Planet Valenti

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, SATURDAY, OCT. 22, 2011) — This is THE PLANET’s 362nd post since we activated the site in September, 2010. It’s been a six-day-a-week blog, the liveliest and most significant media development in the Berkshires since that time. We thank our growing audience, even as […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, OCT. 21, 2011) — There have been many discussions on the recently concluded Special Election that pushed the “winner” to Boston. The residual feeling is one of anger but not shock, disbelief but not surprise. As THE PLANET pieced together the “plot” yesterday […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, OCT. 20, 2011) — It appears that the biggest political swindle since the Consent Decree, Teapot Dome, and the Cardiff Giant  has been successfully pulled off by the GOB, the Special Interests, and other Interested Parties with a (financial and otherwise) stake in […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19, 2011) — Welcome, earthlings, to the Day After Election hangover. It was a pathetic day yesterday in the 3rd Berkshire District, with barely more than 20% bothering to vote and the “winner” taking a plurality of that tiny number of only […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, OCT. 18, 2011) — Election Day traffic seems light, with reports from a couple of precincts summing up business as “slow.” City Clerk Linda Tyer predicted a turnout of low 20s for the special election designed to name the new rep in the […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, OCT. 17, 2011) — THE PLANET never said reopening the GE-Pittsfield Consent Agreement would be easy. We noted, though, that the contract has provisions for reopening. Reopeners should be difficult to prevent easy access for casual interests to profoundly alter agreements whose every […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, SATURDAY, OCT. 15, 2011) — Good news from PLANET MEDIA BOOKS: Our next title is now officially received, copies in hand, and beginning Monday, available for sale at the Red Lion Inn Gift Shop and on Amazon.com. You can also order at this website. […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, OCT. 14, 2011) — Today, THE PLANET’s continuing coverage of the singlemost important issue facing Pittsfield and Berkshire County continues with a look at the notorious Hill 78. First, though, we share a few other quick items. CRANWELL FORCED TO MAKE RIGHT BY […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, OCT. 13, 2011) — From the accounts we’ve received from various sources, the informational meeting last night in a dimly-lit Lenox Town Hall (power outage, operating on generators) was (a) worthwhile (b) mostly reasoned (c) “passionately dispassionate” and (d) leaving the crowd wanting […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12, 2011) — Two enormous questions loom over Berkshire County and the county seat, Pittsfield, Mass., with respect to the industrial toxins left in the air, water, and soil by General Electric Co. after it pulled out of the area: (1) What […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, OCT. 11, 2011) — With the important meeting set for tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., at Lenox Town Hall of PCBs, GE, and The Rest of the River, we present several related items to load the chamber. We urge everyone in Berkshire County to attend […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, COLUMBUS DAY, 2011) — Yes, even THE PLANET enjoys an occasional holiday, as we are doing today. We have already had a lovely walk, a sunbath, and are about to host a small luncheon party with dear friends. We came on briefly to […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, SATURDAY, OCT. 8, 2011) — The controversy over Allen Harris of Berkshire Money Management in a radio-debate moderator’s role continues, as a current office holder, wanting to remain unnamed, calls the decision by WBRK radio “highly suspect and a sure sign that [Harris] has […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, OCT. 7, 2011) — Now we can say the baseball season is truly over. ‘Tis much worse to fail in the first round of the playoffs than not to qualify for post-season, especially when you take a team into competition that just led […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, OCT. 6, 2011) — And so in this sloppy business called government, the battles rage, usually with good intent among well-purposed people but sometimes not. The bad actors most always stand exposed by the fruits of their work. FRUITS FAIR AND FOUL The fruits […]

By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary ANOTHER VIEW ON PCB ISSUE (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5, 2011) — There are multiple views on what to do with the tons of remaining PCBs that GE left in the ground, the water, and elsewhere in Pittsfield and, by extension, southbound on the Housatonic River. […]