On February 2, two protesters were arrested at Citizens bank in
Brattleboro, organizer Dan DeWalt told the Valley Post. “Citizens bank funds ICE prisons. We are asking people to close their accounts and boycott,” he said. More about Citizens bank and ICE is at:

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2026-01-29/mass-activists-who-oppose-ice...

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More than 200 people marched in Amherst on February 5. Their goals were “supporting the dignity of the individual, the empowerment of workers, democracy, diversity, and the promotion of social justice. We believe unions are the only vehicle to promote democracy in the workplace. The union’s mission is to empower members to participate in the decisions that affect our work life.  This begins with the pursuit of fair wages and safe and humane working conditions, but also looks beyond conditions of employment in an effort to shape the university’s priorities and promote its mission.” That quote is from the march organizers' web site: https://umasspsu.org.

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On January 30 in Greenfield and the nearby town of Deerfield, Massachusetts students walked out of classes to protest ICE.

About 130 students walked out of Four Rivers Charter Public School in Greenfield. The other walkout was at Frontier Regional
school. The principal of the charter school told the Valley Post she will ask the parents of the protest organizers for permission to interview the organizers. The Valley Post will publish quotes from those interviews if they happen.

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The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day. This is one of the biggest causes of climate change, which the world's leading scientists say is a major threat to earth's ability to support human life. To stop this, towns and states can buy farmland, forests, and wetlands. The town of Natick, Massachusetts, near Boston, employs the farmers at its Natick Community Organic Farm. National parks are overcrowded -- new forest wilderness parks are needed. Apartments can be built at the vacant Brattleboro Home Depot, which has been vacant for 18 years, and at similar spots around the nation. All of this requires taxes.

Kesha Ram Hinsdale is the first woman of color to serve in the Vermont senate. On January 31, she told the Valley Post that a tax she proposed was enacted. “It’s a vacancy tax, embedded today in our property transfer tax. When someone buys a residential property and does not use it as a primary residence or rent it long-term, they pay a higher, one-time tax at purchase. Most Vermonters have never heard of it. Even fewer know that it has brought in more revenue than state forecasters predicted. That matters — because it tells us something important: when people have wealth and want good roads, a clean environment, functioning communities and available workers, they are often willing to pay more quietly and without much fuss. Here’s the bigger idea. That same construct — the distinction between homes people live in or rent long-term, and properties that sit vacant or are used occasionally — can be applied to the annual property tax, not just at purchase.”

Hinsdale said, “Done right, it could ease pressure on homestead property taxpayers and renters without banning or vilifying second homes. Let’s be clear about intent. This is not about punishing second homeowners. In fact, in more than a third of Vermont communities, second homeowners currently pay less than the homestead rate. That figure hasn’t been updated recently, and because residential property values have risen much faster than commercial property, it’s likely the imbalance is even larger today. Some argue that second homeowners are paying taxes without having children in schools. But so are countless Vermonters without children — and they pay the same or more than someone with the wealth to afford a second home.”

She continued, “Ability to pay matters, especially when Vermont has the highest rate of second homeownership in the nation.... Vacancy isn’t just a residential problem. The same logic applies to commercial properties. There are perverse financial incentives today to leave storefronts empty rather than lowering rents, hollowing out downtowns and Main Streets that should be economic engines. A vacancy tax could help realign those incentives toward thriving, lived-in communities. And no — this does not require intrusion or looking through people’s windows. Vermont already has the mechanism. Filing a Homestead Declaration or a Landlord Certificate privately tells the Tax Department whether a property is a primary residence or rented long-term. Most people don’t game this system. It’s straightforward, familiar and respectful of privacy.”