Wal-Mart's 'information session' VERY informative!
See media clips: |
Mass DEP rejects Wal-Mart's
environmental impact report!
Your 380 letters worked!
Read the certificate (PDF)
Wal-Mart's PR machine hits the Valley!
Click here to read Wal-Mart's latest mailing to Hadley and Amherst residents.
What you can do:
- Attend Hadley's next public hearing
- Contact critical agencies
- Spread the word
- Stay informed with action alerts
- Contribute
- Share your story
- Write a letter
- Take it national
* If you live in Hadley, check out the Hadley Neighbors group to find out what you can do right in town.
"Trashing Local Treasures"
Valley Advocate, April 13 , 2006
"'All the community is asking for is for Wal-Mart to obey the law,' said David Elvin, a Hadley resident and member of Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development. 'We just want a store that conforms to state, federal and local laws. This plan doesn't in dozens of ways, and that's why they're having trouble.'" Read article here
"Appeal to delay new Hadley Wal-Mart"
Hampshire Gazette, February 15, 2006
"A dispute over a wetlands issue could delay construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter for up to two years, a Hadley official said Tuesday. The Pyramid Corp. and Wal-Mart are challenging a ruling by the Conservation Commission that could force developers to reproduce more wetlands on the site." Read article here (subscription req'd)
"State orders Wal-Mart to sell morning-after pill"
Boston Globe, February 15, 2006
Activism works! As a result of your efforts, Wal-Mart must now provide emergency contraception like all other MA pharmacies. And what's more, Wal-Mart is considering changing their policy nationwide. Read the Boston Globe artricle here. And we're not done yet. Check out Planned Parenthood's site to see what still needs to be done on this front.
"Workers stage Wal-Mart rally"
Springfield Republican, February 6, 2006
"Damaris Meza Guillen held a pair of Faded Glory jeans like the ones she sews together at a Nicaraguan factory that supplies Wal-Mart. She said she would have to work a week to buy the jeans - even at Wal-Mart's prices - because she is paid only 39 cents an hour....."
Find the article here.
"Super-sized Wal-Mart: If we do nothing, they will come"
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculature (CISA) Newsletter, January 2005
"For me, a football field was always my point of reference for something 'really, really, big.' But in the context of a Wal-Mart or Home Depot, it looks like a putting green...."
Find the article here.
"In Our Opinion: Regional solutions"
Hampshire Gazette, January 9, 2005
"New England is not only losing jobs and population to other states, it is also losing once-rich farm land to malls and McMansions. The Pioneer Valley isn't immune to this disease. Big-box stores line Route 9 in Hadley, the epitome of urban sprawl in a one-time farm town...."
Find the article here. (subscription required)
"Sprawl imperils N.E. character"
Hampshire Gazette, January 9, 2005
"Water supplies are threatened. People walk less, imperiling health. The poor, minorities, senior citizens are increasingly isolated. Supplies of affordable housing dry up. Convenient downtown stores close their doors. Struggling family farms finally give way to developer dollars...."
Find the article here. (subscription required)
"...as welcome as a Wal-Mart Super Store."
John Prine, "Taking A Walk," 2005
On his latest album, Fair & Square, Prine compares himself to "a Wal-Mart Super Store" to describe the unwelcome feeling he has upon arrival on the doorstep of an ex-girlfriend.
Find the album here and the lyrics here.
Sharp-Dressed Wal-Mart Execs
Springfield Republican, December 18, 2005
"'The only people who spoke in favor of the super-sized Wal-Mart expansion were paid to do so:' the sharp-dressed execs from Wal-Mart, the notorious mega-mall developer Pyramid, and their locally recruited lawyers, engineers and PR people. While their physical appearance was sharp, their presentation was anything but."
Read the Republican aticle here.
Residents submit 91 pages of environmental concerns
Hampshire Gazette, December 15, 2005
Download the one-page fact sheet here.
Read the Gazette article here.
"Spiritual Nausea"
Hampshire Gazette, December 10, 2005
"[Living wages] is one of the causes espoused by the local group fighting the expansion of the Hadley Wal-Mart store. Addressing a Nov. 5 rally on the Amherst Common, [Rev. Robert] Hirschfeld spoke of the 'spiritual nausea' he feels when he ventures into the store."
"We can do nothing about your concerns."
Springfield Republican, December 8, 2005
While the Planning Board made it clear that they would interpret their role very narrowly, Valley residents had every kind of concern.
"Wal-Mart approval is a long way from secure"
NPR Albany (WAMC), December 7, 2005
"In all of the technicalities of curb heights and ques, the bigger issue is getting lost: Wal-Mart stands for everything that is wrong and the majority of residents in Hadley and the Valley don't want this Wal-Mart," according to one resident.
Wal-Mart overlooks its own censorship policy in order to sell iPods
Nasdaq/Dow Jones, November 29, 2005
Referring to a "philosophical" argument with Apple's Steve Jobs (Apple lets people listen to music Wal-Mart won't), Wal-Mart says "He won, we lost." Wal-Mart's exceptional after-Thanksgiving sales are attributed to better product offerings including the iPod line. The mega-store was willing to set aside its conservative social policy agenda for sales (this one time).
"Nothing to do with local needs"
Valley Free Radio (103.3 FM), November 2, 2005
Corporate Watchdog Radio correspondant Jody Shapiro interviews Aron Goldman on location at the Amherst Farmer's Market.
Listen to the interview here... (mp3)
"200 join in protest of Wal-Mart plan"
The Hampshire Gazette, November 7, 2005
"State Rep. Ellen Story,
D-Amherst, spoke at Saturday's rally, saying many Wal-Mart employees
seek state health insurance because Wal-Mart doesn't provide it. 'This
is paid by us, the taxpayers of Massachusetts,' she said."
Read
More... (subscription required)
"Protesting Wal-Mart"
The Boston Globe, November
6, 2005
Download
photo and blurb here
"Rally set to oppose Wal-Mart"
The Springfield Republican,
November 2, 2005
"A citizen group that wants to stop commercial sprawl throughout
the Pioneer Valley will stage a rally on the Town Common on Saturday.
The rally is a kick off for the 'Stop Sprawl Mart Campaign' devised
by the Shutesbury-based Policy Development Committee."
"Urban Sprawl Comes to Amherst Common!"
Kelsey's Morning Show Blog (WRSI), November 2, 2005
"But in a good way. The folks behind Stopsprawlmart.org are having a fancy launch celebration this Saturday on the Amherst Town Common from 11am to 1pm. There's going to be singing and dancing and big giant puppets. What's the big deal? 'The big box stores bring me big box savings!' Is that what I hear you saying? Well, sure. But as my mom likes to say, 'Buy it cheap, buy it twice.' But who cares when it's toilet paper? The point is we the tax-payers, we the community pay a lot more in long term costs than we save in toilet paper." Read more...
"Just a Hadley Problem?"
The Valley Advocate, October
13, 2005
"With Wal-Mart raising the stakes with a proposed new supercenter,
anti-sprawl activists are beginning to think regionally.... In the five
years since Wal-Mart opened its first store in Hadley in 2000, its reputation
hasn't improved with activists. In 2001, Wal-Mart was cited by the federal
Environmental Protection Agency for failing to prevent stormwater runoff
during construction and agreed to a $1 million settlement. Now it looks
as if the discount store will likely be abandoned if the new supercenter
gets built. "Wal-Mart is a particularly ugly prospect for the Valley,"
said Patricia Loomis, spokeswoman for Stop Sprawl Mart." Read
more...
Community Growing Pains, Part I
WFCR Radio, Sept. 8, 2005
The proliferation of big box stores in Hadley, Massachusetts sets the
stage for what seems to be a common modern day saga. It's a tale about
community growing pains, one that almost always pits residents against
each other. Susan Kaplan reports in the first of an ongoing series,
called Community Growing Pains. Listen...
Community Growing Pains, Part II
WFCR Radio, Sept. 9, 2005
Route nine in Hadley, Massachusetts is in the midst of major retail
development. With a potential Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement
store all in development, hearings with the town's planning board have
been taking place every few weeks. A hearing for the Lowe's store is
set for September 20th. In part two of our series on community growing
pains, WFCR's Susan Kaplan visits with the farmer who plans to sell
some of his land for that Lowe's store. Listen...
