FROM OTHER SOURCES: NEWS AND FEATURES FOR AND ABOUT AMHERST
Editor’s Note: From Other Sources offers links to articles that may be of interest to Amherst readers. We will update this section every other week.
BUDGET, CAPITAL PLANNING, TAXES
Amherst Town Council Approves $7.83 Million Capital Plan, Roads and Sidewalks Priorities (6/19/19) by Scott Merzbach. The total included $68.2 million for the town’s operating budget and $16.4 million for Amherst’s share of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School district budget. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Town Council Approves $84.6 Million Budget. (6/19/19) by Jim Russell. The total included $68.2 million for the town’s operating budget and $16.4 million for Amherst’s share of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School district budget. (from The Republican )
If We’re Not Going To Maintain What We Have Then Why Build Anything New? (6/17/19) by Charles Marohn (from Strong Towns).
The Hundred Massachusetts Towns with the Highest Property Tax Rates by Stephen Solis. (4/24/19). Amherst is 10th. Longmeadow is the highest. Shutesbury is second. ( from MassLive)
HOUSING
Editorial: Advance Low Income Housing Project In Amherst. (6/14/19). by The Editorial Board of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. When someone says, “I mean no disrespect, but …” we pretty much know that something disrespectful is coming. The same idea holds true for nimbyism. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette).
Grim New Report Shows That Rent Is Unaffordable In Every State. (6/18/19). by Laura Paddison. There’s not a single state, metropolitan area or county in the U.S. where a full-time worker earning the minimum wage can afford the rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment. (from Huffpost)
On Average, Massachusetts Residents Need To Make $33.81 An Hour To Afford Fair Market Rent, Report Says. (6/20/19) by Kristin LaFratta. The average Massachusetts resident would need to make $33.81 an hour to afford a two-bedroom rental residence at the fair market rent, according to a new study. (from Masslive)
Jacobin Magazine Affordable Housing Issue. (Summer 2019). Capitalism’s ability to provide us with homes — the most basic human need after food and water — is a failure. The system has continued to perpetuate the inequality that has haunted cities since their inception. (from Jacobin).
MEDIA
Amherst Media Eyes Local Architect To Design Headquarters. (6/18/19) by Scott Merzbach. With concerns that its proposed new headquarters may not meet the requirements of the Emily Dickinson Local Historic District, Amherst Media is turning to a local architect to design the building project. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Decline in Readers, Ads, Leads Hundreds of Newspapers to Fold. (3/11/19) by David Bauder and David A. Lieb. Town by Town, local Journalism is dying. The authors see this as a tangible threat to democracy. (from APNEWS)
THE SCHOOLS
Reupholstering Behind Bars: Massachusetts Prisoners Repair Auditorium Chairs at ARHS, ARMS. (6/3/19) by The Graphic Staff with Spencer Cliché. On March 21, the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District and Massachusetts Correctional Industries (MassCor) inked a contract that set up prisoners at MCI-Norfolk to reupholster the 1,105 badly worn auditorium seats at Amherst Regional High and Middle Schools, between April and June of this year, to the tune of $101,800. (from The Graphic)
Prison Labor at Amherst High? Student Journalists Reveal Corrections Contract. 6/5/19) by Greta Jochem. “I didn’t know as much about the issue — except I sort of did know about (how) prison labor is the new Jim Crow … It just seemed sketchy to me, kind of an odd choice for the school.” (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette)
TRANSPARENCY
The Simple Work of Good Government (6/9/19). by The Editorial Board of the Idaho Post Register. Previously, the only way to get access to such records would be through a public records request. Many Idahoans don’t know how to file such a request, and at times they can also be costly. (from The Idaho Post Register)
Records Chief Orders Release of Info on Amherst Candidates (6/22/19). by Scott Merzbach. More clues about how Amherst is populating its many boards and committees emerged this week after town officials released partial details about the approximately 130 applicants who have sought positions since the new form of government went into effect in December. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette).