Bad spirits be gone

351 Northampton Rd, Amherst Gourmet, d/b/a Ginger Garden.

About 35 years ago Steak Out restaurant chain opened perhaps the first franchise allowed in Amherst--although it practically straddles the Hadley line--at 351 Northampton Road . They only lasted about a year but had signed a long-term, iron-clad lease, thus the landlord made out just fine letting such a prime location sit empty.

Prospective tenants had to beat the guaranteed amount coming in from the absentee corporation, thus the owner had no incentive to entertain reasonable offers.

In the late 70s, just after UMass had undergone a dramatic growth spurt, bars in Amherst could serve 18-year-old's, host all-you-can-drink "happy hours" and promote discount drink specials. Back then a liquor license was a permit to print money. So more than a few entrepreneurs risked the high rent and opened a bar in that location targeting students. And they all failed.

Locals--not privy to the high rent etched in stone--started to whisper the location was haunted. Joey D's was the last student bar, and at the very end they had become so desperate for business they advertised 4-for-1 drink specials.

The jinx was broken when China Dynasty opened almost 20 years ago (the owner purchased the building after yet another restaurant failed), but the curse could not be totally denied as China Dynasty closed suddenly a couple years ago.

So best of luck to Ginger Garden, opening soon. May the cycle be once again broken.
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After 30 years in business Charlie's tavern in town center suddenly served their last drink. Another proprietor immediately wished to reopen another drinking establishment and ran into the bureaucracy known as Amherst; but it seems they will open soon--just in time for the summer lull.

Restaurants, bars and health clubs. Types of businesses than never need fear the disruptive power of the Internet. Unlike newspapers, record-book-or-video stores.

Food For Thought Books recently announced they were $250,000 behind in payments to suppliers and now hope for salvation via fundraising, kind of like the downtown typewriter shop.Video To Go, an Amherst institution, succumbed to bricks and mortar competition from national chain, Blockbuster Video who later became extinct like the dinosaurs due to Internet competition from Netflix.

And Pleasant Street Theater Video, the last remaining video store in Northampton, also a Valley legend, is up for sale (kind of like JP Morgan trying to sell RMS Titanic moments after she scraped that iceberg.) And will no doubt be replaced by yet another business--probably not a video store.
It's been a fact of life since the days of JP Morgan: The majority of start-up businesses fail to celebrate their second anniversary. But still they come. Such is the cycle of life...and death.

Town flag inches forward

Although it seems to be taking longer than the American Revolution, the Amherst town flag quest received positive feedback at the 4/20 Select Board meeting, even from Alisa Brewer who was a tad crabby about the process a couple months back.

Although you have to wonder what she meant by the Amherst schools not being interested in purchasing town flags considering their devotion to American flags, since state regulations do require an American flag in every home room.

The six town flags will cost $88.48 each and costs will be covered by the Amherst Chamber of Commerce ($530.88) and the Amherst Rotary Club will cover the slightly more expensive one for the State House Great Hall of Flags.

Nationally renowned designer Barry Moser has agreed to volunteer his professional artistic talent to design the flag (based on citizen submissions earlier in the process) as long as the town can wait until the fall. And since it has been this long in the making...

The other 'Gateway' project advances

Kendrick Park: A giant green amoeba in the heart of Amherst

The Amherst Select Board on Monday heard the first public presentation on design specifications for Kendrick Park from Peggy Roberts chair of the Design Committee and their consultants, the Cecil Group (who also applied to the Amherst Redevelopment Authority for the Gateway Project proposal but lost out to ACP Associates) concerning this crown jewel of downtown property that abuts the Gateway district leading to UMass.

Amherst is about to develop its very own Central Park.

Serendipity

My first purchase after monetizing this blog will be a radio scanner (or maybe an iphone if somebody makes an app like that) but until then gut intuition and luck work pretty well.

On Monday I decided to up pick my 4-year-old at preschool a little early, so I'm driving though town center at 11:30 AM and instantly spot two marked cruisers near the bank, but the unmarked car behind one of them tipped me instantly. Why would the chief (who usually walks uptown to get his coffee at The Black Sheep) drive his car to Bank of America, less than 1,000 yards from the police station? Obviously he was in a hurry.

So I double park, snap a couple pictures grab my daughter, speed home, compose a short twitter-like lead and post the breaking news story first (with photos).

Yesterday I go to the APD blog at 12:44 PM and spot the breaking news, stop-the-presses information they had just that minute uploaded about capturing the second perp in the Great Town Center Bank Caper.

So I again compose a twitter-like lead, create a hot link to their timely post and update my post at 12:45 PM, then quickly send a link to my friends at the Gazette, Republican, and Ch 22 TV. Then wait...and watch. As Commander Spock would say, "fascinating."

Ch 22 was first to post online the hot story around 1:05 PM, the Springfield Republican second at 1:20 PM and the Gazette third about five minutes later. But not one of them credited the Amherst Police blog as the source of information.

I also sent the link to my friend Mary Serreze who owns the hyperlocal news site Northampton Media and she instantly published the link under the headline "Amherst Police Department Blog: 2nd Arrest Made in Bank Robbery

Journalists should always "consider the source" when gathering information; but it should not matter in the least the means by which that information is disseminated. And for the understaffed police department it's a lot easier to publish a press release on their blog rather than individually field phone calls, emails, and in-person requests for interviews from multiple media outlets.

The Internet is the most powerful journalistic tool to come along since the invention of the printing press. Embrace it!

Morning in Amherst

11:15 AM: Bement School pays a visit to Miss Emily

11:30 AM: Miss Emily reads poetry to Mr. Frost

11: 45 AM: DPW workers remove ugly green wooden cover and fire up fountain at Sweetser Park

UPDATE: 12:45 PM Obviously Amherst Police did not take the morning off as they have just announced a second arrest in the bank heist in town center yesterday. On their blog no less--I love it!

Newfangled Barn Raising

Actually it's a modern, steel, indoor riding arena. Thus my daughter Kira and a gaggle of local kids can maintain horse riding lessons year round.

Note foreground: now you know why they call themselves "Muddy Brook".

Solar farm moves forward

Despite vocal opposition from immediate neighbors, the Select Board tonight voted unanimously to recommend article #24 to Amherst Town Meeting, a motion that will allow the Town Manager (who is appointed by the Select Board) to enter into a long-term contract with BlueWave Capital for low cost electricity generated by a sea of solar panels placed on the old landfill.

ARTICLE 24. Authorize term of lease for Old Landfill (Planning Board)
To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Manager to lease all or any portion of the Old Landfill across Belchertown Road from the existing Transfer Station from time to time by one or more leases for such term of years up to 30 years and for such consideration as the Town Manager shall determine, for the purpose of installing and operating thereon a solar array for electric power generation and distribution, and to authorize the Town Manager to grant such easements in, on, under and across over said land for utility and access purposes, as reasonably necessary to install and operate such a solar array, and further to authorize the Town Manager to enter into a power purchase agreement with any lessee of such property to purchase all or a portion of the electricity production of the solar array and to enter into an agreement with the local utility to participate in the Net Metering program pursuant to the Acts of 2008, c. 169, §78, the so-called Green Communities Act, as may be amended.