Mutual Aid Trade Imbalance

Amount of Amherst PD overtime spent assisting Umass PD $18,500
Amount of Umass PD overtime spent assisting Amherst PD $00.00

Yeah, so much for His Lordship Gerry Weiss grand scheme to seamlessly meld Umass and Amherst Police Departments in order to save Amherst taxpayers money.

Amount of Effluent Water consumed by Umass over past eight months (at previous rate of one-sixth normal water rate): $24,204

And as we just found out with the Car Washwater fiasco (5 years without a bill): a few gallons here and a few gallons there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.

Must have been a B-52

So the DPW spent all summer repaving North East Street/Henry Street and already we get this? (click photo to enlarge)

Keenan on the case!

Who better to get excited about the interest free $70-K Water/Sewer debt owed by a multi-million dollar corporation than current Select board candidate (and former Select board member) Dave Keenan, pictured talking to reporter Scott Merzbach of the ultra-crusty Amherst Bulletin trying to interest him in this story. He was on "deadline" (dog bites man story no doubt) so he would would get back to Dave on Thursday.

Keenan recently paid the town $50,000 in overdue property tax and water/sewer bills dating back ten years with over half that amount due to interest (16%) and legal fees.

Keenan confirmed John Musante, new Assistant Town Manager (with a retroactive $10,000 raise), worked out the terms of the contract with F.L. Roberts and that our esteemed Select board, who are also the Water/Sewer Commissioners, were never told about this monstrous outstanding back balance. Hmmm…

Water, water everywhere (and it's free)

Better late than never

So I suppose if you’re in the water/sewer business (even if you ARE a monopoly) a Car Wash is one consumer you may want to be especially vigilant with.

This F.L. Roberts operation on Rt. 9 at the gateway to the People’s Republic enjoyed five years without a bill…until just recently. $70,000! No interest charged, of course since it was the town’s boo boo.

Hey, you think they could have thrown in free car washes for municipal vehicles for a year. His Lordship’s rolling sign looks like it could use a cleaning.

The Show Will Go On!

The all-volunteer July 4’th Parade Committee, after a pyrotechnic discussion, voted unanimously to continue the tradition of an old fashioned Parade through downtown Amherst on America’s birthday, and to stick to our original 2002 Mission Statement of honoring public servants--police, fire and military.

Any group that wishes to march may carry ONE sign or banner bearing the name of their official association. IF the name of that organization happens to carry the moniker “...against the war,” so be it.

We also reminded ourselves, that it’s all about the kids.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

So my friends over at Free Republic are in a tizzy over my photo of Gerry Weiss’s chariot. Not so much for all the goofy late-60’s early-70’s bumper stickers but for my daring to mention (although I did do it in parenthesis, meaning the writer did so as an afterthought and didn’t really view it as all that important) the car was “foreign”. Funny, somebody called it so very 90’s (well at least I’m a couple decades ahead of Weiss). The poor women who posted it--one of the very few Freepers living in Amherst I bet--kept saying, “It’s not about the car!”
Free Republic: click if you dare!

UPDATE: 12:00 NOON (Daylight Savings time): Hey FREEPERS! While I have your attention, click on this other "Only In (Anti-American) Amherst" story:
Town threatens to steal 7/4 Parade