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It’s no secret that western Massachusetts, like anywhere, is facing a profound political crisis. The Trump administration is tearing up the fabric of our society as ICE stalks our streets. With everything from Medicare to the Department of Education under siege, the very foundations of our lives are at stake. With simultaneous cuts to public services and disproportionate funding at the state level, we are confronting a precarious, dire moment.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The City Council on Thursday postponed a vote on the $145 million city budget for the 2026 fiscal year, in the hopes of avoiding the more contentious budget process that took place the previous year.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Only steps away from where ambulances will be bringing patients to Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s expanded Emergency Department are two dedicated resuscitation rooms.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — At a parent’s home by the Montview Conservation Area, Brant Jones gathers the group of 14 high school students who have assembled that morning before they embark on their planned four-day adventure.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Lewis Carol’s story of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is more than 150 years old, but a group of local teen performers is reimagining it with a modern twist.

I was appalled at the thoughtless way in which Smith College handled the reversal of Evelyn Harris’ honorary degree. As pointed out by Bob Cilman and Julia van IJken in their recent letter, the college reviewed and approved Evelyn’s speech, which likely was written in the mindset of a musician, interpreting “covers.” Evelyn is not an academic and was not looking to plagiarize as the blaring headlines claimed. I’m sure she assumed the pre-approval of her speech took that nuance into account. Regardless of the decision, it should have been made privately between Evelyn and the college as there was clearly misunderstanding on both sides.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A University of Massachusetts student majoring in sociology, Prachi Dayal regularly interacts with survivors of domestic violence as a legal intern at Safe Passage in Northampton, talking to these individuals and ensuring they and their families get the help they need.

The Northampton Jazz Festival will screen “Brownie Speaks,” a documentary about the life of jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown, at 33 Hawley on Thursday, June 12, at 8 p.m.

I object to the unfounded accusations against retired Rev. Peter Kakos, made by a recent letter writer in these pages. I stand out regularly with Rev. Kakos and have come to know him as a man of God, for whom God is love. We stand out calling for an end to U.S. arms shipments to Israel as it carries out attacks against Gaza that have leveled the landscape. The people of Gaza have been forsaken in a most terrible way. Right now, before the whole world, a mass starvation is taking place due to the restriction of aid by the Israeli government. Recently, it was reported that 14,000 babies are in danger of dying in the next few days. These are war crimes. It is not antisemitic to protest war crimes, it is in fact, standing up for peace, justice, a better world and to remind our community that the light of life and God are in all living beings, including Palestinians.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Representatives on one legislative committee are not ready to decide whether one of the most controversial proposals on their plate should move forward early in the lawmaking term.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Dave Dombrowski’s decision to run for mayor has been one that’s been six years in the making.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Summer has yet to officially begin, but municipal elections in the city continue to heat up as 28 candidates have already pulled nomination papers to run for positions on the City Council or School Committee.

By J.M. SORRELL

On Oct. 7, 2023, the modest community of the Nir Oz kibbutz was decimated — with over a quarter of its population slaughtered or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. Seventy-four-year-old Bracha Levinson, a child of Holocaust survivors, was alone in her home and in her safe room where she did not have the physical capacity to hold the door. The terrorists took her phone and posted a video of her on her Facebook page as she was lying in a pool of her own blood with the killers standing over her. All of her family and friends saw it.

By PETER BLOOM

In recent days, the Gazette has printed various letters from individuals who are disturbed by the story of the honorary degree awarded by Smith College to Evelyn Harris. Although I retired from Smith after teaching at the college for nearly five decades, and although I was once a member of the college’s committee on honorary degrees, I have never met Ms. Harris, nor do I have any special knowledge of the events that led to the relinquishing of Ms. Harris’s honorary degree.

By KAREN SERRA

The first time I heard the word autism, I was in high school. Someone told me it was caused by “cold moms” and vaccines — and that it could be prevented. I didn’t know much about autism back then, but I remember thinking, that doesn’t sound right.

As Bay State Bike Month rolls to a close, I’d like to take a moment to recognize and sincerely thank the 30 incredible businesses along Main Street whose support helped make this year’s Northampton Bike Week a success. Their generosity and enthusiasm were on full display while fostering a sense of community and promoting a healthier, more sustainable way to travel.

I am personally embarrassed and ashamed of the way my alma mater, Smith College, publicly humiliated one of our community’s outstanding citizens, when it took back the honorary doctorate from Evelyn Harris for not crediting the sources in her speech. Evelyn Harris is someone I have admired from afar for many years — originally for her part in that fabulous music group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. When we were lucky enough to have her settle in Northampton, it seemed that she was immediately everywhere with her gorgeous voice raised for justice, equality and peace. The honorary doctorate from Smith was earned by her years of devotion to change on behalf of those in need and I for one was delighted to learn that it was to be bestowed upon her. Others have written here to remind us that Evelyn Harris had turned in a draft of her speech more than two weeks ahead of time, so that it could be checked, edited and approved. Which it was. Perhaps the academic world looks at speeches as papers that must follow some set academic rigor, but the rest of us hear, in such a speech as Evelyn Harris’s, what we all need now: the passionate words of a human being with a generous heart, courageous spirit, and a mind that seeks a more just world. Smith College owes Evelyn a profound apology and should without delay restore to her the honorary doctorate she earned.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Efforts by the Northampton Department of Health and Human Services to restrict the sale of nitrous oxide in the city — a measure that’s set to go into effect in two weeks — began with a single email.

By JOANNA BUONICONTI

Feb. 22, 2025, at around 10:45 pm will be a moment that will be imprinted in my mind until the day I die. It was the moment that I had my first kiss.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Speaking before a packed auditorium of parents, teachers and her fellow high school graduates, Giselle Ohm succinctly summed up the complicated feelings many Northampton High School students experience when they leave home to begin the next stage of their lives.