Opinion
Columnist Stanley Maron: Focus on negotiated peace settlements
By STANLEY MARON
As residents of the United States, we wake up each morning to a reasonably safe environment and follow the course needed to assure our survival.Unfortunately we weren’t given any specific details on how our course would play out with the exception of...
Mark Renaud: Backs Nicole LaChapelle for Easthampton mayor
I served on the Easthampton Zoning Board of Appeals with Nicole LaChapelle for nine years, and in that time I got to know her as smart, practical and diligent.Nicole is now running for mayor of Easthampton, and I hope that over the next five months...
Henry Rosenberg: Concerned with air pollution and bronchitis
Last year, an important study at the University of Southern California looked at the relationship between air pollution and bronchitis in children. As pollution levels decreased there were significant decreases in the numbers of children with symptoms...
Jonathan Levin: Claims false balance in voter fraud reporting
“The body [Mr. Trump’s election commission] has drawn criticism from election officials and Democratic lawmakers, who say there is little evidence of voter fraud in United States….” With this passage the Gazette sadly contributes to the reduction of...
Jonathan Goldman: Calls for basic human rights
Some people argue that human rights are not innate, but they are given by governments, cultures, societies, or by oneself. However, this begs the question; what reason is there to fight for the rights of LGBTQIA+ in Russia, women in Saudi Arabia, or...
Stephen Lentner: Tell prevaricators pants ablaze with lies
Most adults and even children know that lies often beget more lies. That is to say that prevarication often requires additional fabrications to back up the original.It is often a lost cause resulting in exposure, embarrassment and loss of credibility....
Columnist Joe Gannon: Independence Day: birthday of a grand idea
By JOE GANNON
As with many past Fourths of July, I celebrated Independence Day by reading the Declaration of Independence. Corny? Maybe. But I find it reassuring and even edifying to re-read the actual words that led us to our independence. Not our freedom. Not a...
Columnist Austin Sarat: A press without mistakes is not a free press
By AUSTIN SARAT
Last week was a bad one for the press or, more precisely, for CNN. The network was forced to retract a story posted on its website that a Russian bank, linked to a close ally of President Donald Trump, was under Senate investigation. CNN also issued...
Editorial: Supreme Court needs to stop stacked-deck voting districts
We hope that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in an upcoming gerrymandering case comes down on the side of democracy.The Supreme Court this fall will take up the issue of political parties manipulating state voting maps to gain advantage in Congress...
Editorial: Trump’s EPA fails to protect
While President Donald Trump hasn’t made much of a mark on advancing a legislative agenda or reorienting most of the federal agencies reporting to him, one of his appointees has made breathtaking progress in reversing protections of the nation’s air,...
Columnist Marty Nathan: Citizens must stand against environmental assaults
By MARTY NATHAN
On Saturday, June 24, 98-year-old Frances Crowe sat in her wheelchair as it was rolled into the path of construction of Kinder Morgan’s Connecticut Expansion Pipeline in the Otis State Forest in Sandisfield. There she stayed, with eight others,...
Editorial: Monday mix on popular trains; pioneer firefighter; ‘survival backpacks’
Fans of passenger rail service in Northampton were glad to hear last week that the city is on track for improved service. Within the year, a larger two-sided platform will be built at the city’s railroad station off Pleasant Street, and beginning in...
Columnist Jonathan Tucker: Nation needs reasonable gun regulations
By JONATHAN TUCKER
The recent Second Amendment event in Belchertown has spurred some community discussion, if not a lot of real dialogue, and some introspection (“Second Amendment rally in Belchertown draws ‘toughest sheriff,’ gun rights activists,” June 19).Gun owners...
Lee Armstrong: Never felt threatened by sharks
Never felt threatened by sharks My first reaction to the editorial cartoon published June 30 showing both hungry people and sharks heading for Cape Cod was to smile, but then I had other thoughts.The average person is afraid of sharks without any...
Editorial: Kudos to Amherst-Pelham for ending ‘lunch shaming’
Kudos to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District for its leadership in eliminating the indefensible practice known as “lunch shaming.”Across the country, students with a school meal debt have been publicly shamed with alternate food — often a cold...
Maria Steriti: Climate must change at JFK Middle School
Climate must change at JFK Middle School Thank you for the report “JFK students hold sit-in to raise awareness of sexual harassment” at JFK Middle School, published June 23.What has been reported at JFK Middle School is shocking. Moreover, students...
Terry Franklin: Critical of House ‘repeal and replacement’ of Question 4
Critical of Question 4 ‘repeal and replacement’ Last fall, immediately after voters passed Question 4 legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts, politicians started talking about making changes. “A few tweaks,” they said.But now the Massachusetts House of...
Lois Ahrens: Cites hypocrisy of district attorney
Cites hypocrisy ofdistrict attorneyI hope everyone remembers the hypocrisy of Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan when he runs again in 2018.When it is convenient, addiction is a disease, that is until he wants to criminalize it. Somehow we...
Editorial: Monday mix on vandalized art; high school broadcasters; ‘blizzard bags’
Last week’ s vandalism of the bronze owl sculpture on Main Street in Northampton struck a deep nerve in a community that values public art in many forms. The attack left an emotional scar as well as physical damage to a memorial for Eva Trager and...
Columnist Emily Laufer: Be mindful of your privilege
By EMILY LAUFER
On June 5, I came home from a long day at work to a letter stuffed in between my doors from the Northampton Housing Authority (NHA).The letter, titled “Removal of Furniture or Items in Common Areas,” instructed all Hampshire Heights Residents to...
