Keyword search: Easthampton MA
By TOLLEY M. JONES
In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was amended to include the Fugitive Slave Clause. This clause made it illegal for enslaved persons to free themselves through escape, and legally required them to be returned to their enslavers. In enshrining this in the Constitution, it also nullified state laws that protected enslaved persons from being returned to their enslaver if they reached a Northern state that abolished slavery. However, as Southern enslavers were unsatisfied with the resistance they encountered when attempting to retrieve their escaped slaves, the U.S. government attempted to mollify them with a stronger law. In 1793, The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress. This law declared that any escaped enslaved person must be returned to their enslaver, regardless of what state in which they were recaptured, and that anyone assisting in their escape would be fined $500 and given a year in prison.
By MELISSA KAREN SANCES
Once upon a time, the Art House at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary was just a fairy tale.
Plenty. On June 27, 2025, President Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth changed the name of U.S. Navy Ship Harvey Milk to U.S. Navy Ship Oscar V. Peterson. Harvey Milk you will remember was a gay activist and the first openly gay person to serve on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978 by a fellow supervisor, Dan White. The back story on Harvey Milk's life underscores how egregious the name change is.
On the bus, driving or walking seniors are harassed and threatened. Then when waiting on the bus a person is threatened by a person who says he is in judo and will take them down. What is the matter with people? This is uncalled for. How about self-defense for seniors.
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
An Easthampton man has been found dead in Vermont near the Massachusetts border, with the cause of his death still under investigation by Vermont State Police.
By CAROLYN BROWN
Violinist Julie Lyonn Lieberman has a mission: to help classical string musicians of all ages, both amateur and professional, expand their horizons and skillsets to musical styles outside of the traditional Western classical music canon. This weekend, Lieberman will bring that passion back to another season of “Strings Without Boundaries,” a summer music learning program, for which she is the artistic director.
By EMILEE KLEIN
EASTHAMPTON — It’s not often that a City Council decision draws a standing ovation, but that’s exactly what happened last week when Easthampton’s legislative body approved a resolution to protect the transgender, nonbinary, gender-diverse and intersex community from any attempts to remove their access to health care or community services.
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
EASTHAMPTON — The City Council passed the $62 million fiscal year budget put forward by Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, although not without some controversy regarding reduced hours for several city employees.
As a retired nurse, 47-year career, I am writing in support of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital nurses who are currently in contract negotiations. Having spent my entire career as a bedside nurse, my choice, working various hospital departments, I have seen the value a nurse brings to every department. There have been many advances and changes in health care but the one constant is the nurse who cares for each patient and their family.
By TOLLEY M. JONES
On Jan. 1, 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation became law in the United States. It declared that “all persons held as slaves … shall be … forever free and the …Government of the United States … will do no act … to repress such persons … in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”
By SARA WEINBERGER
Donald Trump and his supporters may call it the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But for many, particularly immigrants and their allies, the budget reconciliation bill is atrocious, appalling. and abominable. Trump’s master plan to rid this country of all immigrants of color has targeted thousands of documented and undocumented immigrants for detention, with the goal of deportation. ICE has become more aggressive, by surveilling people in unmarked cars, then swooping in to homes, workplaces, and even schools. They kick in doors and smash car windows to gain entrance. They target young people in order to gain access to their parents. Daily arrest quotas for ICE agents have risen from 1,000 to 3,000. Terror-stricken parents are afraid to leave home or send their kids to school. Yet, none of this is enough to satisfy Trump’s thirst for violence against those he has targeted as the enemies of America.
By CAROLYN BROWN
A new vegan food festival is about to take root in the Pioneer Valley.
By OLIN ROSE-BARDAWIL
Two weeks ago marked 600 days since the war in Gaza began. Six hundred days and nearly 100,000 casualties later, many have woken up to the clear immorality of Israel’s assault on Gaza. However, there are still many Americans who cling to a few talking points that allow them to justify the brutality — talking points which, over 600 days in, seem just as tired and trite as the war itself.
The street fair Cultural Chaos, one of Easthampton’s biggest annual events, will return this year on Saturday, June 14, from 12 to 5 p.m. on Cottage Street in Easthampton.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
EASTHAMPTON — Recalling an incident in the city’s public schools in which a Jewish child was targeted with Nazi salutes and taunts and opted to remove the Star of David on his person out of fear for his well-being, a former Easthampton city councilor told a legislative panel that the strategy school officials used in response was to “delay, deflect, deny and delegitimize.”
I cannot believe it. They want to make the church into housing. A disgrace. It mean more traffic. This should be stopped.
It appears the beginning of July will mark the end of Beaver Brook Golf Course. It will be purchased by a nonprofit land trust and rewilded into a park.
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals has maintained a previous court injunction that blocked the Trump administration from enacting significant layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education, part of a lawsuit whose plaintiffs include the Easthampton School Committee.
The Northampton Jazz Festival will screen “Brownie Speaks,” a documentary about the life of jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown, at 33 Hawley on Thursday, June 12, at 8 p.m.
You, like me, have probably been hearing rumors about something “big” that will be happening on June 14, 2025. What’s the big fuss about? Here is the scoop. First, it is for sure Flag Day. On June 14, 1777 the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the first American flag. Rather than having a separate flag for each state it was decided to have one flag for the entire land. Second it is the U. S. Army’s 250th anniversary. Third it is Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. He was born on June 14 at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York. Now here’s the rub: Trump wants to have a massive military parade in Washington, combining his birthday with the Army’s. It won’t surprise you that this mega event is prompting a counterattack with a coalition with more than a dozen organizations mounting No Kings Day events, of which now there are at least 100.
Speaking as a Smith alumna and faculty child, the revocation of Evelyn Harris's honorary degree leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I know that Smith, as an academic institution, must have a stringent standard for plagiarism, and cannot condone plagiarism. However, seems to me that Smith sought to award Harris an honorary degree for high-quality, non-academic work, then set her an academic task in which Smith failed to support her properly — and proceeded to flunk her for violating academic standards. I suggest a redo: honor her with a performance celebrating her work, centering her in the performance, and give her a performance-specific honorary doctorate.
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