Civil Disobedience at Valley Nuke Set For July 1

Anti-nuclear activists are planning to risk arrest for non-violent civil disobedience at the entrance to the Vermont Yankee nuclear power reactor on July 1. They are asking the public to join them. Vermont Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire. It is owned by Entergy corporation of Louisiana.

Northampton Grocery Workers Form Union

Workers at the food co-op in Northampton organized a union. The 85 workers at River Valley Market organized in February. The Valley Post is the first news outlet to cover the workers’ victory, said Gabriel Quaglia. He's a cook at the co-op. He prepares food for the store’s café and take-out and catering departments. “It wasn’t hard to get our co-workers to organize,” Quaglia told the Post. He is one of seven workers who will soon negotiate the workers’ first union contract.

War Vehicle Will Cost Keene Taxpayers

The federal Homeland Security department effectively gave the Keene police department an armored vehicle when the city council voted last year to accept a grant for the “Bearcat” vehicle. But the Bearcat will cost city taxpayers money.

A photo of the tank-like vehicle is at:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6466601767_2a976fff9a.jpg

The Keene City Council voted on December 15, 2011 to accept a $285,933 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a Bearcat G3, an armored security vehicle designed and manufactured by LENCO industries.

137 Arrested at Valley Nuke Protest; 1,500 March

On March 22 in Brattleboro, 137 people were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. They were arrested at the office of Entergy Corporation, which owns the reactor. About 1,500 people marched about three miles from downtown Brattleboro to Entergy's office, where they heard live music and saw street theater.

Hundreds March to Close Valley Nuke

About 350 people marched seven miles from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to downtown Brattleboro March 11. The march was organized to commemorate the one year anniversary of the nuclear crisis in Japan, and to advocate the permanent shut down of Vermont Yankee. Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone’s throw from New Hampshire.

Nine Women Arrested at Valley Nuke Protest

On February 13, nine women were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience at the Entergy office in Brattleboro. They were Robin Lloyd, Martha Hennessey, Hattie Nestel, Connie Harvard, Anneke Corbett, Susan Lantz, Nina Swaim, Marcia Gagliardi, and Frances Crowe. "We bring love and heart to the campaign to end nuclear power forever," they said in a press release. They can be reached via Deb Katz at www.NukeBusters.org

More information about Vermont Yankee, and the movement to close it, is at:

Editorial: It's Time for Anti-Nuke Activists To Step It Up

Yard signs reading “Nuclear Free Vermont in 2012” began appearing on roadsides in the Brattleboro area at least five years ago. Around that time, at town meetings, the people of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, Marlboro and other towns voted overwhelmingly to close Vermont Yankee in 2012. Hundreds of people spoke at dozens of public hearings held in Brattleboro and Vernon that were organized by state and federal regulators. They said, “Shut Vermont Yankee now!”

Dozens Say: 'No War Vehicle for Keene Police'

Residents of Keene are protesting a plan by their city's police chief to buy an armored military assault vehicle. Keene is home to around 23,000 people and is surrounded by miles of forestland and farmland with only occasional houses. A photo of the tank-like vehicle is at:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6466601767_2a976fff9a.jpg

More photo are available by going to www.google.com and clicking "images" then entering "LENCO BearCat Special Missions Public Safety Vehicle."

From New York, A Way to Shut Valley Nuke

The following article is by Karl Grossman. He is a professor of journalism at the State University of New York in Old Westbury, a long-time investigative reporter, and author of the book Power Crazy: Is LILCO Turning Shoreham Into America’s Chernobyl?

The nuclear power program in the United States was set up rigged—to allow the federal government to push atomic energy with state and local governments “pre-empted” on most issues.

Valley Nuke Owner Wins in Court; Protests Planned

A federal judge ruled on January 19 in favor of Entergy Corporation of Louisiana, which sued Vermont because the state ordered the company to permanently close its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant just over two months from now, on March 21. "Despite a lifetime of seeing the little guy go down in the United States 'justice' system, many of us felt that the fact that we have justice and the truth on our side should have made a difference in the federal court system," said Nancy Braus of Brattleboro. She is a member of the Safe and Green Coalition, which works to close Vermont Yankee.