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THE PLEASURE OF FRIENDSHIP … plus … WHAT DOES FREE HOUSE, ‘BRIANS’ OF VOCATIONAL ED IN PITTSFIELD, ACTUALLY DO FOR HIS CUSHY 6-FIGURE PACKAGE? … INQUIRING MINDS WONDER AS STATE REJECTS CITY’S VOCATIONAL PLAN

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014) — With patience comes reward, and we who have endured this winter can rejoice in the coming of official spring — a leaping tongue of green bloom the calendar has kindly advanced — so that we all may move forward, […]

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PITTSFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE TOUGH-SOUNDING BULLYING POLICY, BUT AS MOST KNOW, IT MEANS NEXT TO NOTHING … FB ALLEGATION: 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL AT PHS BULLIED, TEACHERS AND COUNSELOR WITNESS IT, BUT NOTHING IS DONE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2014) — Pittsfield Public Schools has a zero-tolerance policy on bullying. There also are intelligent microbe-sized beings living under a manhole cover in the 150 block of North Street. These two propositions, the first true and the second unfalsifiable, have about […]

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INTIMIDATION-GATE: THE FOLLOW UP RAISES MORE QUESTIONS, INCLUDING (SADLY) THE FITNESS OF WOMEN IN POLITICS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014) — Saint Patty gets all the ink, but St. Joe did all the heavy lifting for being a father to Jesus, and with that, we wish you all a pleasant St. Joseph’s feast day. Incidentally, St. Patrick drove the snakes […]

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ARE THREATS AND INTIMIDATION NOW ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA? THREE COUNCILORS ALLEGE ‘YES’

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014) — When the bartender calls the cops in to break up a riot at one of the many dives in town, THE PLANET excuses the yawns that follow. It’s like seeing a Level III sex offender walking free in the […]

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PLANET’S COVERAGE OF ‘THE MYSTERY OF STONEHENGE’ SPURS HEALTHY DISCUSSION FOR CITY … AT ISSUE: THE LOOMING FINANCIAL CRISIS FOR PITTSFIELD and ‘LEADER’ships WIMPY LACK OF ACTION … THE FY’15 BUDGET COULD AND LIKELY WILL TELL ALL

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY,MARCH 17, 2014) — On this St. Patrick’s Day, THE PLANET hopes it has spurred enough of a discussion on the vampiric effects a plethora of “non-profit” and “not-for-profit” commercial enterprises have had, are having, and will continue to have if left unchecked on the […]

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MEETING ON STONEHENGE PRODUCED SOME ANSWERS AND RAISED MORE QUESTIONS … LOSS OF TAX REVENUE A MAJOR ECONOMIC STORY

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary A PROGRAM NOTE: THE PLANET WILL BE JOHN KROL’S GUEST FRIDAY MORNING FOR THE HOUR, ON “GOOD MORNING, PITTSFIELD.” WTBR-FM AND SIMULCAST ON PCTV. THAT INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING ON THE PCTV WEBSITE. FOR RE-BROADCAST ON TV, CHECK THE PCTV LISTINGS.  (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, […]

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RECENT SALE OF 71 STONEHENGE FOR GROUP HOME REVEALS UNDERBELLY OF A HUGE ECONOMIC PROBLEM FOR PITTSFIELD … MEANWHILE, CITY ‘LEADERS’ LOOK ON HELPLESSLY

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014) — When THE PLANET exposed what was done in the secrecy of proverbial midnight, under the shadow of the piers — no scorning suspensions, no shining in the sun — at 71 Stonehenge Road, we ignited a firestorm of protest […]

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HEY, RUSSIA, WANNA SWAP? OBAMA & BIDEN FOR PUTIN, STRAIGHT UP … UNFILTERED PUTIN SHOWS WHY HE IS A WORLD-CLASS LEADER … HE RISES TO THE OCCASION ON UKRAINE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014) — THE PLANET has just finished watching the entirety of Vladimir Putin‘s March 4 press conference on the Ukraine crisis. He spoke for more than an hour before an assembly of what looked like about 30 media. Unlike the U.S. […]

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JIV, THE NEW JAKE, TAKES $2 MILLION IN NEW HIRES OFF THE TABLE … DON’T BE FOOLED, THOUGH, FOLKS: IT’S ALL PART OF THE ‘SCHEME’ … MEANWHILE, PITTSFIELD LOSS OF SCHOOL CHOICE MONEY TOPS $4.1 MILLION

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014) — THE PLANET has learned that the $2 million that Pittsfield Supt. Jason “Jake” McCandless has taken the $2 million for new hiring off the table.  McCandless will not ask for the millions for the upcoming FY15. With a million […]

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GIVING AWAY THE STORE: YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE CUSHY DEAL JAKE EBERWEIN III & SCHOOL COMMITTEE GAVE FRANK “FREE HOUSE” COTE … AND EVERY CENT COMES FROM YOUR HARD-EARNED TAX DOLLARS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014) — Despite the fact that the population of city schools has dropped from more than 12,000 to just under 6,000 … despite the fact that the administrative staff has more than quadrupled. Despite the fact that there are […]

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‘THE PITTSFIELD WAY’ — SCHOOL SUPT.’s CALL FOR MILLIONS $$ IN NEW SPENDING NOT GOOD OMEN FOR PITTSFIELD TAXPAYERS … TIME IS RUNNING SHORT TO THE INEVITABLE FINANCIAL DISASTER

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014) — Little by little, over many years, the salaries and retirement benefits of San Bernardino’s city workers — and especially its police and firemen — grew richer and richer, even as the city lost its major employers and gradually got poorer […]

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PATEEZ, LATEST BIZ TO PACK IT IN DOWNTOWN, OFFERS A CAUTIONARY TALE … STREETSCAPE, PARKING, AND OTHER WOES TRACE BACK TO A LACK OF VISION … or … THANK YOU, MAYOR BIANCHI, FOR N-O-T-H-I-N-G

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, ASH WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2014) — When Petula Clark had her hit “Downtown” in 1965, the year we discovered hamburgers, she obviously wan’t warbling with a psychic’s grasp of the future, particularly the future of Downtown Pittsfield. The place we used to call “Upstreet” […]

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CONNELL & REPS (DOWNING, FARLEY-BOUVIER, MAZZEO) WEIGH IN ON ’71 STONEHENGE’ … QUESTIONS SWIRL, OPEN FORUM SUGGESTED … WHERE IS MAYOR BIANCHI ON THIS CRUCIAL ISSUE OF ‘VALUE’?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014) — On this Mardi Gras, we hear from four legislators regarding the plan to move a group home to 71 Stonehenge Drive. As you probably know, THE PLANET broke the story and followed up on it yesterday. Think it’s a […]

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MYSTERY OF STONEHENGE DEEPENS … 30-YEAR LEASE … WHEN GROUP HOMES INVADE RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS, WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014) — The mystery of Stonehenge deepens. Following up on our exclusive on the group home moving into 71 Stonehedge Road in Pittsfield, the questions must be asked: 1. Why there, of all places? 2. Why was it done so quietly? […]

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SALE OF 71 STONEHENGE RD., BY COINCIDENCE ANGELO STRACUZZI’s HOUSE NOT SO LONG AGO, FOR GROUP HOME RAISES QUESTIONS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, FRIDAY, FEB. 28, 2014) — For eons, England’s Stonehenge has fascinated people with its mystery. What do the large stones mean? Beginning today, Pittsfield’s Stonehenge will emerge as its own mystery — not one as enduring at the English riddle, granted, but […]

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QWIK HITZ & HOT LIX: CITY WEBSITE ‘ALL WET’ … TO CONSULT OR NOT TO CONSULT? … SNOW JOB … WITHER HEAP BIG MAGIC RED POTHOLE MACHINE? … LIKE MOTOWN, LIKE PITTSFIELD? … MLB ON COLLISION CALL WITH ‘WIMPBALL’ … THE MYSTERY OF STONEHENGE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2014) — Time for another round of Qwik Hitz and Hot Lix, our variety show of disparate items related in odd ways that together offer determined though feeble responses to the age-old question, “What’s the Use?” The assortment of potpourri comes […]

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