At Northampton public schools, starting pay for cafeteria workers is $11.64 an hour; for custodians it's $12.01. Teachers' pay is below the state average. On June 12 from 2:15 p.m. until 4 p.m., there will be a rally calling on the school board to give the workers raises. The rally will be outside the public high school at 30 Elm Street. Details are at:

www.facebook.com/events/2678501435557350

Forty-two people had RSVP'd as of 8 a.m.

*******

On June 8 in Brattleboro, 11 protesters blocked an annual parade for about 15 minutes. The parade is called the Strolling of the Heifers. Hundreds of people watch the parade, which honors farmers. Among the parade's sponsors are Dead River Corporation (a major fossil fuel seller), Home Depot Corporation, Dunkin' Donuts Corporation, TD Bank Corporation, and Price Chopper Corporation.

Lucy Congleton, who graduated last year from the Brattleboro high school, was one of the protesters. She provided the Valley Post with a statement she wrote. It reads, in part, "In a place like Brattleboro, we are inevitably sheltered from the most catastrophic affects of climate change taking place around the world.... People are dying as we speak. While the town is going to such lengths to honor the wonderful things that are happening in Vermont, is it really that much to demand collective attention...? ... What my friends and I (of ages ranging from 12 to 19) staged was absolutely not a protest against the Heifers’ parade or what it symbolizes. This action called for Brattleboro and tourists alike to go home and take personal analysis of their priorities."

People who want to stop climate change could get involved with a group like 350.org.

*******

In Northampton on June 15 there will be a rally calling on congress to impeach Trump. The rally starts at 2 p.m. at Pulaski park. Details are at:

www.facebook.com/events/600414623784946

Sixteen people had RSVP'd on Facebook as of June 12.

*******

On June 14, two people from Keene and a neighboring town will be in court for civil disobedience that they did with other people at the statehouse last year. They are Judith Reed of Keene and Charlie Gibson of Marlborough. Last year, Reed told the Valley Post she got arrested because, as "a former classroom teacher and teacher educator, now retired from Keene State College, I have watched the poorest school districts in New Hampshire fight for their students to receive an education adequate for them to succeed in today’s society.... Despite the fact that New Hampshire is a wealthy state (in fifth place nationally in per capita personal income and ninth in taxable resources) educational opportunity is still wildly unequal from town to town. New Hampshire is dead last in the nation in funding for higher education."

*******

In Springfield on June 5 more than 80 people attended a rally to protest a plan by the governor to make more electricity by burning trees. "Burning trees to produce electricity is dirty and destructive. It creates more carbon pollution than coal, gas, and oil. It destroys forests and our heritage along with them." That's according to:

www.nrdc.org/resources/our-forests-arent-fuel

The governor's plan would likely result in construction of a power plant in Springfield. On May 25, a group that helped organize the rally, and that has a web page at www.facebook.com/AriseForSocialJustice wrote, "Springfield has some of the worst air quality in Massachusetts and the nation. With ever-increasing traffic pollution, nearby power plants, and the Covanta garbage incinerator, the last thing we need is another polluting power plant here."