BY DAN VALENTI !!UPDATE!! ITEM: RENAMING WAHCONAH PARK There have been many reasonable suggestions offered as an alternative to renaming beloved Wahconah Park after a former politician and good guy. The best have been in ancillary naming alternatives. There are many “naming” opportunities at the park: one post suggested naming the bleachers after Paul Dowd. […]
BY DAN VALENTI Water, water everywhere, and today, my good friends, the H2O flows freely. Drinks are on THE PLANET. Specifically, water turns up three times in our latest episode of “As Pittsfield Turns”: (1) An ice warning from the Pittsfield Police and Fire departments, (2) another “company” fined by environmental authorities for polluting the […]
BY DAN VALENTI In a story that this website broke late last night, the U.S. Environmental Agency has fined the Interprint, a Pittsfield-based printing company, an amount that could reach $385,000. The EPA ruled against Interprint for building its new facility on Rt. 41 near the Richmond line without obtaining the permits required under the […]
BY DAN VALENTI WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULE POST TO BRING YOU THIS BREAKING STORY. WE WILL HAVE MORE TOMORROW: THE PLANET has learned that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined Pittsfield business Interprint $80,000 and has ordered the company to pay $305,000 to replace old wood stoves in western Massachusetts. The EPA is […]
BY DAN VALENTI ——————————————————————————————————— THE PLANET will leave this story as the lead for one more day, since the number viewing continues to go up (a notable spike in the last couple of days). As a way of update, we attempted to share a link for the broadcast of this morning’s “Good Morning, Pittsfield” hosted […]
EDITOR’S NOTE — We present the coveted first spot in today’s posting to JOSH, a 22-year-old who has posted some of the best reaction and shared some of the most practical ideas for advancing the interests of downtown Pittsfield. JOSH posted the following “story” yesterday a a reaction to THE PLANET’s continuing dissection of the […]
BY DAN VALENTI A Further Downtown Note THE PLANET has received more information from the inside on downtown activity and developments. We will pass it along in the interests of furthering the discussion. Our intelligence will spur more debate, raise more feather, and garner more agreement. The info was passed along from several sources, and […]
BY DAN VALENTI Editor’s Note: We’ll add some pretty pictures later. Check back in tonight for that and more content. The subject of Downtown Pittsfield will not go away, judging by the reaction THE PLANET received to our previous two posts. In addition to the replies, we have had e-mails, in-person reaction, and other feedback. […]
Glad to see the Eagle finish in second place on the news we broke at this website yesterday, about The Market closing its doors. Their last day will be Dec. 11. The upscale grocery store in the 400 block of North Street gave it a go with their own money, but it didn’t work. Left […]
BY DAN VALENTI In a story we will continue to check, THE PLANET has learned of the imminent closings of three downtown businesses that have been used to proclaim the presence of a downtown “renaissance.” Most likely before the end of this month, although that is not certain, the Ferrin Gallery, Museum Facsimiles outlet store, […]
By DAN VALENTI As someone told us this morning, THE PLANET’s commentary on Korea certainly came at the right time. It just so happened that the latest fireworks (the North’s attack, the South military exercises with the U.S.) occurred as we were preparing our series on this site based on Historian Bruce Cumings’ penetrating book, […]
By DAN VALENTI Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, perhaps the most misunderstood moralist of all time, had an intriguing and compelling look at the nature of history. As he often does, he uses concrete images to convey deep truths. In “The Uses and Disadvantages of History,” Nietzsche discusses the nature of time by placing us in a […]
By DAN VALENTI It is not a stretch to say that the underpinnings of the Bernie Baran case relate in more than a tangential way to several relatively recent events involving public figures in Pittsfield. Over time, these relationships may become apparent as dots become connected. That will take time. For now, though, we must […]
BY DAN VALENTI THE BARAN CASE: STILL ALIVE AND WELL, BUT THIS TIME ON THE SIDE OF JUSTICE Perhaps the most egregious miscarriage of justice in Berkshire County history can be found in the case of Bernard Baran of Pittsfield, falsely accused, unfairly tried, cruelly convicted, and forced to spend 20 years in state prison, […]
By DAN VALENTI Korea: The Beginning of the End Dean Rusk is not the kind of war criminal you associate with the phrase. He wore a suit, had horn-rimmed glasses, and talk in measured tones. He seemed positively avuncular. THE PLANET would put him in that category, however, and not for what most people remember. […]
We all have much for which to give thanks. Yet how easily we move through the abundance of our lives here in America, and in the Berkshires, on autopilot, oblivious to how well off we are, even the poor among us. We don’t have to worry about a secret police bashing down our doors in […]
