Opinion
Shelly Berkowitz: More examples of corporate greed
Many kudos to Olin Rose-Bardawil for writing a column in which he (sadly) documents many excellent examples showing how corporate financial interests hijack and seriously undermine the very necessary regulatory functions of our government agencies,...
Guest columnist Jim Palermo: Beware the zeitgeist! It’s bad for our kids
By JIM PALERMO
I ran into a friend who asked why I had not for a long while submitted columns to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. I responded that I had not written because I was overwhelmed by the myriad issues that threaten out great country; that gnaw at the very...
Rachel Vigderman: Area women ending silence over weaponization of rape
I want to commend Sara Weinberger for her column “The appalling silence over the atrocities of October 7th” [Gazette, April 15]. As co-president of the Northampton/Amherst Chapter of Hadassah I would like to report that area residents, along with...
Toni Doherty: 2020s essential workers: Oxymoron?
As a school employee, I’ve hesitated to write, expecting judgment for being self-serving. Here’s what kicked me into gear: Jim Bridgman’s March 5 “A Look Back,” 50 years ago: “Salaries at the University of Massachusetts continued to increase at a...
Maggie Baumer: Access to prosthetics and orthotics for physical activity a right, not a privilege
As one of the 5.6 million Americans living with limb loss and limb difference (LL/LD), I’m passionate about advocating for access to prosthetic and orthotic devices for physical activity, which are not typically covered by commercial insurance or...
Timmon Wallis: More funding for Ukraine not the answer
A recent letter write rwants more funding for Ukraine (”Support Ukraine funding,” Gazette April 5). It is, of course, the Republicans in Congress who are opposed to this. But that doesn’t mean Democrats should support it! The reality is that no amount...
Columnist Razvan Sibii: How to welcome a refugee family into your community
By RAZVAN SIBII
The loud and shameless politics that surrounds the issue of undocumented immigration makes it easy to miss the moves that the Biden administration has been making in the realm of legal immigration, from rebuilding the refugee program to expediting the...
Guest columnist Jay Fleitman: Can’t leave Hamas intact
By JAY FLEITMAN
The editorial space of this newspaper is replete with demands for a cease-fire in Gaza, and similar demands have been made by the governing bodies of Northampton and Amherst. This really is a “demand” for the Israelis to unilaterally stop their...
Walter Krzeminski: Locals who homered at Fenway for the home team
Three players from western Massachusetts hit home runs at Fenway Park playing for the home team. On Aug. 14, 2000, Rico Brogna from Turners Falls homered for the Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay. On April 13, 1990, Billy Jo Robidoux from Ware homered for the Red...
Mary Collins: Let’s create 413 Day
St. Louis, Missouri (area code 314) has a yearly event to celebrate their city. Appropriately, it’s called 314 Day.Begun in 2006 to show love and support for the city, the event includes numerous activities and festivities citywide.I daresay we should...
Judy Gutlerner: An investment in joy
As a retired performing arts teacher, it is always disheartening to learn that whenever there is a budget crisis such as in Northampton, the arts are the first to be cut.Missing from the ongoing discussion is the positive effect a performance has on...
Columnist Sara Weinberger: The appalling silence over the atrocities of Oct. 7
By SARA WEINBERGER
My computer has a file labeled “Gazette Column,” in which I keep articles about possible subjects for future columns. Since last November, I have been saving stories about the rapes, torture, mutilations, and murders of Israeli women by Hamas on Oct....
Guest columnist William Lambers: Boston Marathon winner inspires action against hunger
By WILLIAM LAMBERS
In 1946, running legend Johnny Kelley, upon finishing second to Stylianos Kyriakides in the Boston Marathon, remarked “How can you beat a guy like that? He wasn’t running for himself. He was doing it for his country.”Stylianos Kyriakides was from...
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...
