Barbarians at the gate

So the ever community conscious Amherst Police Department is holding a citizen outreach event tonight at the Crocker Farm School from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM to educate South Amherst residents about staying safe in their castles.

A serial series of burglary break ins have occurred over the past six weeks in the neighborhood late at night while homeowners are asleep.

Growing up on Amherst's Crow Hill a generation ago, I can't even remember a time when we locked our doors. Of course that was also back when the milkman made deliveries to our front porch. Back before the University of Massachusetts built Southwest High Rise dorms and the phallic Du Bois Library to accommodate a surge of students more than doubling the population of a former farm town.

Note to Perp: if you break in my house under cover of darkness, getting within 50 yards of my sleeping family, I will do everything within my aging powers to rip your heart out and shove it down your throat.

APD award winning community outreach blog

9/11/10 in the People's Republic

Umass Daily Collegian reports

Following the pattern of all the previous anniversaries of this seismically horrific event, today was another carbon copy of the stunning weather we started to enjoy that awful morning.

I wonder if perhaps the pernicious mastermind actually calculated how early-to-mid September generated consistently beautiful weather in the Eastern Standard Time zone so his rookie pilots would have a better chance of steering their captured weapons to target.

The ceremony at Central Fire Station was short and haunting. The flag at half staff, a lone bagpiper playing Amazing Grace and the lonely chime of a fire station bell signaling a "last alarm".

Town center was as busy this morning as I remember it nine years ago. Although this year we had a lot of company in town center with folks holding signs for DA candidate Dave Sullivan who was also present. Like many of his supporters he thanked me for being there simply to remember the greatest tragedy of our lifetime.

House representative candidate Daniel Sandell made an extended appearance as well, and the incumbent he is trying to unseat, Ellen Story came and stood with me for the last half hour or so. She had been at the Granby Public Safety Building grand opening and reported how well they marked the memory of 9/11.

Yes, the Umass Republic Club did appear and brought dozens and dozens of flags they planted around town center. And a special thanks to Cinda Jones and Tom Porter for standing to remember.

Patriotic cutie.


Patriotic Dog

Does President Obama remember 9/11?

UPDATE: 8:15 AM, 9/11/10

And today the bright sun and severe clear blue sky only reaffirm the memories of that morning. I honestly can't remember a 9/11 over the past 9 years where the weather was anything less.

I just checked my sitemeter and over the past hour had 14 visitors and 8 of them came doing a search under the term "flags fly at half staff on 9/11?" or something very similar. Kind of shows the President could have done a better job getting the word out a tad earlier


UPDATE: 6:25 PM 9/10/10 Finally, he remembered
Although you gotta wonder how many Federal, State, City or Town officials were still at their desks that late on a Friday afternoon.
##########################################
5:30 PM (original pissed off upload)

Yeah, yeah I know he's scheduled for a photo op or two tomorrow, but for Christ's sake where the Hell is the Presidential Proclamation to fly American flags at half-staff on 9/11?

And if memory serves, President Bush made it a permanent day for them to fly in that position of mourning, so I guess there's no need every year to reissue the edict--but he did it last year and this morning I received an email from my patriotic buddy at the State House reminding Massachusetts authorities to fly their American flags at half staff:

-----Original Message-----
From: Waters, Suzzette (BSB)
To: 'amherstac@aol.com'
Sent: Fri, Sep 10, 2010 11:33 am
Subject: Half Staff Notification for September 11, 2010

Pursuant to the Presidential Proclamation for September 11, 2010, Patriot Day, the American and Commonwealth Flags should be flown at half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, September 11, 2010. Once issued, the presidential proclamation should be available for viewing here.

If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact us.

Suzzette
Suzzette Waters
State House Event Coordinator
Bureau of State Office Buildings
##########################################

She helpfully included a hot link to the White House Presidential proclamations webpage, but when I clicked it, the most recent concerned "Labor Day." Since late this morning I noticed two updates: "Grandparents Day" and "Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week."

But here it is 5:30 PM and nothing concerning 9/11. Bad form Mr. President!

9/11 remembered

So now Amherst is really in trouble as they have pissed off the Umass (Young) Republican Club, who will march to downtown (or maybe catch a cab) on 9/11 to display 150 American flags to protest the decision of the People's Republic not to unfurl the 29 commemorative flags; the ones that do fly on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, where we remember those have sacrificed so greatly for our country--with far too many coming as a response to 9/11.

And am I only the only one in the area annoyed by those ubiquitous radio ads for Umass football saturating the airwaves these days with a hackneyed cliched format highlighting the military, combative aspects of football?

Forgivable at first, but now they are being used to hype ticket sales to tomorrow's home game against Holy Cross which just so happens to occur on 9/11.

Sent this to my counterpart at Umass--as in I'm a critic, he's a highly paid flack.


Original Message-----
From: amherstac@aol.com
To: edblag@admin.umass.edu
Sent: Fri, Sep 10, 2010 11:06 am
Subject: 9/11 and Umass football

Hey Ed,
So those football radio commercials are pretty annoying (and I'm pro military) but now it kind of merges/conflicts with 9/11.

And I would never suggest America should give up going about its business on that day, but it would be nice if perhaps somebody in charge of the game on Saturday had a moment of silence at half-time or maybe even just before kickoff as a sign of respect.

Larry K

9/11/10

How can you forget! How can any American possibly forget?

Those magnificent Twin Towers, standing at attention for a generation, suddenly, without warning--like bolts out of the blue--GONE. Victims of evil beyond civilized imagination. A new world order etched in the blood of thousands of innocent civilians.
###################################
Last year's post (some things never change):

It's been far too many beers, too many tears and not nearly enough years--as the pain is still palpable. But mostly on THAT anniversary, especially during THOSE morning hours when the September sun is usually bright against a clear blue sky and daily routine sets a seemingly safe steady course.

Where were you when you heard the news? And as bits and pieces of information first floated in, when did you figure it out? Did you worry about a friend or loved one now suddenly thrust in harms way? Did you wonder what landmark, loaded with innocent people, was next?

Nine years or ninety, we must never forget.

I will be standing silently in town center on the morning of 9/11 from 8:45 until 10:30 (also attending Amherst Fire Department ceremony in front of Central Station at 9:45 AM) clutching an American flag and my three-year-old daughter. Feel free to join me, if only for a moment or two.



Amherst Ground Zero commemorative flag

Not just an Irish thing

DA race gets desperate

So former Assistant District Attorney Mike Cahillane's campaign for District Attorney is pulling out all the stops as they just trumpeted an endorsement from Amherst School Committee Chair Irv Rhodes.

Bonus points, I suppose, because Irv is black. Especially since Cahillane's boss, Elizabeth Scheibel came into such criticism for pressing forward the Jason Vassell case which was recently pretty much dismissed--a case Mr. Cahillane had a big hand in prosecuting.

Gotta wonder about Cahillane's campaign spinmeister using the People's Republic of Amherst as representative of the hard working 'Happy Valley', all those normal towns and cities that encompass the Northwestern District like Hadley, Hatfield, Belchertown, Easthampton or South Hadley.

Speaking as a 5th generation Amherst resident, I think not. And Mr. Rhodes will probably catch some grief for not clearly spelling out that he was speaking strictly for himself and not the Amherst School Committee, a charge SC member Catherine Sanderson is pelted with all the time for daring to have an open, transparent blog reporting school committee concerns.

Earlier today Dave Sullivan's campaign picked up yet another heavyweight endorsement from longtime judge (retired) Alvertus J. Morse.

#####################Cahillane campaign press release:
Amherst School Committee Chair Backs Cahillane for DA

“I am Irv Rhodes, chair of the Amherst School Committee and member of the Regional School Committee and I am writing to endorse and support Mike Cahillane for District Attorney.”


“Mike has extensive prosecutorial experience as can be witnessed by his
experience working as an Assistant District Attorney in the very office that
he seeks as a candidate for District Attorney. I am particularly impressed
as a former educator, with Mike's track record of fighting cybercrime by
going into schools to conduct workshops with kids as young as those in the
first and second grades. Additionally Mike has done a number of training
sessions with school administrators, guidance counselors and other staff on
how to identify and prevent bullying behavior and he wants to expand this
outreach, if elected, because he knows that it is important to prevent crime as well as prosecute those who break the law.”

Irv Rhodes

Labor Day in the People's Republic

10:00 AM

The vast majority of Americans slaughtered on the morning of 9/11, just a week after celebrating Labor Day, were toiling at their place of employment after settling in for just another routine Tuesday.

Of course, that is what the cowardly, malevolent mastermind counted on for maximum damage. And had the first plane impact been only an hour later and many floors lower the carnage would have been exponentially worse.

Amherst can fly the 29 commemorative American flags to celebrate the Labor movement in America (hardly a non-violent affair) but will remove them tomorrow, leaving barely a trace of the red-white-and-blue to inhabit the downtown this coming 9/11.

Ludlow knows how to honor, respect and remember 9/11