BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, DATE, 2019) — There’s a brain-drain in the Pittsfield Public Schools, and if things “stand pat,” there will be no reasonable expectation the situation will magically correct itself, not with a selfish superintendent and a MIA school committee. Supt. Jason “JIV” McCandless tried to […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 28, 2019) — A brief housekeeping note starts us today. The launch of the new site went well overall. Transferring data from and to different servers always involves a few kinks. Mostly they have been addressed. We thank everyone for their patience […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 25-7, 2019) — We have exciting news to share about THE PLANET. Our new and improved site will debut Monday. Ten years ago, we started this website as a writing exercise to warm up for our day’s assignments. They were never […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 23, 2019) — With news that superintendent of schools Jason “JIV” McCandless is looking to leave town in a hurry, and in response to multiple requests by readers to repost and update a series of columns we did when JIV and the […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 21, 2019) — Sources connected to the District Attorney’s office tell THE PLANET that extensive testing of physical evidence taken from the scene of the alleged racial attack at Bard’s College (Simon’s Rock) show no indication the incident ever occurred. A D.A. […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 18-20, 2019) — Sources tell THE PLANET Pittsfield school superintendent Jason “JIV” McCandless will be gone come September. Those within the Mercer Building and, we hear, in the administrative ranks scramble as rumors run wild. Some “can’t wait for this […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 16, 2019) — The more things remain the same, the more they will eventually change. And so it is with THE PLANET. Next week we will unveil our new and improved site. It will load faster, feature a more refreshed look, and […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 14 COLUMBUS DAY, 2019) — Replacing Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day” is not about honoring the red man. It’s about punishing those of Italian heritage for the crime of being white and European. Chief among the pencil heads who bullied this […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 11-13, 2019) — Happy Columbus Day weekend (you know where you can stick “Indigenous People’s Day,” JIV and Kathy Yon). For THE PLANET, the most troubling aspect of EMA’s proposed use of Strontium-90 for the test facility it wants to […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 9, 2019) — Allow THE PLANET to present a most interesting press release, this from the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp. (PERC). Betcha didn’t know there was a PERC! There’s also the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, the Office of Community Development, the Office […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 7, 2019) — Myor Linda Tyer’s Ode to Pittsfield, in the form of a political announcement disguised as an “economic engine,” has more odor than ode to it. A closer examination of the packet presented by the city (mayor Tyer, community development […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, OCT. 4-7, 2019) — At last night’s Economic Development Committee meeting, it was revealed for the first time that EMA, the space cadets asking for $140,000 in taxpayer money to set up at the BIC, will use highly radioactive Strontium-90 in […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 2, 2019) — It didn’t have to happen, but one wondered since the day after the preliminary elections if it would. And it has. THE PLANET refers to the first big blunder of this year’s mayoral campaign. It wasn’t a photo-op. More like […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY SEPT. 30, 2019) — “Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Star Ship Pittsfield, whose four-year mission is to explore new scams, seek out new hustlers, and boldly go where most mayors have gone before: Into the Kapanskis pockets.” So […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 27-9, 2019) — The new business courting Pittsfield, Spacely Space Sprockets, tempted THE PLANET for The Weekend Edition. Alas, space provides too big a topic with not enough information, though the early signs are troubling, especially Mr. Spacely’s threat to […]
BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25, 2019) — There are only three issues to Campaign ’19 in Pittsfield. All other public problems and social concerns serve as offshoots. Before that, however, mayoral candidate and councilor-at-large contacted THE PLANET with a statement relating to claims that she promised […]
