Game On!

 Taste of Amherst prepared for Friday opening

Bring your galoshes and maybe an umbrella, the once delayed 22nd annual Taste of Amherst will not  be twice denied.  (Virtual) Gates open at 5:00 p.m. and if you just want to walk around and smell the food, entry is free.  

Sad Symbol

 

Ghost Bike, Amherst College

A shell shocked aide to Robert Kennedy was lamenting a last-second change in plans for the Senator's exit from the Ambassador Hotel ballroom that fateful night, leading him directly into the path of his assassin.

Another more experienced aide then wondered how many times previously a last-second change in plans had diverted him from just such an ambush.

Anyone who takes cycling seriously has a near-miss story to tell.  So a ghost bike hits home:  There but for the grace of God ...

A freshly painted ghost bike has now appeared at the location of the May 26 Sunday afternoon fatal bike vs truck collision at the east entrance to Amherst College off busy College Street (Rt 9).

The tragic accident, still under investigation, took the life of Hampshire College student Livingston Pangburn, age 22.

Who probably also had his share of near misses. 

Raining On Our Parade

 Raindrops keep falling on my head ...

Well, actually, The 22nd Annual Taste Of Amherst. 

Breaking news from Chamber Director Tony Maroulis: the culinary event is cancelled for TONIGHT, but God  (or Allah) willing will be more than happening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Friday 6/14, 5-10pm; Saturday 6/15, 12-10pm; and Sunday 6/16, 12-4pm.

You don't bring me flowers ...

On a cheerier note the Amherst Business Improvement District has installed flower arrangements throughout the heart of the downtown, brightening up even a rainy day.

Open Government To The Max?

Amherstma.gov  talks the talk

UPDATE:  Now I'm told the secret meeting will be held Monday at 11:00 a.m.

  I'm always a tad concerned when pubic officials hold a private meeting in a cozy office -- especially when it's the highest elected body in town government, the five-member Select Board. (For those of you outside quaint New England, they are the town's executive branch, aka Mayor if we were a city.)

Even more concerning when they are discussing land acquisition in northeast Amherst that could cost the taxpayers $6.5 million dollars, the most expensive land taking in town history.

To recap:  More than a majority of Amherst Town Meeting rejected the idea of taking by eminent domain (which requires a two-thirds super majority) 154 acres of woodland property in northeast Amherst as a means of stopping the student housing development known as "The Retreat."

A private developer, Landmark Properties, has offered a private landowner W.D. Cowls, Inc $6.5 million to purchase the property.  Since the property is currently in Ch61A conservation the town has a "right of first refusal" on the property, but only a yes-or-no option to match a legitimate offer. 

Town Counsel has twice rejected the Purchase & Sale agreement between the two private parties as not being "legitimate" because it offers the buyer too easy a way out somewhere down the road.  Attorneys for both private parties agreed the first offer was problematic but feel strongly the second one is "legitimate."

 Amherst Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe speaks to Town Meeting

Yes, Ms. O'Keeffe says she has tentatively scheduled a "public discussion" of the Right of First Refusal for July 29; but I wonder what happens in the first few minutes of Friday's meeting if the Town Attorney tells them -- aka breaking news -- that the Purchase & Sale agreement is indeed legitimate?

Because at that point there's no "bargaining strategy" to discuss. It's an all-or-nothing $6.5 million bid to which the town can either match or fold.

And the vast majority of taxpayers, unless they live in Cushman Village, would prefer the Select Board take a pass. But at the very least, EVERYBODY needs to see this play out in the clear, open, light of day.

Click headline below to enlarge/read or click here

Executive Session email exchange by Larry Kelley

Cart Before The Horse?

 

Maria Geryk addresses Amherst Town Meeting mid May

So in rather all too typical ass backward style the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee is taking public input (until tomorrow) on the performance of the town's highest paid public employee ($147, 000), Amherst Regional Public Schools Superintendent Maria Geryk.

I say ass backwards because back in April this same rubber stamp committee extended Maria Geryk's lucrative contract for a whopping five years. 

Yes, Amherst does go though Superintendents like college students go through kegs of cheap beer, so maybe a five year contract will bring stability to the top spot, but you have to wonder how serious the committee takes public input when they are only now asking?

Amherst Downtown Business Shake Up

 
 Alex Krogh-Grabbe addresses Amherst Select Board

The Amherst Business Improvement District announced rather suddenly this morning by way of unscheduled email that rookie Director Alex Krogh-Grabbe will step down as Director on July 1st, start of the new fiscal year.

Krogh-Grabbe was hired last year to lead the fledgling BID which, like the Director,  is still in its start-up year.

The Amherst Select Board gave final approval for the BID in October of 2011 after business icons Barry Roberts and Jerry Jolly spent two years laying the groundwork for formation of the district.

Northampton created a BID in 2009.

According to Executive Committee Chair Barry Roberts the decision of the Executive Board was unanimous and mutually agreeable to the current director, as the BID "needed somebody with different management skills."

According to Krogh-Grabbe, "I'm proud of everything we've done at the BID in the past year, and I look forward to seeing the BID do many more exciting things in the years to come!"

The Executive Board will meet this Thursday and the full board on Friday to discuss the immediate future of the position.

And Then There Was One

 The DV Den, 320 College Street Amherst

The second to the last movie rental store left in Amherst, The DV Den, has called it quits.  Or as they say in Hollywood, "Fade to black."

While the business was ahead of the curve at one time -- becoming the first rental operation in the area to phase out video tapes and go all-DVD in 2006, in the end it was a technological shift in the delivery of movies that all but exterminated the storefront movie rental industry.

Netflix made rentals as easy as point and click for instant access to thousands of movies, and if you did not mind waiting a day or two, first run DVD movies delivered to your mailbox.  All with a comparatively cheap low monthly subscription cost. 

The recent rise of Redbox was probably the final blow as first run moves were conveniently available in ubiquitous vending machines located near and far (one of them within disc throw of The DV Den) where the discs could be returned to any location and only costs $1.20 per rental, almost four times cheaper than the price charged by The DV Den.

Redbox, 360 College Street, Amherst

But you cannot ask a vending machine for a movie recommendation, or briefly discuss how your day is going thus far.

Efficiency always seems to be at the expense of humanity; and Amherst is now diminished because of it.