NUCLEA SHMOOKLEA, ONE ARMED ROBBERY DESERVES ANOTHER, THE LOVELY LINDA COMES OUT STRONG, & EXPOSO THE BOZO … plus … THE COMMENT LINE IS OPEN
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, JAN. 15-17, 2016) — As we hit another weekend, THE PLANET, like the Buddah, sheds all worldly attachments. The Buddah did it by contemplation under George Washington’s cherry tree. We do it by (1) taping a guest spot on SCTV’s “For The Record” show this morning with co-hosts Kameron Spaulding and Terry Cowgill of the Berkshire Record and Courier, and (2) disposing of several topical items and itches. Thus …
Nuclea Nukes Pittsfield — THE PLANET warned you about these stiffs the moment we got our first
DEVAL and DEVOUR, aka, Pat Muraca, who from this photo looks as if he devoured everything in sight.
whiff, when Mayor Lockdown fell in love with the empty promises (see THE PLANET, Feb. 26, 2015, “$510,000 TAX BREAK TO NUCLEA BIOTECH RAISES QUESTIONS”).
When Pat “The Elephant Man” Muraca said the word “biotechnology,” Dan Bianchi wet his pants; Muraca moistened his test tubes. PLANET spies tell us that “between 20 and 30 jobs” will be lost.
You’ll recall Muraca bailed out a few months ago to Albany.
Would you buy a used fried chicken dinner from this man?
When Muraca’s hegira to NanoNoNo there was announced six weeks ago, Coreydon Thurston, PEDA’s top cardboard cutout, said the reorganization plan would not affect the Nuclea Playstation and Game Room on Kellogg Street. Right.
Sources tell us the company’s free ride on Kellogg will soon become “tariffed.” The entire Nuclea fiasco proves once again that one litter box isn’t enough for 20 dysenteried cats.
One Armed Robbery Every 5 Days — That’s the frequency, Kenneth, of these PUCW’s (“Poo-choos”) — Pittsfield Unauthorized Cash Withdrawals, aka, armed robberies. Add the number of home and car break-ins, you’re talking multiple PWCHs each day. It’s to the point where city storeowners and merchants — the ones that haven’t yet left — are questioning whether to stay or pull out. For example, Mark Charland of Charland Jewelers in Allendale openly surveyed his Facebook friends asking if they would object to passing security before being allowed to enter the store. Charland said he’s afraid for his employees and his business. Which leads to …
The Mayor’s Response — Yesterday, Linda Tyer came out forcefully in the press, calling the mayhem “unacceptable.” She said officers would be pulled from non-essential duties to work on solving the nine (of 10) unsolved robberies. Tyer also got off strongly in her first visit in council chambers as mayor. She pushed for jobbing out legal services, and the council agreed, 8-3. Donovan and O’Connor will be retained for $8,500 a month on a six-month trial basis. This compares with the salaries and benefits of an incompetent full-time solicitor and a skillful part-time assistant totaling about $150,000 a year. Tyer’s blazing start also included “yes” to THE PLANET’s invitation to grace the set of PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION. Last night we kept it conversational not confrontational, but the fact that the mayor is smart enough to realize that re-election goes through THE PLANET bodes well. Through this website and TV show, we offer saturation local exposure, double entendre and all, hitting nearly 100% of those who pay attention to what’s happening politically — and many who don’t.
Is That All There Is? — Speaking of exposure, the recent vignette at a Tyler Street laundromat is “soooo Pittsfield.” Police say Amana Whirlpool Maytag, 20 (not his real name), smashed a dryer window, reached in, pulled out clothes that weren’t his, then exposed himself. Cops say Maytag left the joint wearing the stolen clothes. This budding Pittsfield genius reminds THE PLANET of a mid-70s quote from Red Sox left fielder Carl Yastrzemski after a streaker pranced across the Fenway pitch. Asked about it after the game, Yaz quipped, “He showed me nothing.” We wonder, though, if young Maytag has invented a novel way of campaigning for a council seat?
With that, THE PLANET opens The Comment Line and wishes you all a happy weekend.
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“I keep a friend serene. Here it comes. Hey baby come on to me. Here it comes. Yes it’s coming along. Come out of the closet baby. You’ll catch your death in the fog. Young girls, they call them the diamond dogs.” — David Bowie, from “Diamond Dogs” and the album of the same name, (1974).
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The views expressed in the comment section or opinions published within the text other than those of PLANET VALENTI are not those of PLANET VALENTI or endorsed in any way by PLANET VALENTI; this website reserves the right to remove any comment which violates its Rules of Conduct, and it is not liable for the consequences of any posted comment as provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and PLANET VALENTI’s terms of service.
Lenox and Lee leaders should be highly commended for their shared corroboration of resources, for efficiency and budget savings. Pittsfield should stop the tunnel vision and start a cost effective program to manage our systems wisely.
First there has to be a will to do these things. Not so sure that is present in Pittsfield. A long history tells us otherwise.
The difference between Visionary Leadership and…..I’m in Charge.
Lenox and Lee leaders are doing the smart thing. Why can’t Pittsfield follow their example?
Actually, the smart thing for Lenox and Lee is to combine in their entirety. Both schools have declining populations and also suck up outsized amounts of their community’s budget.
Lee would probably merge in a minute. They get it and desire to keep a small viable system – which even after combining with Lenox would be one of the smallest in the State.
Lenox thinks they lose here. they have a system with almost zero minority students, even the choice students from Pittsfield are the best and the brightest we have and are most likely all white. they absorb Lee and it’s very large Hispanic student population – and with that all of the ELL students which makes a school lower performing and more expensive to operate.
So while this is an obvious combination – it is just one of many that need to be made. Both of these districts are in danger of collapse. As affluent as Lenox is, like any other community, the demographics are against them. As more and more residents have no kids in the system – it is increasingly difficult to justify the system as it exists.
The communities which are not covered by the BB (well, you could call CF’s cheerleading for Lenox coverage, but it certainly is not news) have many problems and issues. They also have exploding government costs. A modest ranch in Lenox still has a $3500 tax bill – so if that is what you own and you are a retiree who was lucky enough to buy when prices were low and you were young and working – that is also an amount which could force you to make the same choices many of the posters to this site talk about.
2-4-6-8. We don’t want to integrate
Good points Southeast. Lenox taxes are still cheaper than Pittsfield, roads are kept much better, and you can drink the water from the tap.
Many people won’t fly today because of the security at the airports. I sincerely doubt people would agree to a security check to enter a jewelry store. The TSA does indeed have plans to take it to the streets. They want checkpoints on America’s highways. Show your papers, get a backscatter X-ray answer questions as to where you are coming from and where you are going.
Security clearance is already in most federal buildings. Probably coming to a post office near you soon. Facial recognition cameras are being installed everywhere. Yes, it is true, the NSA reads every email you send. Listens to every conversation you make electronically. You are being monitored. The grid is still being put in place. We are fast moving into a police state beyond Orwell’s wildest imagination.
The new Windows 10 os is a very heavy dosage of spyware. Its all even openly admitted by Microsoft. Your purchases, your location at all times is being monitored. Almost every single Android app and the Android os itself monitors your location. This cannot be turned off. Google is the NSA.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
”Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.”
”He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.”
”He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.”
”People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.”
”If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both.”
”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
”He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither.”
Above quotes – Ben Franklin
Give me a break! My wife worked at the NSA 27 yrs while I was working at Ft Meade if you know what I mean. We are watching you zenon.
Your debunking is pathetic Allen.
Yeah,
Shoot the messenger. Put him on a watch/no fly list.
God forbid anyone to post the truth.
Anyone posting in an attempt to wake people up needs to be placed on a terror watch list.
These people must be punished. Along with those politically incorrect and global warming deniers. You must believe what the state tells you to believe.
Right Paul?
I pity the poor fool who has to watch Pittsfeld
The laundromat incident brings to mind when back in 85 a naked man was observed shoplifting in Newberry’s . The police showed up and gave chase as the man made his way into St. joesph’s church the officers were able to catch him by the organ.
What non-essentials duties are police being puled from to help solve the robberies. Or is that just her saying that so it sounds good to the citizen of Pittsfield or is that what the chief of police is doing.
If I had a small business in Pittsfield… the size of a pea, you can reach the parameters in 15 minutes……. and the robberies have occurred between 6 pm and 8pm…. I would station someone in my business armed…..to protect the Clerk. Ready abd Waiting.
absolutely Spa. An armed person guarding the shop would make shoppers safer too.
Share a high school and take a couple.of years to see how it all shakes out here,stock market falling now
The lovely Linda Tyer is facing big problems with Pittsfield politics. She has to present a municipal budget soon. The public schools want millions of dollars in budget increases. The financing of the new Taconic High School will add millions to next fiscal year’s budget. Sabic Plastics move to Houston, Texas, will leave Pittsfield with between 300 to 500 job losses and cause the local tax base to shrink. The Berkshire Mall may have to shutter its doors with the loss of retailers Best Buy and Macy’s. Pittsfield politics makes things worse because they raise taxes, increase their fiscal year budgets, hike spending, and add to their one-half billion dollar opeb and other debts that will never be paid off in our lifetime.
Linda Tyer is part of Jimmy Ruberto’s Good Old Boys’ club that has ran Pittsfield into the proverbial ditch. Pittsfield is in a 4 decade long and counting downward spiral. Jimmy Ruberto said he had a “rolodex”. That was a big whopper! Pittsfield lost thousands of jobs during Jimmy Ruberto’s 8 year tenure as Mayor. Linda Tyer is going to be Ruberto 2.0! Pittsfield will lose thousands more jobs during the lovely Linda Tyer’s new 4 year long term.
Growth indicators in Pittsfield:
* The Underclass (about 70%)!
* Welfare caseloads
* Job loss
* Population loss
* Violent crime, armed robberies, deadly shootings, murders
* Poorly performing, overpriced public schools
* Corrupt, insider, G.O.B. Pittsfield politics
* Municipal tax hikes
* Municipal debts
* A dead and dangerous downtown
* PCBs and cancer patients
* A third-rate daily rag called The Berkshire Eagle
* Useless state and local political hacks
* Voter apathy and little to no citizen participation
* Uncontested or G.O.B. state and local “elections”
* A 4-decade-plus long downward spiral
“Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction”.
– Barrack Obama / State of the Union address 2016
Walmart to close 269 stores in 2016:
http://www.kwch.com/walmart-will-close-269-stores-this-year-affecting-16000-workers/37453468
Is there any reason why nobody believes anything this man or this government says?
Obama just wants to make himself look good. He isn’t interested in facts. He lives in a dream world.
Obama is the worst president ever. His term can’t end fast enough.
Walmart will close 269 stores. I can’t imagine that Pittsfield will be one of them.
We’ve already “met” our quota on store closures.
I re-read Patrick J. Muraca’s published letter from a little over 7 years ago, and I believe he has it right about Pittsfield politics. Maybe the election of Jimmy Ruberto’s crony, the lovely Linda Tyer, was the deciding factor in Nuclea Biotechnologies moving out of Pittsfield. Pat Muraca hit the nail squarely on its head about the recurring problems concerning Pittsfield politics!
– Jonathan Melle, 1/15/2016
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“City leaders fail businesses, residents”
The Berkshire Eagle – Letters, Tuesday, January 6, 2009
As Nuclea Biomarkers prepares for its move to Worcester, I felt obligated to write a letter to the editor to address concerns that I feel beleaguer the city of Pittsfield. I was going to address these concerns in a private letter to our elected officials, but figured enough is done behind closed doors without the knowledge of the citizens of Pittsfield.
Pittsfield is in a recession, along with the rest of the country, but it is hitting Pittsfield harder than most. Over the past three months the city has lost approximately 300 high-paying jobs with certainly more to follow. This includes Sabic, KB and Nuclea. The economic viability of the region is in dire straights and we have not heard how the City Council, community development and the mayor will address this issue.
We have also lost companies that have helped our tax base to other towns and the spin has always been “It’s OK, the company is still in the Berkshires,” (referring to the move of Sinicon Plastics). It is a good thing they are still in the Berkshires but they are not in Pittsfield.
The GE Economic Development fund was set up as part of the consent decree to help fuel new business growth in the city. This money has been used for cultural projects, which I have nothing against, but this money was designated to help existing business growth and to attract new businesses. This money should not have been used to make up shortfalls of the Colonial Theatre and the new North Street Cinema project. The City Council and the administration have seemed to adopt a Republican stance catering to the top 10 percent of the city’s citizens and businesses and have left the rest behind.
Viable companies have been leaving Pittsfield because the administration has not been flexible to their needs and requirements. In the example of Nuclea moving to Worcester, this is truly a political failure for our elected officials. There were 14 high-paying jobs that were lost to this move, most citizens of Pittsfield. There are no jobs in Pittsfield that can replace these high-paying jobs.
Now for the good news. The citizens of Pittsfield have the power to make a difference. These elected officials are your elected officials. The citizens of Pittsfield need to stand up and make themselves heard. With Linda Tyer resigning her seat on the City Council, the citizens of Pittsfield now have the opportunity to elect a city councilor who is not in the back pocket of the mayor.
Here are a few suggestions that citizens should ask of their elected officials. How is the GE economic development money disbursed? Request an audit be performed of the fund with a state level review of its bylaws and requirements. Why have certain deals been approved by the administration after the citizens have clearly disapproved? What are the mayor and City Council doing to protect citizens from violent crime which has increased substantially in the city?
The City Council should be asked to restructure the Community Development Office and replace the director with someone who has experience in the field. Most importantly, ask what the mayor and the City Council’s plan is to address unemployment and how to retain viable companies.
In November, citizens of Pittsfield will have the opportunity to select a new mayor and a new City Council. Opt for change, as the city of Pittsfield needs change to survive. The current administration should be sent a message that the citizens of Pittsfield will not tolerate backroom deals and allow rumors and innuendoes from a few destructive people to sway decisions. Rumors and innuendoes don’t really hurt the people that you are aiming at, but create collateral damage to innocent bystanders.
I hope people respond to this letter and make their views known — whether it is negative or positive you will be engaged in the process and that is what matters the most. Let’s together bring this wonderful city back to its greatness it deserves.
PATRICK J. MURACA
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
The writer is president and CEO, Nuclea Biotechnologies.
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OLD NEWS ARTICLES:
“Nuclea raises $3.4M in equity funding”
By Tony Dobrowolski, Berkshire Eagle Staff, Monday, November 16, 2009
PITTSFIELD — Nuclea Biotechnologies LLC has raised $3.4 million in private equity funding that it will use to fund its diagnostic and clinical laboratories at Clark University in Worcester.
“We needed the money to keep growing the clinical lab,” said Nuclea CEO Patrick J. Muraca, a Pittsfield native and Clark alumnus. “It’s a new vehicle for us, and we want to keep moving the company forward.”
The company, which came to Pittsfield in 2006, changed its name from Nuclea Biomarkers to Nuclea Biotechnologies when it moved most of its operations from Pittsfield to Worcester last year. Nuclea still maintains its computer network in Pittsfield. It received a full laboratory license from the state in June to maintain and operate the diagnostic lab.
Nuclea’s primary focus is in the area of molecular oncology and pathology, but it has the capability of applying that technology to other diseases. The company is also involved with cancer research and Muraca said the private equity funds will also allow the company to expand its relationships with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore.
Private equity is made up of funds from private companies that are not publicly traded. A company such as Nuclea Biotechnologies will take on this private capital in exchange for an investment in the business.
“It’s trading equity in the company for a specific monetary value,” Muraca said.
The $3.4 million in private equity that Nuclea raised represents 18 percent of the company’s value, he said. Muraca said raising private equity is a better way to grow a company than obtaining venture capital because private equity firms allow owners to retain control of their business.
“Private equity firms won’t take control of your company. They’re in it for the long haul,” he said. “They don’t have exit strategies.”
In June, Nuclea Biotechnologies filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating that it had raised $1 million of a planned $3 million round without identifying the investors, according to Mass High Tech, a technology trade publication. Three additional investor groups have come forward since then, including the Private Equity Investors Fund of New York.
Muraca declined to identify the other investors, citing confidentiality agreements. Vieter, who serves on the boards of two drug companies, is now listed as a director of Nuclea Biotechnologies, according to the Web site Mass Device.
Nuclea held a job fair in Pittsfield in July to hire more staff for its diagnostic lab. Muraca said five of the 50 applicants were hired, and that two are employed in Pittsfield and three in Worcester.
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OLD NEWS ARTICLES:
“Triple play for jobs”
By Dick Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff, August 5, 2010
PITTSFIELD — The owner of Nuclea Biotechnologies LLC says he’s making good on a promise to double the firm’s Pittsfield operations and vows to triple it by year’s end.
President and CEO Patrick Muraca on Wednesday officially opened the Nuclea Genomics Center on Elm Street, across from Harry’s Supermarket.
The biotech company raised $2.5 million in private equity funding and converted the former Hillcrest Dental Center office into a 3,500-square-foot laboratory for gene-based analysis in cancer research. Nuclea Biotechnologies identifies genes and proteins associated with diseases, such as cancer, to aid in diagnosis and treatments.
The Nuclea Genomics Center will employ 14 to 16 people — nearly half of them new hires — and they join the 14 employees at Nuclea’s computer operations center on South Street.
“We’ve hired five new people and we’re moving toward eight,” said Muraca at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, where city and state officials gathered to welcome the company.
Mayor James M. Ruberto called the employment prospects new “high-paying jobs with well-skilled employees.”
In addition, Nuclea is looking to lease another building in Pittsfield for a manufacturing facility that would make “monoclonal antibodies,” which are cells that aid cancer research, Muraca said. That facility would boost the company’s payroll another 15 to 20 employees.
Muraca said another $9 million in private investment will fund this manufacturing facility, bringing the total investment financing raised to $17.6 million since the Pittsfield-based company was founded in 2005.
“We had a very nice offer from Worcester, but we decide to go ahead and keep expanding in Pittsfield,” Muraca said. “We’re happy with the direction the city is going, especially the downtown, which is absolutely amazing.”
Muraca’s plans to keep expanding in Pittsfield is a far cry from two years ago, when he moved all of Nuclea’s scientific operations to his alma mater, Clark University, in Worcester. The re-location of 16 jobs back then followed the company’s failed attempt to expand to the William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires.
But the city native said keeping Nuclea’s computer operations in Pittsfield, where the company was founded in 2005, allowed him to keep future local expansion in mind.
Muraca’s Pittsfield workers and state officials are glad he remained committed to the city.
“A lot of us have families who couldn’t leave for Worcester,” said Rachel Rosier of Pittsfield, Nulcea’s vice president of operations and mother of three children. “We’re fortunate [Muraca] kept part of the company here and it’s growing.”
Since 2001, the life sciences field has grown more than 42 percent statewide, according to Peter Abair, the economic development director for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
“This is an important industry for Pittsfield to have a stake in,” Abair said. “We look forward to other ribbon cuttings for businesses like Nuclea.”
State officials also praised the company for participating in a state-sponsored internship program to help increase the local biotechnology workforce.
“We have been partnering with [Nuclea] to develop new life sciences talent in Western Massachusetts,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. “Life Sciences is an industry we can grow state wide.”
The state center is a quasi-public agency charged with implementing the state’s 10-year, $1 billion dollar life sciences initiative.
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July 25, 2009
Re: Ruberto’s realities!
Pittsfield is worse off than ever before. Its local economy is in the tank! Thousands have, are and will die of cancer as a result of the toxic waste PCBs polluting the land & water around the city. Teen pregnancies double the statewide average. Job loss and welfare caseloads are both skyrocketing ever higher. KB Toys liquidated into bankruptcy, GE Plastics sold its business unit to Sabic, which recently laid off 40 employees. Berkshire Health Systems – home of Berkshire Medical Center – laid off 65 employees. North Street businesses like “Spice” failed and there are many vacant storefronts. The Pittsfield Public Schools are ranked in the bottom 10% in the comonwealth for low performance standards on test scores, large numbers of high school drop-outs and high truancy rates. Pittsfield is ran by insider, Good Old Boy Pols like Mayor Jimmy Ruberto, Registrar of Deeds & possibly future would be US Congressman Andrea F Nuciforo II (aka Luciforo), Peter J “Lobbyist” Larkin’s hand picked successor State Representative Chris Speranzo, Berkshire Sheriff Carmen Massimiano II, and others in a close knit group that only represent their own self-interests instead of the greater needs of the community. What I mean is Pittsfield’s ruling elite’s focus is: “You are either in our you are out!” If you don’t fall in line with our political agenda, you don’t have a voice in city and state government. That leaves a great majority of residents without a voice in their community that poisons their bodies with toxic waste, gives them poorly performing substandard public schools, and business and residents leaving town in huge numbers! All the praise for Mayor Jimmy Ruberto is pure propaganda by the insiders who are benefiting from his tenure in political office. The rest of us are silenced and relegated to Blog postings.
In Truth!
Jonathan Melle
Native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts
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OLD PUBLISHED LETTER to The Berkshire Eagle:
“Where are jobs that pay well?”
The Berkshire Eagle, Letters, 9/5/2009 -/- Sunday, September 6, 2009
While reading the article on the front section of today’s Berkshire Eagle, “Mayoral election heats up,” I couldn’t help but wonder what Mayor Ruberto meant by “more jobs have come to the city”? With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, on behalf of all my friends and their colleagues laid off from KB, Berkshire Health Systems, Canyon Ranch etc. where are all these jobs? I’m not talking about the $10 an hour jobs that can’t even support a single person, never mind a family. I’m talking about jobs that are equivalent or close to the jobs they have lost.
Please don’t insult all these people who are desperately trying to find decent employment to support themselves and their families.
DONNA M. VIDOLI
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
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Muraca is capricious. Pols can be bad but that doesn’t mean business leaders are necessarily the voice of reason.
If Pittsfield is not a viable community for business leaders, then its tax base will shrink to the point that the only living wage jobs will be in municipal government (police, fire, schools) and not-for-profits (hospitals, social services), all of which depends on taxpayers’ funding. That is not a sustainable local economy. It is Socialist or even Communist!
What are the lovely Linda Tyer’s solutions to Pittsfield not having a viable business environment? What is she going to do when hundreds of living wage jobs are lost this year of 2016?
Her mentor, Jimmy Ruberto, said he had a “rolodex” that would bring businesses to Pittsfield. Pat Muraca was right that Jimmy Ruberto needed to go. But now Pittsfield politics has Ruberto 2.0 in the lovely Linda Tyer!
Worcester is the second largest metropolitan area in New England. Probably makes a lot more sense from a business perspective.
Principals got there wish list, heres mine. 2 elementary schools close, allowing administrative and Pittsfield public schools food and storage facilities to take over buildings. Mercer and Hibbard go back on tax rolls. 1 fire station is closed. Someone figure’s out how to hire part time employees to cut down on insane over time to police fire and municipal employees
Like your plan joe. Sounds good to me.
You blew your cover posting under “Silence Dogwood”. Busted!
However it fools noone to see your posts under many different names. You insult the intelligence of readers here.
No wonder why we went off the gold standard.
When I see Mrs yon thank everyone for doing their job I want drug test them,thank you for teaching, thank you for being a committee member thank you for administrating, thank you for noticing, we’ll thank you for noticing that I noticed,thank you for coming, thank you for having me, we couldn’t do it without you no no we couldn’t do it without you, did I ever thank you before, yes but not enough, ok then let me say thank you again. ……taconic is 121,000,000 add at least 25
Precent 150,000,000 …..thank you for building it,no,no thank you for voting for this
.
So happy together.
NEWS ARTICLE (in part) –
Pittsfield State Senator Ben Downing is hopeful GE’s state government subsidized move to Boston will improve prospects for a clean up of the Housatonic River.
“When they talk to the governor, they aren’t just aren’t talking to the governor who helped bring them to downtown Boston,” Downing told New England Public Radio. “They are talking to the governor who wants to make sure that they do right by Pittsfield, Lenox, Lee and the other communities where the rest of the Housatonic River flows.”
GE ultimately reached a $250 million settlement with the EPA, the state of Massachusetts and the city of Pittsfield in 1999. A federal court upheld the binding consent decree a year later.
As part of the consent decree, GE in 2006 finished a $100 million effort to cleanup the area near its Pittsfield site and a highly contaminated part of the river. The company then in 2010 agreed to begin a second phase of PCB removal from the Housatonic. Four years later, however, the company publicly criticized an EPA proposal to force the company to spend more than $600 million to do just that.
“GE looks forward to resolving all outstanding issues through the process provided by the Pittsfield/Housatonic Consent Decree,” stated GE spokesman David Lurie.
General Electric did not comment on criticism from environmentalists.
http://www.ibtimes.com/general-electric-move-company-getting-massachusetts-subsidies-while-fighting-toxic-2266428
Remember when jerry and Tom hickey told you river cleanup would employ 250 to 350 people…in the end they.did not employ enough 6 guys not even enough to water down the dust of hill 78 ….Dan and Mrs yon are enablers ….my neighbor retired on ss and he is 80 yea
rs old and Mrs yon and Dan Elias raised his taxes 335 dollars this year alone….I will no longer look at the council as people who are in charge of finances of our city,it’s Mrs yon who is a retired teacher .
School committee is strangling this city,they spend on teachers.on the backs of paraproffesioals, and secretarial and bus drivers….I think it’s time to thank joe curtis again for his service after its been over 2 hours…I suggest we have a teacher hall of fame in pittsfield and do it like baseball does it…I know this committee will love it….induction will be on the phs mall the week of that 4th of July parade to kick of summer
It’s Mrs lady boots Yon who chairs school committee,that band of robbers who are eating up almost 75percent of the city budget. Its Mrs lady boots who has raised my taxes 400 dollars to take care of her chums in PSD.
Glad to see people getting wise. Led by Planet’s spotlight on her and her corrupt board……
Ben downing just gave 150,000,000 dollars to bring g e to South boston…..ben,trish…pittsfield.died a week ago maybe a grant to kick off the educator hall of fame,you guys have done a great job. ..did we thank you…you Ben and trash you should at least pretend you care…boston.is such a great stated
At least Boston didn’t get the Olympics!!!!!!
Yeah, fortunately they had the sense to back out of that.
Bens got something big l ined up for him in Boston. He wont be running for re-election. Open seat will be going to Smitty next in line for coronation
sorry about typos doing this from phone and new to me
Both Ben and Tricia Farley Bouvier need to be replaced. Neither is doing anything to help the Berkshires as the job situation here goes from horrible to impossible.
Would someone ask Tom hickey if the river cleanup is on schedule. ..18 years to get to fred garner boat launch
You can ask him yourself when he and Lew do their wonderful call in show live.
A report in the berkshire eagle stated that last month, at Crosby middle school there was a need for 291 substitute teachers. Do you know why they needed 291 substitute teachers? The answer is that the school teachers and administration are robing us blind. Teachers are praised by the school administration and school committee and the City Taxpayer’s loathe them. Who do you think is correct? The city taxpayers will have to have a city wide revolt to put an end to this robing of the taxpayer. The new mayor will do nothing to address this travesty. Pittsfield taxpayers are at the brink and we will see civil unrest in this city soon. Everyone needs to get involved and put an end to this madness once and for all. My two cents worth.
That is why we are graduating uneducated children that can’t even preform a minimum wage job with any skill.
The reason for 291 sub’s the teacher’s are using there personal time or sick days, use it or lose it, there not fool’s. Time for someone who has the City’s and taxpayers best interests to negotiate a more sane contract. I’m sure it will have to done a half day at a time.
Teachers get 15 personal/sick days a year. If they don’t use them, they roll over to the next year. Who gets 15 sick days? This alone is agregious!!
That is a crazy amount of sick time.
ah the twins – been at since the sixties
What the hell man? Got a snow fighter going up and down my street plowing puddles. That is right..not snow…puddles of water. Wish I could have caught that on video but I may get another chance as I think I hear it coming back.
So funny, because my street has not been sanded or salted this year.
Are they going to drag out the snow fighters every time we get two inches of snow? Extra gas, wear and tear, beating up the roads. Geekers. Do we have the same guy in charge as last year? Is he trying to send a message?
Dusty, couldn’t agree more. Why can’t they use common sense. Weather forecast said temp would rise above freezing by mid morning. But they got to get there OT. Driving around sanding and salting water. Lovely Linda, not very smart. Please stop pissing away my hard earned money. 2 minor snow incident’s, 2 major wastes of my money.
Between 10 to 20 people out everyday at crosby, great staff awful leadership,and he spends all his time counting inventory in the staff room store…principles won’t leave their offices….John barret wants all bosses to get out from behind their desk…you are paying people 70,000 to 125000 to tell someone else to do their job. …walk the buildings from 9 to 3pm have all administrative meetings from 3 to 5 pm. Tell principles to get their sneakers on and start walking. ..there is so much to tell and the retired people.paying their paychecks will cry if they new….on Tues morning every principle except a couple with no help will go.in their office and never leave
The secretaries, paraproffesioals, and custodian s have great secrets to tell about the schools and how they run…..there is the attendance officer….slash that and save 80 thousand…..pittsfield high use to be run by vice principle and assistant vice with 1600 kids….phs wants another one and that makes 4 with dare cop and sped head……no one leaves the office….teachers need help and they eat donuts. Superintendent should work 1 week a month in each building and start walking,do not sit in a office for 1 week…the superintendent and the principal leave the office and don’t go back for.6 hours for just 1 week and you will change the schools
The higher up… the softer the cushion. …. The Bigger you are… the harder you Fall. If only they were to be held accountable. …………
Last storm the plow took out the whole front liningof my yard, from the corner of the street all the way to the other end, about seventy yards. Dusty, they did the same here, kept thinking as they went by, it didn’t snow last night? P P W has the best snow fighters! They also put way to much sand-salt.
Why is the Health Department discussing building permits?
they want to make sure that when a business which may be expecting to sell cigarettes comes forward knows that Pittsfield has a cap on licenses to sell cigarettes. That before they proceed, they may wish to review the Health Dept. regs.
pretty smart since it ensures that folks are forewarned before moving forward.
To many statistics be rattled off at these board meetings? The preview of the health bored is to advance public health…NOT permits!
PATRIOTS got their hands filled with K C..
You haven’t seen overtime until you see parks dept foreman ot….90,000 for a dunking donut guy
He’s been retiring for 5 years, but can’t afford the loss of the use of a city vehicle for his personal business which includes trips to OTB.
By the way gman,you have a new viewer…..me..
.also pittsfield needs to look at the lenox superintendent. ….
Don’t know who he is but looks like he might be a consolidator. ..school committee is killing our city we will have 400,000 square feet of high school to educate 1700 student and going lower every sept
Jerry’s man fortini,head.of buildings spent 450,000 to track 12 men by satellite. ..in pittsfield it’s all play money….he couldn’t afford to pay. The monthly charge to use the satellite. ..blew every dollar
Business office gave a 20,000 raise to her assistant, threw the money away 35000 to 55,000…if your old and got your tax bill you would cry at what Elias and yon don’t know or at least I think they don’t know….they will thank everyone next wed for all their hard work and those that are thanked will thank them back and they will be re thanked for their thanks
We all must thank G E for the fine effort that was made cleaning up our beloved Housatoxic River,they pay zero taxes lately and zero pensioners contributions,along with massive layoffs have contributed immensely to our economy. Also would like to thank the consent decree team for their fabulous efforts many years ago, enabling G E to pretty much have a no consequence to the Pittsfield Residents, their children and grand children. Great job fellas!
GE didn’t cleanup most of the PCBs chemical toxic waste pollution in Pittsfield! Instead, GE capped the pollution. That is what GE wants to do with most of the Housatonic River, too. Caps do not last forever. From day one, caps need to be monitored for their effectiveness in stopping the spread of pollution. Caps last between 20 to 30 years. After the caps outlive their usefulness, the pollution needs to be cleaned up again and then recapped. It is an ongoing cycle. When GE says “cost effective”, they mean capping most of the PCBs in Pittsfield and now the Housatonic River.
Silver Lake is spring feed and it does empty into the Housatonic river. How can you cap a pond that’s spring feed? Won’t the pressure of in coming water push whatever’s in the sediment into the lake? Why did the EPA screw around downstream without solving Silver
lake?
Great point, DAGMAR. If someone out there has the technical information and answers to these excellent questions, please post.
Send a thank you note to former mayor Gerry Doyle for that fiasco. He was the brains for those negotiations.
Speaking od substitutes, can we consider Wahconah Park and Center at West, back up Lakes.
Is there a water problem at Center and West? Everyone seems to think the Mill St. dam causes flooding at Wahconah Park, but they are afraid to remove the dam as they fear PCBs behind the dam sediment will flood the river.
Go Pats!
Ge did not clean any pcbs,zero.Tom and Jerry had them put over.at Allendale school ….remember the air filter fiasco
If I had just 1 wish it would.be that g e build a new Allendale school,and I wish that the.planet takes this on and never let’s it go…..pittsfield has 350 children mandated to report to a toxic chemical dump….you usually only get one chance at something like this and it goes away and it has…this is what. Ben and trish should be doing but they outgrew their hometown. Planet maybe your website could take this on,you will elevate the pittsfield effort to change. …make yon and.Elias poster children for educating kids inside a toxic dump….the most insane thing pittsfield ma has ever allowed
Change, how bout the stipend the P S C gets, your taxes go up 3-4 hundred a year, and the stipend pays their taxes for ten years. This Lady Boots gives whatever the Sigs want because Lady Boots is on of them.
Tyer should be looking into all areas to save the taxpayer their hard earned dollars. The first thing that she can do, easily, is bring back all city offices to city hall. A particular co-inventor ,Designer and builder could show city hall how to correct basement problems at city hall for a song. When you have a problem you go to an expert. You don’t go to a city hack making 88k who doesn’t know his a– from a hole in the ground. This is common sense but there is no common sense used at city hall ever.
I agree. The city has many highly educated individuals who would be pleased to give good information to the city but the problem is that the person listening from the city side generally is a Gob elected hack who can not asses what an expert is telling them. To overcome this and insure that his is the last election bought and paid for by the Gob and SIG’S, the city should lean toward hiring a professional management team who will run the city as a business. This may be the wave of the future as the present method of gobsig has lead to destruction of just about every city in America. Lets hope that this is the last time we see the likes of a Linda Tyer, who Has no business savy or management experience, getting elected, to drive our city further into the ground The Kardashians are good examples of how many no nothings are in high places and we have to put a stop to this once and for all, before our country slips into the abyss
Just wondering if Mr. Co-Co, has ever accomplished anything by himself ? A co-designer, co-developer, co-inventor, co-builder, co-marketer ; a coca cola drinker maybe ? Does he just take co credit for the efforts of others who aren’t available to co dispute his claims.
We have seen some stellar football plays so far this weekend. Let it continue on Sunday!! Some real great performances!!!!
Mrs yon is a retired teacher who makes a retirement check of 50,000 a year ,….no social security ….do you think she would vote for teacher raises if she had a 1200 a.month ss check
McDonalds annouces its closing another 1,000 stores.
This is on top of the 900 it annouced last year.
http://investmentwatchblog.com/the-end-of-mcdonalds-closes-nearly-1000-stores/
How is that hopey changey thing working out for ya?
Mrs yon was very important for the curtis eberwien years,they blushed and voted yes to Mr cote s new taconic high…..that whole regime had to leave and spend more time with their family…code for we got caught….elias,yon and amuso….years of blushing when he walked into the room….they loved eberwien. …and curtis….that was the king thank you area….who was the talk show host who blushed when you would mention curtis or eberwien. ..these people feed off this junk.
Simply make them do the job,mccanless.makes 160,000 buck,curtis makes 125000 …just do your job and if something does not work say it does not work and redirect the money…get rid of programs that don’t belong…move on and stop the nonsense
Very happy to see those posts gone. This is not Planet Gaetani. How many names do you post under? Glad to see Dan deleting all that garbage. Go to topix if you want to post all that crap.
Dan’s time has not come and gone. Where was Gaetani when Dan started this blog? Riding Mr. Valenti’s coatails. Nobody wants to read constant Gaetani worship posts. It was getting sickening.
Gaetani should go and do his own thing. Leave this alone. Stop trying to constantly hijack it. Trying to cash in on its popularity. When you don’t get your way, you insult Dan which reveals much.
Gaetani is looking to gain 4 million dollars of taxpayers money again trying to ride the coatails of Milos Krofta. That’s how he operates. This being for the taxpayers is just a sham.
EA
Thank you. Propaganda of that type will henceforth be have a short shelf life on THE PLANET.
I agree. Enough is Enough.
To the sane out there enjoy the holiday but don’t forget why we celebrate it. A man lost his life for the rights of others and that is whom we celebrate the day for. RIP-Mr. King
Disagree about the Planet comeand gone, that’s ridiculous. The man went to court so we could have freedom of speech, are you serious? Hoping the a Planet stays here and PCTV. If you must, take a look at what has been for media the last ten years? They dosn’t compare.
Again,God, Family,The Planet
Thank God.
Thank you Dan for keeping this site the best source of news available to us.
Tyler street will not employ hundreds of new people,we have lost almost 1000 jobs in the last.90 days….build it no one will come….could tyer.please come out with a 5 year plan to consolidate the 2 high schools….nobody wants taconic built
RE: The Mahida’s proposed Grand Hotel in Great Barrington:
Has it occurred to anyone else that The Mahidas are
financing the vast expansion of their local hotel chain on
debt, money borrowed at low interest rates during a period
of regional economic prosperity?
This subject of debt is especially topical right now on the
lower Manhattan street where the Trinity Church cemetery
beckons at one end and East River at the other.
The Bear has been making his cyclical appearance, perhaps
foretelling a slow-down in U.S. economic activity.
What happens to hotel chains during such economic cycles,
especially in areas like Berkshire County which rely heavily
on tourist and second-homeowner dollars?
Further, what does a Wall Street bust signify for new
construction in Berkshire County, and to those carrying
large amounts of debt?
If indeed The Mahida’s finances are as highly leveraged as
appears, then there is a lesson to be taken from another
well-known Berkshire family who traveled a similar path.
The Millers for decades owned The Berkshire Eagle and a
string of highly successful New England newspapers that were
near monopolies in their respective service areas. During
the 1980’s, the Miller generation then in charge chose to
finance a rapid expansion with large amounts of debt. A huge
multi-color printing press was purchased which necessitated
an expensive move from the company’s landmark Eagle Street
building in Pittsfield, into larger quarters, the present
architecturally non-descript ClockTower complex on the west
side of town.
Late 1980’s the bubble burst, the regional economy began its
contraction, and the Millers, in a cash flow bind, were
unable to service the mighty debt. August 1995, the family’s
entire newspaper chain, acquired and built-up over decades,
ultimately sold at fire-sale prices to Dean Singleton, then
owner of the Denver Post. One merely has to pick up a reedy
copy of The Eagle today to see the result of that carnage.
How much of The Mahidas proposed new hotel in Great
Barrington is being financed by debt, and do The Mahidas
have a Plan B to manage debt in case the regional economy is
in the tank for years?
Anyone get their front lawn torn up this morning?
Aww…musta missed another Gaetani tirade against the Planet, eh? Seems to be a lot of redaction. He’s such a kook, and Dan, maybe redacting isn’t the answer because the more rope you give him, the more he talks, the crazier he sounds. And I love how he turns from loving and complementing Dan and his readers to insulting and attacking them in seconds. Another sign of potentially dangerous instability. Does that not sound like a guy who’d make threats against some poor municipal flunky on the phone? Yup!
Sounds like a threat.
We have redacted that comment.
My friend, would you be so kind as to give an example of a kooky, crazy post?