The most compelling Letters to the Editors of 2023
(Letters to the editor are separate from our news reporting and do not reflect the views of the Lexington Observer).
As we celebrate the Winter Solstice, Christmas, and the New Year, may we find ways to speak love to power in all the dark corners of our world, writes Rev. Anne Mason of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church.
An encounter with a police officer, and what policing in Lexington should look like
“Excellence in Anti-bias Policing.” Emblazoned on the new police department building. Loud and proud on every police vehicle. Embroidered on every uniform. Is Lexington committed to that? asks community contributor Carlos Hoyt.
With anti-Semitism on the rise, should Jews place a Chanukah menorah in the window?
Rabbi Karen Thomashow says that even the sages of the Talmud wrestled with the challenges of living openly as a religious minority.
A 10-year-old’s plea to stop private jet expansion at Hanscom
“About a quarter of us in Massachusetts are kids, but we can’t vote and don’t get to make these kinds of decisions. Our lives depend on you adults doing everything you can to stop private jet expansion at Hanscom.”
Students write in support of Serious Talks
We see this attack on the Serious Talks curriculum as not only an attack on the curriculum itself, but as an attack on the idea of teaching diversity and kindness in our schools. As community members that value compassion and inclusivity, we won’t stand for this.
Continued confusion over Serious Talks curriculum
“In order to avoid any further division in the community, what we really need from our school administration is to focus on bringing everyone on board by being open and transparent with parents about the curriculum,” writes community contributor Amber Iqbal.
Goodbye to one of Lexington’s oldest trees
A majestic and irreplaceable white oak tree, estimated to be around 260 years old, was brutally cut down to make way, one assumes, for yet another Lexington mansion, writes local resident Sara Dillon.
A classic example of racial profiling
Lexington resident Helen Yang writes that the sentencing of Lexington resident Haoyang Yu “sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the security and equal protection of Americans of Chinese descent.”
Planning Board should deny Tracer Lane solar project
Solar electricity is critical for achieving greenhouse gas reductions — but the Tracer Lane project endangers a major water supply and destroys scarce forest, write Dr. Jill Stein and John W. Andrews.
State Senators Mike Barrett and Cindy Friedman write in support of Lexington’s proposal for multi-family housing, and encourage the town to carry on its role as a Massachusetts leader.