By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, JAN. 30, 2012) — Meredith Nilan is a blonde. We write this because it’s a fact. Meredith Nilan is a blonde. That is a fact. One of the themes “The Good Ol’ Boys” have been preaching in the Nilan-Moore case is “stick to […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, JAN. 27, 2012) — After a not-so-restful night out of state, and driving through rain, snow, and ice on a couple of scary Interstates, THE PLANET returns afresh to bring you more of the news and commentary that matters. STATE REPS WEIGHT IN […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JAN. 26, 2012) — There is much happening and things are a-poppin’ on THE PLANET this morning. As our good friend David Kolman used to say, we are busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. We shall post and then part, […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25, 2012) — “Instead, we have a young woman who, it appears, callously abandons a man to a solitary death in the road.” Instead, She Ran And these, my dear friends, are to date the most eloquent words to encapsulate the tragic […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, JAN. 24, 2012) — Yesterday, THE PLANET sent the following e-mail to Alfred “Alf” Barbalunga, probation officer for the Southern Berkshire District Court, Pittsfield School Committee chairman, and member of the Berkshire Young Professionals: ALF As a court officer and also as a […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, JAN. 23, 2012) — We The People have not rested in the Meredith Nilan-Peter Moore Case. The travesty lies the handling of the case, from the get go, beginning with the moment of impact on the night of Dec. 8, 2011 and continuing […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, JAN. 20, 2012) — When the Boring Broadsheet published its story on the dismissal of police charges against Meredith Nilan in the hit-and-run incident involving Peter Moore, it did so with no byline, quoting only Ms. Nilan’s attorney, Tim Shugrue. Moreover, the BB […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary POLICE APPEAL NILAN RULING (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JAN. 19, 2012) — Yesterday, the Pittsfield Police Department filed an appeal in the Meredith Nilan hit-and-run case. The PPD filed the appeal with a judge in Central Berkshire district Court, asking that the decision of a Westfield clerk […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2012) — Apparently, Meredith Nilan walks — no harm, no foul. We say apparently because, as of yet, there’s been no official announcement in the case, only Meredith Nilan’s lawyer, Tim Shugrue, saying that Nathan Byrnes, assistant clerk magistrate from Westfield […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012) — We lead off today with two nuggets of information from a couple of THE PLANET‘s good friends, Mike Ward and Melissa Mazzeo. MORE ABOUT ‘THE BRIDGE FROM NOWHERE,’ SCHOOL BUILDING NEEDS COMMISSION FROM MIKE WARD — Dan, on the BTN […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, JAN. 16, 2012) — In observance of the federal holiday, THE PLANET enjoys another day on the road, on business (mostly) with a little R&R thrown in for good measure. The beauty of cyberspace is that “here” takes on a relative, almost philosophic […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, JAN. 13, 2012) — First, we present a guest submission from THE STOOLEY. THE STOOLEY raises a few questions. These are questions, mind you, and we stress. They are not accusations, indictments, claims of fact, or testimonies of circumstance. THE PLANET gets nailed […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JAN. 13, 2012) — Regarding the Meredith Nilan hit-and-run case, here’s the hot question swirling around the city: Has she received — and, if so, will she continue to get preferential treatment? The public pressure on the courts to see that this doesn’t […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11, 2012) — Before we begin wading into the muck, let us share a story of the Power of The People. Several weeks ago, Dave Bubriski of the Ward 4 Rest of the River watch group contacted THE PLANET about The Bridge […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, JAN. 10, 2012) — Tonight is the new city council’s first regular, operational meeting. On the agenda: appointment of a full-time and part-time city solicitor. Kathleen Degnan and Darren Lee, respectively, are up for the posts. Mayor Dan Bianchi proposes the hiring of […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, JAN. 9, 2012) — THE PLANET had a lovely out-of-state weekend, being an idiot savant when it comes to football picks (as my friend John Foster would say to the Swami about my football expertise along the lines of idiot savant, “You got […]
