Crocker Construction

Crocker Farm access road yesterday (playground top left)

Work has begun on expanding the parking lot at Crocker Farm Elementary School to add 30-35 new spaces, and a couple of maple trees paid the ultimate price.

Crocker Farm four years ago (trees planted in 2002 renovation)

The renovation work is not necessarily linked to the school grade reconfiguration plan that would make Crocker Farm an early childhood education center (preK-1st grade).

The school currently is at capacity and expanded parking was identified (and the money appropriated) back in 2012.

 Crocker Farm School, built 1974 but renovated 2002 to a total of 90,800 square feet

In addition work on the new ($240K) ADA complaint playground has also commenced:

Homeless Shuffle

Town center this morning (submitted photo)

In case you wondered where our homeless population sleeps now that the shelter has closed for the season:  In and around town center, pitching tents in conservation areas and West Cemetery or breaking and entering into someone else's abode.

Stash (sleeping bag, clothes) behind Town Hall

Of course if APD then catches you it's off to the House of Correction in Northampton.  Last week in two seperate incidents police arrested four individuals who list their address as "Streets of Amherst."

Such was the case with Daniel Davenport and Melina Ann Lynch:

Click to enlarge/read

Troy Ward & Angel Rivera were arrested for more traditional B&E

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed down a decision today affirming the rights of a homeless individual to use the "necessities defense" for breaking and entering. 

But they drew the line when the weather is fair so Davenport and Lynch would not have had much luck using it.

However, if the Homeless Shelter goes dry next season and starts turning away patrons under the influence of drugs or alcohol on a cold winter night, neighboring residents and downtown businesses may see an increase in unwanted guests.

   Necessity Defense

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday Judge Poehler refused the Commonwealth's request for bail on three of the four but did impose $1,000 bail on Angel Rivera.  Davenport, Lynch and Ward were all released on their personal recognizance and will be back in Court next month.

And, no doubt, now back on the streets of Amherst.

Pretty In White

Jada lined up with Miss Emily's famous white dress

Call me a history geek but I couldn't think of a better way of spending Fathers Day than walking around Amherst town center with my girls, having lunch at the Taste of Amherst, and then hanging out at the Amherst History Museum.

I am always a little amazed to be able to amble up close to the last remaining article of clothing worn by our most famous resident, Emily Dickinson: A simple white dress.

Like Miss Emily must have appeared at first glance all those years ago. Simple on the outside, but pricelessly complicated on the inside.

And I'm even more amazed the Strong House History Museum, one of the oldest wood structures in Amherst, has no sprinkler system in case of a catastrophic fire.

Town Meeting recently approved $390,000 for just such systems at The Evergreens and First Congregational Church which are of course historical treasures.

Amherst College owns both The Evergreens and the Dickinson Homestead and they matched the $190,000 Town Meeting approved for The Evergreens ultra fancy fire suppression system.

The Dickinson Museum has a copy of the white dress on display but the original remains at the nearby Strong House.

The proposed Jones Library expansion renovation will create 1,000 square feet of new climate controlled, sprinklered space for the neighboring Amherst History Museum to use for public display, which I would assume means the priceless white dress.

Hopefully before the unthinkable should happen.

Kira at age 14 is already taller than Miss Emily

An Interesting Question

The one question I would love someone to ask our half-dozen candidates for Ellen Story's 3rd Hampshire District state rep seat is how they plan to vote on the recreational marijuana ballot question this coming November?

3rd Hampshire District candidates debate last night

Interestingly at Monday night's Select Board hearing on the 4th request for a medical marijuana dispensary "Letter of Support", which took FOREVER, Happy Valley freely admitted they would love to pursue that market demographic.

But they were quick to point out their business plan showed they would be quite profitable with just the medical market (estimated at $10 million) as long as the Select Board issued them a Letter of Support like they did the other three.

Having made an effort to cover APD weekend arrests for drunk driving and OUI/drugs I have watched hundreds of arraignments and plea deals.

By far the main weapon used as evidence by the Commonwealth -- which borders on infallible -- to bring perps to a quick settlement (Ch24D deal) is the Breathalyzer Test for blood alcohol levels.

And thus far, there's no simple reliable such equivalent for marijuana.

Drone On

Downtown Amherst from 396 feet

The long awaited FAA rules for professional use of small unmanned aircraft systems aka drones will go into effect in late August.  The major concession that created a collective sigh of relief among us responsible users is loosening the silly requirement that operators have a commercial pilots license.

But additional training and certification in aeronautics is required, which is probably not a bad thing depending on cost of certification and degree of difficulty with the syllabus.

The other rules are pretty much the same as announced last year when registration was first required:  keep it under 400 feet, in visual sight and do not fly directly over large crowds.

Maybe when drones go mainstream -- if indeed they haven't already -- people will relax and realize what wonderful tools they can be.

My Facebook page threw up one of those "memories from last year" this morning as I was working on this article that showed me hand catching my baby after a photo shoot in North Amherst center done at the request of outgoing Planner Jeff Bagg (who took the photo).

Drone shoot for Planning Dept public hearing on North Amherst center realignment

A couple of weeks ago I covered the spectacular fire at Alpine Commons and specifically asked Assistant Chief Stromgren if it was okay to put my eye in the sky.

He not only gave me permission but brought it to the attention of Chief Nelson who came over and requested I get a better view of the roof, which was then belching smoke and flames from a fire that had too big a head start.

 Engine 2 (top) has high capacity water cannon at end of 75' ladder

Demonstrating his vast experience Chief Nelson almost instantly ascertained "the roof is gone" and pulled his firefighters out of the building.  Not much later a section of the roof collapsed.

He then sent me over to Engine 2 to show my live feed from above to better direct the 1,000 gallon per minute water attack.

Like any tool they can be misused.  When an irresponsible user crashed a Phantom 2 on the White House lawn the company upgraded their firmware to geofence Washington D.C. as they previously had done will all commercial airports so their drones will not even fly.

And their drones have a built in fail safe so if the battery gets too low or the transmitter control signal is lost it will use GPS to return to the original take off point, land and shut off.  Sort of like an intelligent boomerang.

So when you see someone controlling a drone on public property covering a public event do not come up to them and challenge them about a license or registration.  Chances are they have one.

I often wonder if those same people go up to a person who just parked their car at a public meter and ask them if they have a license to drive?

 Sweetser Park Amherst Community Band concert shot from APD front lawn

Last week I had two gentlemen challenge me while covering two different public events in the downtown, one of which I used the front lawn of the police station as my launch pad/control space.

"Are you registered to use that thing", he snarled.  "Yes", I responded.  "Do the police know you use that damn thing?"  "Yes" I responded.  He stormed off, obviously disappointed.

 Interim Chamber Director Jerry Guidera caught me covering The Taste of Amherst

Although I have to admit negative interactions with the general public are probably only one-in-ten, but those other nine enthusiastically asking questions while my bird is in the air are equally distracting. 

Leaving A Good Taste

Taste of Amherst looked good from any angle

According to Interim Chamber of Commerce Director Jerry Guidera this year's Taste of Amherst was about the best ever due to a combination of wonderful weather and a fine tuned array of offerings from all the food vendors as well as a live music and things for the young or young at heart.

Or maybe is was the full page ad in Hampshire Life using a cool background photo:

Either way, best of all (also weather related) our historic Town Common did not take a beating.

Town Common this morning

More Trouble In Paradise

Antonio's Pizza, 31 North Pleasant Street, downtown Amherst

Yesterday was a bad day for local iconic restaurants.

Rafters slid closer to the abyss after our Select Board approved a "Letter of Support" for yet another medical marijuana dispensary that wants to locate on their grave and legal notice was published in the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette of an upcoming auction for the building that houses Antonio's.

Double Yikes.

Anyone who knows anything about downtown Amherst knows Antonio's is The-Little-Train-That-Could of restaurants, even slaying a McDonald's that dared to open up next door.

Bruno Matarazzo, the hardest working man in Amherst prior to his untimely death, opened the business back in the early 1990s when the concept of pizza by the slice was pretty much untried.

According to assessor records the building was purchased from his wife Barbara in 2003 by Reves Amherst Pizza Property LLC.  And that company has since expanded Bruno's winning concept to Belchertown, Easthampton, Worcester, Providence R.I. and College Station, Texas.