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By JOHN PARADIS

The definition of hyperbole is an obvious and intentional exaggeration, or an extravagant statement or figure of speech.But after reading the indictment charging former president Donald J. Trump, is it hyperbole to say it is the most important...

By BOB NAGLE

For a certain number of people with bipolar disorder, there exists an often-overlooked complication that performs a vital role in perceiving their condition — anosognosia, a neurological abnormality that stems from damage to the brain, explicitly...

By JOHN PEPI

Regarding Matthew Muspratt’s column “Working where ‘field’ defines ‘the other,’” [Gazette, June 5], I appreciated this thoughtful and non-recriminating commentary that sheds light on the thought processes and experience of development professionals...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

When Gen. Dwight Eisenhower spoke at the third anniversary of the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, he praised the bravery of American soldiers. The D-Day invasion of Nazi German-occupied France led to the liberation of Europe and victory in World War...

By MATTHEW MUSPRATT

The recent furor over the Smith College School for Social Work’s decision to retire the word “field” from certain program descriptions for its racial “negative associations” has, perhaps predictably, sounded of America’s sharpest, most current...

By RUTHERFORD H. PLATT 

‘Picture Main Street” — if fully approved and executed over three years as proposed by state planners — will likely be a death sentence for Northampton’s ailing but treasured Main Street.One need only to look at the various local projects of the state...

By TERENCE MASTERSON

Housing creation is a very costly issue that deserves the same level of subsidy we see in transit, roads, education and health care.GM Chairman Alfred Sloan famously said that GM made cars for “every purse and purpose.” Our housing creation policies...

By BARRY ROTH

In a recent New York Times column, David Wallace-Wells criticized the current environmental movement for losing its passion for protecting the natural world for its own sake. Instead, he pointed out, a large faction of environmentalists are focused on...

By ARLENE AVAKIAN

Remembering, forgetting, denying, immersing, obsessing, uncovering, inhabiting.World War II veterans, on the 50th anniversary commemorations of their war, remembered and articulated, many for the first time, what they had experienced. Unlike the...

By JOE BLUMENTHAL

When the Pleasant Street Theater closed in 2012, a new use had to be found for the space. As the owner of the building, I made a deal with the owner of McLadden’s, a Connecticut restaurant chain, to take over the space. At the end of a considerable...

By GENE STAMELL

I changed my razor blade this morning. I realize this revelation falls far short of being categorized as earth-shattering news. But if you bear with me, dear reader, you may recognize some parts of yourself in the following self-reflection — and I’m...

By CLAUDIA LEFKO

Here’s the thing that’s so annoying about the Ninja Turtles manhole covers: spending $20,000 to create them when there are so many pressing needs in the city. It’s just another example of the city focusing exclusively on downtown, spending vast...

By SYLVIA STAUB

I find myself, lately, in a mood of despair about the future of our species. We humans, as a whole, have still not grasped the seriousness of the situation we have created for ourselves.Since the early 19th century, we have used our highly evolved...

By JOHN PARADIS

May is National Military Appreciation Month. Designated by Congress in 1999 to honor past and present military members and their families, the month includes several commemorations, including Loyalty Day, VE Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day,...

By THE REV. PETER KAKOS

Amid the ruinous aftermath of the first Civil War, in 1868, Anne Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia conceived the idea of setting aside a day for a badly wounded nation to begin to heal, by arranging for grieving mothers of the Confederacy and of the...

By ANN FERGUSON and MARISOL PIERCE BONIFAZ

In Massachusetts, we pride ourselves on our strong reproductive rights legislation that allows people 16 and older to receive abortion services if they so choose. However, we still have more to do to fully protect pregnant people’s rights in our...

By LAURIE LOISEL

The four heartfelt letters on Tuesday responding to J.M. Sorrell’s May 3 column [“Misogyny as entertainment and entitlement,”] prompted me to write to thank the Gazette for publishing her column, despite knowing it would offend. Not because I agree...

By MARIEL E. ADDIS

I am a Gen-X’er. I am among the first of the new models to come out. The Mustang and the Beatles beat me and my peers to the scene by mere months, both being introduced the year prior. Probably due to being the first of my generation, I feel a lot of...

By MICHELE SPRING-MOORE

Usually I breeze past J.M. Sorrell’s columns, but her latest, published in the Gazette three days before the Hampshire Pride march, was too over the top to ignore. This column created a toxic anti-transgender stew by mashing together her feminist...

By E LARY GROSSMAN

Voters in the town of Hatfield are being asked to support a Proposition 2½ budget override at the Town Meeting on May 9 and town election on Tuesday, May 16. A majority vote is required at both to pass the override.The 1980 state law automatically...