Susan Lantz: Truth-telling

We in the Valley are fortunate to have a responsive, caring, engaged congressional representative in Jim McGovern. I’m sure many reading this letter heard him answer questions for hours in his Northampton or Greenfield listening sessions. There was obvious support and appreciation for Rep. McGovern in both standing-room-only gatherings.

Guest columnist Teresa Amabile: Undermine education, undermine our future

By TERESA AMABILE

Guest columnist Liz Brown: Abortion care is health care

By LIZ BROWN

D. Dina Friedman: Jewish group decries ICE’s crackdown on freedom of speech

Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Massachusetts decries ICE’s arrest and threatened deportation of green card holder Mahmoud Khalil. Despite not being charged with a crime, Khalil is currently in detention thousands of miles away from his pregnant wife because he participated in Gaza-related protests, a First Amendment right.

Henry Lappen: Tango is alive and well in the Valley

I invite everyone to Western MA Tango’s Live Music Weekend on April 5-6 in Northampton. Whether you dance tango or not, these events will be of interest.

Carolyn Cushing: Stop perpetuating dehumanization

I have read Hannah Moushabeck’s children’s book “Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine.” It’s lovely: a story of a father sharing memories and stories with his three daughters about his family and the sights and sounds of East Jerusalem growing up.

Guest columnist Emily Quintana, Kate Kruckemeyer, and Stephanie Baird: Fighting ICE attack on principle of sanctuary

By EMILY QUINTANA, KATE KRUCKEMEYER and STEPHANIE BAIRD

Laurel Gardner: Are ADUs for residential housing or for profit?

Easthampton’s City Council is poised to review an ordinance legalizing and regulating short-term rentals in the city. (e.g. Airbnbs) The current draft allows up to 50 properties for this use, including whole houses, apartments, parts of houses, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Before the current moratorium on cease-and-desist orders was declared to address this issue, there was no provision in Easthampton’s building code that allowed short-term rentals. So, any entity renting to visitors for fewer than 29 days, other than licensed Bed and Breakfast establishments, were operating illegally.

Ava Gips: Join national day of protest on April 5

There are so many outrages that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are perpetuating that it’s hard to know what to focus on. But RumeysaOzturk’s arrest really affects me deeply.

Aline LaBorwit Davis: Headlines ‘biased and negative’

The Gazette chose divisive headlines when presenting Northampton school budget issues: “Showdown looms for school budget” and “Budget battle likely” [March 29].

E. Lary Grossman: Vote to remove housing authority board member ‘foolish’

Tonight at 7 p.m. at Hatfield Town Hall, the Board of Selectmen will convene a meeting in executive session to remove an elected member of the Hatfield Housing Authority. The member, Christopher Smith, has requested that this meeting be made public and hopefully televised on cable TV.

Columnist J.M. Sorrell: The official language

By J.M. SORRELL

On March 1, the person once again impersonating the president signed an executive order declaring that English is the official language of the United States. The order stated, “A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.” Given that over 350 languages are spoken here, it is challenging to grasp the “free” part of the order.

Guest columnist Kristin DeBoer: Let’s stand together for the valley you love

By KRISTIN DEBOER

Michael Sullivan: We are better than this

Federal law enforcement agents, pledged to protect and serve. They whisk away a student for her opinions and associations. Hiding behind masks, are they ashamed, afraid, or both? Dishonorable, disgraceful and alarming. We are better than this. This cannot stand.

George W. Kriebel Jr.: Cruelty in the name of efficiency

The lead headline in the Saturday, March 29 Gazette, “USDA yanks $3.4M in aid to food banks,” calls to mind a recent book review in The New Yorker [March 17] about the Irish Potato Famine, which explained that the famine was “the product … of a particularly virulent form of exploitative capitalism that left millions of people utterly exposed” to a political/economic system that was stacked against them.

Janet Kaplan-Bucciarelli: Good news for a change

For many people right now, things look bleak. But the other day, a seemingly small act of generosity made a huge difference to our local high school students.

Robert Cabral: A bus safety proposal

I read the article, “Family inspires law for bus monitoring systems” [Gazette, March 29] about a bill allowing school buses to install cameras on their “stop” arms to record violators’ license plates as they pass. As a longtime local school bus driver, I have seen this dangerous behavior up close. It is can be frightening and potentially life-threatening. The challenge seems to be deciding who will fund these devices if town budgets and bus companies claim they can’t cover costs.

Columnist Joanna Buoniconti: When your home feels more like a workplace

By JOANNA BUONICONTI

The doorbell rings, and my stomach immediately clenches. It’s the beginning of the necessary same song and dance which I’ve come to dread like no other. Meeting a new nurse.

Michael John Kowalchuk: Make Massachusetts a sanctuary state

Many Valley residents assume that Massachusetts is already a sanctuary state that is doing as much as possible to defend immigrants from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The truth is that Gov. Maura Healey, the country’s first openly lesbian governor, does not believe that Massachusetts should be a sanctuary state, and that collaboration between ICE will continue under her governorship. Gov. Healey also wants to make it harder to access housing assistance and the state’s shelter system. There is not a shortage of resources; there is a shortage of justice.

Susan McClellan: Goodbye Beaver Brook

I’m so sad that Beaver Brook will soon no longer be a golf course. I started playing there when I was a kid. Bub Tiley was the manager and Jack Toski was the pro. I was very fortunate to get many golf lessons from Jack (at no charge). I’ve seen some wonderful wildlife, such as bears, deer, coydogs, minks, heron, egrets, turtles and a wide variety of birds. I even saw a doe give birth to her baby right by the eighth hole! I really loved playing golf there and meeting a lot of wonderful people. I wish it didn’t have to go.