Archive | June, 2011
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PITTSFIELD ‘FOURTH’ PARADE: $41Gs in debt and $90Gs WASTED ON A TWO-HOUR COMMERCIAL FOR A CITY THAT DOESN’T EXIST

By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, June 30, 2011) — Today we take on another of Pittsfield Third Rails. Everybody loves a parade, right? And when that parade is billed as “your Hometown parade,” loving comes as easy as a swan paddling through Lake Tranquility, right? However, what if “your Hometown parade” consisted of largely […]

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BLOATED CITY BUDGET OKd, GUV’S COUNCIL POSTPONED MEETING PROVES THE FIX IS IN ON ‘NO SHOW’ … PLUS, THE PLANET’S STREET SPIES ARE TALKING ABOUT … ‘SKATEBOARDERS’ AND IT AIN’T PRETTY

By DAN VALENTI FIRST ADD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 BUDGET BUZZARDS RUBBER STAMP JIMMY’S WISH LIST, 7-3 The city council’s 7-3 approval of the nearly $130 million budget submitted by Mayor Jimmy Ruberto marks another round of business as usual. Three councilors voted for THE PEOPLE of Pittsfield. Melissa Mazzeo, Mike Ward, and Christine Yon […]

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JACOB’s PILLOW TURNS 79 in ‘TRIUMPHANT’ OPENING, PLUS … COLONIALS DECLAW NEWARK BEARS ON ROAD, 5-3; PARONTO WINS THIRD STRAIGHT

JACOB’S PILLOW OPENS 70th SEASON WITH RAIN AND SPARKLE By JERRI CHAPLIN PLANET VALENTI Arts (BECKETT, Mass., June 29, 2011) — Rain dampened the new outdoor stage but couldn’t wash out the triumphant opening of the 79th season of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and honored guests marked the opening of the […]

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THE PLANET PRESENTS, “THE PERFECT SUMMER VACATION,” plus, A REVIEW OF “THE TREE OF LIFE,” TERRENCE MALICK’S BRILLIANT, KUBRICK-ESQUE EXAMINATION OF SUFFERING, THE HUMAN CONDITION

By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, June 28, 2011) — Looking for the perfect summer vacation? The Planet knows what it looks like. We articulate herein, from the pen of our “Family” correspondent, Felix Carroll. Then, we present a review of the most “visual” and poetic motion picture The Planet has seen since Stanley Kubrick’s […]

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FOUR SCHOOL DEPARTMENT ‘SCANDALS’ HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON: THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FAILURE AND NO CONSEQUENCES FOR MISTAKES

By DAN VALENTI Four recent developments concerning the Pittsfield school department have cost the city’s taxpayers almost $6 million. They are: * The grand theft of $10,000 from a locked teacher’s desk, the caper known as PromGate. * $1 million dollars in raises for teachers as a result of the new contract between them and […]

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THE MEMORY OF WATER FORGETS ITS WAY, LOSING ACTORS AND AUDIENCE IN A FUNERAL OF WORDS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI Arts (LENOX, Monday, June 27, 2011) — An ensemble “relationship” play with a funeral, family dysfunction, and a ghost surely has the ingredients of a winner — especially in the hands of an ensemble without any weak links in the chain. So what’s missing in Shakespeare and Company’s production of The […]

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‘NO GO’ on ‘NO SHOW’ IS ONLY CORRECT VOTE BY GUV’S COUNCIL, plus, C’s SPLIT IN WORCESTER BUT BLOW CHANCE TO SWEEP, & TEACHERS AGREE TO CONTRACT; TAXPAYERS TO PAY MORE THAN $1 MILLION MORE TO THOSE WHO ARE NOW MAKING $80K A YEAR FOR WORKING HALF A YEAR

By DAN VALENTI There’s Only One Right Call on the No Show Vote: “Rejected.” (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Saturday, June 25, 2011) — It’s No Go on No Show. That’s the verdict 99% of the 12 of 14 Pittsfield wards Chris “No Show” Speranzo represents, and 98% of everyone else. The other 1 and 2% consists […]

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VOTE ON ‘NO SHOW’ SPERANZO A LITMUS TEST FOR ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ — DO WE HAVE A CHANCE, OR DOES CORRUPTION AND POISONED POLITICS WIN AGAIN?

By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE & STATEHOUSE, BOSTON, Friday June 24, 2011) — Rejected. That’s the only possible answer for the Governor’s Council regarding the nomination of State Rep. Chris “No Show” Speranzo to the lifetime appointment to a $110,000 a year-plus-benefits, no-show job as clerk magistrate of Central Berkshire District Court. No Show, the […]

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C’s Drop Rain-Shortened Game to Capitales, 8-2; Second Game falls to the Rain … Double header on tap tomorrow at Worcester

By JOSH CUTLER PLANET VALENTI Sports (PITTSFIELD, Friday, June 24, 2011) — Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.” This old melody is what the Pittsfield Colonials players and staff were singing to themselves as they attempted to play a doubleheader on a soggy and gloomy Thursday morning at Wahconah Park. While conditions prevented […]

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BUSSES ARE NEXT IN THE PLANET’S SIGHTS … meanwhile …!!PLANET EXCLUSIVE!! PART 2 IN OUR SERIES OF THE FRAUD BEING COMMITTED IN PUBLIC EDUCATION … TODAY, THE SCAM THAT IS “SPECIAL ED”

By DAN VALENTI FIRST ADD 1, JUNE 25, 2011 — Part three of our school department expose shall focus on the phony bus purchase deal. We will say for the moment that “APPROVAL OF BUS BID” was agenda item VI-a from the June 22 meeting. Naturally, wanting to work from the facts, we went to […]

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!!EXCLUSIVE!! THE SCAM IS REVEALED: THE PLANET DISSECTS THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGET USING THE DEPARTMENTS OWN FIGURES … plus, Big Base-Running Blunder Ends Colonials’ Win Streak at 7

By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Wednesday, June 22, 2011) — It’s getting to crunch time with the municipal budgets, plural, and THE PLANET can predict another disaster for bedraggled taxpayers. Mayor Jimmy Ruberto’s fattened-calf spending plan will escape with nary a scratch after the council’s pathetic gumming of the document. The taxpayers needed councilors […]

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BSC ROLLS THE BONES ON ‘GUYS AND DOLLS’ AND COMES UP WITH A WINNER; Company Rolls ‘7s, 11s’ in Cant-Miss Musical

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI Arts (PITTSFIELD, JUNE 21, 2011) — Certain words were invented to describe sounds for which no other words exist: a dog’s “bark” or the wind’s “whoosh.” This critic won’t bore you with the long, literary “O” word that refers to this phenomenon, but we will share that certain names conjugate […]

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COLONIALS RUN WIN SKEIN TO SIX, TOPPING LEAGUE-LEADING QUEBEC, 7-4, at BWP; PARONTO SHARP IN 7.2-INNING OUTING

EDITOR’s NOTE: For the past three days, we have been experiencing problems with our remote server. THE PLANET’s webmaster has been addressing the issue all day today, and it appears the geeks have worked out the bugs. We apologize to the readers of the site for any inconvenience this has caused. We hope the fix […]

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PITTSFIELD DESERVES A FOR VOICE AT THE PCB TABLE; CANDIDATES, DECLARE YOUR POSITIONS … plus, COLONIALS REFUTE BORING BROADSHEET’S CAMPAIGN OF INNUENDO, PLEDGING TO REMAIN FOR THE 2011 SEASON

By DAN VALENTI FIRST ADD There’s Still Time for Justice on the Industrial Toxins that Still Remain in Pittsfield; Re-open the Consent Agreement. NOW! (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, JUNE 17, 2011, THE DAY AFTER BLOOM’S DAY) — THE PLANET would love to know who out there can tell us what Bloom’s Day is and to whom […]

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BOSTON BRUINS SEND HUB TO CUP HEAVEN CRUSHING VANCOUVER, 4-0; THOMAS IS LIGHTS OUT IN NET

By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, June 16, 2011 ) — We got rid of our TV on Sept. 1, 2008 and haven’t looked back whatsoever. The cliches proved true: Mr. and Mrs. Planet suddenly found a whole lot more time built into the evenings of our days. She designed and installed a sewing room/art […]

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OFF FIELD, COLONIALS CALL PRESS CONFERENCE FOR TOMORROW AT BWP TO ADDRESS HATCHET JOB BY BB; ON FIELD, C’s SPLIT IN NJ … PARONTO THROWS CG SHUTOUT IN OPENER

By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, JUNE 16, 2011) — This just in. The Pittsfield Colonials will conduct a press conference today at 3 p.m. at Beloved Wahconah Park (BWP) to address the future of the franchise. This comes in light of a hatchet job a couple days ago in the Boring Broadsheet. Hint: The […]

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