Opinion

Angela Parker: A favor to ask — remember those fighting long Covid

I was ordered into medical quarantine on Friday the 13th of March 2020. Nothing could have prepared me for the next several days, weeks, and months ahead … let alone years. I watched the sun go down from my bed as I binge-watched stupid pet videos for serotonin and escapism while fighting off death for eight nights.

Guest columnist Kathy Gregg: Anti-antisemitism: Trump’s double-cross on college funding

By KATHY GREGG

Guest columnist Suzanne Stillinger: ‘Homeland’ will stay on my classroom bookshelf

By SUZANNE STILLINGER

Letter: Fighting antisemitism must not be a pretext to rollback fundamental rights

The government’s detention and threatened deportation of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil is a five-alarm fire for freedom of speech in the U.S. Instead of claiming that Mr. Khalil engaged in criminality, the government says it wants to deport him because it doesn’t like what he said.

Karin Lee: In support of DEI

‘Arlington Cemetery scrubs links deemed diversity” is the headline of a Washington Post article reprinted on Page A6 of the March 15 Gazette. The article explains how the Department of Defense has deleted internal links directing users to graves of notable Black, Hispanic and female veterans, as well as eliminating content on the Civil War. No longer can we easily find content that highlights leaders of color or women.

Judith Davidov: How could this happen?

In 1975-76, I was a Fulbright scholar in Germany, teaching for a year at a German university. It was close enough in time to the Holocaust to stir feelings of fear (some professors still dressed up in SS uniforms on weekends).

Guest columnist David E. Sullivan: A duty to call out demeaning immigrants and the rule of law

By DAVID E. SULLIVAN

The following was excerpted from a talk given by Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan at the Northampton St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast at the Hotel Northampton on Monday, March 17.

Kip Fonsh: Down the Trump hole of fascism

We have descended down the deep hole of fascism. The guardrails have been stripped away and we are in grave danger of becoming an authoritarian state. Democracy will die down this hole. I am perplexed as to what 77 million Americans were expecting when they voted for this man. To make matters worse, he has brought in his sidekick, Elon Musk, an ununelected man with a chain saw to obliterate our government and our democracy. And this man with his chain saw has fired thousands of government workers, men and women who daily keep the system going.

Suzanne Lijek: But there was no one left to speak for me

The recent onslaught of actions taken by our new administration is calling to mind the regrettably prescient quote by Martin Niemoller. With apologies to the Rev. Niemoller, I offer an update:

Sherry Wilson: Stop Trump now

President Donald Trump did more than humiliate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He humiliated himself and the American people. He acted like a bully and an evil dictator — and a pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Columnist Darcy Dumont: Pittsfield is lesson in reducing waste

As the need for climate action is challenged on the national stage, there is much we can do on a local level to proudly take a stand, in addition to our calls to legislators and protests.

Columnist Rev. Andrea Ayvazian: DEI is the alternative to white nationalism

By THE REV. ANDREA AYVAZIAN

I am a DEI professional.

Columnist Dr. David Gottsegen: Spreading disease with vax misinfo

By Dr. DAVID GOTTSEGEN

I’ve been a physician for nearly 40 years. We are trained to evaluate information about human health based on a foundation of knowledge learned in 11-12 years of pre-med, med school and residency training, evidence-based research, and experience listening to and treating thousands of patients.

Guest columnist John Paradis: How Republicans plan to dismantle VA health care

By JOHN PARADIS

Guest columnist Monica Moran: Help teens recognize abuse by partners

By MONICA MORAN

Guest columnists Jennifer Core and Claire Morenon: Grave threats to local farmers, food

By JENNIFER CORE and CLAIRE MORENON

Guest columnist Elaine Fronhofer: Real fraud starts with knee-capping watchdogs

By ELAINE FRONHOFER

Guest columnist Marietta Pritchard: Are we getting stupider as our reading declines?

By MARIETTA PRITCHARD

Columnist Dr. David Gottsegen: Warning — Trump poses potent risk to health

By DR. DAVID GOTTSEGEN

The week of Jan. 20, 2025, made history in a way few Americans realize. For the first time in 128 years, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, originally called Public Health Reports, was not published due to a gag order placed on all federal agencies by the new president.

Columnist Russ Vernon-Jones: Will we stop the coup?

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

There is a coup underway in our country. We are in danger of losing our democracy.