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Easter greetings to all our Christian friends and neighbors.

Passover greetings to our Jewish neighbors and friends.

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

Taylor Swift’s song “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” has turned me into a full-on Swiftie. Yes, you read that right: This 60-something widow is now belting out lyrics about pain and power with a vigor that could rival any teenage girl wrapped in...

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

Sometimes life teaches you things you never wanted to know.As I alluded to in a previous column, I broke my femur, or thigh bone, this past March 25th, when I went down on a patch of ice while bicycling. For those of you who do not know, the femur is...

By BRETT ALBERT

About 10 years ago, the two major urban centers of central and western Massachusetts decided to engage in new regional industrial policy to spur on their local economies. Worcester and Springfield had been effectively hollowed out by decades of...

By JOHANNA NEUMANN

Happy 2024. After my last column, I got feedback from a reader who pointed out that I missed a topic in my round-up of environmental progress in 2023. She mentioned that I had completely failed to mention Amherst voters overwhelmingly approving plans...

By DAVE KING

Another Martin Luther King Jr. Day has come and gone, when legions of politicians trot out MLK’s “I have a dream” speech to remind us we should be striving together in harmony for a world where all peoples can enjoy our country’s prosperity....

By JOHN SHEIRER

Four years ago, my column in this newspaper predicted that Donald Trump would lose the 2020 presidential election. Readers who opposed Trump told me, “I wish I had your optimism,” or “That’s what you said in 2016,” or “His crazies have gotten worse...

By MICHAEL SEWARD

After about 100 years of exclusionary zoning, there was bound to be a reckoning. Antiquated and discriminatory housing policies among the towns of the Pioneer Valley resulted in a severe housing shortage. The housing proposal presented at a recent...

By ERIC COCHRANE

Two years ago, before I moved to Somerville, a neighbor asked my thoughts on development in western Massachusetts. I have pondered the question, and have concluded that mixed-use development, when built densely and with universal design in mind, is a...

By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ

By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ

By JOHN SHEIRER

Nearly 40 years ago, I entered a college classroom as the instructor for the first time. I was a 23-year-old graduate teaching assistant, charged with my very own section of English composition. Twenty-five students silently inspected me as I placed...

By MICKEY RATHBUN

A recent headline in the New York Times caught my eye: “Mars Needs Insects.” As the article explained, if we are to create a human-friendly habitat on Mars, we will need to grow food there.Unlike the nutrient-laden soil that covers the earth, the...

By JOHANNA NEUMANN

In the wee hours of the morning of April 14, when it was forecast to be a record-crushing 95 degrees, I met my intern Erica in the parking lot of the Big Y in Palmer. Together, we carpooled to Somerset, on Massachusetts’ south coast for a 9 a.m....

By DANIEL A. BROWN

In 1977, as I was about to depart for my first trip to Israel, I went to a party in New York City and met a young Israeli boy. “Hello, my name is Raffi,” he said. “I’ve lived through three wars.”Naturally, I was taken aback; as a rule, American kids...

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

“How do you keep from despairing?” a friend recently asked me, knowing that I focus consistently on the climate crisis. It was a heartfelt question. He had started to put more attention on the climate emergency and was encountering the bad news that...

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...

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...

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...

By CLAIRE MORENON

Many of us take a break from work and spend time gathering with loved ones at this time of year, providing an opportunity for reflection and contemplation alongside the merriment. As this year closes and we look ahead, we ask: What world will each of...

It’s hard to know what to make of the UN climate conference, COP27, in Egypt last month. Coming into the “conference of the parties,” the delegates found encouragement in the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, who has pledged to...