About

Natalia MunozJackie Hai is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst with degrees in journalism and philosophy. She lives near Boston and runs a company that does web development for community media.

Natalia MunozNatalia Munoz was a staff reporter for the daily newspaper in Springfield, Mass., before returning to her native Puerto Rico, where she was a reporter for eight years for English- and Spanish-language newspapers. That was followed by three years as a stringer for the Associated Press in Barcelona, Spain, before she returned  to Massachusetts in 2004 to re-join the staff of the Springfield Republican daily newspaper. She lives in Northampton. www.NataliaMunoz.com

Ilene Roizman is a self-employed writer and editor in Amherst. From the late 1980s until 2004, she worked as a writer in New York. She was a staff editor and writer at the East Hampton Star, a locally owned, award-winning weekly newspaper that has been published continuously since 1885. Among other publications, she contributed to the award-winning Southampton Press weekly newspaper. IleneRoizman@comcast.net

Chris RussellChris Russell lives in Amherst. His newswriting has appeared in the Hampshire Gazette, the daily newspaper in Northampton. cRussell1973@gmail.com

Clara Rose ThorntonClara Rose Thornton writes a weekly column for the Rutland Herald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper. She lives in Bellows Falls, Vt. Thornton’s writing on the arts and social issues has appeared in national magazines and newspapers. www.linkedin.com/in/clararosethornton

Eesha WilliamsEesha Williams won the Vermont Press Association's Mavis Doyle Award for best investigative journalism published in any of the state's daily and weekly newspapers. Williams covered the Pioneer Valley as a staff reporter for Northeast Public Radio. To read reviews of Williams's book, "Grassroots Journalism" please click here. Reviews of Williams's book "Good News: Local Journalism That Made a Difference" are here. Info on his wife's farm is here.

ABOUT COMMENTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

Please call or e-mail us with your story ideas. Reader comments are published by the Valley Post; strong preference is given to comments that are signed with the author's real name and town. If you're willing to post your e-mail address and/or phone number with your comment, that's even better. If the CAPTCHA is hard to read, keep refreshing the page until you get one that's easy to read. It's case sensitive. E-mail alerts are sent out at 1 p.m. on days when a new article has been posted.

T-SHIRTS AND BUMPERSTICKERS

Valley Post t-shirts are $12 including shipping and handling; bumperstickers are $5. Please click the "donate" button at the top right corner of this page, then send an e-mail from the "contact" page with your address and, for shirts, size. (Please click shirt photo to make it bigger.) Your shirt and sticker will look the same as the ones in the photos but will say "ValleyPost.org Award-winning news from the Pioneer Valley, Brattleboro, and Keene."

VOLUNTEER OR BE AN INTERN

The Valley Post is accepting applications for internships. We are also seeking volunteers to put up fliers in the cities and towns that we cover.

VALLEY POST RADIO

Valley Post Radio airs on WXOJ, WVEW, and WMCB. It can be heard anytime at:

www.valleypost.org/2016/02/02/valley-post-radio

The Valley Post thanks WVEW's David Longsmith and Vidhi Salla, WXOJ's Rick Haggerty, and WMCB's Drew Hutchison.

ABOUT DONATIONS

The Valley Post rejects advertising. This keeps us accountable to our readers alone. Your donations allow us to keep operating. Please click the "donate" link near the top right corner of this web page, or make a check out to Valley Post and mail it to: Valley Post, 111 Dutton Farm Rd., Brattleboro, VT 05301. Thank you.

DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURE

Anyone who donates $35 per year or volunteers four hours per year will have the right to run for, and vote for, the Valley Post's board of directors. For more information, please contact Williams via the "Contact" page.

The following local newspapers are owned by out-of-state corporations: Hampshire Gazette, Amherst Bulletin, Springfield Republican, Greenfield Recorder, and Valley Advocate. The corporations that own these newspapers are run undemocratically. The Brattleboro Reformer and Keene Sentinel are owned by local rich people.