“Breathe in gently and deeply through your nose. Exhale slowly and fully through your mouth. Clear your mind and allow your breath to find its natural rhythm.”That’s the instruction for most mindfulness meditation. You may have tried this in yoga classes or by listening to your favorite meditation a...

I was driving my daughter’s 12year-old friend home one night when she told me “Doctors withhold cures to keep people sick to make money.” My heart was breaking, as I gently told her that none of the hundreds of physicians that I knew wanted anything except the best treatment for their patients. Year...

Last week, we published an article about Union County’s plans to tear down a 150-year-old grove of Oak trees to make way for a new ice rink at Warinanco Park. This project, or at least some iteration of it, has been in the works for years across multiple locations. It has served as an election-year ...

I am an upcoming 10th grader at Westfield High School, and I was fortunate to attend the Vanishing Westfield Neighborhoods: The African American Experience Exhibit curated by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Westfield. The experience deeply moved me, especially learning about the closur...

A celebration of nurses filled the last two gratitude columns. Nurses’ compassionate devotion to every patient, even at the end of 12-hour shifts, is the pinnacle of human kindness. They attend to the physical and emotional well-being of every patient, regardless of age, race, or condition. “How do ...

The May 8 Leader published a cartoon featuring two canines. One said to the other “Oh sure, they mess with ancient DNA and gene editing technology, and here I am, the dire wolf. I’m warm and cuddly now, but once I grow up and eat a few people, I’ll be the bad guy again.” Cartoonist Neseman’s inspira...

Lately, I’ve been hearing a growing wave of concern about mail-in ballots (VBMs): how they’re sent out, how they’re counted, and whether they’re truly secure. This concern isn’t unfounded—it’s being fueled by a flood of misinformation that’s threatening to undermine the confidence in one of the most...

What the Township of Westfield and AT&T are planning to do to their Scotch Plains neighbors at the Conservation Center off Lamberts Mill Road is simply wrong, and I am particularly disheartened by the recent rhetoric from certain officials in favor of this project on the heels of a court decision th...

Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s actions consistently reflect a pattern where his voting record directly contradicts his public statements. As NJ-7 voters are aware, Kean supported the “Big Beautiful Budget Bill,” which cuts funding for SNAP, reduces Medicare access for an estimated 70 million people, adds more ...

As Co-Founders of the Raritan Valley Line Mayor’s Alliance representing 32 communities along the RVL, we know firsthand that for communities like ours, reliable train service isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Over fifteen thousand of our residents depend on NJ TRANSIT every day to get to work, schoo...