BY DAN VALENTI NEWS ITEM: From the Associated Press RICHMOND, Calif. – Attorneys say a teenage girl who was gang-raped outside a Northern California high school reached a $4 million settlement with the school district. The value of the deal in the civil claim against the West Contra Costa Unified School District was revealed this […]
BY DAN VALENTI The customer is king, right? This is true especially in a down economy, where a business can’t afford to alienate even one member of its clientele. Some companies get it. I think of R. J. Stohr’s Jewelers on North Street, who have made customer service part of their advertising tag line and […]
BY DAN VALENTI One is the loneliest number except when you’re first in the race. What do these stories have in common: EPA fines Interprint, Bill Hines to step down as PEDA chief, stores closing on North Street, stores opening on North Street, school custodians dump green glop into the Housy, the CEDS failure, candidate […]
BY DAN VALENTI Readers of this website were not surprised by Mayor Jimmy Ruberto’s “surprise” announcement to the Boring Broadsheet that he would not be up for re-election in 2011. The Planet had this information weeks ago and shared it with many. The Eagle once again eats our dust on another big story. We shall […]
BY DAN VALENTI Today on The Planet, we take up the thorny case of discrimination and also take another look as economic development seen through the lends of the CEDs process. In our first story, our guest columnist kicks the hornet’s nest that is the issue of gay rights vs. private freedom. Discrimination bad. Right? […]
BY DAN VALENTI Missing Person; Can You Help? The Planet has been requested by concerned friends and family to ask if anyone out there has word on the whereabouts of Richmond veterinarian Michael Roth. Roth, who has a mobile medical practice, has been missing for about a week, according to information received this morning. Roth […]
BY DAN VALENTI A letter of inquiry has been sent to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) by a Berkshire County resident regarding the legality of a letter sent Nov. 29, 2010, to congressional candidate Andrea Nuciforo by 23 local Democrats calling themselves “Concerned Democrats of Berkshire County,” The Planet has learned. The letter ratchets up […]
BY DAN VALENTI We start off praising the actions of a politician. Seriously. The Planet does not sing praises of or drum dirges for pols on a whim. We dish out sweet or sour depending on their actions. Their actions determine all, since we never have predispositions on any issue. We let the facts determine […]
BY DAN VALENTI What’s cooking? The Planet’s food consultant, Ron Kitterman, and others who love food will be interested in these couple food-related missives. The first is from guest writer Laura Gross. She writes about places in high-toned South County where the average Joe and Jane can eat and not have to take our a […]
BY DAN VALENTI The Planet loves feedback, especially from people who, for whatever reason, dislike what we do, an occupational hazard of truth telling. We enjoy responses along the lines of “your blog sucks,” since it reveals the limited intellectual capacity of those who assert such claims. “That sucks” is the equivalent of the old […]
BY DAN VALENTI More Scoops that Ben and Jerry’s We’ve got some interesting material in the hopper. The Planet has learned the identity of the new manager of the Pittsfield Colonials. The team will announce it Thursday. We got the scoop and will give it to you tomorrow. Moreover, we have seen the draft of […]
BY DAN VALENTI We will be in and out with you several times today, with items of interest and breaking some news. !!BULLETIN, JUST IN!! Fatal Car Accident The Planet just got word of a fatal crash in the town of Monterey. Details are sketchy. It appears that the accident happened on Sandisfield Road earlier […]
BY DAN VALENTI The Planet begins a new series today: TO VETS, WITH GRATITUDE. It will be periodic and ongoing. In it, we salute veterans. We will be soliciting JPEGS or hard copies of service commendations (plaques, certificates, honors, letter of merit, and the like) with the intention of posting them on this site. War […]
BY DAN VALENTI Ah, so much to say, and so many stories breaking, but what’s a cyberspace for? Please, no comments about ending a sentence with a preposition. As a part of speech, the humble preposition wears camouflage, and it can move unnoticed to several parts of the sentence. Enough of grammar, and onto our […]
BY DAN VALENTI The Berkshire Eagle’s executive editor, Tim Farkas, hasn’t responded to our challenge to debate the role and responsibility of the media to the community. From that, you may draw your own conclusions. The Planet noted with satisfaction that in today’s page one news story by Clarence Fanto, the Eagle through our good […]
BY DAN VALENTI Nigger. Did that get your attention? That’s the word on publisher wants to remove in Mark Twain’s great novel, Huckleberry Finn. The PC Police and other misguided “moralists” somehow got a publisher of a new edition to replace the word “nigger” with “slave” as it pertains to the character of Jim. Not […]
