Commentary
Richard S. Bogartz: What the ghosts of Warsaw Ghetto know
By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ I had intended to continue my four-part series on President Joe Biden, but I must interrupt that project even though Part 2 is almost complete because, even though I don’t believe in ghosts, I keep encountering ghosts who insist...
Dr. L. Ricard: A monumental lack of vision
The arrogantly ugly Ideal Moving and Storage facility built alongside the bike path is a monument to the breathtaking lack of vision of the town of Hadley for permitting such a monstrous structure. How could the town of Hadley foist such a hideous...
Peter M. Haas: A scary national program
Recent Republican initiatives reveal an insidious systematic and escalating grand campaign aimed at a demographic transformation and even ethnic cleansing in the United States. It is becoming increasingly clear that the conservative republicans are...
Charles LaPiene: Peace at last
Now that the Easthampton City Council and three other local municipalities have called for a Gaza cease-fire, Hamas is sure to heed their pleas. We should be hearing soon that Hamas has pulled out, stopped their shooting, and all the hostages have...
Judy Gutlerner: An investment in joy
As a retired performing arts teacher, it is always disheartening to learn that whenever there is a budget crisis such as in Northampton , the arts are the first to be cut. Missing from the ongoing discussion is the positive affect a performance has on...
Marie Lane: The emperor has no clothes
On the very same day that Karen Bercovici’s guest column was published, the WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) files were leaked. These internal messages point to the lack of scientific evidence for the gender-affirming care...
Jimmy Burgoff: Speed kills
It has become even more evident recently how careless so many local drivers act. As a driver of a big truck it always amazes me that I get cut off at speed, have to deal with cars that put on their turn signal as they’re starting to turn, and wait at...
Darcy Dumont: Amherst seeking faster track for energy transition
Last year, the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announced a new program that builds on the Green Communities designation and grant program. The Climate Leader Communities program will support municipalities seeking to meet their own greenhouse...
Guest columnist Gary Michael Tartakov: What antisemitism is not
By GARY MICHAEL TARTAKOV
I have been a Jew for 83 years. Though I’ve only known it for around 78. My parents explained it to me at Christmas in 1945, as the reason that I was not going to get a Christmas tree, like my playmates, in Los Angeles. It was at the end of the...
Don Michak: Dig deeper after scandalous court ruling in Soldiers' Home case
The fact that the former superintendent and medical director of the Soldier’s Home in Holyoke got off with mere $90 fines is not merely “disgusting,” as the woman who lost her father to COVID told the Gazette, but also a major statewide scandal that...
Susan Tracy: Support Ukraine funding
When Congress returns next week, funding for military aid to Ukraine will be on the table in the House. However, if Speaker Mike Johnson brings Ukraine aid up for a vote which will pass, the MAGA Republicans have threatened his tenure as...
Jena Schwartz: Things I have not said
I continue to be consumed by the Israel-Hamas war. I read, watch, write, pray, dream, agonize, and do my best to engage in intentional and nuanced conversations about it. And yet there remain things I have not said.Or things I have said by omission.Or...
Dave King: Cease-fire resolution passed in the UN!
For those of us concerned about the ongoing mayhem in Palestine, these past months have been agonizing. How can one live in security without thinking of others being shelled, shot and tortured? How can one eat a bite of food without thinking of our...
Letter: Unlocking the potential of public higher education
In response to the recent article about the Amherst Town Council’s resolution supporting the Cherish Act, [”Despite doubts, Amherst Town Council backs bill boosting higher ed spending,” Gazette, March 8], the council’s endorsement of the Cherish Act...
Guest column: What peace must mean, at council and for Mideast
By JOHN VARNER
Freedom without responsibility is anarchy.Sadly, Amherst has been getting repeated lessons that illustrate this maxim. The most recent incident: The Town Council’s attempt to get involved in global politics by passing a resolution on the horrendous...
Guest columnist Shalini Bahl-Milne: Beyond empathy — A compassionate approach to polarizing issues in Amherst
By SHALINI BAHL-MILNE
The recent Amherst Town Council meeting exposed deep rifts within our community over a resolution concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These divisions highlight the formidable challenges we face when approaching complex issues: We often...
Mickey Rathbun and Chris Benfey: Amherst schools must be top priority
We were heartbroken to hear Talib Sadiq, principal of ARHS and interim principal of ARMS, describe the woeful physical state of the middle school building at the March 6 School Committee meeting. He reported that the building’s roof leaked so badly...
Brendan Kuntz: Thank you Tara Jacobs
Governor’s Council is a forgotten elected office every election cycle until an underdog wins. District 8 Councilor Tara Jacobs beat out four other men because she appealed to rural western Massachusetts voter sentiment. She just stood up again for us...
Paul Kaplan: Timothy Leary Memories
Dear Gazette: I always enjoy Richard McCarthy’s columns, and his recent one on Timothy Leary was no exception [“Leary’s unlikely arc to turn on, tune in, drop out,” Gazette, March 1]. When I was enjoying the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco’s...
Hollie Kalkstein: Must accept ‘collateral damage of peace’
To be a Jew right now, and the child of a Holocaust survivor, compels me to speak. Israeli children do not out-value Palestinian children across a boundary that hems them in.Why is the collateral damage of war accepted but the collateral damage of...
