BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JULY 16-8, 2021) — Did the city of Pittsfield deliberately set up the paperwork for the soon-to-be-desecrated — oops, we mean “dedicated” — bike pump track in such a way that it could perform an end-around on state open bidding laws? […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JULY 14, 2021) — THE PLANET spent part of the pleasantly soggy Tuesday tramping through Springside Park. We did it to get a first-hand appreciation for the size of the proposed mountain bike development being pushed there by a tiny handful of backers […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JULY 12, 2021) — Like dividends on a hot stock, the Bike Mafia story keeps giving. New information keeps surfacing from the depths. It is up to THE PLANET to give it light, because Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, no other local media will […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JULY 9-11, 2021) — Point 1: Alison McGee, Ms. Walking Conflict of Interest, must resign. Question 1: Was Jim McGrath blackmailed into supporting the Bike Mafia’s plans to rip up Mother Nature at Springside Park? Question 2: Does the Parks Commission […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JULY 7, 2021) — Phylicia Rashad, Bill Cosby’s TV wife from years back, whacked the hornet’s nest with a bludgeon when she defended a court ruling that freed the comedian from a Pennsylvania prison, where he was serving a 3- to 10-year sentence […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JULY 5, 2021) — THE PLANET‘s expose’ of the Bike Mafia’s plans to destroy Springside Park is a story with legs, as they say in the business. It has morphed from the specifics of a particular project into a myth of why ordinary […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Second of a two-part series (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JULY 2-4, 2021) — Want the kicker on the proposed Mountain Bike Park that proponents are pushing with inside help from city officials? THE PLANET will do two better. We will channel Pete Gogolak and send […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ADD 1 — This just in from the Pittsfield Police. Juvenile firearms Offenses 06-30-21 First of Two Parts (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JUNE 30, 2021) — It’s hard enough to say good bye to June, and THE PLANET doesn’t mean June Osborn, who should have been on […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JUNE 28, 2021) — Today THE PLANET presents a guest column by our long-time good friend and professor of economics at Indiana University, teaching courses in equity markets, financial econometrics, and behavioral finance. We speak of Dr. Charles Trzcinka, who today writes first-hand about […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 25-7, 2021) — Today, THE PLANET presents part two from our abridged dictionary. On Monday, we took on Cancel Culture. Today, it Critical Race Theory. What is Critical Race Theory? Again, we begin from perhaps the most reliable objective source […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI ARTS EDITOR’S NOTE — THE PLANET presents what we hope will be the first of periodic theater and art reviews. For the 2021 inaugural effort, we are pleased to announce the signing of the world famous critic, the Max Factor of the footlights, the Poobah of Paragraphs. We speak of […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY EDITOR’S NOTE: Before we begin, we would like to pass along news of Jonathan Levine’s death. For 30 years, Jonathan published the Pittsfield Gazette, essentially as a one-man operation running on fumes. For those 30 years, readers received an alternative view of city politics and happenings. Jonathan […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JUNE 21, 2021) — It’s time for the next Round Up, a smorgasbord of this ‘n’ that. Writer Wanted — Beginning this week (Thursday) we hope to be presenting reviews of area plays. We did this a few years ago as an experiment, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 18-20, 2021) — “Voter suppression” or “Safeguarding elections?” THE PLANET speaks of efforts to tighten security at ballot boxes in state legislatures. In the Democratically controlled federal government, the House has been crafting a measure that would expand voter participation, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Part Two of Two (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JUNE 16, 2021) — The legally contentious matter of District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s letter to Judge Paul Dalwey, Chief Justice of the District Court System, asking that Judge Jennifer Tyne be removed from the case, continues to reverberate within the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Part One of a two-part series This story has been updated with new information. (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JUNE 14, 2021) — For news hawks, Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington is the gift that keeps giving. Daily she makes another headline to a story that erodes faith […]
