Archive | Uncategorized RSS feed for this section
Article

EPA LETTER TO MARCHETTI A TEST IN COURAGE FOR COUNCIL PRESIDENT

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY FEB. 14, 2014) — First things first. Remember on this day that you can’t spell “Valentine” without “Valenti.” THE PLANET puts it directly to city council president Peter Marchetti: Opportunity knocks. Are you going to answer? On Feb 12, Marchetti received a letter from the […]

Read More
Article

CITY BLEW IT ONCE ON WATER; WILL IT BLOW IT AGAIN?

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Third in a Series (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY FEB. 12, 2018) — When the EPA hit Pittsfield with stricter water standards in 2008, the city, to its credit, fought back. There’s some point in the drive for cleaner air, water, and soil that beyond which becomes too […]

Read More
Article

ADD IT ALL UP, AND WATER-SEWER BORROWING WILL PUSH CITY DEBT SERVICE TO NEARLY $1 BILLION (WITH A ‘B’)

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, FEB. 9-12, 2018) — Let’s keep it simple. Pittsfield’s two rival political machines, The Suits and The Swells, have alternated for more than a generation to drive the city to the brink of ruin. Linda Tyer‘s administration inherited a mess that […]

Read More
Article

MAYOR’S SECRETIVE STRATEGY ON WATER BORROWING REVEALS MUCH

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Part Two of a Series (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY FEB. 7, 2018) — In considering the Administration’s request to further plunge the city’s indebtedness by a mere $80 million, it’s important to note how mayor Linda Tyer first attempted to scuttle a proper procedural process. Prior to […]

Read More
Article

NEEDLESS WATER UPGRADE OF NEARS $80 MILLION: FOLLOW THE MONEY

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY First in a Series (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY FEB. 5, 2018) — Congratulations to our Philadelphia Eagles on an exciting Super Bowl win. THE PLANET only wishes we could say the same for the bedraggled citizens of Pittsfield, who face the gauntlet of an ill-conceived and unnecessary multimillion-dollar plan to “upgrade” the […]

Read More
Article

PLANET PLAYS WITH THE HOUSE MONEY IN SUPER BOWL LII

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION FEB. 2-4, 2018) — For The Weekend Edition, we get away from Pittsfield’s politics, the kind on full display at a revelatory meeting of the city council’s finance committee over what may well be the last straw that sinks the city […]

Read More
Article

LATEST CITY HIRE TO ADD NEW JOBS: A CON JOB AND A SNOW JOB

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JAN. 31, 2018) — So, Pittsfield has yet another economic development “expert” who’s going to be the “quarterback” of mayor Linda “The Lounger” Tyer‘s “Red Carpet” plan for stirring up new business in the moribund city. Stop THE PLANET if you’ve heard this […]

Read More
Article

AS CHICKEN BONE TUCKS TAIL RE: PLANET’s DEBATE CHALLENGE, N.A. COUNCIL MOVES TO STIFLE RELEVANT FREE SPEECH

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 29, 2018) — As most of you know, in our last column, THE PLANET issued a public debate challenge to North Adams city council president Keith “Chicken Bone” Bona. The topic: His move to acquire the unilateral power to bar citizens from attending an […]

Read More
Article

IN NORTH ADAMS, BONEHEAD BONA CRAPS ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT; PLANET THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET, ISSUING DEBATE CHALLENGE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JAN. 26-28, 2018) — The U.S. Constitution, one of the most seminal foundational documents ever drafted, has been amended 27 times. The first revision stands by far as the most important. The freedoms articulated by the First Amendment spell out what […]

Read More
Article

FUNDING DEAL: D.C. FOOLS LET THE GAMES CONTINUE

BY DANVALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JAN. 24, 2018) — THE PLANET extends congratulations to all involved in negotiating a bipartisan agreement to end the federal government shutdown. The temporary funding measure expires on Feb. 8, four days at The New England Patriots Invitational — what used to be called The Super Bowl. The […]

Read More
Article

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN? WHAT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 22, 2018) — Government shutdown? What government shutdown? THE PLANET asks with a straight face, did you notice? If not for 24/7 cable “news” and the dimwad of social media, you wouldn’t have noticed a blink, unless of course you were one of the […]

Read More
Article

COUNCIL SHOWS A PULSE ON TOTERS, POTHOLES … NOT THAT THE ADMINISTRATION CARES

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ADD 1 UPDATES, 1-19-18 LATE P.M. — There are two items to share in relation to today’s Weekend Edition: (1) Thanks to the responders to pointed out THE PLANET’s error in swapping Ward 1’s Helen Moon for at-large Mr. Persip. Moon cast the responsible vote on the toter plan, not Persip. […]

Read More
Article

BAD ROADS SIGNIFY EVEN WORSE POLITICS

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JAN. 17, 2018) — Minefield. Surface of the moon. Grand canyons. Beirut after the Smart Bombs. Eater of wheel bearings. Destroyer of front ends. Yes friends, it’s time for a roundup of Pittsfield roads. Calling all Road Scholars. It’s an odd phenomenon, puzzling […]

Read More
Article

A ‘RACIST?’ WHO’S TO SAY?

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JAN. 15, 2018) — Linda Tyer is a racist. Earl Persip is a racist. Dan Valenti is a racist. Milt Plum is a racist. They are of a race, the human race (a sprint, so the ish-ka-bible tells us in Genesis, won by […]

Read More
Article

OFF KEY, DEEP SEATED, AND ‘NO EXTRA COST’: A WEEKEND REVERIE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, JAN. 12-14, 2018) — Have cities lost their mind, or is it just that satire is no longer possible? OFF KEY — Topping the list is The Tyer’s Administration‘s latest thrust into public art. The Artscape program plans to place pianos throughout […]

Read More
Article

SPRING STREET SHOOTING ANOTHER TYLER FAILING

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JAN. 10, 2018) — With the recent thaw in below zero temps, THE PLANET deems we can justify thoughts of spring. “Spring” — a word that harbors hope, the breath inside the seed that waits for a slight warming of earth before the green spear […]

Read More