In the U.S., in general, rich people don't go to nursing homes. Same with prison. But for the rest of us, a nursing home is likely to be the place we spend the last months of our lives. The town of Killington, Vermont is 50 miles from Brattleboro as the crow flies. Killington doesn't have a nursing home, so most Killington people go to nursing homes in nearby Rutland, Vermont. The Gables and the Pines are two of the biggest. Neither responded to phone calls and emails seeking comment for this article, which compares nursing homes in Europe and the United States.

About 500 people attended a rally at the Greenfield town common on May 25. They were protesting cuts in school funding. Julie Carew was at the rally. She runs a group called Strings for Kids, which is a partnership between the Greenfield public schools and Artspace Community Arts Center in Greenfield. Carew told the Valley Post, "I was at both city council meetings... This is a slap in the face from the mayor who was 'virtually' in attendance at both meetings where it was made crystal clear that the numbers the councilors were trying to meet were counting on that $365,000 from the mayor....

In Springfield, 170 people marched on May 21 to protest a proposed fossil fuel pipeline. "It was amazing," Susan Theberge told the Valley Post. She is one of the organizers. The organizers have a web site at:

www.arisespringfield.org/springfield-climate-justice-coaliti

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In Brattleboro, about 10 people attended a rally for farmworker justice on May 21. The organizers have a web site at www.MigrantJustice.net.

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More than 100 people attended an abortion rights rally in Greenfield on May 13. The number one cause of climate change is overpopulation. Susan Triolo told the Valley Post that information about abortion rights will soon be at www.indivisible.org. Triolo was one of the organizers of the Greenfield rally. From the north Greenfield exit to the southern Brattleboro exit on Interstate 91 takes 15 minutes by car, according to Google Maps. Amtrak and Greyhound run between Greenfield and Brattleboro.

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On May 25 there will be a Black Lives Matter rally in Sunderland, Massachusetts, near Northampton and Greenfield. The rally will be at 4:30 p.m. on the bridge between Sunderland and Deerfield on Route 116. One of the groups that's organizing the rally has a web page at:

www.facebook.com/groups/548230779189803/

To get there from Brattleboro takes about 30 minutes by car.

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In Amherst on May 5, about 200 people attended a rally calling on politicians to build more affordable housing in the Amherst area. The organizers have a web page at:

About 300 people attended a labor rally in Springfield, Massachusetts on April 28. One of the speakers was Nellie Taylor. She graduated from Smith College. She then spent five years working at the Pioneer Valley's Deerfield Academy and she now works at UMass Amherst. Deerfield Academy is 19 miles from Brattleboro. The rally organizers have a web site at www.MassTeacher.org.

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On April 28 in Amherst about 100 people attended a labor rally. The organizers have a web page at:

www.facebook.com/psumta

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About 100 people marched in Amherst on April 21. They were calling for peace. With 4 percent of the world's population, the USA spends as much money on war as the rest of the world combined. The march organizers have a web site at https://WeAreDissenters.org.

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About 150 people attended a rally on April 18 in Belchertown, Massachusetts, which borders Amherst. They were defending the rights of Jewish people. The principal of Belchertown's Jabish Brook middle school on April 3 said the school was investigating recent anti-Semitic behavior by many students at the school. Students did Nazi salutes and joked about the Holocaust.

Environmental activists in Northampton had a major victory April 10 when the city bought 229 acres of forestland and wetlands to protect them from development. The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day. The Northampton land is on Sylvester Road. It will have hiking trails that will be open to the public.

On April 5, about 100 people marched in Amherst to abolish the UMass police. In Holyoke, about 45 people attended a rally for high quality, affordable housing. More information on those two events is below.

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On April 15 at 9 a.m., there will be a climate rally two miles from Brattleboro in Dummerston, Vermont. The public is invited to attend. The world's leading scientists say climate change is a major threat to earth's ability to support human life.