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)

And who can forget the video of former judge Mike Ryan's arrest by the NPD and how unnecessarily violent it was? Atty. William A. Norris (ret) ...(full comment)

Not quite - in the end, the takaway point from the Gosnell murder trial is that late term abortion is a barbaric act that by definition entails eviscerating the tissue of a living creature. Its a helpless baby waiting to be born - not a choice. Thats what you guys don't get. And now we have in the news another similar case in Houston. It would be nice if the gazette would cover it in detail. But becasue late term abortion can't be anythiing but repugnant to any reasonable person getting out the details of this grizly act wouldn't move forward the progressive agenda of the gazette's editors. And couldn't you point out in your editorial that the guttmacher institute has always been very pro abortion and is part of Planned Parenthoon - the largest abortion provider in the US? Start acting like progressional new people please. It used to be unbiased reporting would say something like 'alan guttmacher institute, an affiliate of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States, reports that XXXXX illegal abortions were performed in the country in 1950... Instead you make it sound like they are not using their statistics to further their pro abotion agenda. ...(full comment)

I have viewed the arrest video many times and I honestly cannot see anything that Mr. Correia did that was a crime for which an arrest should have been made, must less a violent arrest with pepper spray and forced to the ground. He appears to be holding up a cell phone, nothing more. Can someone from the NPD explain to us exactly what they consider his "disorderly conduct" was? And can't Mr. Correia sue for false arrest and violation of his civil rights to be on the street holding up his cell phone? Also, where is the Northampton Human Rights Commission on this episode -- MIA? ...(full comment)

I get it that the Associated Press is angry at the Obama administration. I don't think they helped their cause with such an obviously slanted article on the enforcement of regulations governing wind turbines and bird protection. After reading the full page article on the relatively minor problem of bird kills by wind turbine blades, I had to do further internet research on possible solutions or mitigating measures that might be taken to reduce this possible source of opposition to wind energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. I think the best thing for public and private wildlife and wind energy advocacy groups to do would be to work together on collecting information that is already known from the US and world sources and also to devise research projects when necessary to see which mitigating efforts are most successful. The AP writer, Dina Cappiello, mentioned fixing the turbines with radar technology to detect approaching eagles and emitting loud noises when one is detected as one mitigating strategy. She also mentioned shutting down the turbines for a week in March when eagles in that area are most active. Other suggestions not included in the article but reported on by KCET TV in California are a more careful siting of turbines; painting the turbine blades; removing habitats for small game from under the turbines; and changing the rotation of the blades from going around to going up and down in a vertical rotation - a method that is very safe for birds. In any cases, bird deaths by wind turbines will always be a minutely small factor in the number of human caused bird deaths. ...(full comment)

Too bad Obummer doesn't feel the need to also comment on the Gosnell abortion mass murder case (probably the largest mass muder case in US history). Didn't the president say during the Newtown gun control debate "If he could just save one childs life..." The man is a hypocrite along with most liberals. And now we hear about another mass murder abortion doctor in Houston. I wish the gazetee would cover this. This doctor is accused of twisting off the heads of the fetuses in order to kill them. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325786/Douglas-Karpen-Second-house-horrors-abortion-clinic-investigated-Texas.html ...(full comment)

I agree Tom. Late night adventures out in the woods the sounds of nature the play of light and the dark sky and seeing stars otherwise invisible these are some of the reasons I would be out in woods at that time except I'm a geezer and in bed by 10pm. I also agree that the theme of the comments seem to be narrow minded jingoism inspired by fear and paranoia about others. ...(full comment)

Excellent points, bringit. Smith College is our friendly neighborhood sacred cow, immune from even the slightest bit of scrutiny. It should gall all the taxpayers in Northampton that Gazette and others enable Smith to shirk increased responsibility to its host community, especially as we lurch from one financial crisis to the next . ...(full comment)

It sounds like a bunch of students who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. To be honest, it's not much of a story. If I were young, I might of been in the same situation, late at night, after classes were finished. The state police sent them home, and probably nothing will come of it. But what is really on my mind, is there are very few comments (or none) on most articles, yet this article inspired quite a few writers, many with what I'd call an objectionable tone in their writing. It doesn't sound like anything suspicious was going on. ...(full comment)