How Many & What Kind of Weapons?

 

Amherst Regional High School

Obviously taxpayers who fund the very expensive overhead costs ($18,026 per pupil vs state average $13,636)  of our Amherst Regional PUBLIC School District have a right to know about weapons confiscated in the High School.
  
Parents with kids in the system, even more so. 

APD en route Amherst Regional High School to pick up and dispose of "previously confiscated weapons over the years."  Yikes.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) July 16, 2014

Why Do They Call It OPEN Meeting?

 Regional School Committee meeting 7/14

Temporary Chair of the Amherst Regional School Committee Lawrence O'Brien is still sputtering over the successful coup d'état orchestrated by Vice Chair Trevor Baptiste.

Five duly elected members of the committee -- a quorum -- attended a meeting that was properly posted in three of the four towns and was briefly posted properly in Amherst but cancelled when the ruling establishment felt threatened.

Did the meeting violate the Open Meeting Law?  Technically, yes.

But not because of secrecy -- which is generally what the OML targets.  Since well over 50 members of the general public showed up, along with three TV news stations and reporters from two newspapers, I would deem that a pretty OPEN meeting.

The renegade meeting was called to countermand a memo criticising Amilcar Shabazz issued by three school committee chairs with absolutely no deliberation of the three public bodies they chair.  Now that sounds to me like a violation of the Open Meeting Law.

And the irony doesn't stop there.  They were critical of Dr. Shabazz for releasing information (not entirely correct) about a violent racial school incident where three black youths ganged up on a white youth doing real physical damage in the process.

As usual the super secretive PUBLIC schools handled it "internally," not breathing a word to anyone, including the Amherst Police Department or the local District Attorney, who certainly had grounds for a "hate crime" indictment.

At the 6/24 Regional School Committee meeting where O'Brien was elected temporary Chair the committee later went into Executive Session for "litigation" discussion even though the written published agenda stated it was for  "Collective Bargaining."

A clear violation of OPM.  And these days the Attorney General wants more detail published when going into Executive Session.  If for  "Collective Bargaining" then with what unions?  Or if it's "litigation"  is it a negligence suit filed over an injury or a MCAD complaint? 

This coming August the Regional School Committee will head to an undisclosed location for a weekend "retreat".  That strikes me as a violation of Open Meeting Law.

In 2010 FIVE school committee chairs (with no deliberations of their respective committees) issued an official memo to the District Attorney asking for an investigation of Amherst School Committee member Catherine Sanderson, hoping the DA would muzzle her.

The DA ignored their whiny request.

The more voices brought into the public process the better.  That's the very heart and soul of Open Meeting.

Barn Blast

Ye old (125+ years) barn, 134 Montague Road, North Amherst

Another "historic" barn owned by W.D. Cowls, the largest private landowner in Mass, is destined for the dustbin due to age, disrepair and the arrival of Atkins Farms Country Market in a refurbished building only 35 feet away.

The Amherst Historical Commission could enact a one-year demolition delay but that's the extent of their power.

Three years ago the Commission did restrain Cowls from demolishing their trolley barn on Cowls Road,  but six weeks after the expiration of the one-year delay the barn came tumbling down after an attempt to shore it up using a backhoe. 

Rotting floorboards

The shortlist of reusing the (non rotting) barn boards include:  Donation to Emily Dickinson Homestead for a project to recreate a historically accurate barn that was once on site; donation to the Porter Phelps Huntington House in Hadley for a similar historic project; or simply reuse the materials in the upcoming development of "The Mill" all along Cowls Road. 

 

The Mill as envisioned by Kuhn Riddle Architects

Equitable Vs Fair

Officials from all 4 towns:  Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury

The Regional Assessment Working Group -- yet another subcommittee formed by the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee -- met yesterday for the first time to deliberate their charge:  "Analyze historical assessments, investigate assessment alternatives, and make a recommendation of an assessment method going forward."

The "working group" is facilitated by Sean Mangano who stepped into the well worn shoes of former Finance Director Robert Detweiler after he mysteriously disappeared six months ago. 

School spending accounts for the lions share of municipal budgets in all four towns.  The current 50+ year old  Region consists of the Middle and High School but the Regional School Committee also formed a committee almost three years ago to discuss and plan for regionalization at the pre-K through six grade as well.

The criteria for the working group is to come up with a finance method that is fair, predictable, affordable, easy to explain to the voters and one that avoids budget buster spikes for individual towns.  Or what one member referred to as "No nukes."

 

Obviously the equitable thing is for all four towns to pay the same cost per student.  Currently the assessment method takes that into consideration but is also based on a "five year rolling average."  And that seems to generate "a hit" to individual towns about once every five years.

Discussion centered around what is fair vs equitable, or ... how do you provide a "circuit breaker" or "cap" to help  any one overburdened town deal with what could be a budget buster?

Amherst Finance Director Sandy Pooler, obviously a numbers guy, wondered how you define "ability to pay?"  He seemed to  approve of the common sense policy of everybody paying the same cost per student, thinking it might better "resonate" with voters.

The group will meet every other week and expect to have a recommendation for the Amherst Regional School Committee sometime in September.  

Approval will require a simple majority vote by the RSC and then all four Town Meetings must endorse the new assessment method; although after that only three-out-of-four approvals will be required to pass the  Regional Budget.

 

(left to rt) Maria Geryk, Kay Moran, Alisa Brewer, Bernie Kubiak, Andy Steinberg

Regional School Committee Countermand

5 of 9 (3 from Amherst) Regional SC members showed up to the 4:00 meeting unanimously chastising 7/3 memo from Committee Chairs

The renegade Regional School Committee meeting today called by Vice Chair Trevor Baptiste and (sort of) cancelled by Chair Lawrence O'Brien did attain a quorum, and after a brief discussion unanimously passed a motion countermanding a 7/3 memo critical of Dr. Amilcar Shabazz.

 

Over 75 people crammed into the Pelham Library 

   Another Racial Incident ARPS by Larry Kelley

 

What A Twit

Worst Tweets Ever has a whopping 3 followers

As I close in on a Twitter milestone, one thousand followers (hint, hint), I'm reminded by a youthful critic otherwise known as a "Cowardly Anon Nitwit" why the service rocks.

With only 140 characters to play with you have to be a tad concise.  Kind of like the telegraph of old where you paid by the word so you tended to use as few as possible.

Or the early days of the telephone when the thought of "long distance" charges struck fear into the hearts of your parents, so you learned to talk fast with far flung family members.

It also reminds me of Town Meeting where pretty much any local can get up in front of the body before a live microphone and say pretty much anything.

I always have that split second fear as I trudge to the podium that I'm going to suddenly have a  Tourette's moment and just start spouting "expletive deleted."

On Twitter you can get in trouble instantly for saying stupid things even if you only have a few followers, because all it takes is for one of them with a huge number of followers to retweet you.  While bad news has always moved quickly, stupid news moves at warp speed.

I have more than a few "college aged youth" who follow me just to see if I'm talking about them or their lifestyle.  They don't usually just randomly tweet at me like the nitwit "worst tweets ever" who obviously also has the account "larry kelleys whack."

Him I ignore, because if I respond to a stupid tweet that originally only went to his one follower, suddenly it goes to all almost-1,000 of my followers.  And since  a few them would like to dance on my grave, they would chime in supporting the initial idiot.

Last Spring was relatively quiet but there were a couple weekend nights where warm weather brought out the zombie party herds.  I remember tweeting a couple of low key incidents early in the evening -- APD making an arrest for "open container" on Fearing Street or AFD responding to the first ETOH (alcohol poisoning) incident of the night. 

A couple kids played off those tweets with sarcasm that was then favorited or retweeted by other like minded followers (none of them having much more than an average number of followers -- 200 or so).

But as the night wore on, and the number of ETOH incidents requiring ambulances became more and more numerous -- to the point where we ran out of ambulances -- the sarcastic tweets stopped.

So either it dawned on them that having all our ambulances tied up carting drunk students to CDH is not a good thing, or maybe some of them were the ones being carted to the hospital.

Of course the other tremendous Twitter thing is the ability to post photos instantly, conjuring up that old pre-Internet adage that still remains true:  a picture is worth 1,000 words.

And that's a lot of characters.

LarryWhack has zero followers

A Matter Of Self Defense

Eric Bertrand is lucky a Second Amendment enthusiast was not shopping at Whole Foods Market late yesterday afternoon .  The first frantic reports from the scene via multiple 911 calls indicated a man was randomly discharging a "white powder" onto innocent bystanders.

Hadley PD at Whole Foods Market to Dispatch:  "One under arrest, we do have a few victims."
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) July 11, 2014

One customer, unhappy about the assault, got into a physical altercation with Eric Bertrand, age 59, but appears to have ended up on the wrong end of his "shod foot."

Had this odd event taken place in Texas, Mr. Bertrand would probably have been shot in self defense, since many people at first worried  the powder was potentially a terrorist HazMat (hazardous materials) incident.

Amherst Fire Department later transported Bertrand from the Hadley Police Department to Cooley Dickinson Hospital after a "psychological evaluation."

Hadley police have charged him with seven counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (Cayenne pepper).   Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to require a license to carry pepper spray, although in this particular case he used store product rather than carrying his own canister of OC spray.

Last Monday Eric Bertrand's Easthampton apartment was gutted by fire, just after he was issued an eviction notice. 

Arresting Miss Emily

Emily Dickinson stands before Judge LoConto on July 7th

Amherst police arrested Emily Dickinson, age 30, back in February for stealing a credit card and her mother's prescription drugs, an all too familar combination resulting from substance abuse.

A business day doesn't go by at the Eastern Hampshire District Court without a drug related problem coming before a judge.  

And in Amherst, where the other Emily Dickinson is arguably our most famous citizen, the misery associated with drug/alcohol abuse is certainly on the short list for pernicious problems that need to be solved.

 The Dickinson Homestead

Judge LoConto placed Ms. Dickinson on probation for a year with a $65/month fee and unscheduled drug/alcohol screening.

As she was leaving the Judge, sounding sincere, wished her "good luck" and reminded her the Probation Department is there to help.

Crowd Sourcing Affordable Housing Plan

Crowd attending Planning Board Public Hearing

Amherst Planning Board Chair David Webber told the crowd of about 25 concerned citizens, town officials and housing developers who attended the public hearing at the Bangs Center last night that an Inclusionary Zoning Bylaw to help stimulate low-income housing, "Is worth doing, but we need your help."

 Amherst Planning Board

Ideas ranged from a "payment in lieu" of affordable units into a trust fund,  to allowing developers to build the required units off-site away from the market rate units, or increasing the density of projects so developers could get more market rate units to offset the affordable ones.

The problems seem greater in the downtown, which is close to built out, and therefore more expensive to develop.   Critics portrayed Kendrick Place,  a mixed-use five story building which just broke ground, as the poster child for special treatment since none of the 36 units will be affordable and the project did require some minor variances from the Planning Board.

One idea floated by PB Chair David Webber is to allow a height increase in the downtown to six floors from the current five.  The crowd seemed receptive to the idea. 

Maurianne Adams also pointed out UMass and the town need to work together to allow public/private partnerships to build new student housing on or near campus that would be plentiful, safe, and pay property taxes.

Making the affordable unit requirement too strict and you end up with nothing because developers walk away, but make it too easy and they walk all over you.  So the Planning Board, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, needs to find a proper balance that's "just right".

The Planning Board is targeting the Fall Town Meeting for an Inclusionary Zoning Article, with September 26 the deadline for article language.  In addition to the public forums soliciting advice the Planning Board will also hire a consultant to figure out the real world impacts of such an article on mixed use centers.

Amherst housing production has been practically non existent over the past generation, resulting in high rents pushing out middle class families and low income residents, the creation of students slums, and unhealthy discord in our political arena.  

Puffer's Pond Pervert

John S. Fitzgerald (center) with court attorney John McKenna left

At a his arraignment this afternoon in Eastern Hampshire District Court the prosecution asked Judge Patricia Poelher to impose a $5,000 cash bail for John S Fitzgerald on charges of "Open and Gross Lewdness" since it will most likely result in an indictment.

In addition, he has been convicted six times on the same charge since 1987, served a 6 month jail sentence, and only came off probation in 2012.

His court appointed attorney, John McKenna, requested $500 bail.

In a recitation of the statement of facts the prosecution stated Amherst police arrested Fitzgerald at Puffer's Pond yesterday early afternoon after two young females observed him masturbating and called 911.

When police arrived he freely admitted to them he was a "Level 3 Sex Offender" and that he had gotten drunk at a strip club and as a result ended up at Puffer's Pond masturbating in the bushes.

Judge Poelher took the advice of the public defender and imposed a $500 bail, but she also "impounded" the names and personal information of the two young female witnesses for their protection.

Fitzgerald will appear in Court again on July 24.

Environmental Make Good

Representative from W.D. Cowls and Landmark Properties appear before ConComm

Amherst Conservation Commission

A half dozen employees representing the interests of the current landowner, W.D. Cowls, and the buyer/developer, Landmark Properties, who wish to build a student housing project on 147 acres of woodland in North Amherst came before the  Conservation Commission again to explain how damage occurred to wetlands and how they will ensure it does not happen again.

W.D. Cowls, the largest private landowner in the state, has always allowed the general public to use the property for recreation.  And mountain bikes, all terrain vehicles and jeeps can leave behind ruts which the commission considers unacceptable in protected wetlands.

Cowls may reconsider keeping the property open to the general public and could install gates or cables at the three main entry points to keep out motorized vehicles.

Conservation members site visit to damaged area 6/25

But much of the (self reported) damage was caused by a contractor doing geo-technical drilling for the proposed buyer of the property, Landmark Properties.  Commission member Christiane Healey said, "I'm perplexed.  Don't you have experience with this?"

"We don't do this very often," responded the contractor, Mike Talbot.  "In my 30 years this if the first time doing work around wetlands on such a large tract of property.  We crossed wetlands to get to drilling sites.  We thought using logging roads was okay."

Talbot said from now on "wetlands" had been added to their job sheet checklists for awareness and a wetlands expert or land engineer would be consulted before any work took place in sensitive areas.

The "Preliminary Restoration Plan" was pronounced "thorough" by town wetlands administrator Beth Willson, but she preferred all restoration work be done by hand rather than mechanized equipment -- especially considering it was mechanized equipment that caused the damage in the first place.

The commission agreed and made that a part of their requirements as well as a paragraph about maintaining communication with the Conservation Commission and obtaining permits anytime work is performed in and around wetlands.

 About 25 concerned neighbors show up

The environmental consultants will return to the  July 23rd meeting with a final Restoration Plan and begin the work (by hand) immediately after approval by the Conservation Commission.

 Vince O'Connor worried about Fire Department access in case of a forest fire

Pine Street Permutations

North Amherst residents will be pleased to know their major thoroughfare will be a lot more drivable by the end of "this construction season," (which usually means when the snow flies) after a base coat of pavement will be put down the entire length of Pine Street. 

It has been a long haul thus far with the road ripped up for water sewer upgrades and then a major overhaul which is yet to come, but should be completed in calender 2015.

 Bumper stickers available at Cushman Market

The town twice put in for a $4.3 million MassWorks grant but were turned down both times.  DPW Chief Guilford Mooring reports we have spent $1.8 million in Water & Sewer fund money so far and a funding request to complete the work will go to the Fall Town Meeting somewhere in the $2 million range.

The Town Manager will make a recommendation to the Select Board about the final tweaks, which hinge on whether there should be a separate bike lane AND sidewalk or just one multi-use path for both.

The Public Works Committee already voted unanimously for the single 10 foot wide multi-use path on the south side of Pine Street.  The town needs to confirm final layout before putting down the base coat.  The Select Board has final say. 

Pine/Bridge Street roundabout (near Cushman Market) now off the table because of how much land taking would be required

DUI Dishonor Roll

The most frequently recorded BAC level among drinking drivers in fatal crashes (10,322 in 2012) was 0.16

Amherst police arrested Tarah A Liewellyn, age 25, not far from Amherst town center early Monday morning "driving" a deadly weapon with a Blood Alcohol Content more than three times the legal limit.

And it was Ms. Liewellyn's second dui offense.  Her case was continued until August 7, and she was released on $250 cash bail.

Tarah Liewellyn, age 25, stands before Judge Christopher LoConto Tuesday morning

Click photos to enlarge/read

Sorry About That

 6/24 Regional School Committee meeting

In response to my Open Meeting Law complaint Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee Chair Lawrence O'Brien has promised to do a better job from now on for "as long as I am serving as Chair."

Which is all well and good, except he was elected Chair at the tumultuous 6/24 meeting but only until the Regional School Committee meets for their cozy little "Retreat" (not the controversial housing project in North Amherst) sometime in August.

Simply put my complaint stemmed from the published written agenda stating they were going into Executive Session to discuss only "Collective Bargaining," when in fact they pulled the cloak of secrecy for a "litigation" discussion instead.

Yes, litigation is a very legitimate reason to go into Executive Session.  But it would be nice to know specifically up front that litigation was the reason rather than giving the false impression it was for rather benign contract negotiations. 

And I get a little nervous when he cites their "district legal counsel" Gini Tate, as she also gives "counsel" to the Wayland School Committee, a serial offender of the Open Meeting Law. 

Wrong Car To Run Off The Road

Amelia Houghton, age 26, stands before Judge LoConto

So if you are driving with double the legal limit for Blood Alcohol Concentration the last person you want to almost run into head on is an Amherst police officer.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday, in one of the fastest dispositions to a drunk driving case I have ever seen, Amelia Houghton, age 26, copped a plea in front of Judge Christopher LoConto.  The standard 1st offense 24D disposition will result in loss of license for 45 days, up to $1,500 in fines and driver ed costs and one year probation.

In other words the serious charges are Continued With Out Finding for one year, and if she stays out of trouble, they are dismissed.

Downtown Retro

Metacomet Cafe, 27 South Pleasant Street

After teasing the downtown for well over a year with their nifty, retro "Metacomet Cafe" sign, it looks like the classic sandwich burger shop is set to open within a month, in plenty of time for the resurgence in population that happens every Labor Day weekend in this college town.

The Amherst Select Board this evening unanimously approved their Common Victualler License although they will still need an occupancy permit from the building commissioner.  The operation, run by brothers Spencer and Trevor Hopton, will be open seven days a week from 11:00 AM until 11:00 PM.

World's greatest hamburger

A Climate Of Fear?

APD @ ARHS

Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone has confirmed that his department did NOT do an investigation into the most recent racial incident just now coming to light where a white student was “aggressively and seriously” assaulted by black students. 

The parent of the victim did not wish to press charges and furthermore wanted NO police involvement whatsoever.  Chief Livingstone stated that once that was confirmed with the parents APD involvement ceased.

ARHS state approved anti-bullying plan

Yes, as a parent I can understand the natural inclination to protect your child from the glare of public scrutiny.  But there's a fine line between right to privacy and the general public's right to know -- especially when that general public also has children in the school system.

Last year a young woman under the influence of alcohol fell on Fearing Street, hitting her head on a curb.  She was transported to Baystate Medical Center where she died.  At the parents request UMass agreed not to release any information about the sad incident.  Which of course in this Internet age, backfired. 

Amherst College received a deserved slew of negative publicity for the way this mishandled rape cases, one that resulted in a young man, Trey Malone, committing suicide. 

Simply put, if it's not now mandatory for a public or private school, kindergarten-through-college, to report a serious crime (bullying, physical assault, rape, etc) to the local police department and/or District Attorney -- especially if it's a hate crime -- then it damn well should be!

Pointing The Finger

Maria Geryk, ARPS School Superintendent makes a point at  the tumultuous 6/24 Regional School Comm Meeting

What if Amherst Pelham Regional School officials had reported to outside authorities the initial racial incident targeting teacher of color Carolyn Gardner back in October rather than deep-sixing it?

Carolyn Gardner, repeatedly targeted by racial notes and graffiti

What if School officials had reported to outside authorities the bullying and assault on Dylan Akalis by three black students the last week of January, rather than sweeping it under the rug? 

Perhaps if School officials had reported to outside authorities (and the general public who pays everybody's salary) the most recent assault on a white student by three minority students, Mr. Shabazz would not have felt compelled to mention what little he knew of the incident at the 6/18 Equity Task Force meeting.

Regardless of whether Mr. Shabazz "inappropriately" suggested the white youth was beaten because he was a "racist", the undeniable fact remains that a young student (who Shabazz did not identify) was assaulted by three other students, yet because of the collective color of their skin, the incident was purposely hushed up.

Even though it qualifies as a "hate crime," and should have been reported to the District Attorney.

According to the ARHS student code of conduct the protocol for dealing with a Physical Attack 1st offense is a "10 day external suspension, possible long-term suspension or expulsion, and referral to the Amherst Police Department."

But we know in the Dylan Akalis assault (witnessed by a teacher) the schools did not report it to Amherst police; and the main attacker, son of a white-collar school employee, did not receive a "10 day external suspension."

 Paula and Dylan Akalis

Since school authorities can't even follow their own internal regulations, no BIG surprise they can't follow state law either.

But of all sudden, in their haste to neutralize the only black member of the Amherst School Committee, they trot out FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) as a convenient excuse.  Clearly that federal law has exemptions which would apply in this case; and even more clearly, plenty could have been stated publicly short of divulging names.

Interesting that the School Committee was quick to issue a written apology to the parent of the white student because of the alleged remarks by Dr. Shabazz, but no Amherst Regional School official has apologized to Dylan Akalis or his parents over the past five months except for Amilcar Shabazz.

The Associated Press just picked up this recent assault story and did not even mention the purported disclosure by Mr. Shabazz, only that three minority students beat up a white kid simply because he was white.

School officials used "privacy" as an excuse not to release separation agreements with 13 former school employees totaling over $350,000 in public tax money.   Agreements the Public Records Division clearly told them to release.  A decision concept recently backed by a Superior Court Judge.

Unless you are building a Doomsday Device, protecting legitimate national interests, or invoking privacy over medical issues no good seems to come from Nixonian stonewalling combined with a CIA-like devotion to secrecy.

The Amherst Regional PUBLIC Schools are in the top 17% state wide for most expensive to operate with a per student cost 25% over state average.

Therefor all taxpayers in the region have a "paramount and prevailing right to know" -- especially parents with children in the system.

WWLP CH 22 covers the story (sort of)
MassLive (much) fuller report

Double Fault?

Amherst College: Half dozen courts near the bike path destined for demolition

Okay, okay so I'm probably just being maudlin.  After all, my first brush with tennis occurred there (or the adjacent courts) in the oppressively hot summer of 1964 during a subsidized recreation program run by Jack Leaman, before he became famous at UMass.

But I'm still willing to bet most anyone who has walked or biked past these courts over the past fifty years will miss them when they're gone.  Kind of like the chain link maze at the UMass football stadium. 

Amherst College, our largest landowner, goes before the Amherst Conservation Commission next week to give notice about the demolition/conversion of the tennis courts to a -- you guessed it -- parking lot.

Since the footprint will remain the same, probably not a big environmental impact to worry about.

And the larger adjacent courts complex remains, so the fair weather grunts and thunks of balls meeting racquets will not be completely silenced.  The sounds may even carry to the bike path.

But for those of us who grew up with the fenced in fun, a little piece of paradise -- like our youth -- will be lost.

 Courts a little farther north have already been converted to a parking