Off Campus Bouncer

UMass/Amherst:  peaceful from above

The best bar bouncer never actually gets physical with a rowdy patron disturbing the peace and tranquility of your friendly neighborhood liquor establishment.  After all, he/she is probably a good customer.  You simply get the problem maker off the scene with as little trouble as possible.

And so it is with the UMass Off Campus Resident Assistant, a combination of bar bouncer, dance chaperon, and Superman (or Superwoman as the case may be).

Patterned on the successful program at Boston College, the off campus RA will patrol the problem areas  adjacent to UMass -- Phillips & Fearing Streets, Sunset Avenue, North Pleasant & Meadow Streets, Hobart Lane -- at problem times looking to mitigate rowdy behavior before it becomes an issue for police.

Unlike "peer group" initiatives Walk This Way and Team Positive, the off campus RA will be an older, more authoritarian figure who can officially address bad behavior.  But the goal will be to use the power of persuasion to get students to stand down.

According to Nancy Buffone, UMass Director of External Relations, "We are moving the search along in a timely fashion so that we can hire someone as soon as possible."

Which is of course bureau speak for "No, they will not be operational this coming spring and certainly not for the March 7 Blarney Blowout."

UMass employment ad for "Neighborhood Liaison"

Town prepares for Blarney Blowout

I made Fade.  I'm somebody now! (Just don't tell the family)

Mini Hobart Hoedown

Matthew Langford stands before Judge O'Grady

Hobart Lane is kind of like Phillips Street in that it will probably never live down its (well deserved) party reputation, even though there has not been a "Hobart Hoedown" in many years.

For you nubies the Hoedown preceded the Blarney Blowout, but of the same basic idea:  day drinking until you get completely out of control, and when police arrive throw dangerous objects at them.

Amherst police encountered two rowdy party goers very early Sunday morning trying to force their way into #29 Hobart Lane.  When they refused to comply with instructions to leave -- and physically resisted police -- officers had no choice but to arrest Kyle Bisceglia and Matthew Langford, both age 20. 

 Click to enlarge/read

Matthew Langford (6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 200 pounds) was charged with Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest and Assault and Battery on a police officer.

 Kyle Bisceglia arraigned before Judge O'Grady

Kyle Bisceglia was charged with Resisting Arrest and Disorderly Conduct.

Both are hiring their own attorney and they will return to Eastern Hampshire District Court in mid-December.

"Clearly Has Issues ... "

Attorney John W. Drake (left) Nikolai R James (right) appear before Judge Michael Mulcahy

Nikolai R. James, age 21 (who lives with his Grandfather in Leverett), appeared this afternoon in Eastern Hampshire District Court for the serious charges of Assault & Battery on two Amherst police officers, both of whom suffered broken fingers in the process.

The prosecution requested Judge Mulcahy revoke his bail from a previous case of domestic abuse he was charged with only last week in Orange District Court.   And on the two current counts brought by the Amherst Police Department, the Commonwealth requested bail of $2,500 per count or $5,000 total.

 Greenfield Recorder District Court Logs (9/29/14)

The prosecutor told the Judge Nikolai James first drew attention to himself near Hobart Lane and North Pleasant Street around 2:30 PM Saturday by jumping up and down while grabbing his groin with one hand while the other hand was holding a bottle of champagne.

The officer pulled his cruiser over and when he approached him, James shouted, "Fuck you, I'm just drinking from my open container." He then raised the bottle over his head in a threatening manner.

The officer grabbed his hand and a struggle ensued.  James managed to break free and sprinted away from the officer, who only then noticed his throbbing finger, which turned out to be broken.

Later Saturday night at 8:41 PM on Triangle Street near town center another officer spotted James, who still had a bottle in his hand.  Again Mr. James ran, only this time he fell, rolled onto his back and when the officer was reaching for him he kicked upward with both feet.

The kick landed, breaking two fingers.  James was wearing work boots at the time.

The Public Defender told the Judge his client, "has long term psych issues.  He was at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital for a month this past summer and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia disorder."

Judge Mulcahey agreed with the prosecution about revoking bail from the recent Orange Court case, but set bail at $750 for each APD assault count, or $1,500 total.  The Judge also set up a "competency hearing" to be held before Mr. James goes to trial next month.

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Note to readers:  Yes, both officers were named in court proceedings but I will not publish them because even though they are police they were still victims.

Obscuring Domestic Violence

Apparently NFL players who abuse their wives or girlfriends should move to Massachusetts if they want a better chance keeping their horrific behavior secret.

On August 30 a young lady was assaulted after midnight Saturday on Hobart Lane, located just off the UMass campus, a street predominantly populated by UMass students. 

She walked into the UMass Police Station with her brother to report the incident and they contacted Amherst Police who have jurisdiction.

No arrest was made, and that's pretty much the end of the story.

Two weeks ago, however, APD did arrest two individuals for domestic violence, and one of them even assaulted a police officer causing physical injury.  But apparently our taxpayer funded police can't ever release their names.

Every reputable journalist I know (and I know a lot) routinely redacts victims names, or even details that could lead to exposing their identity.

By making it harder to expose the (alleged) perpetrators of these despicable acts, we only encourage their continuation.

Click to enlarge/read

One Million Down ...

So I should have stayed up a little later last night because sometime just before midnight the milestone one millionth visitor came a calling.  Not that my sitemeter gives me their email so I can award him/her a prize.

Over the past seven years I have tried to cover the stories that my friends in the bricks and mortar media may have missed, or to cover them in a way that offers more of the backstory.

Living here all my life and having operated a small service-oriented business for 28 years gives me Google-like institutional memory and a fairly extensive list of ultra-reliable sources.

Sources who trust my use of "off the record," knowing that North Koreans could hold a flamethrower to my head and I would never give them up.

If you looked at my widget for "popular posts" (which is continuously updated real time) four months ago, six of the top ten stories had nothing to do with  "rowdy student behavior."

Cowardly Anon Nitwits constantly accuse me, a proud UMass grad, of being "anti-student" where all I ever write about is the tiny minority of students who screw up.

So I kind of liked that I could respond with, "60% of my top ten stories have nothing to do with students behaving badly."  Well unfortunately, that is no longer the case.  This year's Blarney Blowout -- not exactly a "tiny minority" of students -- pushed not one, but two new posts into the top ten.

Now 60% of my "popular posts" do involve student bad behavior (4 of them specifically related to Blarney Blowout).

But I take great journo pride in the two stories that were pushed out of the top ten:

The potentially catastrophic basement fire at a Hobart Lane (students) apartment that exposed a (well known) landlord coverup of shoddy conditions -- including orchestrated violations of the bylaw restricting one family units to no more than four unrelated tenants.

A case that came at just the right time to help pass the Amherst Rental Registration & Permit Bylaw last year, the most important piece of legislation enacted by Town Meeting in a generation.

And the other case that you have also read about here more than any other media outlet:  A working class family unfairly sanctioned by an overly PC Amherst School system.  A sad story that is still ongoing.

I hope to be around to bring you a conclusion.

Somewhat Sultry Saturday

Butterfield Terrace 12:30 p.m.

The rains held off today.  A good thing if you're into frisbee, running or cycling.  Not so good if you're a public safety first responder dealing with the final weekend before graduation in a college town.

— Barstool UMASS (@UMassBarstool) May 3, 2014

College Street (Rt 9) 3:00 p.m.

 

Corner Main Street and South Whitney 5:00 p.m.

 

Town center midnight.  Somebody plugged in the Merry Maple

UPDATE:  Sunday morning

So no, thankfully, there were no Hobart Hoedown or Blarney Blowout type incidents last night into the early morning.  

As usual the bewitching hours (10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.) produced the usual alcohol related calls:  Large noisy party at 351 Potwine Lane around 1:30 a.m. and another one busted up 15 minutes later at 310 West Street and around that same time a backyard camp fire/party at 140 Sunset Avenue doused. 

Hobart Lane private security also caught and detained a young man trying to set fire to the dumpster that was torched a couple dozen times last year. 

Police were also requested by a reporting party who sounded drunk, complaining that his girlfriend was escorted into a Party House on the corner of Main Street and South Whitney (pictured above), but he was rejected.

And APD also responded to an apartment complex on East Hadley Road for another caller, who also sounded drunk, complaining he had been, "punched in the face."

Yeah, it's all fun and games until somebody gets punched in the face. 

UMass Riot Aftermath

Umass Southwest concourse just after midnight

UPDATE 9:30 PM

So not only did we garner the awful headline in Boston Magazine highlighting our town having more arrests than Boston, now UMass has been awarded the #1 ranking by Barstool Sports, the King of Juvenile, for 2013 "World Series College Riots". 

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In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning 15 UMass students had "not guilty" pleas entered in their behalf by Judge John M. Payne Jr. who asked each individual perp if they planned to hire an attorney.

Most did not know, saying they would have to "ask their parents."  The Judge then strongly hinted they should consult an attorney before they come back to court later in January (and I don't think it's because the Judge is concerned about the defense attorney business).

Yes, once again a tiny minority of of troublemakers brings disrepute on the vast majority of hard working, law abiding students you wouldn't mind having your own kids befriend.  Hard to believe little old Amherst had more arrests than in Boston. 

AFD extinguished a dumpster fire at Hobart Lane 12:30 AM

Charged by UMPD with "Failure to Disperse",  "Rioting" with a mixture of "Resisting Arrest", 'Disorderly Conduct " or Assault & Battery on an officer" thrown it:

Zachary Orcott, Molly Fitzgerald, John Milligan, Patrick Rogers, Miranda Murphy, Carolyn Malone, Travis Connolly, Nicholas Barry, Lawrence Green, Alexander Booth, Casey Adams, Michael Bertrand, Evan Jacob, Jonathan Ennis, and Justin Markuson.

Nice doggy!

Note full containers of water being hurled about

Party House (s) of the Weekend

As you could probably tell from my previous report covering the alcohol soaked Friday night into Saturday morning that overwhelmed our Emergency Medical Response system, the other byproduct of free flowing alcohol-- noise/nuisance -- was also in abundant supply.

Amherst police broke up a party at #17 Salem Place Condominiums early Saturday morning (12:33 AM) arresting three UMass students for both noise and nuisance house Town By Law violations.  The second charge usually results if the party hosts are uncooperative at the front door, or there's a large number of attendees, with some of them underage.

Arrested by Amherst police: Enrico A. Aloi, Kyle A. Crist and John L. Tremblay all of them age 21 and all UMass students.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning all three accepted the plea bargain whereby the criminal charges are switched to a civil charge.  Judge John Payne, Jr. only enforced the $300 noise ticket and reduced the other $300 ticket to zero, even though an Assistant District Attorney had suggested the second charge be $50.

 

1008 North Pleasant Street (note car parked on lawn)

Saturday around midnight police broke up an even larger party at 1008 North Pleasant Street very near the UMass campus and directly across the street from the natorious Hobart Lane.  Five students were arrested, although one (Arian Hashemi-Pour) claimed this morning he was not a resident of the house so the charges could have been thrown out. 

Arrested for noise:  Arian C. Hashemi-Pour, 22  and Sana Jameel, Patricia L. Martin, Nicole Scepkowski and Adriana N. Sobel all of them 21 and UMass students all.

The four actual residents of 1008 North Pleasant Street (all the females) also agreed to the plea bargain with a  $300 fine going to the town and an additional $100 court costs to settle the matter. (Plus the $40 each paid to the court clerk to be released from APD jail).

 35 Northampton Road

Police also arrested two female UMass students at 35 Northampton Road (Rt 9) for noise and nuisance house violations just after midnight Saturday into Sunday morning.  Christina Kingdara, 20,  and Allison N. Wolf, 19, both UMass students.

Again Judge Payne nixed the nuisance charge and allowed the plea bargain of $300 to the town and $100 in court costs.

Interestingly all the students arrested by APD for underage drinking and/or open container violations were fined more heavily than Party House perps.  The plea bargain cost them $300 to the town, $100 to the court plus completion of the BASICS program at UMass, which also has a $100 fee.

A Safer Place To Be

Gilreath Manor, Hobart Lane, Amherst

When the occupancy rate at Gilreath Manor went from zero to 100% last week, for the first time in perhaps a generation, the 14-unit apartment complex was completely up to code.  

Even the owners' expensive attorney admits to the Amherst Board of Health " ... the work was performed in the manner approved by the board and in a professional manner, leaving the units in a safer and better condition than before."

Amen.

Because on September 19th of last year, the main building pictured above could easily have become a death trap.  Too many occupants and not enough smoke detectors is bad enough, but throw in illegal basement bedrooms and a slow burning fuse to a potential powder keg has been ignited.

For a landlord in a college town like Amherst to lie to investigators and try to delay their inspections, and then try to place blame on tenants by pretending they did not know about extra roommates living in illegal basement bedrooms (when in fact they encouraged it) would be considered standard operating procedure for slumlords. 

But when it's a prominent second-generation family business empire and the individual at the helm is also the Amherst Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors President, let's just say the complicated case became a high profile affair.

And the Grandonicos lost.  No more flagrantly violating the (no more than) four unrelated housemates bylaw, having two bedrooms in the basements of Gilreath Manor (one per unit is now legal) or being less than attentive to safety codes with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Thus sending a loud and clear message that the town is truly serious about cracking down on sub par rental housing -- no matter who the owners are.

The outcome of this particular case was a major reason the controversial "Rental Permit Bylaw" passed Town Meeting so overwhelmingly last May.

Although there was a brief dust up in late June when the Board of Health thought the Grandonicos were being disrespectful, which is of course not a good idea when you require an official variance.

But as you can see from the public documents back story, all's well that ends well.

Labor Day in a College Town

 

Town center 1:20 AM this morning

Last night into early this morning seemed to be the busiest time this Labor Day weekend for Amherst public safety personnel.  With all hands on deck APD managed to keep things under control, with no major disruptions -- aka Blarney Blowout -- to report.

 133 Fearing Street, Sunday morning

Around 10:00 PM the alcohol related arrests began -- open container, underage drinking (usually in combination) -- in and around the immediate neighboring streets to our UMass flagship:  Fearing, Phillips, Alan streets, Nutting and Lincoln Avenues, Hobart Lane, Meadow Street and with assist from UMass Police Department,  all along North Pleasant Street.

These early interventions send the message that law and order will be maintained.




Amherst Fire Department, on the other hand, was pushed to the breaking point.  Around midnight, just after dispatch issued a call for two off duty personnel to come in for station coverage.

Northampton Fire Department had to respond for a call to a high rise Southwest dorm for a female with a head injury.

At the time all five of our ambulances were tied up -- the majority of them dealing with passed out drunk students.  Late Sunday into early Monday morning AFD responded to UMass for a total of 11 emergency medical calls -- seven of them for ETOH students.



Over the course of the evening I passed by the scene of a young person down (usually female) with concerned friends trying to help them up at least a half-dozen times.  Particularly concerning because a young woman died last year after falling and hitting her head while staggering down Fearing Street with friends. 

The previous night APD and AFD responded to 45 Phillips Street for a young woman passed out in the yard.  She was only seventeen. 


127 E. Pleasant St. around midnight "First and last party of the semester."

(Repeat) Party House of the Weekend

 1190 North Pleasant Street, Saturday afternoon

With the official inauguration of UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, SoccerFest, Amherst's Sustainability Festival, events at Amherst College and the Ice Stars for Warriors event at the Mullins Center, our quaint little college town was in overdrive this past weekend.

As was revelry of the obnoxious kind. 

 

APD heading toward N Amherst bus stop for throng of students acting up

 

APD swoops in to suggest students get off the roof of former Watroba's

In all, Amherst Police made 38 arrests!  All but two for rowdy activity fueled by alcohol:  13 for noise  at numerous party houses, 13 for open container or underage drinking, 7 for "disorderly conduct" and one for DUI.

First up, the Bad Boys at  62 Summer Street -- all six of them!  

Arrested for noise violations Saturday night around 11:00 PM:

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220 North East St, Amherst

Next up, and about an hour later  (midnight Saturday) but in another part of town, 220 North East Street:

owned, naturally, by an LLC. 

 

Late Friday night into early Saturday morning Towne House Apartments --  #87 in particular -- was once again the scene of a large enough party to attract a police response. And four arrests:

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Alpha Tau Gamma, 118 Sunset Avenue

And of course what would a rowdy weekend be without some assist from a Frat: Alpha Tau Gamma, where an outdoor party was warned by APD Saturday at 1:00 PM and again at 5:00 PM.   Still, in the early morning hours of Sunday, one overly combative Jacob Scott Dennis, 15 Aztec Way, Sharon, MA, age 22, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest and Simple Assault. 

The Hobart Hoedown failed to materialize (stationing a cruiser at the entrance to the complex helps) but an altercation did occur at 51 Hobart Lane 2:30 AM Sunday morning with police arresting perps for Disorderly Conduct:

Dominick M Ferrante, 88 Old Greenfield Road, Shelburne Falls, MA, age 21 and Tyson Dowdy, 4 Chapman, Greenfield, Ma, age 23

Once again a ubiquitous police presence -- UMPD, APD and State PD -- managed to keep a lid on any major disturbances, although if you are a neighbor to any of these cited party locations, not much consolation.

 

State Police K9 unit responds to disturbance near Old Towne Tavern

The Morning After ...

166 College Street, Amherst

166 College Street, parking

263 College Street, Amherst

26 Allen Street, Amherst

 

45 Phillips Street, Amherst

27/29 Phillips Street, Amherst

19/21 Hobart Lane, Amherst