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By MARTHA THURBER

The news that Gov. Maura Healey is proposing an increase of $6.5 billion in Chapter 70 aid to education is certainly welcome. It fully funds the state’s FY24 obligation under the Student Opportunity Act, which passed in 2019. It’s also helpful that...

Only recently my wife and I had a chance to see the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Netflix. It’s about a ring whose accidental owner, a Hobbit named Frodo, goes on an epic journey to destroy it.Why is the ring so dangerous? It makes the ring-wearer...

By ROBERT BASSETT

If you happen to get a chance to drive through Northfield or even if you live in Northfield, the last thing that you would think is missing is a $14 million public safety building that abuts wetlands. There is talk of merging Northfield Elementary...

By SHIRLEY GILFETHER

Thank you to Paul Jablon for his insightful Feb. 17 column “How can the School Committee make a decision without evidence?” that addressed reconfiguring Greenfield’s elementary schools. I agree with the writer’s concern regarding the chairperson of...

By RYAN VOILAND

I recently traveled down Turners Falls Road in Montague and was shocked to see hundreds of mature trees have been cut to the ground up and down the 4-mile stretch from Montague center all the way to the public safety station in Turners...

Dear EarthTalk: What is the “30×30 Initiative” for conservation all about? — Mary S., Albany, New York Put simply, the goal of the 30×30 Initiative is the conservation of 30% of terrestrial and marine habitat across the globe by 2030. The High...

By JUDY WAGNER

On the drive from western Pennsylvania back to New England, there was a wide tract of land, near the New York and Pennsylvania border, with low hills and a gray and beige demeanor in the rain-soaked day. Then, my eye registered green. A stand of bare...

By BILL DANIELSON

One of the things I really like about the beginning of any calendar year is the delightful process of beginning new lists. I keep track of all sorts of things, from bird sightings, to temperature readings, to the blooming dates of flowers, but the one...

By BECCA KING

I was moved by Sidney Ko’s article “’Death with dignity push continues,” in the Feb. 21 Recorder in which she highlighted the End of Life Options Act supported by state Senators Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, Jim O’Day D-Boylston, Ted Phillips,...

By SUSAN WOZNIAK

We are three weeks past the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment. At its heart are three factors, one an object and the second a way of thinking. The object is plastic and the way of thinking is corporatism. We will discuss the third later.I...

By JON HUER

Just now, national debates are on artificial intelligence (AI). The  Feb. 8 Recorder article, “Educators wrestle with help, harm of AI,” brings the issue to our kitchen table, as they say. The controversy and fear over what artificial intelligence can...

By JOHN BOS

Two mornings ago, my first order of the day was to complete this column. I awoke, as most of you did, to a fresh blanket of snow. It was an inescapable reminder that my 10-day birthday celebration in the sun in Naples, Florida was a thing of the past....

By PETER ROSNICK

As with so many political arguments these days, there is a middle ground in the dispute as to whether to log state forests. I am not a forester. But for many years and hundreds of hours, I have wandered through the forests of Conway looking for the...

By DOROTHY JANKE

In response to the violent police killing of a young man in Memphis, I’ve been thinking about the history of this country. Let’s look at it.When the Europeans arrived, they decided and acted like they could take what they wanted and in whatever way...

By CAROLE GARIEPY

I like to be inspired. A shot of inspiration benefits all of us. Sometimes we get it from a good sermon, a visit with someone, a book we read. It leaves us with something to think about and maybe makes us view a situation in a new way. I was recently...

By Carrie N. Baker 

On Jan. 17, prosecutors in Stoughton charged Victor Carter with viciously murdering Amber Buckner, who was stabbed 30 times. Police found her with the handle of a 4-inch knife protruding from her right temple. The next day, prosecutors in Quincy...

By SUZANNE R. CARLSON

I am grateful to the Recorder for featuring “A Peace of their Hearts” (Jan. 31) with photos by Paul Franz and and an informative report by Mary Byrne about the many (now 26) downtown businesses with storefront signs for “Peace” that Pat Hynes imagined...

By BEN TOBIN

As a licensed special education teacher and disabilities advocate, one of my first and foremost responsibilities is to follow the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This law includes the mandate that districts must identify...

By Razvan Sibii

When Trump kicked off his presidential campaign in 2015 by talking about how Mexico is “sending” us immigrants who are cold-blooded criminals, I shook my head and thought, “Wow, he went straight to the oldest trick in the populist book: ‘The bad guys...

By SUSAN WORGAFTIK

I was encouraged by the presentation David Moscaritolo, chairman of the new Greenfield Public Safety Commission, made at the Feb. 15 City Council meeting. He discussed his commitment to review the procedures of the police and fire departments in...