Security Breach

How would you like to get a registered return receipt letter informing you of a "potential disclosure of information that contained your personal information?"

As vaguely worded as that dispatch is, I bet it would ruin your entire gorgeous summer day.

But I guess it could be a lot worse.  Just imagine the sleepless nights millions of cheating spouses will endure now that hackers who infiltrated users personal (and financial) information on a very personal website are threatening disclosure.

The breach involving the Amherst town website is not nearly as, umm, sexy but definitely scary for the citizens impacted.

Obviously it would only potentially impact those who have uploaded financial information to the town website.  And fortunately, it was not the result of outside hackers breaking into the system.

   Amherst Security Breach Letter

Finance Director Sandy Pooler was limited in what he could disclose (and specifically could not say how many registered letters were sent out) but he did say if you did not get a letter, you have nothing to worry about.  

For those of you who did get the letter and have concerns, you can call either Sandy (413-259-3002) or Claire McGinnis (413-259-3020) for further information (that they legally cannot give to a pesky reporter). 

School Committee Squabble

Amherst School Committee:  Katherine Appy far left, Vira Douangmany far right

Looks like the Amherst Regional School Committee -- made up of all five Amherst School Committee members, plus 2 from Pelham and one each from Shutesbury and Leverett -- is returning to the good old days of internal strife with a side order of bickering.

Regional  Chair Trevor Baptiste announced at the 6/23 meeting that he  is scheduled to meet with the Amherst NAACP on August 14 to "engage in mediation ... to hear their issues and to discuss their goals to see if we can reach consensus."

Obviously that did not sit well with Amherst School Committee Chair Katherine Appy, who lost to Mr. Baptiste by a vote of 7-2 when the RSC reorganized itself also at the 6/23 meeting.

   Amherst Open Meeting Law Complaint

Housing Enforcement Outliers

Inspection Services Department located in historic Amherst Town Hall

The once controversial Amherst Rental Registration Bylaw -- one of the most important pieces of local legislation passed in a generation -- is now just over 1.5 years old.

After achieving 100% compliance of nearly 1,300 properties before the end of its rookie year, the next step of course is to keep them in compliance.

That's where the Inspection Services Department come in, aka the enforcer.

Interestingly the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2015 the number of complaints is exactly the same @ 164.  But in 2014 those 164 complaints were lodged against a total of 151 different properties and in 2015 the 164 complaints were lodged against a total of only 81 properties. 

Same number of complaints involving far fewer properties

Two of the more serious enforcement actions involved illegal basement dwelling units occurred in 2015. Fortunately both had a happy ending, although one landlord ended up paying $500 in court fines.

 149 Farmington Road

   Amherst Housing Case

 

816 North Pleasant Street 

   Amherst Rental Bylaw Enforcement

 

 

Dog Days of Summer

APD on scene 664 Main Street professional building this morning

The good news is Amherst Police did not make a single arrest for drunk driving over the weekend.  In fact, no arrests at all.  The awful news is the rash of B & Es continues unabated. 

Over the weekend businesses all along Main Street and some on adjacent College Street were violated by an intruder who used brute force to gain entry, kicking in doors or cutting screens then ransacking the place in search of valuables.

State Police have been called in to assist with crime scene evidence.

 APD on scene 409 Main Street professional building Sunday afternoon

Small businesses hit include the Gillen building at 409 Main Street, Valley Frame Works, Dorsey Memorials, Jewish Community of Amherst synagogue, Kelly's Restaurant, and TIA Architect.  To name a few.

As of this morning reports are still coming in to APD as small business owners report in to start their long work week.  Made even longer now. 

Sad Tale Of Two Homes

The Dakin House, 355 South Pleasant Street (click to enlarge)

If Amherst College wants to see some return on investment for their $4.3 million purchase twelve years ago of the now derelict Dakin estate they should turn it into a pop up haunted house for this coming Halloween.

 Dakin estate on South Pleasant Street still looks good from the air

Of course the main reason for the expensive purchase was to keep the property -- located contiguous to the college owned Amherst Golf Course -- from being turned into a housing development.

Since that does not qualify as an "educational use" the town assessor put the property back on the taxrolls in 2006 but was nice enough to keep the valuation the same as before the college spent so much as a "motivated buyer".

 The only use the structure now sees is practice for Amherst Fire Department

Would also make a great location for a Hollywood slasher movie

The 1830 estate was owned by Arthur Hazard Dakin, Jr. brother of Winthrop Saltonstall Dakin ("Toby") who were both, like their Dad, prominent  attorneys.  Arthur Hazard Dakin Sr. had graduated from Amherst College in 1884.

After Arthur Dakin Jr. died in 2001 the bank who administered his trust approached Amherst College to buy his 37 acre estate.  They could not come to terms (although I hear the asking price was around $1 million) and the property went out to auction, where the College ended up paying four times more for the property.

 Overgrown outdoor patio

Lawns, meadows and beautiful mature trees stand in stark contrast to the buildings on the spacious grounds

And has done nothing with it since, other than mowing the extensive lawns.

Meanwhile ...

 Dakin House, 650 East Pleasant Street

The other Dakin estate, donated to UMass after the death of Janet Dakin, who outlived her husband Winthrop by a dozen years, is currently in use by the UMass "Renaissance Center" for academic research.

Main house and Carriage House are still in use

The Dakin House, carriage house and garage were all built in 1949, but according to a 2009 building survey for the Massachusetts Historical Commission it was "recommended not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places."

 Dakin Carriage House

But at least UMass keeps them habitable.  Well, mostly.

 Dakin garage going to waste

Say Cheese!

Shots fired!  UMass campus pond this fine Sunday morning

If you notice a throng of photographers around town this weekend don't be afraid, it's just a shutterbug conference at UMass. 

 Click to enlarge/read.  Or go to UMass website

And if you heard the sound of muskets this somewhat stormy Sunday morning that was only a reenactment -- a drill if you will -- to give those photographers something to do.

That's a lot of photographers

 

45 Years & Still Hitting Stride

Amherst Regional High School top right, Jr. High bottom left, 1970

They say 60 is the new 40.  For the 1970 graduating class of Amherst Regional High School -- now pushing retirement age -- this year's 45th reunion may be the perfect time to test that slogan.

You're old enough to have experienced much of what life can throw out both good and bad, but still young enough to keep coming back for more.  And maybe passing on that hard-won wisdom to the generations following behind.

ARHS 1970

Most baby boomers would agree that 1970, the Age of Aquarius, was an epically tumultuous year.

The anti-war movement hit a frenzied peak, culminating with a "student strike" nationwide following the tragic May 4 shooting deaths of four student protesters at Kent State by National Guard troops.

And then, less than two weeks later, two black Jackson State students were killed by police bullets.

Click to enlarge photo

Following the Cambodia invasion UMass Amherst shut down for the semester just before finals, and although ARHS did not follow suit, the student body was actively involved in protesting the war.

Plaque on the Amherst Town Common

Many would participate in the stand out in Amherst town center every Sunday initiated by the Quakers, and to this day still carried on by a small determined contingent. 

Although not all students protested against the war.  Some would show their support in a disruptive way by tearing off black armbands worn by fellow students symbolically expressing their discontent.

Principal Langlois took to the P.A. system to strongly defend the First Amendment right of students to display their symbolic disapproval of the war and chastised those who would bully them.  He comparing the wearing of a black armband with the right to wear a religious medallion.

Race relations was also a hugely divisive national issue back then -- as it still is today -- managing to infiltrate the halls of Amherst Regional High School as well.

The A Better Chance program, that brought inner city black youth to our predominantly white middle class High School, had just started the previous year and was not met with enthusiasm by a distinct minority of the student body.

One day the disgruntled group organized a symbolic protest by having supporters wear white shirts to school.  Once again Principal Langlois set the malcontents straight in a school wide assembly defending the ABC program, which thrives to this day.

ARHS also instituted a "black studies" program that was not met with overall support by a number of the black students and their parents.  Just as today the school sometimes struggles with providing programming that pleases everyone.

Like most of the graduating classes from ARHS dating back 60 years the vast majority of the 234 members of the class of 1970 spread far and wide, away from our little college town. 

Come August 7-9 many will return to warmly reminiss about the good old days, rekindle friendships, perhaps mend ancient disagreements, and remember those who are no longer with us.

Or maybe just hoist a celebratory toast to their remaining classmates for getting this far; and for not just seeing things as they were, but for dreaming things that could be.

And still can.

Goldbug 1970 Yearbook two page spread

Special thanks to Jones Library Special Collections department