Daily Hampshire Gazette - Established 1786
L/fog
66°
L/fog
Hi 80° | Lo 58°

Editorials

Editorial: Northampton floats flexible zoning

Monday, May 20, 2013

Residents of Northampton will want to tune in — and fast — to a major revamp being considered in how the city regulates what people can and cannot do with their properties. The city’s Ordinance Committee and Planning Board have been holding public hearings on a package of proposed zoning changes that would affect most residential property owners. Two more public hearings are on tap, one Thursday before the Planning … 0

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 … 0

Editorial: Lessons of the Kermit Gosnell murder case

Friday, May 17, 2013

Limiting access to abortion does not stop the procedures from happening — that’s the takeaway from the Kermit Gosnell trial. For more than 15 years, Gosnell operated a cash-only, squalid West Philadelphia practice that specialized in late-term abortions for desperate, uninsured women. This week, Gosnell was found guilty of murdering three infants who survived abortions he performed as well as 24 counts of … 2

Talkback »
proudhampresident wrote:
06:52 PM EST

As the parent of a high-schooler, I thank the committee for choosing Bryan Lombardi. His dedication to the students, the school, and...(full comment)

Bryan Lombardi new principal at Northampton High School
FarmerLazarus wrote:
06:22 PM EST

Hmmmm. June first will be our 45th wedding anniversary. You have given me something to contemplate. It's that feminist angle that has...(full comment)

Andy Morris-Friedman: Time for adulterers to come out of closet
Other Local News
Gougeons lone bidder for Florence Community Center
From News »
Bryan Lombardi new principal at Northampton High School 
From News »
Samantha Manitsas leads Belchertown comeback
From Sports »
Amherst Regional senior diver Michael Hixon qualifies for World Championship
From Sports »
Editorial: Northampton floats flexible zoning
From Opinion »
Katharine Gratwick Baker & Peter Titleman: Forging Palestinian friendships - On the work of Mohammed Sawalha
From Opinion »
Around Easthampton: Family rallies to help one in need
From Living »
Healthy living: Getting back to exercise as summer nears
From Living »
Art People: Julia Mintz | filmmaker
From Arts & Entertainment »
Tuned in
From Arts & Entertainment »

Editorial: Reasoned ruling on Plan B

Sunday, April 14, 2013

A judge’s ruling last week that women — including teenagers under age 17 — should be able to buy morning-after contraception without a prescription was a clear-eyed decision on an issue that has for years been ensnared in politics. The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of … 0

Editorial: Life after Northampton’s landfill

Friday, April 12, 2013

As the last days of Northampton’s Glendale Road landfill count down, the city is hearing from residents who want to maintain the site as a waste transfer station. Extending the life of the landfill would have been the right choice. But with that decision done and gone, the … 0

Editorial: Amherst College cultivates a winning hoop tradition

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Amherst College has had a lot of time since its founding in 1821 to cultivate tradition. In the past six years it has developed a new one — that of a basketball powerhouse. On Sunday in Atlanta, the Lord Jeffs’ Division III men’s basketball team defeated the University … 0

Editorial: An improbable but worthy goal— ending campus sexual assaults by 2020

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

What’s striking about the new anti-sexual assault public service videos created by the Northwestern district attorney’s office is their novelty. There is little else like them on the radio, TV or in the movies. The acting is nothing new and the scenarios are familiar, but the outcomes are … 0

Mary and Sonia Golonka. The two died last week at the ages of 94 and 64 -- much of that time spent on their family farm in Whately.

Editorial: Heartbreak in Whately after fire kills two members of Golonka family

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The town of Whately must bury two of its best-known citizens today. Friends and family who have been in mourning since Thursday, when they learned a fire had killed Mary and Sonia Golonka, will again feel the intensity … 0

Editorial: Survival Center’s fresh start

Monday, April 8, 2013

For the second time in a few years, a donor has stepped up to improve the Northampton Survival Center’s ability to serve. The newest gain: fresh milk. The center helps 5,000 people obtain food to patch gaps in what their incomes provide. Now, it is able to offer … 0

Editorial: The case against La Familia

Sunday, April 7, 2013

‘I want to seize the territory down there and hold onto it.” That was Holyoke Police Chief James M. Neiswanger speaking about a city neighborhood that is the home turf of La Familia, a 40-year-old gang that sells heroin. There is a reason the chief sounds like a … 0

.JERREY ROBERTS Ned Huntley, director of the Northampton DPW, is one of many local officials hoping the state will come through with money for road repairs.

Editorial: A rough road ahead

Friday, April 5, 2013

Looks like we’re in for another summer of driving dangerously. Local communities, like those across the state, had hoped that the state would pony up Chapter 90 transportation funds by the normal allocation deadline of April 1. That’s … 0

Editorial: A healthy case for Cooley Dickinson-Mass General merger

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The best argument for the proposed merger of Cooley Dickinson Hospital with Massachusetts General Hospital is the simplest: It will improve the quality of health care in the region. That was a point emphasized by different speakers in different ways at Tuesday’s state Department of Public Health hearing … 0

Editorial: Five Select Board members better than just three in Hadley

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

When Town Meeting rolls around next month, Hadley voters will answer governance and public safety questions posed by town leaders. One issue involves decreasing the number of Select Board members from five to three. Another addresses funding for a new full-time fire chief. This is the not the … 0

Don't Miss This