Archive | May, 2014
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TIME ONCE AGAIN TO ‘OUT’ SCHOOL BUDGET FAKERY

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary Fourth in a Four-Part PLANET Exclusive Literary Autopsy on Pittsfield’s FY15 Municipal Budget (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, MAY 30 to JUNE 1, 2014) — THE PLANET could spend from now till financial Doomsday (coming soon to Pittsfield) writing prose poems about the vagaries of the FY15 […]

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YOU WANT BUDGET? THE PLANET’S GOT BUDGET

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014) — Want budget? We got budget. “Budget” here on THE PLANET means something far different than it does for the mayor and his stooges. “Budget”  also means something else than what The Boring Broadsheet and other commercial media in the […]

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A CLOSER LOOK AT THE EMPTY SUIT’S FY15 BUDGET REVEALS A FISCAL SUICIDE NOTE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary Part 2 of THE PLANET‘s Exclusive Four-Part Series on Pittsfield’s FY15 Budget Proposal (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2014) — At the recent Memorial Day tribute, Pittsfield Mayor Dan Bianchi said the following: “Memorial Day should be a reflective day for all Americans. I am honored to […]

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TIME TO START TRUTHIN’ ABOUT THE EMPTY SUIT’S DISASTROUS FY15 BUDGET … COUNCIL MUST BE CALLED UPON TO DO THE RIGHT THING FOR TAXPAYERS … FOLKS, IT’S IN YOUR HANDS! GRAB IT!!

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary First in a Four-Part Series on the Proposed FY15 Pittsfield Municipal Budget (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014) — Under Mayor Dan Bianchi, more popularly known as The Empty Suit (TES) thanks to our recent coverage both here at this website and on the telly, Pittsfield has […]

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MEMORIAL DAY PLAYS OUT AGAINST ‘THE SEETHING HELL AND THE BLACK, INFERNAL BACKGROUND,’ BUT ALWAYS, THE HOPE FOR PEACE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MEMORIAL DAY, 2014) — THE PLANET immensely enjoys one of the year’s great, sweet, unpretentious treats: the Stockbridge Memorial Day Parade. Now this is what a hometown parade should be: Simple, eye-to-eye, breathable, and full of more warmth, good will, charm, and innocence than a Norman Rockwell painting […]

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PLANET’S NEW TV SHOW DEFINING ITSELF AND REDEFINING THE EDGE IN THE TRUTHS ‘THE SUITS’ WANT TO KEEP HIDDEN FROM YOU, ‘THE LITTLE GUY’

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND EDITION, MAY 23-25, 2014) — Having started a radio talk show from scratch; having given birth this journalistic website from oblivion to this, its 970th edition; and now having created a nascent television show, THE PLANET knew from the start that […]

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PLANET DECIPHERS THE TRUE MEANING BEHIND THE BB STORY: ‘STATE APPROVES $9.7 MILLION GRANT FOR PITTSFIELD LIFE SCIENCES CENTER’ … UH, WE HATE TO SAY THIS, BUT TAXPAYERS, YOU JUST GOT WHACKED AGAIN

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014) — First off, see you at 7 p.m. tonight on Planet Valenti Television — PV-TV. Our call-in number for Episode 3 is 445-4234. As the show evolves, we have to figure out if we want to continue with call-ins. Actually, […]

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24 HOURS, TWO STORIES, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PLANET AND ‘THE BORING BROADSHEET’

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014) — During the most recent 24 hours, you have seen why the newspaper formerly known as The Berkshire Eagle is now The Boring Broadsheet and why THE PLANET is THE PLANET. We kick butt. They kick the can down the […]

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MONTEROSSO RESIGNATION ENDS ANOTHER PERSONNEL DISASTER BY BIANCHI … TALE ILLUSTRATES THE PRICE A COMMUNITY PAYS WHEN IT ESCHEWS COMPETENCE IN FAVOR OF POLITICAL HACKS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2014) — The resignation of William Monterosso as executive director of Berkshire Works — first reported by THE PLANET, who was also the first to bring the spotlight on the situation in the first place — ends one phase of a […]

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!!BULLETIN!! MONTEROSSO RESIGNS!! … MEDFORD BUSINESSWOMAN’s ALLEGATIONS OF MAYOR’S “CRIMINAL … RACIST” BEHAVIOR COULD SPELL THE END FOR PITTSFIELD LEADER IF HRC UPHOLD CHARGES

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary ——- 000 ——- BULLETIN: THE PLANET received word this afternoon of the resignation of William Monterosso, Berkshire Works executive director. The decision was made following a meeting between John DeAngelo and BW employee Dan Collins, who had filed charges against Monterosso. We shall be following this story, […]

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‘COMMUNITY CONNECTION’ GRANT — A HUNDRED GRAND OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS — HAS ONLY ONE TRUE PURPOSE: TO MAKE ‘TES’ LOOK LIKE HE’S DOING SOMETHING ABOUT A PROBLEM THAT HE HAS LET GET TOTALLY OUT CONTROL

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary ——————- WATCH EPISODE 2 of PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION — PV-TV, now loaded at pittsfieldcommunitytv.org (go to “Show Search” and type in “Planet Valenti Television” to access the show). It’s also available on YouTube and Google. Seach “Planet Valenti TV.” Re-broadcasts on Friday, 5-16 at 11:30 a.m., 3 […]

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PV-TV: EPISODE 2, LIVE, TONIGHT AT 7 P.M. … TES (THE EMPTY SUIT) & ‘THE SUITS’ THINK BY PLAYING THE FOUR-CORNERS OFFENSE, THE MONTEROSSO-BW STORY WILL GO AWAY … AS ‘DARLENE’ SAYS, ‘NOT A CHANCE’ of THAT HAPPENING

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary ADD 1 THURSDAY May 15, 2014 — Just a reminder, not for the faint or feint of heart, but Episode 2 of Planet Valenti Television: PV-TV Starring Dan Valenti airs tonight, live, beginning at 7 p.m. and going for the hour on Access Pittsfield, Channel 16. THE […]

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THE BB LETS GO TWO REPORTERS, CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS, AND AD SALESPERSONS AS ‘DOWNSIZING’ CONTINUES … plus … PLANET ASKS QUESTIONS INVOLVING WHAT MAY BE SOME TOXICITY INVOLVING CITY PERSONNEL … AS ALWAYS, THE BUCK STOPS WITH THE MAYOR, BUT HE’S NOT TALKING

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014) — There’s so much “stuff” flying off the fan’s spinning blades and so little time in which to cover it that we must not only pick and choose what good stories to mention and what juicy ones to leave out, […]

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THE EMPTY SUIT SURE CAN PICK ‘EM: THE NAG HE BET THE HOUSE ON PULLS OUT OF THE RACE, BUT BIANCHI CAN’T ADMIT HE BLEW IT WITH MISTER MURACA AND NUCLEA

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014) — Dan Bianchi — a.k.a. The Empty Suit, a.k.a. TES — sure knows how to pick ’em. If he went to Saratoga in August, which nag do you think he’s pick from the following field: Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Secretariat, Man […]

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‘PV-TV’ OFF TO A ROARING START … SCHOOL BUDGET: A ‘BOOK’ BUT NO ‘BUDGET … JIV PROVIDES ‘INFORMATION,’ NOT ‘DATA’ … Hmmmm, COULD THIS BE AN EFFORT IN OPAQUE GOVERNMENT?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, MAY 9-11, 2014) — First, allow us a few brief comments on the inaugural edition of PLANET VALENTI TV. We had fun. Yes, some spots were ragged around the edges and we had some of the usual first-show technical issues, but nothing […]

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PV-TV — PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION — DEBUTS TONIGHT AT 7 P.M. ON CHANNEL 16 … PLANET’s SPECIAL GUEST: THE EMPTY SUIT!! … plus … CLAIRMONT SHOULD HAVE LEFT BAD ENOUGH ALONE; INSTEAD, HE CHASED CRITICISM

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2014) — Boys and girls, be sure to tune into PCTV’s  Access Pittsfield, tonight beginning at 7 p.m., for one of the most unusual hours of local TV you’ve seen in a while — or perhaps have ever seen. Tonight, we […]

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