Thanks to the work of bike-ped activists in Brattleboro, the select board voted to support the creation of a new bike-ped path that will connect downtown with a network of rail trails that goes to Keene and beyond. The Brattleboro select board is the equivalent of Northampton's mayor and city council combined.

A front page article in the November 5 edition of the Brattleboro Reformer daily newspaper was headlined, “Plan approved for new Connecticut River trail. Walking path should be usable by spring.”

On November 21, 2024 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of Israel. In Brattleboro on January 4 at noon there will be a rally to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The rally will be outside the main post office. A group that's promoting the rally has a web page at:

https://grassrootsfund.org/groups/upper-valley-action-affinity-group

A rally for the same cause will happen in Northampton on January 10 at 3:30 p.m. Details are available via:

www.instagram.com/jvpWesternMass

The ICC arrest warrant is at:

About 10,500 workers at Starbucks have formed a union. Workers at a store near Burlington, Vermont won their union election July 15. “It was a great feeling,” Katie Lam told the Valley Post in a voice phone interview on July 23. She works at the store and has worked for Starbucks for almost six years.

On June 10, billionaire Bill Gates told the New York Times he is building a nuclear power plant in Wyoming. In 2014, the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor closed permanently because thousands of people marched in Brattleboro, and because hundreds of people were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience in Brattleboro and outside the reactor three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire. Deb Katz was one of the main organizers of these protests.

In Northampton, about 300 people attended a rally to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the organizers told the Valley Post. The organizers have a web site at www.jvp.org. The rally was on February 4. On February 6 in Springfield, about 30 doctors, nurses and other health workers held a rally for the same cause. They delivered a letter signed by about 200 local health workers to congressman Richard Neal's office.

On February 1 in Northampton, about 400 workers formed a union. They work in the dining halls at Smith College. The federal government conducted a secret ballot election, which the workers won overwhelmingly. The workers have a web site at www.opeiuLocal153.org.

In the 1930s, workers went on strike around the USA, forcing politicians to pass the first minimum wage laws. To this day, unions lobby to raise the minimum wage. On average, union workers make $191 more per week than non-union workers. Inequality is bad for democracy. Billionaires buy politicians.

**********

In Northampton on January 20 about 65 people attended an abortion rights rally, organizer Marisol Pierce Bonifaz told the Valley Post. The event was organized by the group Generation Ratify Amherst.

A major cause of climate change is overpopulation, according to:

www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/climate/

The average American produced about 15 tons of carbon dioxide last year. The average Ugandan produced about 0.1 ton. The average Swede produced about 4 tons. That data is from:

https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-metrics

********

About 500 people marched 25 miles from Northampton to Springfield on December 16. They were calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The march was organized by a group that has a web site at www.jvp.org.

In Brattleboro, there will be a rally to demand politicians stop U.S. military aid to Israel. The rally will be on December 23 at noon at Pliny Park. JVP endorsed the rally.

There will be a march to demand Vermont's two U.S. senators call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The march will start by the Brattleboro food co-op at noon on November 18. "Israel is the largest beneficiary of U.S. military and foreign aid: $3.8 billion a year. A bill in congress would send another $14.3 billion to Israel this year," march organizer Dan DeWalt told the Valley Post. On November 14, the Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

*******

In Greenfield about 60 people attended a rally to call on Biden and congress to stop funding Israel's war in Palestine. The November 4 rally was organized by a group that has a web site at www.traprock.org.

********

Thanks to the work of environmental and affordable housing activists, 15 new apartments will soon be for rent in downtown Brattleboro. The apartments are at 47 Flat Street.

********