BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Part Four of a Series; Editor’s Note: THE PLANET is extending this series one more installment. (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, SEPT. 29-OCT. 1, 2017) — THE PLANET heard again from our inside source at the Berkshire Museum (BM), Sunny. He/she relayed how our series has been received by […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY SEPT. 28, 2017) — Bad politics (like there’s some other kind). That’s the two-word explanation for the disaster happening at the Berkshire Museum (BM) by its own suicidal hand. The BM’s crass plan to sell its treasures to the highest bidder — works of […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Second of a Four-Part Series (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 27, 2017) — The avalanche of outrage over the Berkshire Museum‘s (BM) proposed sale of artwork — significant works by important artists, including two large, “marquee” canvasses by Norman Rockwell — descended so swiftly upon the hapless director […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY This is the first of a four-part series on the Berkshire Museum’s proposed sale of artwork. Also a program note: PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION comes back tonight at 6:30 p.m. with all new episodes. PV-TV’s shush kabob tonight skewers trash cans, gymnasiums at city hall, and the museum. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s column on the Tyler Street trash cans was already warming in the hopper when THE PLANET heard the plaintive requests to address the Berkshire Museum’s planned sale of 40 works of art. Beginning tomorrow and running every day of the week, we shall present our […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, SEPT. 22-24, 2017) — In his first address to the United Nations’ General Assembly, President Donald Trump told world leaders that North Korea will be “totally destroyed” if it attacks America or any of its allies. There’s no wiggle room in […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 20, 2017) — It’s come to this: ribbon cuttings for garbage cans. Cue the first three notes of “Taps.” Ba-Ba-Baaaaaa. What’s next as Mayor Linda “Trashcan” Tyer presides over the demise she has not only not addressed but has hurriedly hastened? Salutations for strip […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Coming Wednesday: THE PLANET’s take on the Ribbon Cutting for … for … (we can hardly say it) … Tyler Street garbage cans … Wherein we find out if the mayor has (a) a sense of humor and/or (b) a thick skin. Either will suffice. TRUTH OUTSTRIPS […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 15-17, 2017) — Once upon a time, a golden, flaming scroll descended from the heavens, and in its ashes one could read the words: How to Design Exasperating Traffic Patterns. And it came to pass that most cities rejected the sacred text, as […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 13, 2017) — Step into Mr. Peabody’s Time Machine for a journey back to 1982. In Pittsfield, a little company starts up with a couple-three employees. The company wants to build armored security vehicles for police, the military, governments, SWAT, and a […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY SEPT. 11, 2017) — Here’s a ripe piece of low-hanging fruit THE PLANET now makes available to any of our media colleagues. We think it especially relevant in light of yet another shooting, this one, ironically enough, near police HQ and not far […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 8-10, 2017) — The Rosa Restaurant. The Busy Bee. Ida and John’s. The Highland. The Lantern — three once-seminal Pittsfield eateries now defunct, one still going, and one going, going, gone. The Lantern, a Pittsfield institution gracefully run by the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 6, 2017) — Pittsfield Police Officer Chris Colello has now shot two suspects in the line of duty in the past seven years. The latest involves the fatal shooting of a man that the district attorney’s office says charged Colollo while carrying a knife. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, LABOR DAY 2017) — THE PLANET takes the day off, but we have a big week in store. This week, we shall give you fresh perspectives and new information on the following hot stories: * A Pittsfield cop shoots and kills a citizen. Are we […]
