Eesha Williams's Blog, page 74
June 16, 2018
June 13, 2018
Locals Arrested for Native American Rights
The USA is on land stolen from Native Americans. Despite the best efforts of the federal government for the past 242 years to kill Native Americans, they are still alive, and fighting the system. Activists are calling on politicians to raise taxes on billionaires and give the money to Native Americans. In recent weeks, several people from the Valley were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience for Native American rights, and other issues, as part of the Poor People's Campaign.
June 6, 2018
Springfield Police Charge 21 Protesters
Police in Springfield on June 4 charged 21 protesters with trespassing on state property. The protesters were using nonviolent civil disobedience to bring attention to politicians' failure to address air pollution that makes Springfield the nation's worst city for people with asthma. The same air pollution – largely from cars – causes climate change, which the world's leading scientists say is a major threat to earth's ability to support human life. Solutions include raising the gas tax to Eu...
May 30, 2018
Nurses Win
Proving that going on strike works, 200 or so nurses at the Greenfield hospital won a new union contract. It was approved by the nurses' elected union leaders. The approximately 200 nurses will vote on June 11 on whether to accept the contract, Donna Stern told the Valley Post. She is a nurse at the hospital. “This is a huge victory,” she said.
Patients at the hospital will get better care as a result of the contract, Stern said. She thanked community supporters who showed up on the picket l...
May 23, 2018
Teachers Rally
On May 20, public school teachers held a rally calling for the majority of the members of the local school board to resign. The rally was in Northfield, Massachusetts. The Connecticut river flows through Northfield. The town is on the Vermont border. “We like one of the committee members, the other dozen or so should resign,” Ariel LaReau told the Valley Post in a telephone interview on the day of the rally. She is a teacher and president of the teachers union.
May 19, 2018
Photo: Great Egret
This photo of a Great Egret was taken in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Longmeadow borders Springfield. The photo was taken at Fannie Stebbins Wildlife Refuge. Great Egrets eat mostly fish. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." The photo was taken on April 22, 2018.
May 16, 2018
Workers Unite
An uprising among the 500 or so workers at Springfield Technical Community College appears to have near unanimous support. The goal is to get rid of the college's leadership. “They wouldn't let us use electronic voting – you could only vote in person. We would have had higher turnout with electronic voting. As it was, 238 people voted. Of those, 202 voted in favor of removing the college's president. We are also seeking the removal of the chair of the college's board of trustees,” Nick Camero...
May 9, 2018
Valley to NYC Trains Get Faster, More Frequent, Cheaper
Next month, Amtrak will get faster between the Valley and New York City. Also, next month, passenger train service between Springfield, Hartford, and New York City will get much more frequent and much cheaper. By December, there will be more frequent passenger train service between Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke, and New York City.
