IN PITTSFIELD, FOURTH OF JULY HAS BECOME A COVER FOR GUNPLAY AND MURDER
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, JULY 7-9, 2017) — In Albany, N.Y. over the Fourth holiday there were two stabbings and one shooting, non-fatal. In Pittsfield, Mass., there were two stabbings and one shooting, fatal. It’s the second time in three years that scum used Pittsfield’s Fourth of July as cover for murder. Hmmm. Does anyone detect a pattern here?
In Albany, N.Y., the mayhem prompted an immediate, “own it” press conference featuring the mayor and the police chief. They patiently answered questions from two dozen assembled media. In Pittsfield, Mass., the mayor and police chief hid behind skirts and outskirts. After the press conference in Albany, N.Y., the media buttonholed the mayor and police chief for exclusives. In Pittsfield, Mass., the closest the press got to questioning officials came from an intrepid WTEN Channel 10 reporter, who had to shout questions at police leaving the scene on John Street at Durant Park, where a 39-year-old man was gunned down.
Anyone see a problem here?
Two years ago, mayoral candidate Linda Tyer showed up at the Christian Center for a rally/photo op held after the infamous Fourth of July Massacre, for which, incidentally, no one has ever been held accountable. She blasted Mayor Dan Bianchi for his lame response to the situation. Now it’s another Fourth, and Tyer has pulled the same pathetic stunt she accused Bianchi of pulling. A murder and two stabbings on Tyler Street not far an earlier murder scene, and Tyer gets the yips? What gives? Could this pusillanimous behavior be for politics? After all, stabbings and murder refute the fiction she propagates about Pittsfield — you know, with its “bustling” downtown and all. Pittsfield’s flaming up, and the mayor’s dressed in a Shirley Temple sailor’s suit on The Good Ship Lollipop. How about a little plank walking over the hark-infested waters?
Accountability? In Pittsfield?!
THE PLANET has lost count of the number of serious crimes committed in Pittsfield with no arrests or accountability: the $10,000 theft at PHS, the bizarre suicide-death of a father and his 11-year-old daughter, the Fourth of July Massacre. The beat goes on, and still no action. And where is the City Council in all this? Not one councilor has addressed the problem of a city losing to drugs,, gangs, and mayhem, this being an election year and all.
The good people of Pittsfield need results, not a lot of nothing.
What should be done?
A good starting point is a crackdown on illegal fireworks. Start going after those who piss on the law. Fireworks are now being used to cover gun play. This must stop. Bust chops. You can’t prevent all of the illegal pyrotechnics, but a bunch of arrests with consequences can help douse the flames.
As for the Durant Park murder, sources tell THE PLANET that it was a black-on-black affair, that it followed a large picnic at the site but was not directly related, and that it involved “a disagreement mixed with mind- and mood-altering” substances. There were witnesses, but they are afraid to talk. Sources say it wasn’t a coincidence the shooting happened on the Fourth and that “it was impossible to tell gunshots from firecrackers.” Apparently, the murder wasn’t the only gun play that night. Residents say police have been called about trouble in that area a number of times only to do “next to nothing.” One resident said she was sick and tired “of being [held hostage] in my own house by riff-raff.” Asked what she meant by that term, she said the “drug and gang crowd.” She blamed city officials for not taking the neighborhood’s calls and complaints seriously.
Hotel on North, located not far from the murder, sneezes and city officials raid the public treasury for Nyquil. Have the West Side complain about the city’s indifference, however, and all they get is more of the same — back of the bus.
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” … shotgun shine same about it …” — Theme from The Sopranos
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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Transmission a few days ago in the early morning,men with dreadlocks on Lillybrook Rd. Shouldn’t be there. Cops came,car was gone. Did they get a plate number? This isn’t the first time police have been called to that street for suspicious activity?
We luv the Planet.
Shocking that taxpayers were scammed again, ShotSpotter is supposed to be so sophisticated that it can identity the type of gun fired, but turns out to be a clearanced RadioShack microphone system that hits property tax every year for tens of thousands.
Don’t know why you’d think government is the solution, though, these guys were probably living off taxpayers just like Tyer and Wynn, the police protect them from us!
Isn’t Durant park in on the door Krol’$ ward? What does he have to say?
I hear Shot Spotter activates when McCandless farts!
Let the weekend begin. Dan, what about the homicide a footballs throw from Tyers’ office and didn’t she also do a photo op at the old KFC on East and claim she wouldn’t tolerate that? It still looks like hell.
Pittsfield’s beloved mayor needs some kindness. She’s been on vacation, hiking Mt. Greylock, going to Fenway, traveling out of the country, on ski trips and otherwise seeking to break Barack’s voluminous vacations record. but do not fret, we are left in the capable hand s of the Boring Broad sheet’s VP of Audience Development’s wife. And rest assured the high residential and commercial tax rates in Pittsfield will eventually prevail and strike down all evil and the bad guys.Remember, Chief Wynn said that the new Taconic High School is his “gateway” to a new police station and that this will further thwart the insidious crime spree.The city is in capable hands, in Linda we must trust.
When a tenant has to tell the responders the shot was a block away,it’s time to reevaluate the gizmo.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/30/senate-democrat-blasts-obamaphone-over-fraudulent-findings-complete-lack-oversight.html
Get your free phone while you still,can, courtesy of The Kapanzis
It’s like the city officials have become so used to the crime and violence that they expect us to just ignore it and get on with our lives like nothing happened. Just another violent 4th of July in Pittsfield. Nothing to see here. Move along. We should be used to this by now. The problem for Pittsfield, though, is that this is a very small city to have such a large crime problem. Chicago had 100 shootings on the 4th of July, many of them proved fatal for victims. Chicago has looked the other way for years and their problems are getting worse. Pittsfield should not make the same mistake.
Thank you Dan for mentioning the relationship between all of the illegal fireworks and the shootings happening on the 4th of July in 2015 and now this year. The explosion of fireworks throughout the city is helping to provide cover for these murders. The police are unable to get to the crime scene quickly and the culprit is able to get away.
The Berkshire Eagle is not putting the Police blotter in the paper. No problems here. We are a cultural town.
It is on the interet.
Tyer’s out of her League. Her administration is amateurish.
I wonder to what extent the gun problem in Pittsfield is related to immigrants? If so, ICE could be contacted.
It is also interesting that Massachusetts gun regulation has had no effect. The 4th here in Indiana was quiet even though we have a problem with Spice overdoses (15 ODs in the previous week) and Bloomington has more than its share of homeless, but nobody’s shooting anyone. Our gun laws are among the most lax in the nation.
It’s Pittsfields gangsters
If you can’t take care of the smallest blight problems ie Hess , KFC, which the Planet exposed, then you can’t be serious about it. Some might say what’s the big deal a little weed growth, well, when the neighborhoods are neglected maybe it’s a ripple effect of the City doesn’t care,It breeds , it manifests, why should I mow my lawn the place next to me looks like hell. What business will come here? Business that will leave a mess when they close, why, because the City doesn’t care. Dealers and druggies love blight, there in their element. How about Morningside School kids and Parents looking at the mess from the classroom, what a future huh?
It’s time for..The Generalissimo.
It takes hours to set his medals. Then you have to clean and press the suit. How about a remote with the khaki shorts,and a weed eater.
The Masses are calling, and we can assure you that the message has been relayed to His Excellency The Generalissimo. Time for dictatorship in Pittsfield, where there is presently not enough “General” and too much “issimo.”
You mentioned the $10,000 stolen from PHS. Soon after, I spoke with a close friend who has a very good position in the School Dept
I told him the stories I had heard that the authorities knew who was involved but that it was covered up. He never denied that statement but merely said “It’s been taken care of”.
Wouldn’t we all like to know just how “it was taken care of”!
MY taxes went up 360 bucks 200 last year….Budget problems started with Amuso and Eberwien now shifting to Yon and McCandless….overseen by Tyer and Barry
My taxes have gone up 450 in the 5 years I have owned the place. I was nosing around Zillow because a couple of houses in the neighborhood were put up for sale. I noticed that in the Holmes, Elm, Williams triangle there is 14 properties on the market. Seems like a lot for a small area.
In addition to the crime, the lack of jobs in the area is also a major reason for people needing to leave. Other areas of the country are booming including the Albany, NY area. Even Springfield, MA is doing better than us as the Berkshires continues its downward spiral.
Nobody believes the thousands of jobs that are supposedly available right now here in the Berkshires line. If you go to job sites like Job Quest you can’t help but notice how many times the same job is repeated 3 or 4 times which makes it seem like there are more jobs than there really are and other times you click on a job and it says this job is no longer available yet the job is still listed as being an open position. So anybody doing a quick look might think there are a lot of jobs, but if you dig a little deeper you find out that isn’t true. Same with the Berkshire Works site.
Capt. Tyer has us headed for the iceberg.
Many people in Pittsfield are 60
Many homeowners in Pittsfield are 60+ and are dying off. Their kids have moved away for greener pastures. There is no reason to buy most of the houses in Pittsfield. Within 3 years the real estate market will collapse here.
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Eight hundred people supposedly attending the Elizabeth Warren gathering today at BCC. Not such a large number when you consider it was probably mainly college personnel, students, and local politicians. Lizzie will be running in 2018 which sent up roars from the ultra liberal radically far left crowd. I really don’t believe she has a chance of winning in 2018. If you go the the MassLive site and read the comment section, very few people can stand her. She has her core base of far left people, but Independents aren’t impressed with her at all and she really needs them to win an election. Lizzie is radical far left like the majority of politicians in this area.
She goes on and on about fighting for healthcare, but no mention of the struggling middle class having to pay high premiums. Lizzie is trying to trick people that the Republican health care plan will burden the middle class while she knows full well that this is what is currently happening under Obamacare. It’s all scare tactics without facts to back it up.
Did anyone ask her why she refused the free DNA test that was offered to her?
She might not get re-elected but you can bet that all the moronic moonbats in Pittsfield will come out and vote for her.
Sold out because she is the best consumer advocate inthe country,believe me its not Trump
Stick with dizzy lizzy and you won’t have any money to consume anything.
It seems Fakeahontis did a rain dance today.
Trumps dont get it,regressives dont protect consumers,she’s smart and can speak in complete sentences that people understand….Trump not working today I read he was sleeping while suffering from jet lag .
Fakeahontis suffers from truth lag.
We need to cut Mayors salary to 48k
Nobody has the bawls to propose that.
In 2 budgets Tyer raised my taxes 650 bucks and it wont stop
Anyone can spend money…Yon,marchetti
Tyer is a 1 term mayor if we can find someone who understands how money works
Tyer has already said she will not be running for a second term.
Just wanted to pad her pension.
Good
The south street corridor is a cash cow for speeding ticks, it’s like a radio,
Good luck changing the charter again.
Correct, SHH. The charter rewrite was done under cloak of figurative darkness. The Suits got what they wanted, and, short of coup de tat, will not permit intelligent change.
Mais, non, M. Valenti. On dit “coup d’etat.” Quel domage pour vous.
George Cloony moving back to the United States in fear for his family from terrorist attacks in England. The same man who met with Andrea Merkel just last year and is a big supporter of refugees coming into the country is heading back to the security of the United States.
I am reading a great book called “The Strange Death of Europe” by Douglas Murray. The premise of the book is that European civilization is in the process of suicide by immigration. I can’t recommend highly enough. Extremely interesting reading.
Clooney. Believe he’s related to the singer Rozemerry Cloony.
If a kid goes Into the Hess Forest and cut themselves on some glass they’ll have a nice lawsuit.
Pittsfield sucks and it is being abused by fire dept,police department,Council,Tyer and McCandless who comes across as Mr good guy as he lays off only paraprofessional help and then adds 3 new 80k positions and screws over paras.Yon seems Trump like with thinking slowing down
Jake is a strong democrat and if anything he’s very 0’bama like.
On the positive side . . .
What a glorious afternoon at the summit of Mt. Greylock today.
I went up there early in the morning after breakfast out just for the heck of it–because it promised to be the best day of the summer.
Well, come to find out, there was a regular jazz-o-fest happening right behind the lodge under a tent at noon.
I caught the first three acts–all cool cats–and all featured girl singers (gotta have a girl singer out front).
First trio had a way cool keyboardist and ax man–top notch. A nice set of standards, you know, stuff you’d hear from Frank, Ella, Billie, Dino, etc.
Second quarto featured an incredible bass fiddle player, a young kid on alto sax, and daughter singing, with dad on the electric box. Girl singer was the best of the singers I heard–and sported a marvelous short blue flower dress with matching suede pumps. Seemed like she was a tiny bit unsure of herself, but you could tell she left a lot in the tank, even while doing a great job.
Dad on the keys–Bonnemara is the name?–was the master of “less is more.” Certainly the perfect accompaniment to his girl. An old master, for sure.
And, their best number was one of my tunes, “Route 66.”
Third group was Wes Brown (which made me think of jazz legend Les Brown) on the bass fiddle, amazing in bare feet. A great girl drummer (you don’t necessarily have to have a girl drummer), an accomplished man the keys, and, of course, the girl singer. They branched out from the standards to be more eclectic and more “jazzy,” if you will.
Wes et al. will be at Bascom lodge on Sunday night, 7 to 9.
So if you get out of the Pitts, you can say you lucky to live around here.
But, as I headed back into the Pitts, there’s three police cruisers on Wahconah St. having a serious with a young man, while a young woman was sitting in some kind of upset daze on a bench by herself not too far away. No car, so looked like maybe a walking domestic sit’iation.
Sad.
so true I heard the story on WGY on the 5th without a mention by the local media the 6th. No wonder why nobody votes or buys the Eagle any more.
Planet,their was an incident over the weekend at Dorothy Amos Park,my kids play there. It was sketchy but it involved an air pistol. What ever the incident, the City should disclose this as soon as possible. Don’t use our kids as guinea pigs because the news might make the City look bad, hell yes my kid won’t play there for some time at least until this latest incident is addressed.