DUI Dishonor Role

 Drunk driver jumped curb, hit building, early Saturday morning

The name, address, age and link to a Facebook page I would love to lead with is Missing In Action because the perp managed to slink away -- even though the car rolled off on a front tire flattened by hurtling over a granite curb and hitting a proverbial brick wall.

Anyone who was out late Friday night knows how busy it was (mostly with college aged youths dressed up in Halloween costumes), even after the midnight hour, so I would image there were still a few pedestrians staggering home around 2:33 AM when the drunk driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the side of a brick building on Main Street.

After the crash two occupants tumbled out and were picked up and driven back to 675 Main Street by a person they had met earlier at a party on Hobart Lane.   Soon thereafter, someone from that Main Street address called authorities requesting medical attention for two college aged youths who had been "car crash victims".

Hmm...

Hobart Lane, a party house on lower Main Street and a drunk driver ... doesn't it all just fit?  Fortunately the only thing missing is a coroner's sheet.

You got away this time pal, and you probably have driven drunk all too many times before.  But your time is coming.  I just hope it happens before you kill someone.

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Cell phone callers reporting a yellow jeep that hit a utility pole at the new Atkins Corner roundabouts led police to the vehicle crashed a second time into a ditch on nearby Bay Road, South Amherst.  Arrested for DUI, driving while unlicensed, operating to endanger and leaving the scene of property damage:

Jeremy Carroll, 23 Hulst Road, Amherst, Ma, age 21

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Failing to stop at a stop sign around midnight Saturday, led to the arrest of James Ryan Macgregor, 819 Summer Street, Manchester, NH, age 19 for running the stop sign and DUI.

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And Friday around midnight police arrested Robert Danielson, 24 Hillcrest Rd, Burlington, VT, age 23 who appeared to have "blood shot, glassy eyes" and blew a .156% on the Portable Breathalyzer Test but later refused a breath test at APD headquarters.

Note high volume of ETOH (alcohol poisoning) AFD handled last weekend

Weekend Run Summary 10-26-2012

Morning After Sandy

A house on Hillcrest (no injuries)

A storage shed on South East street exploded

Large branch on top of car East Pleasant Street

 

Large pine branch blocked E Pleasant Street at height of storm

Storm Sandy Scenes

Transformer fire on Amity Street took out power all the way up to town center

As always a team effort between APD and AFD 

Pine trees uprooted and resting on power line South Pleasant Street

Flag on Town Hall took a beating

Playing football Community Field in the middle of the storm

UMass fields were well lit but nobody was playing

"We're Ready!"

David Ziomek, Town Manager John Musante, AFD Chief Tim Nelson

After conferring with Police, Fire, Dispatch, DPW, IT department, Schools, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, an our three institutes of higher education, Town Manager John Musante declared this morning  that the town is ready for superstorm Sandy barrelling our way.

At 8:30 AM he declared a state of emergency and all non essential town employees will go home at noon.  A reverse 911 call will go out shortly to roughly 9,000 subscribers (about 10% of them cell phones).  The Homeless Shelter at Baptist Church will be allowed to open at 5:00 PM today three days earlier than usual.

Generators at both Fire Stations, Police Station and all the schools have been tested and are ready to go.  While no building has been designated a "warming shelter" depending on the severity of the damage a "convenience center" may be established at one of the buildings with a generator for folks to charge their high tech gadgets.

With schools closed and many businesses closing early, there's nothing left to do now but wait.  And hope.

Town emergency memo

Frightening Weekend Party House (s)

Hobart Lane late Saturday night.  

APD deployed the PTV (Personal Transport Vehicle) for the numerous alcohol related busts. Although kids kept referring to it as the "Paddy Wagon."

 33 Phillips Street:  come out come out wherever you are

Yeah, I guess that's the most frightening thing about my headline title:  the weekend is not even over yet and already there are enough party house contenders to bring on writers cramp from recording all the details.  With Halloween on a Wednesday the excuse to party with frightening vigor impacted this weekend, probably next weekend, and of course the actual "holiday" dead center between the two.

And now that UMass cancelled all classes Monday because of #Frankenstorm, that will -- for a tiny but destructive minority -- become yet another excuse to party all the time, party all the t-i-m-e.

But Paul Markham, Phillips Street most infamous resident, will probably not be in a celebratory mood.  Three weeks ago the young, white, hipster rap star wanna-be removed his childish ode to UMass "Welcome to the Zoo" from YouTube after garnering almost 100,000 hits and a plethora of negative comments.

 Next door to #33 Phillips

Hopefully it was something I said ...

Late last night after a patrol car spied two under aged residents consuming alcohol from an open container a black-and-white armada descended on #33 Phillips Street where police arrested 8 college aged youths, three of them for open container and underaged drinking and the other five (including Markham) for two usual town bylaw infractions, Noise and Nuisance ($300 each), as well as the unusual state charges of "keeping a noisy and disorderly house" and "disturbing the peace."

Which looks to me like officials are clearly sending a message to #33 Phillips Street.  Since Markham is tone deaf, no guarantee he will get that  message.

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 Town Center late last night.  Bars were very busy all night up to 1:00 AM closing

 Police arrested young man for causing a disturbance in town center late last night

Late Friday around midnight police were called to 985 North Pleasant Street and discovered about 100 youth milling about outside and another 50 in the house.  One young lad got things off to a bad start by being particularly uncooperative and attempted to flee on foot.  He then resisted arrest, assaulted an officer and broke his expensive flashlight.

 985 North Pleasant Street

Andrew DeAngelo, 44 Auriga St, Dorcherster, Ma, age 20 arrested for open container, underage drinking, A&B on an officer, resisting arrest, disorderly, and destruction of property.

Arrested for Noise and Nuisance:

April Dawn Huff-Ring, 6 Hathway, Arlington, Ma, age 21
Jonathan Weingart, 200 Hudson St, Northborough, age 22
Cathryn Alyse Carmichael, 62 Reardons Field Ln, Attleboro Falls, Ma, age  21
Daniel Harold Fenichel, 985 N Pleasant st, Amherst, Ma, age 21


Arrested for noise:
William Hickey, 182 Hollaston Ave, Arlington, Ma, age 22
Scott Baron, 3 Stonecleave Ln, Swampscott, Ma, age 22

Ownership card for 985 North Pleasant Street, Amherst

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Around 1:00 AM early Saturday police busted up a loud party at 219 East Pleasant Street because of noise and "lots of people spilling into the street."

219 East Pleasant Street

Arrested for noise:

Erik Doty, 26 Plain Rd, Hollis, NH, age 21

Nicholas Powers, 5 Nolan Ave, Milford, Ma, age 21

Cameron Smith, 11 Maple St, Upton, Ma, age 21

David Hoch, 219 East Pleasant, Amherst, Ma, age 21

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And a party weekend would not be complete without an apartment complex joining in the fray: 1:10 AM Salem Place Condos lower Main Street. Loud noise and stereo. "Clearly unreasonable" according to APD first responder.

And the reporting party said they had warned the residents earlier to quiet down or they were going to call the police.

Arrested for Noise: Ashley Ann Zimmerman, 120 Curtis Ave, Attleboro, Ma, age 20 Kelly Elizabeth Marsh, 7 Ward Ln, Medway, Ma, age 20 Deryn Lee O'Brien, 652 Lynn Fells Parkway, Melrose, Ma, age 20

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Which leads me to me to just one more, exceedingly sobering thing.

An old friend and long-time Amherst resident forwarded me an email response she received just this morning that left her in tears, from a 26 year old, Chinese-born American woman serving in Afghanistan as an occupational therapist.

Hello XXX,

Thank you so much!!! I just got your box of goodies and we love them. The cookies are all gone. 

I have 10 soldiers (wounded) with me from a smaller military location of only 200-300 total soldiers.  A few days ago they were under attack and many were injured.  According to them, they do not have hot showers and food most of time. Their living condition is similar to a 3rd world country ... if not worse.

They loved your cookies and some of the younger soldiers (18-20yr) cried while they were eating them.

You made my day with all the sweet and lovely reading materials. I gave them to the soldiers who needed them more.  

I am really proud to be an American and really proud of myself and the job I do here. God placed me in this location.  This job allows job me to assist others, while giving me a bigger dream and better appreciation of life and freedom.

Thank you for being my supporter and friend. Please, pray for our Soldiers

 

Deja vu Day

Kira sprints to finish Larch Hill XC Classic this morning 

Alfred Hitchcock said the secret to suspense was to place likable characters in harms way, where the viewing audience knows full well the danger about to descend while the unsuspecting players haven't got a clue.

We all remember the moment we first heard the chilling news that a plane just barrelling into the North Tower, or that shots had been fired on the presidential motorcade.

This morning was a compelling reminder of what my entire family enjoyed the morning of the storm last year: running in the Larch Hill Country XC Classic at Bramble Hill Farm across the street from our house.

Yes, weather reports had warned a storm arrival was imminent, underscored by coagulated clouds of gray overhead -- just like today -- but we were lost in the pleasure of seeing old friends and engaging in a fun, family, fitness oriented activity.

Until loud snapping sound from broken branches filled the air, and eerie blue lights from dying transformers illuminated the night sky.

Tonight when I flip on a light switch and the usual happens, I will also remember.  And be thankful.

Is Amherst Ready?

 Dirt spot behind Town Hall where generator will, eventually, go

Well, no.   

Communications command-and-control are vital in an emergency, which is why the military always targets it on the first strike.  Last year the freak Halloween storm dealt a devastating blow to communications capabilities by taking out the power region wide.

Since the exceedingly rare municipal downtown WiFi is centered in Town Hall and all the emitters run off the power from streetlights, the Internet died (at least our little piece of it).  The town had talked about outfitting Town Hall with a generator well before the storm struck and the 20/20 hindsight brought on by the massive power outage pushed an $85,000 appropriation through Joint Capital Planning Committee and then Town Meeting approval.

Thus the money was available to spend as of July 1st, start of the new fiscal year.  But as of this morning we have a dirt spot where the new generator is supposed to be. And high up on the top of Town Hall a new more powerful Cisco WiFi emitter has been installed, but without a generator will be useless should the power go out.

 Cisco WiFi emitter high atop Town Hall

In the immediate aftermath of the storm last year AFD Chief Nelson was charged with writing up an assessment of how well the town handled it and what steps needed to be taken to improve response for the next one. Number one on the "Action Item" list was the Town Hall generator.

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Filed under the "it could be worse" category:  AFD Central and North Stations both have generators and WiFi, the water treatment plant and major water wells,  and of course Amherst Police Department at 111 Main Street has an emergency generator so the Community Room can and will serve as an Emergency Operations Center.

Town Manager John Musante seated left, Chief Scott Livingstone standing

Last year the EOC was activated for Hurricane Irene (which became a Tropic Storm on hitting New England).