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It’s striking to me that days after the storm, many of the side streets in Northampton are a sheet of ice, making it unsafe for children, families, the elderly and people walking. Is the city seeking a lawsuit?

I’m stunned that the city didn’t send out plows Sunday night starting around 10 p.m. It was obvious that this Icepocalypse would happen.

As a citizen of Northampton, I feel strongly that we need to treat the Department of Public Works better in our budgeting. We urgently need to pare back the absurdly over-bloated school budget. We spend half of our coffers on schools. We need more funding for DPW.

Dear neighbors: Please help us keep our sidewalks safe. Sidewalks should be cleared of snow and ice down to the pavement for the full width and length of the entire distance adjacent to your property. Otherwise, sidewalks that are not fully cleared pose a real danger to the safety of your neighbors.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — The Massachusetts Teachers Association is removing links to potentially offensive images from a members-only section of its website, as well as any materials posted there that don’t aid students and teachers in better understanding the conflict in the Middle East.

I am writing to echo Deb Henson’s excellent Feb. 15 guest column in the Gazette [”Northampton mayor, council fail to heed our priority — schools”]. We are a progressive community that places a premium on education and believes a community’s quality can best be measured by how it treats its most vulnerable. I support Deb and Support Our Schools (SOS) because they are both advocating for some of Northampton’s most vulnerable members — its public school children.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Smith College alumna Nava Grunfeld recently opened a retrospective show of still lifes and figure paintings at the Smith Alumnae House Gallery.

One of Shakespeare’s most famous plays is coming to the Pioneer Valley – with a cast of one.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Harsh weather conditions of significant snow combined with freezing rain, a lack of adequate salt supply and a shortage of available workers has left residents up and down the Pioneer Valley in slippery situations.

First of all, sincere wishes to Gazette columnist Bob Flaherty for a quick and full recovery from the very serious injury he incurred on the bike path, and kudos to the two walkers who came to his aid, and to the Hadley police, Acton EMS, and the staff at Baystate Hospital.

In 1993, while visiting our niece at Smith College, I noticed that strangers in town smiled at me as we passed. Cars stopped for pedestrians in the crosswalks! Dazzled and delighted, I fell in love with Northampton. Twenty-five years later, seeking a lively, welcoming community in which to grow old, Will and I moved to Northampton. We haven’t been disappointed.

I am writing to express my pride as a resident of Ward 3 in having Quaverly Rothenberg as my City Council representative. There’s an often quoted phrase that appears in the classic movie “Inherit the Wind” — that the job of a journalist is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted. I would say it is also the job of a good politician. (We all know there are many politicians who do exactly the opposite.)

By LEIGH GRAHAM

By DEB HENSON

I am writing this to my fellow residents of this wonderful city to voice my bewilderment and disappointment regarding this year’s budgetary actions by the mayor, supported by many city councilors, that gutted Northampton school funding. The resulting loss of many teachers and paraprofessionals is unfathomable to me given this city’s apparent value in public education.

By THE REV. ANDREA AYVAZIAN

On Feb. 8, I was asked to speak at a rally in front of City Hall in Northampton intended to energize our common resistance to the multiple horrors being unleashed by Donald Trump and the oligarchs who surround him. After I spoke, several people suggested that my speech should be published because it had been helpful to them. My thanks to those who sought me out to say: Share your message.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — In the sleepy village of Florence, some big new developments have people talking change.

By CAROLYN BROWN

A new video store is coming to downtown Northampton. That’s right — a video store, in 2025!

By CAROLYN BROWN

It’s no small feat to celebrate a 150th birthday. In 2025, Smith College is commemorating the sesquicentennial anniversary of its founding with programming throughout the year to celebrate the legacy and history of the women’s college.

By OLIN ROSE-BARDAWIL

In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, one of the groups to that came out in strongest support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas was the American evangelical Christian community. In light of the events, this was a completely understandable response; Hamas’ attacks on Israeli soil were beyond tragic and were particularly alarming among American Christians and Jews, for whom Israel is of unique religious significance.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Residents were given an opportunity to learn about their city’s role in the history of slavery in the United States, viewing short documentary films and discussing the topic of reparations on Tuesday at Edwards Church.