Free Republic

On the doorstep of a new year and on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler wants educators to greet each day in the Zulu spirit of Sawubona.

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is taking aim at the Eastern States Exposition, asking that the fair to drop a Connecticut outfit that offers elephant rides and a children’s petting zoo. ... Cassidy said he would not allow PETA to bully the Big E. “As long as Gene Cassidy is president of the Big E, young people – and old people – will have the opportunity to see these animals,” he said. Since just before Labor Day, the Big E’s offices in West Springfield have been flooded with thousands of e-mails from animal-rights supporters,...

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....

Ryan Donovan knows what everyone else with a daily commute out of Springfield knows well. If you're just a few minutes behind schedule, you might as well not even try the South End bridge. The way traffic jams from Columbus Ave onto the bridge and moves slowly off to Route 5 or the Agawam rotary, you're much better off heading to the Memorial Ave bridge and taking your chances there. That is, unless an F-3 tornado is barreling down that stretch of Route 5 and heading directly for the bridge. Donovan, a 25-year-old chemist from Westfield, learned that lesson the...