On August 18 Christian MilNeil told the Valley Post his thoughts about Northampton's plan to re-design Main street. He works for a group that has a web site at www.streetsblog.org. MilNeil said, “I encourage people to take a look at Concord, New Hampshire's Main street redesign, which was done about a decade ago. It's very similar to what Northampton is contemplating: they went from a four-lane roadway with fairly narrow sidewalks and diagonal parking to a two-lane street with diagonal parking on one side and parallel parking on the other, with much wider sidewalks and shorter crosswalks.”

About 95 people attended a rally in Northampton on August 13. "We called for the resignation of the officers involved in the incident, Officer John Sellew and Officer Jonathan Bartlett, as well as the resignation of Police Chief Jody Kasper," Miranda Groux told the Valley Post. She works for the Amherst Survival Center, but was speaking as a private citizen, not on behalf of the Center. The incident in question happened on April 4, when Bartlett and Sellew of the Northampton police department tackled and pepper-sprayed a 60-year-old woman because her car had a broken headlight.

Twenty people attended a peace rally in Greenfield on August 5. “We stood for peace and a ban on all nuclear weapons, just one day before the 78th anniversary of the US atomic bomb ‘test’ that destroyed Hiroshima. A second, plutonium, bomb was 'tested' on another civilian target three days later, destroying the city of Nagasaki on August 9,” Anna Gyorgy told the Valley Post. She works for a group that has a web site at www.traprock.org. The bombs killed about 200,000 people.

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Isaac Evans-Frantz lives in Brattleboro. Last year, he ran for U.S. senate and was endorsed by the Vermont Progressive Party (VPP). Vermont's current lieutenant governor is a member of VPP. On August 4, 2023, Evans-Frantz told the Valley Post that “dozens” of people attended a LGBTQIA rights march in Brattleboro on August 2.

In Northampton on July 25, about 45 people attended a rally to protest Chase bank's support of the fossil fuel industry. The Brattleboro area was hit hard by floods this month. The floods were made worse by climate change. The Northampton rally organizers have a web site at http://climateactionnowma.org. Russ Vernon-Jones was one of the organizers. He told the Valley Post, "It was a great success.

About 100 people attended a rally in Springfield on July 17. Nurses are asking the community to join them in protesting corporate moves to make health care in the region worse. Nurses at Mercy Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union (www.MassNurses.org) held an informational picket outside the hospital on July 17 in response to Mercy's owner Trinity Health Corporation recently closing 20 intermediate care beds, “temporarily” closing other essential services without any indication they will be re-opened, and creating a staffing and patient care crisis.

A labor rally is set for July 17 in Springfield. Nurses are asking the community to join them in protesting corporate moves to make health care in the region worse. Nurses at Mercy Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association union (www.MassNurses.org) will hold an informational picket outside the hospital on July 17 in response to Mercy's owner Trinity Health Corporation recently closing 20 intermediate care beds, “temporarily” closing other essential services without any indication they will be re-opened, and creating a staffing and patient care crisis.

In Brattleboro, about 15 UPS workers attended a labor rally on June 30. On August 1, the biggest strike against a single employer in U.S. history will probably start. UPS workers this summer voted 97 percent in favor of striking if they don't get a fair union contract. UPS reported record profits that let $8 billion in dividends be paid to UPS shareholders last year. Many UPS workers make $15 an hour. The workers have a web site at https://teamster.org.

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Forty-five people attended a rally in the Pioneer Valley town of Washington, Massachusetts on June 17. The goal was to stop logging in a state forest. “It went very well,” Janet Sinclair told the Valley Post. She was one of the organizers. A petition is at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfLg5REHtGz1n04L6DrnZ6OkR_ScYhD...

One of the speakers at the rally was Michael Kellett, executive director of RESTORE The North Woods.

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About 500 people attended a rally at the Greenfield town common on May 25. They were protesting cuts in funding for music classes in Greenfield public schools, among other cuts. On June 14, the music funding was restored.

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In the Pioneer Valley town of Washington, Massachusetts on June 17 at 11 a.m., there will be a rally to stop logging in a state forest. A petition is at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfLg5REHtGz1n04L6DrnZ6OkR_ScYhD...

The rally will be at: