About 50 people in a town with a population of about 900 showed up for a meeting to save a forest. The meeting was in Wendell, Massachusetts on October 24. Wendell borders Montague, which borders Greenfield. A corporation wants to clear-cut 11 acres of forest to install a battery facility. The people who are fighting to save the forest can be reached via www.WendellForest.org.

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About 300 janitors from Worcester and other cities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island marched in Boston on October 29. Worcester is 25 minutes by car from the Pioneer Valley town of East Brookfield, Massachusetts. Starting November 15, about 12,000 janitors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will go on strike if their bosses don't agree to sign a fair union contract. The janitors have a web site at www.seiu32bj.org.

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In Brattleboro, police charged a local woman with breaking a law when she posted on Facebook in support of Black Lives Matter. On October 27, the ACLU said it will go to court on behalf of the woman, Isabel Vinson. More info is at:

www.acluvt.org/sites/default/files/vinson_msj_brief_2023.pdf

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In a victory for bike-ped activists, the state will install a 1.25 mile bicycle and pedestrian path along Route 5 between Northampton and Easthampton. Most of the path will be separated from cars by a physical barrier. Construction will start in 2026. Details are at:

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/10/16/massdot-plans-new-shared-use-pat...