BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY DEC. 21, 2020) — As the last day of fall becomes the first day of winter, THE PLANET muses about a story that will have as much impact on Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and America as the calamities of the city council, the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION DEC. 18-20, 2020) — Lost in the panic over snow and the hours of snow plows — Imagine! SNOW! In the Berkshires! In mid-December! — just another vibrant, dynamic time in Pittsfield. Submitted for your approval, as Rod Serling used to […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY DEC. 16, 2020) — Time for THE PLANET to clean out the notebook. In Orbit — Nominees so far for THE PLANET‘s Coveted Orbit Award (COA) are Chuck Garivaltis, Tony Maffuccio, Dina Lampiasi, and Chris Connell. We will take COA nominees until the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY DEC. 14, 2020) — THE PLANET opens with a call for nominations. Who should win our coveted Orbit Award? This annual prize acknowledges a person for no other reason than acknowledging the person. It is the ultimate Kantian ding an sich, PLANET style, our […]
BY PLANET VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY 2nd of 2 Parts (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION DEC. 11-3, 2020) — Another day, another four new deaths. Easy come, easy go. That’s the situation at Hillcrest Commons, the deadliest piece of real estate in Berkshire County. In this “second wave” of COVID-19, 33 Pittsfield […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY First of 2 Parts (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY DEC. 9, 2020) — “Getting well never felt better.” So reads the slogan that proudly tops the Hillcrest Commons Nursing Homes’ website beneath the colorful slide show of happy, photogenic patients and staff. Yes, Hillcrest seems to be the place […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY DEC. 7, 2020) — Today, THE PLANET somberly notes, is the “day that will live in infamy”+ 28,855. That many days have passed since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dc. 7, 1941, a day Franklin Roosevelt and the military got what they […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION DEC. 4-6, 2020) — Tuesday’s dramatic intervention at city hall by a coalition of Pittsfield restaurant owners did the trick. On Wednesday, the city’s Board of Health reversed itself to allow indoor dining to resume. City eateries have been shut down […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY DEC. 2, 2020) — THE PLANET‘s expose on The Berkshire Eagle spiking reporter Heather Bellow’s follow-up story on D.A. Andrea Harrington’s vehicular woes has opened up one of the floodgates, and we have heard much more from newspaper sources. We present the comments […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY NOV. 30, 2020) — Even when Berkshire County district attorney Andrea Harrington advocates for a much-needed adjustment of courtroom policy, she manages to taint the corrective with self-serving politics. As she herself unwittingly reveals, she’s “acting.” Case in point, Harrington’s Nov. 18 letter […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION NOV. 27-9, 2020) — What’s going on in the Berkshire County district attorney’s office? Two recent stories indicate a melt-down . THE CASE OF THE SPIKED STORY Recently, THE PLANET received this comment from a reader: The Eagle did follow up […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY NOV. 25, 2020) — For decades THE PLANET has been hearing about this nation’s lack of heroes, as far back as the July 1959 issue of SPORT magazine, where writer Dick Young wondered where America’s heroes had gone. Priests, social scientists, and the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY. NOV. 23, 2020) — As THE PLANET shared before, we have a VEDDY CLOSE source within the inner circle of presumed president-elect, Syracuse Joe Biden. He/she shared a decision that hasn’t been announced yet. Should President Trump’s attempt to overturn the election results […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION NOV. 20-22, 2020) — This weekend, we present a bit of a round-up, the odds and ends that invariably accumulate when doing journalism of this sort. MORE COVID — In covering the COVID violations and appropriations with respect to Pittsfield’s taverns […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY NOV. 18, 2020) — One of the more interesting wrinkles to emerge from THE PLANET‘s exclusive coverage of Pittsfield’s COVID-19 situation is the mention of a long-standing wife-swapping practice. The “switcheroo” gatherings have been forced into more “creative” methods for hooking up now […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY NOV. 16, 2020) — THE PLANET understands the desire to go “all pandemic, all of the time,” and we will stay abreast of the local situation, but the country does have a little matter to settle. You might have heard of it. Does […]
