Big Story indeed

So today's Gazette and Amherst Bulletin carry the big story about rowdy student parties over the past couple weekends. They even assigned both a reporter and photographer to traipse about after midnight in the problem areas. Let's hope UMass students and officials take note. And the Gazette continues to assign staff to cover the war zone.


Letter of complaint to Select Board

Party Boys Return

Aspiring DJ Peter Clark, 41 Davis Neck Road, East Falmouth, Mass, age 21, and his sidekick Emerson Rutkowski, 36 Puritan Park, Swampscott, MA, age 20, were arrested last Friday for violating the town noise bylaw. Again.

Apparently they made like the Israelites bringing down the walls of Jericho, only this time with amplified music at their large apartment complex in North Amherst, situated only a beer can throw from the riot that occurred last weekend at 121 Meadow Street.

Both boys you may remember from last winter/spring when they unabashedly partied at 23 Tracy Circle in South Amherst, garnering repeated noise citations. In fact the boys were so upset with Amherst Police response to neighbors complaints by enforcing Town Meeting approved fines, that they founded a feeble Facebook group--now gone underground--called "F_ck the Fines."


Since UMass just recently extended the "Code of Conduct" to cover off-campus behavior, perhaps Peter Clark and Emerson Rutkowski can become the Poster Boys for how UMass can effectively deal with this scourge upon our town: Expulsion.

A bad apple here and a rotten apple there, stinks up the whole bunch.

#25 Town House Condos

According to Amherst Police Department narrative:

"Upon arrival I could hear very loud music throughout the complex. Upon entering the east quad, I observed approximately 150 college students, many underage drinking. The music was extremely loud and I observed girls dancing on tables. Upon seeing APD most parties fled. There were massive speakers and DJ equipment on the patio. The residents of #25, where the people were centered and the DJ equipment was located, were ID'd and placed under arrest for violating the noise bylaw."

Amherst Bank robbery!

Northampton Cooperative Bank, 390 College Street, Amherst

More Recent Update Springfield Republican (you will recognize the photo)

2: 25 PM UPDATE: My friends at the Springfield Republican are reporting that Belchertown Police nabbed the perps.
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Another unarmed robbery. This time it's Northampton Cooperative Bank on lower College Street, around noonish. All schools went into lockdown for 35 minutes or so (code name "hurricane"). Police are on the scene. Lieutenant Ronald A. Young described this one, however, as "different" from the previous heist in town center five months ago by a young couple with a drug problem.

Lieutenant Young (back to camera)

Message from the Superintendent:

All district schools were placed in "lockdown" status effective 12:00 p.m. today, September 20, 2011. This action was a result of a robbery which occurred at a commercial building in the vicinity of Fort River School. Lockdown status means that all windows and doors are locked and no one is permitted to enter or leave the building for any reason. Instruction continued as normal until 12:35 when we received clearance from the Amherst Police Department to come out of lockdown status after the robbery suspects were apprehended in Belchertown. Principals report that staff and students did an outstanding job of following all district safety protocols throughout the lockdown process. As with all such instances, the district will use today's lockdown as an opportunity to assess our processes and procedures to determine if there are areas for improvement. If children, or parents, have questions or concerns about today's lockdown or safety in general, please contact your Principal or your school's guidance counselor.

Party House of the Weekend

55 South Prospect Street, Amherst. Valuation $408,300

So if you have a warrant out for your arrest, don't party hardy at 2:30 AM in Amherst town center!

Amherst police broke up a party at 55 South Prospect Street because of loud voices and music at 2:00 AM early Saturday morning, arresting five residents for violation of the town's noise ordinance, bringing fines of $300 each, and another co-conspirator, Maurice Edwards, 30 Gatehouse Road, Amherst, arrested "On a warrant initiated by other agency."

Property owner card for 55 South Prospect Street

Getting High in Hadley

Two balloons descend before dark

An Escalation of Violence

167 College Street, Amherst

A female friend rushed two male UMass students to Cooley Dickinson Hospital around 2:30 AM Sunday morning with "apparent stab wounds" and another college-aged student was transported by Amherst Fire Department to Bay State Medical Center in Springfield with possible head injuries, all the result of "a lot of people and fighting going on outside listed location".

Although the damages are not considered "life threatening," the inner-city gang-like violence underscores the other major problem associated with student party houses: Not just loud noise, vandalism, public urination and the like, but the real potential for a violent, painful, permanent death.

For which it stands

Over 150 citizens gathered to remember the Civil War service of 5 black Amherst residents

For the second late summer Sunday in a row Amherst hosted a rare solemn ceremony to remember war, something the outspoken town does rather routinely, but usually from only one perspective: anti war.

Last week we honored, remembered and cried for 3,000 Americans slaughtered ten years earlier in a two-hour killing spree unprecedented in our history--especially since civilians comprised over 90% of the casualties.

Today we gathered to remember and honor five black soldiers from Amherst who fought in the Civil War, another unprecedented event in our history--the costliest conflict ever when measured in American casualties.

The five veterans are all buried in West Cemetery, where its most famous occupant, Emily Dickinson, tends to overshadow all the other deserving souls buried there. Not today however.

Raymond Brooks, a Native American, and great-great grandson of Christopher Thompson

Bob Romer, Veterans Agent Steven Connor, Reynolds Winslow, Dave Ziomek

Charles Thompson: upstanding citizen of Amherst and the USA

Amherst's "Sacred Dead Tablets" in storage