.

Last March APD Chief Scott Livingstone appeared before the Amherst Select Board to update them, starting with this brief history, on arrests and the number of party house tickets police had handed out so far that year.  Since then the problem has only worsened.



Six months ago I asked the University for the number of sanctions handed out to fraternities and sororities the previous year.  They stonewalled my request.  Recently the town asked for information on the number of students disciplined for bad behavior.  UMass is hemming and hawing.

Simply put, only a small minority of students get rowdy -- but  a very tiny minority of them are serial partiers, who need to be shown the door.  Now!

Best Column to appear in Amherst Bulletin since I resigned