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By SHEL HOROWITZ

Remember when the previous administration tore babies and children from their families’ arms and locked them in little cages? Bad news: Republicans in Congress and far-right activists, including that former president, are heating up even worse...

By ROB MOIR

Boston suffered more than 20 inches of rain during the summer of 2022, setting a record that was only broken when two hurricanes brought 25 inches of rain in 1955. An estimated 1.5 billion gallons of water sluiced off the land, overwhelmed sewage...

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

Eight years ago in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the nations of the world set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. They agreed that every nation, and especially the wealthiest ones, would contribute to reducing climate-damaging...

By RICHARD SZLOSEK

Well, the powers that be in Northampton have unanimously decided to reduce our Main Street down to two lanes of traffic. The project apparently won’t even begin until 2025 and I have stayed out of the discussion because, at my advanced age, who knows...

By TOLLEY M. JONES

My grandmother Esther died on November 17th at the age of 95. Grandma had five children: Charles, Patricia, Michael, David, and Valerie. Tragically, she buried four of her five children as adults — one of whom was murdered, along with that adult...

By KAREN GARDNER

Take a walk with me for a minute and just let your mind go free. Imagine a world where things can happen that you never thought possible.The former guy, the Donald, is still running for a second term as president of our country while under several...

By DINA LEVI

Frequently while perusing the opinion page of the Gazette, I pause on the cartoon, not always feeling like I’m fully understanding it. I imagine, more than anything, they’re meant to catch the reader’s attention, and at times in doing so, blur the...

We are midway through the month of December and I have started a new list. The current record for the number of birds observed in my yard in the month of Dec. is 31 species and that record was set just last year. On my first day of observations I...

By ALAN KANNER

On Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, 2023, Donald Trump crossed the line. In his Claremont, New Hampshire speech, he said: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the...

By ALLEN WOODS

In the midst of a holiday season, when giving thanks and giving gifts focus our thoughts, how do we walk upright, maintaining a semblance of balance, through a decidedly broken world? It’s been a question for me ever since my personal world was broken...

By JOHN SHEIRER

Nearly 40 years ago, I entered a college classroom as the instructor for the first time. I was a 23-year-old graduate teaching assistant, charged with my very own section of English composition. Twenty-five students silently inspected me as I placed...

By SUSIE MOSHER

The article “Bill seeks to give terminally ill options” published in the Gazette on Oct. 23 gave a slanted report on the public hearing held at the State House on Oct. 20. From reading the article one would be led to believe opponents of the Medical...

By DAVID BALL

What’s at stake in the war between Russia and Ukraine? John Berkowitz’s guest column (“End Ukraine war before it ends us,” Gazette, Dec. 4) implies that any time a powerful authoritarian regime wants to invade a smaller neighbor, the world should let...

By MICKEY RATHBUN

A recent headline in the New York Times caught my eye: “Mars Needs Insects.” As the article explained, if we are to create a human-friendly habitat on Mars, we will need to grow food there.Unlike the nutrient-laden soil that covers the earth, the...

By BILL SCHER

I never thought much about Calvin Coolidge until 2005, when I moved to downtown Northampton, mere blocks from his presidential museum. But after visiting the museum, I suddenly had more questions.For example, Coolidge is known as the quintessential...

By MARIEL E. ADDIS

Imagine for a moment, getting a new name, a new gender, a “new” body, and a closet full of new and different clothes. Now, imagine experiencing life with both a heightened level of both emotions and physical sensations. While it seems like something...

By JONATHAN A. WRIGHT

When I was 11 years old, I traveled to the Middle East with my family, and one day we took a car from Beirut, then a French-flavored multi-ethnic city, to see the massive Roman temple ruins at Baalbek, evidence of one of many colonial occupations....

By AL NORMAN

The new speaker of the U.S. House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, found something to say in his first speech that upset millions of Americans concerned about the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — the so-called budget “entitlements.”...

By BISHOP WILLIAM D. BYRNE and MEMBERS of CATHOLICS FOR INCLUSION

In 2021, Pope Francis instituted a call to every Catholic congregation, and beyond, to take part in a worldwide synod, an invitation to even non-Catholics who wished to participate, to listen to people and ask how the Holy Spirit was moving them, and...

By J.M. SORRELL

Now is the time to offer support and love for Jewish community members, colleagues, friends, neighbors and family members. It is time to stand firmly against all forms and sources of antisemitism without a “but” attached to it. Antisemitic acts have...