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By JOHN VARNER

While it is true that racism has been behind some zoning restrictions, racism is not the only reason zoning restrictions exist.Is all zoning racist? This is certainly what some real estate people want you to think, based on nearly a full page of...

Hockey fans — are you ready for a busy few months? The Bruins sit in first place in the Eastern Conference. UMass continues its quest for a top seed in Hockey East – plus a spot in Springfield’s NCAA DI Men’s Ice Hockey Regional. And PWHL Boston...

By GLORIA KEGELES

The flooding this past summer pulled back the curtain on the vulnerability of our local farmland resources and viability. Responding to what was deemed a crisis, the community, local lawmakers and the governor’s office swiftly responded with more than...

By AL NORMAN

On Sept. 29, 2021, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey sent a letter to the town of Shutesbury disapproving one sentence from a bylaw passed at their annual Town Meeting. The Shutesbury bylaw allowed associate members of the town’s Planning...

By RAZVAN SIBII

Last month, my column was an end-of-the-year top 5 list of hypocrisies that poison our current discussions about the migrant crisis at the southern border [bit.ly/3RLgE6s]. I think I got more emails about that column than about any other I’ve written...

By ROB OKUN

Let’s start with some basic assumptions: 1) Israel is not Jewish — just as the U.S. is not Christian. 2) Palestine is not Muslim. 3) Hamas perpetrates heinous acts, puts civilian lives in peril, and regularly violates the “rules” of war. 4) Israeli...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

President Harry Truman was right when he said “No nation is any healthier than its children.” Congress needs to live up to this standard by fully funding the WIC program that feeds low income mothers and infants throughout America.The Special...

By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom (1958)The wars that rage around the world are not only to be found elsewhere, beyond our soil and nation. Yes,...

By SHIRLEY MAJEWSKI

I read the article in the Recorder and am in agreement with resident Charlene Galenski about the raising of assessments in town. And now borrowing $5 million for road repair. The roadwork borrowing of money was voted down, but the town will hold...

Dictionaries define “hate” as “intense or passionate dislike for someone or something.” When hate is intensified to a point where it defies death, yours or someone else’s, we might add, it becomes “pure hate.”And the world is full of it. Consider how...

By BILL NEWMAN

This is scary. The number of books being banned in school libraries is spiraling upwards. Nationwide, for the 2022-2023 school year, PEN America substantiated 3,362 school book bans that targeted 1,557 unique titles. That’s a 33 percent increase from...

By MARK REYNOLDS and LINDA BUTLER

As we reflect on a year of unprecedented weather events, we must move into the new year embracing a diverse mix of power options to protect Americans from blackouts and climate extremes.While Massachusetts escaped the worst of the U.S. heat waves this...

By KAREN GARDNER

It’s the “Name That President” game show! And you, our contestants, are here to show your mettle and knowledge by matching the correct president to his statements and accomplishments. What fun!In today’s game, you have a choice between President X and...

Wintertime in Massachusetts allows residents everywhere to begin their yearly ritual of feeding the birds. People love watching the many species of birds arriving at their feeders every winter. And in Shelburne, we especially love it when we see one...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

Both the college and pro basketball seasons are heating up now with games every day. I was watching my alma mater Mount St. Joseph University play Bluffton University of Ohio and wondering if basketball could draw attention to global hunger. There are...

By MARGOT FLECK

There is much talk today about “toxic masculinity,” but I wonder, is it inevitable in this competitive culture that many boys grow up emulating the most aggressive, non-empathetic men among us?Salmon Rushdie wrote: “I have always been inspired by...

By RUTH CHARNEY

Granddaughter on phone: “She’s really mad.” Daughter: “I hear her. She’s yelling.”Son on phone to sister: “What a jerk.”Grandma J: “I hate it … It’s … red. I hate it red. Send it back.”Grandma Judy is older than me and I am old. She has survived...

By JOHN BOS

This Christmas past I found myself searching for light at the end of the climate crisis tunnel. It was during the week of the shortest day and longest night of the year, a time when ancient holy people lit “yule logs” to push back the darkness and...

By ALLEN WOODS

It’s near the end of pandering season in my home state of Iowa — a political season rather than a meteorological one, also occurring in New Hampshire and other states every four years. Suddenly, for a short period, a few states are awash in...

By CLAUDIA LEFKO

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a statement on grave violations of children’s rights in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory on Oct. 13. “We reiterate that the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requires States...