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By GENE STAMELL

One morning, a number of years ago, I found myself standing in line at a Starbucks counter.The woman in front of me was screaming into her phone, arguing about what seemed to be a rent dispute. Obviously irate, she was completely unaware of her impact...

By KATHERINE GOLUB and STACEY SEXTON

As elected officials representing the people of Greenfield, we face the very real needs of our community every day.Fourteen percent of Greenfielders live below the poverty line. Our schools face an untenable fiscal situation leading to cuts in...

By DANIEL A. BROWN

In 2017, in reaction to the revelations about the sexual misconduct of Harvey Weinstein that led to the creation of the #MeToo movement, feminist activist Eve Ensler (“The Vagina Monologues”) wrote the following: “I’m over the passivity of good men....

By H. PATRICIA HYNES

Dear President Joe Biden: I would wish you a Happy New Year but it seems trite, given all the challenges and troubles you and our country face in 2024 — some inherited from previous administrations, others of your making.Americans are 10 times more...

By SARA SCHLEY

If the blood spilled on Kibbutz Be’eri, where hundreds were massacred on Oct 7 could speak, would it cry out in Hebrew for vengeance? Would the children crushed by concrete in Gaza demand retaliation in Arabic? Both screaming from their graves for...

As of 2023, there were 31.2 million elders enrolled in private Medicare plans, known as “Medicare Advantage.” For the first time, that’s more enrollees than in the “Traditional” Medicare program. Seniors choose these private companies because they see...

By AMY WIWUGA and SYLVIA GHAZARIAN

In the ongoing battle for reproductive justice, the intersection of religious beliefs and public policy casts a long shadow over the fundamental rights of individuals, particularly those in marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ and non-binary...

By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ

The New Year is finally here, so what can we hope for and look forward to in the year ahead?“New Year’s Day” is a (re)start, a “tabula rasa/clean slate,” an opportunity to think and do anew.With whatever metrics one uses, 2023 (last year), was an...

By SUSAN WOZNIAK

As summer was winding down, I had a conversation with a young woman. Something she said, led me to answer, “That’s out of my bailiwick.” She looked puzzled and asked, “What’s a bailiwick?” I chuckled a bit and said, “Your generation uses the word...

By JON HUER

The most common description that liberal-democratic America uses to refer to Donald Trump’s GOP-MAGA followers is that they are “crazy.” This description seems entirely appropriate. Just watch and listen to Trump — and his followers in the street and...

By NINA SCOTT

Richard Nicoll and his wife, Martha Hanks-Nicoll, live in New Salem, in a lovely house with a spectacular view. Richard is originally from the southwest of England; he finished high school and one year of Agricultural College, then came to the U.S. in...

By MARGUERITE WILLIS

The Recorder’s Nov. 27 headline, “Plan falls short of goals,” is such an understatement concerning the state’s Student Opportunity Act, passed in 2019.As a 77-year-old white woman living in the poorest and whitest county in Massachusetts, I’d suggest...

By CARRIE N. BAKER

Over 60 percent of Americans support abortion rights, but last year Roe was overturned and 14 states now ban abortions in most circumstances. A president who lost the popular vote by millions appointed three staunch opponents of abortion to the...

By MICHAEL SEWARD

After about 100 years of exclusionary zoning, there was bound to be a reckoning. Antiquated and discriminatory housing policies among the towns of the Pioneer Valley resulted in a severe housing shortage. The housing proposal presented at a recent...

By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ

I remind the reader of my penchant for recreational lying, the purpose of which is not to deceive but to entertain, lest the reader misunderstand my tranquility under the threat of Donals Trump becoming dictator for life.Whew! I am so relieved. I’d...

By CARL DOERNER

When he died last month, Henry Kissinger was lauded as preeminent diplomat of the past half-century. The news media didn’t shy from the fact that he was controversial, but for the most part they left graveyards he created unvisited.Growing up in...

By MATT L. BARRON and JON WEISMANN

On Dec. 11, the U.S. House passed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, legislation to require Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to disclose drug rebates and discounts, revealing what they pay drug makers for prescription drugs. The bill would also...

By BILL DANIELSON

Dear Reader: I can’t believe that 2023 is almost over. Next week I am going to work on my traditional Year-In-Review column, but today I have decided to give myself permission to go back to one of my favorite photos of 2023. This is a photo that I...

By GENEVIEVE HARRIS-FRASER

I know this street in the Old City, Al Quds, East Jerusalem. I limped along its dusty pathway after sustaining an injury before arriving in Palestine in late December 2005 to attend a Palestinian-Israeli Peace Conference. This street may be the very...

By ALLEN WOODS

In trying to look at our world with the Christmas spirit this year, the continuing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine hover on the periphery of my vision, with horrific images of death and destruction just waiting to overwhelm me if my concentration...