In a winter when most Americans could use a good news story to lift their patriotic spirits, we find one unfolding — albeit 4,000 miles from here — in snow-covered places like Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Finland. That’s where the women’s U.S. Cross-Country Ski Team, led by the standout p…
There’s a new guy on the rostrum as the 192nd session of the Massachusetts House begins work, but an astonishing sameness in the way business is conducted — the same lack of transparency, a place where being a lawmaker is an insider’s game.
The Donald Trump administration is officially gone, but some of the deeper wounds it left in our republic remain — as do lessons on how to better fortify our political institutions against a similarly reckless executive.
As plans for mass vaccine distribution become reality, regional equity should factor into Massachusetts’ efforts to deal a crushing blow to the coronavirus.
When he takes the oath of office today, Joseph R. Biden will become the 46th president of the United States of America. President Biden entered the race for the White House endeavoring to restore the “soul” of America, and he now has his work cut out for him.
More than half a century on from the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his mission toward a more perfect union lives on — and rests on all of our shoulders.
It’s understandable that the protracted coronavirus crisis has left many of us with frayed nerves, but good leadership requires that our officials remain focused on their duties to constituents especially in a time of such need.
The thread binding our democratic republic now pulls on its weakest links: President Donald Trump’s congressional enablers must either stand up for checks and balances or allow partisanship to cripple the legislative branch’s ability to police a demonstrably dangerous executive.
Of all the times for fundraisers, 2020’s holiday season was a hard one to be optimistic about. Despite the odds, however, three Berkshire charities not only met their goals — they shattered them.
The clock is ticking down on the most disastrous presidency this nation has ever endured. The Trump administration will end in only a week and half.
For four long years, President Donald Trump sowed the seeds of authoritarianism, and now we all reap the chaos to which he led his followers.
It has come to this — hopefully the final showdown between the president and the integrity of our elections. One way or another, today will be a monumental moment for American democracy, an institution gravely tested by a leader who has forsaken his oath to protect it, instead doing all he c…
It’s been two weeks since U.S. officials began what ought to be the largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history. So far, things are going poorly.
Coronavirus
Never in recent memory has a year overstayed its welcome quite like 2020.
With the delivery of the first coronavirus vaccines and more on the way, the new year hopefully will bring the final corner to turn on this deadly pandemic. We must remain diligent, and our guards cannot be let up until the vaccine is sufficiently distributed, but for many it feels like we c…
“We’re lonely, we’re isolated, we spend a lot more time with few people, and those relationships are strained. We’re social beings, and we need the contacts. It’s a terrible loss for everyone.”
Despite some strong opposition to a low-level PCB landfill in Lee, the Environmental Protection Agency is sticking with the current plan on the table for a robust remediation of the Housatonic River — the right move for those concerned with the river’s well-being who want to see it cleaned u…
A timely but embattled police reform bill might just see the light of day, thanks to a critical compromise on Beacon Hill. After much back and forth over several aspects of the multifaceted bill, the Senate and House have approved a new version that Gov. Charlie Baker’s office has signaled h…
Principle: It’s a notion that’s sadly often absent from the form and function of political parties. But for members of the Republican Party who would espouse the priority of country over party — of principle over partisanship — it is gut-check time.
As a chapter of controversy closes at the Williamstown Police Department, a chance emerges to turn the page on a new and improved era of transparency and community-police relations in this small town.
As a new bishop for the Springfield Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church enters, so too does the hope that renewed transparency will serve to better confront and mend the wounds inflicted by the church’s lengthy history of systemic sexual abuse and cover-up.
Letters to the Editor
Why mention previous Lee Police woes?
A response to letter on Five Corners intersection
Columnists
I remember the Obama years well. There was a massive surge of national pride when Barack Obama was elected. America had done something important. It had overcome a hurdle on its path to racial inclusion. It had dealt a blow to its past.
Donald Trump’s administration overpromised on coronavirus vaccines. In November, his secretary of health and human services said there would be 40 million doses available by the end of the 2020; he was off by about a month. Trump himself promised 100 million doses in that same period. Everyt…
To make a lasting impact on diversity, equity and inclusion in Williamstown, we should turn our attention to housing.
PITTSFIELD — On Jan. 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the oath of office and was officially sworn in as America’s 46th president. Wasting no time, on day one, he took action to undo what he described as over a dozen of former President Donald Trump’s most harmful policies, which included r…