DUI Dishonor Roll

Melquan Miller being sworn in before Judge John Payne

So once again Judge John Payne disposed of back-to-back DUI cases in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday, one offense dating back to March and the other from very early Sunday morning.

Both offenders, Toryen Hadfield, age 25 and Melquan Miller, age 21,  took a standard 24D disposition:  They will lose their license for 45 days, pay $600 in fines and be on probation for a year with an addition monthly probation fee.

When asked where they had their last drink, Miller replied "private residence" and Hadfield replied "High Horse Brewery" in downtown Amherst.

Toryen Hadfield and his public defender

   Toryen Hadfield, Dui

"Deep Alcohol Stupor"

Zach Zeigler stands before Judge John Payne

Other than the Blarney Blowout, Amherst arraignments heard on Monday morning at the Eastern Hampshire District Court (covering weekend arrests) don't seem to generate much buzz as the bailiffs, prosecutors and clerks office personnel have pretty much seen it all.

Zachary Zeigler managed to make himself an outlier -- and that's a bad thing.  The almost unanimous comment I heard this morning in the courtroom while picking up my public documents request from yesterday was, "He's lucky he did not get shot!"  Indeed.

 

Click photo to enlarge/read

As the father of a seven-year-old who sleeps in a bunk bed I'm not sure how I would have reacted to finding Mr. Zeigler passed out in the lower bunk but I'm pretty sure Amherst police would have had to call in the Amherst Fire Department to transport him to the Cooley Dickinson Hospital. 

In Court yesterday Zeigler seemed to have no idea of the severity of the incident telling Judge Payne he wanted to settle the case immediately as he has a job in his hometown that starts on Friday.  The Judge barely glanced at the prosecutor's table while shaking his head side to side.

Zeigler then said he would hire an attorney.  The Judge continued his case until June 3rd and transferred probation oversight to a District Court near his hometown, but with a provision he is continuously, "tested for alcohol."

Judge Payne then glared at Zeigler and said in no uncertain terms, "If you come back before me having tested positive for alcohol, you will spend your summer in Hampshire County -- and it will not be a vacation!" 

Phillips Street Filibuster #Fail

11 Phillips Street, Amherst

By not showing up for his original "show cause hearing" before a Clerk Magistrate, Joshua Reiss, age 20, set himself up for a criminal proceeding in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Friday before a Judge for a possible felony conviction.  

He lost his case -- bringing a $1,000 fine for tampering with smoke detectors in his humble abode -- but the complaint was diverted to a civil offense, so he will not be stained for life with a felony conviction.

But considering the acts he was found guilty of, his lesson could have been a lot more costly ... like contributing to the death of a roommate.  Or the lesson you can't learn from, because you're dead.  

 APD report

AFD report

Smoke detector 11 Phillips Street: In the bag

Phillips Street has one of the largest concentrations of problem houses in the town (most of them owned by Stephan Gharabegian), but these days no neighborhoods are safe from "real estate investors" who buy up single family homes and pack them with student renters. 

 778 North Pleasant Street, Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity

Just up the road from Phillips Street, AFD Fire Prevention Officer Mike Roy recently fined the fraternity at 778 North Pleasant Street $500 for the second offense of tampering with smoke detectors. 

   UMass Frat fined safety violation

11 Phillips Street also had a second offense

Somewhat Sultry Saturday

Butterfield Terrace 12:30 p.m.

The rains held off today.  A good thing if you're into frisbee, running or cycling.  Not so good if you're a public safety first responder dealing with the final weekend before graduation in a college town.

— Barstool UMASS (@UMassBarstool) May 3, 2014

College Street (Rt 9) 3:00 p.m.

 

Corner Main Street and South Whitney 5:00 p.m.

 

Town center midnight.  Somebody plugged in the Merry Maple

UPDATE:  Sunday morning

So no, thankfully, there were no Hobart Hoedown or Blarney Blowout type incidents last night into the early morning.  

As usual the bewitching hours (10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.) produced the usual alcohol related calls:  Large noisy party at 351 Potwine Lane around 1:30 a.m. and another one busted up 15 minutes later at 310 West Street and around that same time a backyard camp fire/party at 140 Sunset Avenue doused. 

Hobart Lane private security also caught and detained a young man trying to set fire to the dumpster that was torched a couple dozen times last year. 

Police were also requested by a reporting party who sounded drunk, complaining that his girlfriend was escorted into a Party House on the corner of Main Street and South Whitney (pictured above), but he was rejected.

And APD also responded to an apartment complex on East Hadley Road for another caller, who also sounded drunk, complaining he had been, "punched in the face."

Yeah, it's all fun and games until somebody gets punched in the face. 

Baby You Were Born To Run

Leader of the pack:  Crocker Farm Principal Derek Shea

Over 100 runners, walkers, and few young'uns in aerodynamic strollers descended on Wildwood Elementary School this morning for the 4th Annual Spring Sprint put on by the Amherst Education Foundation with all proceeds to benefit the public schools.

 

Clare Bertrand armed and dangerous with bullhorn and starter gun

The weather was threatening but no rain, hail, or funnel clouds descended over the time it usually takes to complete a 5K (3.1 miles).

 

Rounding the first turn with APD assistance

The Cost of Mistakes?

Rob Detweiler: Still on Administrative Leave

The schools are the largest employer in Amherst town government so it's not surprising that a tiny number of employees come and go under somewhat mysterious circumstances.

In the private sector, taxpayers in general --or even customers in particular -- have no right to know why a popular employee suddenly disappears.

Although in most cases, where the reasons are somewhat benign, the business may be forthcoming when you ask what happened to your favorite aerobics instructor, barista or convenience store clerk.

But a public entity using public money owes the general public an explanation. 

   Rob Detweiler Case

Public Documants czar to ARPS attorney Giny Tate 3 years ago (which they ignored):

Rob Detweiler still shows up on ARPS website as Director of Finance and Operations

Amherst Bulletin reports

And Another One Gone

 80 West Street, Amherst

Jamie Cherewatti, aka Eagle Crest Management, North Pleasant Street Partners LLC, Railroad Street Partners and perhaps a dozen more LLCs just purchased the home at 80 West Street (Rt 116) for $160,000.

Yes, the house and property is valued at $207,200 so he paid well below that, but the house is a tad distressed.  I live only a few houses away so it's directly on the way to Crocker Farm School, and my kids have dubbed it "the scary house."

But considering the demographic market Mr. Cherewatti caters to, it could become even scarier.

Two months ago Cherewatti purchased a four-unit complex at 310 Belchertown Road, adjacent to his Echo Village Apartments, which he purchased last year for $3 million.  

Democratic Bully Pulpit

 

Vince O'Connor on the attack

Vince O'Connor is now 1 for 2 after last night's epic fail at an attempt to hack 10% from the Planning Department budget, which was to go hand-in-hand with with his 79-74 victory Monday night to increase Social Service spending (charitable organizations) by $125,000.

So obviously many of the 79 Town Meeting members who supported his motion to bring Social Service spending back into the routine budget disagreed on his version of financing that.

Even though Mr. O'Connor last night backed away significantly from his original plan to cut $200,000 from Planning Department by reducing the amount to $100,000 -- still a 10% cut. 

O'Connor also appeared yesterday afternoon at the Rental Implementation Bylaw Group to discuss his other (of many) Town Meeting articles, #42, which originally would, "suspend the operation and enforcement of the Rental Permit bylaw" until a new more "inclusive" committee is formed.

Yeah just what Amherst needs: yet another committee, working group, or task force.

This too he has now watered down significantly by removing the threat to "suspend the operation" and now simply wants the new committee to make recommendations.  Building Commissioner Rob Morra will take Mr. O'Connor's suggestions to the Town Manager and if he buys in to the grand scheme O'Connor will move to dismiss Article #42.

Kind of a toothless threat since Town Meeting overwhelmingly supported the Rental Permit Bylaw last year  and like all new bylaws it also had to pass muster with the Attorney General.  And yes some folks (parties with a vested interest no doubt) tried unsuccessfully to sabotage that.

Plus Article #42 is last on the list of a l-o-n-g Warrant.   When the weather turns terrific with thoughts drifting to summer vacations, the last thing Town Meeting members want to do is listen to Mr. O'Connor drone on, and on, and ...

If It Ain't Broke ...

 

Maurianne Adams, Phil Jackson, Rob Morra (Building Commissioner)

The Rental Bylaw Implementation Group heard a detailed report this afternoon from Building Commissioner Rob Morra on the implementation of the new Amherst rental registration and permit bylaw which went into effect January 1st

Originally it was thought the town had 1,570 rental properties that needed to comply, but after a mailing to all of them Morra reports a number of phone calls from homeowners who should not have been on the list.

After the dust cleared, about 1,300 properties remained.  So far just over 1,000 have paid the $100 fee, filled out the forms and received their permits.

18 have already gone before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a parking permit or to remove a "owner occupancy" condition on their original Special Permit and another 40-50 remain in the pipeline for Zoning hearings.

But that still leaves around 250 who are not in compliance and do not seem interested in coming into compliance.  Next week the town will send them a "more formal notice of violation" with a short two week time frame for coming into compliance.

If not, the Building Commissioner will issue fines which will be enforced by Eastern Hampshire District Court.

Morra reports that the 250 outliers are almost all "absentee owners" and that local well known landlords have been extremely cooperative, as has the Zoning Board of Appeals with rental housing related cases.  

Amherst police Chief Scott Livingtone has agreed to work with the town's Information Technology department to allow Noise and Nuisance tickets and arrests to be made available on the Amherst Rental Permitting page of the town website.  Morra hopes this will happen over the summer.

Currently the database only includes building code and zoning violations.  Considering the impetus for the entire permit system was the noxious influence party houses were having on neighborhoods it only makes sense to include police data.

 Vince O'Connor, a 40 year Amherst rental tenant

The Committee also heard from Town Meeting member Vince O'Connor, who filed a petition article (#42) to, "suspend the operation and enforcement of the bylaw" until after a new more inclusive committee is appointed by the Moderator consisting of 8 Town Meeting members -- four of them tenants (but one has to be an undergrad student) and four homeowners (at least one a rental housing owner).

In other words a do over.

O'Connor has now amended the article to take out, "suspend the operation and enforcement" of the bylaw and the new committee of eight would simply review the current Self-Certification Checklist and make suggestions to the Town Manager, Select Board and report to Town Meeting in the Fall.

Morra and three-out-of-four members of the Rental Bylaw Implementation Bylaw Group, while remaining polite, did not seem overly impressed with Mr. O'Connor's idea. 

You Can Always Go ...

 Children's Memorial Flag (in red)

Downtown Amherst is a tad more colorful at the moment with the bright red Children's Memorial Flag flying from the flagpole near Town Hall and the strip of lawn between the pole and the historic old brick building sprouting colorful pinwheels.

April is "Child Abuse Awareness Month," and the Northwestern District Attorney's office and the town are doing their part to make folks aware.  The same tagline used for terrorism probably applies equally well to suspected child abuse:  "If you see something, say something."

DPW workers forgot to take down one of the 25 or so commemorative flags that went up for a few days to remember Patriot's Day.   Probably because it blended in to the Bank of America color scheme.  Maybe after Labor Day they will forget to take them all down until, say, September 12.

 A lone commemorative flag in the heart of the downtown

The League of Women Voters book sale is coming to the town common this weekend, and workers have already erected the huge tent.  This annual event, marking its 66th year, predates the annual Farmers Market or weekly Sunday anti-war protests by decades. 

Amherst League of Women Voters subscribe to the Big Tent doctrine

 Sweetser Park fountain, bone dry

And while the Gazette certainly got all excited on Friday about Sweetser Park fountain bumbling again, it did not last long: the pump died.  DPW Chief Guilford Mooring said a new one should be installed by this coming weekend.

Sweetser Park fountain in Amherst bubbling again after remaining dry all last summer http://t.co/zYAIRKRg1q
— GazetteNET.com (@GazetteNET) April 26, 2014

Town Meeting Omen

 Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry

The moderate surprise this evening at the kick off to the 256th Amherst Town Meeting was the Jones Library getting blow back over Article #6,  a $25,000 appropriation to couple with a state grant of $50,000 to fund a 2-year study to prepare for a major renovation of the building (possibly doubling in size).

The state grant application also requires a clause seeking possible site approval if an entire new building in a new location is called for.  Library Director Sharon Sharry told Town Meeting that site selection is an inherent part of the grant process but stated confidently, "If I were a betting person I would bet the library will stay right where it is."

 Pitched roof bombs patrons with snow and ice during winter

One town meeting member had tried to refer the article back to committee and another member tried to amend the motion to nix the clause referring to a new building on a new site.  But both motions were voted down on voice votes by a comfortable margin, and after about 45 minutes of discussion the main motion passed by the same comfortable voice vote.

 

Vince O'Connor, comeback kid 

The bigger surprise of the night was the resurgence of activist Vince O'Connor, who has been somewhat marginalized over the past few years.  His motion to add $125,000 to the Community Services budget to support Social Service agencies went against the recommendations of the Finance Committee, Select Board and Town Manager.

Town Manager and Amherst Select Board

Although the $125,000 was never in doubt since Article #21 coming up later in Town Meeting had that amount coming out of Free Cash for the same Social Service agencies.  The difference is by putting it in the General Fund budget as a line item, it comes out of taxation.

According to Town Meeting member Renee Moss, "Having this $125,000 as a regular line item does say as a town we are committed to this and proud of it."  Amherst is one of the very few, possibly only, municipalities in the Commonwealth to spend town tax money on Social Service agencies.

In his initial presentation O'Connor told Town Meeting that he would be moving to cut $200,000 from the Planning Department when their $327,729 budget line comes up for discussion. 

The last few years the town used Community Development Block Grant money (federal money) to fund the Social Service agencies, but last year Amherst lost its status as a "mini entitlement" community.

After about an hour of discussion O' Connor's motion passed on a recorded Tally Vote of 79 "Yes" to 74 "No."

O'Connor has a few expensive petition articles coming at the end of Town Meeting, including Article #37, a request to double the Community Preservation Act surcharge to 3%.  Amherst already has the highest property tax burden in the area.

And under Article #38, spending $750,000 to take by eminent domain 40 Dickinson Street, the old car dealership recently purchased by Amherst College. 

Too Many (Hair) Triggers?

 

"Sleepwalker," Wellesley College.  Photo courtesy theswellesleyreport.com

Last week during a Community Emergency Response Training class the instructor showed a five- minute dashcam video wherein a police officer perishes in the line of duty, right before your very eyes.

Before clicking play he informed us of the tragic outcome and asked if anyone wished to leave the room.  Nobody did.

I didn't think anything of it as the class was made up of 21 citizen volunteers from all walks of life including a few who are middle-school aged.  So his sincere offer to shield anyone who may be unduly traumatized by the clip struck me as common sense.

The video was indeed hard to watch, but drove home a vital safety lesson I don't think any of us will soon forget.

But I still wonder if rules and regulations need to be formerly enacted to ensure/mandate instructors -- especially college professors who are full-time professionals -- issue "trigger warnings" before making presentations. 

Academic freedom and the First Amendment aren't always pretty.  It's the price you pay for freedom, something we Americans take for granted.

Amherst, a "college town," already has enough problems with political correctness run amok.

Our High School was the only entity in history to cancel a performance of "West Side Story" due to alleged "racism."  And then, only five years later, became the only High School in the nation to allow minors to perform the decidedly R rated "Vagina Monologues," which uses the C-word as often as Valley Girls use the word "like."

Yet they now wonder why our high schools kids feel comfortable spouting the N-word.

Former Amherst Town Manager Larry Shaffer threatened to not issue a parade permit for the privately run July 4th Parade Committee because they would not allow anti-war protesters to march (or the Westboro Baptist Church had they applied).

Last week. to their credit, thousands of UMass students appeared at a rally to counter the Westboro Baptist Church picketing with their hateful signs.  But then a few hours later, some students shamefully heckled former Attorney General John Ashcroft trying to give a speech curtesy of the UMass Republican Club.

A few years ago five committee chairs sent a letter to the local District Attorney requesting an investigation of Amherst School Committee member Catherine Sanderson, concerned over the freewheeling discussion generated by her blog.

Last week on this blog, long time Amherst School Committee member Rick Hood (who formerly had his own blog) tried to stir up the trolls just so he could brand blogs as an electronic version of bathroom stall graffiti.

And we know in Amherst, town officials get overly excited about bathroom stall graffiti.

Interestingly Oberlin College, who seems to have started the hot potato rolling with a proposed passage in its Sexual Offense Resource Guide admits that, "anything can be a trigger."  Um, okay, then lets not discuss "anything."

Amherst Town Meeting starts tonight.  Perhaps before I give any of my usual, gasp, conservative minded (God, Mom, Apple Pie or the American Flag) speeches, I should issue a trigger warning.

Only in Amherst does common sense require such a preamble. 

Daffodil Delight

And they're off!  11:30 a.m. Kendrick Park

Hundreds of runners and walkers of all ages, including a few dogs, turned out for the 4th annual Daffodil Fun Run Road Race to benefit Big Brother Big Sisters, a long-time iconic Amherst social service agency.

Back of the pack

Unlike yesterday, the rain held off for the pre-race festivities, sprinkled a bit as runners were lining up but then held off again for at least the time it takes for the average runner to complete the 3.1 mile course.

Last year 475 runners completed the course with the event raising a total of $40,000.

A site to see: 40,000 daffodils to bloom in Amherst this May http://t.co/iXd8TD139k @AmherstDowntown @MassHort pic.twitter.com/VtT0LdjgTr
— GazetteNET.com (@GazetteNET) April 25, 2014

April Showers

While police and fire personnel were probably doing a rain dance this morning other town officials were certainly hoping for sunshine as the soggy, still recovering,  town common hosted the 5th annual Sustainability Festival.

But the rains won out, reducing the crowds attending the town sponsored event -- especially compared to the Extravaganja festival a couple weeks ago, which of course was not a town sponsored event. 

The good thing about the rainy weather (besides bringing the flowers that bloom in May) is it inhibits outdoor partying, thus making a Blarney Blowout or Hobart Hoedown highly unlikely. 

Although the usual party house disturbances will probably still happen later tonight during the bewitching hours (10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.).

NIMBYs Noisy Distraction

 

172 State Street, North Amherst (under construction)

One of the advantages of ownership is not so much the ability to do whatever you want with your property -- especially in Amherst -- but certainly the 100% guaranteed right NOT to do something with it.

Like for instance, drilling into bedrock (not the town where the Flintstones resided).

 View from State Street (note soundproofing going up)

North Amherst residents around Puffer's Pond are in full attack mode targeting the renovations taking place at 172 State Street, where the new owners (who paid almost twice assessed value) are renovating both the house and barn across the street.


And yes it is a tad noisy, and probably dusty as well.  But once the work is done tranquility returns and the new and improved home will be paying considerably more in property taxes.

View from Mill Street

So if you really want to ensure nothing happens next door to you, then simply buy the property ... and do nothing with it.   Only don't use taxpayer money.

Blarney Blowout Repercussions

 Blarney Blowout:  2 of 53 arrestees

The justice system is methodically sorting out the 53 arrestees at the infamous Blarney Blowout, with a major offender striking a deal  last week and another one making an appearance on Wednesday for a pre trial hearing that I'm told will be disposed of on June 9 with a plea deal.

Since the six charges include both Misdemeanors and Felonies it will be interesting to see what the Judge decides.  Hopefully the $160,000 study/report from former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis will be available by then as well.

At the very least I hope the consultants have requested copies of all 53 "Statement of Facts" from the APD arrests on that deleterious day.

Stephen Gage, 20, acted as a ringleader, firing up a huge throng of students to assault highly outnumbered Amherst and UMass police officers with "rocks, ice chunks, beer bottles and beer cans."

Also notice that indeed pepper spray was used on Mr. Gage, but only to subdue him as he struggled with officers while resisting arrest.

Yes, the problem with Blarney Blowout (or Hobart Hoedown) is you get a huge crowd of 1,000s of hyped up students -- most of them under the influence of alcohol -- and then it only takes a few "agitators" like Stephen Gage to create a major riot.

Of course when Mr. Gage appears before the Judge on June 9 he will be standing with only his (expensive) attorney.

   Blarney Blowout Stephen Gage

Rescue Me

CERT team practicing leveraging and cribbing

Since the motto for the Amherst Community Emergency Response Team team seems to be, "Rescue the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time" I have to wonder what a specialized CERT team might have done if they were aboard that South Korean ferry last week where chaos and a bad decision led to the deplorable deaths of 300, mostly teen-aged high school students.

Last night the team -- and we are becoming a team -- took on the task of search and rescue.  Again the safety of the team comes first, so if the initial sizeup of the situation indicates a building too badly damaged to enter then you simply do not enter.

Even if victims are inside calling for help, the best you can do is try to keep them calm by reassuring them help is on the way. Rushing in where angels fear to tread can do more harm than good, adding to the burden of the professional first responders who are sure to arrive.

Upon entering a light or moderately damaged building CERT members (who always work in teams) leave a chalk mark on the exterior indicating time of entry.  Upon completing the search another notation is left to confirm what they found and that they made it safely out of the building.

CERT members cannot pronounce someone dead, but as part of a triage if all signs indicate death then you simply move on to try to help the living.  The injured need to be removed from unsafe conditions as quickly as possible.

Archimedes once said, "Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth."  Using the principles of a simple lever, large heavy objects can be moved.   Other team members use "cribbing" (wooden blocks) to place under the object to keep it raised off the victim.

Once the injured party is safely removed from the debris the team needs to carry them out of harms way.  A simple blanket carry allows up to six team members to assist, although in this case the load was not all that heavy.

Last night marked the half-way point for the CERT program and the enthusiasm level is still as high as it was on day one.

Instructor Michael Williamson confirmed he will be teaching another 6 week session in the Fall but will be offering a class introduction next Thursday in the UMPD community room.

If you're interested, email him at:  cert@amherstma.gov  (before disaster strikes!)

DUI Dishonor Roll

Roadside memorial to Dan Haley, Rt. 116, Hadley

Last week marked the two year anniversary of the tragic death -- some would consider "murder" -- of Daniel Haley, 24, killed by wrong-way drunk driver Brittini Benton only a month before he was set to graduate from UMass with a degree in chemical engineering. 

For Benton it was her second offense at drunk driving.

 Click to enlarge/read

Last weekend (Easter Sunday morning no less) Amherst police arrested Jesse Bollinger, age 29, for allegedly drunk driving at around the same early hours of the morning that Dan Haley was killed.  It was also his second offense.  

He was arraigned In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Tuesday, and his case was continued until May 1st so he could hire an attorney. 

The R Word

 APD at ARHS

I guess if you say it often enough it becomes true to a lot of people.  Are the venerable Amherst schools guilty of "institutional racism?"  And by extension, the entire community.   Really? 

Apparently Rick Hood thinks so.  You may remember Mr. Hood not long ago at a School Committee meeting demanding the schools fire any employee who fails to intervene in a "racist" incident.

How about the black on white racism/bullying that occurred last January?  A regrettable incident the schools completely mishandled because it did not fit their politically correct concept of racism.

To this day the bullied white youth is still not back in school, while all three of his tormentors have been back almost since day one. 

Meanwhile, the teacher of color (Carolyn Gardner) who was targeted by alleged racist "threats" left in bathrooms has a full-time guard assigned to her while carrying out her duties on school grounds. 

Mr Hood laments an overly white Town Meeting but he fails to mention an even bigger demographic rift -- the age gap.  Amherst has the lowest median age in the state (22) because of "college aged youth," while Amherst Town Meeting could easily be mistaken for a senior center social.

The Amherst School Committee, of which he is a member, is 80% white.

Branding the public schools and the entire community "racist" because of the misguided attention seeking actions of a unknown perp is exactly the kind of overreaction the troll is seeking.

And trolls come in all colors.

Green Developments

Trolley Barn, Cowls Road, North Amherst

Resembling book ends, two three-story developments are almost in the same stage of completion. Amherst Office Park in South Amherst sports a new 30,000 square foot building and the 12,000 square foot Trolley Barn in North Amherst (on Cowls Road) both show off their vibrant green Zip system insulation on this perfect Spring day.

Amherst Office Park, West Street, South Amherst