Fire!

 141 Leverett Road, Amherst.  Garage

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The first major structure fire of the year, a rare event for Amherst, struck a house at 141 Leverett Road last night around 5:15 PM, only about two miles from AFD North Station.

Amherst firefighters were on the scene quickly, with mutual aid provided by units from Belchertown and Northampton, but the fire was already roaring.

The family of five got out of the 1.5 level wood frame structure safely, although one person was slightly burned and treated on the scene.  The house appears to be a major loss.

141 Leverett Road, Amherst.  Main house

Murder, Suicide, Pedophilia and Secrecy

Amherst Regional High School

I'm an observer/reporter who has witnessed first hand many of the epic Amherst blunders brought on by Political Correctness run amok: cancelling a production of "West Side Story" yet allowing that same High School to perform R rated "The Vagina Monologues" only five years later; or over the past eleven years, the pernicious problem with annually displaying downtown commemorative American flags on 9/11.

But one incident -- the sordid saga of Steven Myers -- a pedophile who ever so briefly commanded the Amherst Regional High School, stands out at the head of the class.  And if School Superintendent Gus Sayer or the Regional School Committee had their way, his reign would have been  a l-o-t longer. 

A recent in depth  Boston Magazine article asks important questions (with an obvious answer):  Did Steven Myers molest his own adopted child (whom he brought to Amherst back in the summer of 2001 when first hired but was taken away by state authorities after the local incident came to light) and did that send the boy on a downward spiral culminating in a murderous streetfight two years ago?

Well, yes.

The question I have is how did this pedophile manage to stay out of jail, and how does he continue to acquire jobs in K-12 education?

In Amherst the answer was pretty simple:  the hiring committee was lied to in recommendations by previous associates and the committee relied on a CORI report, which of course was clean since it only includes crimes in the state of Massachusetts.  His misdeeds with children occurred in Santa Cruz, California and Denver, Colorado and he was never arrested for them.

The previous ARHS Principal, Scott Goldman, had stirred up a bees nest during his brief four year tenure when he pushed for a police officer assigned to the schools.  Which in Amherst at the time was kind of like suggesting a Republican be appointed school Superintendent. 

So when it came time to do a background check on Goldman's replacement the 16-member search committee couldn't be bothered to ask APD to do what they do best:  investigate.  And it would have only taken one phone call by them to either police departments in Myer's past job locations to discover his fascination with young boys. 

Sayer had written a letter to the mother of the 15-year-old freshman acknowledging inappropriate conduct by Principal Myers and basically saying he had issued a stern warning not to do it again.  Meanwhile he told Myers that if  "news got out" his position as principal would be "untenable."

A group of about 50 concerned parents and friends of the family invaded the January 15, 2002 School Committee meeting with copies in hand of Sayer's letter, which he later complained about its release, calling it  "private".  Although Myers was not present, his lawyer left the meeting and soon returned with a statement from him saying he was resigning.

The following week, January 22, 2002 , four times as many parents and teachers descended on the School Committee meeting to voice strong support for Myers, including a passionate statement from teacher (now, ten years later, Chair of the very same Regional School Committee) Kip Fonsh:  "I am saddened and angered at the devastation and havoc created by the unfortunate and ill-advised public airing of these issues."

Ninety teachers also signed a statement of support for their former boss and unveiled it at a press conference January 16, the day after the chaotic School Committee meeting.   And a letter circulated by two male students naively supporting Myers was also signed by  575 students (about one-third of total enrollment).

Their close, in light of recent events, is particularly striking:  "The treatment you have received throughout this ordeal has been both disgusting and unfair.  And though some community members have been eager to condemn you, we assure you that we will stand behind you as both an educator and as a person.  We wish you the best in the future, and hope that your bold spirit serves you well wherever you may end up."

Lost in the avalanche of support for Myers was the other question dissident parents had for the School Committee at the original January 15 meeting:  Why had Superintendent Gus Sayer not filed the state mandated 51A report with authorities when he first heard the mother's complaint about inappropriate contact with her 15-year-old son?

Sayer choose instead to investigate the matter himself, and then send a "private" letter to the mother to try to quietly appease her -- but at the same time confirming inappropriate behavior took place.  An article in the Republican last year on his retirement from South Hadley High School is especially revealing:

Still, Sayer said he had misgivings about Myers almost from the beginning. A few months before the nipple story became public, he talked to the principal about reports that he spent a lot of time behind closed doors with male students.

“I ordered him to change his behavior,” Sayer said. “Then the whole thing blew up.” 


So he had misgivings almost from the beginning and then he gets a complaint from a mother about inappropriate activity with a modus operandi befitting of those misgivings, but still does not file a 51A report?

Once the news broke of Myers sordid past even die hard supporters became mute.  Myers silently slinked off into the sunset.  Gus Sayer retired a year after the Amherst firestorm only to sign on as Superintendent with South Hadley High School four months later. 

On January 14, 2010 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, using a scarf given to her as a Christmas present by her younger sister, committed suicide.  Months of outright bullying had taken its toll.  A new firestorm had now ignited under Gus Sayer's watch.

And his modus operandi changed little from the way he handled the Myers case eight years earlier.  DA Elizabeth Scheibel branded the action of administrators "troublesome" while directly refuting Sayer's assertion that school officials were never made aware of the bullying:

"Phoebe’s harassment was common knowledge to most of the South Hadley High School student body. The investigation has revealed that certain faculty, staff and administrators of the high school also were alerted to the harassment of Phoebe Prince before her death. Prior to Phoebe’s death, her mother spoke with at least two school staff members about the harassment Phoebe had reported to her".

DA Dave Sullivan, Scheibel's successor, went even further:  "Elizabeth Scheibel described it as troublesome.  But I think that's an under statement!"  He continues, "Comments made today by Gus Sayer did not fully reflect on the gravity of what happened in the school."

Calls for Sayer's resignation fell on deaf ears. 

South Hadley would eventually pay the Prince family $225,000 to hold harmless Sayer and all other town/school officials.  In May of 2011, a Hampshire Superior Court Judge Judge C. Brian McDonald  calling their actions "shameful", fined the South Hadley School Committee $5,000 for violating the Open Meeting Law, a secret meeting used to give Sayer a contract extension and a 3% raise. 

Of course South Hadley School Committee's most shameful act of all occurred when they hired Gus Sayer in the first place. 

Renewed

Hampshire Athletic Club, new main entrance 

Just in time for the surge in participation HAC's new main entrance is now in use. The final piece of a three part project that started last spring with a much needed renovation of the men's and women's locker rooms.

January is of course the health club industry's peak month because of New Year's resolutions. And in New England inclement weather also helps to keep people indoors.

Unfortunately, for the majority of those new customers, come February they are already back to their old habits, which do not include working out.  That formulae is built in to standard industry pricing, so those who do show up regularly year round are somewhat subsidized by the newbies in January who pay to play and then don't play for long.

Planet Fitness, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach by purposely pricing their product four to five times lower than industry standard, and then hope the majority of customers come infrequently or never, but keep paying their monthly dues since it is such a token amount. 

Seems to be working ... so far.

Ice Age

351 Main Street, Amherst

Yes, buried under all that ice and snow there's a sidewalk ... somewhere.

Under Reported Story Of The Year

 UMass Amherst Alumni Association, Memorial Hall

UMass football ascension to F.B.S. becoming a financial black hole -- not to mention the embarrassing 1-11 competitive result -- has received plenty of coverage lately, with major long-form stories in the Boston Globe and most recently their BIG sister publication, the New York Times.

And with losses of $8 million (if you count capital improvements, which the town of Amherst never does with its municipal golf course), deservedly so.

But another annual multi-million dollar expenditure of tax money -- $949,789 in cash, plus another $1 million of "in kind" overhead support -- on the UMass/Amherst campus stays under the radar when it comes to media scrutiny.  Probably because the story is a complicated one.

Last April, after filing a public documents request, I first published the Bentz, Whaley, Flessner report analyzing the current state of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, a report costing taxpayers $24,5000. According to that report, "The situation is viewed as complex and dysfunctional."

The volunteer board of directors "must cease the in-fighting and hostility that has been described as its mode of operation of over a decade."

The board of directors consists of 18 elected members, 12 appointed by the President, 2 student representatives, 3 ex officio directors and one alumni networks representative.  Although if you go to their webpage, only 16 elected members are listed.

Yes, as I said, complicated.  Or perhaps "confusing" is a better word.

The alumni membership, of which I am one, now consists of all 235,000 living Umass Amherst graduates, but only those who donate a minimum of $50 can vote (talk about "pay to play") in the Board of Directors election, usually held in the spring. Last year about 2,000 were eligible or only 1% of the total membership, down from 5,000 in 2010.

Their most recent minutes June 4th, approved at the October 27, 2012 meeting, had only one item on the agenda (not that there was a published agenda), which sounds like a change in direction:  phasing out "volunteers" and turning over more responsibility to the paid staff of 19 UMass employees.

One has to wonder if that paradigm shift goes all the way to the top to including staff oversight by the Board of Directors -- all of whom are "volunteers"? 

Not that they seem concerned, however, as the motion was passed unanimously by the 19 (out of 34) voting members "present". 

Interestingly, they unanimously support  "becoming more professionally driven and less reliant on the use of volunteers to address operational matters" but do so in a "Conference Call" meeting that clearly violates Mass Open Meeting Law.

The Attorney General has only recently allowed "remote participation," but one major caveat is that those who participate remotely do not count towards a quorum.  In other words, a majority of bodies must be physically present in the room in order to have a legitimate committee meeting or vote on any item.

The definition of a "public body" subject to Open Meeting Law includes any "multiple-member board, commission, committee or subcommittee within the executive or legislative branch or within any county, district, city, region or town, however created, elected, appointed or otherwise constituted, established to serve a public purpose." 

The  Bentz, Whaley, Flessner report cites the UMAAA "as both a University department as well as a 501-(c) (3) organization."


In journalism the expression "phoned in a story" means the resulting article is the byproduct of less than optimal efforts of the reporter and newspaper to "cover" an event.

The same sentiment certainly applies for phoned in, closed, bureaucratic committee meetings -- except in this case, "cover" has a completely different meaning.

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And Another One Gone

Nick Grabbe interviews me July 4, 2010. Photo by former Gazette reporter Mary Carey

Yet another longtime Gazette/Bulletin employee is retiring their reporter's notebook. After 32 years, the majority of them as editor for the Amherst Bulletin, Nick Grabbe is leaving our hometown newspaper.

I first met Nick in January of 1982 when he reported on the grand opening of my karate school at the Mt Farms Mall in Hadley, then called "The Dead Mall." He got the facts right, spelled my last name correctly and -- even more important -- allowed me to whiz high speed karate kicks within centimeters of his head.

After publishing a hundred or more of my acerbic Letters To The Editor over the next ten years he asked me to write a monthly column for the Amherst Bulletin in 1991.   A paid position I proudly held until February, 2004 when I resigned over not being allowed to pen a follow up column on "The Vagina Monologues" being performed at Amherst Regional High School, after the first column sparked international attention.

Nick would routinely meet every Friday with Town Manager Barry Del Castilho in his office for years on end. I always thought it demonstrated a routine coziness reporters should not have with such a high ranking governmental source.

(Kind of like having a going away reception in the Town Room at Amherst Town Hall, the current seat of government, to mark his departure.)

But, in spite of a few differences over the past many years, I will miss seeing his byline. 

Free At Last!

Stephanie O'Keeffe, Amherst Select Board chair, recieves Governor Patrick's signed copy of declaration honoring today's 150th anniversary celebration from resident historian Bob Romer

Town and state officials, police and fire personnel, a pack of media, and a bevy of citizens totaling  almost one hundred turned out this brisk afternoon to celebrate the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, a decree that freed the slaves in warring southern states.

Crowd gathered in front of the steps to Town Hall

District Attorney Dave Sullivan chats with Amherst Town Manager John Musante

The Lord Jeff Inn broke out their seldom seen American flag

Amherst remembered its own black soldiers who fought in the Civil War