Rallies Lead to Victory for Tenants

In Holyoke on September 13, about 45 people attended a rally for tenants' rights. The event was organized by the group Neighbor to Neighbor. According to that group's web site, "An elite few have created a housing crisis here in Massachusetts. A handful of lawmakers -- and the real estate speculators, corporate developers and landlords that fund their campaigns -- jack up rents, destroy affordable options, and price us out of the neighborhoods we call home. No matter how much money you have in your wallet, you should be able to make a home in Massachusetts."

Katie Talbot works for Neighbor to Neighbor. On September 12, she told the Valley Post that similar protests in Springfield resulted in a victory. A landlord called Springfield Gardens, owned by a New Jersey company called Schweb Partners, recently sold four buildings in Springfield. “They have 30 more buildings on the market,” Talbot said. “We feel really good. We want them out of Springfield. It's been over a year of us holding rallies to highlight the deplorable conditions in those buildings, and to show what awful slumlords they are. We worked with the Massachusetts Attorney General. We expect the new property owners will provide good homes for people. We'll keep an eye on them to make sure.”

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When the USA invaded Iraq in March 2003, about 1,000 people marched for peace in Brattleboro, population 12,000. On September 9, 2023, the group Code Pink said in a mass email, "Last month CNN published a poll saying 55 percent of people in the United States do not support spending more money on the Ukraine war. Bernie Sanders has not only voted for more weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine, but has refused to call for a ceasefire and negotiations. While we condemn Russia's brutal invasion, the only way to end the suffering is to move from the battlefield to the negotiating table. On October 4, we're delivering a letter signed by Vermonters to Bernie's office demanding that he call for negotiations, not escalation."

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