Newspaper Columns

Coronavirus will shape politics for decades

PITTSFIELD — In the 1950s, and ’60s, school children had to practice duck-and-cover drills designed to protect from nuclear fallout, and fallout shelters were commonplace, even if such measures could do little to protect against a nuclear bomb. Not unlike today, the 1950s and ’60s were eras ruled by fear, the most prominent of which was the fear of annihilation. READ MORE

Whatever happened to Greylock’s Ilvermorny?

PITTSFIELD — 2016 was an exciting time to live near Mount Greylock, as author J.K. Rowling named it the site of Ilvermorny, the North American school of witchcraft and wizardry in an online story that was released in conjunction with the new Harry Potter prequel movie series “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” READ MORE

Pay-as-you-throw trash proposal promising, but timing unfortunate

PITTSFIELD — Last month, three Pittsfield city councilors proposed a pay-as-you-throw ordinance that would see the city have residents put their trash in official, custom trash bags manufactured by Waste Zero that would be available at local vendors for purchase, prompting immediate criticism from other city councilors and Pittsfield residents. READ MORE

We need a walkable Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD — In 2015, renown city planner and lecturer Jeff Speck visited the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to give a talk based on his book, “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time,” which was required reading for freshmen that year. Being a sophomore, I didn’t read his book and I paid little attention to his talk. READ MORE

Five impossible dreams for foster care

PITTSFIELD —I’ve written about foster care twice before in this paper, the first column of which covered the general public’s role in improving foster care and the second one addressed the necessity of dreamers for inspiring progress, in hopes that they would inspire a community dialogue and bring attention to the woes of the foster care system and get people in the mindset that we can change it for the better. It’s time that we discuss what better looks like. READ MORE

We owe those we lost in 2020 to never forget

PITTSFIELD — Getting through 2020 was very much a mixed bag for me, especially as I scroll through posts from friends and family reflecting on that hectic year, in addition to reading many of the very good reflections from the staff of this very paper.

For many people, myself included, 2020 was a year of both professional and personal growth, legitimate accomplishments, and about nine months of adversity everyone reflecting back on can say they lived through, but it was also a year full of loss in which many people didn’t make it. READ MORE

Motorists’ concerns deserve to be heard, but North Street’s future should be driven by data

PITTSFIELD — There’s been a lot of talk about Pittsfield’s bike lanes on North Street, particularly from disgruntled motorists unhappy about the changing traffic patterns, long lines at red lights and safety concerns. In fact, there is a popular change.org petition demanding that the bike lanes be removed and for the street to be changed back to having two lanes of traffic. READ MORE

The necessity of student newspapers

As the new school year settles in, many youths across the country both at the high school and collegiate level are taking up the mantle of student journalists — that is, if they have the opportunity to do so. While a 2011 Kent State University Center for Scholastic Journalism study found that a strong 64 percent of high schools had student newspapers and the Pew Research Center estimated in 2013 that about 1,600 U.S. colleges and universities have newspapers, many do not, especially over a year into the coronavirus pandemic that has put many of their professional counterparts out of business. READ MORE