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By JOANNA BUONICONTI

The doorbell rings, and my stomach immediately clenches. It’s the beginning of the necessary same song and dance which I’ve come to dread like no other. Meeting a new nurse.

Many Valley residents assume that Massachusetts is already a sanctuary state that is doing as much as possible to defend immigrants from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The truth is that Gov. Maura Healey, the country’s first openly lesbian governor, does not believe that Massachusetts should be a sanctuary state, and that collaboration between ICE will continue under her governorship. Gov. Healey also wants to make it harder to access housing assistance and the state’s shelter system. There is not a shortage of resources; there is a shortage of justice.

“Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” Those are the opening words in the Education Chapter of Project 2025. I just discovered this quote when learning of Trump’s threat on closing the U.S. Department of Education (“Trump will order a plan to shut down the U.S. Education Department,” Gazette, March 21).

I am incredibly proud of the hardworking professionals at our Public Safety Communications Center. Every day, our dispatchers answer difficult calls with patience, professionalism, and dedication to the safety of our community. Their work is demanding and often unseen, yet they remain steadfast in their mission to provide exceptional service to our city.

Since it appears that “The Republic for which it stands” is no longer applicable, I believe a more fitting loyalty pledge for those so inclined would be as follows: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of Trump and the MAGA cult for which it stands, one divided nation, under my God-King, Donald I, with malice, cruelty, and injustice for all others.”

By RYAN VOILAND

The following speech was delivered by Ryan Voiland at a farmers’ rally opposing cuts to USDA and other federal programs that are negatively impacting farms and agriculture in the region and around the country. The rally took place on Sunday, March 23 in front of Hadley Town Hall.

By RICHARD FEIN

This column is about Ukraine in the fourth year of a war that Russia started. The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, wants to wipe out Ukraine as an independent country with its own history and culture. Under the Biden administration, NATO was revitalized and the U.S. supported Ukraine in its hour of need. Under President Donald Trump, U.S. policy has changed.

I was amused by one reader’s objection to Democratic lawmakers not standing in honor of the little boy who had been sick and wanted to be a policeman amid the torrent of lies that was President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress earlier this month.

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.

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.

I just don’t believe the Recorder’s March 17 front-page story, “Drought conditions upgraded to critical.” The people who fret about the weather all voted for Harris-Walz, the dumbest ticket in American history. I voted for the guys with common sense.

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.

In 1995, I co-chaired Envision Central Square, a two-year urban design effort to revitalize Massachusetts Avenue from Cambridge City Hall to MIT. At the time, I led the Central Square Neighborhood Coalition; my co-chair, architect George Metzger, headed the Business Association. Together, we hosted around 50 meetings on everything from sidewalks and bike paths to storefronts, street life, and pedestrian flow.

Woody Allen’s contribution to cinema is the lovable nebbish — a hopelessly hopeful Don Juan wannabe who never will be. In the 1972 film “Play It Again, Sam,” Mr. Allen portrays Allan Felix, a recent divorcé who feels like a stranger in a strange land when it comes to meeting women.

We are writing to highlight an urgent issue that threatens our community: the defunding of our nation’s libraries due to a recent executive order. The order aims to eliminate funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the sole federal agency dedicated to supporting public libraries nationwide. The proposed cuts jeopardize essential services such as interlibrary loans, eBook services, and crucial grants.

I don’t cry often, there is so much bad news these days, I’ve built walls to distance myself. But to read of that woman stomping her dog to death breached that wall [”Northampton woman jailed in dog death,” Gazette, March 20]. I’ve heard dogs cry in fear and pain, it is a heartrending plea, not easily ignored.

By DONALD JORALEMON

The Institute of Museum and Library Services provides necessary funding and administrative funding to museum and library programs. They promote American English literacy by reports and funding research on literacy development. They help with the digitization of local historical records, career training, and projects studying American industry, Founding Fathers, and more. IMLS supports each of the 50 states, D.C., and American territories with technology access and instructions aimed at American information services. With the National Park Service, they fund the preservation of artifacts. Without their funding libraries will take away our learning through books, programs, classes, and the internet, which is free! Libraries can help with job searching, skill building, resume writing regardless of your age. Rural and underserved areas has vital resource in libraries and museums.We must not take away IMLS.

While the writers of the March 21 letter, “Mayor Sciarra, a competent, compassionate leader,” list several examples of what they see as the Northampton mayor’s compassion, they’re pretty thin on their basis for declaring her competence. The one item they raise of any possible relevance here — she’s “a whiz at budgets and spreadsheets” — is an awfully low bar for someone at the top of the organizational chart for a $137 million per year operation. A better measure of mayoral competence is to look at results.

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.

I was baffled and confused by the March 14 article about the Hatfield Housing Board and the criticisms launched against Chris Smith of Prospect Street in Hatfield [”Hatfield Housing Authority board presses for removal of ‘toxic’ member”].