UPDATE: ‘PUBLIC SERVANTS’ SERVED ON US A LOT OF DEBT AND OBLIGATIONS … PENSIONS, OPEB READY TO BRING THE OTHER FOOT DOWN ON MASSACHUSETTS CITIES … PITTSFIELD UNFUNDED OPEB LIABILITY $330 MILLION +, BUT POLS NOT WORRIED … IN LEE, SELECT BOARD PLAYS CYNICAL GAME WHEREIN TAXPAYERS WILL LOSE

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UPDATE: ‘PUBLIC SERVANTS’ SERVED ON US A LOT OF DEBT AND OBLIGATIONS … PENSIONS, OPEB READY TO BRING THE OTHER FOOT DOWN ON MASSACHUSETTS CITIES … PITTSFIELD UNFUNDED OPEB LIABILITY $330 MILLION +, BUT POLS NOT WORRIED … IN LEE, SELECT BOARD PLAYS CYNICAL GAME WHEREIN TAXPAYERS WILL LOSE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20, 2013) — We shall squeeze one more day out of our column on pension and OPEB debt, future obligations negotiated by our “public servants” with the bill due to taxpayers. In Pittsfield, the sum is at least $330,725,000. That was the […]

February 19, 2013 40 Comments

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WHEN DEVELOPER COULDN’T (OR DIDN’T WANT TO) RAISE PRIVATE EQUITY FOR ONOTA AND HOWARD BUILDINGS, RUFFER, CITY GLADLY LET TAXPAYERS PLAY VENTURE CAPITALISTS … WE THE PEOPLE WILL OWN 42% of the BUILDINGS, BUT FAT CHANCE OF GETTING A WORTHY RETURN

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, FEB. 18, 2013) — THE PLANET has toothy, satisfying memories of the Onota Building on North Street, for that is where, for 30 years, we went to the dentist. Dr. Charles Volk, D.D.S., looked like Robert Vaughan, had a witty chair-side manner perfect […]

February 18, 2013 24 Comments

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NUCLEA SOUNDS LIKE ‘DR. MARVEL’s MIRACLE OIL’ or ‘BUYER (AND TAXPAYER) BEWARE’ … PEDA’s CORYDON ‘EXCITED’ (AS WELL HE SHOULD BE, WITH HIS FAT SALARY) … plus !!PLANET EXCLUSIVE!! BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY FROM 2009 PUBLISHED HERE FOR FIRST TIME … WHAT PEDA DOSESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW … & WE REMIND COUNCILOR MAZZEO OF A CAMPAIGN PROMISE

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, FEB. 15, 2013) — Since PEDA and Mayor Dan Bianchi seem to be putting a lot of money on its bet on Nuclea Biotechnologies at PEDA, questions about the company continue to surface. We explore this question a bit more today, but we […]

February 15, 2013 48 Comments

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BENNY: TOO POOPED TO POPE … PLANET PREDICTS THE NEXT PONTIFF … BIANCHI: SPEAKING WITH FORKED TONGUE, AND OTHER RHETORICAL OBSERVATIONS … plus … DREAMWEAVER GET THE OK IN LENOX, OR WHAT ARE BASEBALL BATS FOR?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, FEB. 14, VALENTINE’s DAY, 2014) — Let the epitaph read: ‘Pope Benedict XVI, too pooped to pope.” Depending on who you listen to, he’s either a quitter or a wise man. THE PLANET thinks the latter. Benny took this thankless job when he […]

February 14, 2013 21 Comments

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LENT BEGINS, AND THE POPE RESIGNS: A FITTING CONFLUENCE FOR AN AILING CHURCH … !PLANET SCOOP! SURPRISE DRILLS TO BE PART OF ‘THIRD THURSDAYS’ (CITIZENS BE WARNED) … plus … WE ANSWER SEAN’s QUESTION ABOUT WYNN, BOWLER, AND GANGS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 2013) — How appropriate that on this first day of Lent the disarrayed hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church finds itself dealing with a lame-duck pontiff. Pope Benedict‘s resignation shocker comes at a time when the Church, through the stubborn resistance […]

February 13, 2013 30 Comments

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‘SNOWMAGEDDON’ WAS A DUD IN THE BERKSHIRES, BUT BIANCHI STILL DROPPED THE BALL … AGREEING TO ‘MARTIAL LAW’ IN MEEK KOW-TOW TO GUV A BONE-HEADED CALL … ‘INSTANT MONTANA’ TO THE GANGLAND RESCUE … plus … LENOX ZONES OUT ON NEW BIZ

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, FEB. 12, 2013) — How bad did Pittsfield panic during the dud of Snowmageddon? So bad, that when Pope Benedict XVI got wind of it, he thought it best to resign. After hearing of the imposition of martial law in Pittsfield for a !foot […]

February 12, 2013 43 Comments

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SNOWMAGEDDON? NAH, JUST A LOT OF THE WHITE STUFF (STILL, THOUGH, THE USUAL PANIC) … SOME RUMINATIONS ON SNOW, IN FEBRUARY, IN THE NORTHEAST … PLANET EXCLUSIVE!! YOU CAN GRADE BIANCHI ON HOW HE HANDLED THE WHITE STUFF … plus … ANOTHER ARTS CENTER? or HOW MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, FEB. 11, 2013) — Guess what? It snowed. In New England. In February. True, Long Island Sound and the coast up to Boston got hit, but here in the Berkshires, what, a foot, foot and a half, maybe? We’ve had a million storms […]

February 10, 2013 36 Comments

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AN AMAZING TRIBUTE TO MY FATHER-IN-LAW AND HIS FAMILY … plus … BACK TO OUR USUAL SCHEDULE ON MONDAY, WHERE OUR FEATURES WILL INCLUDE RATING MAYOR BIANCHI OF HOW WELL HE AND ThE CITY MANAGED ‘STORM NEMO’

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, FEB. 8, 2013) — This most difficult week is over, with my father-in-law’s illness, death, wake, and funeral occurring in dizzying fashion. About the wake, the turnout for Michael C. Baccoli was nothing short of amazing. The doors opened at 4 and went […]

February 8, 2013 2 Comments

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IN MEMORIAM: MICHAEL C. BACCOLI

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5-6, 2013) — THE PLANET will not rush back into full swing until we are full ready. That’s based on the wise advice of one of our loyal correspondents, Giacommetti. With “Know thyself” having been one of our life-long mottoes, two words […]

February 5, 2013 9 Comments

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WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, FEB 4, 2013) — Again, thanks for all the folks who sent in their kind wishes and condolences. We are at that stage of life now where this sort of this is becoming too familiar — sickness and death of loved ones. Nonetheless, […]

February 4, 2013 7 Comments

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THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR EXPRESSIONS OF CONDOLENCES

SUNDAY, 2/3/13 — I’m not THE PLANET today. I am Dan Valenti. THE PLANET is the character I inhabit when I deal with the vagaries of the world, this veil of tears. As me, I wish to thank all the members of this online community for their support, good wishes, and expressions of love and […]

February 3, 2013 7 Comments

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A WORD ABOUT FRIDAY … AND MONDAY

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY EVENING, LATE, FEB. 1, 2013) — Please note that there was no column today because we spent the day at bedside in the critical care unit at BMC. We watched vigil as a family member passed on from this veil of tears to […]

February 1, 2013 10 Comments

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IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR, A TIME WHEN THINGS START TO ‘GET FUNNY’ … THE PLANET COVERS EVENTS NOT ‘OBJECTIVELY’ BUT ‘IMPARTIALLY’ … AS ALWAYS, WE LOOK FOR THE TRUTH

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JAN. 31, 2013) — Let THE PLANET assure all friends and foes of Mayor Dan Bianchi: We are not out to unduly sing his praises on the one hand or needlessly cut him down on the other. We say this, because this is […]

January 31, 2013 26 Comments

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SUPER GRILLING BEGINS: HART MONDAY, McCANDLESS LAST NIGHT, BRADSHAW FEB 4 … ALL GOOD, BUT PITTSFIELD NEEDS A CANDIDATE FROM ‘TRIBE C’ … plus … ‘ATTORNEY WARS’ HEATING UP WITH NEW REVELATIONS

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30, 2013) — On Tuesday night, the Pittsfield School Committee began grilling the first of three finalists for superintendent of the city’s public schools. They chose the one local guy in a mix of three, Jason “Jake” McCandless, presently the superintendent of the […]

January 30, 2013 28 Comments

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DARREN LEE: BOARD OF HEALTH HEARING KEY PART OF UNDERSTANDING “ATTORNEY WARS” … LEE IS HANDLING ATTORNEY WARS, DEGNAN IS HANDLING DAMAGES HEARING IN MELVILLE STREET DEMOLITION … MANY QUESTIONS ABOUND, INCLUDING: CAN DEGNAN WIN ONE FOR THE TAXPAYERS?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 2013) — Why “Attorney Wars?” Why did the city of Pittsfield sue its former counselor, Rich Dohoney? The answer to that, assistant city solicitor Darren Lee tells THE PLANET, can be found in the Jan. 13, 2010 meeting of the Board […]

January 29, 2013 26 Comments

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“ATTORNEY WARS” CAME ABOUT ONLY BECAUSE THERE WAS “NO-CONFIDENCE-GATE” … IN SPECTRUM CASE, DID KATHY DEGNAN REALIZE THE STRENGTH OF THE CITY’S POSITION? … DID CITY’S SETTLEMENT NEEDLESSLY PUT AT RISK $176,500 IN TAXPAYER MONEY?

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, JAN. 28, 2013) — “Attorney Wars,” as one commentator to THE PLANET dubbed it, continues to percolate. The Reader’s Digest twit account goes like this: Spectrum-gate begets Demolition-gate begets No Confidence-gate begets Attorney Wars. It has a suitably Old Testament ring to it. […]

January 28, 2013 8 Comments

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