Opinion

Christopher L. Miller: Thought it was April Fool’s Day joke

Honestly, Gazette, you had me going (“Easthampton school superintendent job offer abruptly rescinded“ April 1). According to your story, the Easthampton School Committee sent a cop car to roust Vito Perrone out of bed after midnight, so they could...

Paul E. Peelle: Flabbergasted by article on superintendent job

I am responding to the headline article in Saturday’s Gazette about the rescinding of the Easthampton superintendency for Dr. Vito Perrone [“Super’s job offer abruptly rescinded”]. Assuming that this was an accurate article and not an April Fool’s...

Jo Ellen Warner: Walgreens and women’s health

Is Walgreens the new Sackler Family? It may seem like a harsh comparison, but it appears that Walgreens is making business decisions to deny women access to medication abortions — a decision that runs counter to the health needs and interests of...

Matthew Cain: Does APEA support Amherst?

The Amherst Pelham Education Association (APEA) goes too far in the March 25 Gazette [“Union: Don’t vote for school until contract done”]. APEA asked the community to hold off on a “yes” vote for the elementary school building project until they...

Residents overburdened — voting no on school override

I plan to vote no on the Proposition 2½ override on May 2.It’s not that I don’t understand the importance of the new school, and why the Town Council considers it such an urgent priority. There’s no question we need the school — in addition to the...

Darcy DuMont and Rudy Perkins: Four reasons to vote for new elementary school

By DARCY DUMONT and RUDY PERKINS

The Amherst Zero Energy Town Buildings Bylaw was adopted “to help counter and prevent the effects of global climate change.” That bylaw requires Amherst’s major new municipal buildings to be “net zero” — able to produce as much renewable energy...

Debra Jacobson: Landlords should pay for zoning code enforcement

Alex Kent’s recent column “Gold Rush in Amherst!” [Gazette, Feb. 18] discusses how “lax enforcement of the Tenant Zoning bylaw” is leading to an “ongoing deterioration of neighborhoods” besieged by unscrupulous investors profiting from the town’s...

Linda Roney: Dark side of Deerfield

Congratulations to Deerfield on its 350th anniversary and thank you to all the people through the centuries who helped preserve the history and material culture of the town. Deerfield has been my home for many years and I have a deep love and...

Thomas Filiault: Town’s schools need help from Amherst College

After reading much about Amherst Schools impasse in contract negotiations , I would ask this question: Don’t colleges with reputation of Amherst College help their public schools financially? Harvard helps Cambridge and Boston with their cities’...

When Pansy Park blossomed in Dwight

Amherst gardeners and history lovers might enjoy the article in the New Yorker magazine on March 20, “What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues.” With the arrival of spring, I’d like to call attention to one such wonder here at home missed in...

David Sloviter: Town must stand up for its residents

Another outrageous Blarney Blowout should finally, after many years, be the final evidence to get the town of Amherst to do more about it than just talk to UMass and hope something improves. The town spoke glowingly about the police showing...

Guest columnist Britt Crow-Miller: Amherst College’s tree problem

By BRITT CROW-MILLER

As an Amherst resident living in a residential neighborhood where all but a few properties are owned directly by Amherst College, I am deeply concerned with how Amherst College manages its off-campus property when it comes to trees.The Amherst College...

Letter: League of Women Voters backs Amherst elementary school project

The League of Women Voters of Amherst (LWVA) urges the Town Council and  Amherst voters to support the elementary school construction and the debt-exclusion vote on May 2. The LWVA sees so many good reasons to support this public net-zero energy...

Alicia M. Lopez: Pay and respect in Amherst schools

I am a resident of Amherst and have been a teacher in the district for 18 years. My three kids all went through Amherst schools, and we are beyond grateful for the education they received. The wonderful teachers they had along the way influenced their...

Peter Demling: Can’t risk missing new Amherst school opportunity

Please make a plan now to vote “yes” on May 2 for the school building project. And please do so regardless of your feelings on the School Committee’s contract negotiations with the teachers union.Risking our last shot at a desperately needed school...

Guest columnist Marietta Pritchard: Beware, Medicare ‘wellness visit’ no longer a medical exam

By MARIETTA PRITCHARD

Last July, I visited our new doctor for what I thought was an annual checkup. I brought with me an annoying problem I’d been having, and he made a referral for me to see a specialist, who has taken care of the problem. After that July visit — a...

Guest columnists Matt Holloway and Kursten Holabird: Building for our future

By KURSTEN HOLABIRD and MATT HOLLOWAY

May 2, 2023 is an important date for the future of Amherst. On that date, voters will go to the polls with the chance to steer our community onto a positive and progressive path by voting “yes” for a new consolidated elementary school building. (Early...

Darcy DuMont column: Amherst should step up to greener building code

Amherst’s climate action goals require the town to reduce its emissions from 2017 levels by 25% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030, and the building sector produces a large part of those emissions. It will be impossible to meet our emissions reduction targets...

Sanjay Arwade: Appreciates Amherst police

Thanks to the police, firefighters and EMTs from Amherst and surrounding communities who showed up to maintain order and save lives during the so-called Barney Blowout around UMass Amherst. Thanks as well to Scott Livingstone for his many years of...

Columnist Russ Vernon-Jones: Don’t bank at banks that fund fossil fuels

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

My friend Hannah recently got an advertisement in the mail urging her to open a new account at Chase Bank. Although it offered some attractive features, she decided to reject the offer. Why? Hannah rejected it because she cares about tackling climate...