Maeve M. Sherry: Push back on the CDC’s Covid-19 isolation policy

The Feb. 21 article titled “Will CDC end Covid isolation?” details the proposed changes to the current Covid-19 isolation policy and the arguments for and against it. As a person with Long Covid, I appreciate the coverage of this dangerous policy...

Rachel Achmad: Tipping essential for servers — leave it alone

Carrie Baker’s column about ending tipped wages was distressingly out of touch. I wish she had attempted to contact even a single person working as a server today, rather than rely only on her own decades-old experience. [“Subminimum wage is a legacy...

David Ball: Justice, nuclear safety on the side of Ukraine

Three things stood out for me in Martin Schotz’s guest Column on Ukraine [“Rethinking U.S. interests on anniversary of war in Ukraine,” Gazette, Feb. 23]. First, the oddity of seeing someone who is presumably a liberal pacifist taking the same...

Byron J. Ricketts: Reasons to eliminate the death penalty

Here are three good reasons to eliminate the death penalty:The first and most compelling reason is that the death penalty has not ever and will never be a deterrent to murder. The actual fact is that since 1900, approximately 7,000 men and women have...

My Turn: Hope is a vision of what might be

By RUTH CHARNEY

We walk a path that leads toward the pond. The ground is rutted, our feet slosh in the wet snow. It’s a gingerly, slow pace.Fast moving water rushes into a spring-fed pond — a swimming pond come summer. We try to imagine a summer day with warm sun...

My Turn: When ‘Little Black Sambo’ was just a clever kid

By ESTELLE CADE

Juneteenth. A conversation with friends of color about things from my childhood. As I am well into my 90th decade, it was a long time ago and I reminisced a bit.I began with speaking of the Uncle Remus stories, little moral tales told by an elderly...

Louise Amyot: Unenrolled voters explained

At the delightful used book sale at the Greenfield Public Library recently, I overheard a conversation that caught me by surprise. Two women were discussing the coming presidential election and primaries and the one said to the other: “I just learned...

Nicholas Vasconcellos: The urgent need to reduce plastic consumption

I am writing to express support for An Act to Expand the Bottle Bill (H.3690/S.2104), which would significantly enhance recycling efforts in Massachusetts by increasing the bottle deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents. The act also will expand what can be...

As I See It: When giving is only false charity

By JON HUER

During the holidays, we hear much about giving. A strange thing about giving: We commoners simply “give,” but if a rich man does, it’s called “philanthropy,” literally “love of humanity.” It sounds noble and mysterious, but what really is...

My Turn: Re-elect Fleitman and Stuart to Republican State Committee

By JAY FLEITMAN AND MARY LOU STUART

 The Republican State Committee is the board of directors of the party. It operates like any organizational board; determining policies, direction, approving finances, and electing officers, particularly the chair position. As such, the state...

Nadya Beaudoin: Get fit, give back

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western Mass is teaming up with Common Ground Fitness Center for the “Get Fit, Give Back” Fundraising Fitness Class on March 3, at 369 Federal Street, Greenfield. The event aims to support youth mentoring relationships....

Wilson Roberts: Public discussion over cease-fire resolution ‘frightening’

The antisemitism displayed during the public discussion over the cease-fire resolution put before the City Council’s Feb. 21 meeting was frightening [“Dozens lobby council for cease-fire resolution,” Recorder, Feb. 23]. There is no excuse for shouting...

My Turn: Subminimum wage is a legacy of slavery — time for one fair wage

By CARRIE N. BAKER

During the summer after my sophomore year of college, I worked as a waitress in a West Hartford diner. I earned $2.13 an hour plus tips. I had to smile at nasty customers all day long to get the tips I relied on to pay rent for a room at the YWCA in...

My Turn: Polluters should pay at the border

By WENDY BERG and MARK REYNOLDS

The magnitude of global climate change has come home to us in Massachusetts. Last summer, flooding caused by intensive storms washed away roads and other critical infrastructure, destroying the crops on many local farms and in our community...

James A. Arcoleo: Fleitman’s values benefit everyday Americans

This is a letter of support for the reelection of Jay Fleitman and his wife, Mary Lou Stuart, to the Republican State Committee. I have known Jay for many years now and know that his values reflect that of traditional Americans with an emphasis on...

Robert Kubacki: Words were a gift

Many letters and columns published in this paper have invited all of us to reach into our minds and hearts to attempt to fathom the complexity of the culturally rich, conflicted and violent Palestinian-Israeli relationship. Of those many articles, I...

My Turn: Coaches failed students, not MIAA — and hypocritical for legislator to demand accountability

By MICHAEL SEWARD

Belchertown coaches failed to submit paperwork for the girls’ swim team, preventing them from competing in a tournament. Somehow it’s the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s fault, according to state Rep. Aaron Saunders.Although the...

My Turn: The root causes of Middle East war

By CARL DOERNER

 No one has explained why young GIs were sleeping in a Jordan desert when harm came to them. Those generals who appear on TV are only up to speed about attacks, counterattacks, counter-counterattacks and so on. The military has to justify its...

Pat Hynes: Educating the whole child

A recent story about seven middle-school students rushing to the aid of an older woman in need of help exemplifies the lifelong benefits of education imbued with lessons of compassion and community. Gloria Matlock, founder/director of Twice as Smart,...

Marilyn Kelsey: Shout out to mini-GOATs

Shout out and thanks to our local mini-GOATs: Buckland employees! Bernardston Senior Center staff!  Greenfield LifePath's senior home-safety programs!  Wow, truly greatest of all time!  Marilyn KelseyBuckland