Between the lines...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him!"

Maybe not as notorious and sought after as Saddam Hussein was in an international sense, but in a local sense--i.e. the Happy Valley--certainly comparable.

Anthony P. Baye, age 25, the alleged arson who terrorized his home city of Northampton with a late night fire spree was captured yesterday, charged with the murder of two innocent people.

Now it gets interesting.

Are we really a nation built on the premise that everyone is "innocent until proven guilty?" Or do we seek the convenience of declaring evidence close enough for a conviction, rushing to judgement to put this sorry episode behind us and allow the victims (that includes most of the city of Northampton) to get back to a normal life?

Open Government

So let's hear it for the state, finally, cracking down on those who would use their government positions--either paid or unpaid--for personal gain: The new Conflict of Interest regulations require online training for all municipal employees and provides real punishment for those found in violation.

• Criminal penalties for bribery have been increased: up to a $100,000 fine, or imprisonment in state prison for up to 10 years or in jail or a house of correction for up to 2½ years, or both.

• Civil penalties for bribery increase from $2,000 to $25,000. Civil penalties for all other ethics violations increase from $2,000 per violation to $10,000 per violation.

The Open Meeting Law will now be enforced by the Attorney General rather than local District Attorney and cities and towns will now have to publish on the web campaign contribution forms for any local office.

Unfortunately the state did not enact fines on individuals found guilty of violating of the Open Meeting Law--something watchdogs have long requested. And private citizens who challenge the actions of a governmental body and wins still cannot collect costs and attorneys' fees for bringing those actions.

But hey, half a loaf is better than none.

But history does "long remember."

So last week on the drive back from a Christmas stay with my Sis in Washington, DC we immediately got lost but my navigator wife said as long as we were heading north we would be fine. About an hour later on a road I thought to be fairly countryish I pull off at an exit announcing food and bathrooms, but when I get to the end of the ramp another sign says "3 miles."

About half way there I spot the first large granite memorial--the kind you see in many quaint New England town centers. Then another, and another. And suddenly a sign saying "Welcome to Gettysburg."

Like the epic battle itself, we stumbled upon it by accident. The historic national park, as "hallowed ground," is maintained much as it was on those fateful three days in July, 1863--including cannons and wooden barricades used to slow down an advancing army long enough for withering fire to decimate their ranks.

And decimation is perhaps too kind a word. The Battle of Gettysburg--considered the turning point of the Civil War--was the costliest engagement in a conflict that pitted American against American, brother against brother.

Arguably the greatest speech of all time.


The wrong end of a cannon

Rookie Commander of the Grand Army of the Potomac, General George Meade, is said to have bested the legendary Southern commander General Robert E. Lee (outnumbered as usual) in that confrontation, but Lee managed to escape back to Virginia. A main reason the dreadful conflict carried on for another two years.

And if General Lee had not been stopped at Gettysburg, he too could have ended up in New York City.

And so this is New Year...

I've got a secret

So don't get me wrong I love Northwestern DA Elizabeth Scheibel: a successful woman, as such a great role model for my young daughters and of course that rarest of breeds in this state--a Republican.

But damn, she can be ultra-conservative when it comes to releasing information. And my friends at the Springfield Republican are correct when they editorialize that letting public documents like the Fire Department incident reports see the light of publication can possibly help with the investigation as readers may remember something in their neighborhood that occurred around that time.

Besides, the audio tapes of the emergency dispatch are already on the web. Here we are days later and she will not even confirm the names of the two dead citizens long ago confirmed to the media by family members.

Long time readers of this site may remember me breaking the story of the investigation into the horrific bus accident in Amherst that claimed the life of a two year old. My ultra-reliable sources confirmed both Amherst PD and State PD accident reconstruction teams concluded it was an accident and by mid-May the DA had both reports on her desk, yet she waited until September to officially close the case.

The Springfield Republican speaks:

Larry Kelley reported:

And many months later:

A night of terror

Okay I'll admit it again as I did a couple years ago on the floor of Amherst Town Meeting: The only opponent I have ever engaged over the course of my entire combative life that still haunts me to this day--over twenty years later--is FIRE.

I can still taste the smoke, hear the crackle of the beast as it consumed the formerly safe walls of my world and vividly recall the loud flashover explosion that momentarily froze the combatants on both sides.

The conflagration that destroyed my apartment on the morning of Friday the 13th in the winter of 1987 consumed no souls. And, it was an accident.

Unlike the terror attack this past weekend in Northampton with multiple homes and cars torched in the dead of night, resulting in the murder of two innocent people. Like the cowardly terror attacks of 9/11, this too is an act of war.
A closed off crime scene.
Union Street: just around the block