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

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

Editorial: An arts originator

It’s a fair guess that the Northampton Arts Council has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to local artists and groups since Bob Cilman took over in 1989. Cilman announced this month he will step down in September to focus on the internationally acclaimed elderly singing … 0

Editorial: Paying freight on partying

University of Massachusetts Amherst officials deserve praise for quickly heeding Amherst’s call for help and agreeing to pay for extra ambulances and police patrols to deal with unruly, intoxicated students on weekend nights. UMass went even further in doubling the sum Town Manager John Musante estimated would cover … 0

Editorial: Right decision on gay marriage is equality

Inside and outside the U.S. Supreme Court this week, we heard arguments for and against gay marriage, which most Americans support. But it will be at least two months before we know where the highest court in the land falls on the question. We hope it opts for … 0

Editorial: Northampton BID seeks right path forward after law change

The public has spoken and the Northampton Business Improvement District has listened. There is now a plan in the works to lower member fees and shrink the BID’s district to the downtown core. Reconsideration of how the BID does business was nudged forward by a new state law … 0

Editorial: Trusting Boston with our money

Organizers are ramping up the campaign to increase the state income tax. We would support a fair and balanced reform of the state tax code if it generated money for education, road and other infrastructure improvements and boost local aid without hammering the middle class. Here’s the problem: … 1

Editorial: Doing right by our veterans

Ten years ago this month, the United States launched its invasion of Iraq. Historians, policy-makers and citizens continue to debate the war’s legacy, but there should be no disagreement about one aspect of that conflict: the debt we owe as a nation to the soldiers who carried out … 0

• Medical mission to Iraq plants seeds of hope for city woman