Amherst Fireground: Merrick Circle

A box alarm call at 8:05 PM brought a swift response from an armada of public safety vehicles to a structure fire at Merrick Circle in South Amherst in sub-freezing temperatures.

A half dozen AFD engines and almost as many police cars with mutual aid from Northampton, Hadley, South Hadley, Pelham and Belchertown combined to put down the fire in about 45 minutes.

Fortunately no one was home at the time of the blaze, although the initial report describing a kitchen fire did indicate one person may have been in the house. 

X1 (AFD Chief Tim Nelson) to Dispatch "Command terminated, Merrick Circle".  Four hours after after the box alarm first struck.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) March 1, 2014

AFD Ladder 1 en route to 25 Merrick Circe, scene of last night's structure fire.  One Engine already on scene.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) March 1, 2014

"Consistent With The Definition"

Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk, Thursday morning

So the long awaited official report from the Amherst Schools on the incident that closed the High School last month because of a "threat" posted to Facebook was just released, on a blog of all places.

Interestingly the report does admit "there were separate behaviors during the series of events that are consistent with the definition of both bullying and racial harassment."

And since it was the white student's family who complained repeatedly to school authorities about three black students bullying their son, it seems fair to say their charges have been confirmed.

No word on whether the father of the white student, who works in the schools, and was suspended for three days without pay for trying to stop the bullying, will be reimbursed for those days and the stain on his employment record removed.

And no mention of any discipline for school officials who failed to act on the white parents plea to help their son.

Public Safety Crackdown

11 Phillips Street

The Amherst Fire Department is getting serious about public safety.  Well actually, they've always been serious -- but now they are getting deadly serious about public safety in a pro active way.

Or as my Irish mother used to say, "A stitch in time saves nine."  And in this case it's lives that are saved.

On Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court before Clerk Magistrate Bill Nagle,  fire safety officer Mike Roy won a $1,040 judgement against a leaseholder at 11 Phillips Street, perhaps the most notorious Party House in all of Amherst.  Owned, naturally, by the King of the Decadent Street, Stephan Gharabegian.

Party House Fire Complaint by larry_kelley_1

The house was being used as a "rooming house" with W-A-Y more than four unrelated tenants packed into the 10-bedroom abode.  Once that was exposed, resulting in a town crackdown, the landlord -- Stephan Gharabegian -- padlocked six of the rooms.

But the occupants of the four remaining rooms have removed all the furniture and use the open space as a giant party room.

11 Phillips Street, interior view

And the kids engaged in Russian roulette by covering  the windows with black plastic (which in a fire instantly gives off deadly fumes) and covering the smoke detectors with bags as well, probably so the cigarette or  pot smoke does not set them off.

The most recent major structure fire that resulted in a death  at Rolling Green Apartments last year could have been far, far worse if the smoke detectors had not done their job.

In fact, AFD responded a few days after the deadly fire for reports of an alarm sounding.   Turns out smoke detectors from the damaged building had been thrown in a dumpster and some of them were still sounding the alarm.

Previously AFD would issue a $100 civil ticket and if you ignored it, they would have to take you to Land Court in Northampton.  Now they will be issuing criminal complaints which could result in six months in jail.

Or most likely, as with this plea bargain case, the court converts it to a civil infraction with the $1,000 fine. 

Complying with these common sense safety regulations is far less a hastle than dealing with District Court ... or planning a funeral. 

"That Really Stinks"

Budget Coordinating Group this morning

Good thing about being a fly on the wall at public meetings not usually attended by reporters is town officials are a tad more forthright with their comments.

Take this morning's Budget Coordinating Group meeting for instance.  During his update on the Echo Village negotiation with mega-property owner Jamie Cherewatti, after lamenting the deal falling through at the last minute, Town Manger Musante closed with, "That really stinks".

The town had put all their eggs in one basket with a proposed Community Development Block Grant request of $800,000 because $600,000 of that would have gone towards purchasing from Cherewatti the 24 unit Echo Village Apartment complex.

James Cherewatti on left

The deadline for the grant application was February 14 (how romantic) and Cherewatti's last second rejection (by ignoring it) of a "fair market" purchase offer means the grant application is now dead.  The price offered is exempt from Open Meeting Law public disclosure, although the principal party who made the offer could probably release it.  

The Town Manager pointed out to the BCG, "That has a domino effect on three other programs:  Homeless Shelter, Food Pantry Program at the Survival Center, and $20,000 in emergency funds for the needy."

His proposal, which seemed to garner the support of the group, is to now take a $125,000 recommendation to Town Meeting using Free Cash.

He specifically wants it to be a stand alone item separate from the overall budget to telegraph that it's a "transitional" emergency appropriation, and not a return to the old days of annual town funding of Social Service programs. 

Finance Director Sandy Pooler floated the idea of having the money come out of Stabilization Fund which requires a two thirds vote to reinforce that this is a one time thing, and that Town Meeting "would really have to think about it."

BCG Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe cautioned it could send the message that town officials were setting too high a hurdle and it could be "off putting" to Town Meeting members.

Pooler responded that many things -- including bridge replacement or DPW snow and ice budget increases -- requires a  two-thirds vote, so this is not "singling out" social services.

Finance Chair and Select Board candidate Andy Steinberg thought perhaps the $125,000 should simply be in the routine general fund budget.   Stephanie O'Keeffe quickly responded the Select Board voted Monday unanimously that it be a stand alone article.  This reinforces the notion that we are simply "bridging the gap."

Select Board member Alisa Brewer (always a tad more forthright) added, "I will say it more aggressively:  NO!"

Even the Amherst Bulletin is aroused

In Their Own Words

Amherst School Committee 2/25: Nothing to say on this sorry incident

A month after a racial/bullying incident escalated out of control leading to the closing of Amherst Regional High School originally ascribed to "unforeseen circumstance", ARPS School Superintendent Maria Geryk will issue a "conclusive statement to the community on Friday".  

Let's hope it is as transparent as it is fair.

Mother/son's letter to Faye Brady, ARPS Director of Student Services 2/3/14

   Mother:Son Letter Bullying

Tweets from black youth threatening white student: 

 "Extendooo" could refer to high capacity ammunition clip commonly used with assault rifles or a police baton

 

Even now 2 of the black youths still use "the word"

Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk

DUI Honor Roll

Yeah, you read that headline correctly. I created a new category of award for Taylor S Aldrich, age 29, as I have a feeling he will learn from his mistake.  And I only wish I could say that more often.

On his initial appearance before Judge Payne on Monday he asked for a continuance of his DUI case and requested the court appoint an attorney. But his "liquid assets" were a tad too high (note he was driving an Audi) and the cost conscious judge denied him a public defender.

About an hour later Mr. Aldrich, having gone out of the courtroom into the hallway to confer with an Assistant DA, came back before Judge Payne and accepted a "Standard 24D disposition," available only to first time offenders: Immediate 45 day loss of license, one year probation, take an alcohol training program, pay $500 in court costs. and monthly probation fees.

The prosecution still went through the motion of presenting evidence from the APD investigation: Mr. Aldrich was all over the road before being pulled over, reeked of alcohol, failed the agility portion of the Field Sobriety Tests and even back at APD station had to use a wall for balance.

Although he was rational enough to refuse to take the Breathalyzer test back at the station

Judge Payne looked directly at him and asked, "Are the facts just presented true?" "Yes your honor," he replied. As the Judge read him the standard disclosures asking if he were now under the influence of drugs or alcohol or had anyone pressured him into making this plea deal he responded "No, I prefer to take my punishment."

Yes, a good lawyer could -- for a price -- probably could have gotten him a better deal. I've seen attorneys use police witnesses in these type cases for target practice.

But instead he stood up and accepted his punishment.  Making the road to recovery just a tad smoother.

3 of the 4 charges were dismissed

Public Safety Crossover

Usually it's Amherst Police Department assisting AFD --shutting down traffic so firefighters can lay out lines of hose, or calming an unstable scene so EMTs can get a patient safely out of a rambunctious crowd. 

But on Friday night, with hazardous road conditions due to a a sudden freeze over, Amherst Fire Department Chief Tim Nelson returned the favor.  He noticed a vehicle operating erratically about a mile from Amherst town center.

Chief Nelson (now off duty) not only called 911, but continued to follow and then stopped when the truck pulled into the Hess Station in South Amherst.  He then pointed out the driver to the responding officer.

Deoclecio Artur, age 38, was arrested for DUI after he failed every aspect of the Field Sobriety Test.

   Chief Nelson: Witness to DUI

In court on Monday morning his case was continued to next month as his lawyer wishes to review the Hess Station security video, which probably will not help his case.

These days everyone has a phone on them almost all of the time.  Like Chief Nelson, if you see a car on the road and you even remotely suspect the driver is impaired, do the right thing:  Call 911.

Amherst police vehicles are rolling 24/7, so it's not a big deal for them to be vectored to a suspected drunk driver to check it out.

The life you save could be a friend or loved one.

AFD Chief Tim Nelson