Opinion

Guest columnist Chris Egan: Facts on modern wood heat

By CHRIS EGAN

 I’m writing in response to Katy Eiseman’s recent column, “Must stop subsidizing wood-fired energy,” [Recorder, April 5]. We’re concerned that readers may have walked away with a misunderstanding of the issue, and hope this column will clear things...

Guest columnist Joe Gannon:

By JOE GANNON

 There are not many columns I have read in the Gazette that were as poetic as Jena Schwartz’s,“Things I have not said” [Gazette, April 24]. It is a time when much is being left unsaid, and as she points out, a time when many want much left...

Guest columnist Mariel E. Addis: Pride and prejudice

By MARIEL E. ADDIS

 When I came out, and even when I began my male-to-female transition, I couldn’t quite imagine the way my life would turn.Before transitioning, I was very private. I was not a particularly vocal advocate for social justice, although I always...

Guest columnist Daniel Cantor Yalowitz: Staying real, remaining humble

By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ

Two weeks ago in this space, I wrote about the importance of cultural humility. At that time, I knew that my next column would focus on its twinned counterpart, personal humility. Today, I’ll focus on why maintaining an understanding of ourselves in...

Jim Weigang: Don’t trade our sidewalk for a bike trail

Regarding Mill River Greenway plans in Haydenville [“Residents resist Greenway trail plan,” Gazette, April 26], the proposed bike path would replace the existing sidewalk in our neighborhood and pass mere feet in front of homes on the upper end of the...

Nate Watson: Regarding the college encampment protests and antisemitism

If handed images of the college encampment protests and told to mark the antisemitism, many people would circle students wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags. The rise of antisemitism in America is undeniable, but I hear the call from...

Guest columnist Gene Stamell: We know what we know

By GENE STAMELL

 Columnist’s note: The following contains many parenthetical asides and seemingly unimportant details that somehow, one hopes, lead to a conclusion that the reader finds moderately interesting or entertaining or, at the very least, bearable.  Once...

Jennifer Dieringer: Budget must serve whole city

I am the parent of a Northampton High School student. I have been fortunate enough to have had the capacity and time to be engaged in the schools my son has attended, serving on the PTO since he was at Bridge Street Elementary School. (Pro tip: If you...

Nancy E. Grove: Landlines are the best

I enjoyed reading the guest column by Marietta Pritchard about landlines [”Landlines and more in our parallel universe,” Gazette, April 29].I totally agree with her. I thought my service was reliable until I loss my power a few years back. I have one...

Ken Rosenthal: Time to change direction on Jones Library

The Jones Library in Amherst received only one contractor’s bid for its long-planned renovation and expansion. When supplemental costs are added, that brings the estimated total project cost to at least $54 million. What seemed expensive before is now...

Sage Cooper-Clermont: A well-deserved thank you for chain of help

Thank you for finding and returning my keys. Thank you to Bob, the caretaker of Childs Park in Northampton, who went out and looked for them.Thank you to the young man who found them, saw my Big Y card, and took my keys to the Big Y service counter....

Joshua Singer: Friends of the trails could use a hand

As we start to feel the warmth of spring, I have seen a jump in the number of people outside, enjoying our neighborhoods —  biking, walking and rollerblading through the community.We are so fortunate to have an amazing and accessible trail network...

Columnist J.M. Sorrell: Days to remember

By J.M. SORRELL

May 1 is May Day. Originally it celebrated spring in Celtic and other traditions. Singing, dancing, bonfires, and competing for the tallest maypoles for male fertility were all the rage. Apparently size comparisons have been around for centuries. Who...

Guest columnist Owen Mitz: A hybrid suggestion for King Street

By OWEN MITZ

 Driving into Northampton south on King Street after getting off I-91, we are greeted by a number of tire stores, fast food establishments, auto dealers, auto body shops, drug stores (both types), food and liquor stores, and an occasional different...

Paul Craig: Gun control debate a fractured discourse

I don’t know if it’s irony, farce, comedy or tragedy. But, in the debate over gun control and ownership, some people insist that only members of the militia can “keep and bear arms.” And they restrict the “keep” part to armory storage.Additionally,...

Bernie Sadoski: Blake Gilmore is committed to his community

In the spring of 1986, a parent approached me to supervise a group of Frontier Regional High School students in a weightlifting program. According to the athletic director, the program needed an adult supervisor to oversee the program. I agreed to...

Byron Coley: Shores Ness for Select Board

Blake Gilmore wants my vote to serve on the Selectboard in Deerfield. So I asked friends and neighbors what they knew about the candidate, and where he stands on the issues in the town — subsidized senior housing, senior center, road repair funding,...

Guest columnist Sarah Willie-LeBreton: Smith College and the city — Neighborliness and much more

By SARAH WILLIE-LEBRETON

 As Smith’s new president, I have been enormously impressed to learn about our integrated history and 150-year relationship with Northampton. We will continue to be the neighbor who answers the knock at our door, cherishing the city we call home.I...

Guest columnist John Sinton: ‘In tears for both Jew and Palestinian’

By JOHN SINTON

 In 1918, my grandfather Jack Walter became a fervent supporter of a Palestinian homeland for European Jews. I am staring at his photograph as I write this, an image of a pleasant-looking man poised over an American flag with three other Jews under a...