Katherine Golub: Input welcome on Greenfield’s laws

As the chair of the Greenfield City Council Appointments & Ordinances Committee, I invite community members to share your thoughts about local lawmaking. Every five years, the Greenfield City Council is mandated to review the city’s ordinances (all city laws minus the charter), and 2025 is that year.

My Turn: Could low-wage whites spark Trump’s undoing?

By ROB OKUN

Lost amidst the fire hose of lies uttered by Donald Trump at his address before Congress March 4, was a New Mexico Democratic congresswoman’s succinct description of the crisis facing the United States: Rep. Melanie Stansbury held a small sign that said, “This Is Not Normal” as Mr. Trump greeted lawmakers upon entering the chamber. That Texas Republican Rep. Lance Gooden ripped the sign from Ms. Stansbury’s hands was not surprising. What is remarkable was that more Democrats didn’t highlight Rep. Stansbury’s message.

My Turn: How relevant is the Constitution of the United States?

By DON SIMMS

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States.”

My Turn: We are in mourning

By BILL FEINSTEIN

My Turn: MassDEP — Do your duty to the environment and the people

By PRISCILLA LYNCH

My Turn: Spreading disease with vax misinfo

By DR. DAVID GOTTSEGEN

Henry Hardy: Stop saying DOGE

I’d like to request that the Recorder stop referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, as it did in the article about the potential closure of the Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Amherst [“Federal office on Trump hit list,” March 10]. There is no department of government efficiency, and the president is not authorized to create departments by executive order.

Karen K. Davis: Horrified by dismantling of federal government, workforce

I am horrified that President Donald Trump may slash the Social Security Administration’s workforce by up to 50%; especially after he campaigned on the promise to not touch Social Security. This will severely limit the SSA’s ability to administer retirement and disability benefits to 72.5 million people.

My Turn: Spy cams on our public lands — Massachusetts must make rules

By KURT HEIDINGER

My Turn: Time to demand respect for our veterans

By MIKE MAGEE

My Turn: Green River needs a lot more love

By JOHN DAVID BOLES

Kip Fonsh: Down the Trump hole of fascism

We have descended down the deep hole of fascism. The guardrails have been stripped away and we are in grave danger of becoming an authoritarian state. Democracy will die down this hole. I am perplexed as to what 77 million Americans were expecting when they voted for this man. To make matters worse, he has brought in his sidekick, Elon Musk. An unelected man with a chainsaw to obliterate our government and our democracy. And this man with his chainsaw has fired thousands of government workers, men and women who daily keep the system going.

Larry Cervelli: Time for Supreme Court action

We all have seen years of movies about the critically important historical contributions of people of color and women to science, health, space exploration and education. But our current president, without resistance from elected Republicans, has fired Gen. Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of Naval Operations; and Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, U.S. Coast Guard commandant.

Aaron Kupec: Why Dollar General is a bad deal for Sunderland

Dollar General is wrong for Sunderland. While I understand the lure of convenience and low prices, the reality is far more troubling. In a scathing 2023 segment on “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver exposed the consequences of Dollar General’s expansion into small towns across America — driving out local businesses while contributing little to the broader community’s economic sustainability.

Douglas Mayo: Golden age it is not

We elected a president, (not I) not a king. Trump’s address to the Congress was a diatribe of his accomplishments since the election. Most of his cabinet is chock full of people who donated to his campaign and were never involved in the cabinet posts before their appointments. hence they know nothing the daily operation of our government.

Marvin Berkowitz: Mass Save is saving us money

Kudos to letter writer Bob Armstrong on “Mass Save is saving us money” [Recorder, March 4], for reminding us of the benefits produced by the Mass Save program. Dealing with a particularly cold winter not only chilled our bones but also gave us high-cost utility bills that added to the already high cost of living.

Linda Guthrie: World Eye Bookshop sorely missed

Someone recently wrote about discovering the closing of World Eye Bookshop. I, too, was very disheartened to see it closed.

My Turn: Battling Trump’s war on truth and history

By BILL NEWMAN

Censorship functions as a deadly weapon in the arsenal of authoritarian regimes. Consider this:

As I See It: Yes, America, Trumpism is here to stay

By JON HUER

As half of America is not sure if Trumpsters are here to wreck the nation or govern it, I urge all of us to try a new perspective on Donald Trump. In this new perspective, Trump is a revolutionary, as different from all of his predecessors as George Washington was from King George.

Jeff Lacy: The pulse of Conway

I’m new to Conway, but have quickly realized how fortunate I was deciding to relocate here. Conway has much going for it, but I’ll limit my brief kudos to two local businesses — both long owned and operated by women.