How many times do we have to read a news article about a teenager who used technology in a way that caused emotional distress, ostracized, bullied, and/or defamed a peer? The other side is that this same teenager potentially just changed the course of their own childhood and adult life. As a clinica...

Regardless of where anyone stands on issues in the war now punishing Israel and Gaza, our community should condemn the virulent anti-semitic rhetoric that plagues campuses across the country.Antisemitic speech is now being used as political speech. It is fueled by hatred of Jews and it reflects a da...

I would like to thank the residents of Ward 2 for electing me to town council. I am honored to have the confidence of your vote to represent and serve the Ward 2 residents as well as all the residents of Westfield. I would also like to thank my opponent, Ms. Erika Vargas-Garrison, for running an exc...

The outcome of the election for the Ward Four Council seat was the result of a lot of hard work over the past seven months. Getting our message out to voters required dedication and discipline from our campaign volunteers. I want to thank them, first and foremost, as I would not have been elected to...

A collaboration with the Westfield High School Journalism ProgramIt’s About the PileI haven’t slept that much the past few days. My first deadline for college applications was November 1 and I spent hours reading and proofreading my essays, changing one word and then starting that process over. And ...

WestfieldGreen Team Leading the way to living greenerA big part of the holiday season involves gatherings of family and friends and, of course, food. Unfortunately, much of the food purchased between Thanksgiving and New Year’s goes to waste. According to The United States Department of Agriculture,...

In my last column, I talked about resilience and how adopting The Little Engine That Could outlook makes life happier. But is resilience overplayed? Has it become a prosaic term, distorting even obfuscating more significant concerns? Do we race to be resilient without honoring what hurts or upsets u...

Free speech is the lifeblood of what we do. No one will defend the First Amendment right as much as a newsorganization.Butwiththegreat power of free speech comes great responsibility.Tuesday, November 21 is the next Westfield Board of Education meeting — the second since the terror attack on Israel ...

Exactly forty-three years ago, writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin wrote an essay on his vote for the 1980 presidential election. He began, “The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing t...

Election eve is nigh. Candidate statements, biographical information, advertisements, endorsements and residents’ opinions fill these pages. Now it’s up to you, the voter, to decide.We’re not endorsing candidates, platforms or messages — you get enough of that everywhere else. We firmly believe that...