Wednesday, October 14, 2026

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JOHN BREASTED: The Great Barrington Selectboard’s credibility gap

Transparency does not require officials to reveal legal strategy. It does require them to tell voters when the town has been sued.

Correcting misinformation regarding Southern Berkshire Ambulance in a recent Stockbridge newsletter

The email suggested surprise that SBAS would seek end-of-year financial support from Stockbridge residents because, it erroneously suggested, SBAS does not serve Stockbridge. That is just not true.

PETER MOST: How much library can we afford?

We can honor the value of libraries while still asking the hard question: Are we funding a modern public need or maintaining a nostalgic institution whose scale no longer matches the town’s priorities in an era of diminishing resources?

Community support needed for Du Bois eighth grade trip

Because the cost of transportation, lodging, and meals is significant, the trip depends on community support.

SONIA PILCER: The literary taboo of AI

OK, I collaborate with artificial intelligence. Writers are not supposed to admit this out loud. When I say it, academics bristle, journalists look wary, and my writer friends go still. Yet after 10 years of silence, it is this unlikely partnership that has brought me back to the page.

I WITNESS: If you keel over in the Oval Office, do not expect Donald Trump to help you up.

Donald Trump is no fan of human frailty, even his own.

STEPHEN COHEN: Trump’s Wars (Part Two) — a quandary

It is hard for a draft dodger to appear to be macho, but Trump is giving it his best shot, saying each boat blown out of the water saves 25,000 American lives, a lie of staggering proportions that he made up with no factual support.

Why Pope Leo’s voice matters

Pope Leo is demonstrating that moral leadership requires more than prayer and polite statements; it demands the courage to call out wrongdoing, regardless of political risk.

LEONARD QUART: The curiosities of memory

I have a feeling that as I get older, I hold on to my boyhood memories more intensely.

PILOTing our way to greater equality

How Gov. Healey can address Trumpian inequities in the Massachusetts PILOT program.

Israel cannot be blamed for Palestinian failures

For 78 years, Palestinians have not recognized the road to peace and prosperity that Japan and Germany followed after they were defeated in WWII. Those countries were rebuilt and today are among the world’s strongest economies.

STEPHEN COHEN: Trump’s wars

I am worried, as many of us are, that the inmates are now running the institution.

Thank you, William P. Perry, for highlighting Herman Melville’s poetry

Good for Mr. Perry for sharing Melville's quote, by way of characterizing his epic Clarel, "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

We are now living in a fascist MAGA America

We must not rest on the success of the recent elections. As we were warned by the Democrats in the 2024 campaign, our democracy is at risk.

Analysis of Article 5 of the proposed changes to Egremont’s zoning bylaws

As many townspeople have suggested, this special town meeting should be postponed. But the Select Board does not have the gumption to do that. Sigh!

SHEELA CLARY: Claude and I — An RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) love story

I could surely do the job of convincing my teacher friends and relatives that Claude is their friend and not the herald of the apocalypse.

Holiday Bake Sale to benefit food pantries

In addition to all your holiday favorites—cookies, candies, cakes, pies, stollen, fruitcake, marmalade, etc.—there will be prepared soups and pulled pork for a ready-to-go lunch or dinner.