Opinion

Judy Gutlerner: Celebrating a decade of building community music

The Amherst Community Band honored conductor Timothy Todd Anderson for his 10 years of dedication. Under his leadership, which is a volunteer position, the band has tripled in size. Community musicians of all ages, from all over the Pioneer Valley,...

Guest columnist Gary Michael Tartakov: Calling for an end to killing Palestinians with our help

By GARY MICHAEL TARTAKOV

On July 24, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in the Capitol, thanking the U.S. Congress for itscooperation in Israel’s war on Gaza, I was standing on Pennsylvania Avenue, with thousands of Jews, Palestinians and others, facing the...

Dale Peterson: Revised Jones Library plan should proceed

The Jones Library building is cramped, cluttered, and claustrophobic. It is wholly inadequate to accommodate the numerous public services and educational programs that the Jones welcomes. The opponents of the renovation project do not understand or...

Guest columnist Laura Rojo MacLeod: The climate bill: A big ‘F’ for legislators

By LAURA ROJO MACLEOD

 After a pitiful performance by our elected representatives, this legislative session was a missed opportunity to make the commonwealth a climate leader. Our lawmakers had a chance to make significant progress slowing the expansion of our dirty and...

David King: US sanctions also drive immigration

I was puzzled that the writer of the guest column “Security, food would head off migration” in the Gazette’s Aug. 15 edition failed to mention a key driver of immigration to the U.S., the massive sanctions imposed on countries whose politics we abhor...

Steve Bloom: Swing and a miss on antisemitism

In a well-intentioned but misguided guest column, “Mandating teaching about antisemitism” [Gazette, Aug. 6], Chris Mohn inadvertently promulgates the very scourge she professes to deplore.“The Zionist state does not reflect the values of the Jewish...

Matteo Pangallo: Equitable cost-sharing for the ARHS track project

It’s surprising that Amherst CPA Committee Chair Sam Macleod believes that by contributing 80% of the cost for the new Amherst Regional High School track and field facility, Amherst is paying “more than its fair share” (“Town may add $800K more for...

Anne Herrington and Christine Plette: The Jones project still makes good sense

While the original high bid for the Jones Library project was disappointing, the Jones project team has made responsible design decisions aiming to lower the overall costs. While the naysayers with their exaggerated claims would have us believe...

Guest columnist Marietta Pritchard: Opening things a common vexation

By MARIETTA PRITCHARD

Getting older means finding it difficult to open things. Things like jars of jam, things like bottles of juice. This has a lot to do with the waning power of hands and wrists. But I would also argue that it has to do with some devilish inventions for...

Guest columnist Dr. Katherine J. Atkinson: Why isn’t the state Legislature moving faster to shore up primary care in Massachusetts?

By DR. KATHERINE J. ATKINSON

 When I read that the state was mandating insurance companies to cover urgent care centers in Massachusetts, my blood started boiling. The Massachusetts Legislature can force insurance companies to pay for “doc-in-the-boxes” but not for primary care?...

Guest column by Chris Mohn: Mandating teaching about antisemitism

By CHRIS MOHN

Due to rising incidents of antisemitism, an amendment to our state budget signed Monday by Gov. Maura Healey Senate will require teaching about antisemitism. The amendment calls for for the creation of a Special Commission on Antisemitism and directs...

Rorie Woods: Stolen home equity must be returned

The celebration by Gov. Maura Healey and state Sen. Jo Comerford for reprimanding municipalities against controverting the U.S. Constitution by stealing equity in property tax seizures is like commending a thief for agreeing to stop stealing, but not...

Elaine Kersten: No sympathy for protesters

Am i supposed to feel sympathy for the individual featured on the Gazette’s front page with the article regarding campus violence [“Fallout only beginning for those arrested at protests,” Aug. 5]?I don’t think so. As a descendant of German Jews, I am...

Jon Weissman: Single-payer health care the solution

Thank you for highlighting (again) the crisis in primary care [”Primary care in crisis,” Gazette, July 27].As the board chair of Mass-Care: The Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care, I appreciate being quoted, but I want readers to...

Claire Morenon: A time for reflection and deepened commitment to local farmers

We appreciate the article by reporter Chris Larrabee, “Farmers grateful for more typical growing season after 2023 floods devastated fields,” [July 17]. Devastating is a good word for it: River flooding on July 10, 2023 swept away millions of dollars...

David Sloviter: Why such silence?

Why is there such silence? Where is the outrage? When kids in Gaza die in an airstrike, the charges of genocide and murder fill the editorial page. When Hezbollah, which has denied responsibility, targets a soccer field and kills 12 children and teens...

Ellen Miller-Mack: Nurse practitioners as primary care providers

How is it possible that in an article about the lack of primary care in western Massachusetts [“Primary care in crisis: Doctor shortage continues,” July 26], there is not a word concerning the active role of nurse practitioners as providers of...

Nancy Campbell: Facts matter about the Jones Library project

It is important that information shared about the Jones Library renovation and expansion is factual. Opponents are welcome to express their opinion that Amherst does not need to renovate and expand our library. However, misinformation about the...

Tina Swift: Kudos for Jones project direction

If my car is broken, I bring it to a qualified, trained mechanic. I do not ask my neighbors who may have driven a car, but have no expertise in auto mechanics, what to do.In a similar vein, I wish to congratulate the director and the trustees of the...