Free Republic

It Begins… Entire NYC Mall Closes Over Theft

The San Francisco Center, once a thriving mall home to the largest Nordstrom in America, is a shell of its former self after a string of high-profile departures.. Staff and shoppers in the mall, where five more stores closed in January .. crime and falling foot traffic is ruining the palatial building.. The mall lost $1 billion in value last year ... The mall's cavernous, marble-floored atrium is eerily quiet. There's not a single shopper in sight and a litany of abandoned stores lay mostly empty, but for a few leftover cardboard boxes or fading signs which serve as a...

A New Jersey high school is grappling with the fallout from a scandal involving AI-generated explicit images of female students circulated by their male peers. It is just the latest example of the disastrous consequences of unrestrained AI on American culture. The New York Post reports that Westfield High School, a well-regarded school in Westfield, New Jersey, has become the center of a troubling controversy. AI-generated pornographic images of female students were reportedly created and distributed among male students, sparking a police investigation and widespread parental concern. Images and videos created by AI, known as deepfakes, can be very difficult...

San Francisco-based companies leaving The Golden City because of drop in revenue ... San Francisco, California-based tech CEO Mark Benioff says the city will never go back to the way it was ... ... Golden City is struggling to keep businesses intact, leaving many buildings vacant.. office vacancy rates in San Francisco were 24.8% in the first quarter, more than five times higher than pre-pandemic levels and well above the average rate of 18.5% for the nation’s top cities, ... For San Francisco, the three-year exile resulted in empty storefronts with large "going out of business" signs hanging from windows....

The Westfield mall used to be the beating retail heart of San Francisco. Westfield stopped paying the mortgage on this shopping mall .. Foot traffic has plunged ... life becomes untenable for some residents. They leave, like some did in the pandemic, or they live in RVs or on the street. ... the cracks are beginning to show. One of the biggest fissures so far was.. the news that Westfield stopped paying its $558 million mortgage and is surrendering its namesake shopping mall to lenders. This is the biggest mall in San Francisco. When tourists come to experience this famous...

A middle school teacher in New Jersey is facing multiple drug charges after allegedly overdosing on fentanyl in a classroom in November, the Westfield Police Department said. School Resource Officer Fortunato Riga responded to the second-floor classroom, where a nurse was treating the teacher in front of students, and gave him Narcan, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.

A veteran returned a sword he stole from a statue of a Revolutionary War general 40 years ago, telling the head of the Massachusetts town's historical commission that he regretted taking it. Cindy P. Gaylord, the chair of Westfield's Historical Commission, said a man contacted the city hall saying he had the sword stolen from the town's statue of Gen. William Shepard in 1980, the Springfield Republican reported on Sunday. Gaylord agreed to give the man anonymity if he returned the bronze sword and arranged for him and his wife to drop it off at her home, she said.

One of the Donald Trump’s top political allies in New Jersey says that Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) could face a primary challenge if he doesn’t stop bashing Trump. Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers says that when Republicans like Bramnick bash Trump, they hurt the GOP brand. “Our party must return to its conservative roots-roots that are embedded in the Constitution,” Rogers told the New Jersey Globe. “I have been all over New Jersey and I find a hunger and thirst among Republicans as well as conservative Democrats and independents for a return to the values we embraced years ago.”

The Watcher A family bought their dream house. But according to the creepy letters they started to get, they weren’t the only ones interested in it. One night in June 2014, Derek Broaddus had just finished an evening of painting at his new home in Westfield, New Jersey, when he went outside to check the mail. Derek and his wife, Maria, had closed on the six-bedroom house at 657 Boulevard three days earlier and were doing some renovations before they moved in, so there wasn’t much in the mail except a few bills and a white, card-shaped envelope. It was...

Hundreds of Westfield State University students and faculty members gathered for a walk out today in response to reports of hate crimes recently on campus. Reports of racist vandalism, graffiti and an assault of a female student led up to the event. Organized by the WSU Education Department, the walkout started at 12:30 p.m. on the campus green and lasted one hour. Hundreds of Westfield State University students and faculty members gathered for a walk out today in response to reports of hate crimes recently on campus. Reports of racist vandalism, graffiti and an assault of a female student led...

For the second time this week, Westfield State University has been dogged with allegations of racism after a black student reported a hateful note left at her dorm room. The note, handwritten and containing misspellings and grammatical errors, reads "Black people dont desearve to be 'united.' Your worth nothing!" The student who found the note posted it on her Facebook page and it immediately began being shared over all corners of the Internet. It is the second such note reported this week at the university. Another black student circulated a photo on social media this week of a note posted...

An investigation into "discriminatory and highly offensive language" is ongoing at Westfield State University after a student reported finding a racial slur on her door. A senior at Westfield State shared a photo on social media alleging someone wrote "n****** live here" on a name tag taped to her door. The alleged incident reportedly happened in New Hall, a housing complex on campus for sophomore, junior and senior students. The black student tagged the college and Westfield State President Ramon S. Torrecilha in the post and received a quick response. Torrecilha sent a message to the campus community regarding the...

Tuesday, July 12, 2016: Live streaming coverage of the Donald J. Trump for President rally in Westfield, IN at the Grand Park Events Center. Coverage will begin at 7:30 PM ET. Westfield, IN Watch the LIVE stream beginning at 7:30 PM ET

Westfield State University students and others have scheduled a protest for Wednesday to call attention to alleged anti-Islamic bullying at West Springfield High School. Westfield State associate professor Kamal Ali said picketing will be held outside the Piper Road school from 11 a.m. to noon in support of three Muslim sisters who claim they have suffered verbal and physical abuse from other students. “A simple, dignified information sharing … and we’re done,” Ali said, referring to the protest. The case came to public attention three weeks ago when Najma, Hibo and Filsan Hussein told Westfield State students that they have...

Students at Westfield State University are planning to picket West Springfield High School to protest what three sisters called a pattern of anti-Islamic bullying by students and inaction by school officials. The sisters – Najma, Hibo and Filsan Hussein, all of West Springfield - gave their account of verbal and physical abuse to a class at Westfield State taught by associate professor Kamal Ali, who is also vice president of the Islamic Society of Western Mass. Following the session, more than 30 students signed up to stage a protest at the high school in the next few weeks, Ali said....

A 20-year-old allegedly went to the Indianapolis home of his former boss during the middle of the day and murdered the man's wife and daughter after getting fired from his job, court documents claim. Christian Rene Haley was identified on Thursday as the suspect in the gruesome murder of Marylyn Erb, 52, and Kelley Erb, 23, on Friday December 20 at their house in Westfield. The two women were found dead in the basement near a pool of blood, according to a probable cause affidavit, with the time of death said to be between noon and 1pm, reported MyDesert.com. Haley...

“America will always be strong because of communities like Westfield,” Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America, said while attending a special veterans’ memorial at Stanley Park on Tuesday. More than 200 city veterans, schoolchildren and residents attended the ceremony and welcomed Worcester and her entourage that included Maine’s First Lady Ann LePage, American Gold Star Mothers president Mary Beyers, retired Army Major Gen. Peter M. Aylward and eight tractor-trailers full of holiday wreaths en route to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. “My heart is full seeing all the children and others who turned out today,” said Worcester,...

On the heels of her live chat with the MassLive.com readers, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is again taking her campaign westward for events in Pittsfield, Springfield and Westfield. On Sunday, Warren, who is aiming to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Scott Brown, will visit Pittsfield in Berkshire County to engage voters in a conversation about the issues that are in the spotlight this election season. Billed as an ice cream social, the gathering will take place at the campaign headquarters she shares with Democratic U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who is running to represent the newly drawn 1st Congressional District...

A 27-year veteran Westfield police officer has been killed following a crash while working a construction detail Thursday morning. Westfield Police Capt. Hipolito Nunez told 22News that the officer was working an off-duty construction detail on Pontoosic Road just before 7:30, when he was struck by a dump truck. The construction area where the officer was hit was near 44 Pontoosic Rd, just south of the intersection of Pontoosic and Little River Roads. The officer was taken to Baystate Medical Center, and Nunez said that police were notified around 10:00 A.M. that he had died. The officer's name has not...

The issuance earlier this month of a federal Environmental Protection Agency air quality permit for the proposed $400 million natural gas-fired electric generating plant has not deterred continued opposition by Westfield Concerned Citizens. “Westfield Concerned Citizens along with residents from neighboring communities concerned about the environmental impact of the plant are not satisfied with this outcome,” said WCC founding member Mary Ann Babinski. Babinski said WCC is “assessing future efforts” in opposition to the plant, adding” there is an appeal process to this permit award.” “This is a very important issue to us and we are considering an appeal of...