Polish National Credit Union host 3rd annual Freedom Day luncheon
LUDLOW, Mass. (WWLP)- For the third year, The Polish National Credit Union held its annual Freedom Day luncheon to bring everyone together to celebrate the 1974 Carnation Revolution.
on April 25, 1974, the Portuguese community overthrew a dictatorship without a single shot being fired in Portugal. That brought about the democratic government in Portugal.Luncheon organizers say the luncheon resembles the unity of their culture. The outcome of the luncheon grew this year.
'I think it's showing how our culture comes together, whether it's in a community or if there is a need, we always unite and we're here together,' said David Fernandes, VP of Retail at Polish National Credit Union.
The luncheon included a prayer, a Portuguese meal, and words from elected officials.There was also a moment of silence for a military officer who played a key role in the revolution. Nearly 200 people attended the luncheon. Some were local law enforcement.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The War Israel Was Ready to Fight
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. On October 7, 2023, Israel suffered the most catastrophic assault in its history when Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 people and took hundreds of others hostage. Almost a year later, Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, the most powerful militia in the world, along with the entire leadership of his organization. Last night, it did the same to the rulers of Iran, eliminating the heads of the regime's armed forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and regional proxies. How could the same country that was bested by a ragtag militia in its own backyard turn around and ravage multiple regional powers with devastating decapitation strikes? The dissonance between these events has fomented confusion and conspiracy theories. But Israel's successes and failures in the past 20 months stem from a single source. A very specific plan to stop Iran led to both the disaster of October 7 and the triumphs since. For decades, Iran's theocratic leaders have called for Israel's destruction, denying the Nazi Holocaust while urging another one. The regime funneled millions of dollars and thousands of missiles to proxies on Israel's borders and beyond: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen. Iran's authorities constructed monuments to their predicted victory, displaying missiles emblazoned with the words Death to Israel and even erecting a countdown clock to Israel's end. [Read: What Trump knew about the attack against Iran] Israel, a nation born out of the ashes of an attempted Jewish genocide, took these threats seriously. Just as Iran labeled America 'the Great Satan' and Israel 'the Little Satan,' Israel's security establishment conceived of its adversaries in tiers: Iran was the biggest threat, its fearsome proxy Hezbollah ranked next, and the smaller Hamas posed the least danger. The Israelis prioritized their resources accordingly. Their best people—and best exploding beepers—were put to work countering Iran and Hezbollah, which had formidable arsenals of advanced weapons. Hamas, by contrast, was treated as an afterthought, contained behind a blockade of Gaza that was maintained less by manpower than by advanced security technology. October 7 exposed this folly, as Hamas and its allies disabled that technology and stormed across the border on land, meeting little resistance as they rampaged through civilian communities. This was a war Israel did not expect and was not prepared to fight. That fact was evident not only in the casualties and hostage-taking during the massacre, but in the grinding, brutal, and haphazard war in Gaza that has followed. Simply put, Israel was flying without radar. It did not know Hamas's capabilities, had not infiltrated its leadership, did not have widespread intelligence sources on the ground, and was largely ignorant of the group's sprawling underground infrastructure in Gaza. This operational ignorance has resulted in a horrific meat grinder of a war with thousands of civilian casualties and still no end in sight. It's also why Israel's military took more than a year after October 7 to find and kill the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. By the time that happened, Israel had already taken out Hezbollah's Nasrallah, a far more protected and high-value target, after neutralizing many of his elite forces via exploding beepers and walkie-talkies and blowing up many of the group's missiles while they were still in storage. The very resources that had not been brought to bear on Hamas, thus enabling the disaster of October 7, achieved the neutralization of Hezbollah within weeks. Hezbollah had joined in the attacks on Israel after the assault on October 7, apparently believing that Israel was too hobbled to respond beyond token tit-for-tat strikes. Likewise, the group's patrons in Iran may have misread the events of October 7 as evidence of fundamental Israeli weakness, rather than a terrible but isolated error. For months, Tehran continued to supply its proxies in Lebanon and Yemen with advanced missiles to fire at Israel, seemingly under the belief that it would be immune from similar incoming in response. That mistake, like Israel's on October 7, proved costly. Last night, Israel began running the same playbook it used on Hezbollah against Iran. Key military leaders were reportedly assassinated, drone factories were targeted, and missile depots and launchers were eliminated before they could be used. In retrospect, October 7 wasn't a preview of an Israel-Iran war—the mysterious strike last July that killed the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard guesthouse in Tehran was. That audacious assassination revealed that Israel had clandestine capabilities within Iran's most fortified strongholds of a sort it never had in Gaza. After last night's initial assault, Israel's Mossad released rare footage of its agents operating inside Iran. [Read: In the game of Spy vs. Spy, Israel keeps getting the better of Iran] When Israel went after Hezbollah in Lebanon last September, American and Israeli officials characterized the move as 'de-escalation through escalation.' That line was mocked by many, but it is largely what happened, because Israel was prepared for the conflict—unlike in Gaza—and achieved a decisive victory. Within months, Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a cease-fire, and Hezbollah was effectively disabled. Israel did the heavy lifting, and the U.S. acted as the closer with its diplomacy. By contrast, Israel's unplanned war in Gaza has seen no such resolution and steadily devolved into a messianic power grab by Israel's far right. No Israeli faction has religious or territorial designs on Tehran, which makes this outcome less likely in Iran. Nonetheless, Iran is a far more powerful adversary than any Israel has yet faced, making a protracted and profoundly destructive conflict likely. This is the war Israel had prepared to wage, but in war, preparation is no insulation from devastation. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
When is Juneteenth 2025? What's closed on Juneteenth? Is Costco open? Do you get a day off?
Juneteenth, America's newest federal holiday and considered the longest-running African American holiday, celebrates the historical legacy of Black Americans. Also known as Freedom Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day commemorates the day the last enslaved black people in the United States were declared free. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, not all slaves were immediately free until more than two years later. Here's what to know about what's Juneteenth, and what's open and closed on the holiday. Juneteenth is a federal holiday celebrated on Thursday, June 19, 2025. It was designated a federal holiday in 2021 under President Joe Biden. Most federal offices will be closed on that day. Juneteenth (short for June nineteenth) marks the end of slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday, according to Columbus Dispatch reporting. Juneteenth festivities often feature parades and educational events. Whether you'll have Juneteenth off is often determined by the employer. While it is a federal holiday, many private employers are not required to grant Juneteenth as a paid holiday. However, many federal and state employees will have the day off. Yes. According to the official site, Juneteenth is listed as a statewide holiday, meaning that most state offices will be closed or may have limited services. Walmart, Target and Costco will be open on Juneteenth, according to the Tennessean. However, it's recommended to check with your local store for specific hours, as they may vary by location. In addition to retail stores, fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Chick-fil-A will also remain open. Akron and Canton will have normal trash and recycling schedules on Juneteenth. Cincinnati and Columbus won't have trash pickup; the normal schedules in each city will be delayed one day. However, other trash pickup schedules may be delayed because of Juneteenth, depending on the hauler. Contact your municipality or private provider to learn more. Juneteenth is a Federal Reserve bank holiday, USA TODAY reports, meaning most banks, such as Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America, Truist and others, will also be closed on June 19. Yes, the United States Postal Service will be closed on June 19, 2025, since Juneteenth is observed as a federal holiday by the USPS. However, other parcel carriers like FedEx and UPS stores will remain open, according to the Tennessean. The New York Stock Exchange is closed on federal holidays and will be closed on Juneteenth, according to its website. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Are banks, post offices closed in Ohio on Juneteenth 2025? What to know
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Senate keeps provision curbing judge's orders in Donald Trump's budget bill
Senate keeps provision curbing judge's orders in Donald Trump's budget bill Some of Trump's fellow Republicans said they wouldn't have supported the provision if they had known it was in the House-passed measure, but it remains in the Senate draft of the legislation. Show Caption Hide Caption House passes President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' The House passed President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' It will now move onto the Senate. The Senate version of Trump's legislative priorities keeps a provision that experts say threatens the enforcement of court orders against the government. Trump has complained about judges blocking his policies. The provision would require litigants to post bonds before judges could enforce their orders. WASHINGTON – A controversial provision in the House-passed version of President Donald Trump's package of legislative priorities, which critics warn would hinder the enforcement of court orders, remains in the Senate version of the bill. The head of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released his draft of the legislation June 13 that included the provision that Trump requested to combat court orders blocking his policies. Some fellow Republicans in the narrowly divided Congress have said they would oppose the bill over the provision or that it would be removed through a parliamentary maneuver. But its inclusion in the Senate draft reflects the support of leadership to include and defend it. Legislation would require litigants to post bonds before courts could enforce orders The provision would require judges to collect bonds from litigants challenging the government before blocking policies through injunctions or temporary restraining orders. Without a bond, the provision would prevent judges from enforcing their orders through contempt proceedings. Judges have always been able to collect bonds in civil lawsuits, essentially to ensure that defendants are reimbursed if they eventually win their cases. But judges traditionally don't collect bonds in cases against the government because the disputes are over policy rather than money like in a lawsuit between two businesses. Trump and his Republican allies would like to change that. He signed a memo in March directing the Justice Department to ask for bonds in all civil cases against the administration. Judges have temporarily blocked dozens of his policies. If the legislation were enacted, it would undo those blocks until judges set bonds. Bonds could reach trillions of dollars in cases against government Judges could set a nominal bond of $1, according to legal experts. But if they set a larger bond that litigants couldn't afford, judges wouldn't be able to enforce their orders and the Trump administration could ignore them, experts said. In February, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan refused a request from Trump's White House Office of Management Budget to require a bond from the National Council of Nonprofits when she blocked the government from freezing all federal grants. She said it could have required trillions of dollars because that was how much was at stake in the case but that OMB would suffer no monetary damage from the case. 'The court declines,' Alikhan wrote. Some GOP lawmakers opposed the provision they weren't aware was in House-passed bill If the Senate changes the legislation, the House would have to vote on the bill again. Some GOP lawmakers have voiced opposition to the provision at raucous town halls. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Nebraska, said May 27 he was unaware of the provision and didn't support it when he voted for the bill. The House approved the bill on a 215-214 vote, so any potential loss of support could hurt the bill's chances. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said May 30 the bond provision 'will not be' in the Senate-approved bill because she expected it to be removed by the parliamentarian under a rule requiring everything in the legislation to have an impact on the budget.
