Workers at the Shaw’s and Star Markets supermarket chains went on strike March 8. There are Shaw’s stores in Keene and near Brattleboro in Wilmington, Vermont. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 791 voted 288 to 8 to strike. The workers asked people to boycott Shaw’s until the strike is over.

The striking workers distribute perishable food like fruit, vegetables, milk, and meat to Shaw's and Star Markets stores throughout New England.

“Shaw’s has recruited C&S to scab,” said Jon Weissman of the western Massachusetts chapter of Jobs With Justice www.jwj.org

Most history professors never get arrested for civil disobedience. Boston University history professor Howard Zinn was arrested many times, protesting for peace, workers’ rights, and civil rights.

This photo was taken at Hamilton Falls in Jamaica, Vermont on March 28. Jamaica is about 20 miles from Brattleboro. To make the photo bigger, click on it. Among the kinds of wildlife that can be seen near the waterfall are mountain lions, bears, and moose. The Vermont Land Trust www.vlt.org works to protect land like this. There is still snow and ice on the steep trail to the base of the waterfall, so it's a good idea to wear metal spikes on your shoes. These can be purchased for about $10 at Brown & Roberts Hardware in Brattleboro.

A photo of a mountain lion is at:

These photos show a worn out, wooden covered bridge in Newfane, Vermont, and workers building a new bridge about 100 yards from the old one. When the new bridge is ready, the old one will be removed and the new one slid into its place. The bridge builders are staying at a motel in Brattleboro, they said. They are from upstate New York. (To enlarge a photo, please click on it, then scroll down and click "See full size image.")

Aside from a few icebergs, the Connecticut River is clear of ice. This photo was taken in Brattleboro on March 6. The warm, sunny weather is predicted to continue into next week. To enlarge the photo, please click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image."

Every year on tax day, April 15, activists around the Valley hand out fliers at post offices showing people how much of their taxes go to war. To join the local actions, contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee www.nwtrcc.org and/or the War Resisters' League www.WarResisters.org

Out of a federal budget of about $2,900,000,000,000 about half goes to war. Details are at:

www.warresisters.org/files/FY2011piechart.pdf

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant may be ordered to close immediately by state regulators, according to a statement released on February 25 by the Vermont Public Service Board, whose members are appointed by the governor. Vermont Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire.

About 500 people attended a march and rally to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant February 21 in Brattleboro. Organizers asked people to contact their legislators in advance of a key vote in the Vermont senate on February 24. One anti-nuclear group is seeking donations so it can run a television commercial about the vote. Details are at www.vpirg.org

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This photo shows the February 21 march. Please click on the photo to enlarge it. photo by Eesha Williams

On February 13, the head of the USDA, U.S. senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy, and congressman Peter Welch all praised organic farmers in speeches at the annual conference of the Vermont chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).

There was a brown door in a modest kitchen, scuffed by the onslaught of time, children and life's general maneuvers. It guarded a staircase leading down to a basement, spacious enough and made congenial, such that it was often strewn about with middle-aged men.

When closed, this door allowed a generous amount of space between it and the floor, and was not the most efficient muffler of sound. If one crouched by its bottom, the world it attempted to conceal came spilling forth like the secrets of some giddy deluge.