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The Hindu
06-08-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Leaders hail work of visionary scientist M.S. Swaminathan
The immunisation programme led by the country's first Health Minister, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, and the Green Revolution initiated by M.S. Swaminathan were the reasons for the decrease in the death rate in India, former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi said in New Delhi on Wednesday (August 6, 2025). Speaking at the launch of The Man Who Fed India, a biography of Dr. Swaminathan by the Singapore-based author Priyambada Jayakumar, Mr. Gandhi said three English words known by all farmers in the country was 'Swaminathan Farmer Commission'. Mr. Gandhi said Dr. Swaminathan had been part of the group of scientists around the world who stood for humanity and nuclear disarmament. 'Swaminathan's works for agriculture has given India's farmers a life,' Mr. Gandhi said. In a panel discussion that followed the book release, Shashi Tharoor, MP, said Dr. Swaminathan worked at a time when the memories of Bengal famine were haunting the country. 'International contacts' Former Planning Board Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Dr. Swaminathan revolutionised the country's agriculture through his international contacts. DMK leader Kanimozhi said Dr. Swaminathan's works for empowering women and ensuring ecologically friendly agriculture practices were not discussed the way it deserved.
Boston Globe
29-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Milton planning board member accused of assaulting, racially profiling a retired police detective at public meeting
An unredacted police report wasn't publicly available, court officials said this week, because a law enforcement official charged with signing it went on vacation before doing so. But a related civil filing from the accuser, Milton resident Renisha Silva Talbot, details what the former detective alleges transpired between her and Hall at the June 17 meeting at Milton High School. Advertisement In an affidavit filed last week, Talbot said Hall assaulted her in the school's 'vestibule area' just before the start of a special town meeting. Talbot alleged that Hall 'approached from behind and physically grabbed my left elbow, preventing me from moving away, and racially profiled me with accusations that I was part of a group of 'Black women' who were snapping fingers during the previous night's meeting.' Hall 'continued to restrict my movement despite my denials and my request that she release me,' the filing alleged. She said Hall 'assaulted me a second time' after the meeting when 'she held onto me.' Neither Hall nor her lawyer have responded to requests for comment. Hall's colleagues on the Planning Board also didn't respond to emails seeking comment. Advertisement A heavily redacted police report about the incident that was included in the civil filings said Officer Christine Feeney, who was working a detail at the meeting, indicated that 'no one came up to her to report a crime and she did not see anything regarding this incident.' The report said video footage from the high school showed '[redacted] approaching [redacted] and [redacted] 7:30 PM by the entrance to the auditorium. The two began to talk and the conversation continued into [the] auditorium.' The report said additional footage showed '[redacted] and [redacted] walking into the auditorium before the meeting started and continued to talk to each other inside the auditorium at 7:31 p.m. At this point they went their separate ways to their seats in the auditorium.' Police said that during a later 'altercation at 10:59 p.m., you can see [redacted]. The conversation continued and then the two separated. A few moments later you can see [redacted] and [redacted] speak again for a few moments and then go their separate ways.' Hall's She has served on a number of local boards and committees. Ava Berger of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. This story will be updated when more information is released. Travis Andersen can be reached at
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas company considering Watertown site for $250 million dairy processing plant
Jul. 8—WATERTOWN — A Texas-based company is looking at 40 acres of land on outer Massey Street to build a $250 million, 300,000-square-foot dairy processing plant. Southern Dairy, which has developed six similar facilities in New Zealand, is looking at the project on land owned by Ron Robbins, who owns the Robbins Family Farm outside Sackets Harbor. The company is also considering about five other sites, in Vermont, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and other states, for the project. But Southern Dairy CEO Owen Mansill prefers the town of Watertown site, said developer Michael E. Lundy, who's a consultant working on the project. The proposed plant would use raw milk, skim milk and whey sourced from north country dairy farms to produce milk powders, whey protein concentrate and other dry dairy products such as infant formula. The plant would employ 80 high-paying workers and hundreds of construction workers to get it built. The approval process is expected to take several months. The town's Planning Board heard a presentation about the project on Monday afternoon. That begins the formal approval process. "If we wait too long, we're going to lose it," Lundy warned. If all goes well, construction could begin as soon as early spring and take two years to complete, Lundy said. The project would be completely private funded, Lundy said. The plant would be a major boost for the north country's dairy industry and have an economic development impact for decades to come, said Jay Matteson, Jefferson County agricultural coordinator. "Growing both our dairy processing and milk production benefits the entire north country," Matteson said. The Lawman Group of Companies, of Sackets Harbor, is the design builder and general contractor for the project. Corry Lawler, CEO of the Lawman Group, spent 11 days in New Zealand learning about Southern Dairy's facilities there, he said. The plant's proximity to a CSX rail line is critical for the project in order to ship product out quickly, and is more cost effective when compared to trucking, he said. The site also has 115kV transmission lines that would give the plant the power it needs, Lawler said. The company is working with National Grid. "The site has everything that a developer would want," Lundy said. Town planners agreed for the developers to come back on Aug. 4 for a work session to work on ironing out some of the details of the project, with a return in September for more discussion. In a news release, Mansill said: "The majority of the positions will be high-paying technical jobs in a state-of-the-art modern facility." Lundy and Lawler have been working on the project since October 2023. Town officials have known about the proposal for a few months.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Walter Gunn resigns from Longmeadow Planning Board amid town tensions
LONGMEADOW — After he was recently accused of making racist remarks to Longmeadow residents and trespassing in their backyard, Walter Gunn resigned from his Planning Board position. Gunn notified the town's Select Board of his immediate resignation on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post from Vineeth Hemavathi, the chair of the Select Board. The Republican could not immediately reach Gunn by phone Tuesday evening. The resignation comes after months of tensions in the town. In March, residents Fabricio and Jill Ochoa filed a complaint with the town, claiming Gunn entered their property unannounced in January while on a bike ride through the neighborhood. During the 24-minute interaction, which Fabricio Ochoa recorded and The Republican reviewed, Gunn asked Ochoa if he 'even speaks English,' after they had been talking for a minute. He also asked Ochoa if he was a resident in Longmeadow, the video shows. The Planning Board made an official statement denouncing Gunn's actions at a May 9 meeting. Later that month, the Select Board followed suit and called for his resignation. 'The encounter with Walter was both humiliating and disheartening,' Fabricio Ochoa said in his complaint. In comments after the May 9 Planning Board meeting, Gunn, a longtime member, said he 'was very apologetic with what transpired that night' and 'can't explain' why he acted the way he did on that January night. At a Planning Board meeting in early June, Gunn said he had no intention of resigning and insinuated that he may take legal action against the town. In his post Tuesday, Hemavathi thanked people for speaking up and supporting the Ochoas over the last few months. 'Sometimes, it can be hard to stand up for what is right, but so many of you did. I'm proud of how Longmeadow responded to this,' Hemavathi wrote. An upcoming special meeting on July 15 will discuss changing the town charter to make the Planning Board an appointed body instead of an elected one. Commission OK's more casino mitigation money, but the well may be running dry Most claims against AG's office in wrongful termination suit to move forward Celebrating Latino heritage: Pedro Veras leads mural project in Springfield Springfield police confiscate 11 guns, arrest 8 in 3 operations over 2 days Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Proposed self-storage facility on College Highway to restart permitting process at next Planning Board meeting
SOUTHWICK — When the Planning Board meets again, it will hold a public hearing to restart the permitting process for a proposed self-storage facility on College Highway after the developers withdrew its first request once it became clear it had little chance of being approved. The new application for the permit, sought by Southampton-based developers Jim and Ellen Boyle, offers the board a proposal that is a significant departure from its first site plan, which asked for permission to build a nearly 60,000-square-foot, two-story facility between O'Reilly's Auto Parts and Pioneer Valley Trading Co. The new facility proposed has two stories and each is 17,708 square feet for a total square footage of 35,416, according to the architectural drawings submitted by the Berkshire Design Group. On the first floor are 201 storage spaces and 113 on the second floor that range in size from 5 feet by 5 feet to 10 feet by 20 feet, according to the drawings. The portion of the building facing College Highway, which will be painted reddish to resemble a tobacco barn, will have nine doors for the 10- by 20-foot storage spaces. There will be an entrance into the facility with glass doors. The two-story facility uses an 'over/under concept' that would be fully sprinklered, meet all applicable building codes, and will have video surveillance cameras installed that cover every square inch of the facility operating 24 hours a day, according to the building's designers. It will also be built into a gentle slope at the rear of the property and have 10 parking spaces, five in front and five in back, with one designated as handicapped accessible. The facility's front will be a little over 300 feet from College Highway. The Boyles had wrestled with the Planning Board for months during its first request for a permit trying to meet the board's expectations. It came to a head in February 2024, which was when board members and the Fire Department made it clear they weren't satisfied with the proposal. The general complaint from the Planning Board for the first permit request was that the proposed facility would be too big for the 3.17-acre parcel the Boyles own on College Highway. Before that meeting, public hearings for the project had been open since May 2023. After the February meeting, the Boyles had informal discussions with former Town Planner Jon Goddard and other board members and floated the idea of renting out some of the spaces for contractors where they could conduct business. Because that would have changed the use of the building, the Boyles were told they would need to seek a new special permit and start over. Before they formally proposed changing the use, they withdrew the application in February. Goddard said this week that the new plans didn't include renting space to contractors. Also included in the request is the construction of a small office building with a square footage of 437, that would be located at the entrance to the facility. Between the office building and the facility is a wetlands area that will be crossed by the entrance road. The road will be built over the wetlands and a pipe installed behind it to allow water to move back and forth along it. Goddard said the developers will have the responsibility to adhere to state regulations for wetlands replacement. The public hearing will be held at 7:10 p.m., Tuesday, June 24. Read the original article on MassLive.
