Car vs Pedestrian Accident Town Center

 Scene is well lit but wet

Amherst and State Police are still on scene in the heart of downtown Amherst investigating a car vs pedestrian accident that sent two victims to area hospitals the more serious to Bay State Critical Care unit in Springfield and the other minor injury, said to be a female child, taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton for an arm injury.

The accident occurred around 6:45 PM in between Brueggers Bagels and Ren's Mobile on North Pleasant Street, just past the intersection with Kellogg Avenue.  There is no crosswalk where the car stopped.

 

Mass State PD accident reconstruction team on scene

Progress Indeed

Heroin:  No way to make progress

One of those funny "Oops" moments in this morning's (Springfield) The Republican newspaper:  placing a photo of heroin with "Obamacare" stamped on each package seized the other day by State Police a tad too close to lead story about President Obama giving a year end review of his job performance.

Of course some conservatives think the President must have been under the influence of something to have come up with such a rosy outlook.

And Another One Gone

Portabella Fine Foods

At least they ceased operation via their own choosing (owners are retiring), unlike a lot of small businesses who shuttered their doors this past year in Amherst, and the rest of the nation.

And Another One Gone

 

197 Amity Street

Although it took over 200 years for this (now not so merry) Maple to grow thick and sturdy, it only took a day to make it go away.  

 200+ rings

But a part of the tree will live on as one of the workers cut a slab out of the base to use as a front door at his old house. 

 

A door in the making

Nuts Ban In Amherst Schools

Hi Larry:

I received your request for a copy of the report from the Wellness Committee about the consumption of nuts on school property.  With regard to the wellness subcommittee’s recommendation, I thought it might be helpful to outline the process I followed and the information I considered in establishing the allergy aware guidelines.   As per Policy ADF: Wellness, a subcommittee of the Wellness Committee was tasked with studying life-threatening allergies in the schools. The outcome of their work was the Life Threatening Allergy Guidelines document which was submitted to Dr. Brady and me for review. We fully reviewed this document, as well as the DESE guidelines, both of which note that surfaces need to be washed with appropriate cleaning materials before and after each meal period and that students must wash their hands with soap and water before and after eating. Recent CDE guidelines also support these measures.  These steps are to ensure that we minimize cross-contamination of tables, desks and other surfaces. 

Our schools have close to 100 students with peanut/tree nut allergies who, like all students, must be provided with the safest possible learning environment. The districts had already taken steps to that end, including eliminating peanuts and tree nuts from our food service program three years ago, and asking students not to eat on the buses two years ago. These steps were far from perfect, however.   We heard from a few families that they would not comply with student specific/class specific requests to avoid peanut/tree nut products unless it was a standard held for all students and faculty.  Also, Dr. Brady and I had significant concerns about the schools’ ability to implement the recommended safety guidelines with fidelity since we cannot ensure that all students are complying with hand washing, and we cannot ensure that all surfaces are cleaned properly since students eat in multiple locations, including snacks in their classrooms.  After much deliberation, my decision was to take what I believe to be the logical next step and ask all families and staff to refrain from bringing peanut and tree nut products into our schools. To support this, paragraph four on page one, which includes “allergy aware” language, was added to the Life Threatening Allergy Guidelines.  Even though we now exclude peanuts and tree nut products in our schools, we will continue to follow appropriate guidelines as well and to stress the continued education of students and staff regarding allergies.

The final document is attached.

Best,
Maria

>>> Larry Kelley <amherstac@aol.com> 12/19/2013 4:57 PM >>>

Maria,
So the Wellness Committee or sub-committee never recommended "ban nuts on school property during school hours", correct?
Larry



Sent: Thu, Dec 19, 2013 5:16 pm
Subject: Re: Public Records Request

Hi Larry,

That is correct- the subcommittee created the guidelines and I determined that we could not fully implement those with fidelity. Given that reality,  I was not comfortable with the risk for our students and took the additional steps of "banning" tree nuts and peanuts.

Maria 

>>> Larry Kelley <amherstac@aol.com> 12/19/2013 5:20 PM >>>
Hey Maria,

So are you now comfortable with the word "ban"?  Or is it still just a strong suggestion?

Larry

 

Sent: Fri, Dec 20, 2013 9:26 am

Subject: Re: Public Records Request

Hello Larry,

 

I've always been OK with acknowledging this as "you can't bring in tree nuts/peanuts." I want to be careful when using a term "ban" because I want to walk the line between sending a strong message that you can't bring this into our schools, and the reality that people with life threatening allergies must continue to be vigilent. I don't want to send the message that we can ever guarantee safety. In addition, we don't want to give the message that a student will be in "trouble" if they forget and bring in a peanut butter sandwich. For most people, the word ban is equated with a disciplinary response.

 

The term allergy aware is used to communicate the message that these guidelines are in place to help students avoid allergic reactions.  The guidelines include a number of other practices that are also part of the "allergy aware" school description. The goal is that combining these steps, including having no nut or nut products in the schools,will provide the safest environment for our students. 

 

Thanks for giving me the chance to clarify.

Maria

   ARPS Wellness Comm on Nuts

Free Speech Is A 2 Way Street

I had never heard of -- let alone watched -- Duck Dynasty, until yesterday.  Now I've certainly heard of it.  But no, I'm not about to start watching.  Or start a subscription to GQ Magazine.

Since the punishment for voicing an opinion offensive to some is termination from a reality TV show that seems to have a h-u-g-e following, cries of censorship and infringement of the First Amendment are being bandied about.

Since the agency invoking the punishment (A&E Network) is not the government, the First Amendment simply does not apply.  But certainly free speech -- as in the freedom to speak your mind -- is being infringed upon, because Phil Robinson is being punished for exactly that: speaking his mind.

While I strongly disagree with his opinions about gays, I will defend to the death his right to be wrong.

Although I did agree with his follow up comment:  "However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me.  We are all created by the Almighty and like Him I love all of humanity.  We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other."

If a large number of people are offended by his "speech" and can no longer stand the sight of him, then ratings will crash like a duck shot out of the sky.  Then A & E can cancel the show for lousy ratings.

Five years ago a prominent member of the Amherst Select Board wanted to have me arrested for mentioning (with a photo no less) in my usual forthright manner her clear violation of the residency requirement for the highest elected position in town government.

Interestingly enough she was also the one who told then Town Manager Barry Del Castilho NOT to issue a parade permit for the July 4th Parade because the private parade committee had rules forbidding political statements of any kind.

Now that was a clear violation of the First Amendment, upheld by a 9-0 Supreme Court decision.

As my friends at the ACLU would say, the way to deal with bad speech is with more good speech, not censorship.

Twitter gets all fired up

"Many fans asked for my thoughts on the "Duck Dynasty" controversy. They pressed and pressed, but I refused to quack. But I can't duck this issue forever. I don't really care feather someone on a reality show said something about gays that didn't fit the bill. He's entitled to his opinion, even if it's for the birds. But the network also is worried about flocking with its base, so if it feels it should drake him over the coals for making his fowl comments, so be it. So that's migrate opinion."
--George Takei

Rental Permit Bylaw Upheld

Attorney General approves a bevy of Amherst Town Meeting bylaws

The road to the most important legislation passed by Town Meeting in over a generations has been rocky to say the least.  The Rental Registration Bylaw was bitterly opposed leading up to Town Meeting last Spring where it passed by a surprisingly w-i-d-e margin.

According to the state's Top Cop, "We acknowledge the letters and emails sent to us opposing the amendments adopted under Article 29 (Rental Registration Permit).  Interestingly the Attorney General's office goes on to say, "While we cannot conclude that any of these arguments furnish a basis for disapproval of the by-law, these letters and materials have aided our review."

One section of the bylaw states a registration form should be submitted to the "appropriate Town office."  Which in this case is the Principal Code Official (Rob Morra, Building Commissioner).  The AG has suggested the town clarify that section of the bylaw to identify the Principal Code official as the rental czar who issues permits, and can issue exemptions.

Apparently landlords had problems with the section of the bylaw that requires tenants to be made aware of the provisions of the new Rental Bylaw and inspection system, and that a copy of the lease be provided to the town.   The charge was that this is a violation of the "prohibition against regulation of a private civil relationship,"  which was used to strike down "rent control."

The AG found that section permissible because it is specifically limited. The boiler plate language in the bylaw clearly states: "Subject to and as limited by the Constitution of the Commonwealth."  So if a landlord finds something in the permit bylaw requirements that violates the state Constitution, then they can safely ignore it.

The new bylaw also requires the Select Board to appoint a Rental Appeals Board, to act as ombudsmen to help resolve issues amicably.  

Is the $100 permit fee a tax and therefor illegal because a municipality "has no independent power of taxation"?  The Attorney General thinks not. "Fees are collected not to raise revenues but to compensate the governmental entity providing the services for its expenses."

And in this case the Building Department has to hire a new full-time building inspector and administrative assistant to help oversee the program.  Amherst has identified 1,570 rental properties with a total of 5,265 individual rental units. That's a lot of oversight!

As of yesterday the Building Commissioner has received 160 applications (85% of them filed via the Internet) and issued permits for 56.  Or just a tiny bit over 10% of the rental properties in town. 

The law takes effect January 1st.

Town may want to think about stepping up PR outreach effort