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By STEVE PFARRER

What a difference a year makes.Late last May, the Northampton Fire Department abruptly shut down virtually all music performances at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence, citing inadequate fire prevention measures at the venue.The move...

How refreshing to see the design of Gaurang Patel’s infill project in downtown Florence. In both size and appearance, it looks like it already belongs there. And instead of first tearing down a reusable building, he will build it on a vacant lot. Best...

Last week, I drove to a meeting in Greenfield and stopped on the way for a sandwich at the Subway in Deerfield. When I received my order and tendered my credit card, the cashier told me my bill had been paid by the person in front of me. I was...

I agree with guest columnist Alex Kahn’s questions regarding the huge lot next to Foster Farrar (“King Street: Deciding the future of the gateway to Northampton,” Gazette, Feb. 16). Available, affordable and convenient housing has long been a goal for...

On Feb. 1, the City Council unanimously adopted an amendment to the zoning ordinance to strengthen protection for the night sky. I would like to thank them and Carolyn Misch, director of Planning and Sustainability, for their thoughtful listening and...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Nearly a decade after he developed a large office building at a prominent intersection at the corner of Main and Maple streets in downtown Florence, business owner Gaurang Patel is moving ahead with plans for a second mixed-use structure...

I truly appreciated Maddie Fabian’s report describing the need to support and enhance child therapy services locally (and nationally) [“Young kids aren’t immune,” Gazette, Feb. 9]. I would like to see a follow up with an exploration of why the...

By JOHN SHEIRER

Last summer, I asked my boss about taking some time off to address a medical issue. “As the human body ages,” I said, “strange things happen.” We laughed.“You must have lots of sick time saved up after working more than 30 years,” he said. I showed...

Bill Newman makes compelling points in his recent column “The illusion of kinder, gentler executions” [Gazette, Feb. 3]. When he describes the various ways that executions are conducted as purportedly legitimate ways of killing people, ranging from...

By ROBIN GOLDSTEIN

If I were writing the Pioneer Valley chapter of a travel guide to New England, this would be its section for “dinner with table service.” I list restaurants first that I feel are most essential to the local dining scene, the ones we can’t live...

By MARIEL E. ADDIS

It was 2016, the last year of the Obama administration. It was an election year with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the presidential ballot. I don’t have to remind you who won.Most of us, at least here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, had...

A quick note of thanks to guest columnist Doug Selwyn for “High-stakes testing regime the opposite of educating kids” [Gazette, Feb. 5], and to sports columnist Jim Johnson for “One football game, 125 commercials” [Gazette, Feb. 6]. Their pieces —...

I’m concerned about a new potential threat to our government because the right-wing Supreme Court is considering and might overturn the 1984 “Chevron deference” doctrine. This technical principle lets federal agencies interpret laws passed by...

Instead of spending millions on bike lanes that maybe 1% of the population will use, how about hiring a few more teachers?Peter LincolnFlorence

Gazette sports writer Garrett Cote did a great job relating to a serious problem with kids sports [“Officials face fan criticism,” Gazette, Jan. 25]. I think the schools should consider a “code of conduct” for everyone at school games. A suggestion: A...

By MICHAEL MILLER

The regulation of individual women’s abortion rights has long been debated in the U.S. In the 19th century, Matilda Joslyn Gage said, “Enforced motherhood is a crime against the body of the mother and the soul of the child,” and “To say when and how...

Bravo to the Gazette for updating your morning email of top stories in the paper. It is so refreshing to see new stories each morning, rather than the same ones being repeated for days on end. A job well done!David BlissFlorence

I applaud Joe Cadettes’ guest column [“Pursuit of liberty will sweep away ‘elitist liberalism,’” Gazette, Jan. 23]. He stated exactly how us people “on the right” feel about the current election bruhaha that is all over the news. Funny how you don’t...

Insufficient affordable housing is a topic that has rightly been the subject of many news items and readers’ letters, but none have broached the crucial role played by a policy of car dependance and specifically one of maintaining a superabundance of...

By RICHARD FEIN

Gaza’s civilian population: Hamas has ruled Gaza since defeating the Fatah faction in 2006 elections. Hamas then killed 459 Fatah operatives. The general population has suffered as Hamas expropriated billions of dollars in foreign donations and local...