On August 6, two women were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience to stop logging at Wendell State Forest in Massachusetts, near Greenfield. State police took them to Athol, Massachusetts, where they were released with court dates. The two women are Pioneer Valley residents Gia Neswald and Priscilla Lynch. In a phone interview on August 7, Neswald told the Valley Post, “We were arrested for peacefully protesting on public land. The state police told the loggers to drive a huge logging truck toward us. The truck stopped about 10 feet from us.”
In a phone interview on August 7, Lynch told the Valley Post, “Getting arrested was the last resort. All our efforts to talk with the people in charge failed.” The talks lasted for months.
The activists are asking people who want to risk arrest for non-violent civil disobedience – and people who want to provide “jail support” or just learn more – to come to Wendell State Forest as soon as possible. The goal is to stop logging of oak trees that are more than 100 years old.
The activists are in the forest all the time, or almost all the time. On August 10 from 9 a.m. until noon, at least one of the activists will be at the ranger station to direct people to the protest. The station is at 392 Montague Road in Wendell, Massachusetts.
The organizers can be reached via:
www.restore.org/save-wendell-state-forest
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On August 10 in Easthampton, Massachusetts there will be a climate change rally. Fifty-seven people had RSVP'd as of August 7. The rally starts at 8:45 a.m. outside the public high school. Details are at:
www.facebook.com/events/371890310184839
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In Brattleboro on August 9 at 4:20 p.m. there will be a rally calling on politicians to provide homes for homeless people. The rally will be on the lawn between the public library and the building where the Brattleboro select board meets. The town has no mayor; the select board does what a mayor does in cities. Details about the rally are at:
www.facebook.com/events/585132212017363
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On August 1 the Pioneer Valley Workers Center said in an e-mail to its members that 65 people from western Massachusetts attended a Boston rally to call on the state to issue drivers' licenses to undocumented immigrants. The rally was on July 30.
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On August 6, the mayor of Easthampton, Massachusetts, Nicole LaChapelle, told the Valley Post, “The East Street acquisition demonstrates my administration’s strong commitment to preserve open space.” She said the city saved 23 acres recently. The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day.
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In Hadley, Massachusetts the select board will vote on August 7 at 6:30 p.m. on whether to protect open space, a spokesman told the Valley Post.
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On July 31, a land trust announced it has saved 22 acres in Hatfield, Massachusetts. Details are at:
www.kestreltrust.org/2019-hatfield-farmland-protected-for-local-vineyard
One of the Wendell protest
One of the Wendell protest organizers, Lisa Hoag, wrote today:
"Today until 4 p.m. and tomorrow through Saturday 8 a.m. -- 7 p.m., please come hold signs at Wendell State Forest headquarters, 392 Montague Road, Wendell. (GPS might say 392 Montague Road, Millers Falls -- that works too). Join our action list at savebrookrdforest@gmail.com."
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