Sorry About That

 6/24 Regional School Committee meeting

In response to my Open Meeting Law complaint Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee Chair Lawrence O'Brien has promised to do a better job from now on for "as long as I am serving as Chair."

Which is all well and good, except he was elected Chair at the tumultuous 6/24 meeting but only until the Regional School Committee meets for their cozy little "Retreat" (not the controversial housing project in North Amherst) sometime in August.

Simply put my complaint stemmed from the published written agenda stating they were going into Executive Session to discuss only "Collective Bargaining," when in fact they pulled the cloak of secrecy for a "litigation" discussion instead.

Yes, litigation is a very legitimate reason to go into Executive Session.  But it would be nice to know specifically up front that litigation was the reason rather than giving the false impression it was for rather benign contract negotiations. 

And I get a little nervous when he cites their "district legal counsel" Gini Tate, as she also gives "counsel" to the Wayland School Committee, a serial offender of the Open Meeting Law. 

Wrong Car To Run Off The Road

Amelia Houghton, age 26, stands before Judge LoConto

So if you are driving with double the legal limit for Blood Alcohol Concentration the last person you want to almost run into head on is an Amherst police officer.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday, in one of the fastest dispositions to a drunk driving case I have ever seen, Amelia Houghton, age 26, copped a plea in front of Judge Christopher LoConto.  The standard 1st offense 24D disposition will result in loss of license for 45 days, up to $1,500 in fines and driver ed costs and one year probation.

In other words the serious charges are Continued With Out Finding for one year, and if she stays out of trouble, they are dismissed.

Downtown Retro

Metacomet Cafe, 27 South Pleasant Street

After teasing the downtown for well over a year with their nifty, retro "Metacomet Cafe" sign, it looks like the classic sandwich burger shop is set to open within a month, in plenty of time for the resurgence in population that happens every Labor Day weekend in this college town.

The Amherst Select Board this evening unanimously approved their Common Victualler License although they will still need an occupancy permit from the building commissioner.  The operation, run by brothers Spencer and Trevor Hopton, will be open seven days a week from 11:00 AM until 11:00 PM.

World's greatest hamburger

A Climate Of Fear?

APD @ ARHS

Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone has confirmed that his department did NOT do an investigation into the most recent racial incident just now coming to light where a white student was “aggressively and seriously” assaulted by black students. 

The parent of the victim did not wish to press charges and furthermore wanted NO police involvement whatsoever.  Chief Livingstone stated that once that was confirmed with the parents APD involvement ceased.

ARHS state approved anti-bullying plan

Yes, as a parent I can understand the natural inclination to protect your child from the glare of public scrutiny.  But there's a fine line between right to privacy and the general public's right to know -- especially when that general public also has children in the school system.

Last year a young woman under the influence of alcohol fell on Fearing Street, hitting her head on a curb.  She was transported to Baystate Medical Center where she died.  At the parents request UMass agreed not to release any information about the sad incident.  Which of course in this Internet age, backfired. 

Amherst College received a deserved slew of negative publicity for the way this mishandled rape cases, one that resulted in a young man, Trey Malone, committing suicide. 

Simply put, if it's not now mandatory for a public or private school, kindergarten-through-college, to report a serious crime (bullying, physical assault, rape, etc) to the local police department and/or District Attorney -- especially if it's a hate crime -- then it damn well should be!

Pointing The Finger

Maria Geryk, ARPS School Superintendent makes a point at  the tumultuous 6/24 Regional School Comm Meeting

What if Amherst Pelham Regional School officials had reported to outside authorities the initial racial incident targeting teacher of color Carolyn Gardner back in October rather than deep-sixing it?

Carolyn Gardner, repeatedly targeted by racial notes and graffiti

What if School officials had reported to outside authorities the bullying and assault on Dylan Akalis by three black students the last week of January, rather than sweeping it under the rug? 

Perhaps if School officials had reported to outside authorities (and the general public who pays everybody's salary) the most recent assault on a white student by three minority students, Mr. Shabazz would not have felt compelled to mention what little he knew of the incident at the 6/18 Equity Task Force meeting.

Regardless of whether Mr. Shabazz "inappropriately" suggested the white youth was beaten because he was a "racist", the undeniable fact remains that a young student (who Shabazz did not identify) was assaulted by three other students, yet because of the collective color of their skin, the incident was purposely hushed up.

Even though it qualifies as a "hate crime," and should have been reported to the District Attorney.

According to the ARHS student code of conduct the protocol for dealing with a Physical Attack 1st offense is a "10 day external suspension, possible long-term suspension or expulsion, and referral to the Amherst Police Department."

But we know in the Dylan Akalis assault (witnessed by a teacher) the schools did not report it to Amherst police; and the main attacker, son of a white-collar school employee, did not receive a "10 day external suspension."

 Paula and Dylan Akalis

Since school authorities can't even follow their own internal regulations, no BIG surprise they can't follow state law either.

But of all sudden, in their haste to neutralize the only black member of the Amherst School Committee, they trot out FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) as a convenient excuse.  Clearly that federal law has exemptions which would apply in this case; and even more clearly, plenty could have been stated publicly short of divulging names.

Interesting that the School Committee was quick to issue a written apology to the parent of the white student because of the alleged remarks by Dr. Shabazz, but no Amherst Regional School official has apologized to Dylan Akalis or his parents over the past five months except for Amilcar Shabazz.

The Associated Press just picked up this recent assault story and did not even mention the purported disclosure by Mr. Shabazz, only that three minority students beat up a white kid simply because he was white.

School officials used "privacy" as an excuse not to release separation agreements with 13 former school employees totaling over $350,000 in public tax money.   Agreements the Public Records Division clearly told them to release.  A decision concept recently backed by a Superior Court Judge.

Unless you are building a Doomsday Device, protecting legitimate national interests, or invoking privacy over medical issues no good seems to come from Nixonian stonewalling combined with a CIA-like devotion to secrecy.

The Amherst Regional PUBLIC Schools are in the top 17% state wide for most expensive to operate with a per student cost 25% over state average.

Therefor all taxpayers in the region have a "paramount and prevailing right to know" -- especially parents with children in the system.

WWLP CH 22 covers the story (sort of)
MassLive (much) fuller report

Double Fault?

Amherst College: Half dozen courts near the bike path destined for demolition

Okay, okay so I'm probably just being maudlin.  After all, my first brush with tennis occurred there (or the adjacent courts) in the oppressively hot summer of 1964 during a subsidized recreation program run by Jack Leaman, before he became famous at UMass.

But I'm still willing to bet most anyone who has walked or biked past these courts over the past fifty years will miss them when they're gone.  Kind of like the chain link maze at the UMass football stadium. 

Amherst College, our largest landowner, goes before the Amherst Conservation Commission next week to give notice about the demolition/conversion of the tennis courts to a -- you guessed it -- parking lot.

Since the footprint will remain the same, probably not a big environmental impact to worry about.

And the larger adjacent courts complex remains, so the fair weather grunts and thunks of balls meeting racquets will not be completely silenced.  The sounds may even carry to the bike path.

But for those of us who grew up with the fenced in fun, a little piece of paradise -- like our youth -- will be lost.

 Courts a little farther north have already been converted to a parking

Patriotic Double Dose

 

BIG flag flies in Amherst  (MA) town center for first time in over a year

As you have probably heard by now -- since the town thought it important enough to use the reverse 911 emergency phone system alert -- the July 4th fireworks are postponed until tomorrow.  And since we don't have a July 4th Parade anymore, no rescheduling required.

Although Amherst, N.H. managed to have one this morning. 

Enjoying our first parade of the day in Amherst to celebrate the 4th of July! #nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/jb9DNTGOLG
— Scott P. Brown (@SenScottBrown) July 4, 2014

Mother Nature provided her own fireworks last night taking down trees and wires all around town.  A transformer fire near the Dunkin' Donuts took out the power to College Street, South East Street and Belchertown Road.

 Tree down on access road connecting beleaguered High School with embattled Middle School

Even the Cumberland Farms was without power briefly.  Yes, they were about the only operation in Amherst open the morning after the 2011 Halloween Nor'easter killed power to the entire town.  This time however their generator failed to kick in. 

Things could have been far, FAR worse.  Apparently a funnel cloud was spotted near Barnes Airport heading our way and there were reports of a microburst in nearby Sunderland.

U/D Sunderland, Ma, MEMA now reporting it could be the microburst people are reporting, not a tornado. Multiple trees down in that area
— Matthew Gregoire (@BreakngNewsPhtg) July 4, 2014

 
And now it looks like Hurricane Arthur will not wreak havoc on the Happy Valley.

So celebrate today the birthday of the greatest country the world has ever known.  And come tomorrow, celebrate it again.  And the next day, and the one after that, and ...