Opinion
Xavier Williams: Saving Cashes Ledge
It deeply saddens me that Cashes Ledge, as flourishing as it is, is not being federally protected. Cashes Ledge, being a kelp forest that not only has a great amount of biodiversity, but also housing certain species of cod, is under threat from being...
Kurt Heidinger: Democratic voters support universal human rights
Gallup reports that 18% of Democratic voters support Israel’s violence against Palestinians. The revulsion the other 82% feels is caused by Israel’s attack on the doctrine of universal human rights, a doctrine expressed in the Declaration of...
Jill Walton: Local twins enjoy the eclipse
Jim Lucey and Louise (Weezie) Walton enjoyed the solar eclipse on Monday at the Northampton Country Club. The twins are Cooley babies from 1937 and have lived in Hampshire County their entire lives.Jill WaltonNorthampton
Guest columnist Chenelle Brown: ‘Woman is worth fighting for’
By CHENELLE BROWN
In March, this paper published an important guest column titled “LBGTQ and the erasure of true female identity.” In it, writer Karen Bercovici argued that “woman” is a sex classification, not a social role, performance, or subjective belief. She...
Leah Berkowitz-Gosselin: Smith College, Northampton must step it up
Nearly 20 years ago, I left California to attend the Smith College School for Social Work, expressly because of their stated anti-racism curriculum commitment, clear attempts at integrating person-first language, consumer-driven dialogue and...
Charles Schmid: Seniors are people, too
Housing for seniors has not been good. Some of us are being forced out. We are told about places to go, but there are waiting lists everywhere. What are seniors supposed to do? Disgraceful.Charles SchmidEasthampton
Sasha Goss: What about Myanmar?
There has been a hidden civil war and genocide going on in Myanmar for quite some time, yet no protesters in our area.Interesting how one war gets huge amounts of attention and another goes unnoticed and ignored. Are the Burmese less important to...
Christine Tetreault: South Hadley school budget cuts
Superintendent Mark McLaughlin has said the quiet part out loud: The proposed school budget and restructuring of the district’s delivery of services will be accomplished at the expense of students with disabilities and the paraprofessionals who serve...
Aaron Hayden: No education is free
I am afraid Bob Englehart’s cartoon in the opinion page of the Gazette’s April 9 edition is misleading, at best, about the cost and value of education. While private college or an out of state university’s cost may be borne more directly by the...
Tyler E. Barnett: Smith College must uphold its motto
I wholeheartedly support Reed Mitchell’s April 11 letter [“Northampton Public Schools deficit shouldn’t be an issue”], and want to offer some additional perspective.I grew up in Ithaca, New York, graduated from Cornell Law School, and still follow...
Charles LaPiene: Peace at last
Now that the Easthampton City Council and three other local municipalities have called for a Gaza cease-fire, Hamas is sure to heed their pleas. We should be hearing soon that Hamas has pulled out, stopped their shooting, and all the hostages have...
Columnist Olin Rose-Bardawil: ‘Corporate capture’ a grave threat to citizens
By OLIN ROSE-BARDAWIL
In light of recent debates over whether the U.S. should continue providing military aid to Israel, I have been thinking a lot about the dangers of the U.S. military’s entanglement with multibillion-dollar defense contractors.This entanglement, known...
Guest columnist David E. Sullivan: Gun buyback a worthy effort
By DAVID E. SULLIVAN
As district attorney for 47 towns that make up the Northwestern District, I invite everyone to consider turning in unwanted firearms and ammunition this Saturday, April 13, when our office holds its third Gun Buyback in Greenfield and...
Rosemary Seifert-Graf: Oppose state’s new clean heat standard
I have learned that a new regulation is being worked on by the Massachusetts Department of Environment Protection called the “clean heat standard.” As a homeowner, I am asking that all Massachusetts homeowners oppose this regulation because it will...
Ruby Theberge-Goode: Don’t cut the school budget!
I go to Jackson Street School and I will be a fifth grader next year. I do not think there should be two fifth grade classes. I think the city should not make budget cuts. The schools need more money. Because if there were 27 fifth graders per class,...
Susan Rees: Fund our public schools
It is mind-boggling that in a region that holds some of the finest and affluent colleges in our nation, our public schools are in such dire financial shape. Clearly, we in western Massachusetts value education, yet we are on the brink of decimating...
Guest columnist Richard T. Chu: Despite community sessions, Resilience Hub is done deal
By RICHARD T. CHU
I attended the first of three public meetings organized by the city of Northampton, in collaboration with the Community Action Pioneer Valley and Jones Whitsett Architects, at Edwards Church on March 25. These meetings are aimed at “sharing updates...
Guest columnist Richard S. Bogartz: What the ghosts of Warsaw Ghetto know
By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ
I had intended to continue my four-part series on President Joe Biden, but I must interrupt that project even though Part 2 is almost complete because, even though I don’t believe in ghosts, I keep encountering ghosts who insist I must address Gaza...
Michelle Valois: The arts celebrate what makes us human
Nearly everyone turns to the arts in times of joy and times of sorrow: the song you danced to at your wedding; the poem that helped you through the loss of a friend; the film or play or book that made you laugh or cry or think. Nearly everyone turns...
Reed Mitchell: Northampton Public Schools deficit shouldn't be an issue
‘Knowledge. Community. Generosity. These three concepts capture Smith’s identity as an institution.” Those are the words that greet you on Smith College’s website. But does Smith College embody these values for the community of Northampton? I offer...
