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KUFFLINKS, TRASHCAN SET TO HOSE TAXPAYERS ON GARBAGE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY NOV. 15, 2017) — Garbage collection promises to get a lot more interesting when, not if, the new proposed “tote” system goes into effect. Please though. Before you read any further, don’t let anyone know that you know that this is another of […]

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LAWS, REGS, AND BACKGROUND CHECKS WON’T STOP GUN VIOLENCE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, NOV. 13, 2017) — After the most recent in a spate of massacres, this one painted in a Texas church by an ex-Air Force nut job, the usual political responses could be heard echoing throughout the nation’s legislative halls and deliberative bodies. Such […]

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AMAZON IN PITTSFIELD? IMPOSSIBLE, BUT GE BACK IN TOWN? IT COULDA HAPPENED, BUT CITY ‘LEADERS’ CAVED INTO FEAR

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION NOV. 10-12, 2017) — There’s been feverish talk about Pittsfield being on the list within Massachusetts as a location for Amazon‘s new satellite facility. The fever has to be above a Kramden-like 111oF to produce pitiable delusions of such magnitude. Amazon […]

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SO-CALLED ‘ELECTION’ A LANDSLIDE FOR NOTA … JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF MUSEUM

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY NOV. 8, 2017) — Pittsfield spent around $30,000 for what, exactly? To “elect” six apparatchiks to six school committee seats, one city clerk for one seat, and seven Ward races plus four at-large seats that came in EXACTLY as THE PLANET predicted? The dumbasses in […]

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EDUCATION PROVIDES THE WAY UP AND OUT, BUT TELL THAT TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY — AN ALL-NEW EPISODE OF PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION, TONIGHT, CHANNEL 16 @ 6:30 p-.m. It’s CAN’T MISS TV! — (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, NOV. 6, 2017) — Going back to our grammar school days, THE PLANET has long loved education and learning. This includes the self-taught and acquired kind, which […]

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THE PLANET’s UNABASHED LOOK AT ELECTION ’17

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION NOV. 3-5, 2017) — Take a deep breath and hold your noses, friends, as THE PLANET presents this overview of the upcoming “freeze-dried election,” scheduled for Tuesday. Just add Housatonic water and stir. Funny how Tuesday not so long ago used to be […]

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DISAPPEARING INCUMBENT, CONCRETE SACKS, RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES ALL PART OF WARD 1 CORONATION

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY NOV. 1, 2017) — Welcome to November, month of the Crab, month of the Sister. On Friday, THE PLANET‘s Weekend Edition, we shall present our take on the upcoming joke taking place on Tuesday. The joke is on taxpayers. They call it an “election.” […]

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JIV, PSD HAMMER MARY JANE AND JOE ONCE MORE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 30, 2017) — THE PLANET has the scoop on the latest legal swindle perpetuated by JIV and the Pittsfield School Department, with the blessings of The Tyer Administration. Enter the euphemistically named Student Resource Center. The SRC, the PSD tells us, produces “intervention programs” […]

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NEEDLE EXCHANGE A DREADFULLY BAD IDEA … NOT THAT THE CITY CARES

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 27-29, 2017) — Some children are going to smoke, so let’s provide cigarettes so they won’t have to break the law. Moreoever, it will give us more control over a bad situation. In the same way, some teens will engage […]

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WELCOME TO THE FREEZE-DRIED ELECTION .. or … MOON RIVER, WIDER THAN A SMILE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 25, 2017) — Once upon a time, in a dim and distant present — the time in Pittsfield’s electoral history where “now” officially and finally became “then” — an ersatz collection of “candidates” stood on the ballot pounded so thin by fluid-draining […]

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‘DEMOCRACY WITHOUT DEMOCRATS’ SUMMARIZES BAY STATE, CITY POLITICS TO A ‘T’ … RATHER, TO A ‘D’

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY OCT. 23, 2017) — THE PLANET finally found the correct term with which to label one-party rule in Boston and, of course, in toady Pittsfield, where the local Democrat Party is led by Captain of Red Sox Nation the Rt. Hon. Sherwood Guernsey, Esq. […]

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!! EXTRA!! ROCKWELL SONS SUE BM … $1 MILLION IN PUBLIC MONEY TO ‘BIC’ WILL TURN INTO ‘BITCH’ FOR TAXPAYERS

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY EXTRA!! Norman Rockwell’s three sons filed suit today (10-20) in Berkshire Superior Court to enjoin the Berkshire Museum’s planned auction of art work. The action comes as the state attorney general’s office moves closer to issuing a halt on the proposed Sotheby’s auction. Things are popping. Stay […]

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PRESIDENT’s EXECUTIVE ORDER SEEKS TO REMEDY OBAMACARE’S FAILURE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 18, 2017) – Health care, not the sexiest topic, doesn’t need to be decked out in Victoria’s Secret to be of vital interest to every living American — even some dead ones. First, three general points need to be made: There’s no […]

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CLEARING OUT THE TICKLE FILE

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY Tonight at 6:30 p.m. all new episode PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION! (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE MONDAY OCT. 15, 2017) — Time for THE PLANET to begin cleaning out the tickle file with the following items. Each deserves lengthier treatment and may receive it, but for now, let’s bring them out truncated. […]

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TV’s ALL-TIME TOP 10 … OR 12

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION OCT. 13-15, 2017) — Time for THE PLANET to cool down the sizzling drink. Our recent columns detailing the scandal and corruption straightjacketing the city of Pittsfield have stirred up the settlements from the glass bottom, and we have received new […]

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THE MIRACULOUS NEW STREETS, AVENUES, TERRACES, AND LANES OF PITTSFIELD

BY DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY OCT. 10, 2017) — Since we’ve been looking at vehicular and roadway romances  in the city of Pittsfield, how about giving our heroic, do-nothing public officials their own avenues. They name school buildings after the undeserving, so why not streets? Tyer Terrace — This […]

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