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BY AL NORMAN

In July of 2023, I wrote a Pushback column about the Benderson company of Buffalo, New York which had purchased a 6.7 acre parcel on the edge of Greenfield behind the Mohawk Trail McDonald’s. Out of state developers like Benderson, Robar and Ceruzzi are turning Greenfield into Anytown, U.S.A.

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

It was 80 years ago on July 16 when a mysterious flash of light and a massive explosion rumbled in the New Mexico desert. Only a few people knew about it at the time, but the United States just entered a frightening unknown world: the age of nuclear weapons.

This Sunday in Amherst, I saw my first spotted lanternfly. I wanted to share this news, because we can rally to protect our beloved ecosystem. Here are some ways I’ve found helpful to stay active about ecosystem protection: learn identifications. When you see a lanternfly, or another dangerous species, act as the planet’s immune system. Strengthen our bat population with those boxes. In other parts of the state, there are reports that bats are eating spotted lanternflies! The leading resource on the construction and maintenance of safe, healthy bat boxes is merlintuttle.org.

“Dont tread on me.” These words appeared on a flag in 1775 and were used as a rallying cry during the American Revolution and became a symbol of liberty, individualism, and defiance against authorities.

By BILL LANE

By AHMAD ESFAHANI

Pat Hynes ends her July 7 column (“Human-made problems can and must be unmade”), which advocates stopping the use of all fossil fuels, with the question, “Why aren’t we doing it?” The answer is provided in a recent Vaclav Smil report: “To eliminate carbon emissions by 2050, governments face unprecedented technical, economic, and political challenges, making rapid and inexpensive transition impossible.”

I am writing about the July 3 article entitled, "Community classics return: A look at Franklin County’s summer sports staples." [Recorder.com]. Noticeably absent from this article are tennis events organized by the Greenfield Tennis Association (GTA).  This summer season there are seven events scheduled between now and the end of September, including the Beacon Classic which has been played for decades right here on the clay courts of Greenfield.  People interested in participating can find more information at https://tinyurl.com/GTA-Tennis.Brian Lamore, Greenfield Tennis Association

In case you missed it, the first annual Triple Trivia fireworks fundraiser for the Friends of Greenfield Recreation was a success. We raised over $1,500 for the Greenfield Fireworks Fund that night, and we hope to make even more in the coming weeks. How, you ask? Well, check this out.

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 JIM GEISMAN

A relative of mine died a while ago and left a treasure trove of items she collected from her Middle East travels. Among her belongings was an ancient letter I had translated. The contents were worth sharing although the letter is incomplete.

By JUDITH TRUESDELL

Rather than focusing on personalities and blaming, I think it is more productive to look at the underlying systems that support the unwelcome behaviors.

Dr. David Gottsegen makes excellent points in his opinion piece, “Human health depends on a healthy planet Earth,” [Recorder, July 8]. Rolling back the progress we’ve been making on climate puts everyone’s health at risk, as the warming climate continues to cause worsening storms, floods, and wildfires — remember the floods in the Northeast in 2023, the wildfires in Canada, and the horrendous loss of life in Texas just this past week? Trump and the Republicans in Congress are cutting off avenues that could help mitigate this crisis, such as investments in clean energy, adequate staffing at NOAA and FEMA, and the research we need in so many areas to protect human health. Thanks to Dr. Gottsegen for calling all of this out. As he says, “Climate change is very real and getting worse; we can’t make it go away by saying it doesn’t exist.” It’s some consolation that, although the U.S. government has chosen to close its eyes to the problem, many other countries are taking a much more sensible path and making the investments that the U.S. should be making. Let’s wish them luck, and let’s tell our own Congress to wake up and do its job.

By LAURIE BOOSAHDA

The news cycles these days are overwhelming with distressing stories, but two developments this week — a random show of force by ICE in MacArthur Park in LA, and the opening of a concentration camp in the Florida Everglades — bring any person of good conscience to a new level of outrage and alarm. Random displays of state-sponsored intimidation are designed to intimidate not just those directly targeted, but also to sow anxiety and fear among those of us who have not been targeted and are most likely to protest.

By NORA M. LEOVICH

Bar advocates, (private attorneys who accept court appointments of criminal cases for indigent defendants), have stopped working. We are not “on strike” – we can’t be. We are not unionized. We are a group of lawyers who have agreed to accept criminal cases and who contract with the state for hourly compensation to work on these cases.

By JON HUER

Nowadays most people believe that “facts” and “truths” are similar, almost identical: They say truths are based on facts and facts lead to truths. Dictionaries further confuse them as close cousins, if not twins.

By TOLLEY M. JONES

In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was amended to include the Fugitive Slave Clause. This clause made it illegal for enslaved persons to free themselves through escape, and legally required them to be returned to their enslavers. In enshrining this in the Constitution, it also nullified state laws that protected enslaved persons from being returned to their enslaver if they reached a Northern state that abolished slavery. However, as Southern enslavers were unsatisfied with the resistance they encountered when attempting to retrieve their escaped slaves, the U.S. government attempted to mollify them with a stronger law. In 1793, The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress. This law declared that any escaped enslaved person must be returned to their enslaver, regardless of what state in which they were recaptured, and that anyone assisting in their escape would be fined $500 and given a year in prison.

Yesterday we celebrated National Blueberry Day, but unfortunately the joy of blueberry picking from the cherished Gordon King Estate, donated to the town of Leverett, was lost again this year. Access to this beloved Estate has been barred due to the closure of the easement from Shutesbury Road, a situation that not only deprives us of a treasured tradition but also impacts the maintenance and upkeep of the land as the town committee struggles to mow the grass and manage the estate effectively.

The late Frank Zappa once famously referred to politics as “the entertainment branch of the military-industrial complex.” The rock star’s prescient quote speaks to how our governance has become so performative — thanks largely to the cynical manipulations of Republican strategists — that the actual needs of society barely even make it onto the agenda.

By PHILIP LUSSIER

Even though I try to ride a bicycle as often as I can, I still suffer from motonormativity. It is something very common and mostly unnoticed. Motonormativity goes by other names such as windshield bias or car-brain. In fact, the “normative” quality of it is an indication that it is an unconscious, ingrained, perspective of people living in car-driving societies.