Opinion
Darcy Dumont: ‘Ranchrofit’ II makes makes house net-zero energy abode
This column will give you more ideas about that carbon emission-reducing retrofit you’ve been thinking about doing. Last month, I introduced my coming “ranchrofit” project in the Orchard Valley neighborhood of Amherst, and thoughts about how to...
Guest columnist Matteo Pangallo: Why we must fully fund our schools
By MATTEO PANGALLO
The Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee demonstrated leadership, forward thinking, and sound judgment in proposing a budget that actually faces reality and calls on the towns of the district to meet the full costs of providing our children with...
Guest columnist Dr. David Gottsegen: Age issue not so key as question of marbles
DR. DAVID GOTTSEGEN
A poll published in The New York Times on Sunday, March 3, found that nearly half of voters now strongly agree that Joe Biden is “too old” to be president, more than twice the number of voters who strongly agree that Donald Trump is “too old.” People...
Guest columnist Martha Hanner: Spirit of philanthropy can uplift so many others
By MARTHA HANNER
In response to the guest opinion, “When giving is only false charity” [Gazette, Feb. 27], may I offer an inspiring example of tzedakah, the Jewish tradition of giving as a moral obligation, done with gratitude and humility.Julius Rosenwald (1862-1939)...
Jack Tullos: UMass gets a Big MAC
With all due deference to Gerald R. Ford, the uber-long UMass FBS independent football experiment/nightmare seems over. The 2025 season will find the Minuteman team still competing in an FBS conference, the Mid-American Conference, but the MAC...
Annette Pfannebecker: Support the Sunlight Act
It is disheartening to hear that our state Legislature is one of the least transparent in the nation. While we see our House and Senate representatives do so much for the districts they serve, writing and passing important legislation, there are also...
Alex Bowman: What is going on over at UMass Athletics?
The decision to move to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) was driven by the misguided notion that UMass football is the darling of the school. It’s not. College football simply doesn’t have the same cultural significance here in the Northeast.I was at...
Tom Roeper: Cease-fire opportunities
What can a cease-fire bring? History has some surprising examples — for instance, the assistance of the Red Cross in the Korean War armistice. In addition, let me tell you the story of my great-uncle Curt Bondy, whose stories enriched my life.He was...
Andra Rose: Moratorium on gas pipelines a collaborative effort
Thank you to Gazette reporter Emilee Klein for reporting on the Mothers Out Front Climate Action Call in “A case for ditching natural gas: Mothers Out Front aims to send a message to legislators, utilities,” [Gazettenet, Feb. 7].We want to clarify a...
Guest columnist Michael Dover: What age? One’s qualified, one’s not
By MICHAEL DOVER
It’s come to this. A Trump-appointed special counsel questioned the president of the United States — on the day after a horrific attack in Israel and an impending Gaza war — for five hours, about things that happened years ago, and concluded that Joe...
Guest columnist Ali Wicks-Lim: Racism is in our way
By ALI WICKS-LIM
On March 14, 2022 the Amherst Town Council easily passed a resolution in support of Ukraine. On Oct. 16, 2023 they easily passed a resolution against Hamas, in solidarity with Israel. On Monday, after months of retaliation and collective punishment...
Guest columnist Lyle Denit: Ukraine deserves a better kind of peace
By LYLE DENIT
I read with interest Dr. E. Martin Schotz’s column on the causes of the war in Ukraine [“Rethinking U.S. interests on anniversary of war in Ukraine,” Gazette, Feb. 23]. He recommended two speeches by Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy. I...
The Rev. Vicki Kemper: A matter of survival
I was stunned to read the caption accompanying the Gazette’s (Feb. 17) photograph on page A3. Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, it said, were lining up “for a free meal,” adding that basic supplies in Gaza are running short “because of the war between...
Rich and Sue Cairn: Protect your dog and others
We love dogs. Yet dogs bite 4.5 million humans each year, mostly children. Eight hundred thousand need medical attention. Dogs also bite other dogs. Being bitten is terrifying. If you think that your dog would never bite, then know that the American...
Columnist Richard S. Bogartz: Biden’s age just a bogeyman
By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ
Guest columnist Leyla Moushabeck: Amherst must back cease-fire for Gaza
By LEYLA MOUSHABECK
The Amherst Town Council is expected to discuss and possibly vote on a resolution in support of a cease-fire in Gaza at their meeting at 6:30 Monday at the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium.Councilors have been considering whether this is a...
Guest columnist Deborah Esther Schifter: Both sides now
By DEBORAH ESTHER SCHIFTER
In October 1973, a few months after graduating from college in Annapolis, Maryland, I was living on a kibbutz teaching mathematics to a cadre of American teenagers who were spending their sophomore year in Israel. On Yom Kippur, my holiday...
Guest columnist Tom Gardner:
By TOM GARDNER
We just received a notice from Ming, our Gazette delivery person, that she must leave her delivery job to attend to her 92-year-old mother in Taiwan. I hope she won’t mind if I quote a section of her touching letter to her customers.“Every morning,...
Guest columnist Dave King: A humanitarian call for cease-fire in Gaza
By DAVE KING
The Amherst Town Council voted unanimously on Oct. 16, 2023, in support of a resolution to condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than a thousand Israelis. The resolution grieved for the Hamas-held hostages and their families, and...
Elizabeth Vierling: Thanks to the Amherst ZBA
I would like to thank the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals for their thoughtful discussion on Feb 8th and for declining the request by Archipelago Investments Inc. for a variance that would have allowed a mixed-use building near Atkins Corner to have...
