Who'll Stop The Rain

 

The center of the storm N. Pleasant Street 7:00 PM

The threatening skies unleashed a targeted downpour so sudden it made the crowd shriek, then sent them scurrying for cover: exhibitors tents, awnings of storefront businesses or below what's left of the urban tree cover in the downtown.

Block Party central to norther end of closed off roadway

Up until that time (6:55 PM) the crowd was starting to grow, as everyone seemed to enjoy walking amiably down the very center of what is normally a busy roadway through the heart of downtown Amherst.

 Block Party northern end near Kendrick Park

Still, the crowd seemed a little smaller than last year's gathering.  Perhaps the National Weather Bureau "Severe Thunderstorm Watch" earlier in the day covering the entire four hours of the party (6-10 PM) had something to do with it.

Although last year the maiden event had to contend with a mosquito borne illness alert over Eastern Equine Encephalitis where town officials -- including the Board of Health -- issued stern  warnings against outdoor activities between dusk and dawn.

Lady on stilts enthralls the kids ... well, except for the superhero on left

By 9:00 PM with the rains coming and going the crowds had thinned

Food concession stands not doing a very brisk business

So maybe it's a classic sophomore slump, or maybe people fear thunderstorms more than mosquitoes.

Either way, the concept of bringing together a broad spectrum of citizens young and old into a safe, secure brightly lit downtown for a night of food, fun and entertainment is a sound one.

Besides, third time is the charm.

 

AFD Engine 1 and Ambulance 1 were stationed at DPW one mile from Central  Station  to avoid congestion in town center

Slip Slidin' Away

Amherst Public Schools were closed today due to "slippery floors"

So for those of you hoping Amherst makes international news with a second straight day of school closings due to "slippery floors" I hate to disappoint you, but it looks as though there will be school tomorrow.  Yeah!

A reliable source tells me the floors dried out nicely overnight and although today's weather is not ideal, only a real monsoon with a sudden spike in temperature would change things.  

I'm sure almost all parents will be happy to hear this.  Sorry kids.

The reason why air conditioning did not negate this problem is because the older school buildings are not all that well equipped.  Crocker Farm has the best system because it was the one most recently renovated ($5.6 million project in 2002).  

But all the others leave lots to be desired.  According to my source:

The High School only has AC on the second and third floor via window units.  During the 1997 renovation ($22 million) they did not install central AC in the addition.  The original 1955 portion and 1965 addition have no AC.  So less than 50% of the building has air conditioning.

Wildwood and Fort River have limited AC throughout the entire building.  The systems were put in 1970 and 1972, are antiquated, and operate moderately.    Middle School has a 1969 AC system throughout the building and operates moderately.

The problem was not that the floor wax "melted". The school buildings were constructed on concrete slab foundations which remains cool at ground level. When warm moist air makes contact, the result is condensation. 

And, you know, the nearer your destination the more you're slip slidin away.

DUI Dishonor Role

So once again last weekend in spite of a more than a dozen arrests for alcohol related offenses -- all of them UMass student related -- only one Driving Under the Influence arrest.

And you can tell William J. Sullivan, age 22, also a UMass students, is a rookie since he allowed the Portable Breath Test, which he flunked.

9/11/13

Amherst Central Station 10:10 AM

APD

 

Chief Nelson presents fire fighter Tom Messer with the service star flag that flew at Central Station when he, along with his brother Bill (also Amherst fire fighter), were serving in Afghanistan with Mass Air National Guard.  At the time, AFD also had firefighter  Reid Frailey serving with them in Afghanistan but he has since moved on to Cambridge FD.  Both Frailey and Bill Messer were also given encased service stars.  The cases were designed and built by AFD Captain Bill Dunn

Service star flag flying with three stars May, 2012

Why are you standing here with a flag?

 

9/11/12 (Photo by Helen Thelen)

Today the provincial Amherst Select Board will hold a special meeting in the Town Manager's office at 3:00 PM to approve a one-day liquor license for Top Of The Campus, an upscale UMass bar; the Planning Board will meet in Town Hall at 7:00 PM to discuss medical marijuana zoning issues; and a "touring exhibit" about Guantanamo Bay, a prison for suspected terrorists, debuts at UMass .

Just another late summer day in the bucolic town of Amherst.

Well, except for the Fire Station ceremony at 9:45 AM at Central Station, in the heart of the downtown.  Unfortunately children will be in school and most of their parents will be at work.  Although town center will still be vibrant with college aged youth.

One of the blessings of being a "college town."

In other words, kind of like it was on THAT day 12 years ago.  Except for the ringing of the bells.  The constant clanging of the bells of St. Brigid's Church indicating something was terribly, terribly wrong. 

The main flag in town center will also be at half staff as ordered by Governor Patrick earlier today, even though President Bush made it a permanent day for the American flag to sink to a position of mourning.

And yes, as I have done since THAT day, anytime the town refuses to fly the 29 commemorative flags downtown I will stand in town center with an American flag starting at 8:46 AM for a two hour period to mark the time of the attack.

To remember the slaughter of over 3,000 Americans (if you count the workers who later died of diseases resulting from their rescue efforts at Ground Zero) murdered, simply because they were Americans.

The Select Board seems to think the commemorative flags are too "festive" even though we fly them on Memorial Day.  But if the commemorative flags were flown at half staff (as they did on the late morning of 9/11) it would be hard for anyone to misinterpret that.

Starting only a few years ago, without fail, a college aged youth would approach me curiously and ask why I was holding an American flag in the center of Amherst?  I would say, "Do you know what day this is?"  And they would respond with whatever day of the week it was.

"No, what is today's date?" After a brief pause, their facial expression would change as they would slowly nod their head up and down.

"Oh yeah ... 9/11."

Good News, Bad News

 

Large contingent of APD officer 53 Meadow Street 4:45 PM Saturday

So once again the marketing machine at UMass pays off handsomely (besides the "world record" fruit salad story) as today's print edition of the Springfield Republican carries the aging good news story about UMass donating $80,000 to the town of Amherst for extra ambulance coverage.

No mention of this past weekend where the "Blarney Blowout" almost reappeared, or that nine-out-of-17 ambulance runs to UMass were for ETOH students passed out drunk.

 

Note high number of ETOH calls

I was at Wildwood Elementary School playground just after 2:00 PM Saturday with my youngest daughter Jada when I first heard the cryptic scanner reports about a growing storm at Townhouse Apartments on Meadow Street.

So I drove the short distance (my youngest loves the sight of police officers) to check it out and of course immediately realized by the huge throng of students (1,000+) in the quad that there was going to be trouble.

My daughter then asked, "Where are all the police officers?"  Good question. I could only spot three.  Yikes!

 APD officers 2:30 PM Townhouse Apartments.  All for one and one for all

But I figured they were simply waiting for reinforcements --  as they did with the Blarney Blowout -- and would simply allow the kids to party for a few hours and then move in around 5:00 PM with the aid of State PD and UMPD officers all safely dressed in riot gear.

 

Townhouse quad 2:53 PM

I drove home to drop off Jada and jump on my mountain bike for better access to the scene.  I arrived back only a half hour later (3:00 PM) and was amazed to see the small contingent of uniformed officers had waded in and dispersed the h-u-g-e gathering at the quad.

 

Just outside the quad area 3:00 PM.  53 Meadow Street party house in background

Give those boys a medal.

Some people encourage the mayhem

But many of the partiers simply moved to an adjacent party house just across the street (53 Meadow Street) and filled the back yard with drunken revelry.

Although this group was only one-fourth the size (250+) of original crowd in the quad and the police presence was now three or four times greater than the previous incident it still took almost an hour to clear the scene.

53 Meadow Street backyard.  Much smaller than Townhouse Apartment quad

Why so long the second time?  Probably that extra hour so of partying and the effects of that much more alcohol in the system.  After all, this entire event was pretty much one BIG binge drinking affair.

Which leads me to believe that if a harrowing small number of police officers had not bravely moved in when they did early on (without riot gear) to break up the huge gathering in the Townhouse quad, only another hour or two would have been enough time for that army to turn ornery.

In other words, we got lucky.  This time.  

NIMBYs Never Say Die

Have land, will develop

North Amherst residents filed a petition article this morning just before deadline which places on the fall Town Meeting warrant another anti-development zoning proposal that would simply reverse the June 3rd passage of article #31 (by a whopping 119 to 56 vote) allowing 10 housing units per mixed use development "by right" before needing a "Special Permit".   The old standard was six units.

The problem with a "Special Permit" is that it requires a unanimous vote of the three-member Zoning Board, a rather high hurdle to clear.

This particular article is a bolt from a crossbow aimed directly at W.D. Cowls, Inc and its feisty President Cinda Jones.  Already under fire for selling 154 acre parcel in Northeast Amherst for a student housing development known as "The Retreat," Cowls is also anxious to develop their former saw mill that closed in 2009.

And mixed use buildings are the way to go.  But only with a decent density of housing units above the ground floor commercial space.

Amherst is in the midst of a severe housing crisis brought on by supply failing miserably to keep up with demand, mainly due to to NIMBY offensives directed at any project more ambitious than a tree house.

Since the NIMBY petition article is a zoning issue it will require a two-thirds vote to pass.  And since the make up of Town Meeting has not changed since June 3rd the likelihood of passage is, well, unlikely.  Very unlikely. 

   Nimby Zoning Petition by larry_kelley_1