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

I have to say that of ALL the spins I saw coming out of this paper, I never saw this one. This editorial states "... unorthodox abortion methods that included women delivering babies that were then “snipped” with scissors after they were born alive, the paper reported." "Unorthodox?" Really is common in late term abortions that the baby is induced and the then "doctor" then jams scissors into the back of the baby's head, near where the head meets the neck, and cuts the spinal column. This practice is also commonly referred to as "partial birth abortion." In 2007 Time magazine ran a story stating that there were an estimated 5,000 such abortions in 2007, given that the Bergen Record reported that 1,500 late term (partial birth) abortions are performed annually in a single New Jersey clinic ("The Abortion Ruling: An Isolated Win?" Time, April 20, 2007). Using scissors to sever a spinal column of an infant is FAR FAR from the polite and petite "snipped" comment in the editorial. This editorial sounds like this entire problem is society's fault. That if we just allowed women to do away with their "problem" any way they want, any time they want, and the tax payer picks up the tab, that none of this would have happened. Now we have yet another abortion doctor, this time in Texas, accused of "twisting baby's heads right off their bodies," among other "abortion procedures," according to news reports. Is The Daily Hampshire Gazette going to blame this on society too? ...(full comment)

When will the city of Northampton stop giving away our community owned land ? Why does the the Center for the Arts have no home today? Is it because Old School Commons was given to private developers? When will elected officials who are in the real estate business recuse themselves from these public property give aways? After the financial debacle of the abbutters to the landfill on Glendale Road ,haven't we the public had enough? This extensive article with a paragraph titled "MUST SELL" doesn't tell us anything about the WHY , except to state that a realtor who is an elected official thinks it is a good idea. The next time our town feels like we need more public space ,with this leadership, we are likely to pay through the nose for it .Meanwhile the Florence building "breaks even" and it isn't clear, from the article, that this is true currently for the Community Music School property . A quick look at your own tax bill suggests that the land alone that these properties occupy has considerable value that we ,as the town, will give away forever . Finally ,the Florence Grammar School did not close because of a lack of enrollment in Florence, but a politically popular ,but there had been a really not needed expansion of the Leeds school building. It was then necessary to close Florence and bus children to Leeds to fill up that school.. Fortunately the leadership that has preserved Look Park and Childs Park for public use does not have the short sightedness of our elected officials. Ironically these are private self perpetuating boards. ...(full comment)