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I find it very interesting that an attorney such as John Bonifaz, who is supposed to be versed on constitutional rights, thinks it is OK to skirt amendments such as the Fifth, which states that everyone is afforded the right to a fair trial and the...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

Congress can take action against hunger and poverty by bringing back the expanded child tax credit that was so successful in 2021. They can start by voting in favor of the bipartisan tax proposal put forward by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron...

By JOHN WALTER

What is Imbolc? It is the day halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.If the winter solstice represents the death of the year, then Imbolc represents the birth of the new year.In our country we give fancy to groundhogs and their...

By SUSAN WOZNIAK

I have no idea when or why I decided I wanted to live in Massachusetts. Maybe it was its history, or its intellectual reputation. Maybe it was the beautiful photographs that graced the calendars that oil companies handed out. The ones printed on...

By CARRIE BAKERSexual assault and reproductive coercion share similar dynamics: both are forms of violence that intimately violate a person’s body. The Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandals and its attempts to coerce people’s reproductive...

By ANNE-LOUISE SMALLEN

Immigration is a serious problem for Democrats in the 2024 presidential election. As everything else in the country, it is polarized and lacks a middle road solution.Many Americans fear a return to Donald Trump’s policies of separating families or...

After reading the Jan. 9 Gazette article [“State reckons with its history”], I decided to write with my idea of a component for the new state flag.The beaver. The beaver has always been important to Massachusetts (as well as the rest of New England)....

I applaud Joe Cadettes’ guest column [“Pursuit of liberty will sweep away ‘elitist liberalism,’” Gazette, Jan. 23]. He stated exactly how us people “on the right” feel about the current election bruhaha that is all over the news. Funny how you don’t...

Given the situations in our nation and in our world, I have often wondered why our flag doesn't always fly at half-staff?Jennifer DelozierEasthampton

By DAVID HERNÁNDEZ

Political hypocrisy is the norm for our times. One shameful example of partisan duplicity is the persistent xenophobic vilification of migrants and asylum seekers arriving to the United States in order to boost one’s political scorecard. Two repeat...

Ten U.S. senators joined Sen. Bernie Sanders to pass Resolution 502B© under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. This resolution simply asks the State Department for a report on human rights records of any country receiving U.S. military assistance....

On Oct. 4, Gov. Maura Healey signed into law Massachusetts’ first tax cut in 20 years to the tune of $1 billion. Fast-forward to Jan. 8, when Gov. Healey announced a $1 billion tax shortfall.I am one of many residents who put in countless hours to...

The national debt was a $5 trillion in 2000, and now, as of January 2024 , it is $33.9 trillion. That is 33.9 followed by 12 zeroes!During that period there were both Republican and Democratic presidents — Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden. So, despite the...

Western Mass. Baseball 2024 Hall of Famer and Springfield resident Bob Taylor, 79, played on 13 professional teams (1962-1977) including our MLB (San Francisco Giants), in two countries (U.S. and Japan), and also played professionally here for the...

By JAMES A. LOMASTRO

The summer of 2023 brought many forced migrations to cities in the North and Northeast and created a “crisis.” Coverage of the border, particularly Eagle Pass in Texas, presented a chaotic situation. Even when the images were not chaotic,...

The Jan. 19 letter “Why are we sending money out of state?” suggests that the Amherst School Committee was wrong to contract with an executive search firm from “red state” Nebraska. As someone who has signed over 60 contracts with public agencies...

As a former college admissions counselor, I’m mindful that this time is an opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief as final applications to college are submitted to meet a January deadline. Respite may be short lived as questions about housing and...

By RICHARD FEIN

Gaza’s civilian population: Hamas has ruled Gaza since defeating the Fatah faction in 2006 elections. Hamas then killed 459 Fatah operatives. The general population has suffered as Hamas expropriated billions of dollars in foreign donations and local...

We serve as volunteers on behalf of the elderly population of the town of Amherst. We represent the interests of more than 5,500 senior citizens and concerned members of their families through the Friends of the Amherst Senior Center and the Amherst...

Dear readers: You don’t need a geology course to visualize dinosaurs! Two hundred million years ago, the Connecticut River Valley was indeed “Jurassic Park” in a great rift valley similar to the famous ones of east Africa today. Podokesaurus, our new...