Lew La Chance: Consider Easter services

God Bless all who attend church services 52 weeks a year. Those who attend occasionally, or have stopped visiting God, please think about going to Easter service. Remember St. Dismas, the good thief hanging on the cross next to God on Calvary. The thief told Jesus he was sorry for his sins and asked Jesus to forgive him. At the last minute, St. Dismas stole heaven.

Marilyn Pelis: Activities vary at senior centers

A recent letter writer made a valid complaint about the Greenfield Senior Center. A couple of years ago the only class, Seated Chair Dance, that I could fully participate in was suddenly ceased. I won't go into that fiasco. Immediately we were welcomed at South County. Shortly after we were invited to Erving and Turners Falls. Everyone is invited to attend any one of these facilities. They all have many activities, both regular and special. If you want a pleasant experience, check them out. You won't be disappointed.

My Turn: Let wildlife roam — An important new wildlife bill can help reconnect critical habitat

By JOHANNA NEUMANN

Humans are great at building things, but it’s also beginning to dawn on us that these impressive and sometimes magnificent structures also impact the other creatures that we share this earth with.

Guest columnist William Lambers: Easter baskets can save lives far away

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

The joy of finding an Easter basket filled with food and gifts is something you never forget. Even greater is the feeling of giving an Easter basket of food to someone in need. This has been a great tradition for many years.

Martin Dagoberto Lydgate Driggs: Defending a cornerstone of American democracy

There’s no shortage of urgent issues demanding our attention. In moments like these, we each have to choose something local and worth fighting for. For me, that’s our library.

Jim Bates: The gift that keeps on giving

With all the belly-aching, temper tantrums, hysteria and foot stomping like petulant children, the liberals writing into this newspaper since Donald Trump was re-elected have taken all the space on the opinion page. I tried to wait it out, but they are the gift that keeps on giving.

My Turn: Raise every voice, every heart

By ALAN HARRIS

I had written an essay back on April 2 which seemed apropos then but as yet unpublished, I’ve replaced it with what I think has perspective on our current moment. There is no one vantage point from which humanity can digest and assimilate the vagaries and constant movements that engulf it, that it creates. That cannot be, however, an excuse for how we indulge our fancies, ignore truths, and delude ourselves at the hands of incipient, or not, tyrants, sycophants, and opportunists. We live in a circus: evolutionary, theatrical, spiritual — fill in the blanks.

My Turn: Call us Cinderella Town

By ANDREW VARNON

You might say Greenfield had a “Cinderella run” in the Strongest Town competition. Out of 16 municipalities across North America, we made it to the Final Four, and we didn’t have the Strong Towns pedigree. Who would have picked us?

Laura Josephs: Is a 170-foot cell tower really needed near Newton Elementary School?

My family moved to Greenfield in 2017 and bought our first home near the Newton School last year. We would like our son to start kindergarten there in fall 2026.

Susan DeMattos: Grateful for the joy and connection public libraries bring

A letter published April 11 had many criticisms of public libraries. I am saddened that the writer has not experienced the generosity, civic mindedness, joy, and the sense of connection that I experience at the Greenfield Public Library every week.

Marcia Schuhle: Much to do at Greenfield Senior Center

This letter is a response to the recent piece regarding the Greenfield Senior Center with a very different view. I have found that many people use this beautiful space for regular ongoing activities and connections with others. Kathy Dunn, the activity director, works very creatively to schedule diverse activities and classes. Exercise classes every day that meet all skill levels, craft classes, weekly game groups, entertainment, writing classes, support groups, tech help are simply a few. If you have ideas, I have found Kathy very open to suggestions and discussion. Thank you, Kathy. Please continue your wonderful work at our Senior Center.

Columnist Al Norman: The city’s capacity for opacity

By AL NORMAN

Citizens in a democracy should expect full transparency from government. “It is our goal to provide as much information to our citizens,” the city of Greenfield says on its website, “to promote a transparent government for our citizens.” The opposite of transparency is opacity.

My Turn: Roots of wisdom — How small farms preserve their way of life in western Massachusetts

By TOM WASKIEWICZ

Small family farms are more than businesses; they are a way of life, shaped by generations of experience, sacrifice, and resilience. Every field plowed, every seed planted, every harvest gathered carries with it the wisdom of those who came before. But there’s no handbook for passing down this knowledge. Instead, it happens in the quiet moments — side by side in the fields, in conversations at the kitchen table, in the habits formed over years of hard work.

Butch Garrity: Honor public safety telecommunicators this week

April 13- 19, 2025, is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. The week is set aside to recognize the public safety 911 professionals who answer the phone when someone is having their worst day or the worst time of their life. I was fortunate to work with the State Police Regional Dispatchers at Shelburne Falls. Their skill, tenacity, persistence, and calmness were nothing less than impressive daily. They are calm in the storm. They remain unflappable while answering screams for help, and while being provided poor, misinformation, or malicious information, they ascertain information needed to send the correct level of response. They may be unseen, but their contributions to public safety are immeasurable. They continually seek new ways to improve service to the agencies they serve and the public.

Robert Dickerman: What fascism in America looks like

On March 13, Red Fire Farms joined a federal lawsuit with seven other farms, contesting the federal government’s freeze of grants and reimbursements affecting farms. Seven days later, on March 20, ICE arrested four Red Fire Farm workers at their homes in Springfield. ICE surrounded one home with 20 law enforcement vehicles. Two of the workers were arrested in front of their children after ICE agents reportedly broke through their front doors. Other family members present at the raid were threatened. The ICE personnel had no arrest warrants, although, by law, warrants are required for such forced entry.

Paki Wieland: A sign of hope

Last Saturday morning, April 12, I co-led with Court Dorsey a mini-nonviolence training in Montague. If you remember that morning you woke to cold weather, snow or rain, a most unappealing day! Despite the weather about 100 people came to the meeting hall. They came, some said because they wanted to stand with our neighbors, our most vulnerable neighbors. They did not come as partisans, they came because they have the right under our Constitution to speak out on the issues of the day.

My Turn: What is a serious person?

By MICHAEL FLECK

For the past few months several pundits and former government officials, both Democrat and Republican, have said, referring to the Trump administration, “These are not serious people.” They said this about RFK, Jr. (as he emphasized the value of treating measles with cod liver oil and vitamin A); about Pete Hegseth (during his nomination process and as Signalgate unfolded); and about Donald Trump himself (as he mused about a third term saying that tariffs are taxes on other countries, mentioned the possibility of invading Greenland, and imposed tariffs on an island of penguins).

My Turn: On gang tattoos, survival, and respect in the USA

By BROOKLYN TRUEHEART DEMME

I grew up on the safe side of town with educational access and expectations of gainful, dignified employment. Selling harmful addictive substances was not a consideration I needed to make to provide for my family. Moreover, the mobility and security afforded by my skin color and privileged class background have allowed for me to safely visit and learn in some dangerous places which residents can not easily leave.

Robert Cress Catlin: Council should approve ‘one ADU on one lot’

A recent column in this paper suggests that “fear” is being used to argue about the benefits of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) [”ADUs and politics of fear,” April 9]. I think “facts” can be scary to some people, but here’s the truth:

Laurel Facey: Libraries are essential

International Children’s Book Day was celebrated on April 2. “Research shows that children whose parents read to them every day are exposed to at least 290,000 more words by the time they enter kindergarten than kids who aren’t read to regularly.” This fact was found at https://www.earthday.org/libraries-where-books-go-to-party/ as part of that celebration. Former President Ronald Reagan said, “The library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life.” Lifelong learning, for free, is available at our public libraries. I remember the words of our dear friend and library supporter, Margo Culley, who called our greatly appreciated local library, the Wendell Free Library, “Wendell U,” for “Wendell University,” as it is the learning place for residents of all ages.