Opinion
My Turn: Dylan film resonates with time, place
By SUSAN WOZNIAK
My Turn: On some things, there’s just no middle ground
By PETER LAMDIN
Kathe Geist: When we can call ourselves ‘Christian’
It is wonderful to see the true face of Christianity shining forth in the words of Bishop Mariann Budde and getting the positive press they deserve. For too long the ugly face of Christian nationalism, which seeks to impose its hypocritical will on our nation and destroy our Constitution’s guarantee of a separation between church and state, has dominated press coverage and thus the public perception of Christianity.
Teresa Amabile: Healey’s shameful budget proposals
There is much to applaud in the budget proposal that Gov. Maura Healey released on Wednesday, such as funding to implement the state’s Student Opportunity Act, but I am alarmed that two provisions in this budget could bring real harm to some of the most vulnerable residents of our commonwealth.
Major Elijah Kahn: Thank you from The Salvation Army
It is with the deepest gratitude that The Salvation Army Massachusetts Division thanks all those in the Athol area who contributed to the 2024 Red Kettle Campaign. Your donations and volunteer support helped to meet the increased requests for assistance within your community during the holidays and will continue to help throughout the year.
Columnist Judy Wagner: Winter’s clear views
By JUDY WAGNER
Winter can be a time of clarity. The colors of flowers, shrubs and grasses are stripped down to earth tones. Trees have lost their camouflaging leaves, baring the dark branches highlighted against chill blue or frost-colored skies ripe with unshed snow. The branch patterns are bold, or lacy, sometimes tangled with strangling vine designs. Broken branches become apparent; the squirrels’ nests, often precarious at the tips of limbs, are exposed.
Julia Duncan: ‘Long national nightmare’ over!
Hip hip hooray! President Donald Trump is back in the White House where he belongs, and, as expected, liberals everywhere are freaking out. Maybe I’ll put on my MAGA hat when I go to the supermarket. Yeah, I think I will. It’s time to ruffle some feathers.
Carl Doerner: Freedom for Peltier
When Al Gore was running for president, I had opportunity to plead the case with him for freeing the Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier. As we’ll recall, the Supreme Court decided the winner of that 2000 election was George Bush.
Richard Shepardson: President shortsighted on using up oil
The wisdom of our current president, Donald J. Trump, is troublesome and shortsighted. Let’s “Drill! Drill! Drill!” and flood the market with U.S. oil, drive down the price and make it so other countries cannot sell their oil. This will give the U.S. leverage to stop other countries from bad behavior.
Jim Bates: Earth’s climate always changes
Climate change! Climate change! California! California! At my house, it was minus 5 degrees this morning, 6 inches of fluffy snow fell the night before.
Celia Miller: Take the Polar Plunge
This is going out to lovers of the outdoors, marathoners, long-distance bikers, and polar plungers. And to those who wish to express their love and solidarity for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
Emily Greene: Time for all men to champion women
Thank you letter writer Karl Meyer for recognizing that women have been pushed aside for way too long, creating a society that does not value every human being [”Time for men to stand up for a just society,” Jan. 16]. Women are 50% or more of the world we live in and they deserve to be treated equally by men.
Eve Brown-Waite: Look for the helpers
Many of us in western Massachusetts are concerned about what might await us, and those we care about, after Inauguration Day. There is plenty of reason to believe that a firehose of damaging policies will be let loose from day one as the new administration activates their promised agenda. Some of us may be asking, what can we do? How can we be most useful? Does anything we do matter at all?
Tom Tolg: One question
I have a simple question to ask. It is for all readers but especially for those who voted for Donald Trump. It is not meant to be snarky and is asked seriously and in good faith. Please take a minute or two before answering.
My Turn: No tax cuts for billionaires
By RUSS VERNON-JONES
Guest column: Privilege and loss in Pacific Palisades
By JAMIE ROWEN
Roger Sadoski: Two black cats
Unfortunately, I am writing about two abandoned black cats on Hillside Road in South Deerfield near the trailhead for North Sugarloaf. There are only two homes in this area on just a winding road that too many people speed on.
Guest column: Coretta Scott King’s noble idea for MLK Day
By WILLIAM LAMBERS
Columnist Daniel Cantor Yalowitz: The essense of bearing witness
By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ
Most of us awakened this morning with an awareness of the magnitude of this particular day in history. Whether we intended to or not, we have come to and through this day knowing that we are bearing witness to a significant political event (or spectacle) that will impact our lives greatly, whether we like it — or not. Whether we are activated, agitated, or holding any other feelings about today’s inaugural events, our democratic republic moves on (or so we can hope.).
Jack Tulloss: Violence as wallpaper
Here’s a bit of history: Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the reincarnated incarcerated H. Rap Brown, was a consequential figure of the 1960s Black Liberation Movement and author of one of the most iconic aphorisms to emerge from this period. During a 1967 media interview, Mr. Al-Amin declared, “Violence is a part of America’s culture. It is as American as cherry pie.”
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.