Sunny Saturday

24th annual Amherst Ultimate Frisbee Tournament ARHS playing field

Today is a beautiful day to get out an enjoy some of the cooler things our little college town offers, like the 24th annual Amherst Ultimate Frisbee Tournament taking place today and tomorrow at the Amherst Regional High School and Ziomek Field.

Click to enlarge/read

 Amherst League of Women Voters book sale under the bigtop

And that BIG white tent on the Town Common that 's impossible to miss indicates the other long standing Amherst tradition is in full swing: The annual League of Women Voters book sale.

Yes in Amherst all things paper -- especially books -- are still beloved.

Earlier this week on the floor of Town Meeting DPW Chief Guilford Mooring said the tonnage of paper in the Amherst recycling stream has been holding steady (except for, ahem, newsprint) over the past ten years.

 Cushman Village Center, North Amherst hosting May Day Celebration today

Although ...

Large line of college aged youth forming at Old Towne Tavern at high noon

Finally!

Metacomet Cafe, 27 South Pleasant Street

After nearly three years of teasing downtown traffic with a wicked cool retro neon sign, the Metacomet Cafe is finally set to open this coming Memorial Day weekend. 

The cozy food cafe is owned and operated by brothers Trevor and Spencer Hopton,  and will be specializing in "the world's greatest hamburgers" (as well as sandwiches and salads).

Public Safety Force Multiplier

225 police officers help keep the peace in Amherst on the day of Blarney Blowout (3/7/15)

On March 7th -- to ensure peace and tranquility in neighborhoods adjacent to UMass -- Amherst police benefited greatly by use of the Western Mass Mutual Aid agreement, a pact signed back in September between Amherst and 26 other local departments.

The main reason Blarney Blowout became riotous over the previous couple years was a lack of boots on the ground dressed in blue.

 North Pleasant Street 3/8/14

In 2014, the worst-of-the-worst year with 58 arrests, vastly outnumbered police had to rely on pepper balls and less gently methods of physical interaction with the alcohol fueled rowdy mobs.  But this past year was different as night-and-day, or drunk-and-sober as the case may be.

   West MA PD Mutual Aid Pact

Like traditional fire department mutual aid, which has been around forever, when a sudden emergency prompts a nearby city/town to call for police assistance, Amherst will simply respond with no expectation of reimbursement.

 AFD Engine 2 and an ambulance responded to Northampton Hotel fire on Tuesday

That of course works both ways, as someday that same department may respond to Amherst when the need arises.

Since Blarney Blowout was a "long standing incident or pre-planned event" APD (the "receiving party") was responsible for reimbursing responding departments, a $30,910 cost picked up by UMass. 

The 60 State Police officers used that day did not require reimbursement, and APD Chief Livingstone does not anticipate mutual aid will be required (other than normal paid traffic details) for UMass graduation next week.

A Centennial After The Horror

About 50 people gathered in front of Amherst Town Hall to hear Select Board member Jim Wald read a proclamation issued by the town to remember the "mass extermination" of the Armenian population 100 years ago.

Ellen Story addresses the crowd.  Adrienne Terrizzi and Gregory Bascomb on her left, Marian Mesrobian MacCurdy and Jim Wald on her right

Even today Turkey, in an attempt to whitewash history, bans the word "genocide".

But as long as there are good people who pause to remember the horror and pass it down through talks and the written word, it's a sad chapter in human history that can be avoided in the future.

  Marian Mesrobian MacCurdy, author of the book, 'Sacred Justice: The Voices and Legacy of the Armenian Operation Nemesis', addresses the crowd

Bad Omen?

Town Meeting standing vote last night (which will be negated with electronic voting)

After a somewhat contentious 1.5 hour discussion Amherst Town Meeting narrowly approved hiring a $85,920 Economic Development Director, the pride and joy of Town Manager John Musante's FY16 budget.

The Tally Vote (another thing that will be negated by electronic voting) was 99-88. So if only a half-dozen people had changed their vote ...

I actually thought about voting NO simply because I think UMass should cover half the salary of this position since it was one of the main recommendations of the $60,000 Town/Gown consultant that UMass contributed $30,000 towards.

But I'm certain that the vast majority of NO votes represents the dyed-in-the-wool Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything (BANANA) crowd.

Which is a bad sign for the other favorite articles promoted by the Town Manager: Articles 21, Affordable Housing Property Tax Incentives and Article 22, Inclusionary Zoning which requires 10% of units in developments bigger than 9 units be "affordable."

The pro-business "sensible center" types (of which Town Meeting has far too few) are already being told to vote No on Article 22 (IZ)  if the tax incentives in Article 21 fail. 

Article 22 is a zoning article that requires a two-thirds vote so it stands little chance of passing if Article 21, which requires a majority vote, fails.

And with left wing ringleaders like Vince O'Connor, Mary Wentworth and Carol Gray portraying the tax incentives as "corporate welfare" it could get dicey -- as in hacked to pieces. 

Smoke and Mirrors Savings?

Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee 4/28/15

The Amherst Regional School Committee spent the better part of two hours hearing a presentation and then discussing the financial aspects of expanding the current four town grades 7-12 Region all the way down to pre-Kindergarten.

The presentation assumed all four towns (Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury) agree to expand the Region, a pretty BIG assumption, and the bottom line savings presented -- a BIG incentive it would seem -- came to $662,113.  Or did it?

 Powerpoint slide presented to RSC

Both the $300,000 in "Medicaid Reimbursement" and the $55,000 in "New Choice-In Revenue" is money that comes to the town of Amherst anyway, so it's not "new" revenue.  

Since the state does not reimburse non-regional entities for transportation costs the $286,695 in "New Transportation Reimbursement"  is indeed "new money." 

Even the $75,800 in "New Bonus Aid" comes with a caveat:  It's only for five years and diminishes over that time:

Year 1 - $75,800 

Year 2 - $60,640
Year 3 - $45,480
Year 4 - $30,320
Year 5 - $15,160

So when all is said and done the real savings in year one of Mega-Region (3,385 students) comes to $307,113 or less than $100 student on an average per pupil cost of over $20,000. Providing of course all goes according to plan and you can avoid Murphy's Law.

Representatives from Pelham and Leverett also presented testimony to the Regional School Committee that painted a desperate picture of their elementary school's current financial condition.

Chair of the Regional Agreement Working Group (and now Amherst Select Board member) Andy Steinberg echoed that gloomy scenario saying he is concerned that someday soon our partners in the current 7-12 Region will choose to support their stand alone elementary schools at the expense of the Region. 

Amherst beware: A major deal based on pity often goes astray. 

No Means No!

Fade post (needs more up votes!)

In the early morning hours of Saturday, March 28 UMass police responded to a reported sexual assault that occurred on Phillips Street, immediately adjacent to the campus.

Because the victim, a college aged female, was also ETOH (overly intoxicated) she ended up at UMass Health Services and, as a result, required transportation by AFD to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

Since the (alleged) assault occurred on Phillips Street, which is town jurisdiction, UMPD instantly turned over the matter to APD.   Although my reliable source seemed to doubt the victim would file a criminal complaint, partially because of the alcohol involvement.

And that's seems to have been the end of it.

   APD Public Doc Rejection

Yes, this horrendous act occurred on the very weekend the jury was still out deliberating the fate of Emmanuel Bile, accused of participating in a gang rape at a UMass dorm, where the victim was clearly intoxicated but could still telegraph the concept, "No!"

After an outstanding job by the prosecution Bile was found guilty, in spite of the prominent role alcohol played in the horrific incident.

So I find it beyond appalling that a major corporation with an advertising budget as BIG as a third world country's GDP would highlight/promote the more nefarious aspects of alcohol consumption.

An insulting ad campaign that endangers women by painting a giant target on them, with Bud Light being used as the weapon of choice.   

And even insulting to men by suggesting the only way they can successfully find a sexual partner is if she's out of her mind drunk.

#Fail