Election contests shaping up in Amherst

Healey joins Minogue in push for gas tax relief

BOSTON — Days after her opponent called for suspension of the gas tax, Gov. Maura Healey proposed a two-month gas tax holiday Tuesday, saying she’ll put election-season legislation before lawmakers to accomplish her goal. The proposal to suspend Massachusetts’ 24-cent-per-gallon tax could set up a difficult fight over a tax that Beacon Hill lawmakers have […]

Easthampton becomes second Hampshire County community to ban crypto kiosks amid rising fraud

EASTHAMPTON — As seniors and other vulnerable residents lose thousands of dollars to cryptocurrency scams, Easthampton has joined a growing list of Massachusetts communities fighting back — voting unanimously to ban the machines scammers use to steal from victims. The City Council unanimously passed an ordinance at its Sept. 16 meeting officially barring cryptocurrency ATMs — […]

Speaking of Nature: Nikonus and Iso — The gods of photography

Special thanks to Donald H. for asking a great question. Here is the answer: Throughout human history, intelligent and curious people who struggled to understand the world in which they lived invented gods to explain things. A prime example of this would be the natural phenomenon that we call thunder. Today we know that lightning […]

Guest columnist Nick Bromell: Left, right, center — words that belong in the dustbin of history

Zohran Mamdani’s election last November triggered an instant backlash of op-eds decrying the rise of a “radical left” within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Abdul El-Sayed’s recent victory in Michigan provoked a similar response, with self-anointed experts warning direly that the successes of the Party’s “insurgent left” are paving the way for disastrous Republican […]

Guest columnist Mariel E. Addis: Life in these times

If you know me personally, you know I have a penchant for puns and dad jokes. Most are mediocre at best, but every once in a while, thank God, I knock one out of the park. Also, if you know me personally, you probably know I can be an emotional basket case, crying at the drop of a hat when something “deep” touches my soul. My weekly estrogen injections obviously don’t help, but I was more or less that way before I ever started my transition to female, and that estrogen makes things, well, more fun. Still, I’d rather deal with […]