What’s In This Issue?
Photo: Dreamtime
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ANALYTICS
(numbers in parentheses reflect the + or – change since last week)
Number of Unique Page Views:
Last 30 days: 20,527 (-1046)
Last Week: 4242 (-489)
Number of Unique Sessions
Last 30 Days: 9661 (-309)
Last Week: 1482 (-215)
TOP FIVE MOST-READ STORIES IN THE MONTH OF JUNE
1. Space Crunch Expected at Elementary Schools. Pressure Builds To Move Sixth-Graders In 2022 by Toni Cunningham
2. Town Manager And Community Safety Working Group At Odds Over Next Steps by Art Keene
3. Updated: Lawsuit Over Wrongfully Disqualified Signatures Filed In Supreme Judicial Court by Art Keene
4.Override Vote For School Project Targeted For November 2022 by Toni Cunningham
5. A Few Questions For Fire Fighter Nick Chirekos by Kitty Axelson-Berry
TOP FIVE MOST-READ STORIES LAST WEEK
1. Should The Setback Requirement For Archipelago’s Next Project Be Cut By 50 Percent? by Hilda Greenbaum
2. Council Approves Funds For Reparations, Debates Funding For Community Responder Program by Maura Keene
3. Energy And Climate Action Committee Presents Town Climate Action Plan by Maura Keene
4. Letter: Let’s Build – In A Way That’s Good For Amherst! by Pamela Rooney
5. Opinion: Town Council And Its Committees by Meg Gage and Michael Greenebaum
5. Letter: Citizens’ Request For Brief Downtown Construction Moratorium Is Reasonable And Should Be Honored By Town Council by Gerald Friedman
WHAT”S IN THIS ISSUE?
NEW/BREAKING
Community Safety Working Group Will Continue Until November 1, 2021 by Art Keene
Opinion: Town Council Should Re-do Recent Vote To Refer Three Zoning Amendments by Pamela Rooney
COVID-19 Weekly Update by Art and Maura Keene
Opinion: Amherst Town Government Needs New Faces, New Leadership by Ira Bryck
ARTS
Gallery A3 Reopens July 1
Photo Of The Week. South Amherst Rainbow by Tom Webb.
CAMPUS
Exploitation Of Undocumented Workers In Residential Construction Costs Massachusetts Taxpayers As Much As $82M Annually, UMass Study Finds
Issues and Analyses: The Role Student Housing Plays in Communities by Karen Black
COVID-19
COVID-19 Weekly Update by Art and Maura Keene
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT
Planning Board Considers Changes To Archipelago’s Next 5-Story Building Downtown. Questions Rushed Public Hearings On Zoning Bylaw Amendments by Maura Keene
Councilors Voice Opposition To Temporary Building Moratorium, Consider Relaxing Parking Regulations For Downtown Buildings. Recommend Extension For CSWG To Complete Its Work by Maura Keene
Issues and Analyses: The Role Student Housing Plays in Communities by Karen Black
Letter: Let’s Build – In A Way That’s Good For Amherst! by Pamela Rooney
Letter: Citizens’ Request For Brief Downtown Construction Moratorium Is Reasonable And Should Be Honored By Town Council by Gerald Friedman
ENVIRONMENT / CLIMATE / NATURE
Opinion: Love Justice And Climate Change: The Only Path to Climate Success? by Russ Vernon-Jones
Almanac: West Coast Greetings by Stephen Braun
National Pollinator Week. Day 7: Why We Can’t Afford Not To Landscape Naturally by John Root
National Pollinator Week Day 6: Providing Habitat for Pollinators by John Root
National Pollinator Week Day 5: Know Your Enemies! Identification and Control of Undesirable Vegetation by John Root
EVENTS
High Bacteria Levels Persist At Some Amherst Swimming Holes
Brown Bag: Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Amherst Town Government
FEATURES
Almanac: West Coast Greetings by Stephen Braun
From Other Sources: News For And About Amherst (#37). This Week’s Focus: Local News Roundup by Art Keene
National Pollinator Week. Day 7: Why We Can’t Afford Not To Landscape Naturally by John Root
National Pollinator Week Day 6: Providing Habitat for Pollinators by John Root
National Pollinator Week Day 5: Know Your Enemies! Identification and Control of Undesirable Vegetation by John Root
Photo Of The Week. South Amherst Rainbow by Tom Webb.
Town Manager Report For June 28, 2021
HISTORY
Jones Trustees Punt On Signing Historic Preservation Restriction Agreement by Sarah McKee
ISSUES & ANALYSES
Issues and Analyses: The Role Student Housing Plays in Communities by Karen Black
LIBRARY
Town’s Legal Fees Mount As Amherst Fails To Set Date For Referendum On Library Project by Art Keene
Jones Trustees Punt On Signing Historic Preservation Restriction Agreement by Sarah McKee
OPINION
Opinion: Town Council Should Re-do Recent Vote To Refer Three Zoning Amendments by Pamela Rooney
Opinion: Amherst Town Government Needs New Faces, New Leadership by Ira Bryck
Letter: A Note of Appreciation From The Community Safety Working Group by Brianna Owen and Ellisha Walker
Letter: Let’s Build – In A Way That’s Good For Amherst! by Pamela Rooney
Letter: Citizens’ Request For Brief Downtown Construction Moratorium Is Reasonable And Should Be Honored By Town Council by Gerald Friedman
SCHOOLS
Next Up For Elementary School Building Project: Designer Selection by Toni Cunningham
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Community Safety Working Group Will Continue Until November 1, 2021 by Art Keene
Exploitation Of Undocumented Workers In Residential Construction Costs Massachusetts Taxpayers As Much As $82M Annually, UMass Study Finds
Brown Bag: Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Amherst Town Government
Letter: A Note of Appreciation From The Community Safety Working Group by Brianna Owen and Ellisha Walker
Opinion: Love Justice And Climate Change: The Only Path to Climate Success? by Russ Vernon-Jones
TOWN GOVERNMENT
Community Safety Working Group Will Continue Until November 1, 2021 by Art Keene
Opinion: Amherst Town Government Needs New Faces, New Leadership by Ira Bryck
Planning Board Considers Changes To Archipelago’s Next 5-Story Building Downtown. Questions Rushed Public Hearings On Zoning Bylaw Amendments by Maura Keene
Public Hearings on Zoning Amendments Scheduled for July 21 by Maura Keene
Town’s Legal Fees Mount As Amherst Fails To Set Date For Referendum On Library Project by Art Keene
Next Up For Elementary School Building Project: Designer Selection by Toni Cunningham
Councilors Voice Opposition To Temporary Building Moratorium, Consider Relaxing Parking Regulations For Downtown Buildings. Recommend Extension For CSWG To Complete Its Work by Maura Keene
Brewer Will Not Seek Reelection by Maura Keene
Jones Trustees Punt On Signing Historic Preservation Restriction Agreement by Sarah McKee
Letter: A Note of Appreciation From The Community Safety Working Group by Brianna Owen and Ellisha Walker
Letter: Citizens’ Request For Brief Downtown Construction Moratorium Is Reasonable And Should Be Honored By Town Council by Gerald Friedman
Town Manager Report For June 28, 2021
ZONING
Opinion: Town Council Should Re-do Recent Vote To Refer Three Zoning Amendments by Pamela Rooney
Planning Board Considers Changes To Archipelago’s Next 5-Story Building Downtown. Questions Rushed Public Hearings On Zoning Bylaw Amendments by Maura Keene
Public Hearings on Zoning Amendments Scheduled for July 21 by Maura Keene
Councilors Voice Opposition To Temporary Building Moratorium, Consider Relaxing Parking Regulations For Downtown Buildings. Recommend Extension For CSWG To Complete Its Work by Maura Keene
The Indy and the Bulletin have both published Pamela Rooney’s important commentary about downtown development. Several weeks ago the Indy published Suzannah Muspratt’s impressive analysis of the same subject. I imagine that members of the Town Council and Town Planning Department have read these essential pieces, although one would never know it. I cannot imagine moving ahead with zoning changes or building permits without public consideration of these reasoned, researched and calmly presented proposals for downtown.
Muspratt and Rooney are not writing “opinion pieces.” They are offering the kinds of analyses that the Town pays thousands of dollars for professionals to provide reports often of less substance and with less context than Muspratt and Rooney are offering for free. I am waiting for evidence that Town Planners and Council are taking their advice under consideration.
Michael Greenebaum