Bad news travels instantly

JasonDunn.com

TV journalists always seem to be in a rush, and as a result the story can suffer, especially bad when it's a story about suffering. Take yesterday for instance. A Facebook friend posts a graphic photo with the succinct caption: "We just lost our house and everything we owed, but we are alive, god is great!!!!"

So looking for more information I search Twitter for "Fire Belchertown" and pull up a tweet linking to CH 3 TV news that breathlessly reports: "CBS 3 was first on scene of a Belchertown house fire. The family has lost everything and are homeless. A firefighter was taken to the hospital. Details in the first five."

Wow! They were "first on scene"? Maybe TV news journalists should carry a fire extinguisher in their trunks. Of course what they meant to say was they were the first journalists on the scene. But even that was wrong as someone posted a comment saying Ch 3 had been scooped by Belchertown-news.com, a hyperlocal--and obviously nimble--news operation.

A few hours later Ch 3 edited the story slightly to say "first TV news station on the scene". But they still thought that such an important fact that it graced two paragraphs out of the story's total of three .

First off a (bricks and mortar) journalist is not supposed to become part of the story--ESPECIALLY THE LEAD. And second of all--equally important--a reporter is a human being first and a reporter second. Try showing some empathy rather than hubris about being "first".

If you come upon a homeless person starting to set himself on fire, put down the damn camera and put out the flames--don't wait until it escalates into a great photo opp.

Beside the death of a friend or loved one there's nothing more painful than watching everything you own destroyed in a marauding mixture of smoke, fire and water. A compelling story like that deserves to be told properly, rather than first.

Hitchcock to Hampshire

Hitchcock Center For The Environment, Amherst

The Hitchcock Center, my neighbor to the north, announced today they have signed a "non-binding Memorandum of Understanding" with Hampshire College to move their environmental education operation--a mile or south to the somewhat sprawling Hampshire College campus, joining fellow non-profit, the National Yiddish Book Center, that opened operations there in 1997.

Hampshire College is the third largest landowner in Amherst behind the other two centers of higher education--UMass and Amherst College--and poorer by comparison as far as endowments go.

Since the Hitchcock Center is already tax exempt the move will have no impact on the town tax base but could result in a net gain if a private business buys their "old" building, although unlikely, as it is owned by the town of Amherst.

News in the modern age

Korea at night from space: A photo is worth 1,000 words. This one says it all.

doctorbulldog.wordpress.com

A sudden influx of visitors coming to my DMZ tour post from a few years back via a Google search forwarns me something is up on the Korean peninsula. And usually it's because of a bad thing--the North flexing military power on land or sea belonging to South Korea or threatening the United States, whom they view as the Republic's enemy number one.

This time, however, the news is different--although not unexpected. Kim Jong Il, age 69, is dead. As tyrants go he was not as bad as Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi but a tyrant never the less. I can only hope his son Kim Jong Eun, like most twenty-somethings worldwide, was an early adopter and has grown up with the Internet.

If anything can lead to the democratization of North Korea, it's the freedom of expression inherently found here.

A new dawn for Korea?

People's Republic: Here & There

Old traditional style Chinese character

So my daughters birth country, which I have only visited twice, is enacting new--some would argue--more stringent rules to control the Wild Wild West, err, I mean Internet, by requiring bloggers and tweeters to register with their full names, thus removing the cloak of anonymity.

And as I'm sure some of you Anons know, that cloaking device is almost as good as alcohol for inducing bouts of bravery.

Since it's China, I'm surprised they did not go even further and threaten users who dare to criticize their government that they will become tank fodder as a result. But then Tienanmen Square was not all that long ago, so many of them probably still remember.

But I wonder what the big difference is between China and, say, New Jersey where the local school board wants to shun reporters who print stories they don't like. Or the People's Republic of Amherst where then Select Board chair Gerry Weiss wanted to enact a motion to publicly spank me because he did not like the facts I was publishing about another Select Board member (that a certain local newspaper was too timid to pursue)?

Free no more

Spring Street Parking Lot eastern entry 12/16/11

The good news is the Spring Street parking lot in town center is now fully operational; the bad news is now--just in time for Christmas--we must render unto Caesar our hard earned quarters in order to park.

The lot had been mostly operational (if parking was your only concern) since the first week of November, so savvy visitors could park without giving The Man his due. But hey, at least we nickel and dimed them over the past six weeks to the tune of a few grand.

Spring Street Parking Lot Western entry 11/7/11

A Chief returns

Chief Barbara O'Connor

Former UMass Police Chief Barbara O'Connor, who left UMPD two years ago after 25 years of service, eight of them as Chief, to become University of Illinois Chief, is returning to New England, this time to serve as University of Connecticut's first female police chief and Director of Public Safety.

Some of you locals may remember the UMass riot five years ago where a student dropped a full one gallon jug of liquid off a Southwest high-rise dorm, missing Chief O'Connor by only a few feet--an impact that most certainly would have been fatal.

Certainly can't get any worse at UConn.

The Hartford Courant reports

Making the big time

Donna Kelley and Irv Rhodes teach Junior Achievement at Crocker Farm School

So forget those stodgy A rated, peer reviewed, academic journals so many professors are enslaved to, my lovely wife just made the really b-i-g time for publishing: The Huffington Post. Yikes!

Excuse me while I slip into unbiased reporter mode:

Yesterday at the World Bank in Washington, DC, Babson College professor Donna J. Kelley helped to launch the "Global Woman's Report," which she was lead author. A comprehensive study of women entrepreneurs in 59 countries, the report verified an age-old truism: necessity is the mother of invention.

Since starting a business is one way create a life line, it makes sense that in countries where women have less opportunity handed to them their motivation to succeed is higher.

And in countries like America, where desperation is less prevalent, woman correspondingly have less incentive to risk going it alone with a start-up business.

Kelley just returned to her Amherst home on Saturday after a prestigious Fullbright Scholarship took her to Indonesia for three weeks to teach entrepreneurship while she simultaneously coordinated a Junior Achievement business course at Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary school, where her daughters are enrolled.

The Washington Post also reports

Business Week joins the pack

This one's for you

Jon Davies, Worcester FD

From the Governor:

Please be advised that Governor Patrick has ordered that the United States flag and the Commonwealth flag be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Thursday, December 15, 2011 in honor of Firefighter Jon D. Davies Senior of the Worcester Fire Department who died in the line of duty on Thursday, December 8, 2011.

A short while before six Worcester Firefighters entered the "Building from Hell" and--despite the best efforts of comrades near and far--perished, I took an eight week Citizen Police Academy course where one night we did interactive, real time, audio visual training of possible patrol situations where I was killed in the line of duty.

Turns out that particular scenario was specifically designed for that chilling result to illustrate how, in certain circumstances, no matter how good your training and how well you execute that training, whereby you do everything right...death can still result.

A sobering truth for all public safety personnel--driven home once again.

The clean up continues

South Amherst Common yesterday

Amherst demonstrated the shop local initiative by signing a one year contract with Wagner Wood (with an option to renew for another two years) to clear the town's public ways of brush and tree debris still remaining more than a month after the devastating October 30 nor' easter.

Wagner was originally enlisted as an emergency measure the morning after the storm reigned down debris like a biblical curse, taking out power, blocking roads and driveways while damaging public and private property.

In those first seven dark days (the time period for Federal Emergency Management Agency 75% reimbursement) Wagner, Amherst DPW and other private contractors collected 3,000 cubic yards of fallout. And over the past four weeks an additional 3,000 cubic yards but with 1,500 remaining on public right of way and 1,500 on private property.

Currently the town has spent about $225,000 to clean up the 6,000 cubic yards, or 3,000 tons of debris.

Although Wagner is contracted and funded by tax dollars for public shade tree clean up only, Amherst has coordinated a deal whereby the town (using Wagner) will extend to private homeowners--many of whom dragged debris curbside expecting town pickup--a competitive $28/cubic yard removal charge, obviating the need to drag the unwieldy material to the town's transfer station to pay $50/ton, which works out to about the same cubic yard price.

Targeted letters will got out soon to impacted homeowners.

Wagner's winning proposal to the town:
For crew and equipment to collect and transfer wood and vegetative debris $28 per cubic yard. For crew of two and equipment (chipper) to collect and chip wood and vegetative debris along public way or Town property is $275.00 an hour. For wood and vegetative waste received at contractor site it is $6 a cubic yard and/or $50 a ton.

Shays Street

Those daring young men...

Shumway Landscaping still cleaning up after the Halloween weekend storm

A brave worker going after sky high, large "hangers" on the grounds of the Emily Dickinson homestead. Nice to see Amherst College using local contractors.

Dewey Defeats Truman?

Contrasting headlines one day apart

Two of the oldest sayings in journalism--"Never apologize, never explain" and "If your mother says she loves you, verify it"--spring to mind with today's mea culpa edition of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, although they still exude the former after woefully violating the latter.

And since I'm citing journalistic cliches let me throw in, "Readers soon forget who got it first, but will long remember who got it wrong."

I'm referring to a front page article yesterday saying a car dealership "Appears to have closed" simply because they were not open on a Sunday, the (65-year-old) owner had not responded to a Facebook message request for an interview, an empty car lot, and non functioning website and phones.

Sure, a fair amount of circumstantial evidence but no direct corroboration from the owner, an employee or disgruntled customer, all of which would be fairly easy to acquire--especially if they waiting until Monday when the business opened up to start the workweek.

A few months back the Daily Hampshire Gazette failed to publish a morning edition because their $10 million dollar Italian four-color process printing press malfunctioned. How would they have liked it if the blogosphere jumped to the conclusion that they had apparently gone out of business?

Which--to be perfectly honest--was my initial reaction when I failed to find my Gazette aside the Springfield Republican early on a Tuesday morning.

I can excuse getting lazy over verification for a who cares kind of article appearing on the back pages which few folks bother to read; but the front page is sacred, demanding adherence to the fundamental rules of journalism.

Now if it had been one of those damn blogs...

Oh I'd love to be...

Wienermobile: A snack for the Jolly Green Giant

The Wienermobile came a calling on the People's Republic of Amherst and, amazingly, they were not picketed by vegans or pelted with rotten vegetables.

Gymnastics, then the Wienermobile

AFD keeps rolling along

Sunday 4:00 AM Dumpster Fire behind Hillel House near UMass

Although far fewer ETOH (passed out drunk) emergency cases this past weekend compared to last, from 13 down to 5, it is still five too many, and a time consuming drain on our emergency services.

Surprisingly UMass, with only one case (compared to seven last week), did not win the weekly drink-yourself-into-a-stupor competition between our centers of higher education, while vastly smaller Amherst College was our weekend winner with two (five last week) and Hampshire College one (zero last week).

Unfortunately dumpsters provide an easy opportunity for mischievous vandals, and like the previous weekend, AFD had to deal with another early morning bonfire in a box, which, fortunately, is made of metal.

Amherst Fire Department weekend runs 12/9

Party House of the weekend

Amherst Police must be getting in the Christmas spirit as they issued ten warning tickets for noise and only two actual $300 noise complaint tickets over the weekend--the last one where UMass is still in session. So yes, the two winners had to go above and beyond the call of duty to garner a ticket.

Now anyone who has children and lives in a two story home knows how annoying it is when a temperamental child STOMPS all the way up or down the stairs...now just imagine living in an apartment complex where you share walls with immediate neighbors and it's after midnight and the "children" are fully grown.

According to Amherst Police who were called to apartment #1421 The Boulders at 12:59 AM:

Over 100 party goers with extremely loud music. Upon attempting to clear the party, the patrons began yelling and stomping up and down the stairs and refused to leave. The residents were uncooperative and after several warnings were taken into custody. Furthermore, after the guests finally were cleared out an additional noise complaint was called in due to the loud behavior in the parking lot.

Arrested for Unlawful Noise:

Since the judge dismissed their cases on Monday, I have deleted their names.

263 Grantwood Drive

At first glance this case may seem to be a tad heavy handed, as these two young ladies were all by themselves listening to (loud) music at 8:00 PM--but that was not the case last week when one of the housemates was busted for a loud party that attracted over 100 guests and was shut down at 1:00 Am.

So apparently they did not learn their lesson. Yes, 263 Grantwood is located directly across the street from 260 Grantwood Drive, my Party House of the Weekend a few weeks back.

According to this week's police report:

RP reports loud party somewhere on Grantwood Drive location.

Base heard emanating from inside the residence. Only two residents inside, no other guests. Stated they were playing music and didn't realize it was that loud.

Cited for Noise ordinance violation:

Lauren Whittemore, Fitchburg, MA, age 21
Vanessa Crespo, Fitchburg, MA, age 20

Library shelves quake project

Jones Library: town center anchor

Jones Library Trustees were not overly enthusiastic to the gee whiz idea of joining the Boston College Educational Seismology Project, with a combination of cost and time commitment--$10,000 for a seismograph and a year's worth of training for the new Library Director and a staff member--quickly deflating the trial balloon floated by Trustee President Sarah McKee.

McKee and Director Sharon Sharry had journeyed east to the Weston Public Library (the only library involved in the school dominated project) last Friday to learn more about the idea, and discovered the project can be time consuming for staff and management. Not to mention the $10,000 cost.

The Trustees did not even bother to vote.

Is anybody listening?

I'm a journalist unafraid to put down the pen or crawl out from behind the keyboard to say what needs to be said. Loudly.

Obviously the Amherst Bulletin is not listening

On September 9 when UMass and town officials alongside District Attorney Dave Sullivan tried to soothe the party hardy behavior patterns exhibited by a hard core minority of students by handing out oatmeal cookies (I kid you not) the Gazette/Bulletin assigned veteran reporter Nick Grabbe to cover the late night "story"--what is usually referred to in journalism as a "puff piece."

Meanwhile, simultaneously in the north end of campus, the Meadow Street riot occurred. The next day the Gazette carried the cookie caper story on the front page.

Death from above

USS Arizona 12/7/41

"Some fine Sunday morning..." Colonel Billy Mitchell (1924)

“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (12/7/41)

USS Arizona today

“With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.” (12/8/41)
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Amherst 12/7/2011

Amherst: "I get no respect"

The professor ignores Amherst, education capital of the world

So we had an important politician peruse the Happy Valley yesterday--Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren--and she never bothered to come calling on the People's Republic of Amherst, located only 7 miles away, snugly behind the tofu curtain.

Now yes, I suppose that would be like preaching to the choir--but let's face it, as much as they try to distance themselves from our little town, the city of Northampton is cut from the same, all natural, vegan fiber.

And what's up with Ms. Warren's glitzy wine-and-cheese $1,000 per (platinum) plate affair in Hamp? Oh she who fights against the economic inequality from fat cat Wall Street investors and claims to have spearheaded the Occupy movement (right after Al Gore invented the Internet) .

Not to many of us 99%ers can come up with $1,000 for a little bit of facetime. Although...skype is free.

Amherst Town Hall in a fog

Amherst Town Hall in a fog 12/5/11 7:45 AM

Yeah, that's a metaphor.

Busy weekend for AFD as well

Amherst Fire Department North Station located a beer can throw from UMass

Good thing the town situated North Station on the UMass border, as once again our emergency medical responders were overrun with ETOH (passed out drunk) calls that take up at least an hour of valuable ambulance time transporting them one at a time to the Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

UMass needs to rethink the significant reduction of their Health Services hours on weekends, as our fire department can't keep up with demand now. Once again we had the dangerous situation where all full-time professional members of AFD were tied up with ambulance calls and the entire town was dependent on the Student Call Force for fire protection (no offense intended to those dedicated volunteers, but that is simply unacceptable)

AFD weekend runs 1st weekend December (note number of ETOH calls)

Riot house of the weekend

202 College Street, Amherst

Amherst police could have used a couple of Texas Rangers this weekend as all available units were not enough to quell a "disturbance" (apparently UMass officials get queasy over the word "riot") at 202 College Street when a party of around fifty got out of control very early (3:47 AM) Saturday morning.

UMass police, naturally, were too busy to respond to our mutual aid call but Amherst College and Hadley PD each provided two units for back up and assisted with transporting the uncooperative perps to the Amherst Police Department jail, located only a half mile away.

One perp is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon as he struck an Amherst Police officer with a stick. And yes, most officers wear a bullet proof vest to protect their mid torso but the officer was struck below the belt. Ouch.

Arrested for "Riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest":

Zahir Ajam Delrosario, 130th St, Harlem, NY, age 23
Jose Picot, 111 Franklin St, Northampton, MA, age 27


Arrested for "Unlawful noise":

Eric Cameron, 202 College St, Amherst, MA, age 23
Stephen Halliday, 17 Katherine Rd, Rehoboth, MA, age 21

Property ownership card for 200/202 College Street

Jones Library aftershock

Jones Library 11/1/11 Closed after the Halloween weekend storm

Just when I thought the library had gone back to normal, meaning non controversial, there's this: On Wednesday Jones Library Trustees will discuss spending $10,000 to purchase a seismograph so Jones patrons can participate in the "Boston College Educational Seismology Project," and become one with earthquakes.

Currently the program has 33 participants--all of them schools located around Boston.

While I don't doubt the educational value of learning about earthquakes, I do question whether the library should be the lead agency in town to take on the project, since all the other participants are schools.

And then there's the matter of the $10,000 cover charge, plus potential time commitments from employees who could be shelving books. But hey, when your endowment stands at $7.85 million, perhaps $10,000 is mere chicken feed.

South Hadley: Repeat offender

South Hadley officials need the lesson in "respect"

So yeah, with my staunch Irish Catholic upbringing I understand the turn-the-other-cheek principle, and everybody deserves a second chance routine, but for God's sake can somebody remind Gus Sayer that a sweet, vulnerable child was pushed to the point of killing herself under his watch?!

Why NOW does a mother--concerned about her daughter being bullied in a school already internationally known for such things--have to turn to an Internet petition to get South Hadley officials to address the problem?

As I've said before, Gus Sayer, like school officials at Penn State, protected a pedophile for the good of the system. Well, that's a system that needs to change. Now!

#####################

UPDATE: Sunday morning

Jennifer kalvinek, Petition Organizer updated at change.org:

"We have gone past 4000 signatures. that is awsome !

Kevin Mccallister emailed me last night . he wanted me to stop the petition because he had too many signatures from people. they are listening! keep it up. LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

Some things never change

UMass McGuirk Stadium (pre-expansion)

God how I wish Amherst Town Meeting had been half as smart as the UMass faculty union back in 1987 when we spent a whopping $2.2 million--an astounding $4.4 million in today's dollars--to buy a golf course we could have had for free. Although interestingly enough, it was a UMass professor, Richard Minear (then Chair of the Amherst Select Board) and fellow history professor Ron Story (a few years prior to Ellen Story becoming State Representative) who led the ill fated charge.

As usual, a 159 neighbors had signed a petition supporting the purchase to, as usual, stop development; and town meeting used the sacred power of eminent domain--the political equivalent of detonating a nuclear weapon--to steal the property away from a developer who had a legal agreement signed--at far less than $2.2 million--with owner Dave Maxon.

If only Town Meeting said to the selfish neighbors: "Sure we will take the property, as long as you come up with 80% of the funding," what a different history I would now write. And the town treasury would be so better off because of it.

Of course UMass football making the big jump to FBS will make Cherry Hill look like a Powerball lottery win by comparison. The jump (the shark) has already cost $1 million with the buyout for coach Kevin Morris and staff and next year scholarships alone will cost an addition $2 million. And of course there is that $30 million to expand McGuirk Stadium that the faculty union is now wisely trying to sack.

All this for a football program that lost millions last year. Yikes!

Merry Maple: Grand but subtle glow

Merry Maple (especially happy to have survived the Halloween weekend storm)

South Amherst town common

Meanwhile, two miles away in sleepy South Amherst, a more traditional multicolored evergreen proudly brightens the common. And since it sits resplendently in front of an ornate church it's probably even called a Christmas Tree.

One riot, One ranger

Security guard in front of Bank Of America, Amherst

Since the sneak invasion by a mob of young protesters, who migrated from UMass to briefly occupy Bank of America and the TD Bank, this lone security guard has staked out the front of BOA in the heart of downtown Amherst.

You have to wonder how much of a difference he would make if those 50-60 occupiers returned, although--unlike the protesters--he looks pretty serious (and employed).

Although somebody should probably tell corporate headquarters that the Amherst police station is only a stone's throw away.

Let the Attorney General decide

Dear Ms. Coakley:

I wish to file a follow up complaint with your office over the manner in which the Amherst Regional School Committee entered Executive Session at their 11/22/11 joint meeting with the Amherst School Committee, specifically, failing to get a "second" to the motion and the motion--at the time it was made--lacked any reason for entering Executive Session and failed to cite the specific chapter and verse of the Open Meeting Law.

In a response to my complaint (that used the form provided by your office) and copied in writing to the Amherst Town Clerk, the Chair of the Regional School Committee stated in writing:

Hi Larry,

I stated at the beginning of the meeting that we would be going into executive session for the purpose of contract negotiations. It also says so on top of the agenda:

http://www.arps.org/node/3473

It is not required to state it in the motion; it is only required to state it at some point during the pubic meeting before the exec session.

Have a great turkey day.

Rick

From: Rick Hood Sent: Wed, Nov 23, 2011 7:44 pm To: BurgessS (Amherst town clerk)

I find that response to be woefully inadequate. Yes, now that I have watched a rebroadcast of the three hour meeting (that was aired live), Mr. Hood did state casually at the very beginning of the meeting that they would be entering Executive Session to discuss "collective bargaining," but over the course of three hours members of the general public who tuned in a few minutes late would not have heard it.

While I have no problem with the reasons for the Regional School Committee to go into Executive Session, I strongly believe that it should never be taken lightly and the discipline shown by using proper procedures exhibits the due diligence expected of our public officials.

Perhaps this incident will provide a perfect "teachable moment."

Larry Kelley




11/23/11 4:54 PM

According to the somewhat newly revised Open Meeting Law I am supposed to file my complaint with you and the town clerk over the incident last night where the Regional School Committee went into executive session without clearly stating the reason for doing so and without a proper second to the motion.

Please excuse the somewhat weird formatting as I downloaded the PDF complaint form from the AG website.

Larry Kelley

OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLAINT FORM

Organization or Media Affiliation (if any): http://onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com/

Are you filing the complaint in your capacity as an individual, representative of an organization, or media? Media

(For statistical purposes only) Individual Organization Media x

Public Body that is the subject of this complaint: Amherst Regional School Committee

City/Town Amherst County Hampshire Regional/District State Mass

Name of Public Body (including city/ town, county or region, if applicable):Amherst Regional School Committee, 170 Chestnut Street, Amherst, Ma

Specific person(s), if any, you allege committed the violation: Rick Hood, Chair of the Regional Committee and Irv Rhodes Chair Amherst School Committee
Date of alleged violation:11/22/11

Description of alleged violation: Irv Rhodes made a motion to go into Executive Session "never to return" but with no explanation/reason for the action, and Mr Hood allowed it without having a proper second from another member.

Describe the alleged violation that this complaint is about. If you believe the alleged violation was intentional, please say so and include the reasons supporting your belief. No, not intentional--just careless.

What action do you want the public body to take in response to your complaint? Apologize, promise it will never happen again. After school detention.

Review, sign, and submit your complaint
Read this important notice and sign your complaint.
Under most circumstances your complaint will be considered a public record and be available to any member of the public upon request.
I understand that when I submit this complaint the Attorney General's Office cannot give me legal advice and cannot act as my personal lawyer.

I certify that the information contained on this form is true to the best of my knowledge.

Signed: ____Larry Kelley_______________________________________ Date:___________________________11/23/11
First Name:Larry Last Name:Kelley Address:596 South Pleasant City:Amherst
Phone Number:256-0491 Email:amherstac@aol.com
State:Mass Zip Code:01002

Mr. Hood

Hidden, catastrophic cost of golf

Cherry Hill's K-Mart quality golf clubhouse

Last night Leisure Services director Linda Chalfant presented the FY13 upcoming budget to the four-out-of-seven members of the recreation commission who bothered to show up, and dubbed Cherry Hill squandering $40,000 last year as, "effectively a break even year." Easy to say when that money is not coming out of her $80,000 annual salary.

And this current year, according to the numbers generated at the half-way point, Cherry Hill is on target to lose another $60,000. And the following year--hold on to your golf caps--well over $100,000!

Because unlike a household or small business, in the wonderful world of municipal accounting little things like employee benefits, insurance and expensive new commercial equipment do not count towards your "operation budget." Last year those three expenses amounted to $40,000--all of it paid for by taxpayers, not a dime from golfers.

Wouldn't it be great if you could buy a new car or truck out of a secret account nobody was watching?

At seasonal closing, the beleaguered golf business has totaled only $82,779, $17,284 under last year, and the lowest amount in six years. Expenses are identical--especially those hidden ones nobody likes to admit.

For instance, capital expenses this year include a $14,154 "fairway mower", next year another $14,154 fairway mower plus a $12,000 rough mower for a total of $26,654.

But what the Hell, since nobody cares about capital items why not go on a whirlwind shopping spree--all of it taxpayer funded? In FY14, two years from now, capital improvements will include yet another fairway ($14,154) and rough mower ($12,500) fence replacement ($24,000) and parking lot resurfacing ($24,000) for a whopping grand total of $135,654 .

If the diffident School Committee can bite the bullet to save money by closing down Mark's Meadow, a beloved elementary school, Town Manager John Musante needs to step up and make the call that should have been made ten years ago: board up the money pit.

Not so instant replay

So when we cut to the video replay of the November 22 (Amherst Media incorrectly stamped the date) Amherst Regional School Committee meeting, clearly Kristen Luschen did not "second" the motion to go into executive session.

When specifically asked by Chair Rick Hood if she was seconding the motion she responds "No, I was asking about..." and then they go off on a brief tangent never to return to the proper parliamentary procedure for using an executive session--something that should never be taken lightly.

##########################

The Amherst Select Board, only 24 hours earlier, demonstrated the proper way to go into executive session. Note Alisa Brewer say under her breath, "All those lovely details." Indeed.

What say you now Mr. Hood?

A fitting tribute

"We need you" indeed

Tragically, townie and long time DPW employee Timothy Banks passed away--as sudden as it was surprising--on Thanksgiving Day.

Timmy meticulously parked his car in a certain spot at the DPW.

Nobody parked there today.

Timothy H. Banks, Jr. Obit on right.

UPDATE: Wednesday morning 10:30 AM. The normally overflowing DPW parking lot is all but abandoned as fellow workers attend the funeral.

DPW parking lot. Missing man formation.

Party Apartment of the weekend

Puffton Village apartments

As a testament to how tight a ship Puffton Village manager Steve Walczak operates, this is the first time a Puffton Village resident has achieved this dubious honor--although in this particular case more than well deserved.

Police were first called early THIS morning to #236 Puffton Village and immediately noticed "Loud thumping music could be heard upon arrival. The individual was slightly argumentative." But the town noise bylaw was thoroughly explained to her--and the consequences for violating it. She was issued a written warning, and the police went on their way.

Ten minutes later police are called back to the scene for--you guessed it--loud noise coming from apartment #236. According to APD narrative:

Moments after clearing the scene, music was turned back on. The arrestee was very uncooperative. The remaining guests were cleared out. A second roommate was found sleeping and explained the town noise by law.

Arrested for violating town noise bylaw:
Xxxx, Lunenburg, MA, age 20

Update 2/7/12. As per our agreement I deleted her name after she paid the fine (and I'm convinced I will not see her name again in the Amherst Police report.)

Puffton Village is owned by town patriarch Steve Puffer.

Cyber Monday

Some things, however, are priceless.

A tax free Christmas

Amherst Pelham Boy Scouts return to Kendrick Park

President Obama could/should have learned a lesson from former Town Manager Larry Shaffer about not disparaging Christmas by instituting a tax on Christmas trees--something that makes you look heartless and indifferent to public opinion.

Amherst/Pelham Boy Scouts selling Christmas trees as a fundraiser is a much anticipated yuletide tradition dating back to when Rockwell was in his prime. And as one of my commenters previously pointed out, their sign is probably as old as the tradition.

Now all we need is a blanket of snow.

Santa drops in

Live long and prosper

A huge throng of people--almost all with kids in tow--migrated to Yankee Candle in South Deerfield this morning to welcome the jolly big guy dressed in red and white who hitched a ride on a helicopter, since the weather was a tad too warm for his reindeer.




After a very brief speech and a couple of "Ho, ho, ho's" he was off, and the crowd dutifully moved indoors to shop. If you are the claustrophobic type this was not the place for you. I only hope downtown Amherst is lucky enough to see one-quarter the number of shoppers for "Small Business Saturday."


By Select Board decree, parking is free throughout the downtown, but since nobody took the time to advertise/promote it, a lot of potential shoppers are probably left unaware.

Speaking of Christmas, downtown Amherst will once host once again the lighting of the Merry Maple--Christmas Tree to you outsiders--on December 2. For the first time in memory George N. Parks will not be leading the UMass marching band as one of the main attractions...with Santa riding the AFD ladder truck and the ignition of the Merry Maple.

(Since my new camera does well in low light conditions, I may be able to get a good Merry Maple photo this year.)

The Juggernaut strikes back

AFD's $635,000 Quint

So apparently Bernette A. Daly, director of UMass Health Services, reads the local newspapers as today's Gazette contains a reply to concerns from Amherst Fire Department chief Tim Nelson that his already overburdened department will pick up the slack created by the cost cutting hours reduction UHS will institute in January.

Of course the Chief will be too nice to respond to the response, so I'll do it for him: poppycock!

First off, the $346,000 Ms. Daly cites as payments to the town from UMass for ambulance services seems like a lot...until you factor in the $4 million operation cost of AFD with 25% of their time spent servicing UMass.

And the amount looks downright stingy when you compare the $1,100,000 Payment In Lieu Of Taxes Burlington, with the same population as Amherst, receives from the University of Vermont (9,000 undergrads, 1,350 grad students)--three times what the significantly larger University of Massachusetts (20,000 undergrads, 5,000 grad students) pays Amherst!

That $1.1 million is for fire services only as the University of Vermont has its own ambulance service--which it provides to the town.

Ms Daley freely admits, "The clinic treats an average of just four to seven patients after 8 p.m. weeknights, and about half that many on weekends." So what are those folks going to do when UHS is closed during their time of need? Certainly many of them--since the Cooley Dickinson Hospital is such a long walk--are going to call AFD.

On the night before the great Halloween weekend storm, at one point all five Amherst ambulances were engaged (dealing with passed out drunk students), so just one extra call that night would have overtaxed the system.

While it may indeed make economic sense to reduce the hours at UHC, it is still irresponsible for the University to reap those savings by passing the problem along to somebody else.

Director of UHS response to Chief Nelson

AFD Chief Tim Nelson

Strike two!

From: Larry Kelley
To: Gerykm ; hoodr ; westmorelandD ; mazurk ; BurgessS ; avbrewer
Sent: Wed, Nov 23, 2011 4:53 pm
Subject: Open Meeting Law complaint (using AG's form)

According to the somewhat newly revised Open Meeting Law I am supposed to file my complaint with the Regional School Committee and the Town Clerk over the incident last night where the Regional School Committee went into executive session without clearly stating the reason for doing so and without a proper second to the motion.

Please excuse the somewhat weird formatting as I downloaded the PDF complaint form from the AG website.

Larry Kelley

####################

OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLAINT FORM

Organization or Media Affiliation (if any): http://onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com/

Are you filing the complaint in your capacity as an individual, representative of an organization, or media? Media

(For statistical purposes only) Individual Organization Media x

Public Body that is the subject of this complaint: Amherst Regional School Committee

City/Town Amherst County Hampshire Regional/District State Mass

Name of Public Body (including city/ town, county or region, if applicable):Amherst Regional School Committee, 170 Chestnut Street, Amherst, Ma

Specific person(s), if any, you allege committed the violation: Rick Hood, Chair of the Regional Committee and Irv Rhodes Chair Amherst School Committee
Date of alleged violation:11/22/11

Description of alleged violation: Irv Rhodes made a motion to go into Executive Session "never to return" but with no explanation/reason for the action, and Mr Hood allowed it without having a proper second from another member.

Describe the alleged violation that this complaint is about. If you believe the alleged violation was intentional, please say so and include the reasons supporting your belief. No, not intentional--just careless.

What action do you want the public body to take in response to your complaint? Apologize, promise it will never happen again. After school detention.

Review, sign, and submit your complaint
Read this important notice and sign your complaint.
Under most circumstances your complaint will be considered a public record and be available to any member of the public upon request.
I understand that when I submit this complaint the Attorney General's Office cannot give me legal advice and cannot act as my personal lawyer.

I certify that the information contained on this form is true to the best of my knowledge.

Signed: Larry Kelley Date: 11/23/11

A fitting tribute indeed

W.D. Cowls Building Supply

My Facebook and corporeal buddy Cinda Jones emailed yesterday to inquire if anyone would take offense if she lowered the huge flag in front of the business her dad built with the blood of his bare hands, to a position of mourning.

"No, lower away," I instantly replied. Because there's a b-i-g difference between, say, Amherst College lowering their majestic flag on the hill for former employees who pass away and a dutiful daughter doing so over the sudden passing of a beloved father, friend, mentor and by all accounts icon in our town's rarest of breeds: entrepreneur.

If America was built on anything, it was family values. So when a family's respect for their father bends the unenforceable rules of flag protocol, safe bet the Founding Fathers would have no complaints.

Paul Jones obit

Bad news travels fast

From the archives: (Yeah, scary to think I now have archives) The first shot rang out at 12:30 PM, the first bulletin made national news at 12:31 PM, and by the time Walter Cronkite announced to a mesmerized nation an hour later that their leader was dead, 68% of Americans had heard about the shooting, not a single one via the Internet.

##########

The ornate condolence certificate, autographed by the President, arrived two months after the sudden death of my father—a combat veteran who helped overthrow the Japanese in the Philippines but never discussed it with any of his four inquisitive children.

That letter brought radiance into our home on an otherwise dreary late November day.

So, suddenly transformed into a proud 8-year-old, I pestered my mother for the honor of bringing the document to school the following day. My pragmatic Irish mother denied the request--worried I could lose or damage the precious parchment.

Friday began as unremarkable as a hundred before: Morning prayers chanted effortlessly, the Pledge of Allegiance parroted as we stood with our right hands over our hearts facing an American flag.

I was having trouble concentrating on the curriculum, typical for a Friday when the weekend beckoned. But this time all I could think about was a letter that had arrived just yesterday from a revered man who could have met my father less than a generation ago.

With only an hour of captivity remaining, a high-school boy suddenly entered from the right door bearing a message. Snatching the note from his hand the nun appeared almost angry at the interruption. I could, however, see her face suddenly turn white—matching the mask-like habit all ‘Sisters of St. Joseph’ wore.

She crumpled the memo with one hand while reaching back to grab her desk with the other, slumping as though absorbing a blow from a heavyweight boxer. With a trembling voice she said, “Please stand.” Although puzzled, we responded immediately.

“Now extend your arms sideway, shoulder high, and hold them there,” she said still struggling to gain control. So there we stood, 26 of us, rooted near our desks like cemetery crosses wondering, as our shoulders started to ache, what could possible cause such a break in routine?

She regained the commanding voice of authority to announce, “President Kennedy has just been shot” Tears trickled down her cheeks as she concluded, “He needs our prayers.”

At St. Michael’s school in the year of our Lord 1963, President John F. Kennedy was fourth on the list of most beloved: just under the Holy Trinity and tied with Pope John. And in my home he was tied for second with St. Patrick just under my recently deceased father.

The big yellow bus rumbled back to Amherst with an interior as quiet as a crypt. The astonishing event blurred short-term memory like one too many drinks. I began to question whether the letter from the now martyred leader was actually real, or did I simply imagine it?

Bursting through the front door I quickly spied the prized possession lying on a cluttered kitchen table. With relief and reverence I held it aloft, taking in the brilliant gold calligraphy etched on a pure white background: “It is with deepest sympathy…”

A feeling the entire nation now shared.

Originally published 11/22/07

Can you hear me now?

Trustee Carol Gray peeks in to a Library Trustees meeting last summer from Egypt courtesy of skype on Mary Streeter's mac laptop.

Amherst Select Board Open Meeting Law specialist Alisa Brewer reported this evening--right before they retreated into Executive Session--that Attorney General Martha Coakley has decided in favor of "remote participation" for boards and committees in Massachusetts, meaning you no longer have to be physically present to deliberate or vote on matters before your committee (although you do not count towards a quorum).

Excuses--I mean, permitted reasons--that allow for such a thing include "personal illness, personal disability, emergency, military service, or geographic distance." Of course it's the last one that will be used most often--especially in a town like Amherst where so many people are affiliated with UMass where the workplace is in full session only 7 months out of the year.

The Select Board, acting as chief executive officers have to vote in favor of adopting the regulation overall, before any of the 50 some odd boards, committees, sub committees and task forces can put it to use. Since the SB also appoints a fair amount of the citizenry to all these volunteer positions they may find remote participation to be an effective tool for recruitment.

Besides, anything that gets people to participate in government is a good thing. Even better when government itself starts to embrace the 21st century.

Attorney General's press release on remote participation