"More Than A Little Bizarre!"

Judge John Payne presiding over Eastern Hampshire District Court

Normally I don't cover the plethora of cases that are adjudicated in Eastern Hamsphire District Court from towns other than Amherst.

Although on any given day I leave the courtroom shaking my head from statement of facts heard in open court concerning incidents that occur in our neighboring towns.

Take Monday for instance. While waiting for Amherst police department arrests over the weekend (4) to be arraigned, I was only half listening to the pre-trial motions, parole violations, magistrate appeals of motor vehicle tickets, etc.

But when Judge Payne changed the tenor of his voice I started paying attention.

 Harry Bonatakis, age 60, stands before Judge Payne

The case concerned a plea deal of nine months probation for a 60-year-old man arrested for Assault & Battery on a young woman.  Specifically he  "massaged her foot" without permission in the parking lot of Big Y in South Hadley.  And she had her four year old child in the car at the time.

He had come over to her as she was entering her car and started talking to her initially complimenting her vehicle but grabbing the top of the driver door preventing her from closing it.

Then he asked if she always went barefoot, to which she replied that wearing high heels at work all day caused her feet great discomfort so she took them off.

He then reached down and started massaging her bare foot saying he was a trained message therapist.  She called police.  He was arrested.

Judge Payne first asked why the Commonwealth was requesting 9 months probation, finding that an "odd number."  The Assistant District Attorney said he originally wanted a full year but the public defender wanted six months, so they split the difference.

The public defender admitted to the Judge the incident was a "little bizarre," but chalked it up to his client "getting his signals crossed."

Shaking his head Judge Payne said sternly, "I'm not comfortable with the plea deal.  I'm troubled by the facts here:  8:30 at night in a public parking lot.  It's more than a little bizarre!"

Judge Payne ordered a Forensic Evaluation saying, "I want to know what's going on and if additional structure is needed for him."  The case was continued until October 20.

Almost next up was one of the four Amherst police arrests, but I should have gone back to not paying attention since his case was designated a "56A" (domestic abuse).  As such the incident is purged from APD logs and the Clerk Magistrate's office will refuse to give out documents relating to the case.

So all I can tell you is Christopher McMahon was arrested by APD and arraigned before Judge Payne for a 56A allegation.  His case too was continued until next month.

Christopher McMahon arraigned before Judge John Payne

Let The Sunshine, Let The Sunshine In

Newer 56 acre closed line-landfill Belchertown Road

Yes Amherst is having yet another public meeting on locating solar power within the confines of our 27.7 square miles of altered reality.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday night at the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium, ironically enough the scene of a major defeat for NIMBY/BANANAs when Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to support solar on ye old landfill.

Ye old closed 53 acre unlined-landfill also on Belchertown Road just across the street

As usual the NIMBY/BANANAs will probably be out in force with lots of ideas where not to locate a solar array (anywhere within their sight line or territory for walking the dog).

 Downtown has a tiny bit of solar

And considering their victory over the Town Manger on the old landfill proposed site -- after the town spent $60,000 creating a legal contract with a provider -- it's safe to assume residents anywhere near newly proposed sites will use the same obstructionist strategy.

 One woman lobby picketing Town Meeting 5/11/15

The newer closed landfill will not necessarily be immune from immediate neighbors:  Back in 2002 residents of Logtown Road successfully torpedoed the town's attempt to increase the height of the landfill by 10 feet to keep it open longer (and generate tons of revenue).

The Zoning Board of Appeals rejected the idea by a 2 (yes)-1 (no) vote.  The Special Permit required a unanimous vote.

Solar array among the fertile fields of Hadley just over the town line

Don't Do Drugs!

Amherst police made two drug arrests over the weekend, both 20-year-old females who were running a drug store out of their vehicle while UMass police made three drug arrests, all of them male.  

The UMPD arrests were associated with the Mullins Center EDM concert late Friday night that swamped our medical system and these two APD arrests at a North Amherst apartment complex only a couple hours after the music event ended, was probably also connected.

Click to enlarge/read one stop shopping list

Amber Lynn Noyes stands before Judge Payne

Tresa Leinhart arraigned before Judge Payne

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday both young ladies were assigned a public defender and had their cases continued until October 14.

A Drunk Run Weekend

AFD with assist of Agawam and Easthampton FD did 28 drunk runs over the weekend

A full 75% of the "emergency" ambulance runs generated by our institutes of higher education were alcohol induced, something that is easily preventable.

 Yes the town will be reimbursed by private insurance or the parents pocketbooks to the tune of around $1,000 per trip, so the college aged youth ETOH runs are probably downright lucrative.

Mullins Center Friday night

But the real problem with having so freakin' many drunk runs over the past weekend is they tie up our emergency personnel, who are all pretty darn good at what they do but not capable of being in two places at once.

 AFD on scene Mullins Center late Friday night

Thus an ambulance carting a drunk student to Cooley Dickinson Hospital is not availble to us when we call 911 for a friend or loved one who is suddenly having urgent need for medical attention.

The ambulance from another town that responds via "Mutual Aid" takes a lot longer than our own  coming from Central or North Station.

And when you can't breathe, every second counts.

   AFD drunk runs 9/11 weekend

DUI Dishonor Roll

The rate of drunk driving is highest among 21-25 year olds (23.4%)

Only one arrest for drunk driving over the weekend, about as typical as they come (the modus operandi, not the number):  Jesse Korzen, 21, a former UMass student and somebody not unknown to our police department, as he was arrested back in January for alcohol related rowdy behavior.

His twitter masthead seems to show a typical day drink gathering out at Townhouse apartments in North Amherst which was Ground Zero for the last three out-of-control Blarney Blowouts.

Click to enlarge/read

Jesse Korzen in District Court reading his arrest report

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Mr. Korzen was represented by what looked to be a high priced attorney (keep in mind Korzen was arrested on Sunday).   He took a standard 24D plea disposition, probably because of the Breathalyzer results of .15% -- almost twice the legal limit.

Korzen will lose his license for 45 days, pay $650 in fines/fees, take a driver education program and be on probation for the next year.  As long as he stays out of trouble (here or in New York) the case will be "dismissed", although "Continued Without A Finding" is pretty much an admission of guilt.

His attorney asked Judge Payne to waive the travel restrictions since he lives in New York, and the Judge agreed.

Coincidentally enough -- what are the odds? -- I received an email about an hour after Korzen's District Court appearance from his roommate who was also arrested back in January, requesting deletion of the article.   

The guaranteed way of keeping your name from appearing on these pages is pretty simple:  Don't get arrested.

Worth Mooing About

For the 1st time since mid-1990s Mitchell Farm will host a dairy operation

Tregaverne will keep 14 cows and 40 goats at the 340 North East Street location

Thanks to a unanimous vote of the Board of Health the sale of raw milk is now legal in the town of Amherst, but will come under state oversight.  In addition the board also voted to allow pasteurization of milk at a newly proposed micro creamery, Tregaverne.

Health Director Julie Federman, although not overly keen on the idea of raw milk, did tell the board that Massachusetts has  "robust" oversight of anything milk related.  

 Ronnie Wagner (far left), Shannon Rice-Nichols (immediate left)

And the owner of the proposed creamery, Shannon Rice-Nichols, a trained micro biologist, told the Board she would test the milk weekly and the (closed) herd of 14 cows twice per year.  The milk would also be free of glyphosate/GMO and come packaged in 100% recyclable containers.

Rice-Nichols has an extensive agricultural background having been involved with 38 creamery operations previously, to which  BOH member Julie Marcus replied, "Your credentials are the kind we want in our town."

She plans to use the Community Supported Agricultural model so all milk sales have to occur on site and signs conspicuously displayed informing consumers about the potential hazards of raw milk (Coliform, E. Coli, Salmonella, etc).

In addition every batch will be recorded, so if any problems do occur and a recall is needed it will be easy to trace the whereabouts of the milk.  

Tregaverne will be a Massachusetts B Corporation with expected annual sales in the $300,000 range with some of the proceeds donated to a local social service agency, SafePassage.  The business is expected to employ a half-dozen part time employees and pay them a fair hourly wage.

In addition to raw milk the operation will also produce other "cultured products" aka, cheese under the "Ferment This!" label.  Tregaverne will be a R&D scale micro-creamery so as to experiment with recipes.  As such batch sizes will be capped at 1,000 liters. 

" Ferment This" label:  painting by Arapawa Island goat named "Mouse"

Ideally Rice-Nichols would like to open the new creamery before the snow falls.   

local consumers will now get more choice with their dairy products, the town gets another badly needed addition to the commercial tax base, while historic structures get put to good reuse.  

A winning trifecta indeed.

Raw milk providers in Massachusetts

Mullins Center Command

AFD ambulance backing into south entrance Mullins Center late last night

Friday night into early Saturday morning, although certainly stressed, our emergency medical system worked.  Most times, the center holds. 

At the first major Electronic Dance Music concert of the semester-- 'Life In Color" paint party -- a dozen patrons required ambulance transport from the Mullins Center to either Cooley Dickinson Hospital in nearby Northampton, Holyoke Medical Center and/or Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield.

Additional hospitals were used in order to keep Cooley Dickinson emergency ward from being overwhelmed, as this weekend is a busy time throughout the Valley.

The first call for an ETOH patron occurred at 8:00 PM, and Mullins Center Command terminated just after midnight.

In addition to the dozen transports -- 11 of which were alcohol related (ETOH) -- AFD's on site command center overseen by Chief Tim Nelson treated and released an additional 14 patrons for self induced illness brought on by substance abuse.

 Agawam and Easthampton FD were contracted to assist AFD

AFD brought in two outside ambulances, one from Easthampton and the other from Agawam, to deal directly with Mullins Center patients so as to keep the five AFD ambulances available for the rest of the town.

The concert attracted 3,000 patrons and from around 10 PM into the early morning hours a stream of scantily clad college aged youth could be seen traversing Commonwealth Avenue from the Mullins Center back to Southwest Residential area, many of them stained with pink paint.

Chief Nelson was quite satisfied with overall response of his department, quoting baseball great Ernie Banks "We're all here, we might as well play."

"People are going to imbibe too much, that's just a reality," said the Chief, who summed it up succinctly:

"We planned for this and we trained for it ... The system worked."

The next major Mullins Center challenge will occur over for Halloween weekend.  Let's hope it does not sell out with 9,000 vs the 3,000 youth who attended last night's event ...

 Umass after dark last night (Mullins Center top left)