After weeks of cool, rainy weather, summer has finally arrived in New England. On June 25, temperatures hit the mid-80s and a swimmer enjoyed the cool water of the Connecticut river in Brattleboro. That night, there was heat lightening, and hundreds of fireflies could be seen. (To make the photo bigger, please click on it.) photo by Eesha Williams

Pisgah State Park is the biggest state park in New Hampshire. It's a 10 minute drive from both Brattleboro and Keene, and is just a few miles from Massachusetts. On June 8, the New Hampshire Parks Advisory Council released a proposed plan that placed Pisgah State Park in a class which, among other choices for alternative management, includes "disposal," the so-called “C” list.

There will be public hearings, but not in Keene. The closest is in Peterborough:

June 23, 4 p.m.

Peterborough Town Hall
1 Grove Street
Peterborough, NH

There is also the opportunity for written comment:

Negotiations between the Northampton teachers and the school board are heating up. The teachers belong to a union www.nea.org Mayor Clare Higgins asked the workers to forgo previously negotiated pay raises for next year.

On June 16, voters in Northampton will decide on the so-called “Proposition 2½ override,” which will affect the city’s budget.

The National Priorities Project www.nationalpriorities.org is a nation-wide non-profit based in Northampton. According to the group’s web site, the Iraq war had cost American taxpayers $790 billion as of October 2008.

Misty Bassi, 33, was killed while riding her bicycle in Amherst around 10:30 a.m. on May 25. The motorist fled the scene, but police caught them. The punishment for someone who kills a person with their car is usually much weaker than when a gun is used. Bassi was a janitor at UMass. The driver of the vehicle that killed Bassi was Parvin Niroomand.

On June 3, the Inter-Generational Chorus gave a free, public concert at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro. Singers ranged from third graders to retirees. The director is Andy Davis of the Oak Grove public school in Brattleboro. Anyone who wants to join the chorus should contact Davis. In this video they perform the Vermont state song. Video by Elizabeth Wood.

The lyrics are:

These green hills and silver waters
Are my home, they belong to me
And to all her sons and daughters
May they be strong and forever free

Let us live to protect her beauty

On May 13 in Brattleboro, students at the Austine School for the Deaf (ASD) were joined by students from half a dozen other local schools as they made a giant peace sign that was clearly visible from Interstate 91. Austine teacher Brittainy Brougham helped the students plan the action. photo by ASD.

Sheila Linton of Brattleboro spoke at a "Healthcare Is a Human Right" rally at the Vermont statehouse on May 1. The event was organized by the Vermont Workers Center. The U.S. is the only rich nation that does not provide universal health care. More information on the rally is at www.workerscenter.org photos by Eesha Williams

Although southern Vermont has a vibrant music scene, by percentage it can be somewhat limited to similar Eurocentric genres: folk, roots rock, hard rock. And, of course, there are classic evenings of contra and New England fiddlers. It is rare that down-home, messy, slinky soul music finds its way to this trickle of the Appalachian Range. Though Vermont is statistically both the second least populous and second least ethnically diverse state in the union, musical energy does not have to suffer proportionately.

Food co-ops keep consumers’ money in the local community, unlike chain supermarkets like Stop and Shop or Price Chopper. The Greenfield food co-op opened in 1980; the Brattleboro one, also in business for decades, is the size of a small supermarket.

Since the past spring and early summer, several organizations have initiated events and programs to address and confront an undercurrent of racial tension in the region.

A group of youths calling themselves the Nigger Hanging Redneck Association (NHRA) showed signs of activity in Vernon, Guilford and Brattleboro and at the Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS). Three minors were linked to the NHRA in an incident involving harassment of a group of ethnic minorities at the Brattleboro Transit Center in June.