Lockdown!

Amherst Regional High School 3:00 p.m.

Amherst Regional High School went into lockdown just after 2:30 p.m. this afternoon as students were preparing to leave at the end of the school day.

A heavy police presence at the moment but no fire department ambulances, so that's a good sign.

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Apparently visiting coaches coming to the school to recruit candidates signed in, put on ID badges and went about their business, left,  but then reentered the school without resigning in ... and could not be instantly found.

Hence the panic button.

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.

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So lost in all the confusion of today's yet another lockdown was the news that Michele Tesauro, yet another school principal, is resigning -- this time from Crocker Farm Elementary School after less than a year on the job.

Two months ago (on a Friday naturally) the schools announced Betsy Dinger was resigning as Middle School Principal and Monical Hall from Fort River Elementary School, although she is staying in the ARPS system in the black hole known as Central Office.

Principals' offices in the ARPS system should come with a revolving door:

In December of 2012 Michael Hayes suddenly resigned as principal of the Middle School, Ray Sharick resigned from Fort River in 2011, Matthew Behnke quit as Wildwood principal in 2010 and Glenda Cresto quit the Middle School in 2009.

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Summer Survival Skills

Demonstrating they work well together both on the streets and in the woods, Amherst and UMass Police Departments are teaming up once again to jointly sponsor a Police Youth Adventure Academy this summer.

The versatile program provides 20 children the golden opportunity to learn police procedures in the morning and then spend afternoons negotiating a ropes course.

And best of all, the entire one week program is free!  So hurry up parents, enrollments are limited.

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Inevitable end?

A life turned upside down by heroin and crime came to a sudden end for 31-year-old Christopher Desjardin, a Vermont native who made his presence known here in Amherst by stealing laptops from unsuspecting UMass students last year.

When the obit reads "passed away suddenly," that's usually code for either a drug overdose or suicide.  Or, maybe, both.  Because using a drug like heroin is a fairly easy way to kill yourself. 

The Vermonter who gave me the heads up, a father who set up a successful sting to get back his son's stolen laptop resulting in the arrest of Desjardin, feels badly for his family but not so much for Mr. Desjardin.

When crime has touched you or a family member, it's hard to be forgiving.  Especially when the perp is a repeat offender.

Massachusetts just declared a "public health emergency" to address the rising tide of opiate abuse.  One of the recommendations is to spend more money to increase treatment and recovery services -- especially in state prisons and county jails.

When Eastern Hampshire District Court Judge Poelher handed down a sentence (11/15/13) for Christopher Desjardin on 13 counts of stolen property, the six months jail time was to include "mandatory drug treatment."  That was only 4.5 months ago.

But even if Christopher Desjardin stayed in the system until May 15, the call of the needle would someday, perhaps, prove too strong.



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DUI Dishonor Roll

Hunter Caggiano reads police report while in Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday.  His case was continued to 4/24

Click to enlarge/read

Since 1994, roughly 1/3 of all motor vehicle fatalities have involved alcohol-impaired driving. #NoAprilFools
— NTSB (@NTSB) April 1, 2014

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Where There's Smoke

Ladder 1 and Engine 2 (quint) on scene Mullins Center last night

The Amherst Fire Department closed out a far from monotonous Monday searching for the cause of a fire alarm at the Mullins Center practice rink.  The call came in just before midnight and the combination of audible fire alarms sounding and eyewitness reports of "smoke in the building" caused it to be dispatched as a "box alarm", bringing a swift all-hands-on deck response.

 Engine 4 at Mullins Center

Turns out the alarm was triggered by a burned out fan motor in the ventilation system.

The chimney fire on Strong Street, called in around 8:30 p.m., was the real thing but firefighters managed to contain the blaze before it could do serious structural damage.

An hour earlier our versatile first responders assisted residents on Triangle Street with a flooded basement.

Engine 2 aerial ladder came in handy

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Helen (Ice) Berg Strikes Again

 

A happy Helen Berg at Select Board meeting 3/31

At tonight's Select Board meeting during the 6:30 p.m. "public comment" period former (or maybe not) Select Board candidate Helen Berg confirmed she has contacted the ACLU and Attorney General regarding her complaint about ballot placement.

Berg, who came in a distant 3rd at the annual Town Election last week, complained to town officials when her name appeared 3rd of the 4 Select Board candidates.  Berg insisted she should be 1st as state statute says non-incumbents (in this case all four candidates) should be placed on the ballot alphabetically.

Town officials did throw out those ballots and arranged a do-over drawing of names because the original meeting of the Board of Registrars was not properly posted.  But they continued to use the traditional method of randomly drawing names from a hat rather than using the state method, which would have place Berg in the top position.

Either way the two top vote getters enjoyed a more than four-to-one margin of victory.  Berg will have a hard time convincing a judge that placement on the ballot alone cause such a dramatic thrashing.  Although, judges are known to be sticklers when it comes to rule of law.

Another town election would cost taxpayers $12,000.





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Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Glazed Doughnut Shop in a Dead Man Walking building

One of the really hard things about renting commercial space for your mom and pop business -- which includes the vast majority of Amherst small business owners -- is you have no incentive to put tons of money into the physical structure, since you will only be enhancing the value for your landlord.

Which is why you sign a somewhat long lease at start up, because there are of course finishing costs particular to your business that you can't expect the landlord to cover, but consist of items you can't very well take with you when you leave somewhere down the distant road.   Hopefully, for a building you can call your own.

Like hot water heaters for instance.  When the Glazed Doughnut Shop first moved into the space formerly occupied by Family Wireless, the hot water heater was the size of a breadbox; and being a bakery you need a fair amount of hot water.  So out went $3,000 for a new larger unit with all the copper piping now required to meet commercial building codes.

In all owners Keren and Nick Rhodes, high school sweethearts who now probably see more of their business than they do of each other, estimate they spent $15,000 two years ago on finishing costs that they can't take with them.

Why leave a lovely location with three years left on a lease (and an option to renew for five more years)?

Well, town insiders pretty much now agree that the entire Carriage Shops complex is toast -- actively sought for a classy mixed use commercial/residential complex that will act as a major anchor for that side of the downtown.

And will be great for business in Amherst.  But not so great if you are a current tenant of the Carriage Shops.  Hence the problem.  On the one hand the Rhodes support the revitalization of the commercial complex but can't take the risk of losing the roof over their heads without another place to go.

Meanwhile, a doughnut throw away, a commercial spot opened up, larger and in an even better a location (although slightly haunted by frequent turnover).  A perfect port in a gathering storm.

Problem now is they need $15,000 to prepare the new space.  A big hit for a small business barely out of their rookie year. 

So they are turning to you.  "Mm going to try with a little help from my friends."  Which of course means a crowd funding website like Indiegogo.

Come on Amherst, we talk the talk about supporting local business.  Well, here's your poster family.

Glazed Doughnut Shop Indiegogo campaign