Opinion

My Turn: Industrial solar installations are overwhelming Northfield neighborhood

By JOHN BUXTON

 Twenty-six thousand panels were recently approved on Pine Meadow Road in Northfield and are scheduled to be installed in our residential/agricultural-zoned neighborhood. It was appealed and argued over for the last couple of years, but ultimately it...

Guest columnist Rudy Perkins: Dangerous resolution on Iran

By RUDY PERKINS

Both the Iranian government’s bombing of Israel and the Israeli government’s bombing of Iran are extremely perilous for the Middle East and the United States. That is why the dangerously one-sided U.S. Congressional resolution, H.Res. 1143,...

Guest columnists Ellen Attaliades and Lynn Ireland: Housing crisis is fueling the human services crisis

By ELLEN ATTALIADES and LYNN IRELAND

 Vacancies at programs operated by human services providers — despite some progress over the last two years — are still much too high. More than one in four direct support professional positions in adult residential and day programs for people with...

My Turn: April is second chance month

By ANNIE MAURER and ALYSSA GOLDEN

 April is Second Chance Month, a time to focus on how our community can support our neighbors in central and western Massachusetts returning from incarceration.As attorneys with Community Legal Aid’s CORI/Re-Entry Unit, we see the life-changing power...

My Turn: Judgmental about malaise

By MARGUERITE WILLIS

 Hold on, I’m going to be judgmental. I heard an ad on internet radio for a well-known company that sells fiber supplements.But wait for it — that company now has fiber gummies for kids “because they don’t get enough fiber!” Accompanying the ad were...

Ahmad Esfahani: Aiding and abetting and middle school angst

Those horrible middle school memories. Never knowing if Benji or Joey really liked you or not, and other types of misgivings and misleadings that ultimately led to an understanding that nothing really makes sense. Hooray for our federal government....

Greg Franceschi: Support bike lanes and walking paths in South Deerfield

In 2023, voters around the country directly approved $2.2 billion dollars in new funding for bike projects.If you want our roads to be safer for people on bikes, please tell our Selectboard, Planning Board, and most importantly, FRCOG’s (Franklin...

Todd Damon: Liking the positive vibe of Greenfield lately

It feels like we’ve created a day for everything and everyone. It’s become a bit much, in my opinion. However, I do like recent letter writer Mary Collins’ idea of celebrating the communities we choose to call home. Her April 9 letter in the Recorder,...

Laurie Benoit: Volunteers needed for cleanup of Buckland cemeteries

The Buckland Union Cemetery Association Inc. will hold its annual spring cleanup on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon. Volunteers are needed to help remove sticks, seasonal decorations, dead flowers and wreaths, broken items, and debris in our...

Kim George: National Volunteer Week — hospice needs you

Our community is at its best when we come together to help others in a time of need. At Pioneer Valley Hospice & Palliative Care, 35 trained volunteers give their time, attention, and compassion to help people facing the end of life live as fully as...

Charlene Galenski: Blake Gilmore, a strong candidate for Deerfield’s Selectboard

On May 6, Deerfield will have its annual election for local positions. Blake Gilmore is running as a candidate for Selectboard.Deerfield is facing some financially challenging times. Over the past few years, the town has voted to finance several...

Patter Field: Northfield Bird Club wins award

This year’s Northfield Citizen Stewardship Award was presented by the Open Space Committee to the Northfield Bird Club at the Selectboard meeting on April 16. The club’s founder, Nick Fleck, present to receive the award, read one of his poems....

Robert Hamer: Poet’s Seat surveillance a simple solution

In this age of CCTV cameras being deployed on nearly every corner and road intersection in our larger cities, it seems that a camera atop the Poet’s Seat flagpole would be a no-brainer. That, with publication of suspect vandal photos, may help...

My Turn: Still No. 1 in male mass shootings 25 years after Columbine

By ROB OKUN

 Fortunately, there wasn’t a copycat mass shooting to grotesquely mark the 25th anniversary of the Columbine massacre on April 20, 1999. But just as we can be certain there will be another solar eclipse, it’s only a matter of time before a hail of...

My Turn: National debt — A threat to our nation’s future

By RICHARD FEIN

This is an update on a column I wrote last year about a threat to our future well-being: the national debt. To summarize, unless the debt crisis is brought under control soon the future will be much more difficult for you, your children, grandchildren...

Ferd Wulkan: Green schools are possible

Massachusetts has 1,840 schools with 186 million square feet of building area responsible for an estimated 880,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually. Decarbonizing schools could go a long way toward meeting the state’s ambitious targets for the...

Josie Silva: Voting age impacts voter turnout

I am a student at Frontier Regional School. One reason that I think the voting age should be lowered is that around here, participation in town elections has been very low. Changing the age of voting eligibility would mean that not only would the...

Jessica Corwin: Lower voting age to strengthen democracy

It has always struck me as problematic that most young adults get their first opportunity to vote several months after they have finished their free and appropriate public education. Many have left home by then, leaving them to figure out voting on...

Erika Heilig: Trump’s mug is not news

Every week, I count the number of Trump photos in the paper, and to be fair, I've started to count the number of Biden photos. Last week was 5 for 6 on Trump (and 0 for 6 on Biden). Thursday was the only day without his mug. I can’t, for the life of...