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Opinion

Editorial: A system that remains broken

Friday, May 17, 2013

Any way you cut it, what emerges from the din of a federal trial that unfolded this month in U.S. District Court in Worcester is a state probation department that is petty and mean-spirited at best, and highly dysfunctional at worst. The lens through which the community sees this not-so-pretty picture is the federal trial of Christopher Hoffman, of Hatfield, who was formerly acting probation chief of the Hampshire Superior … 0

Sara Weinberger: Let’s both grieve and affirm life on Memorial Day

Sunday, May 19, 2013

NORTHAMPTON — Ordinarily, the streets of Tel Aviv are full of people, congregating in cafés, shopping, or just being seen. However, on Sunday, April 14, my third day in Israel, ordinary unfolded into extraordinary. By 7 p.m., a stillness overcame the streets of this cosmopolitan city. At 7:55 p.m., the city’s main square, named Kikar Rabin for Israel’s assassinated prime minister, filled with … 0

Sarah Rossmassler: Recalling Bobbie MacLeod’s way with trees, and life

Sunday, May 19, 2013

HATFIELD — Spring is in full swing, and this year, I watch the trees bud and flower remembering a true friend of trees with great affection. Barbara “Bobbie” MacLeod died this year; she was a longtime resident of the Valley who carried on a family tradition of planting trees in this area. Bobbie and I met about three years ago when I needed … 0

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Larry Parnass, the editor of the Gazette, has been on the newspaper's staff since 1988 as an editor, reporter and columnist.

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Talkback »
Tom McBride wrote:
09:01 PM EST

What is the master plan? To keep the "undesirables" away from our school system and town? ...(full comment)

Jack Hirsch: Why has town of Amherst retreated from Master Plan?
ValleySurvivorMan wrote:
03:54 PM EST

I have to say that of ALL the spins I saw coming out of this paper, I never saw this one. This editorial...(full comment)

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