BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016) — Call it a bad case of triskaidekaphobia, and you’d land close. Call it triciakathyMckaphobia and you’d be much closer. The first refers to an irrational fear of the number 13, particularly to Friday the 13th. The second deals with […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016) — It’s not the kind of news you’ll hear about in the Feel Good Fakery & Fiction Department that pumps out press releases to the local Mainstream Media and provides talking points to the city’s “all-is-good-and-getting-better” political “leaders.” What news? Congratulations, […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2016) — Well within a room-service call from Hotel On North (HON) over the weekend, the low-lifes and scum who have assumed a majority position in Pittsfield treated residents to a serious stabbing and a shooting. THE PLANET checked the blueprints […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, APRIL 22-24, 2016) — Spring is here, so as we clean up the yard, let’s also clean the mail bag, which has been building up. ——– 000 ——– Such a Deal! To THE PLANET: A few weeks ago THE PLANET reported on […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY BULLETIN! 4-20-16, 4:30 p.m. — Let THE PLANET break it here first. Something’s up at The Berkshire Eagle. Employees have been told to clean up their work areas and to report today for an 8:30 a.m. meeting with HR dressed up (coats and ties). At 9:15 a.m., the paper plans a […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY BULLETIN! 4-20-16, 4:30 p.m. — Let THE PLANET break it here first. Something’s up at The Berkshire Eagle. Employees have been told to clean up their work areas and to report tomorrow for an 8:30 a.m. meeting with HR dressed up (coats and ties). At 9:15 a.m., the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016) — Mayor Linda Tyer has done well in her first three months in office, passing with good grades nearly all of the “quizzes” thrown her way by the challenges of office. She has been proactive on issues, responsive to questions, and […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, APRIL 15-17, 2016) — Happy Tax Day, people. THE PLANET hopes that you have filed on time. You have until midnight to get that valuable postmark on your returns. We have received several inquiries wondering if mayor Linda Tyer responded to our […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2016) — Today, as a respite from the inevitable deadline pressures of a working writer’s life, THE PLANET gets to talk Kubrick for OLLI. Should be fun. Meanwhile, in our continuing effort to keep folks informed and up-to-date on various city […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016) — You may recall from THE PLANET‘s previous coverage that the mayoral-appointed panel to look into the strange operations at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport (PMA) uncovered deeds that pushed the limits of credulity, even by the city’s low standards. Problems […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016) — As a commentator to THE PLANET noted yesterday, Pittsfield city officials would have us believe that most of the data on the PPD‘s “Lost Records” have been recovered — all except those pertaining to the botched arrest of 88-year-old […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY First of Two Follow-up Reports (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016) — Useless information so you could win a bar bet at Lach’s Lounge: 55 years ago today at Fenway Park, rookie left fielder Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox got the first of 3,419 career […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, APRIL 8-10, 2016) — THE PLANET, like just about everyone else, is still trying to get the wraps around the incredible story about the new Pittsfield soap opera, The Lost Data of the Pittsfield Police Department. We will be posting much more later […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY ADD 1, 4/7/16 11:22 a.m. — In pursuit of more details on this story, THE PLANET has contacted police chief Mike Wynn, Mayor Linda Tyer, and each of the 11 city councilors for comment. We plan to follow up in The Weekend Edition to be published tomorrow. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Second of Two Parts [ED NOTE: The Board of Health meets at 6 p.m. tonight at city hall, room 203.] (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016) — THE PLANET would bet a mountain of gold bars on the following proposition. If the applicant for a tobacco […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY First in a Two-Part Series [ED NOTE: THE PLANET has just learned that O’Connell Convenience Plus has sold all of its stores to Global Partners LP. The firm, which employs or employed former mayor Dan Bianchi (it is not clear whether past or present tense is appropriate), […]
