YON CONFIRMS PLANET REPORT OF RESIGNATION … PLANET IN UPPER 1 PERCENTILE OF WORLDWIDE WEBSITES (or WHY WE RULE PITTSFIELD) … DONUT WARS MAY DEMOLISH HISTORICAL PLUNKETT SCHOOL … THE STOOLEY ON GREEN … plus … DEBT, THE SILENT KILLER
By DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary
YON CONFIRMS PLANET’S REPORT OF RESIGNATION
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012) — We had it before anyone else did. Greg Yon is out as maintenance head.
In a terse statement last night, acting director of maintenance for the city of Pittsfield, Yon, confirmed his resignation from the post.
“Because of personal and professional reasons, I tendered my resignation to Mayor Bianchi today (Monday, March 5). My last day of service to the City of Pittsfield will be March 16, 2012.”
THE PLANET broke the news first yesterday. This means another key player has resigned (with the superintendent of schools on the way out). As we said yesterday, this will be Bianchi’s opportunity to reshape government in his own image and according to his own philosophy … or not.
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THE PLANET: IN THE UPPER CRUST OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB
According to Alexa Traffic Rankings, as of the end of last year, there were 366,848,493 websites in the world. According to Alexa three-month tracking for the final quarter of 2011, THE PLANET ranked 2,397,097 of all of those sites.
That put is in the upper one percentile of all worldwide web sites. Expressed as a number, as of Dec. 31, 2011, THE PLANET ranked in ratings ahead of 99.346% of every other website in the world. The reporting period, includes Dec. 8, 2011, when a hit-and-run driver smashed into a pedestrian then, according to police, took off and left him for dead. You may have heard about the case.
Since that time, of course, that story and others (St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, PEDA, Pittsfield superintendent search, for example) have only strengthened our ratings. As we continue to rise, other media remain stagnant of continue to decline. Plus, we are making the mainstream media in Pittsfield nervous and potential advertisers worried, since we do not take ads.
BB Makes Lame Attempt to Purchase THE PLANET
Today, believe it or not, a senior member of the Boring Broadsheet approached THE PLANET making jesting inquiries into buying our site! As Freud said, there’s no such thing as a joke. We did not agree that this information was proprietary, and thus — in our tradition of transparency and openness — you now know about it.
We told our good friend from the BB that the starting price was $1 million (not a jest, and not to be confused with our asking price). In other words, we have no desire at this point in selling, let alone sell out, to anybody.
We will note is passing this related item. MediaNews Group, the newspaper chain that used to own the Boring Broadsheet, is now in the control of John Paton, CEO of the Journal Register Company.
According to the New York Times, Paton’s MO consists of “outsourcing most operations other than sales and editorial, focusing on the cost side that might include further layoffs, stressing digital sales over print sales with incentives, and using relationships with the community to provide some of the content in their newspapers.”
What this means for the BB remains to be seen, but the scuttlebutt is that whole departments will be deep-sixed. You can imagine what the morale is like there.
Since Paton took over, the Journal Register has doubled online traffic and reduced the chains staff by 16.5 percent. From Media Jobs Daily: “Now it looks like the same tactics might be coming to MediaNews.” He will begin slashing costs, for sure, pushing the digital business model. If the physical newspaper formerly known as the Berkshire Eagle exists a year from today, it will be considered a miracle.
Paton’s incentive for shuttering the BB is that in doing so, he will have to make less painful cuts at his other acquired properties, such flagship papers as those in the San Francisco Bay area. One analyst said a newspaper of the BB’s size could be published online with only a “tiny fraction” of the staff it takes to produce a physical newspaper. BBers, get those resumes ready.
John Paton, Newspapers’ Leading Expert in Transition to Online, May be Eyeing Us
Paton is considered in the newspaper business as one of the top experts in handling to painful transition from print to the web. Paton takes over as boss of all of MediaNews holdings, including most of the daily circulation in California. Industry analysts expect Paton will have no interest in retaining an aging dinosaur such as the BB.
The BB has gone from the emergency room to the ICU. Paton’s interest in the online sector, combined with the inefficacious and unprofitable online operation of the BB, may explain the sudden interest in THE PLANET. He would do better investing in this brand name than that of the BB, which, locally, cannot be mentioned in public without derision and scorn.
Paton, a brilliant businessman, obviously has examined Pittsfield because of his saggy holding in the BB. He has no doubt become aware of this website and its skyrocketing growth.
Paton may be sending feelers out. We will take his call, Marge.
Stay tuned.
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OWNERS LOOKING TO DEMOLISH HISTORICAL BUILDING FOR A LARGER DONUT SHOP … JUST WHAT PITTSFIELD NEEDS, A BIGGER DONUT JOINT
We’ll spare you the long gray list of historical buildings and architectural gems the city of Pittsfield, in its blindness, has torn down since the late 1960s. We would start with all of old West Street near city center, including the train station. Guess what. It may be happening again, but this time, the city can stand as a guardian for a historical structure in a way it didn’t for the Palace Theater on North Street.
The culprit this time is Cafua Management, an outfit that owns the grand old Plunkett School Building. Behind the folly is money, of course, and those fat-saturated grease cakes known the world over as donuts.
“… they paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Now the old Plunkett School at Fenn and First is not Paradise, but it’s a handsome brick structure that would be tragic to take down. The historical commission stepped up to the plate on behalf of Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, slapping Plunkett with a “historically significant” label. That throws a monkey wrench into the owner’s plans to tear the building down so Dunkin Donuts on First Street can get larger and avoid the eternal controversy of cars clogging First Street for their owners’ morning fixes.
Donut Wars: Let the Deep Fryer Will Out
The intrigue deepens when you learn that the current Dunkin Donuts property is owned by a person who owns a Donut Man franchise. According to a story in The Pittsfield Gazette, This person wants to boot Dunkin and install a Donut Man. Not since Mr. Goodwrench gave the Shell Answer Man a jump start has a local market civil war seemed as appetizing. THE PLANET suggests that the Dunkin Man and the Donut Man duke it out in the deep fryers on high. Let taste rule!
Anyway, the action of the historical commission puts a temporary stay on the wrecking ball (NOTE: a listing for the historical commission shows the following names — Jean Nudd, Heather Williamson, Joe Guertin, Martha Fickling, Will Garrison, Kathleen Reilly, and Rebecca Smith; only Fickling [appointed June 14, 2011, expires July 1, 2014] is current, according to the city website … all the other members had terms that expired on Sept. 11, 2007. Are they still on the board or not? This is another example of how infuriating the city web site can be).
The action of the historical commission throws the ball in Cafua’s court. They must file a demolition review application with the community development board (Alf Barbalunga, Sheil Irvin, Remo Delgallo, Judy Katz, Floriana Fitzgerald, and Lou Costi, associate member). As best as we understand, Cafua’s application to the community development board is due by the end of this month.
The community development board will review the information and make a decision, up or down. If the board disallow’s the historical commission’s objection, demolition can begin immediately. If it upholds the historical commission, a six-month moritorium on the razing takes effect, pending further review.
THE PLANET, in the strongest terms possible, urges our good friends on the community development board to protect an important part of the city’s heritage.
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Penultimately, we present this delightful piece by THE STOOLEY. In it, the STOOLEY shares a recent experience he had in a local supermarket. We find it instructive:
BAG IT, LITTLE DARLING. WE WERE GREEN BFORE GREEN WAS BLUE
By THE STOOLEY
Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” the clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”
She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then?
After some reflection and soul-searching on “our” day, here’s what I remembered we did have ….
- Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.
- Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day.
- Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the country of Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
- Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then.We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.
- Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we older folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then? Please post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can read it.
THE PLANET thanks THE STOOLEY for this piece.
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DEBT, THE WAY OF LIFE THAT WILL DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE
Once upon a time, the world could handle money. Today, it handles debt. Internationally, nationally, regionally, statewide, locally, and individually, the industrial west went nuts, spending money it did not have to manufacture and buy items it did not need.
Infusions of cash from central banks may postpone the inevitable economic China Syndrome for a while, but sooner or later, the world will be in for a fiscal day of reckoning.
We leave you with this item for thought:
The major industrialized nations of the world must roll over trillions upon trillions of dollars in debt during 2012. At a time when credit is becoming much tighter, this is going to be quite a challenge. The following list compiled by Bloomberg shows the amount of debt that some large nations must roll over in 2012….
Japan: 3,000 billion
U.S.: 2,783 billion
Italy: 428 billion
France: 367 billion
Germany: 285 billion
Canada: 221 billion
Brazil: 169 billion
U.K.: 165 billion
China: 121 billion
India: 57 billion
Russia: 13 billion
Keep in mind that those numbers do not include any new borrowing. Those are just old debts that must be refinanced.
It’s over. Raise the white flag. It’s over.
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COMING TOMORROW: WHAT’S GOING ON AT GREYLOCK FEDERAL CRRDIT UNION? PLUS, MORE INTRIGUE IN THE NILAN-MOORE CASE. WE LEAVE YOU WITH A CIPHER. NO ONE TO DATE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CRACK OUR SKULL BUSTERS:
SNUFFY WUFFIT, DE BREENA BOMB, TO DOFF A LOFFIT ‘A GLINNY BRON // DIN ARROWROOT TA LUFFA DOAN, AL LAFFA GINT DER MISANTHRONE.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
Quiet day on the board here DV….I think we’re all waiting on the big update on the Nilan fiasco!
We will likely have something tomorrow. Made several calls and inquiries today to track down certain info.
Posted today to ‘Digital First’ — Journal Register CEO John Paton’s Dialogue With Employees And The Public On How Newspaper Companies Can Adapt and Thrive.
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Hi, John Paton!
Pal, you have your work cut out for you in re The Berkshire Eagle.
The problem at The Eagle is that The Eagle editors don’t “cover” the news so much as “cover for” the news.
I don’t need to tell you the number of news stories The Eagle has failed to report in recent years because were the facts of those stories ever reported, such revelations would intrude and impinge upon the political power structure in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Berkshire County, the Berkshire Eagle’s circulation area.
The Eagle’s covering-up of bona-fide news stories has gotten so bad in recent months that the newspaper recently lost/let go one of its more enterprising reporters who, of course, immediately was hired by the competing Springfield-Republican.
Now this journalist reports the news The Eagle was refusing before to print, only now The Eagle plays catch-up the next day (or the following week) and reports that which its former reporter is now writing about in The Republican.
Pretty ludicrous, eh?
The Eagle’s circulation is dismal and declining because readers no longer trust The Eagle. Eagle Management in the Internet Age is failing to grapple with the power of the Net to spread local news.
In the Berkshires, news stories ‘break’ on venues such as Topix and in local blogs sometimes WEEKS before The Eagle finally gets around to reporting on the same subjects, only by then most everyone is already aware of what had happened from reading Topix and those local blogs.
Worse, Topix and those local blogs are now in the habit of ‘scooping’ The Eagle almost DAILY!
I wish you well Mr. Paton in getting The Eagle back on its reportorial feet.
You need to get The Eagle’s editors back in the habit of accurately and honestly reporting the news and out of that nasty habit of thinking first about protecting the local political power structure around which so many of those unreported news stories revolve.
Best regards,
Glenn M. Heller
Berkshire Blog
SEE:
http://jxpaton.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/meet-the-newest-members-of-the-idealab/#comment-3151
GLEN
Mr. Paton no doubt knows of the situation here locally, but getting it straight can only help him as he decides what to do with the BB.
Dan,
I agree that the Berkshire Eagle is a pitiful newspaper, but isn’t it possible it’s loss of credibility was due to mismanagement from remote owners? Given what the paper do for us, I worry that it’s loss is our loss too. Perhaps, tossing it to the side is the only option for building a fresh press, but remember that a press is the voice for the select group that purchases it, which follows the right of free speech.
Who is going to start or build the next one? One would hope existing papers would step forward, but, The Gazette, for all of its virtues, reads like a one man show and doesn’t show any indication of expansion.
{Your editor ate a key word}
Second sentence should read: “Given what the paper [BE] could do for us….”
LEV
Possible? Yes, anything’s possible until proven otherwise. Probable? As a causative factor of why the paper has sunk so low and is so embarrassingly bad, remote ownership has something to do with it, surely, especially that given the rapacious nature of the MediaNews Group’s (now collapsed) “empire.” The chain bought the BB at a fire sale price, fired everyone, had them reapply for a job, slashed salaries, and — gradually — began not to care about quality or their role to and responsibility in the community as The Fourth Estate (a role THE PLANET takes seriously). They took every cent out of Pittsfield they could for too many years. MNG did this with most of its properties. It went into receivership. With all this being said, you still had the makings of a decent staff. It was the mismanagement LOCALLY that ran the reputation of the once-vaunted Eagle into the ground. No self-respecting editor would stomach the “roll over and play dead” act that the local GOBs require. The one editor who did show an independent streak, David Scribner, was canned. Reporters like Jack Dew, Conor Berry, and many before them left with their dignity intact. On many stories, a Real Editor would have told the GOB to go f*** themselves, roll up his sleeves, and begin to uncover the layers of slime that corruption has spread over far too many areas and institutions in the city. Thanks for your thoughtful question, LEV.
Glenn forgot about the editorials that continually appear in the BB that insult and minimise anyone who doesn’t fully believe in the radical left agenda and the man-god BHO.
@ Still Wondering-
Well said friend, well said. And that’s not a slam @ Glenn, just a great point.
@DV-
As you are aware, I’ve been here since the beginning, great stuff as always.
However, the stooley piece is an email that’s circulated for years. I see you said you haven’t seen it before. Ok, fine. Perhaps it never came your way. But it seems that with the fine reporting here, you wouldn’t run it without checking it out.
I feel for the BB employees. But the paper sucks. It will likely get worse.
Bass (both of them), Chartock, etc are shills, they have no real credit. You may recall my back and forth with C Berry. I will leave him out of it.
The BB does run one good column, Gene Chauge is spot on.
JS
The STOOLEY piece was so new to so many people that two of our readers, reading it for the first time, lifted it from our site and posted it on their FB pages. There was nothing to check out, and thus it has nothing to do with our reporting here.
I hadn’t seen it before. I liked it. THanks for posting
@ DV –
Fair enough. I take you for an honest man.
Thank you, JS. I am.
See the fat vulgar bastard was given the slip at WBEC, maybe the WBRK braintrust will do the same?
Tito, can you expand and explain that a bit more?
@ tito-
Its called free speech. Deal with it. The left says much worse. I’ve been a listener for many years of 1420. No more.
I plan to contact their advertisers as well, not that they will care.
103.1 FM and 810 AM will be the stations of choice. We, (myself and many others) will monitor 1420 to see who advertises with them after their rejection of free speech. Those who support the Rush ban will receive none of our money. Rush said nothing worse than what the left spouts on a day to day basis. This cancellation is nothing but PC bullshit.
I agree. It’s a matter of free speech. It cuts both ways.
Respectfully disagree Dan. I can listen to a guy like O’Reilly who at least makes his argument in a non mean spirited way, but Rush is just vulgar and nasty. So I say good riddance big man.
DV–
I’m surprised at you for printing Stooley’s “green thing” piece. Great sentiment, but this is one of those eternal emails that’s been circulating forever. Note the very un-Berkshire reference to “pop,” a midwestern-ism for bottled soft drinks.
Oh, and the Berkshire Eagle is an insult to trees. I hope it dies soon.
It looks like it actually might. Oh happy day.
BEP
Until THE STOOLEY sent it to me, I hadn’t read it before. I enjoyed it and figured others would to.
Great line about “insult to trees.”
Speaking of items that have been on FB for a while, here is an excellent take on our budget woes. Yes, I’m sure many PV readers have seen this already.
Here are the current budget figures for the US:
U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 ($2.17 Trillion)
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000 ($3.82 Trillion)
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000 ($1.65 Trillion)
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000 ($14.27 Trillion)
April 2011 budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 ($38.5 Billion)
Budget figures involving “TRILLIONS” can be difficult to grasp. So let’s remove 8 zeros (i.e., divide all the figures by 100 million) and pretend this is a household budget:
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Budget cuts: $385
Put this way, the budget cuts that politicians high-five themselves for don’t amount to squat. We are screwed. Deeply. A household with numbers like this would have no choice but to declare chapter 7 bankruptcy. So too will the United States of America.
Well said, BEP: We The People have been, are being, and will be screwed.
All you need to do is read todays editorial.They applaud WBEC hasty overeaction to the Rush hoopla.Also calls WBEC programs propaganda.Apperantly they have not read there own newspaper or listened to NPR, that is true propaganda.
So Joe If Rush called your daughter a slut you wouldn’t have a problem with it? Its because of listeners like you that Rush is a multi Millionare Oxy abuser.
He is no different than the Dem. pundits Bill Muar and others who said all kinds of nasty things about Sarah Palin.Atleast Rush made a apology.
You call that a apology?
What else would you call it. Rush apologized but he didn’t back down. Big difference.
We shall bring this point up tomorrow.
Disagree wholeheartedly that Limbaugh and Maher are anywhere close to “the same.” Maher once had a real show on a real network, he lost it, very quickly, after he made stupid statements about 9-11. He’s now on Showtime or HBO, can’t remember which… his audience and influence is minimal compared to Limbaugh.
Maher has a few hundred thousand viewers at best… Limbaugh is heard by over 10 million people daily. When a Republican runs for office nationally, if they offend Limbaugh, forget being elected. If a Democrat disagrees with Bill Maher, it’s not even a blip on the electoral map. No one cares.
David Letterman once joked about Sarah Palin’s daughter being impregnated by Alex Rodriguez, and he was widely criticized and had to issue apologies (real ones, unlike the one Rush issued).
Rush said something that was just plain stupid, and he allowed his “I am untouchable” mentality to cloud his judgment. If he had simply criticized Fluke for her opinions and addressed the issue, and not made it personal, no one would care.
Sorry must disagree,Mr. Maher said much worst things about Sarah Palin.Yes the mainstream media will cover-up for Libs. like Maher.Also Mr Obama went on a rant about Rush, today using it as a political statement.But he has no problem taking 1 million dollars from Maher for his super pac.The same Mr.Maher who has said some pretty vile thinks I his show.Obama’s a phoney,it is freedom of speech you don’t have to listen to it and WBEC doesn’t have to censor it.
you are correct and her daughter as well but two wrongs don’t make a right. There’s a pun in there somewhere…
Never said Rush was right, with his comments.Censorship is not right.
Joe , I usually agree with you but not on this one. It’s not at all censorship. Wbec has the right to not broadcast his vile and hate, that’s their business decision and I applaud it.
HB2W4 I do agree with that,they are a private business and have every right to pull him.Also do not agree with Rush’s comments all the time,but it is his right to express them.He does thousand of hours of radio a year and is bound to put his foot in his mouth.He issued 2 apologies,to a dumb comment on a issue the Dem’s have blown up to take the focus of the many falilures of Mr.Obama.WBEC made a knee jerk reaction,and I have a right not to listen to there station.
Joe, It is , of course, your right not to listen to WBEC. Here is the ultimate question though, as far as I’m concerned,, would the economy and the country as a whole be better or worse of had McCain won? I say worse off. And will the Country be better or worse off should Fmr Governor Romney win, I say worse off. I’m not saying The President has pleased me at every turn, just that he is the best option being presented. Although of all the people that I have heard talk in the Republican race, I liked Huntsman the best, he’s out and Buddy Romer really strikes a cord, he’s got no shot…show me someone else to consider. Romney is a stiff , stuffed suit, who had success in the private sector but that doesn’t always transfer to being a good President…
Mark the Date and Time.!!..Hilly and Steve Wade are on the same page, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Hilly your finally seeing the light! LOL
lmao is right Steve…
Not enough room for me to write all of his programs and proposals I feel has hurt our country.Again respectfully disagree anyone will be better than Obama.I wish Mccain or Hillary were elected.But Obama will get re-elected because I think there are alot of people like yourself that feel the Rep. party does not have a viable candidate.Hope I’m wrong on that one.
Mr. Valenti.
FYI, my comment posted to John Paton’s Blog was subsequently moderated out of existence.
Looks like NOTHING is going to be changing at The Eagle.
GLEN
My guess is the same. Nothing will be changing there, and that is what will permanently stop the presses.
Recommend though that your readers use Paton’s Blog to get messages to him directly, even if the guy deletes them.
Looks like the wheels are falling off the new Mayor’s wagon. First Jake now Yon resigns. From all accounts Yon had turned the maintenance department around to a postive force in the city. Maybe it is time for the Mayor to start paying attention to the working of the city instead of appointing himself to boards that do nothing.
I don’t know a whole lot about the job Yon did, but I do know that his crew (and her, personally) did a fine job with Wahconah Park last season for Colonials II. I would vouch for the guy.
Ruberto appointed Yon, not Bianchi. If you really knew what was going on behind the scenes and what he has done, you would know why Yon resigned. So, don’t throw stones until you know the whole story.
Well, inform us then!
Yes, please elaborate on your knowledge. Stop the speculation you’re so concerned about by explaining the facts you know.
Sorry, I can’t go into details, let’s just say he did some illegal things.
All you Blogg heads Hate The Eagle yet you still read it every day. Why?
They don’t get any of my money .Its like a train wreck you cannot look away.
NIce!!!!
“All you Blogg heads”
I can’t check this site without seeing at least 5 or 6 comments
from you. Almost always reactionary with an insult sprinkled in.
Never an original thought. You are the biggest blockhead on this site.
oops did I spell that wrong
The disparaging reference to “all you BLOGG heads [sic]” is ironic, HC. Your characterizations of his “contributions” to this site are accurate, as well. The term “Blogg heads [sic]” also indicates a reactionary viewpoint such in the last millennia, like he hasn’t realized that online is where news gets reported today. He does keep people coming back to see how he can embarrass himself THIS time. You know: so bad you gotta look. As long as commentators remains harmless and don’t cross the line we have etched in the sand with our sword tip, he can participate. We warn that particular poster, and everyone in general, to be aware of that line. We know it when we see it.
Blah. Blah. Blah
Any doubts about the maturity level of SW?
Gawsh the Boring Broadsheet had sunk lower than the Titanic. Paton has two choices with the Eagle, first invest in it and make it a credible paper that will go after the stories or close it. Hes a ‘cost out’ guy. He doesnt invest in losers. He will though put more money into the stronger of his holdings. All this means the Eagle /BB is doomed. I feel bad for the good people there who will be out on the streets.
I have some good friends there, who hate but need their jobs. Let me clarify. I think they love newspapering but hate the company for whom they’re working. They know they’re on a loser. It can be likened to a team that goes 1-15 in the NFL or loses 100 games in baseball. Each has some good talent other teams would love to have but they know the team they’re on now will waste their talents.
I would think Andy Mick would be writing that letter Heller did. Maybe he has in the past or maybe he does not give a shit either way. But if I were him I would be embarrassed as hell to be in charge of such a disgrace. And that paper is a disgrace in so many ways. I would be wearing a Nixon mask while out in public.
Question: Must you be a Pittsfield resident to serve on a board here in Pittsfield. LOU COSTI lives in Cheshire yet he is on a board. I thinks this is the same LOU Costi ???????
I think that the Lou Costi that was Council person in Pittsfield lived on Unkamet Park drive, off Crane Avenue. Same guy? Did he move?
Many people who live out of town are on Pittsfield boards. At least some, or maybe all have no residency requirement.
Being a Pittsfield resident should be a requirement. If you don’t live in the city, you could care less what happens here, and yet, you have people who do live in Pittsdfield and what to volunteer for a board and they get shot down…does that seem fair? NOT
Well how about the guy who is head of cable commission on Sturgeons’ show today? He let it slip out that he doesn’t even have cable, he has Dish Network! Bill just lets it go, not a peep. I mean he just told a caller who was getting poor reception that he had the Dish and just laughed.
Do you live in the Pittsfield area but still want to listen to Rush?
http://www.wgy.com/main.html
or just download iTunes for Free. They have 1000’s of stations to listen to including AM1340 “The Big Talker” which has Rush in Perfect 100% digital sound.
Yon has done a stellar job as far as I can see, to put him through that ridiculous side show at the Buildings meeting concerning parking around city hall was crazy at best, he will be missed.
Public Comments on Human Service Needs in Pittsfield
Human Service Advisory Council (HSAC)
The City of Pittsfield is seeking comments from the public as to what the human service needs are for Pittsfield residents. Comments can be submitted by email to hsac@pittsfieldch.com or submitted orally or in writing by contacting:
Robert Cornwell
Community Development Specialist
Pittsfield Department of Community Development
70 Allen Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Telephone: (413) 499-9450
TELETYPE: (413) 499-9340
All comments will be taken into consideration by the Pittsfield Human Services Advisory Council and the comments will assist them in determining funding recommendations for human service programs. End date for submission of comments is April 27, 2012.
http://www.pittsfield-ma.org/newsdetail_T1_R199.htm
MAKAN
Thanks for helping us keep our readers informed.
I think it would be helpful if we were more informed on where all people working on the city dime ate lunch, what golf courses they played at and with whom 😉
I subscribed to the electronic version of the Beagle a few months back. I was thinking it would be far cheaper than buying the paper and in tune with the evolving digital media.
My experience so far has been poor. I find the Beagles web site often locks up on both my iPhone and PC. The electronic version is almost impossible to navigate from my iPhone. When I am on my PC on the Beagles site I find the web site user unfriendly and functioning poorly.
Thee is no way I will renew my contract.
Anyone else have similar experience?
The site is notorious for freezing, difficult to navigate, being hard to read, often being out of date, and being s-l-o-w. As bad as the newspaper is, the website is as bad or worse. Mr. Paton has no doubt been taking notes. We also have reason to believe he (or his office) is now monitoring THE PLANET. He’s a guy famous for doing his homework, and he would want to know why a site like this is kicking butt, why the BB site is dead in the water, and what our readers say about the BB. So folks, keep those cards and letters coming.
Nope, works perfect on all devices for me. Dave, what exactly do you get for a paid subscription to a free site?
There is the free version of the Beagle that has only partial content, often late and incomplete. Then there is the actual electronic site that has the entire daily paper formatted as they print it, sections and pages. It is that version that works very poorly.
Go to app store and download the eagle app.
There are many great comments on here daily — hopefully, some of those that post those great comments will copy and paste them to The City since they’re asking. I don’t hold out a lot of hope that our comments will actually be listened to, but if we don’t give any when asked to, we also won’t be asked to again and it will be our own faults.
You would be surprised, or maybe not, to know how much influence just a handful of like-minded people can make.
Lou Costi used to live on Unkament Drive but moved to Lanesboro. If you serve on a committee in the city of Pittsfield that has anything to do with government you must live in the city. If you should be elected to a position in city government and you move out of the city you must resign.
I certainly do not want someone living in another town or city in our county or in this state coming in here and telling us how to run our city. Some of these people that you are claiming are on some committees may be on county committees, not city committees. If they are serving on city committees and do not live in Pittsfield they should be asked to resign immediately.
Thanks JLook DV do you know what committee Lou Costi is on and is this the same one that moved out of Pittsfield???
Look up yesterday’s post: He’s an associate (or alternate) member of the community development board.I’m going from memory here because it’s too late, I just few back into town, and boy my arms are tired.
From http://www.anywho.com:
Louis A. Costi
132 Unkamet Park Drive
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Louis A. Costi
611 Lanesboro Road
Cheshire, MA 01225
LOL – they’re almost as bad as the City of Pittsfield’s website! Looks like he recently move to Cheshire?
Lou Costi may have moved to Cheshire not Lanesboro but still works in the city.
From Pittsfield-ma.org website:http://www.pittsfield-ma.org/images/downloads/Boards%20and%20Commissions%20Roster.pdf
Lou Costi – Assoc. Member, Community Development Board (exp. 6/30/11) *Note: they list some people on these boards as expiring in 1993!!!! For almost TWENTY YEARS someone has been typing these names and exp. dates that have expired!!!!!
*Note #2*: Description says, “up to 5 members”, yet there are 7 names listed. Amazing!
Lou Costi – Cultural Development Board – expires 2/14/07!!
Lou Costi – School Bldg. Needs Commission – exp 5/1/10
And that’s all that is listed for Lou Costi… My level of confidence in its accuracy is nil…
Ruberto had other fish to fry and did not have a lot of time or ambition to make city hall user friendly to the taxpayers.
He put up those goofy pictures of himself welcoming outsiders to the city and called it a day. Personally I use the city gis for business purposes and fund that it is easy to use accurate and helpful.
What a joke. Yestery DV (or day before) listed the board members (historical commission) and all but one had been expires for five years. Taxes keep going up and we still have a city run by buffoons. I’m wearning a Nixon mask because I live in Pittsfield.
there is another Richard on your sight Dan so will sing my hole name Richard Arnold
RICHARD
Thanks. Using your real name gets a round of applause and, at THE PLANET bar and grille, a few pints hoisted in your name.
Rush was basically correct on his assumption of birth control, his words were vulgar is the problem.
Do you actually listen to Rush? Did you hear the full monologue?
I (personally) would rather have my tax dollars spent on a preventative measure such as birth control rather than welfare for women (and teens) who continually get pregnant and abuse the system. Just saying.
exactly!
You really think thats going to work.When the system rewards them for more children they will have more children.Why not just Spade and Neuter.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thedemocracypapers/2009389918_ann_arbor_americas_first_no_ne.html
The Ann Arbor News may be a good model for the BB to follow. News companies understand their demographics, and the BB model does not seem sustainable here. The AAN model still maintains two weekly prints but focuses on other delivery too.
We were not familiar with the Ann Arbor model. Appreciate your sharing.
Lou Costi does now reside in Cheshire. He was reappointed at the February 14th city council meeting, to the Community Development Board…a board he has served on since June of 2009. The same meeting, by the way, that Jeff Ferrin’s appointment was questioned, and tabled.
His resume’ states that he is a “Downtown building owner as well as downtown business owner for 25 years”.
His complete resume’ is available on the city’s website under “City Council”…”Agendas” for the February 14th meeting.
NOMAD
Thanks you helping us keep our readers informed. Great post!