BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, SEPT. 18-20, 2015) — As we head into the final weekend before the prelims of Campaign ’15 come to a merciful end, THE PLANET shares several observations. Welcome to The Weekend Edition. DEBATEGATE? DEBUNKGATE — Did forum moderator Bill Sturgeon slip Linda Tyer the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 17, 2015) — One of the growth industries in Pittsfield is official failure, and the price is rising. So when THE PLANET learned the Ship of Fools known as the Pittsfield School Committee tore up the superintendent’s four-year contract and replaced it with […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16, 2015) — THE PLANET knew our declaration of a “winner” in Tuesday’s “forum” would upset, rile, and puzzle people who automatically assumed we would go into the event with concreted presumptions. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. We declared Dan Bianchi the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITIDE, TUESDAY, SEPT. 15, 2015) — We saw him. With our own eyes. If you watched the mayoral debate last night, you did too. It’s been a long time, but “We saw him,” the man we loved for so many years. Bianchi Came With His […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s funny, and we’ll share the joke on us with you. We’ve been off a day all week due to Labor Day, to say nothing of crossing four times zones twice. In our purple haze, THE PLANET posted this column early Sunday morning thinking it […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, SEPT. 11-13, 2015) — If you watched PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION last night (Thursday), we performed the autopsy on Howard Herman‘s risible fluff-‘n-puff piece straining at the master’s bit to bury the truth about why Saturday’s THS-PHS football game was switched by The […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION RESUMES OUR LIVE, IN-STUDIO BROADCASTS TOMORROW NIGHT. THE FUN BEGINS AT 7 p.m. CH. 16, PITTSFIELD CABLE. (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 10, 2015) — A political bromide says that the person who slings mud loses ground. Mud-slinging is what a candidate and his […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9, 2015) — Council president Melissa Mazzeo had the fitting quip last night in chambers upon seeing a full house sans air conditioning: “There’s a lot of hot air in this room tonight.” Not many got the joke. The signer wasn’t on duty, […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, SEPT. 8, 2015) — Since the major blow-up at the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club in the spring that saw key members fired and the executive director booted, the Club under new director Chris Jacoby has managed to stay out of the headlines. The […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, SEPT. 4-7, 2015) — Now that a wise and intelligent judge has declared Tom Brady the greatest of saints and Roger Goodell the most heinous of sinners, THE PLANET takes a break from 3P — Pittsfield’s Poison Politics — and opens The Comment Line for […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 3, 2015) — With multiple lawsuits now having been filed by officers of the Pittsfield Police Department, what of the suspension of police officer and union head Jeff Coco? Is it yet another city departmental scandal that will be swept under the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2, 2015) — Is the proverbial “other shoe” about to drop on the Bianchi Administration and its troubled police department? Sources tell THE PLANET that officer Chris Kennedy has hired the same law firm as Sgt. Mark Lenihan. As you know from […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, SEPT. 1, 2015) — In the aftermath of THE PLANET’s coverage of Lenihan v. City of Pittsfield, a four-part series that ran last week, a question was tossed around, which, from various reports, generated quite a discussion. QUESTION: One of the five charges Sgt. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, AUG. 31, 2015) — Classes begin today at Syracuse University, and THE PLANET recently spent time on campus soaking in the atmosphere and talking with students. We thank SU’s 12th chancellor, Kent Syverud, for his work in year one as head of this incredible […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, AUG. 28 to 30, 2015) — Just how badly can they continue to screw up the Pittsfield Public School system? The PPS takes $102 million each year to operate. To that, add $144 million in borrowing — $20 million in outstanding loans for […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Last of Four Parts (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, AUG. 27, 2015) — In accusing the mayor, police chief Mike Wynn, and Capt. David Granger of intimidation, conspiracy, and a other harmful actions in a federal lawsuit, Sgt. Mark Lenihan has given rise to PPD sources who have […]
