Opinion
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
As I See It: Melania Trump’s nude photos — Art of pornography?
By JON HUER
Melania Trump, our former first lady, has written a book about herself, and some commentaries came along about her past career, which included posing nude for men’s magazines.I saw her nude photos years ago and, other than that they belong to our...
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...
Ed Lambert: Weakening academic standards will result in fewer job opportunities for Mass. students
As an organization that represents employers across Massachusetts, we are deeply concerned about ballot Question 2, which would remove the requirement that students pass the 10th grade MCAS assessment in order to earn their diplomas. Lowering our...
From Global to Local: Water and war in Gaza
By H. PATRICIA HYNES
In late 2020, a report titled “Saving Gaza Begins with its Water” stated: “The water crisis in Gaza is a problem of daunting proportions, with grave implications for the more than 2 million inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave ... The aquifer from...
Your Daily Puzzles
An approachable redesign to a classic. Explore our "hints."
A quick daily flip. Finally, someone cracked the code on digital jigsaw puzzles.
Chess but with chaos: Every day is a unique, wacky board.
Word search but as a strategy game. Clearing the board feels really good.
Align the letters in just the right way to spell a word. And then more words.