As most of you know, The Planet smoked out a plot involving Chris Speranzo’s deal to be named clerk magistrate at $110,000 per year (almost $150K with benefits). Part of the deal would be to get a compliant stooge to take Spurs’ 3rd Berkshire District seat in the ensuing special election. The election would be considered a […]
Taking a brief respite from politics, who else enjoyed the New England Patriots beat the team most pundits have called the best in the En Ef El? The Patriots comeback from 10 down in the 4th quarter against the Baltimore Ravens was vintage. The D made huge stops on MUST plays, while Brady and company […]
The charade that Chris Speranzo is trying to foist over the understandably apathetic electorate must not be allowed to succeed. Voters must DEMAND that he announce, immediately, which office he intends to pursue: re-election as 3rd Berkshire rep or appointment as clerk magistrate. We have elaborated earlier and elsewhere the scheme: Democrat Speranzo breezes in […]
We had lined up a photograph taken of a group of girls purportedly taken on the grounds at Pittsfield High School, sent to The Planet by a concerned parent. The photo showed two of the girls with blouses unbuttoned and little left to the imagination of what they packed under there. This parent’s son, who […]
… The Boston Red Sox were the last team in the major leagues to integrate. Much of this inaction falls at the feet of team owner Tom Yawkey, who by the late 50s, had lost interest in his ballclub, hired front office personnel (Mike Higgins, Bucky Harris) more for their drinking ability than their business […]
Whenever the Berkshire Eagle pulls out the Second Coming type size to tell us about the latest economic miracle that will magically create carloads of jobs, you can be sure it’s a non-story. Thus, today’s page one screaming headline about the Pittsfield Airport. An honest coverage would report that the project has moved ahead a […]
Congratulations to my radio colleague, Larry Kratka, for 25 years on the air in Berkshire County. Larry joined WBEC AM 1420 in September 1985 and made his air debut on Columbus Day of that year. He stayed with ‘BEC until 1992, when syndication bumped his show. Soon after, Phil Weiner at cross-town rival WUPE/WUHN hired […]
It’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and whatever (GLBTQW) month, and hard-earned taxpayer dollars continue to be devoted to glorifying the “walk on the wild side.” The latest is National Coming Out Day (NCOD), Friday, Oct. 8. The city of Pittsfield, at the risk of lawsuits if it refused, funded NCOD as part of its […]
From the Secret Squadron, high atop a mountainside overlooking the great metropolis of Pittsfield, The Planet moves sometimes undercover in the shades of night and other times, as here, within full view under the McDonald’s french fry lights of television. The Planet dutifully takes notes as John Barrett presents to the city council. Most of […]
Rigged politics being what they are (What, you think the one-party totalitarian system we have in The Great Commonwealth isn’t rigged?), The office of The Ancient Congressman, John Olver, delivered its perfunctory “endorsement” of another Democratic state rep candidate. The latest irrelevancy comes with Rep. Older’s (my new spelling) nod to 2nd Berkshire District candidate […]
— the exit of Randy Moss worry anyone? From day 1 of camp this year, the New England Patriots have made it clear that with their three-tight-end capabilities+, they are moving to a spread-it-around offense. Moss has not been a big factor in the team’s 3-1 start. The Patriots lead the NFL in offense. True, […]
You can read the gory details in my print column PLANET VALENTI in this week’s Pittsfield Gazette. I shall reveal my conversation with a “well-placed source” who spells out the seven-part plan which, if it can be believed, gives career public-trougher Chris Speranzo a lifetime sinecure as clerk-magistrate of Central Berkshire District Court at $110,ooo […]
The Planet made media rounds this morning with a TV/radio appearance on John Krol’s “Good Morning, Pittsfield” (WTBR, PCTV) and a radio gig on Larry Kratka’s “Up Front” (WBEC). Gotta make this quick because of pressing deadlines elsewhere, but we did get the word out on this website. With Krol, we talked about the Pittsfield […]
Say this for the appropriately named Katherine Gundelfinger: She’s determined. Gundelfinger has been trying since the C-cup was invented to bring topless sunbathing to Pittsfield. The boobs on the Parks Commission turned down an earlier request, and my right honorable good friends on the Pittsfield city council never got the chance to weigh in on […]
Often, someone thinking to issue an insult will label me a “cynic.” I accept the designation but not the definition. The word is like “God,” one become so imprecise in meaning as to be meaningless and so overapplied in use as to be useless. By default, every thinking, self-aware person wishes to use his or […]
