"It was essential that we get a union contract," Joe Crompton told the Valley Post. He has worked at the Brattleboro Food Co-op for more two decades. On July 9, workers at the co-op voted to approve their first union contract. About 160 people work at the store.

On average, union workers in the United States earn approximately 27 percent higher wages than non-union workers.

In recent decades, the rich have gotten richer, the middle class has gotten smaller, and the ranks of the poor have swelled.

About 160 grocery workers in Brattleboro have a tentative first union contract. Within the next week, the workers at the Brattleboro Food Co-op will vote on whether to accept the contract. It was negotiated by a committee that was elected by the workers, and by management. “The contract includes raises and better benefits,” union official Jeff Jones told the Valley Post on April 9. The workers recently voted to join his union, which has a web site: www.ufcw1459.org.

There will be a rally for peace in Brattleboro on April 15 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., outside the main post office. “There will be live music,” organizer Daniel Sicken (pronounced SEE-kin) told the Valley Post. For more information, contact him at dhsicken@yahoo.com or by phone at (802) 387-2798. The event is sponsored by www.nwtrcc.org.

People in Northampton, Brattleboro, and Keene have recently reduced pollution and saved money by investing in better insulation and air sealing for buildings, and in other energy efficiency measures. “We're saving around $400,000 a year,” Chris Mason told the Valley Post. He works for the city of Northampton, which undertook a major energy efficiency project in 2010 in schools, the public library, and other city-owned buildings. “We reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

This photo was taken on October 24 in Dummerston, Vermont, near Brattleboro. It shows a small waterfall in a forest. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." photo by Eesha Williams

Three famous activists will give free or low-cost public speeches, with question-and-answer sessions, in the Valley. In a profile published last month, the Los Angeles Times newspaper called Cindy Sheehan an “anti-war activist who rose to national prominence after her son was killed in the Iraq war in 2005.” She lives in California and is a war tax resistor. More information about war tax resistance is at www.nwtrcc.org.

About 7,000 workers in Vermont will vote on whether to form a union. The so-called “homecare” workers take care of patients who are too sick or too elderly to take care of themselves. They work in the patients’ homes, rather than at nursing homes or other institutions. They are paid by the government. The workers will vote by mail between September 9 and 27.

Simba will perform a free, outdoor public concert in Putney, Vermont, near Brattleboro, on August 10. At a recent Simba concert, at least 100 people danced for hours. The band plays reggae and funk, among other kinds of music.

On December 12 in Brattleboro, protesters occupied a nuclear corporation’s board room. Meanwhile, activists seeking to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant are gearing up for a vote next month in the Vermont senate on whether the state’s top nuclear regulator – who many say has been too friendly to the industry – will get to keep his job.

Vermont Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone’s throw from New Hampshire.

Some 700 peaceful protesters were arrested in recent days in New York City. The Occupy Wall Street protesters’ web site says, “We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.” The protesters' web site is:

www.OccupyWallSt.org