Opinion

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...

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...

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...

Columnist Karen Gardner: What kind of nation are we?

By KAREN GARDNERDid you know that the Founders of our great nation wrote these words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”?Isn’t that amazing? That’s the first line of the First...

Cathy McNally: It's good to look for gold when you need it

The people of Northampton shouldn’t be belittled as naïve for urging the city to adequately fund schools. That’s why I was surprised to hear two School Committee members mention “some people” as believing the city had a hidden “pot of gold.” And...

Rachel Wysoker: Start dreaming bigger on King Street

Thank you, Paige Bridgens and Ruth Woodring, for encouraging us to imagine something better than a car lot, even a different King Street, in your eloquent letter [“Where once there was a car lot, let there be a forest,” Gazette, April 3].I have many...

Sharon Hall-Smith: Struggle for racial justice, reparations movement growing

I appreciated the March 1 letter about reparations owed to African-Americans [“Unitarian Universalists advocating for reparations,” Gazette]. I also saw the new documentary film, “The Cost of Inheritance,” that was referenced and was very impressed by...

Jennifer Delozier: One thing you never say to a solar eclipse

“Wait one minute ... I’ll be right there!” And yes, it was spectacular!Jennifer DelozierEasthampton

Noah Daube-Valois: Save Northampton High School’s arts

One year ago, Northampton High School’s newly hired Dave Grout directed the musical “Rock Of Ages.” On opening night, he made a tear-filled speech about his 10-plus-year search for a high school theater job. Alongside music director Susan Dillard, it...

Guest columnist Craig Felton: A new bridge over the Conn. River is not asking too much

By CRAIG FELTON

 I am grateful to the Greenfield Recorder for granting me space to add to Chris Larabee’s article: “Visioning workshop considers future of downtown (Sunderland)” [Recorder, April 2]. I am quoted, rightly, as saying: “Forget about the roundabout.” I...