Letter: Vote for Someone Other Than Trump

To the Editor:

I urge my Republican friends to vote for someone other than Donald Trump in November. His rallies are getting embarrassingly sparse and his speeches more hostile and confused. He's looking desperately for money, now selling poor-quality gold sneakers for $399. While Trump's online fans embrace him more tightly, more and more of the people who actually worked with Trump have broken with him, often issuing statements denouncing his motives, intellect, and patriotism.

Mike Pence is the most recent, but the list now includes William Barr, former attorney general (who compared him to a 9-year-old); former NSC Chairs Bolton and McMaster; former Defense Secretaries Mattis and Esper; former Chiefs of Staff Kelly and Mulvaney; former Secretary of State Tillerson; former Homeland Security chief Bossert; and former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, who referred to Trump as a "wannabe dictator." This level of rejection by former colleagues is unprecedented in American politics.

Are these people just cozying up to the Establishment "Uniparty," as his fans would have it? No. Most of them are retired from politics. It's just that they see the danger most clearly. General Milley is right. Trump's most constant refrain is his desire to hurt his critics, including traditional conservatives. Although Liz Cheney lost her Wyoming seat in Congress, he now wants her jailed for investigating him.

This man should not be president of the USA.

Jim Mahon
Williamstown, Mass.

Teacher of the Month: Frani Miceli

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:35PM / Friday, July 26, 2024

Students say teacher Frani Miceli makes learning fun.  

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Frani Miceli has been selected as the July Teacher of the Month. 

 

The Teacher of the Month series, in collaboration with Berkshire Community College, will run for the next 12 months and will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. You can nominate a teacher here. 

 

Miceli has been teaching for 26 years and has worked to develop a happy, comfortable, and creative learning environment for her pupils.

 

Through her connection with her students and the decor on her classroom walls, Miceli hopes to help them realize that being kind is possible. 

 

"I have a thing on my wall that says, 'Character is what you do when no one is watching.' So, I hope that they have internalized that," Miceli said. 

 

"We make personal decisions because it's the right thing to do, and sometimes our actions can negatively impact other people, and sometimes they can positively impact other people. So I think happy kids make happy choices, and so I just want them to be happy, engaged children"

 

Every single one of her students in her morning math class jumped at the opportunity to praise their  teacher.