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As a 65-year-old woman who has lived in western Massachusetts for 47 years, I have seen my share of political crises in this country. But never — never — have I witnessed such a brazen, coordinated attack on our democracy and our communities as we are seeing today. This isn’t just about political differences; it is about the systematic dismantling of government institutions that serve and protect us all.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Three sedimentation basins directly upstream from the reservoir at Atkins Reservoir, located in Shutesbury, will be dredged in the fall of 2026.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A proposal to develop three four-story, mixed-use buildings on Hampshire College land near Atkins Corner is receiving mostly praise from members of the Planning Board, even as some residents who live nearby worry about the height of the buildings and the possibility that the apartments will be occupied by college students, rather than families.

Recent discussion in the Gazette about the Main Street project causes me to think it may not be too late for me, a non-Northampton resident, to comment. I live in Amherst. I shop occasionally from a few stores in Northampton; more often, I go there to cultural events at the Forbes, or the Academy of Music, Look Park or Smith College.

Donald Trump makes Richard Nixon look like the pope.

By EMILEE KLEIN

HADLEY — U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employee Jackie Stephens starts her day at the Cronin Aquatic Resource Center in Sunderland by checking her email to see if she’s been fired.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — It’s back to the drawing board for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools’ proposed budget for next year, after the Town Council on Monday rejected changing the way assessments are determined for each of the district’s four member towns.

‘Arlington Cemetery scrubs links deemed diversity” is the headline of a Washington Post article reprinted on Page A6 of the March 15 Gazette. The article explains how the Department of Defense has deleted internal links directing users to graves of notable Black, Hispanic and female veterans, as well as eliminating content on the Civil War. No longer can we easily find content that highlights leaders of color or women.

I was ordered into medical quarantine on Friday the 13th of March 2020. Nothing could have prepared me for the next several days, weeks, and months ahead … let alone years. I watched the sun go down from my bed as I binge-watched stupid pet videos for serotonin and escapism while fighting off death for eight nights.

The government’s detention and threatened deportation of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil is a five-alarm fire for freedom of speech in the U.S. Instead of claiming that Mr. Khalil engaged in criminality, the government says it wants to deport him because it doesn’t like what he said.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — At least 1,000 students, staff and faculty, many from the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, descended on the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Monday morning, rallying to preserve 18 positions at the middle and high schools that could be lost due to budget cuts.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Five years after its approval, legislation aimed at improving K-12 education statewide known as the Student Opportunity Act is not infusing school districts in western Massachusetts with much-needed additional funding as promised.

By KATHY GREGG

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Visitors from Lexington and Marblehead were among those who came to see “Generic Male,” the off-Broadway physical theater performed at Northampton’s Academy of Music in early March.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Some Fort River School families and staff are faulting district leadership for failing to address a physical and verbal assault of a parent in the school’s lobby on Feb. 10, along with other incidents of bullying and harassment by parents, that have occurred over the course of the school year.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Site work related to construction of a five-story, mixed-use building at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive is expected to begin before summer, following final approvals from the Planning Board last week.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A series of fee increases for school-related activities, which cover participation in athletics and parking at the high school, are being considered by the Amherst Regional School Committee.

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

There are many ways to describe and to analyze what is happening in the federal government since Donald Trump was inaugurated. But the clearest and most consistent pattern is that the billionaires have taken over and have started to destroy anything that interferes with them becoming richer and richer. Their greed appears to know no bounds. I find this truly frightening.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Best-case scenarios for the Amherst elementary and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools, in which the budgets are around $2 million short of providing level services for the 2025-2026 school year, are leading a member of Amherst’s Town Council to suggest town officials find a way to get more money to local public education.

Talk is cheap. It is clear to many that there are only two ways to stop Trump. One is the courts, the other is massive civil disobedience.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Money for projects to improve access to buildings and ensure more public amenities for residents with disabilities could be directed by a new Commission for Persons with Disabilities, which will begin meeting monthly in April.