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Thank you, Tolley Jones. Your columns are hard reading, but they tell my heart how to understand what I know.

President Donald Trump does not care about you or me. It’s not like rooting for the Red Sox, who have no idea who you are, because if they did know, they would care. But Trump is not a normal human being. You will never hear him say, as Barack Obama did, after the Marathon bombing, “You will run again.” Trump will never “feel your pain.” He will just never care. And that’s the kind of person we have running the whole show of governing our country, making decisions that affect our lives, deciding who lives here and who does not, all while not knowing or caring who anybody is. Just one heart beats in the world of Trump: his own.

Pat Hynes ends her July 8 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.”

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Formal and casual photographs of students, faculty and staff at Hopkins Academy, write-ups about academics, athletics and other extracurricular happenings and insights into school life and community traditions are included in yearbooks printed annually for more than 100 years.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A mix of incumbents and newcomers are taking out nomination forms to run for office at the November election, where all 13 seats on the Town Council, five seats on the School Committee and six library trustees positions will be decided.

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 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.

I write in strong support of the proposed mixed-use housing project near Atkins Corner. As a progressive town that values sustainability, inclusion, and smart planning, Amherst should embrace this opportunity. Opponents cite environmental concerns, but three- to four-story mixed-use buildings are proven to be the most environmentally friendly forms of development. They reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and support walkability and public transit. This is exactly the kind of density we need to meet our climate goals.

Dr. David Gottsegen makes excellent points in his opinion piece, “Human health depends on a healthy planet Earth,” [Gazette, July 7]. 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.

You may see us with signs and banners in our neighborhood. We’re a small group of seniors who believe this is no time for despair and handwringing.

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — South County Senior Center Board of Oversight members, alongside other officials from the three towns, are eyeing yet another potential long-term home for the Senior Center.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

ASHFIELD — An Amherst native is continuing to put himself in the record books as one of the world’s fastest speedcubers, taking first place in an event at the recent Rubik’s World Cubing Association World Championship in Seattle.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Plans for a mixed-use development on Hampshire College-owned land in the Atkins Corner village center are being revised due to uncertainty that the Conservation Commission will allow wetlands intrusions beyond what the town wetlands bylaw allows.

By GRACE CHAI

Massachusetts is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War this year and next with initiatives and events across the state, funded by $2 million in grants from the Healey-Driscoll administration. The statewide initiative — known as Massachusetts 250 — will celebrate anniversaries and events significant to the state’s role in the American Revolution.

By GARRETT COTE

HAMPDEN — After shaking hands with his opponent, Woodland Golf Club’s Patrick Kilcoyne, on the 12th green, Ryan Downes hopped on the back of a golf cart and took the long ride up toward the clubhouse with his caddie — the two all smiles.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Though the June 10 City Council meeting was held remotely via Zoom and not in person, an air of tension could be felt amid discussion over the Northampton Reparations Study Commission.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A mixed-use redevelopment at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive, already approved as a five-story building, could add a sixth floor as a result of a new zoning overlay district.

By JOHN PEPI

The June 23 guest column by Joe Curtatone of the Alliance for Climate Transition spoke clearly of the role and significance of battery energy storage systems (BESS) if Massachusetts is to green the grid with renewable but intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind. Mr. Curtatone also spoke of the advances in battery safety management which government and industry have put in place – much of these encoded in recent National Fire Protection Association regulations.

If what is transpiring in the United States was the subject of a novel or a portending thesis it would be rejected and mocked as incredible. That hundreds of legislators, the Supreme Court and the Justice Department would succumb to the Trumpian cult and ignore the Constitution, stare decisis, their oaths of office, and participate in the devolution of democracy would be out of the realm of possibility.

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.