Time, Time, Time, Is On My Side

Historic Amherst Town Hall at 6:07 this evening

A good excuse for being late just went out the window as the main town clock in the heart of downtown is now working properly, albeit a couple minutes slow.

Over a month ago during the blitzkrieg of snowstorms the clock stopped working but the panels facing north and south were quickly brought back to life.

The west facing clock looking into town center needed more work and Facilities Director Ron Bohonowicz told the Joint Capital Planning Committee last week he needed a warm day to remove the panel without fear of damaging it.

The clock speed I'm told is affected by the cold weather, as the grease is more solid and it slows down.  But as the weather warms it will speed up.   Changing the length of a pendulum adjusts for this speed change.  The clock also needs winding every Thursday.

And Another One Gone

Chief John Horvath (right) with APD Chief Scott LIvingstone at Davis Report unveiling

UMass Police Chief John Horvath has been approved as the new Chief of Rockport PD,  somewhat far removed from the hue and cry of college aged youth that he has had to deal with over the past 2.5 years.

John Horvath replaced Johnny Whitehead, after he left his 3 year UMass tenure as Chief to become Chief at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Chief Horvath is a good man, as was Johnny Whitehead.

UMass administrators may want to look in a mirror and ask why good men don't last long as the top cop at UMPD.

Deeper Pockets?

Amherst Regional High School

I was a little surprised last week while perusing the town attorney "litigation update" to the Amherst Select Board at the half-way mark to the fiscal year, which ends July 1st.

A pleasant surprise was the number of litigation's and billable hours cost so far are pretty low. In Amherst when you lose a political fight before a board, committee, or Town Meeting the standard response is to "bring in the lawyers."

The town being named the main culprit in Carolyn Gardner's discrimination lawsuit, however, was an unpleasant surprise. I asked why and was told the town is on the hook because she taught a summer math course for the elementary schools, which come under town jurisdiction rather than the Region (Middle and High School), which is a totally separate legal entity.

Carolyn Gardner MCAD complaint names town first

Because a part-time summer job can't possibly entail the same responsibilities as her full-time job at the Amherst Regional High School, and since no incidents of discrimination are alleged to have occurred during that part-time summer job, it sounds like a stretch to me.

 But then, I'm not a lawyer.

Another unpleasant surprise is the town's insurance will not cover this kerfuffle, meaning both the billable hours for the town attorney or the payoff, err, I mean "settlement" to make the lawsuit go away.

Maybe her lawyers think the town, with its sterling bond rating, is a better target for a bigger payoff.  Since Amherst pays over 80% of the Region's budget maybe not such a big distinction.

Another MCAD complaint, more directly related to the elementary schools and therefor the town, also came as news to me.

Last year when it seems the Amherst schools were in a lockdown-a-day mode of operation, a Crocker Farm employee panicked when someone returned to the elementary school searching for a lost umbrella without signing in.

Now that Mr. Ortiz is running a write-in campaign for Amherst School Committee, perhaps we will hear more.

Although, probably not the best campaign platform.

Regionalization Not Ready For Prime Time

RSC voted unanimously to support $30 million budget but no vote on Regionalization

The Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee closed the door on sending an agreement to all four Town Meetings this year by not coming to a vote in favor of the draft document presented to them last month by their subcommittee, the Regional Agreement Working Group.

Since the education expansion involves amending the Regional Agreement it would have required a two-thirds vote of the committee and then must be approved by all four town meetings. 

Currently the four towns -- Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, and Shutesbury -- have been joined in a Region at grades 7-12 for almost 60 years.

 RSC Chair Trevor Baptiste (center)

Regional School Committee Chair Trevor Baptiste started the meeting (8 minutes late) by saying the agenda allowed ten minutes of discussion on the idea but that it should serve to come up with an outline for a longer discussion at their upcoming March 24 meeting.

The Select Board is scheduled to sign the Amherst Town Meeting final warrant at their March 23rd meeting.

The discussion then went on for almost 45 minutes with most members solidly agreeing a lot more time is needed to flesh out a regional agreement, even after the three years of work by their sub-committee.

While improving  the quality of education at the preK-6 level is paramount it still has to  be politically palatable enough to pass all four town meetings, and Amherst School Committee member Kathleen Traphagen suggested it would be helpful if actual cost savings could be documented.

The School Committee's attorney has yet to provide them with a legally vetted document that imbeds all the changes suggested by RAWG into the current Regional Agreement, so it would have been all but impossible to vote on it this evening anyway.

As generations of Boston Red Sox fans would say, "We'll get 'em next year!"

Blarney Blowout: Epilogue

Local and Mass State Police form a gauntlet at Townhouse Apartments North Amherst

The Monday morning quarterbacking over Blarney Blowout was indeed as different as beer and water this time around.  The main complaint seems to be the financial cost to UMass of squelching the dangerous, reputation besmirching rowdiness that garnered international attention last year.

A good thing of course, considering Amherst had 225 police officers -- 60 them Massachusetts State Police -- in town most of the day into the night to ensure peace and quiet.

And in a anti-authoritarian aging-Hippie town like Amherst, you would expect more comparisons to North Korea or some other despotic nation de jour.

Some amateur spinmeisters tried to save face by proclaiming the partying still occurred all over town only it was just not as noticeable as last year.  Well if that's the case then it only proves that it is possible to party without bothering the neighborhood. 

Memo to party boys:  that's the idea!

The Civil War was the most costly conflict in American history.  The turning point was a not so strategically located Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  It was the kind of battle neither side could afford to routinely engage in.

Yes the cost of killing the Blarney Blowout this year was high, but if you consider it a turning point in the war on rowdyism, a price worth paying.

Maybe next year we can get by with a few less police officers.

And yes, it's exceedingly stupid for the Gazette to include the $160,000 cost of last year's Davis Report in the above headline in order to artificially drive up the price of Saturday's successful operation. 

Since peace will be restored for the next 100 years, the Davis Report only cost $1,600 per year.

 Gotta be worth at least a $1 to have these party hardy boys gone

Party House of the Weekend

19 Phillips Street

I almost don't want to file this story under Blarney Blowout since Phillips Street is the most notorious party street in Amherst, with any given weekend having incidents like this -- usually more than one.

 Click to enlarge/read

In fact the overall number of arrests this past weekend was less than an average weekend with schools in session during 2013 or 2014 leading up to that year's riotous Blarney.

Which is of course a good thing.  A very good thing.

Matthew Crosby stands before Judge Poehler

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Mr. Crosby took the typical plea deal offered by the Commonwealth, a "diversion" from criminal to civil with payment of the town's $300 noise bylaw fine.  Plus he has to stay out of trouble for the next four months, aka the rest of the semester.

His partner in crime, Jeremy McGarry, who made the mistake of messing with Sgt Ting, was not in court today but he is expected to be arraigned tomorrow.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Tara Reynolds signs release allowing her to act as own attorney

You don't get any more centrally located than the intersection of North Pleasant and Amity Street, dead in the heart of downtown Amherst.  Not a good place to be so drunk you pass out ... especially if you happen to be driving a car.

 APD Statement of Facts.  Click to enlarge/read

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Tara M Reynolds, age 24, had a plea of "not guilty" entered in her behalf by Judge Patricia Poehler.  A little later she agreed to a typical Ch24D, 1st time offender plea deal with the prosecution:

Continued Without A Finding for one year (a.k.a "probation" @ $65/month), take a Driver Alcohol Education Program, and pay $600 in fines and fees.  In other words a very expensive night out in our little college town.

The "breath test" taken back at APD station is admissible in court (the portable breath test taken in the field is not).  And I have yet to attend a drunk driving trial where a person has beaten the breath test as evidence.