BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ADD 1 FRIDAY 6/19: At 9 a.m., THE PLANET received this from the Pittsfield Police Department: On Thursday June 18th 2026 at approximately 8:09pm, multiple Pittsfield Police Department (PPD) officers responded to an area at the intersection of Pleasure Avenue and Tyler Street for a reported shooting. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JUNE 17, 2026 — Thoughts while finishing an assignment for the Marine combat training base, 29 Palms, Calif. Teenth Us No Junes — Friday marks the sixth time the United States has observed June 19, Juneteenth, as a federal holiday. The South, Texas […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JUNE 15, 2026) — THE PLANET has watched with amusement the hysteria over the World Cup, now being played at venues in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Not since Peter Marhcetti screamed his latest, red-faced “BITCH!!” have we been this excited, except perhaps […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 12-4, 2026) — Today’s guest “editorial” outlines what the writer, Luciano Guadagno, says he has experienced in district court. A much shorter version of this release was published earlier by iBerkshires. THE PLANET prints the entire text. [ED. NOTE, FULL […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Second of a Two-Part Series (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JUNE 10. 2026) — Return with THE PLANET now to those thrilling days of yesterday, when good fellow well met Gerry Doyle succeeded Ed Reilly as mayor. Doyle, who knew how to work a room with the best […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY First of Two Parts (FOrTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JUNE 8, 2026) — You have to go back to the Civic Authority debacle to come up with a more blatant example of Bitchfield’s political graft that exceeds the city’s refusal to publish the $155,000 taxpayer-funded “independent” report on […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 5-7, 2026) — Today, THE PLANET achieves a milestone. This marks the 3,000 column in this series. It’s been a run that we didn’t anticipate when it began simply as an online experiment. As the internet grew and cyberspace got […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ADD 1 6/3 — THE PLANET received from Julia Sabourin, chief operating officer of the Berkshire County D.A.’s office, this additional information on the bail situation of defendant Zyrus Jaynes in connection with his August 2025 arraignment on an Assault and battery charge. That is referenced in […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JUNE 1, 2026) — Let’s chase to the cut, shall we? At its May 27 meeting, the school committee (SC) voted 4-2 to keep the PHS report hidden, out of the public’s prying eyes. The Kapanskis only paid $155K for the con job, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MAY 29-31, 2026) — Thoughts while studying for finals: Da D.A.: THE PLANET spent nearly two hours at 7 North St. with D.A. Tim Shugrue getting the lowdown and high down. It’s nice to be able to enter the office and […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY MAY 28, 2026) — It’s not just Bitchfield. It’s Taxachusetts: school districts running budget deficits covered by slamming The Kapanskis with sledgehammer tax hikes. In Bitchfield, Mayor Lumpy’s Nirvana of the Nebbishes, not only have taxpayers been cleaned out of house and home, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND MAY 22-4, 2026) — It seems impossible, after having celebrated Christmas just last week, that we should find ourselves at Memorial Day Weekend. In another month, half the year will be gone. Nonetheless, here we are, with the Berkshires poised for […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY MAY 20, 2026) — Make mine a Harvey Wallbanger, bartender. THE PLANET can’t say for sure how many Harveys get served at the former Crossroads Tavern, now known with the bougie name of Bei Tempi (BT), which is Latin for “swine’s snout.” We […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY MAY 178, 2026) — We open with a poem recently published in the online magazine Bardball. THE PLANET has long had an affinity to the misaligned and maltreated, and in baseball, our example stands tall. Don Buddin manned the shortstop position for several […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MAY 15-7, 2026) — Don’t tell anyone, because you’re not supposed to know. In fact, no one is supposed to know, not even THE PLANET. According to a well-placed source, Guardian, the insurance company at 700 South St., will be will […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY MAY 13, 2026) — There. They had it. So have we … up to HERE. THE PLANET speaks of a Monday night “Community Conversation” to navel-gaze on a manufactured “racial/sexual” incident that supposedly took place in the classroom of Herberg teacher Rebecca Nietsche. […]
