Town Flag (Almost) Ready To Flap

 Amherst Town Flag

The final tweak to the Amherst town flag -- incorporating 1759, our date of founding -- has been rendered and the design is now only weeks away from a limited production run of around a dozen units. 

Renowned illustrator Barry Moser had originally submitted nine designs last year.  The Design Review Board and Historical Commission by unanimous vote whittled it down to one, with the only suggestion being to add 1759. 

The proud project, a brainchild of Select Board member Diana Stein, started in the summer of 2010 as a contest, but none of the submissions passed muster. 

Selectman Jim Wald, a booster of all  (well, most) things historic, contacted Barry Moser who volunteered to do the project.  Thus no tax money is involved.

A large town flag will hang in the Statehouse Hall of Flags and smaller versions will be available for town buildings, civic organizations and die hard fans of Amherst, where even the h is silent. 

Taxi Control

Gotta Go taxi at the scene of Hadley Hoe Down last fall when they had 12 taxis, now down to only two in Amherst

The Wild Wild West days for the taxi industry in Amherst seem to be over. If only the rental housing market were as quick to respond to regulatory pressures.

Last night Town Manager John Musante reported to his bosses, the five-member Select Board, that nine taxi companies have applied for and been approved 2013 town licenses, down from a dozen in 2011.

But the h-u-g-e difference is in number of taxi vehicles approved for road service that have passed an extensive inspection process: 61 last year, down to only 19 this year.

When UMass is in session, weekend late evenings start to resemble a three ring circus clown act with the number of young people packed into taxis, which careen around town like their were firefighters on the way to major structure fire.

The towns new insistance on a meter system which requires an expensive machine in each taxi accounts for the low number of units on the road this year. In business it's called a "barrier to entry".

 Now any Tom, Dick or Sally will think twice before simply turning their personal vehicle into a taxi.

Fire!

 141 Leverett Road, Amherst.  Garage

How you can help

The first major structure fire of the year, a rare event for Amherst, struck a house at 141 Leverett Road last night around 5:15 PM, only about two miles from AFD North Station.

Amherst firefighters were on the scene quickly, with mutual aid provided by units from Belchertown and Northampton, but the fire was already roaring.

The family of five got out of the 1.5 level wood frame structure safely, although one person was slightly burned and treated on the scene.  The house appears to be a major loss.

141 Leverett Road, Amherst.  Main house

Murder, Suicide, Pedophilia and Secrecy

Amherst Regional High School

I'm an observer/reporter who has witnessed first hand many of the epic Amherst blunders brought on by Political Correctness run amok: cancelling a production of "West Side Story" yet allowing that same High School to perform R rated "The Vagina Monologues" only five years later; or over the past eleven years, the pernicious problem with annually displaying downtown commemorative American flags on 9/11.

But one incident -- the sordid saga of Steven Myers -- a pedophile who ever so briefly commanded the Amherst Regional High School, stands out at the head of the class.  And if School Superintendent Gus Sayer or the Regional School Committee had their way, his reign would have been  a l-o-t longer. 

A recent in depth  Boston Magazine article asks important questions (with an obvious answer):  Did Steven Myers molest his own adopted child (whom he brought to Amherst back in the summer of 2001 when first hired but was taken away by state authorities after the local incident came to light) and did that send the boy on a downward spiral culminating in a murderous streetfight two years ago?

Well, yes.

The question I have is how did this pedophile manage to stay out of jail, and how does he continue to acquire jobs in K-12 education?

In Amherst the answer was pretty simple:  the hiring committee was lied to in recommendations by previous associates and the committee relied on a CORI report, which of course was clean since it only includes crimes in the state of Massachusetts.  His misdeeds with children occurred in Santa Cruz, California and Denver, Colorado and he was never arrested for them.

The previous ARHS Principal, Scott Goldman, had stirred up a bees nest during his brief four year tenure when he pushed for a police officer assigned to the schools.  Which in Amherst at the time was kind of like suggesting a Republican be appointed school Superintendent. 

So when it came time to do a background check on Goldman's replacement the 16-member search committee couldn't be bothered to ask APD to do what they do best:  investigate.  And it would have only taken one phone call by them to either police departments in Myer's past job locations to discover his fascination with young boys. 

Sayer had written a letter to the mother of the 15-year-old freshman acknowledging inappropriate conduct by Principal Myers and basically saying he had issued a stern warning not to do it again.  Meanwhile he told Myers that if  "news got out" his position as principal would be "untenable."

A group of about 50 concerned parents and friends of the family invaded the January 15, 2002 School Committee meeting with copies in hand of Sayer's letter, which he later complained about its release, calling it  "private".  Although Myers was not present, his lawyer left the meeting and soon returned with a statement from him saying he was resigning.

The following week, January 22, 2002 , four times as many parents and teachers descended on the School Committee meeting to voice strong support for Myers, including a passionate statement from teacher (now, ten years later, Chair of the very same Regional School Committee) Kip Fonsh:  "I am saddened and angered at the devastation and havoc created by the unfortunate and ill-advised public airing of these issues."

Ninety teachers also signed a statement of support for their former boss and unveiled it at a press conference January 16, the day after the chaotic School Committee meeting.   And a letter circulated by two male students naively supporting Myers was also signed by  575 students (about one-third of total enrollment).

Their close, in light of recent events, is particularly striking:  "The treatment you have received throughout this ordeal has been both disgusting and unfair.  And though some community members have been eager to condemn you, we assure you that we will stand behind you as both an educator and as a person.  We wish you the best in the future, and hope that your bold spirit serves you well wherever you may end up."

Lost in the avalanche of support for Myers was the other question dissident parents had for the School Committee at the original January 15 meeting:  Why had Superintendent Gus Sayer not filed the state mandated 51A report with authorities when he first heard the mother's complaint about inappropriate contact with her 15-year-old son?

Sayer choose instead to investigate the matter himself, and then send a "private" letter to the mother to try to quietly appease her -- but at the same time confirming inappropriate behavior took place.  An article in the Republican last year on his retirement from South Hadley High School is especially revealing:

Still, Sayer said he had misgivings about Myers almost from the beginning. A few months before the nipple story became public, he talked to the principal about reports that he spent a lot of time behind closed doors with male students.

“I ordered him to change his behavior,” Sayer said. “Then the whole thing blew up.” 


So he had misgivings almost from the beginning and then he gets a complaint from a mother about inappropriate activity with a modus operandi befitting of those misgivings, but still does not file a 51A report?

Once the news broke of Myers sordid past even die hard supporters became mute.  Myers silently slinked off into the sunset.  Gus Sayer retired a year after the Amherst firestorm only to sign on as Superintendent with South Hadley High School four months later. 

On January 14, 2010 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, using a scarf given to her as a Christmas present by her younger sister, committed suicide.  Months of outright bullying had taken its toll.  A new firestorm had now ignited under Gus Sayer's watch.

And his modus operandi changed little from the way he handled the Myers case eight years earlier.  DA Elizabeth Scheibel branded the action of administrators "troublesome" while directly refuting Sayer's assertion that school officials were never made aware of the bullying:

"Phoebe’s harassment was common knowledge to most of the South Hadley High School student body. The investigation has revealed that certain faculty, staff and administrators of the high school also were alerted to the harassment of Phoebe Prince before her death. Prior to Phoebe’s death, her mother spoke with at least two school staff members about the harassment Phoebe had reported to her".

DA Dave Sullivan, Scheibel's successor, went even further:  "Elizabeth Scheibel described it as troublesome.  But I think that's an under statement!"  He continues, "Comments made today by Gus Sayer did not fully reflect on the gravity of what happened in the school."

Calls for Sayer's resignation fell on deaf ears. 

South Hadley would eventually pay the Prince family $225,000 to hold harmless Sayer and all other town/school officials.  In May of 2011, a Hampshire Superior Court Judge Judge C. Brian McDonald  calling their actions "shameful", fined the South Hadley School Committee $5,000 for violating the Open Meeting Law, a secret meeting used to give Sayer a contract extension and a 3% raise. 

Of course South Hadley School Committee's most shameful act of all occurred when they hired Gus Sayer in the first place. 

Renewed

Hampshire Athletic Club, new main entrance 

Just in time for the surge in participation HAC's new main entrance is now in use. The final piece of a three part project that started last spring with a much needed renovation of the men's and women's locker rooms.

January is of course the health club industry's peak month because of New Year's resolutions. And in New England inclement weather also helps to keep people indoors.

Unfortunately, for the majority of those new customers, come February they are already back to their old habits, which do not include working out.  That formulae is built in to standard industry pricing, so those who do show up regularly year round are somewhat subsidized by the newbies in January who pay to play and then don't play for long.

Planet Fitness, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach by purposely pricing their product four to five times lower than industry standard, and then hope the majority of customers come infrequently or never, but keep paying their monthly dues since it is such a token amount. 

Seems to be working ... so far.

Ice Age

351 Main Street, Amherst

Yes, buried under all that ice and snow there's a sidewalk ... somewhere.

Under Reported Story Of The Year

 UMass Amherst Alumni Association, Memorial Hall

UMass football ascension to F.B.S. becoming a financial black hole -- not to mention the embarrassing 1-11 competitive result -- has received plenty of coverage lately, with major long-form stories in the Boston Globe and most recently their BIG sister publication, the New York Times.

And with losses of $8 million (if you count capital improvements, which the town of Amherst never does with its municipal golf course), deservedly so.

But another annual multi-million dollar expenditure of tax money -- $949,789 in cash, plus another $1 million of "in kind" overhead support -- on the UMass/Amherst campus stays under the radar when it comes to media scrutiny.  Probably because the story is a complicated one.

Last April, after filing a public documents request, I first published the Bentz, Whaley, Flessner report analyzing the current state of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, a report costing taxpayers $24,5000. According to that report, "The situation is viewed as complex and dysfunctional."

The volunteer board of directors "must cease the in-fighting and hostility that has been described as its mode of operation of over a decade."

The board of directors consists of 18 elected members, 12 appointed by the President, 2 student representatives, 3 ex officio directors and one alumni networks representative.  Although if you go to their webpage, only 16 elected members are listed.

Yes, as I said, complicated.  Or perhaps "confusing" is a better word.

The alumni membership, of which I am one, now consists of all 235,000 living Umass Amherst graduates, but only those who donate a minimum of $50 can vote (talk about "pay to play") in the Board of Directors election, usually held in the spring. Last year about 2,000 were eligible or only 1% of the total membership, down from 5,000 in 2010.

Their most recent minutes June 4th, approved at the October 27, 2012 meeting, had only one item on the agenda (not that there was a published agenda), which sounds like a change in direction:  phasing out "volunteers" and turning over more responsibility to the paid staff of 19 UMass employees.

One has to wonder if that paradigm shift goes all the way to the top to including staff oversight by the Board of Directors -- all of whom are "volunteers"? 

Not that they seem concerned, however, as the motion was passed unanimously by the 19 (out of 34) voting members "present". 

Interestingly, they unanimously support  "becoming more professionally driven and less reliant on the use of volunteers to address operational matters" but do so in a "Conference Call" meeting that clearly violates Mass Open Meeting Law.

The Attorney General has only recently allowed "remote participation," but one major caveat is that those who participate remotely do not count towards a quorum.  In other words, a majority of bodies must be physically present in the room in order to have a legitimate committee meeting or vote on any item.

The definition of a "public body" subject to Open Meeting Law includes any "multiple-member board, commission, committee or subcommittee within the executive or legislative branch or within any county, district, city, region or town, however created, elected, appointed or otherwise constituted, established to serve a public purpose." 

The  Bentz, Whaley, Flessner report cites the UMAAA "as both a University department as well as a 501-(c) (3) organization."


In journalism the expression "phoned in a story" means the resulting article is the byproduct of less than optimal efforts of the reporter and newspaper to "cover" an event.

The same sentiment certainly applies for phoned in, closed, bureaucratic committee meetings -- except in this case, "cover" has a completely different meaning.

Back story via emails

And Another One Gone

Nick Grabbe interviews me July 4, 2010. Photo by former Gazette reporter Mary Carey

Yet another longtime Gazette/Bulletin employee is retiring their reporter's notebook. After 32 years, the majority of them as editor for the Amherst Bulletin, Nick Grabbe is leaving our hometown newspaper.

I first met Nick in January of 1982 when he reported on the grand opening of my karate school at the Mt Farms Mall in Hadley, then called "The Dead Mall." He got the facts right, spelled my last name correctly and -- even more important -- allowed me to whiz high speed karate kicks within centimeters of his head.

After publishing a hundred or more of my acerbic Letters To The Editor over the next ten years he asked me to write a monthly column for the Amherst Bulletin in 1991.   A paid position I proudly held until February, 2004 when I resigned over not being allowed to pen a follow up column on "The Vagina Monologues" being performed at Amherst Regional High School, after the first column sparked international attention.

Nick would routinely meet every Friday with Town Manager Barry Del Castilho in his office for years on end. I always thought it demonstrated a routine coziness reporters should not have with such a high ranking governmental source.

(Kind of like having a going away reception in the Town Room at Amherst Town Hall, the current seat of government, to mark his departure.)

But, in spite of a few differences over the past many years, I will miss seeing his byline. 

Free At Last!

Stephanie O'Keeffe, Amherst Select Board chair, recieves Governor Patrick's signed copy of declaration honoring today's 150th anniversary celebration from resident historian Bob Romer

Town and state officials, police and fire personnel, a pack of media, and a bevy of citizens totaling  almost one hundred turned out this brisk afternoon to celebrate the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, a decree that freed the slaves in warring southern states.

Crowd gathered in front of the steps to Town Hall

District Attorney Dave Sullivan chats with Amherst Town Manager John Musante

The Lord Jeff Inn broke out their seldom seen American flag

Amherst remembered its own black soldiers who fought in the Civil War

Local Story Of The Year

Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Committee:  Rob Morra Building Commissioner, Tim Nelson AFD Chief, Stephanie O'Keeffe Select Board Chair, Rt: David Ziomek Asst Town Manager 


It all started with a mid-September brief entry in the Amherst Police Department weekend logs, a sort of administrative notation of the type rarely reported by the Daily Hampshire Gazette.  But with a highly recognizable business name combined with a palpable sense of urgency,  I found it utterly fascinating:

"Firefighter Mike Roy (Fire Prevention Officer) received information that Lincoln Realty had warned the residents that an inspection was imminent and that they needed to assist in hiding code violations. I assisted with contacting the DA's office and the Clerk of Courts seeking an administrative warrant to enter the apartment for inspection."

My reliable AFD source confirmed the existence of a revealing email to town officials sent out on the day of the September 13 fire, clearly describing an orchestrated effort by apartment complex owner and then President of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Kathryn Grandonico, to cover up the existence of illegal basement bedrooms in the 14-unit  Gilreath Manor apartment complex.

Illegal for two reasons:  the space is not Health Department approved for human habitation (and contained deficiencies in fire and carbon monoxide detection); and with the two illegal basement bedrooms the total number of students occupying the single-family unit exceeded the 22-year-old town bylaw prohibiting more than four unrelated housemates per unit.

My public document request for the student's email took longer than the ten-day response time required by law, and was not fully complied with since it did not contain any of the follow up responses by town officials to Hannah, the jittery UMass student. But the document clearly illuminated a cover up ... at least on the part of the apartment complex owner.

Like that other infamous cover up from 40 years ago, it's not the original "two bit" act that sparks the blinding spotlight of exposure, but the after-the-fact attempts to cover it up.

If Ms. Grandonico had simply fessed up to an age old lucrative practice of packing more renters into a unit than allowed by law with a promise it would not happen again, the story would never have seen the light of print (not that my bricks and mortar friends have given it all that much coverage to date).

Now, however,  it has become a major test case:  Will the town be able to enforce the unrelated tenant zoning bylaw with $100/day fines, or can the landlord simply deflect responsibility by blaming the tenants?

The answer will decided the fate of Town Manager John Musante's "Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods" initiative.   The SHN committee, a who's who of heavy hitters in town government, is working on a bylaw proposal for spring Town Meeting requiring rental registration.

And this sweeping bylaw would NOT grandfather existing rentals.  This promises to be a battle as epic as the 1999 "Smoking Ban in Bars War" when Amherst, over bitter opposition of business owners, led the way on what is now common practice. 

Thus the outcome to my 2012 story of the year will be a critical component for the 2013 issue of the year.

Winter Weekend

Thistlebloom Farm, South East St, Amherst

Dean of Discipline

Hobart Lane:  A usual suspect

As Party House apologists are fond of pointing out, UMass is the largest employer in Amherst, thus making us a "company town," thus making disturbing behavior that disrupts neighborhood tranquility town wide mere collateral damage to be endured for the greater good.

Or something like that.

Last year Amherst police politely handed over to UMass the names of 652 students arrested for rowdy behavior : Noise, Nuisance House, Open Container, Unlicenses Kegs, Under aged Drinking.

Since UMass is only in session roughly seven months out of the year, that amounts to 23 arrests per week.  Just this past semester APD made 105 arrests for Nuisance House violations alone.

Since Nuisance House tickets are issued to all tenants that can be found on the premises at the time of the disturbance, it usually amounts to three per incident which works out to 35 dwellings or two per week (usually on weekends.)

All the above statistics are reactionary.  A neighbor calls 911 to complain about loud noise or other disruptive behavior and the police show up.  By then things are already out of control.

UMass, our largest employer, needs to hire an Off Campus RA to proactively patrol the usual suspect streets and enforce the student code of conduct, which UMass now claims to apply to off campus behavior.

A combination between bar bouncer and Jr High School Principal in charge of behavior.  The town recently hired a code enforcement building inspector to better police slumlords who specialize in high demand student rentals.

Since UMass provides the supply side, it's only fair they share in the oversight.

A Better Life? Nyet!

Vladimir Putin on the prowl

You would think a conservative macho dude like Vladimir Putin would respect and appreciate family values; or more specifically, the value of having a family.

By enacting a ban on United States couples adopting children from his country, the  Russian President has -- for all intents and purposes -- sentenced far too many of these children to a life without love.

If he really wanted to get back at the United States for political humiliations, he should have just challenged President Obama to a wrestling match.

There's still China

Newsmaker Of The Year

Umass Amherst founded 1863

What would Amherst be without the flagship University of Massachusetts?  A lot less newsworthy, that's for sure.

Yes, in all of the top Amherst news stories over the past 12 months -- from the alleged gang rape in a dorm, the "riot" after the Superbowl, the death of a young woman from a fall the University kept secret for ten days at family request, or the weekend in and weekend out Party House winners racking up a record breaking number of $300 nuisance house tickets -- the University of Massachusetts has played a central role. 

Of course alcohol has also played a contributing role in all those noteworthy stories as well.

On the plus side, however, Amherst has a 3.9% unemployment rate compared to the state average of 6.6% ... mainly due to our beloved economic Juggernaut, UMass. 

All in all, not a bad trade off (depending on your proximity to a Party House I suppose).

The Dr. Is, finally, In

Atkinson Building, 17 Research Drive, Amherst

I first met Katherine J Atkinson (aka Dr. Kate), at a distance anyway, when she spoke before a packed church at a memorial service eight years ago for her Dad, Dr. Rollin Johnson, an orthopedic surgeon who gave a legion of patients, including me, a second chance at enjoying life via his gifted expertise with joint replacement.

The writer in me was struck by the unfairness of his sudden passing, only a year into a well-earned retirement.  His dutiful daughter directly addressed what a lot of us mourners were thinking, saying what we didn't  know is that her dad suffered a heart attack twenty years earlier, and fully recovered.

But, if he had succumbed then -- and not been able to help us overcome our debilitating ailments or to guide his daughter along the same path to becoming a healer -- that truly would have been the definition of "unfair."

So I find it both fitting and fair that after five l-o-n-g years of work, including contentious political debates before Amherst Town Meeting and the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Atkinson Building -- providing a new home to the Atkinson Family Practice --  would open for business less than a week before Christmas.

Amherst's very own, "Miracle On Research Drive."

The new building harnesses sustainable energy via solar panels on roof

Ginger, the color coordinated therapy dog

With 3,500  patients, having ten examining rooms cuts down on waiting

A "Project of the Month"

Assistance At The Top

 DPW Director Guilford Mooring (left), Dave Ziomek (Rt) @ War Memorial Pool

Town Manager John Musante gave Dave Ziomek an early Christmas present with the announcement today that Mr. Ziomek will assume the role of Assistant Town Manager starting January 1, with a raise in pay from his current $89,126 up to $97,904, an increase of $8,778 or 9%.

Of course rank and file unions have settled for around 2%, and even the Town Manager only received a 1.5% raise back in October.   Although his current pay at $142,100 will be 40% higher than his new assistant and $25,000 higher than next highest paid department heads, police and fire chiefs.

The position of Assistant Town Manager is not a new one. Michael Letcher was Assistant Town Manager from 1983 until leaving in 1991. Then Town Manager Barry Del Castilho left the position vacant for budgetary reasons, and it stayed unfilled until Musante assumed the position under Town Manager Larry Shaffer.

When Town Manager John Musante was seriously injured in a fall last year, Dave Ziomek was appointed acting Town Manager by the Select Board in an emergency meeting, and served in that role for six weeks.

The Landlord Blinks

 Gilreath Manor (3 buildings) Hobart Lane, Amherst

Based on new information -- the truth -- Grandonico Properties, LLC lawyer Lawrence Farber requested a last minute continuation at Thursday night's Zoning Board of Appeals hearing to appeal punitive fines issued by Building Commissioner Rob Morra for violation of the town's zoning by-law limiting unrelated housemates to four per single family dwelling.

For those of you who think fines do not make a difference in changing behavior, take note:  Commissioner Morra issue the first fine on Monday and they will accumulate at $100 per day, unless the ZBA (at that rescheduled meeting in mid January) overturns the decision of the Building Commissioner, a highly unlikely scenario.

According to Commissioner Morra:  "Mr. Farber is requesting a continuance which must be granted tonight by the ZBA after they open the hearing.  If granted, the fines will continue and, in my opinion, must be appealed to district court within 21 days.  It is also my opinion that the ZBA is ruling on the application of ZBL Section 11.45 in this case and not the fine itself which must be heard by the court – although I am aware that all may not agree with me."

The statement submitted by UMass Legal Services attorney Carol Booth clearly demonstrates a pattern of dishonest behavior by the owners of Gilreath Manor,  carefully designed to circumvent Amherst's zoning bylaw.


Kind of appropriate I guess, for a story that started with an illegal bedroom basement fire, ends with "A Smoking Gun."

Statements of student tenants submitted by Attorney Booth to ZBA

Hobart Show Down

 Hobart Lane Gilreath Manor #28

Hobart Lane is already well known for the annual Hobart Hoedown, dating back over 20 years.  But the street immediately bordering UMass could easily have become forever burned into memory for a far more serious spectacle had the basement fire in an illegal bedroom at #28 Gilreath Manor on September 13th resulted in the deaths of residents, all of them UMass students.

Tomorrow night the Zoning Board of Appeals will hear an appeal from Grandonico Properties, LLC a "foreign limited liability company," meaning they are "organized under the laws of Delaware," the most lax state in our nation for protecting consumer rights (which is why all the credit card companies organize there).

The owners of Gilreath Manor wish to challenge the Building Commissioner's threat of fines for violating Amherst's 1990 zoning bylaw forbidding more than four unrelated occupants in a single family dwelling.  The town attorney has come down squarely on the side of the Building Commissioner with an unambiguous opinion:

"The property owner has been aware, or been made aware, of the multiple violations on the Property, and that further evidence may demonstrate that the owner authorized use of the dwelling units in excess of the allowed number of residents."

Attorney Joel Bard continues, skewering another of the landlord's defenses:  "The tenants rights of possession may not be asserted as a defense in order to insulate the property owner for liability for zoning violations on her property."

The Amherst Board of Health has NOT issued a variance for low ceilings in the basements at Gilreath Manor, so currently they can be used for nothing but storage or utility, not even for watching TV or doing homework on a computer station ... let alone sleeping.

On September 13, with inadequate fire protection and two bedrooms illegally crammed into unit #28, a disaster was narrowly averted.  Initially, town officials were slow to react to problems uncovered in the aftermath of the fire; I even went so far as to brand it a cover up.

But they seem to be fully on board now with making this a test case for the public good.

As President of the Board of Directors for the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, Kathryn Grandonico should be setting a positive example for all Amherst landlords to follow, not acting like a carpetbagger -- putting profits over public safety.

Emails Hannah, Town Officials

Rewired WiFi

Fred Hartwell installs WiFi unit on Main Street lightpole  this afternoon

So after the spiffy new Cisco wireless routers were installed around town last month, IT Director Kris Pacunas noticed they were not performing up to promised specifications.  And when you are paying $75,000 for a new toy, promised specifications matter.

Cisco sent out a crew to try to bring the units up to speed, but could not make it happen.  Thus the town did what any consumer would do:  sent the items back for a full refund. 

The IT department then went into tech-geek mode and came up with their own "access point" gizmo's using component parts from a number of different manufacturers.  Now, according to Pacunas, the newest new system, using five antennas, is ten times faster, with three times the coverage, all for $43,000 or a 40% savings over the original system.

 Newest units could be painted black to match ornate poles in the downtown

The newest system also has "client link" (version 2.0) so it works well with smart phones and tablets, which more and more Americans use to access the Internet.

As of today 18 of the units have been installed and the entire system of 27 (possibly 28) units should be fully functioning by January 1st.  A Happy New Year indeed for all us Internet junkies. 

Salud!

Mission Cantina, 485 West Street, South Amherst: about to more than double in capacity 

Acting as Liquor Commissioners last night, an enthusiastic Amherst Select Board unanimously approved an "alteration of premises" thus allowing Mission Cantina to serve alcohol in the newly expanded space, which effectively doubles the physical size of the popular South Amherst eatery.

Select Board member Aaron Hayden noted how happy he was to take part in this bureaucratic procedure for Mission Cantina as it  "demonstrates a very successful business." SB member Diana Stein then quipped, "Which means you have to wait to get in there."

The restaurant opened in the summer of  2011 and has seen lines out the front door almost since day one.  The original facility only has four tables seating a total of sixteen, while the new addition will add five tables seating twenty, or more than doubling the restaurant's seating capacity to thirty six.

The Zoning Board of Appeals approved a Special Permit required for the expansion/renovation on August 3rd, although owners did note on their Facebook page that it required seven months to acquire a building permit.

The $45,000 expansion, is now almost complete with a mid-January opening expected.  In addition to business as usual -- great food -- Mission Cantina plans to start serving a lunch menu and staying open into the late night. 

Visible Symbols

 Crocker Farm Elementary School, Monday morning

So for the first time in memory, I was actually happy not to see an overt police presence, even though that was the expectation.  Not that uniformed officers make school children or their parents nervous.

At least, normally, not in Amherst.

But these times are far from normal.  The shock waves from Friday's mass murder are still profoundly in the present, like the dark gloomy weather that delayed by two hours the opening of the Amherst schools this morning.

A police department is, by nature, reactionary.  You see something wrong, call 911, and they come quickly.  But they can't possibly stand guard, at all our schools, during all their hours of operation.   For that we would need to mobilize the National Guard.

And is that the message we want to send to our kids:  Our schools can only be safe when patrolled by armed guards?

Amherst has come a long way in implementing strong security protocols, a byproduct of Jere Hochman's tenure circa 2003-2008.  Before that, the doors remained open during school hours.  In spite of what happened at Columbine in 1999.

But then again, when I grew up in Amherst a generation ago, my mother never felt the need to lock the front door at night.

Our flag is at half staff today to honor and remember those innocent lives lost ... but will soon return to its routine position atop the staff.  Friday however -- like 9/11 -- was a morning to never forget.

Do Over?

 Scott Brown could put his left over campaign paraphernalia to good use

President Obama may has just given the GOP an early Christmas present if reports coming out in reliable mainstream media are true, that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry will become the next Secretary of State. 

Yes, Governor Patrick could stack the deck somewhat by appointing a real contender to occupy Kerry's senate seat rather than just a warm body term-limited to the day of the special election, as was done when Senator Kennedy died.

And look how well that turned out for the democratic party.

When it comes to special elections, Scott Brown has already accomplished the unthinkable -- snatching the throne occupied by a political deity for almost fifty years. 

Obviously in his recent farewell address, Scott Brown all but announced a return to the campaign trail:  "Depending on what happens, and where we go, all of us, we may obviously meet again."

A lot sooner than most democrats expected, obviously.

The horror ... the horror ...

Last week when the first dispatch went out over the airwaves saying a child was hit by a school bus at an Amherst elementary school, my mind instantly flashed back to the horror of three years ago where a 2-year-old child broke free from his mother at a bus stop and ended up under the wheels of moving bus.

One of my daughters at the time was the same age as the child killed in that horrific accident.

Yes, it's human nature to always initially fear the worst: You hear about an earthquake in a foreign county where friends or family are vacationing, and instantly assume they have been impacted. Last week I titled that post "A Parent's Worst Nightmare," because nothing can be worse than losing a child. Nothing.

So I'm at a loss to now come up with a headline that captures the bottomless horror of an incident that erases the lives of twenty innocent children, all of them the same age as my youngest.

As CNN anchor Aaron Brown watched the second tower collapse live on air on that unforgettable morning he said somberly, "There are no words ...".

Once again, as our entire nation mourns, there are no words.

The Power Of Symbols

 Amherst Town Common: A Menorah, Merry Maples, Town Hall, Oh My

When I was growing up in Amherst in the shadow of a smaller, quieter UMass, we townies had a minimum cut off for folks who transplanted here -- mostly because of the University -- as to how long it required before they could call themselves a  "local":  roughly 20-25 years. 

And of course the very first thing they needed to learn was not to pronounce the h in Amherst. 

So only you "locals" would remember off the top of your head the reason why the Am'erst Merry Maple is not called a Christmas Tree.  And why there's now a Menorah on the town common alongside those "holiday" trees.

In November, 1990 the Jones Library Board of Trustees voted 4-1 (Arthur Quinton being the lone opposition) to ban "religious displays" at the library, including a small five foot tall Christmas tree that traditionally adorned the Children's Room.

The reaction was instantaneous and largely negative:  A tidal wave of Letters to the Editor and columns in the Amherst Bulletin (back when it had influence), public meetings, and even vandalism to the Menorah.

Because the Jones Library is a building governed by a Board of Trustees, they were well within their rights to implement the ban, even though it was excoriated by critics town wide.

Amherst cannot prevent a private group, like the Chabad House, from erecting a religious symbol on the town common; but the town itself, because of the separation of church and state, cannot put up a manger scene, or Menorah.

Even in the Jewish community opinion was sharply divided:   Jewish Community of Amherst stated public space (the Jones Library or Town Common) should not display any religious symbols, and the more liberal Chabad House invoked the "Constitution allows religious freedom" argument for the Menorah, and also agreed the Christmas Tree in the library was fine. 

So the simple answer today is: a private group, Chabad House, continues to make the effort to display a Menorah on the town common; but no private group has come forward to display a Christmas Tree.  Since the Merry Maple display is private, erected by the Chamber of Commerce and most recently assisted by the Business Improvement District, they can call it anything they want, including, gasp, a Christmas tree.

The original sentiment behind banning the blatantly Christian symbol so revered this time of year was of course not to offend ... anyone.

Although in so doing, the Jones Library Trustees managed to offend almost everyone. 

Taking No Chances

 Lt. Ron Young (center) APD head of Detectives questions young man (seated) in custody

Sad update (Friday afternoon):  Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk's statement on today's tragedy

Gov Patrick has ordered flags lowered to half-staff until 12/18/12 as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated in Newtown.

 

#####

When a PVTA bus rider called 911 around 2:20 Thursday afternoon to report a man perched on a high roof of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity with a gun, in the very heart of UMass/Amherst, police took no chances, descending on the scene in force along with UMPD.

An arrest was quickly made and the young man transported to Amherst Police Department headquarters.  According to Captain Jennifer Gundersen, the gun was a BB gun.

William C. Lewis, of 4760 Doylestown, Penn., was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of a weapon while committing a breach of peace.

A Stand Up Act

 College Inn Apartments, East Amherst

Since I have never said anything nice about this major absentee landlord, and property manager to other less than sterling Party House owners, I guess that makes the following tip of the hat a man bites dog story:

Eagle Crest Management, owner/manager of College Street Inn, tipped the Amherst Police Department that domestic violence was taking place in one of their apartment units.  Back in October Police arrested Timmy Shawn McGough, 10 Belchertown Rd #1, Amherst, MA, age 40 on charges of Asault and Assault-and-Battery 2nd offense.

And yes, that is two times too many.

Expensive Losses

UMass McGuirk Stadium (pre-expansion)

Hard to say if the initial 12 game football season that resulted in 11 losses made a major difference in the whopping financial losses this year for UMass football, but it certainly did not help.

At $8 million dollars in red ink (at least it's somewhat in the spirit of the holiday season) that comes out to $727,000 in losses per loss.  That a lot of loss.  Not to mention the hit Amherst businesses have taken ("intangible costs") now that "home" games are 100 miles away.

Earlier this evening the UMass Faculty Senate barely beat back a challenge from members wishing to vote on an motion to have the flagship University football program withdraw from the Mid-American Conference (MAC).  The motion required two-thirds support just to get to the point of being allowed on the floor for a discussion and vote, but failed.

Only narrowly, however, as it received 60% support.

While the Athletic Department only wants to acknowledge $715,068 in losses due to lousy attendance, the watchdog Ad Hoc committee casts a wider net, bringing up all the hidden costs.  Advertising alone was another $700,000 -- all of it paid for by External Relations using taxpayer money.

Throw in the $2 million for renovations to McGuirk Stadium, and Title 1X mandated gender equity scholarships of $260,105 plus the original FY13 Football budget of $7,160,339 and your grand total comes to just over $10 million spent on BIG time football.  Offset by gate receipts and sponsorships of almost $2 million, leaving a loss of $8,220,461.  On a football team with a 1-11 record.

Or ... many, many scholarships for a bevy of deserving students -- the serious ones who keep partying to a minimum.

The Boston Globe reports

Better Red

South Amherst Common Christmas, err, Holiday Tree

DUI Dishonor Roll

Late Friday into early Saturday seemed to be the bewitching hours for all things alcohol in our about-to-become-quiet-little-town this past weekend. Starting with somewhat the sacrilege ... although compared to our two DUI offenders, harmless enough I suppose.

At 11:44 p.m. (Friday) police observed a male party, ETOH (drunk), urinating on the fence along the Emily Dickinson Homestead on Main Street just down the road from APD headquarters. The perp was "apologetic for his actions" and sent on his way.

At 1:42 a.m. (Saturday) dead in town center, between the Central Fire Station and Antonio's Pizza, a dangerous driver was stopped after failing to yield at the intersection.  That infraction led to a Field Sobriety Test and the follow up charges of DUI, alcohol in vehicle, and possession of an open container:

Kelsey Schmidt, 36 Spinnaker Street, Sandwich, MA, age 21, UMass student

At 2:22 a.m. soon after police had broken up a loud party of over 100 people, with 50 cars parked along Stanley Street, one of the vehicles was facing east in the westbound lane and backing up.  Arrested for DUI, operation to endanger/reckless driving, and marked lanes violation:

Deshawn Townsend, 13 Ames St, Dorchester, MA, age 22, UMass student

AFD weekend runs with usual assortment of ETOH (drunk)

A Civil Offense

UPDATE: 1:30

According to my friends at MassLive the driver of the car was Nikhal P. Kapur, 32, of 13 Ware St., Cambridge,  who was issued a citation for failure use care in starting and failure to stop for a school bus with its red flashing lights illuminated.

#####

This morning when I drove to Crocker Farm Elementary School to drop off my two daughters, co-Principal Derek Shea was in the parking lot directing traffic.  The horse shoe paved road/parking lot directly in front of the main entrance is always barricaded off a short while before-and-after school starts to accommodate all the buses.

It can be a tad confusing for distracted drivers who arrived in a hurry just before the buses line up ...

 Crocker Farm Elementary School main entrance

At the Amherst Police Department briefing this morning  Detective Richard MacLean said stoically, "There is nothing more to be released on that," referring of course to the Amherst school child hit by a driver who went around a stopped bus with its flashing lights on.   But he did say something may be forthcoming from the District Attorney's office later today.

Well, no.

According to Mary Carey, the DA's Communications Director, since the infraction was civil rather than criminal, and the driver only received a ticket, the DAs office will not be involved. Thus the name of the driver is not necessarily a matter of public record, and will only be released at the discretion of the Amherst Police Department.

So what I can tell you from police logs is this:  The reporting party who called 911 first reported it as "child hit by school bus."  The initial cruiser was dispatched at 14:44:21 (almost 2:45 pm), and arrived on the scene at 14:49:00 (about four and a half minutes later) and cleared the scene at 15:15:22 (roughly 25 minutes later).

The vehicle involved was not a big yellow school bus, but a blue 2012 Mazda.

I can also tell you, from an ultra-reliable source, the cited driver was NOT a staff member who works at Fort River School. 

He Said, She Said

The accidental Sunday fire, caused by careless disposal of a cigarette,  killed two; the next day Gregory Levey purposely immolated himself in town center using two gallons of turpentine

The 911 call came in early Sunday morning at 6:21 a.m. while most of Amherst was still fast asleep.  Smoke was billowing from the roof of a large two family dwelling on North Pleasant Street on the northern outskirts of town center, the kind of report -- called a "box alarm" -- that gets the undivided attention of emergency dispatch, who then instantly radios APD and AFD.

 284 North Pleasant Street

Despite the desperate attempts of first responders to quell the flames,  two students died from smoke inhalation.  The house was divided into two apartment units, each with six occupants, a violation of Amherst's zoning ordinance limiting unrelated tenants to only four.

Additionally the attic, where the deaths occurred, had been turned into bedrooms without a second means of egress, a clear violation of building safety codes.   

That was February 17, 1991.  Fast forward to September 19, 2012: A fire starts in an (illegal) basement bedroom apartment at #28 Gilreath Manor on Hobart Lane, quite possibly due to an overloaded electrical circuit.  Fortunately the blaze starts near high noon rather than late at night, so it is quickly extinguished by AFD.

 Gilreath Manor, Hobart Lane, Amherst

The basements are not zoned as a sleeping space, do not have an approved second means of escape and some lacked working smoke detectors.

Later that day town authorities receive an email and phone calls from residents concerned that building owner Grandonico Properties systematically wants students to hide evidence of illegal basement bedrooms from town inspectors.

Town officials keep the matter quiet (this is after all Amherst, where even the H is silent), but managed to get Grandonico to make basic safety upgrades to all the units. 

But now Grandonico Properties is fighting an official order from Building Commissioner Rob Morra to cease and desist renting to more than four unrelated tenants, a violation of town zoning bylaw.  The owners response mimics the three monkeys:   see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.

In other words, it's all the students' fault.  Grandonico only allows four tenants to sign the lease, therefore they cannot be legally held responsible if more than that occupy the space.

Interestingly, however, their lease states:  "Any payment not received from a Lessee shall only be accepted, if at all, on behalf of the Lessees and shall not constitute any relationship or tenancy with said party."  In other words, we will take the money but the look the other way from who may be contributing to the final amount.

In an official response to the Building Commissioner's order, Grandonico Properties, LLC is taking the matter to the Zoning Board of Appeals on December 20 ... Unfortunately when UMass is on break, thus making it unlikely students will come testify about what they were told by the owners when first signing a lease.

Even more interesting, the owners are trying to force the "legal" residents to sign a statement "under the pains and penalties of perjury" that they are the only occupants authorized to live in said premises. 

Since Building Commissioner Morra has yet to actually issue a fine to Grandonico Properties, it's unclear what legal standing can be created by the Zoning Board of Appeals, as only Amherst Town Meeting can modify or change the four unrelated tenants bylaw.  And an appeal of a monetary fine would go before a judge in District Court.

The permits acquired when the basement egress windows were installed were for an occupied space to be used as a study or entertainment room not a bedroom.  Thus the owners may not find the Zoning Board overly sympathetic to their cause. 

Either way, Grandonico Properties should have realized they got off easy.  What if that blaze on September 19, 2012 had been a replay of the tragic 2/19/91 fire?  They would now be facing jail time.

Obviously somebody has failed to learn from history.

Every Parent's Nightmare

Buses wait for their precious cargo at Crocker Farm School

Details are sketchy at the moment but we do know that an Amherst Middle School child was struck by a vehicle upon exiting a school bus near the Fort River School on South East Street at approximately 2:47 pm Friday.

Amherst police and fire personnel swiftly made the scene and the child was taken to Bay State Medical in Springfield as opposed to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton (usually indicating serious injury, but in this case simply precautionary).

Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk sent me this statement early Friday evening.

MassLive reports 

#####

UPDATE (Saturday 7:15 pm)

I had forgotten that I broke the story three-and-a-half years ago about the DA finding no criminal negligence with the bus driver in that stunningly sad story of a child dying under the wheels of an Amherst school bus.  Although that horrific scenario flashed through my mind instantly yesterday when I first heard dispatch vectoring emergency personnel to S. E. Street for what was originally reported as a bus hitting a child.