In Northampton on June 4, dozens of people protested a plan by President Trump and the Republican-controlled congress to eliminate health insurance for poor people. The activists staged a so-called “die in” to bring attention to the fact that thousands of people will die if the Republicans' plan is approved.

According to an article that appeared in the Washington Post on May 7, 2017, “A 2009 study in the American Journal of Public Health found that 45,000 deaths annually were linked to lack of health coverage.”

On June 3 in Northampton, there will be a march calling on President Trump to release his tax returns, and demanding that Congress investigate collusion between Russia and Trump to help him get elected.

“It is part of a nation-wide march demanding the truth,” Debby Pastrich-Klemer told the Valley Post. She is organizing the Northampton march. It will start at 11 a.m. at 2 Parsons Street. Fifty people had RSVP'd on Facebook as of May 31. More information is at:

www.facebook.com/events/406338116417417

Striking AT&T workers are asking the public to join them on the picket line in Hadley, Massachusetts. Hadley borders Northampton and Amherst. The picket line will happen on May 21, starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. It will be at 359 Russell Street.

These photos were taken on May 14. They show the Connecticut river overflowing its banks at the 724 acre Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary is in Northampton and Easthampton. In the second photo (lower left) two swallows can be seen catching flying insects. Most of the birds' diet consists of flies. To enlarge a photo, click on it, then scroll down and click “see full size image.” The sanctuary is open to the public for hiking, canoeing, and kayaking. Details are at:

www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/arcadia

photos by Eesha Williams

Dozens of people attended a rally in Northampton on April 9 to protest President Trump's military attack on Syria. Sabine Merz spoke at the rally. "The way to help Syria is to open our borders to them," she told the Valley Post. The event was outside city hall. It was organized by the American Friends Service Committee of Western Massachusetts www.afscwm.org.

In Greenfield, nurses are asking the public to join them at a rally for justice on March 9 at 4:30 p.m. The event will be at the town common. The nurses work at the Greenfield hospital, now known as Baystate Franklin Medical Center. They are members of a union, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which is organizing the rally. The workers want fewer patients per nurse, and better wages and benefits.

Alan Doyle is scheduled to play with his band at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on March 22 at 7 p.m. His upcoming tour includes stops in New York City; Toronto, Canada; and Germany. You can hear one of his songs at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F049FF-sceE

Activists in the Valley who have fought to save the environment are seeing their work pay off. Government money that exists because of their work is being used to protect land near Keene, Northampton, and Brattleboro. “It's 182 acres of land along and around the West Cliff trail,” Emily McAdoo told the Valley Post in a telephone interview on December 28. She is on the board of the Putney Mountain Association, which “recently signed purchase and sale agreements” for the land in Brookline, Vermont, near Brattleboro, according to a letter from the group's president to its members.

Mark Hummel and his band will play blues at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on November 22 at 7 p.m. Jerry Portnoy was a member of blues legend Muddy Waters' band for eight years. Portnoy said of Hummel, “Mark's terrific.” The San Francisco Chronicle daily newspaper praised Hummel's singing and harmonica playing.

Hummel and his band played last month in Seattle, Washington and San Jose, California. The Iron Horse is the Valley's best live music venue. Tickets for the Northampton concert are about $20, depending on how you get them. Details are at www.iheg.com.

Activists who, in April, stopped a fracked gas pipeline that would have crossed the Valley, held a solidarity rally August 21 in Plainfield, Massachusetts. Plainfield is near Greenfield and Northampton. The rally was in solidarity with Native Americans in North Dakota who are trying to stop a proposed oil pipeline. In recent weeks, 24 people were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience along the route of the North Dakota pipeline.