Opinion
Liam Archacki: Students part of town
Amherst is no doubt a college town. The student populations of the local institutions of higher education — UMass Amherst, Amherst College, and Hampshire College — are an important part of the town’s economy. You can’t walk into any coffee shop or...
Guest Column: Standing up to Republican effort to ban books
By U.S. REP. JIM MCGOVERN
House Republicans recently brought to the floor H.R. 5 — a bill I call the “politics over parents” act, which would supercharge book bans like the ones Gov. Ron DeSantis has imposed on Florida and bring them to states across America, including here to...
Guest columnists Christi Payne and Greg Darms: Our great appreciation for an improbably exceptional library
By CHRISTI PAYNE and GREG DARMS
My husband and I moved to New England from Oregon five years ago, not knowing for sure where we would end up, and fortuitously landed in Shutesbury. We could not have chosen better than this forested rural hilltown we now call home.One of the very...
Guest columnist Randy Kehler: War, taxes, democracy, and me
By RANDY KEHLER
My partner Betsy and I have often been referred to, usually derisively, as “tax resisters,” or “tax refusers,” which implies that we are people who refuse to pay all taxes, across the board. In fact, we’ve always paid all of our state and local taxes....
Abraham Buchholtz: Dietary changes needed for environment
On March 20, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its latest assessment on climate change, drawing on the findings of hundreds of scientists throughout the world. The assessment details the devastating impacts of rising...
Katherine Pipczynski: Slow down and observe rules of the road
I have been thinking of writing this letter for quite some time, but after traveling down Route 9 in Hadley the other day, I felt compelled to write about fellow drivers. I am talking about drivers merging into traffic. When I was learning to drive, I...
Lynn Bowmaster and Michael Docter: Get EconoLodge project back on track
On March 21, we attended a Hadley Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to show support for the Valley Community Development Corporation’s (CDC) project to renovate the EconoLodge on Route 9 into affordable housing. The room was packed, yet the Zoning Board...
Guest columnist Weston Dripps:
By WESTON DRIPPS
I feel compelled to offer a few key facts relevant to the April 7 guest column, “Amherst College’s tree problem” [Gazette] that didn’t make it into the article. The piece suggested that sustainability isn’t top of mind when it comes to the college’s...
Guest columnist Kelsey Wentling: Too little, too late — what FirstLight won’t be doing for the next 10 years
By KELSEY WENTLING
While a lot can happen in 10 years, FirstLight is proposing to do very little in the next decade under their recently submitted Flows and Fish Passage Settlement Agreement.Ten years from now, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)...
Columnist Russ Vernon-Jones: Vote ‘yes’ for the new school in Amherst
By RUSS VERNON-JONES
I was principal of the Fort River School in Amherst for 18 years. I’m passionate about education and about solving the climate crisis. The proposed new school in Amherst is a major step forward in both. I’m asking all of you who are voters in Amherst...
Catherine Etheridge: Bring back the clothes lines
It would be really good if we all had access to a few things we could do to decrease our carbon footprint. In a college town with a very large number of housing complexes, the simplest first step would probably be solar clothes dryers. We used to call...
Shel Horowitz: EconoLodge project lost opportunity for town
It’s taken me a while to recover from my shock that on March 20, the Hadley Zoning Board of Appeals blocked the use of the empty EconoLodge for affordable housing. Their justification was that “three people shouldn’t decide this for the town.” But...
Guest columnists Rebecca Fricke and Meg Gage: Envisioning Amherst’s new elementary school
By REBECCA FRICKE and MEG GAGE
Classrooms infused with daylight and fresh air, small group learning spaces, a positive learning environment for children of all backgrounds and abilities. This is our vision for the new Amherst elementary school building, and we hope you will join us...
Amherst educators: Support new school As teachers in Amherst, we are writing to express our support for building a new elementary school and encourage all residents to vote yes on May 2.We believe that every student and educator is entitled to learn...
Andy Morris-Friedman: Right to be rude
Usually I curse the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Who gave them the right to make decisions in Boston that limit my personal freedom to do whatever I want? But even broken clocks are correct twice a day, and so I’ve got to commend them for...
Elsie Fetterman: An $18,800 water line repair bill — It can happen to you!
I was surprised with a bill of $18,800 to repair a broken water main in the street that goes to my house. Understandably, we should pay for water line repairs on our property, from the water meter to the house. The taxes we pay are to maintain the...
Guest columnist Camille Cammack: Wrong turn for early reading curriculum
By CAMILLE CAMMACK
Imagine you are a wiggly, bright-eyed kindergartner sitting in a circle with 24 classmates. You have just been encouraged by your teacher to look them in the eye and greet them “properly” saying, “Hello, I’m using my right hand to shake your right...
Lynn Griesemer and Andy Steinberg: Why a yes vote for new school is so crucial
By LYNN GRIESEMER and ANDY STEINBERG
On May 2, Amherst voters are being asked to approve a debt exclusion as part of the cost of building our first new elementary school in 50 years, replacing Fort River and Wildwood schools.Many questions have been asked and most are answered here:...
Bill Ennen: Another busy town clean-up
It was a cold and rainy this past Saturday, but neighbors came out in good numbers to pick up the trash along Hadley’s roads. Many, many thanks to our tireless leaders, Jack and Claire Czajkowski. A big shout out to the many students from Hopkins...
Jimmy Burgoff: Let’s use ‘Yo’
I am of the generation where you would say when addressing a crowd in public, “Ladies and Gentlemen.” To my ear and way of thinking, there is absolutely nothing disrespectful in this phrase. It offers an air of respect.I hear that high school...
