How The Grinch Stole A Christmas Tree

 Amherst Boy Scouts Kendrick Park Christmas Tree oasis

Another less heartwarming Amherst tradition coinciding with the Boy Scout Christmas Tree Sale in Kendrick Park -- also dating back 50 years -- is the tradition of nitwit college aged youth trying to steal one of their Christmas trees.  And getting caught.

The Judge usually fines them $100 each with the fine money going to the Boy Scouts; so in this case, $400 for the attempted theft of one $40/tree.

One Tin Soldier Rides Away

Tom Laughlin, aka Billy Jack

Billy Jack arose with feet flying at a time when America needed him most.  We were mired in the Vietnam war -- piped into living rooms nightly around dinner time with unappetizing "body counts," while newspapers were filled with stories of unrest on our college campuses -- then, along came a hero.

A kick ass one at that.

Tom Laughlin was an anti-establishment renegade both on screen and off.  He wrote, directed, produced and starred in Billy Jack, the story of an ex-Green Beret, half-Native American, a Vietnam vet who took on powerful monied interests to protect the innocent.

The film was made in 1969 when the anti-war movement had grown to an overpowering force, only a year after the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Consequently it took another two years before the film made it to theaters as Laughlin won a suit against Warner Bros. who became nervous with its anti-establishment theme and wanted to shelve the movie.   So Laughlin distributed the film himself.  

The movie about a loner doing the right thing ends up being distributed by a loner.

In addition to championing the underdog and demonstrating the true power of resolve, Billy Jack also stimulated an interest in martial arts schools, helping waves of kids increase confidence and discipline in pursuit of those masterful kicks.

The film also set the stage only a few years later for the greatest martial arts movie star of all time to enter the scene, Bruce Lee.

Over the years rumors would be pop up about a new Billy Jack sequel but nothing ever seemed to come of it.   Nor will it, ever.  On December 12, at age 82, Tom Laughlin passed away. 

So stand and raise a right fist, to remember the man who refused to compromise.

Government Shutdown?

Amherst Town Hall inaccessible at the moment

Just after 6:00 PM last night, as our first real winter storm was starting to pick up steam, an emergency call came in reporting a contained "stove fire" at 711 Main Street about a mile downhill from town center.  

The first unit on the scene reported heavy smoke and -- even more alarming -- that the fire was not contained within the stove.  A "box alarm" was struck, automatically toning off duty personnel and call firefighters.

Two engines and an ambulance responded,  and the fire was quickly knocked down without injury.

 711 Main Street.  Large wood structure

 Total time on scene, just over an hour. 

I asked Assistant Chief Stromgren how unusual it is for a stove fire to break out of containment, wondering if the fire literally burns through the metal or does it just become so hot it transfers the heat to adjacent combustible materials?

He replied:

"It is a little unusual but does happen, as in this case.  The fire actually finds its way up and out thru the vent for the oven.  This fire was fueled by plastic Tupperware type products that had been stored in the lower half so it had a lot of fuel and burned hot enough to actually melt the metal vent louvers on the front of the oven."

As usual the incident was handled in a coordinated manner by public servants doing their job while the rest of us sheltered in place.

Dispatchers notify both APD and AFD and whoever is first on scene reports back initial impressions.  

In this case that initial assessment instantly escalated the response via a box alarm.  APD then shuts down Main Street above and below the house so firefighters can run a line to the nearest hydrant.  The chaplain also responds to help comfort the victims.

And the DPW had been out since early afternoon making sure the streets were passable for all us citizens but even more important -- emergency vehicles.

Because fire needs very little time to become a killer beast.

Learning From History

 332 West Street tobacco barn circa 1916 (now under a one year demolition delay)

Amherst recently received  $10,000 in matching funds out of the Survey and Planning Grant Program overseen by the Massachusetts Historical Commission to hire a consultant to map out historic outbuildings (carriage houses, barns, sheds, etc) in the downtown and village centers.

 

35 Triangle Street, Carriage House built for Leonard Hills 

Conversion of single family homes to student rentals could threaten many of these structures sprinkled throughout the town.

According to Community Development Planner Nate Malloy:

"The inventory is not regulatory in nature. If a structure is identified, surveyed, and inventoried, it is not required to be preserved, nor does its presence on the inventory prevent it from being altered or demolished. This is an exercise in documenting what outbuildings are in the community. The intent is to use this inventory to raise awareness of outbuildings and their importance to the cultural heritage and physical character of the community."

 98 Spring Street

The money matches $10,000 Amherst Town Meeting already approved from Community Preservation Act funds, bringing the total budget to $20,000.  Target goal is 100 structures, and Mr. Malloy is confident the consultant will have no trouble finding that many to inventory.

Owners are encouraged to provide the Town and consultant with any background information about their property and the structure identified under this program.

Lessey Street carriage house

 

Hawthorne Farm shed

The Horror ... The horror

"Obviously a Major Malfunction"

UMass McGuirk Stadium expansion (20% over original budget estimates, naturally)

The only thing I question in the "Failure To Launch" minority report issued by members of a break away group from the Ad Hoc Committee on FBS Football is the title.

Umass BIG time football indeed launched but, like the 1986 Challenger space shuttle mission, it quickly ran into major difficulties. 

According to the "official" report of the Ad Hoc Committee on FBS Football, the Big Business  of Umass football in FY13 cost $7,639,732 in overhead, took in $1,995,633 in revenues for a loss of $5,644,099 in taxpayer dollars.  Up from FY11 $3,100,000 the (pre-FBS) season two years before. 

And this year (FY14) it will be even worse, with total losses projected at $6,312,074. 

Let's see, with the team's 2-22 record that works out to $6 million per victory.  And yes, UMass football has always been a loser economically, but even if you factor in  FY11 losses (before going FBS) the total increase in subsidy these past two FBS years is $8,606,833 or $4,303,416 per victory.

Reminds me of comedian Tommy Smothers line during the height of the Vietnam war protests when he calculated the average cost per Viet Cong killed thus far in the ill-fated war was just over $600,000. "Heck, we could buy them off for a lot less than that."

So you have to wonder if the intangible benefits of BIG time football -- prestige and ego -- are worth $12 million?  And as an "opportunity cost," weight how many deserving students could be afforded the opportunity for a life altering education via scholarships.

Or even if you simply wish to keep the money within the realm of athletics, you could revive men’s tennis, gymnastics, or women’s volleyball and gymnastics, all cut in 2006 to save money.

Committee chair Nelson Lacey said Failure to Launch & UMass football index which have been distributed here are not from Ad Hoc committee
— Matt Vautour  (@GazetteUMass) December 12, 2013

Boston Globe reports

Bring On The Consultants

Steering Committee co-chairs Nancy Buffone, David Ziomek (left)

The Town Gown Steering Committee had their final meeting of the year Tuesday and passed their collective hands over the final RFP draft for a consultant to help navigate the stormy waters that arise between two large independent entities -- in this case the town and UMass, a flagship University in a state that cherishes education.

As usual there were a couple points of friction:  Actual Amherst demographics are hard to measure precisely: how many year round residents of the town overall and how many off campus students there are nine months of the year.  And what is the exact make up of on-campus students since some of them take online courses  and therefor not physically present.

But the real point of friction came from immediate neighbors in the audience who took offense at the line "Community resistance to new growth has been consistently high." Yes, in a bureaucratic document, God forbid directness.

Jack Hirsch went so far as to say the line was aimed directly at "Save Historic Cushman," a relatively newbie organization in the generations old BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) movement.

John Fox also read a prepared statement decrying a "secret document" that had been commissioned by Town Meeting a few years back as part of the ill-fated Gateway Project.  That traffic study, like this town/gown consultant effort, was a joint effort overseen by UMass procurement department, and seems to have simply been misplaced in the shuffle.

Or as Stephanie O'Keeffe explained,  "There are so ... many ... damn things going on."



In fact the final report still has "draft" stenciled across the front page.  And Mr. Fox never did point to any scandalous factual findings that would give anyone a reason to want it keep secret. 

Committee member Rolf Karlstrom also brought up concerns about the document reflecting all the final tweaks just discussed and urged the committee to hold off voting until a final document could be emailed to the entire committee, since one-third were not in attendance at the start of the meeting.

 Rolf Karlstrom (far right)

And in fact, by the end of the meeting only 12 of the 24 member remained.  Of course if the steering committee were subject to Open Meeting Law the unanimous vote would be invalid since a 50% attendance of a governmental body does not constitute a quorum.