Sudsy Santa

And what's that Santa is holding in his right hand?

The kiddies promoting this childish event took umbrage at the Santa Con (Manhattan) photos I used to illustrate my post when I first broke this sordid story, and two weeks later they are still crying about it on the front page of the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette.

But it was okay for them to use a photo of an obviously passed out drunk Santa in their Facebook promotion of the event?

Which also exposes their true motives for unleashing on our downtown this travesty.

Ho, ho, hick-up.

 Today's Gazette:  "Jollity" indeed

DUI Dishonor Roll

Michael Ketcham, age 25, stands before Judge Payne

Both APD impaired driver arrests last weekend submitted to breath tests that showed they were too much under the influence of alcohol to be driving, but then one of them changed his mind and refused to take the official chemical breath test back at the station, which is admissible in District Court.

 Click to enlarge/read

 Portable Breath Test result of .114 is inadmissible in Court

As a result Michael Ketcham will automatically lose his license for 180 days.  But he did tell Judge Payne he would be hiring his own attorney for his next pre-trial hearing in January.

And a DUI attorney loves it when you refuse the official chemical breath test because that obstinacy cannot be mentioned to a jury should the case go to trial.

Jacob Bodee, age 21, stands before Judge Payne

Since Mr. Bodee did take the official chemical breath test back at the station he should simply take the standard state offer of a 24D disposition and save himself an expensive attorney fee.

Click to enlarge/read

Signs

A most Catholic time of year

Even more holiday decorations being installed downtown

DPW put out the free, free, free sand pile

Essential Voyage artwork at base of Merry Maple almost gone

Ruh-Roh On Red

UMPD had to attend 2 Eastern Hampshire District Court hearings

I always try to blend in when covering Eastern Hampshire District Court proceedings and since they deal with a cross section of the Happy Valley it's not all that hard to do.

 I also only use an iPhone for photos so I can be as inconspircous as possible, although I do carry a classic reporters notebook and old fashioned pen to take notes which does tend to stand out.

And on occassion I've been known to mutter under my breath -- but loud enough for some court officials nearby to hear -- when someone appears for their 4th or 5th DUI offense.

Or I occasionally laugh out loud at one of Judge Payne's animated expressions.

But yesterday was the first time I had to resist the urge to raise my hand and offer input on a matter as though I were attending an Amherst public meeting.

A woman was given a ticket for "failure to stop at a stop sign" at the intersection of University Drive and Massachusetts Avenue, a leading gateway to our illustrious University.

She had already lost the Clerk Magistrate's Hearing and was now appealing that to the Judge.  She told Judge Payne that after the first hearing she returned to the scene of the crime but could find no stop sign.

The officer responded that a flashing red light is a stop sign and she did not come to a complete stop.  Judge Payne agreed with the officer and upheld the ticket.

For those of you who come upon that intersection for the first time you probably think it's under repair and that is why the lights are flashing: red if you are on University Drive and yellow if you are on Massachusetts Avenue.

But they are always like that, going on many, many years now.

Yet the intersection is only a stone's throw away from the one at Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenue, where the traffic lights are fully signalized.

And if you are on University Drive taking a right (which should be a "right turn on red") you can see all the way into Hadley to your left for oncoming traffic.

With as many Planners as UMass employs you would think somebody could tweak the lights at that busy intersection to serve a more useful purpose.


Yes, I did roll through this yesterday while enroute to a "box alarm" at Du Bois Library

Mr. Frost Shall Return

Mr. Frost (left) having a dialog with Miss Emily (right) last winter

Mr. Frost taking a nap Thursday morning

Robert Frost will soon return to take up dialogue with the Belle of Amherst, a supporting role he has filled admirably since 1996.  On Thursday morning he was found torn from his foundation and turned in to the DPW.

The public artwork "A Poetic Dialogue" by Michael Versi depicting a hypothetical interaction between Amherst' s two most famous residents was a tad controversial when first installed almost 20 years ago.

When dealing with sacred icons you are almost guaranteed to ruffle a few feathers.  But at least it's not like that whole "Muhammad" thing, where a critical cartoon can bring on bearded dudes with AK47s.

Wait Another Week

Mark Rees in the hot seat

Peter Hechenbleikner in the hot seat

After a fair and balanced one hour public interview with each of two candidates, the Amherst Select Board delayed until December 7th choosing a temporary Town Manager to relieve current Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek, who returns to his Assistant Town Manger position on January 31st.

The 5 member Select Board wanted more time to mull their important decision but also to allow more time for public input on which candidate is the better fit for our little college town.  

Both candidates are drenched in public service experience.   And both are equally white, older, and currently retired.

One key difference is Peter Hechenbleikner made it perfectly clear he does not want to become the permanent Town Manager while Mark Rees refused to rule it out.

Hechenbleikner also seemed to indicate he would work part-time, somewhere between 25-30 hours per week, while Rees stated he expected to work four to five full days per week stressing, "I would be a  full-time Manager."

Both candidates pronounced the name of the town wrong on occasion but also got it right on occasion as well.

But Mark Rees seemed to have a better grasp of Amherst (with or without the H) and gave fuller more direct answers to the same questions concerning economic development, affordable housing and how to deal with, ugh, a Representative Town Meeting.

The Select Board also decided to task HR Director Deb Radway and SB member Doug Slaughter with coming up with a recommendation for a professional consulting firm to help with hiring a new permanent Town Manager.

The town received four response proposals ranging in cost from $11,000 to $18,000.  Radway said she preferred two of the four: Community Paradigm, the least expensive, and MMACG, the most expensive, because they stressed the importance of public outreach in the process.

 Vince O'Connor during public comment

If the Amherst Police Department were a private rather than public agency they would have grounds for a slander/defamation lawsuit against Vince O'Connor, who requested the Select Board task the temporary Town Manager with "rooting out once and for all the practice in APD of making stops of blacks and Latinos without just cause" which he branded "unjustified harassment."

Of course Mr. O'Connor offered no evidence whatsoever to back up his outlandish allegations.  

Sunny Sunday Over The Valley

Mt. Sugarloaf, South Deerfield

Puffer's Pond, North Amherst

UMass West Experimental Station being deconstructed piece by piece

Crotty Hall going up next to Gordon Hall North Pleasant Street

 Amherst College Greenway Dorms

Olympia Place:  private dorms near UMass

Only two usual peace demonstrators, Vince O'Connor and Pat Church, this afternoon's stand out near main town flagpole 

Owen's Pond sundown

Gull Pond

Let's hope the Fed's don't start requiring kite registration