Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I used to write letters almost weekly to the Gazette-Journal and now I find myself having to again. Broadband, Wi-Fi, internet … whatever you call your link to the digital world … is a necessity these days, not a nice-to-have. The COVID mess we are going through proves this without a doubt.

Our children need access to do schoolwork; our neighbors need it to work from home; seniors like my wife and I need it to talk to our doctors, financial advisor and, most important to us, to see our grandkids.

If you have to rely on your smartphone as a hotspot or use a Mi-Fi, you know all access is not equal. I find myself getting up late at night so simple online tasks don’t take forever if at all to do. Many of Gloucester’s residents are forced to haul their kids almost a year later to town to educate their children online. Hopefully this will end soon, but it will happen again, not to mention bad weather and illness, online learning could be a money saver to ou...