Opinion
William Stewart: Moment of opportunity for Amherst
The retirement of Amherst’s long time chief of police affords an opportunity for the town to make genuine changes in policing, especially if it looks beyond its current personnel to find someone who is ready to work closely with the community’s...
Jim Pistrang: Support new Amherst elementary school project
I am writing in strong support of the Amherst Elementary School Project and to urge voters to vote “yes” on May 2 in favor of the local debt- exclusion override. There is no question in my mind that our two aging elementary schools need to be...
Linda Hillenbrand: UMass job scene
UMass wants to privatize more than 100 jobs. Imagine having to reapply to a job you’ve had for 20 years. As a 29-plus year employee at UMass and witness to the anti-union sentiment for all those years, I can confidently state that if it took 20 years...
Disagrees with Black Business Association
I am writing this letter as an Amherst resident who is a downtown businessperson. I am a woman, and I am black. I have lived with my husband in this town since 1966 and raised three children here. My sole proprietorship shop is and has been active in...
Columnist J.M. Sorrell: Woke women, loud and proud
Happy Women’s History Month! This year’s theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories” (nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org). Throughout the year, the National Women’s History Alliance is highlighting storytellers, writers, journalists, playwrights...
Guest columnist Thomas Dourmashkin: Reparations belong on the national level
By THOMAS DOURMASHKIN
The issue of “reparations” is about as confusing as it can be. Many issues are raised but few really have bearing on the problem.To be clear from the start, I am for reparations, but not on a local level. There is a debt, but attempts to pay it on a...
Ken Rosenthal: Jones Library should go to school
The town of Amherst is proud to be known for its support of education. That support is about to be tested, as its government asks its taxpayers to invest in two expensive capital education projects: a brand new elementary school and a renovated public...
Guest columnist Allison McDonald: Amherst school spending explained
By ALLISON MCDONALD
We are deep in the budget planning process for next fiscal year and Amherst schools are facing significant and difficult budget cuts. The uncertainty around the multiple contracts that are not yet settled, including that with the Amherst Pelham...
Guest columnist D. Dina Friedman: Let them wear tutus
By D. DINA FRIEDMAN
When I was 7 and my brother was 4, we were playing in my room. My ballerina tutu was on the floor, and my brother put it on. He pranced out to show my mother, a big grin on his face. “How do I look in a dress?”My mother’s face went to red quicker...
Michael E. Williamson: Amherst’s tenant zoning bylaw problematic
Being a rental house owner I read with interest a recent guest column by Alex Kent (“Gold rush in Amherst!” Gazette, Feb. 18). In the column, the writer talks about the Amherst Tenant Zoning Bylaw. In particular the requirement of said bylaw is that...
Jon McCabe: Column ignores lack of business development
Until I read Jeff Lee’s column last week (“Amherst and Hadley — close in distance, but in property tax burden, not so much,” Gazette, Feb. 6), I thought the ultimate example of chutzpah was the youth on trial for murdering his parents who then threw...
Peter J. Greenwald: Noncitizens shouldn’t vote
Noncitizens should never be allowed to vote! Doing so would violate the privilege afforded to actual citizens. I understand the intent: to give noncitizen residents a voice; however, there are other means for them to express their views, such as town...
Columnist Russ Vernon-Jones: Eating in the climate crisis era
This month I want to look at a very personal topic that we all encounter daily — food. What we eat, and don’t eat, impacts climate change. The diets of people around the world affect climate change.Increasing numbers of people in the U.S. are eating...
Guest columnist Alex Kent: Gold rush in Amherst!
By ALEX KENT
The phone rang and a Walpole number came up. I shouldn’t answer numbers I don’t recognize — let it go to voicemail. But out of idle curiosity, I picked up the call and it was another wholly unsolicited inquiry from a company wanting to buy my house in...
Jim Newman: PETA campaign ‘shameful and dangerous’
PETA’s campaigns targeting individual scientists are both shameful and dangerous. Imagine opening the paper one day to see a full-page ad that targets you personally by name. Now imagine spotting that ad after months and months of harassment by a...
Jena Schwartz: Ad stirs internet inquiry
I was drinking my coffee and reading a moving column online in the Gazette by Joanna Buoniconti (“The voice that I earned”) on Feb. 7 when an ad appeared between two paragraphs. I began to scroll past it and then the title caught my eye. “Critical...
Guest columnist Jonathan Klate: Wokeness equals kindness
By JONATHAN KLATE
‘Wokeness” is what folks on the political right love to declare themselves as being against these days. But, what is it, really, that they oppose?The term “woke” was derived from African American vernacular English meaning alertness to racial...
Guest columnist Karin Winter: A vision for Amherst
By KARIN WINTER
Our master plan in Amherst calls for an increase in density in the downtown area, both commercial and residential.But is it possible to increase residential density in downtown Amherst without destroying much of the green space and beautiful ambiance...
Guest columnist Hind Mari: Kindness and fear of the unreported in Palestine
By HIND MARI
In her poem “Kindness,” Naomi Shihab Nye says that before we know kindness, we must know sorrow. Her poem reminds me of a question a friend asked me upon returning from a visit to Palestine: “Growing up under the Israeli occupation, how can you be so...
Andrea Battle and Jeff Gold: Difficult truths and democracy in Amherst
By ANDREA BATTLE and JEFF GOLD
Key components of a healthy democracy require a commitment to equality of basic rights and justice, the rule of law, and free and fair elections for all citizens. But for these principles to be realized, a strong democracy also demands trust built on...
