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By ALLEN WOODS

Nearly all social thinkers (including the artificial ones of AI) emphasize that functioning, peaceful societies must agree on a group of shared meanings for communicating. These include gestures (a handshake, hug, tip of the hat, tap on the heart, etc.), images and symbols, and spoken and written words. They are “the glue that holds society together, enabling individuals to understand each other, cooperate effectively, and build a cohesive and vibrant social life.”

By POLLY BYERS

In the three months since President Trump took office, we have seen an unprecedented upheaval of the norms and principles that are foundational to who we are as a nation and a people. Of the myriad devastating impacts resulting from the chaotic behavior of the current Administration, the effort to disparage, dismantle and defund the institutions of America’s international leadership and engagement is most strikingly at odds with America’s fundamental values and what it has long stood for — a reliable partner, a country of opportunity and hope, and a beacon to those seeking a better life.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services, a Greenfield nonprofit that serves youths across Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties and the North Quabbin region, announced Tuesday that the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is expected to cut nearly 40% of its roughly $2 million budget.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Western Massachusetts has a new lesbian bar and performance venue.

In July, I typically spend time in the garden, pruning back overgrown shrubs and flowers. They are just at that point where the plant is busting out all over, and becoming huge; but the flower is about to pass by. Kind of like when you know you need your haircut, because it’s starting to annoy you. But when you make the appointment, you feel a pang because it just looks so — perfect right now. It would feel worse to be ruthless if it wasn’t grounded in some real knowledge. And expertise. And yes, it is indeed (you guessed, clever reader) an analogy for many other things in life.

By ALLEN WOODS

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter gave a heartfelt, but politically disastrous speech. He described an American “crisis in confidence.” People faced a stubborn Mideast hostage crisis, long lines at gas stations for scarce, expensive gas, the highest inflation rate of any presidential term in history (almost 10%!), and unemployment rates of nearly 8% (inherited from the previous Ford administration).

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is promising to prioritize efforts to curb the opioid crisis in Massachusetts amid cuts and freezing of federal funding.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — For a town like Hatfield, annual road maintenance has become increasingly more challenging over the past 12 years, as state Chapter 90 road money declines even as the price of hot mix asphalt rises substantially.

By CHRIS LARABEE

Beginning more than a decade ago and wrapping up in 2016, a wide-ranging coalition in western Massachusetts banded together to resist Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s Northeast Energy Direct project, which proposed a pipeline running through eight Franklin County towns.

By STEVE PFARRER

Several years ago, Mattea Kramer, an Amherst writer and researcher who’s studied and written about the federal budget as well as drug policies at state and federal levels, spent time interviewing a number of women in the Greenfield jail who were part of a recovery program for substance use.

By CHRIS LARABEE

The Greenfield Garden Cinemas is rolling out a red-carpet premiere of its own on April 16, as it welcomes the public to a free screening of a locally-produced short film with a question-and-answer session to follow.

By DOMENIC POLI

AMHERST — A renowned expert on the Middle East will visit western Massachusetts on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the situation in Palestine and her new book.

NORTHAMPTON — Numerous standouts across Hampshire County are taking place Saturday to send a message to President Donald Trump and his administration that they should take their hands off American jobs, health care and social services.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Sixty-two-year-old Tammy Baxter never received her high school diploma. With help from The Literacy Project, though, the Turners Falls resident is seeking to finish what she started.

If something happens during Biden’s term, it’s Biden’s fault. If something happens during Trump’s term, it’s Biden’s fault. So all the tariffs and global disruption is all on Biden? Got it.

Dear ChatGPT, Can you write me a letter about how to be a good writer? Can you teach me to problem-solve, be creative, or express myself concisely? Well, I hope you can, because with you here now we aren’t going to learn these things the same way we have before. As a writer who has learned through banging my head against the wall and juggling my words around my brain, I believe that learning to be a better writer makes you a better person.

I attended the March 18 packed town hall with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern at Greenfield Middle School. Frustration and urgency were palpable. Communication also was an important topic, so I’ll put out some thoughts.

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — One of the prospective owners of Magic Wings often thinks back to fond memories of celebrating a life milestone at the nearly quarter-century-old butterfly conservatory and gardens on Routes 5 and 10.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GREENFIELD — Officials at the Greenfield-based Connecticut River Conservancy are left waiting with $13 million in federal funding frozen that had been awarded to the environmental advocacy nonprofit, including $11.5 million for river restoration in New Hampshire.

When antisemites like the Trump administration conduct a witch hunt for “antisemites,” lines blur and confusion rises, as the term antisemite becomes a tool of suppression. Read Timothy Snyder’s article [”‘Antisemitism’ and Antisemitism”] on the misuse and abuse of the word “antisemitism” for clarity as he reveals that “The American government’s war on higher education and freedom of expression is proceeding according to the same antisemitic rules of engagement as Russia’s war against Ukraine.” (The Russian foreign minister claims Hitler was Jewish.)

By JON HUER

Most Americans understand what the Cold War was about — a non-shooting war of ideology that began as soon as World War II had ended between liberal-capitalist America and communist-socialist Russia. The two camps, once allies against Nazis, competed for the hearts and minds of the world everywhere, arguing at the U.N., competing in the Olympics and brainwashing the young in classrooms.