Have App Will Travel

Coming soon:  Amherst town website version 5.0

Have you ever wanted to report a pothole soon after hitting it, or a traffic control signal not working properly after it delayed you at an intersection, or a tree limb hanging precariously over a wire? Well now you can do it from the convenience of your smart phone (after pulling over of course) because: there's an app for that!

In addition to unrolling a new and improved main town website early next month our award winning IT department will also unveil "Amherst Connect," a part of the wider state program called Commonwealth Connect, which allows citizens to instantly report and track non emergency problems.

Amherst first unveiled the main town website back in 2001 with a whopping 3 pages.  Today it has over 10,000 with almost 30% of users now accessing it via a mobile device.  Hence the new minimalist reversion of the main page.

Last year Amherst won second place in the Massachusetts Excellence in Technology category, but over the past year upped their game enough so that two weeks ago they were awarded first place.

Another Amherst Box Alarm

 Chief Nelson on scene 1100 South East Street 6:10 PM

 Ladder 1, Engine 1 on scene 1100 South East Street

For the second time in less than a month Amherst Fire Department scrambled to a box alarm after smoke was reported in a dwelling.  This time it was 1100 South East Street, the former home of former long-time Town Manager Allen Torrey.

AFD Chief Nelson confirms there were no injuries to first responders or residents of the home, although an ambulance was called about an hour after the fire was first reported just as a precautionary evaluation of the tenants for carbon monoxide.

Chief Nelson also confirms that after a routine investigation by his Fire Investigation Unit (the Chief does not like the term "Arson Squad" because "It makes the most innocuous seem sinister") the fire was NOT considered suspicious.

Apparently a stuffed chair had smouldered for a long period of time (with the HVAC system sending the carbon monoxide and soot throughout the house) but never actually burst into flame.  

 Engine 2 (the quint) on scene 222 Belchertown Road 11/29/14

The other structure fire AFD handled a little over two weeks ago at 222 Belchertown Road was far more sinister.

 Mark Andre, 54, will remain incarcerated until 1/2/15 "dangerousness hearing"

In Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday before Judge Shea, Mark Andre was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation and his arson case was continued until January 2, 2015.

The state will argue for a Chapter 58A too-dangerous-to-be-out-on-bail decree at that hearing.

Fortunately, he will stay behind bars until then.

   Amherst Arson by Larry Kelley

Go Team!

There's a new team in town:  Positive Team Presence

The UMass Student Government Association is taking the $160,000  Davis Report on the Blarney Blowout to heart -- as well they should.

In response they created "MinuteMarshals", now renamed "Team Positive Presence", a group of fellow students who will be embedded into the potential party scene as peer counselors hoping to deescalate things before they get out of hand.

Naturally they will also use Social Media prior to events to send a message about being responsible and maintaining control.  

 

Walk This Way group on Fearing Street last Labor Day weekend

The peacekeeping program will be in addition to and a step up from "Walk This Way", where a group of students stand out on late night weekends in heavily traveled corridors just off campus to request the herds keep quiet when traveling through residential neighborhoods.

Town Manager Musante report to Select Board last night

This just completed Fall Semester has been the quietest in memory, with noise/nuisance tickets and arrests down dramatically, so this new program comes at an opportune time.

But the true game changer -- also heartily endorsed by the Davis Report -- is the hiring of an "off campus Resident Assistant".

Boston College has successfully used the program for many years to keep peace between off campus students and nearby neighbors.  The Off Campus RA is an official representative of the school and as such wields far more authority with potential miscreants.  Either abide by his/her wishes or risk being expelled.
 
UMass has already acknowledged they will probably make such a hire.  Since Team Positive Presence hopes to be in operation by the Super Bowl, it would be nice if UMass hired the Off Campus RA before the weather gets warm this coming spring.

Because even with Team Positive Presence and Walk This Way crews, plus an Off Campus RA, they still would not have stopped the Blarney Blowout last March.

Only Mother Nature, conjuring up a blizzard, could have done that.

Public vs Private Documents

The Sony Entertainment hack has led to some salacious materials meant to be private suddenly making it into the bright limelight provided by media bandwidth, which many readers probably find entertaining.

Over the past few years I have published more local public documents than all the media outlets combined who cover Amherst. 

And as someone who relishes that role of being first I have to say, I would not publish the Sony trove, even if contained mentions of Amherst (My "Only in Amherst" movie deal is still a few years away).

Sony is a private sector organizer, not some government agency doing harm to the American people.

The materials were stolen via a criminal illegal act.

They are being used to bribe a private company into scuttling a movie that makes fun of the whacko despot of evil empire, and since the hackers probably work for that goofball government, a clear violation of Sony's First Amendment rights.

Do journalists who ethically have their own version of the Hippocratic Oath to live by, really want to be used as pawns by a chubby little North Korean killer?

DUI Dishonor Roll

This post is a tad late as both these DUI arrests (or OUIs) occurred last weekend.  I'm still working out an efficient (i.e. quicker) line of communication with my friends at UMPD for these public documents.

APD had no drunk driving arrests last weekend, when UMass was still in session and of course one of these UMPD arrests, Calvin Wynder,  is not a student.  Both Wynder and Kravchenko appeared before Judge Payne in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday, 12/8 and had their cases continued to next month.

Sergey Kravchenko stands before Judge John Payne

   UMPD OUI arrest

#####

UMass Amherst police also arrested Calvin Wynder, age 36, in his second brush with the law on this serious charge. 

When Duty Calls

Flags are flying at half staff in Connecticut today, not that anybody in that state needs reminding of the horrific event that once again stunned our nation with its raw savagery.

 Sandy Hook Elementary School, 12/14/12

We expect to occasionally hear the unfortunate news that a first responder is suddenly cut down in the line of duty. However, all first responders know death is in their job description.

It takes an extraordinary event like the Worcester fire tragedy or 9/11 to grab us by the throat so we suddenly pay attention again.

Teachers on the other, are not expected to die in the routine performance of their daily duty.  Columbine changed that.  Sandy Hook moved the bar a little higher.

And since not much has changed, the next one will be even more unspeakable.

Shouldn't they call this "Shelter in Place"?

One Hand Clapping

Just don't use the other hand to smoke a cigarette

Massachusetts motorists by the millions will want to applaud the Board of Fire Prevention Regulators come January 1st as multi-tasking while filling up at your local self-serve gas station will get a whole lot more comfortable. 

For the first time in a generation, drivers will be allowed to use hold open clips so you don't have to keep one hand on the squeeze handle to keep the gas flowing.

Self-serve gas stations were also banned in Massachusetts until the mid-1970s and the ban on hold open clips coincided with the relaxing of regulations allowing such stations.

So for some of us, this could be our first time using them.  Hence this instructional video:

I asked AFD Assistant Chief Lindsay Stromgren if he had any concerns about this new development and he said he brought it up at a recent Hampshire County Chiefs meeting and nobody seemed alarmed.

Although he was quick to add, "But I'm sure we'll see some unique cases in the next year or so."

Executive Office of Public Safety and Security