Julia Duncan: Life easier when Trump was president

After locking us down and forcing us to cover our faces, I hope millions of Americans will remember what the Democrats put them through during the pandemic (and long after it was over). Young people voting for the first time will hopefully come out in...

My Turn: Your silence will not protect you

By TOLLEY M. JONES

 Oppressive regimes, governments, religions and family systems rely on silence to fester and thrive. Their weak and parasitic exoskeleton depends on a steady supply of hapless victims who either helplessly, unknowingly, or willingly remain within the...

My Turn: The Community Preservation Act — A good deal for Colrain

By BETSY BROWNING, LYNN DITULLIO, DAVID GREENBERG, JILL LYONS, and JADE MORTIMER

 Why is approving the Community Preservation Act on Nov. 5 a good deal for Colrain? Because this small property tax surcharge is different.Revenues raised will be matched up to 100% by state funds. This is “buy one and get one free.” The CPA helps a...

My Turn: At stake — Election is about our freedoms

By ALLEN J. DAVIS

 This presidential election, the most important since 1860 when Lincoln’s victory saved the Union, will be decided by relatively few votes in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, just like in 2016 and 2020. The race...

My Turn: Police officer isn’t the answer for Greenfield public schools

By EDWARD M. DOWD

 Even in this time of political division, there are some things that Americans agree on. One of these is that we want our children to be safe. This is particularly true when it comes to safety at school. It is hard to imagine anything more unspeakably...

Rosemary A. Seifert-Graf: Go out and vote

I want to send out to all voters an important message. All must vote this election. There are too many issues that need to be handled by our government. Our voices can be heard when we cast our vote.Action can happen. We can all make this country a...

Sonya Rumpf: Honoring heritage through language at ILI

Much of what columnist Susan Wozniak recently wrote about newcomers in this country resonated with me and likely many others [”Newcomers will become part of fabric of country,” Recorder, Sept. 28]. Wozniak emphasizes the importance of families...

My Turn: MCAS testing requirement imposes constraints, not standards

By MATTEO PANGALLO

 It is difficult to imagine a more condescending and erroneous take on Question 2 than the one Ed Lambert of the Boston-based pro-business group Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education attempts to articulate in his Oct. 5 letter [“Weakening...

Deb Habib: North Quabbin Garlic and Arts gratitude

Thank you, community! Gratitude to 7,500 attendees, 100 exhibitors and 18 local to global food vendors. We appreciate you local performers, musicians, chefs and workshop presenters who filled six stages and tents with your talent and experience. It...

David Parrella: A house divided

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln announced his candidacy for president with what came to be known as the House Divided speech. Lincoln asserted about slavery that “a house divided cannot stand … I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave...

Tom Peabody: Being divided

In the Oct. 5 Recorder, columnist John Bos has a long column about our country’s division [“Tamping flames of division”]. It’s mostly (as much as he can be I guess) bipartisan.Then toward the end, he makes suggestions about how we can be more...

Green River Cemetery Board of Directors: Cleanup of abandoned campsites appreciated

The board of directors of Green River Cemetery would like to express sincere thanks to two groups who helped clean up abandoned campsites deep in the woods around our park-like cemetery.As reported in the Recorder on Sept. 30 [“Community effort cleans...

Todd Damon: Behavior that drives away from the left

Who are the MAGA merchants in Greenfield? With the election just weeks away, the list makers are working overtime on social media.The stated objective was to boycott and cancel the businesses in town who support the former president. The good news is...

My Turn: One year after Oct. 7, the Jewish fight for safety and unity

By MOLLY PARR

This Monday, Oct. 7, marks one year since an attack that forever altered Jewish history. One year since 1,185 innocent people were brutally murdered by the terrorist group Hamas. One year since 251 hostages were kidnapped and brought into Gaza. The...

My Turn: Winners, losers in Israel vs. Hamas war

By DAN BROWN

At this first anniversary of the Israel/Hamas war, it’s time to evaluate its winners and losers, none of whom have come out particularly clean.The WinnersHamas: This Jihadist gang of terrorists achieved an impossible feat. They conducted one of the...

John David Boles: Green River Cleanup a community effort

The 21st Franklin/Green River Cleanup took place on Sept. 27 and 28. Four River Charter School kicked off the cleanup on Friday, covering three sites leading into the Green River. On Saturday, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department continued at 7...

Letter: A modest proposal

It seems like Donald Trump and Trumpians believe that because a few migrants have committed atrocious acts we should round up all unvetted migrants who have entered the country and deport them.My modest proposal is that since a few unvetted men have...

Genevieve Harris-Fraser: Is Israel capable of change?

The Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel was truly horrific, but not unlike the “mowing of the lawn” assaults inflicted on residents of Gaza on a semi-regular basis pre-Oct 7. Now Israel inflicts all-out genocide and has begun a similar treatment on the West...

Connecting the Dots: Tamping flames of division

By JOHN BOS

‘We are all ‘mad as hell’ about some political or social issue” Allen Woods wrote in his excellent column last week [”The politics of anger,” Recorder, Sept. 28]. I agree, but my own sense is that the poisonous political poltergeist that has wrapped...