Eesha Williams's Blog, page 142
December 7, 2013
Habib Koite to Perform in Northampton
Habib Koite, a singer and guitar player who lives in Bamako, Mali, in west Africa, will play at the Iron Horse in Northampton on February 16 at 7 p.m. Koite (pronounced KWA-tee) performed an outstanding public concert in Amherst in 2011. He possesses an unusually warm voice and guitar skills that inspired Bonnie Raitt to famously tell him after one concert, "I would drink your sweat."
Dozens Protest McDonald's
McDonald's pays its CEO about $9 million a year while its workers make at or around minimum wage. In Northampton and Keene on December 5, dozens of people protested outside McDonald's. In Keene more than 40 people attended the rally. Many of the protesters held signs saying “Super Size Wages” and “$15 an hour.” The protests were organized by Jobs With Justice www.jwj.org and other groups. JWJ is funded by unions.
December 3, 2013
Keene City Council Will Decide Forest's Fate
On December 5, the Keene city council will vote on whether to permanently protect open land from being paved with parking lots, houses, or other kinds of so-called “development.” Saving the forest would cost the city $26,500. A local group is urging the city to save the land. The group's web site is www.MonadnockConservancy.org.
The council vote will happen at a public meeting that starts at 7 p.m. More information is at:
www.ci.keene.nh.us/government/city-council
November 24, 2013
Northampton Nurses to Rally
Nurses are asking the public to attend a rally for justice in Northampton on November 30 from 10 a.m. until noon. The nurses work for the ServiceNet Corporation. They take care of patients in the patients´ homes. In 2011, the nurses voted to form a union. Since then they have met with the company´s representatives repeatedly but the company has refused to sign a union contract. Between 15 and 20 nurses would be covered by the contract.
November 17, 2013
2,500 Acres Saved
Activists have saved about 2,500 acres of open space near the Valley. They announced the news on November 13. The land is in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Part of the land is in Gilsum, New Hampshire, about nine miles from Keene. Another piece of the protected land is in Barre, Massachusetts, about an hour by car northeast of Springfield. Some is in Warwick, Massachusetts, about half an hour northeast of Greenfield by car. The activists have a web site: www.ForestSociety.org.
November 11, 2013
November 20 Is Deadline for Minimum Wage Petitions
November 20 is the deadline for a coalition of labor, religious and community groups to submit 200,000 signatures on petitions that would let Massachusetts voters decide whether the state’s minimum wage should stay the same or increase, and whether workers should have the right to miss work when they’re sick. The group, Raise Up Massachusetts, filed the two proposed ballot questions with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office this summer. It has the support of both the state’s...
November 20 Is Deadline for Miniumum Wage Petitions
November 20 is the deadline for a coalition of labor, religious and community groups to submit 200,000 signatures on petitions that would let Massachusetts voters decide whether the state’s minimum wage should stay the same or increase, and whether workers should have the right to miss work when they’re sick. The group, Raise Up Massachusetts, filed the two proposed ballot questions with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office this summer. It has the support of both the state’s...
November 6, 2013
Workers Vote for Union
Ninety workers in Springfield voted to form a union. “We're looking for change from a company that is making millions of dollars,” Erskine Kelly told the Valley Post before the vote. He is a soup cook at Springfield College.
The college hires Aramark Corporation to run its dining halls. So the workers are employed by Aramark, which is based in Philadelphia and is the 19th biggest privately owned company in the world, according to Forbes Magazine. The workers voted for the union on October 24....
October 31, 2013
Environmental Progress
Springfield's first bicycle lane opened October 26. A day earlier in Keene, a $15 million, energy efficient, affordable housing project opened. It was built by www.kha.org. Riding a bicycle rather than driving, reduces global warming, acid rain, and smog. Living in multi-family housing, rather than a one-family house, saves farmland and forestland, and makes using public transit a viable alternative to owning a car.
October 26, 2013
Photo: Waterfall
This photo was taken on October 24 in Dummerston, Vermont, near Brattleboro. It shows a small waterfall in a forest. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." photo by Eesha Williams
