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By OLIN ROSE-BARDAWIL

By SAMUEL GELINAS

GOSHEN — New Town Administrator Michael Lapinski is no novice to the job, nor is he a newcomer to the area.

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Those of us who have lived more years than what are ahead of us have experienced and hopefully accepted that change is a continual part of life. We may not want to leave our workplace, end relationships, or move to a new home, yet life presents us with these challenges whether or not they are of our own making. We make the best of things as we are able and we move forward. 

By EMILEE KLEIN

NORTHAMPTON — Cooley Dickinson Childbirth Center nurses Arlenis Baez-Williams and Sandra Saravia are used to standing beside their patients, offering words of reassurance and guiding them through the birth of their babies.

By DOMENIC POLI

What’s a country to do when a penny isn’t worth a red cent anymore? Stop minting them, apparently.

By RICHARD SZLOSEK

Henry Knox was born in Boston in 1750. While a student at the Boston Latin School, his father suddenly abandoned the family. Forced to quit school to help support the family, young Henry found employment at a bookstore where the indulgent owner became a surrogate father to him. He allowed Henry to read any book he wished in between his duties. Henry read widely but his favorites were books of military history and tactics.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

NORTHAMPTON — Times are changing and so are sentiments around the conflict in Gaza, according to two front-line experts who gave a window into the ever-evolving political narratives surrounding Israel and the West Bank in a forum last week.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Etchings Festival is all about showcasing original contemporary music in a way that transcends boundaries. It’s not exactly a classical festival, though its Ecce Ensemble is made of classical musicians. It’s not exactly a world festival, but the music it presents blends cultures.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — All 73 members of the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust will see health insurance rates increase by an additional 20% on Oct. 1, ensuring that the trust remains intact, even in the face of significant medical and pharmaceutical claims and the growing popularity of weight-loss drugs.

John Paradis describes the alarming ways that empathy is under attack (“How did empathy become the enemy?” Recorder, July 26), including the use of techniques that are used to train soldiers to kill. This “Kill Talk” is being employed to devalue members of our own society, both citizens and non-citizens. As I read this, I realized how tempting it is to fall into the habit myself, devaluing those with whom I disagree. Many who voted differently from me have good reasons for their choices, including trauma in their lives like lost jobs, twice as devastating psychologically as divorce. Let us not contribute to the polarization in our society by assuming that all our political opponents are the same as their worst leaders.

By JOHN PARADIS

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching to understand what happened to empathy as a common value in our country, a norm by which we respect and treat one another with basic human decency.

By LOIS AHRENS

On June 30, just as many of her constituents and legislators were about to begin the July 4 holiday weekend, Gov. Maura Healey announced a massive $360 million plan to “re-imagine” Framingham women’s prison. The only prison for women in the state. Seemingly, she did this with no consultation with legislators who three years ago passed a bill, introduced by state Sen. Jo Comerford, calling for a 5-year moratorium on new jail and prison building. Comerford’s bill was vetoed by then Gov. Charlie Baker. The same bill has been introduced in the current session with wide support. Healey did this despite the fact that dozens of advocacy organizations throughout the state, including the Real Cost of Prisons Project, worked for years to pass the moratorium bill. She did this despite a desperate need for investments in affordable housing.

By THE REV. ANDREA AYVAZIAN

During the 1980s, the legendary Frances Crowe and I were co-chairs of the Peace Committee of the New England office of the American Friends Service Committee, based in Cambridge. Three times a year, we got into Frances’ red Datsun and drove to Cambridge to co-facilitate lengthy meetings with peace activists from all over New England.

On Dec. 3, 2024, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol attempted a self-coup by declaring emergency martial law. He and his wife were facing various criminal charges, and his party had only about one third of the seats in the National Assembly, the legislature. Yoon sent soldiers to the legislators’ building to prevent them from exercising their constitutional power to vote down the martial law. They still managed to vote, aided by citizens who surrounded the building to delay the soldiers. On April 4, the Constitutional Court impeached Yoon, who is currently in jail and on trial for insurrection.

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center and the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board officially merged this month, as the agencies seek to bring coordinated, comprehensive employment services to the North Quabbin region and Franklin and Hampshire counties.

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Book Review: “The Wonder and Happiness of Being Old” by Sophy Burnham (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 256 pages)

By OLIN ROSE-BARDAWIL

In May of 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt visited John Muir, one of the most revered naturalists of his time, in Yosemite, California. Muir took Roosevelt on a three-day camping excursion through the area, hoping that exposing him to Yosemite’s natural beauty would convince the president to set aside Yosemite and other wilderness areas to be designated as national parks.

By GRACE CHAI

NORTHAMPTON — After 15 years directing harm reduction at Tapestry, Liz Whynott recently accepted a new post as senior program officer at RIZE Massachusetts Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding and collaborating on solutions to end the overdose crisis in Massachusetts.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The end of the fiscal year coincided with the conclusion of a 39-year career at the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, as Donna Dudkiewicz retired as the organization’s chief financial officer on June 30.

By JOANNA BUONICONTI

Every summer, usually towards the beginning of June, my close family and I embark on a week-long excursion to the beach. The people included in this exclusive list are: my mom, my mom’s partner, grandma, my three cousins from Texas — how many of them that come each year varies — and my aunt. We cram into one house, there are bodies everywhere, and no one has nearly enough personal space.