BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY NOV. 1, 2016) — It’s “the biggest scandal since Watergate.” So says GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump about the FBI’s reopening of a criminal investigation of rival Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server while she served as Secretary of State. The FBI has […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY HALLOWEEN, 2016) — First it was over. Now it’s back. Yeah and verily, ‘twas not a good weekend for Hillary and da Dems. The FBI’s investigation of Mrs. Bill Clinton has blossomed once again like one of those time-lapse Disney films that show the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDItION, OCT. 28-30, 2016) — Think about this when you make a mark on Question 2, which would allow up to 12 new charter schools in Massachusetts. If the public schools in Pittsfield were doing their job successfully, there would be no […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY OCT. 27, 2016) — If early voting is an indication, things may be breaking Donald Trump’s way. That shaking sound you hear are the knees knocking within Democrat circles. A look at results compiled so far by city and county clerks, local and regional […]
BY PLANET VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 26, 2016) — The element of surprise can be a delight. THE PLANET had to be in Pittsfield yesterday, and on one our various stops some canvassers met us. “Are you registered to vote?” “Yes.” “Do you care about public education.” (RED […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY OCT. 25, 2016) — If the American people can wake up from their lethargy, Donald Trump will be President-elect of the United States on Nov. 9. The damning publication of e-mails from John Podesta’s in-box will and would, under normal circumstances, deliver a death […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 24, 2016) — 86,400 times 15. That’s how many seconds we have before this endless presidential campaign ends. Of course, the day after Election Day, Campaign 2020 begins. Yuk. That’s where we are right now as a country. Lost, overwrought, and caught […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 21-23, 2016) — At a recent meeting of THE PLANET‘s Right Honorable Good Friends on the Pittsfield City Council, the sanctimonious trio of Kathy Amuso, at-large and former school committee chair; John Krol, Ward 6 and noted defender of politics as […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY OCT. 20, 2016) — Okay, you watched Trump-Clinton III last night, which incidentally was the best of the trio in large part because of the excellent job by moderator Chris Wallace. You’re mind has long been made up. You are not open to […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 19, 2016) — How convenient that Jessica Leeds, who claims that nearly four decades ago GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump “sexually assaulted” her, comes so close to the Nov. 8 vote. Nothing kicks invented memories into gear like panic, in this case, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY OCT. 18, 2016) — The comments yesterday from Chuck Garivaltis and others regarding THE PLANET’s piece on St. Joseph‘s captured another aspect of the soon-to-be-gone high school’s value to Pittsfield. On the sports field, St. Joe could always be counted on to provide tough competition […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, OCT. 17, 2016) — In 1965, THE PLANET graduated to ninth grade. We entered St. Joseph’s High School on Maplewood Avenue in Pittsfield, continuing a tradition of an incoming freshman class going back to the 19th century, when the school opened. The elegant building outside […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY PREFACE In THE PLANET‘s article on parking meters from earlier this week, we inadvertently forgot to include remarks the mayor had sent to us earlier on that subject. We regret this omission and now include mayor Linda Tyer‘s exclusive statement to us on that topic: “There are […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY OCT. 13, 2016) — Giving needles to junkies is like giving Camels to teens who “can’t” quit cigarettes. You might as well give heroin users their free fix. Oh wait. We already to do that at the methadone clinic on Summer Street. Mayor Linda […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 12, 2016) — City officials who brought back metered parking justify it by citing the public meetings held a couple years ago. You know how that exercise goes in Pittsfield.: The Suits want a public policy changed, irrespective of the benefits to the city […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY OCT. 11, 2016) — In Albany, the school department wanted to refurbish a high school. In Albany, citizens had a say. In Albany, citizens voted the project down. In Great Barrington, Cheshire, Schoharie, Freehold (N.J.), Marcellus (N.Y.), and in city after city, town […]
