Rallies for justice, peace, and the environment are planned for the Valley on February 13, 14, and 15. Workers at Stop & Shop grocery stores are negotiating a new union contract. Their current contract expires February 23. On February 13, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m., the workers and members of the public will hold rallies outside Stop & Shop stores at:

Belchertown: 40 George Hannum St.

Chicopee: 672 Memorial Dr.

East Longmeadow: 470 North Main St.

Feeding Hills: 1282 Springfield St.

Greenfield: 89 French King Highway.

The last time that a nuclear power plant was ordered and built in the United States was in 1973. There are 62 nuclear power plants in the nation. On February 5, the owner of the Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida said it would permanently close the plant immediately. “We have been working to close Crystal River for years,” Jen Rennicks told the Valley Post on February 7. She works for an environmental group, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy www.CleanEnergy.org.

Residents of South Hadley are protesting a garbage landfill in their town. South Hadley borders Amherst and Holyoke. The landfill is run by a corporation that’s based in Florida. Advanced Disposal Corporation (AD) of Jacksonville, Florida had $351 million in sales last year.

On January 24, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection said AD violated the law at the South Hadley dump. The company has been landfilling material that should be recycled. AD makes money by the ton for landfilling, not for recycling.

Six women will be in court in Brattleboro on November 27 and 28 for non-violent civil disobedience at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 90 days in prison and a $500 fine. “We are charging them with misdemeanor trespass,” Steve Brown told the Valley Post. He is a Deputy Windham County State’s Attorney in Brattleboro: www.prosecutors.vermont.gov.

The last time that a nuclear power plant was ordered and built in the United States was in 1973. There are now 65 nuclear power plants in the nation. Soon, there will be 64. On October 22, the owner of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Carlton, Wisconsin said it will permanently close the plant next year.

These photos show protesters on the Connecticut river near the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor on September 15. The sign in the first photo says, "Shut VY down." The sign in the third photo says, "No place for nuke waste." To enlarge a photo, click on it, then scroll down and click, "See full size image."

The protest was organized by www.SAGEalliance.net and www.NukeBusters.org. photos by Eesha Williams

Activists are planning non-violent civil disobedience at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on September 23. The reactor is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone’s throw from New Hampshire. The event is being organized by a religious group, the Quakers www.burlingtonquakers.org. “Anyone is welcome to join us as long as they accept that this event will have a spiritual focus,” Elinor Yahm told the Valley Post. She is one of the organizers of the event. “We want people to contact us in advance if they want to participate,” Yahm said.

Nine women were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant July 31. Vermont Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire. It's owned by Entergy corporation of Louisiana. At Vermont Yankee, a major accident or act of sabotage would kill thousands of people and leave an area the size of the Valley uninhabitable. Such a disaster is so likely that no insurance company will insure the facility; taxpayers would pay the costs of a meltdown.

On September 8, activists in kayaks and canoes will protest near the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which is on the Connecticut river. The public is invited to join the protest. The event is being organized by the same group that organized a protest against Vermont Yankee in Brattleboro in March that drew 1,500 people, 137 of whom were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. The group’s web site is www.SAGEalliance.net. More information is available by calling Deb Katz of www.NukeBusters.org at (413) 339-5781.

A private corporation in Tennessee wants to erect a prison in Hinsdale, New Hampshire that would lock about 1,600 people in cages. Hinsdale borders Brattleboro and the Massachusetts town of Northfield. The company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and other private prison corporations, lobby for harsher drug laws so more people will be sent to prison for possession of marijuana, prostitution, and other “crimes.”