95 Rally

In a victory for nature, farmland has been saved. Developers had planned to pave it. The land borders Brattleboro and the Connecticut river. It's in Dummerston, Vermont. It is 49 acres. The Dummerston farmland committee, appointed by the select board, led this effort. The deal was announced on December 14. Funding came from votes at the annual town meeting from 2003 until Covid. The meeting will resume in 2024. The next step is to convert the land to organic farming. More information is available via:

www.dummerston.org/boards/farmland.asp

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Workers Unite

On December 10, there will be a 25 mile march from Northampton to Springfield to call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The march will start at 6 a.m. at 94 Pleasant Street in Northampton. Details are at:

www.instagram.com/25milesforpalestine

In Brattleboro, there will be Jewish Voice for Peace rallies at Pliny Park, daily December 8 – 14 at 5:30 p.m. More information may be available via www.jvp.org. The Valley Post learned of the Brattleboro rallies in a mass email from a group that has a web page at:

www.facebook.com/groups/373565940917979/

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Photo: Indigo Girls Concert

The Indigo Girls will soon play near Springfield. Click "music" above for details. On October 24 the band played an excellent concert in Morristown, New Jersey. photo by Eesha Williams

200 March, Rally

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.

100 at Rally

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.

Labor, Peace Rallies; Floods

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.

Victories for Nature, Justice

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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Strike Victory

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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Workers Win

About 350 workers in Springfield, Massachusetts had a major victory when they voted to approve a new union contract. “I feel great,” Iris Rivera-Medina told the Valley Post in a voice phone interview on February 9. “We fought hard. Everyone is happy with the contract.” She has worked making breakfast and lunch for children at the public schools in Springfield for seven years. Rivera-Medina works for Sodexo corporation. “We won a raise of $3.50 an hour over the three year contract. New hires make $15.92 an hour now. People who have worked here for a long time make more.”

106 Rally

Despite snow falling, six African American people attended an outdoor rally in Springfield on January 12. A white man who allegedly killed a black woman in the city is free. “If a black man had killed a white woman, first degree murder, he would not be free,” Charles Stokes told the Valley Post in a voice phone interview on January 13. He was at the rally with the victim's family. Police say Frederick Pinney killed TayClair Moore in 2014. In 2021 he was released from prison.