Dozens of people attended a rally in Brattleboro on September 29 to support Planned Parenthood. Republicans in Congress are trying to cut funding for the group. Planned Parenthood provides reproductive health care and education to millions of women, men, and young people worldwide. It has a web site at www.PlannedParenthood.org.

In the year 1700, there were about 600 million people on earth. By 1800, there were about 900 million. In 1900, there were about 1.6 billion. In 2000, there were about 6 billion. That's according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Almost all the money needed to save 57 acres of farmland from development has been raised by a local land trust. The land is in New Hampshire, less than a mile from Massachusetts and Vermont. “We have raised a little over $250,000,” David Kotker told the Valley Post on August 20. “We still need to raise about $4,000.” Kotker works for the Mount Grace land trust, which has a web site at www.MountGrace.org.

On May 1, there will be marches for immigrant rights and for raising taxes on the rich to help the poor. The marches will be in Amherst, Massachusetts and Montpelier, Vermont. People will be carpooling to the Montpelier event from Brattleboro. To join the carpool, e-mail spoonagave@yahoo.com or call the phone number at the rally organizers' web site: www.WorkersCenter.org.

The Amherst event is being promoted by the western Massachusetts chapter of the group Jobs With Justice: www.jwj.org. At the event's Facebook page, more than 250 people had RSVP'd by the morning of April 30:

This photo was taken on April 17 in Brattleboro. It shows a cover crop growing on a farm field in the foreground and New Hampshire in the background. People plant cover crops to prevent rain from washing soil away and to prevent wind from blowing dry soil away. The plants' roots loosen the soil. There are other benefits to cover crops. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." photo by Eesha Williams

In Brattleboro, there will be a rally for global peace on April 15 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., outside the food co-op at 2 Main Street. “There will be live music,” organizer Daniel Sicken (pronounced SEE-kin) told the Valley Post. For more information, contact him at dhsicken@yahoo.com or by phone at (802) 387-2798. The event is sponsored by www.nwtrcc.org.

"The USA is planning to spend $348 billion on nuclear weapons in the next 10 years," Sicken said.

This photo was taken on April 2. It shows downtown Brattleboro and the Connecticut river. It was taken from Mount Wantastiquet state forest in New Hampshire. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." photo by Eesha Williams

Four New Hampshire towns near Keene are opposing plans to build a fracked gas pipeline through their towns. The towns border Massachusetts. At annual town meeting day votes on March 10 and March 11, residents of Fitzwilliam, Rindge, Troy and Winchester voted to direct their towns' select boards to lobby state and federal regulators to fight the proposal by Texas-based Kinder Morgan Corporation. The pipeline would carry gas that is mined using a process called “fracking,” which poisons drinking water.

One of the busiest roads in Brattleboro will get sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks. The 1.2 mile section of Putney Road that is between the West River bridge and the traffic circle at exit 3 on Interstate 91, will get the upgrades four to six years from now, Chris Cole told the Valley Post on February 1. He is a spokesman for the Vermont transportation agency. Putney Road is also Route 5.

On January 15 at the Vermont statehouse, 29 people were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. They were calling for universal health care. Ellen Schwartz lives in Brattleboro and is a member of the Vermont Workers Center, which organized the rally. She was one of the people who were arrested. “Health care is a human right,” she told the Valley Post.

Also arrested were Sheila Linton, Philip Strickland and Skyler Wind, all of whom live in Brattleboro.

Telephone and internet workers are on strike. They are asking the public to join their picket lines in Brattleboro and Keene. More than 1,700 workers at Fairpoint Corporation are on strike in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The company is the monopoly provider of landline telephone and DSL internet in those states.

Fairpoint is based in North Carolina. It wants to cut wages for workers it hires in the future by 40 percent.