First Amendment Warrior

Calvin Terrell, Social Justice Warrior

Yes I did feel a bit like the school kid squealing to a higher authority about an altercation on the schoolyard that left you fuming, even a couple days later.

The Chair of the Regional School Committee, Trevor Baptiste, did not seem to initially understand my complaint with School Superintendent Maria Geryk.



Obviously she did not pay the woman to snatch my iPhone (last words, "no videotaping" is Maria Geryk) but she did give verbal commands -- before and after the incident -- declaring a ban on videotaping.

And the Superintendent did not seem overly concerned about the physical nature of the altercation brought on by her edict. 

To ban journalists from recording an event should always make you wonder:  what is it they don't want you to know?

Masslive reports (as usual Comments are the best) 

Flashback

The Four Bs

The Trolley Barn, 68 Cowls Road, North Amherst

Developer Cinda Jones, never at a loss for promotion, has come up with a novel pitch to fill the last remaining floor containing two four-bedroom apartment units in the newly opened Trolly Barn in North Amherst, dubbed "Three Bettys and a Bob."

Since women outlive men by about five years, it's not overly surprising that senior women outnumber senior men so why not target this demographic more directly?

Click to enlarge/read (and put your glasses on!)

Certainly is nice to see an Amherst developer targeting a demographic other than "college aged youth."  Although us aging Wilma fans will be disappointed with the choice of Betty.
 

Worth Tweeting About?

Amherst Regional Public School Twitter account

One of the sillier ideas floated at last night's Amherst Regional School Committee meeting is to rely on Twitter as an official "repository" for questions and information dissemination concerning the controversial Regionalization effort expanding the current 7th - 12th grade four-town Region all the way down to Pre-K through 6th grade.

Yes, in this digital age two-thirds of Americans use Social Media but only about 16% are on Twitter.  Facebook is still the king, with well over half of all Americans participating.

The Amherst Regional Public School Twitter account, with 261 followers, does not have a stellar following of parents/guardians considering the total enrollment at ARPS is 1,441 students -- over five times that.  (And presumable a fair number of students have two parents or guardians.)

Maria Geryk does not have a Twitter account, but there is a parody account

And unlike Facebook, with Twitter there's a 140 character limit per tweet, which kind of limits complicated discussions.  Although Twitter is absolutely awesome for breaking news.

Interestingly, one of the many complaints the Regional School Committee heard last night during "Public Comment" came from Janet McGowan concerning transparency and public outreach over this important, expensive endeavor, which one RSC hilltown member aptly described now as a "race to Town Meetings."

Regional School Committee Embraces Digital

Amherst Regional School Committee

The Amherst Regional School Committee voted unanimously this evening for the "alternate posting" option allowed under Open Meeting Law for regional entities to post legally required meeting notices on the ARPS regional website rather than individually in all four towns that make up the region.

The RSC has run afoul of the posting requirements having to cancel  meetings at the last minute because they were not properly posted in Pelham where the Town Clerk only works one day per week.

Member Katherine Appy wanted to delay tonight's vote until their next meeting because the Attorney General letter finding the RSC in violation of Open Meeting Law was not included in the packet for tonight's meeting, even though it had been distributed at their 12/8 meeting.

The AG found found in favor of a Open Meeting Law complaint filed by a former member, Tom Flittie, over the July 14 meeting called by then Vice Chair Trevor Babtiste.  The meeting was legally posted in all four towns but then Amherst pulled down the notice at the request of then RSC Chair Lawrence O'Brien.

Other members pointed out the AG finding the committee in violation due to posting protocol was all the more reason to vote in favor of it now so that the streamlining could begin immediately.

Appy reversed course and said she would vote in favor as long as the RSC took up discussion of the Attorney General's finding at their next meeting.

The Whole Story

Emerson Auvenshine (6' 2", 190 pounds) stands before Judge Shea

So here's yet another example of the state's new domestic violence law protecting the perpetrator from public scrutiny. 

You may have read in the bricks and mortar media that Emerson Auvenshine, age 24, a UMass senior, was arrested by APD on Sunday for Breaking & Entering and Malicious Destruction of property valued over $250.

As a result he was immediately suspended from the UMass Hockey team, but he was on crutches in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday due to recent ACL knee surgery, so his athletic career at UMass was over anyway.

Now what the other media outlets did not tell you, because they can't afford to send reporters to District Court, is that Mr Auvenshine was also charged with Domestic Assault & Battery on his former girlfriend.

Because of the law passed back in August police departments can no longer report domestic assault cases and have to purge them from the their daily logs.  So the only way to get that information is to hear it in open Court and then request the documents. 

Click to enlarge/read

Let The Contest Begin

Aaron Hayden (center in sweater) Chair of Amherst Select Board

Yes, the local political season has already begun -- even though nomination papers for the March 31st Annual Town Election are not due at the Town Clerk's office until February 10.  

Doug Slaughter, current Finance Committee and Town Meeting member, has taken out papers for the one lone seat on the 5-member Amherst Select Board.

Current Chair Aaron Hayden's seat is the only one up (next year two seats will be up) but he is about to pull a President Johnson and announce that will not seek nor accept the nomination for his seat in the upcoming election.  Not that Select Board candidates are nominated by a party.

Doug Slaughter as member of Finance Committee (standing)

So no, at the moment, even if Mr. Slaughter turned in his nomination papers with the 50 required signatures, we do not really have a "contest."  Not yet anyway.

Interestingly (at least to me anyway) Slaughter voted in favor of my 2007 Town Meeting petition to fly the commemorative American flags annually on 9/11 (that lost by a two-thirds vote), as did recently elected Select Board member Andy Steinberg.  

And the two current long-time Select Board members Alisa Brewer and Jim Wald have always voted "yes" when the Chair allowed the Select Board to come to a vote on it. 

Mr. Hayden always voted "no" and as Chair, last year, did not even allow the SB to vote on it. 

Modern Age Of Education

Textbook Annex:  Will continue to operate as gift shop under Follett Corp.

For generations students have dutifully lined up the first few days of school to get their expensive textbooks at the aptly named Textbook Annex.  As of this coming fall semester that quaint tradition, like using a payphone, goes the way of video rental stores.

UMass has cut a 5-year deal with Amazon, the largest Internet based retailer in the country, which will allow convenient free delivery of textbooks at an average savings of 31%.

Lower costs for quality higher education is the reason many students choose UMass/Amherst in the first place, so this deal will only enhance that attribute.

Fortunately for Amazon -- should they ever implement drone delivery -- the Amherst Town Meeting ban on drones was only advisory.  And few officials outside of Amherst listen to Town Meeting.