Baystate Medical Corporation is refusing to sign a union contract for visiting nurses in Springfield. The nurses are members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association union. The nurses care for immigrants and low income people in Springfield's North End and Forest Park neighborhoods.

On February 3 at 2 p.m. at Baystate's corporate headquarters there will be a rally to call on CEO Peter Banko to settle a fair contract now. The rally will be outside 280 Chestnut Street in Springfield. The nurses have been negotiating a new union contract since February 2024. Visiting nurses care for people who have recently returned home from the hospital.

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In Brattleboro, there will be a rally to call on congress to make sure the Gaza ceasefire does not end. The rally will be on February 1 at noon outside the main post office.

According to an Associated Press news article published on January 25, 2025, “This is the second ceasefire in 15 months of the deadliest and most destructive war between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza. The first occurred more than a year ago and lasted a week. The current ceasefire is longer and holds the potential to end the war, though the steps toward that are vastly more challenging than what’s unfolding now.”

Foreign Policy magazine wrote on January 27, 2025, "Implementation of week two of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal has gone according to plan, more or less. But anyone who seriously believes that there’s smooth sailing ahead for the three-phased accord should lay down and wait quietly until the feeling passes."