Forest For The Trees

 36-38 South East Street (Fort River School behind)

The Amherst Planning Board and Tree Warden Alan Snow will hold a joint "Scenic Roads" hearing tonight to decide the fate of four trees on South East Street, which is of course a "scenic road."

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The owners of the rental property at 36-38 South East Street need to reconfigure their parking lot to keep within the Rental Permit Bylaw regulations and there's pretty much nowhere to go with the pavement other than that piece of paradise.

Three of the four trees are nothing to write home about, but one of them is healthy and scenic and therefor worth saving.

And the rule is if you can't save the tree worth saving then you will most likely have to pay the town a replacement cost of $90 per inch. Which adds up with mature trees. In this case 18 inches or $1,620.

Obviously the canopy and shade created by one mature 18" tree is probably greater than that provided by nine immature 2" trees (which the town will use to replace it).

Back in July, 2013 the Planning Board overruled the Tree Warden and voted to allow the owners of a house on the other end of South East Street,  #666,  to remove ten trees for a new driveway entrance.

But because Mr. Snow did not back down on the "replacement costs" totaling $6,000 the owners decided not to go the clear cut route and today the trees are still part of the scenic byway.

Our Other Problem

Those who chase the dragon get burned

Last week the Amherst Select Board, acting as liquor commissioners, spent two hours in heated public discussion weighing the problems caused by alcohol in our little college town.

They were trying to decide if a well run small business on the outskirts of downtown should have one of many beer/wine permits still available.

 Amherst Center Store located across street from Kendrick Place near UMass

Neighbors were nothing if not united in opposition citing student rowdiness, and the closeness of Amherst Center Store to both the UMass campus and of course the new controversial Kendrick Place apartments which they claim is overly populated by students.

The Select Board narrowly approved the liquor license by a 3-2 vote.

Heroin is of course an illegal drug, and unlike marijuana it will always stay that way.  For good reason.  It is killing our citizens -- especially our youth -- at an unprecedented rate.  More than 1,000 heroin/opioid deaths last year in the progressive state of Massachusetts.

AFD Runs Mid November

I hope the three heroin overdoses over a very short period of time AFD and APD had to deal with Sunday night serve as a wake up call.

Before it's too late.   

Close The Barn Door

Colorful barn at 332 West Street, South Amherst front view

Side view

Even though Amherst Town Meeting approved $75,000 in Community Preservation Act funds almost two years ago for rehabilitation of the historic barn that's hard to miss on West Street (Rt. 116) in South Amherst, the barn may not survive much longer.

The town tax money was never spent and the property just changed hands at the beginning of this month.

And the barn today looks sadder than it did two years ago when the CPA committee was told the owners insurance company wanted it removed immediately because it was a liability/safety issue.

Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek will give the Community Preservation Act Committee an update next month as town officials are trying to talk the new owner into saving the landmark.

I asked town assessor David Burgess if renovating the structure would increase the valuation of the property hence increasing the tax burden on the homeowner:

If the barn is restored then the value would probably go up and, in anticipation of your next question, no not by $75,000.  I imagine if that much money was set aside it would be to replicate what how the building was originally, i.e. historical materials, whereas assessments are based on replacement costs in today’s materials for the same use.  

The assessor was more concerned about why the property just sold for well under his current assessed value.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Just to show how extraordinary three cases of heroin OD over a 1.5 hour period Sunday night was, Amherst Police arrested only one impaired driver over the entire weekend.  Hadley PD also bagged one. 

AFD & APD responding to a North Amherst Apartment complex for yet another heroin overdose, 3rd separate one this evening.

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) November 16, 2015

 Thornton Benjamin, age 20, arraigned before Judge Payne

Both had a plea of not guilty entered in their behalf, and will return to Eastern Hampshire District Court on December 10th with their private attorneys.

Rachasima Tran, age 22, arraigned before Judge Payne

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A Queen Falls Hard

Holly Holm threw 8 kicks total and they all landed 

You know an athlete has reached the tipping point for media saturation when their choice of a presidential candidate makes national coverage, even if it is Bernie Sanders.

No one has done more for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts than Ronda Rousey.  She became a revered symbol -- a unique combination of brains, beauty and bravado -- in a sport where bloody violence sometimes turns off mainstream viewers.

Going into her latest title defense with Holly Holm she was the overwhelming favorite, and obviously she believed the hype.

But this is America, and we love the underdog.  Thus her stunning loss via knockout -- a head kick no less -- was widely celebrated.

Football aficionados use the term "On any given day" to promote parity in that other sport that can also be a tad violent.

If outcomes were all but guaranteed it kind of spoils the thrill of watching.  And paying for those rights to spectate.

As John F Kennedy once said, "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."

I hope Ronda takes her loss to heart, trains harder, and comes back with a renewed respectful attitude we can all be proud of. 

Afflict The Comfortable

Amherst College:  Named after the town, not the General

At least they didn't vandalize the sign

The irony is probably lost on Amherst Uprising -- a cadre of students of color suddenly energized about how evil their expensive college of choice is -- but one of the prime jobs of journalism is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

Combine that with my favorite saying, "If a tree falls in the forest and a digital journo is not there to cover it, it does not make a sound," and you will understand why I shake my head over the First Amendment issues that seem lost on student protestors.

 Blood was spilled on the streets of Chicago

When Chicago police were beating the daylights out of Hippie/Yippie protestors at the Democratic Nation Convention in 1968 the bloodied youth started chanting, "The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching."  And indeed it was.

Just as they were in the early 1960s when the Freedom Riders were being persecuted by southern mobs as good old boy police stood by and did nothing.  But the images beamed back to middle class America awakened the silent majority thus giving "voice to the voiceless."

Indeed "The pen is mightier than the sword" -- especially now in the digital age -- but your ideas still need to hold up in the open marketplace provided by the mainstream media where they receive wider vetting.

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 More than a majority of AC students are non white

Preaching to your already converted followers on Twitter or Facebook and holding closed-to-the-media events defeats the purpose of an "uprising."

Besides, if can't deal with criticism or the challenge of a debate then maybe your cause is not all that sustainable.

And here's the other "intentional parody" account, that has since been terminated:

I'm still trying to figure out of this is a parody Twitter account

The good news is the Lord Jeffs beat arch rival Williams and went undefeated for the season

Signature Saturday Success

 Amherst For All starts the campaign 8/27/15

 

Amherst For All 8:45 AM this morning

The Amherst For All Charter change enthusiasts report a whopping 700 signatures collected throughout town today, well over the target goal of 500. 

That now puts the effort at 2,400 signatures or 75% of the  way to the final goal of 3,215 signatures.

That enormous number represents 15% of the registered voters in town, and is required to get a Charter change question on the ballot for the annual election coming up March 29. In addition voters will elect a 9-member Charter Commission to hash out a new and improved form of governance.

Steering Committee member Jerry Guidera is confident the group will have the required number of signatures by Thanksgiving, giving the entire town something extra to be thankful for on that most revered holiday.