Remember The Fallen

Not since 9/11 ...

Dear Governor Patrick,

While none of the 19 firefighters in Arizona who gave their lives to protect others were Massachusetts residents, any firefighter will confirm the profession is one big family, and  THAT includes a great many from Massachusetts.

When our state lost six firefighters in the horrendous Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire in December of 1999, American flags nationwide flew at half staff as a symbol of solidarity, uniting us in shared grief. 

Quit frankly I'm surprised President Obama has not ordered US flags to half staff to remember and honor the fallen 19, the greatest loss of life in fire services since that awful morning of 9/11. 

Since the funerals are this week, could you please order Massachusetts American flags down to half staff to remember and honor the tremendous sacrifice these brave individuals gave up so selflessly?

Lowering an American flag to half staff takes only but a moment ... the solemn respect it shows lasts forever.  


Larry Kelley

Take Cover

 

East Pleasant Street, UMass water tower 3:00ish

After the storm 8:30ish

Water Safety

 Atkins Reservoir, Amherst/Shutesbury line

 How safe is our drinking water?

According to the recently mailed 15th annual Town of Amherst Drinking Water Quality Report -- fine reading on a hot summer day -- the public water supply for our little town is perfectly safe.  I'll drink to that.

Every major test parameter (Inorganic substances, radioactive contaminants, disinfection residuals) tested below "violation" level. 

Amherst has a "complicated" water distribution system: two surface reservoirs, one located on Amherst/Shutesbury border (Atkins) and the other in Pelham, and five ground wells located in the Lawrence Swamp.

Operating at full capacity the system is capable of pumping out just over 6 million gallons of treated water daily.

 

Pelham Reservoir system

Last year average demand was 2.65 million gallons per day with peak demand occurring on July 19th, a thirst requiring 4.185 million gallons of water to quench.  UMass is our #1 consumer of water absorbing 31.04% of total, although they were not in session on the day of peak demand. 

In 2002 the state performed a Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) report for the town outlining common sense water protection methods for keeping the system safe, mainly by controlling/owning the land immediately around the water source (400 feet), called Zone 1.

In 2005 Tighe & Bond did a "Public Water Protection Plan" for the town which pretty much mirrored the SWAP report from three years earlier, where the main concern was dealing with inappropriate land use (industrial, farming, homes with septic systems, etc) too near the water supply.

Interestingly -- even though both studies are post 9/11 -- neither of them addresses sabotage.  Both reservoirs are located within spitting distance of paved roads, so it would be easy to drive a pick up truck almost directly up to the unguarded body of water and unload whatever you please.

 Atkins Reservoir with nearby road

Sure Atkins is pretty b-i-g with a maximum capacity of 200 million gallons.   However, if you dissolve in that body of water 1760 pounds (thirty-five 50 pound bags) of something, say arsenic, it would reach a level of one part per million.

EPA regulations for arsenic in drinking water set a maximum of ten parts per billion.

Massachusetts State Police briefly detained seven college aged trespassers (one of them from Amherst) around the Quabbin Reservoir almost two months ago, immediately setting off terrorism concerns.

Should you be concerned?  Probably not.  Highly unlikely anyone would try to poison an entire town.

But then, 12 years ago it was also highly unlikely anyone would hijack civilian commercial airliners and fly them into buildings.

 Atkins Reservoir

Freedom!

 

Commemorative flags downtown

" ... That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." 

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose ... "

Amherst post card 1909

DUI Dishonor Roll

Well, at least Matthew Carini did not kill anyone ... this time.

Maroon Musket "Unsung Hero"

#####

Coming Soon, To A Basement Near You

Well I guess it's official:  I really am somebody now.  I have a band named after me.  (Not that I play an instrument.)

Gotta love the advertisement that oozed up on Reddit earlier today.  How very patriotic.  Or should I say pathetic?

Didn't Lil Wayne run into some trouble not long ago for accidentally walking on an American flag?

Hey at least the upside down cross is not soaking in a jar of urine.  

Meanwhile Amherst police paid my young friends at 621 East Pleasant Street, aka "Babe Town," a visit around 9:00 PM this evening.  I heard Dispatch tell the officers it was for loud music in the back yard, which sounded like a band, and that this was the third or fourth noise complaint in the past week.

Hmm ...

And Another One Gone

 Jim Kelly looking good

This month marks the 40th anniversary since the Mother of All Martial Arts movies first exploded on the big screen.

"Enter The Dragon" introduced the incomparable Bruce Lee to a worldwide audience.  Unfortunately only days before its mega successful debut, he died in Hong Kong from an allergic reaction to a common medicine taken to relieve a headache. 

I could use up a lot of bandwidth posting about the influence Bruce Lee had on an entire generation of martial artists, boxers, wrestlers, and action movie aficionados -- but nothing could compare to simply watching a snippet of the amazing man in action.



Another star who briefly lit up the silver screen alongside Bruce in that  breakthrough picture was a black martial artist with a big Afro and, seemingly, an even bigger ego.  But as they once said about Bruce Lee: he was cocky, but he could back up the cockiness with physical prowess.

Jim Kelly died over the weekend.  He was 67.  But I will always remember him as that twenty- something fleet of foot karate fighter, one of the best of his time.

That was a time in America when Sport Karate was just starting to take off, where on any weekend anywhere in America you could find a high school gymnasium overflowing with men, women and children dressed in karate gis, grouped according to belt color awaiting a two-minute match.

When the bad guy, Han, confronts Williams (the Jim Kelly character) saying he needed to learn humility through defeat, Williams responds, "I don't waste my time with it. When it comes, I won't even notice ... I'll be too busy looking g-o-o-d."

As the bad guy then prepares for the climactic fight to the death, Williams sneers, 'Man, you come right out of a comic book."

Like most top tournament karate competitors at the time Jim Kelly hoped his martial arts prowess would lead to other lucrative opportunities, since the tournament wins usually paid off in over-sized trophies.

My favorite  Jim Kelly quote comes not from a movie but from an article in Black Belt magazine where he lamented, "Trophies don't put gas in my car."

Like tournament karate itself,  Jim Kelly never quite reached the sustained pinnacle of financial success so richly deserved.  But he could always be counted on for  "looking good."

Now, for eternity.

19 Gone

Sunday was a horrible day for first responders as 19 firefighters are now reported dead; all of them succumbed while fighting a monstrous wildfire in Arizona.

The deceased were members of the Prescott Fire Department, a city of 39,843 (about the same size as Amherst.)  The entire crew of 19 were part of an elite unit known as the  "Granite Mountain Hotshots."

Only one survived because he was in a different location when the conflagration overran their position.  As a last desperate measure the firefighters attempted to dig in and deploy emergency fire shelters, but to no avail.

Last resort Emergency Fire Shelter

This is the greatest loss of life for firefighters in a single incident since 9/11, when 343 perished at the World Trade Center.

RIP.

 Granite Mountain Hotshots.  Entire crew lost.

CNN reports

Anatomy of a False Alarm

 The Boulders, East Hadley Road, South Amherst

The attention getting call first came in 9:47 PM Friday night June 21 from a passerby reporting a "small fire on the roof" of the Boulders Apartment complex in South Amherst, scene of a good sized structure fire a few months back. 

It's a hot summer night and the moon is bright.  Dispatch, otherwise known as "The 729," instantly issues a "box alarm"-- a major step up from the routine "still alarm" that AFD responds to almost all of the time.

 What light through yonder window breaks?

Both on-duty, off-duty and call firefighters are alerted,  knowing instantly from the sound of the tone that this has a higher likely hood of being the real thing.  Every Amherst firefighter remembers all too well the box alarm siren call from major structure fire at Rolling Green Apartments last January.

The beast claimed a victim that day, despite the best efforts of a well-trained coordinated army of first responders.

Amherst Police are first on the scene, as is usually the case since they are always in their vehicles patrolling the town. They too know the meaning of the term "box alarm."

Engine 1 first on the scene

Engine 1 out of Central Station, with three men aboard, is the first AFD vehicle on scene.  A police officer assists the firefighters unravel hose.  Engine 2, with an aerial platform, soon arrives.

 Police officer assists unraveling hose

The glow on the roof reflects off a large tree directly in front of the two story wood building.  The bright moon overhead illuminates huge puffy clouds:  from the ground looking up at the edge of the building the clouds in the background resemble smoke, exactly where you would expect it.

When the moon hits your eye ...

The puzzling thing is the glow does not seem to grow -- an indication the beast is not present.  A police officer and fire fighter ask a tenant on the second floor of an attached building, what can she see?

Engine 2 (the quint) allows a firefighter direct access to the roof

Before she can respond another voice from the roof shouts, "Stand down, no fire." A security light had become misaligned to now mimic the telltale glow of a fire.

The busy motion on the ground -- police, firefighters, spectators -- seems to suspend for just a moment, heralding a collective sign of relief. 

Then everybody packs up and heads back to quarters.  Awaiting the next call that everyone knows will come.

##### 

In all, 18 firefighters (including 3 chief officers)  and close to a half dozen police officers responded, over the 45 minute duration of this call. Total extra cost for the two off-duty and 10 call firefighters who responded, about $400.  

The more concerning cost is not so much the money, but the other potential cost that's sometimes paid:  Units in a rush to get to the scene of an emergency are at a higher risk of being in an accident.

But mainly it's the "opportunity costs" of having assets tied up dealing with what turns out to be a non emergency when a real emergency arises on the other side of town. 

And in the emergency business, delay can equal death.

Hatebloggers?

 

At least they spelled my name correctly

In basketball when a player misses a shot because of a hurried release fearing that a defender is bearing down from behind at full speed when in fact nobody is near, they call it "hearing footsteps."

Apparently these "artists" put on a show last night somewhere in Amherst.  They were pretty secretive about it on Reddit and nothing appeared on Facebook or Twitter, so it probably did not draw all that many music aficionados.  

I have not even thought much about the hip "underground DIY music scene" in Amherst lately, mainly because the schools are out and the party scene goes on hiatus.  So I was a little surprised when a reader spotted this "advertisement" on the Amherst subreddit today soon after it was first posted. 

Since no one has contacted me "for booking" at my email they posted, I guess it's fair to say the ad is not overly effective.  And I'm not so sure my funeral is near at hand, but if so -- I wonder if they even know "Danny Boy?"

Downtown Food Shuffle

104 North Pleasant Street, Amherst

Souper Bowl, a 2,200 square foot, five-year-old downtown restaurant could be calling it quits, but another somewhat unique food establishment could soon replace it.

All Things Local Store, a sort of indoor farmers and crafts market, is attempting to raise $15,000 by July 31 in order to transition from cyber dream to bricks-and-mortar reality. 

The operation would act like a consignment store allowing farmers and crafts persons to sell their wares and simply pay a small commission to the store for each item sold.  Organizers are currently negotiating to buy all the restaurant equipment from Souper Bowl which would allow for safe food preparation and storage.

The building is owned by Barry Roberts, a tireless advocate for a thriving downtown.

Certainly demand is there:  The Amherst Select Board just approved an expansion request for the 42-year-old downtown "flagship" Amherst Farmers Market, allowing them to use a piece of Boltwood Avenue in front of the Lord Jeffery Inn.

Last winter the Amherst Middle School hosted a Saturday Winter Farmers Market. And the outdoor Wednesday Farmers Market at Kendrick Park seems to be growing.

 

Wednesday Farmers Market Kendrick Park

 Amherst Community Market, another competing group, has organized around the concept of a cooperative food (super) market jointly owned and operated by workers and consumers.  In the late 1970s Amherst supported a thriving natural foods coop, Yellow Sun.

Thus, a year-round indoor facility could certainly find a successful niche -- especially in health conscious Amherst.

Indeed, the business will still involve farming

We're Number Seven!

Amherst:  Where education is King (and Queen)

Yes, ever since some Search Engine Optimization geek discovered "top ten lists" (or even top 100) are hit magnets everybody in the Internet publishing world has a top list about something.

Last week it was a list of words used in emails or phone calls that would draw the attention of NSA snoops.  "Amherst" made the list.  Bad.

Today it's a much better list:  Business Insider is hawking a list of the "50 Smartest Cities in America;" and yes overly-enlightened Amherst comes in at #7.  Good.

Of course Amherst is a town not a city.  And to be more precise we're a "college town."  But that's why we're soooooo smart.

Now if only we could keep that tiny minority of students from painting the town red every weekend when schools are in session.

Maybe then we could move up the list a few notches. 

Open Government?

 

Eastern Hampshire District Court, Belchertown

Sign out front

Remembering Those Who Served

Amherst's "Sacred Dead Tablets" (before the renovation)

Too many of our men and women have laid down their lives in service to our country in far flung wars across the globe.  We remember them on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and perhaps -- in Massachusetts anyway -- Patriots Day.  Or 9/11.

The Civil War was distinctly different.  That terrible conflict produced America's greatest loss of life because each side engaged in battle were the good guys, fighting on home turf.  Americans killing Americans.

On many, many days it was more like a slaughter. 

Amherst men answered the call to "defend the Union."  Over three hundred of them, including 21 African-Americans.  In all, 57 perished.

All of those who served in "The War of the Rebellion" are remembered -- their names etched in stone on the Sacred Dead Tablets.  Four years ago Amherst Town Meeting appropriated $45,000 out of Community Preservation Act funds to have all six tablets restored.

Today State Senator Stan Rosenberg announced the town won a $5,000 MA Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission matching grant, which will cover interpretive signage relating to the tablets when they go on display at Town Hall, in the Town Room -- our seat of government.

Slow Climb

 These signs spring up like mushrooms on a moist summer morning

If business takes you further south past Atkins Country Market by way of Route 116, be prepared for a slow bumpy ride up The Notch.

Yes, construction continues in the southernmost part of Amherst where the state has expended $10 million in the past two years installing two roundabouts and now this realignment project.

 

Country Corners Road, Amherst

C & A Construction from Ludlow was the low bidder at $3,128, 938 coming in under the state's "initial construction estimate" of $3, 354, 684.  The project started last fall with the clear cutting of trees and is currently less than 20% completed.   Completion is not expected until the spring of 2014.

 Start of the .6 mile climb

In other words, it's going to be a l-o-n-g hot summer for travelers trying to negotiate that gauntlet.

 

 

New section of road center, old road on left

Near top, new road on right

Editors note:  This photo shoot occurred after 5:00 PM when construction was done for the day 

UPDATE Wednesday afternoon:  Arrived at base of mountain at 1:47 PM and made the summit at 1:58 PM.  Once I started moving, total time for climb was three minutes.

Block Party Sequel

In perhaps his final public appearance as Director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, Alex Krogh-Grabbe this evening gave the Amherst Select Board a heads up on the downtown block party as it enters its sophomore year.

The event happens September 12, almost exactly one year after the first one brought thousands of people to the downtown.  This year the North Pleasant Street road closure will be more constricted on the northern border, but still runs directly through the heart of the downtown. 

With that prime stretch of road closed to cars, town center becomes a safe, friendly party zone.  Music, food, and friends = fun.  And it's all free! 

What more could you ask for? (besides good weather).

Anatomy of a Bust

Returned Search Warrant, 11 Phillips Street, Amherst

So I guess you could argue this well publicized APD operation was a waste of time and resources since no charges were ever brought before the District Attorney concerning the operation of an  illegal cash bar in the basement of 11 Phillips Street.

  

11 Phillips Street, Amherst

Just as you could argue the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong never won an individual battle large enough to have a name during the US intervention in Vietnam.

But in the end what matters is, well, the end.

By most accounts Vietnam cannot be chalked up as a US victory; and I would argue the raid on 11 Phillips Street turned out to be a turning point in the battle against rowdy student party houses.

For  that particular house at least.

   Search Warrant, 11 Phillips St, Amherst