Activism

The Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC) announced this week that it will officially join the newly created Root Social Justice Center in Brattleboro.  Tonight there will be an opening celebration from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. during Gallery Walk. Stop by to join the VWC and other members of The Root for an evening of celebration, refreshments and activities. The Root is located on the ground floor of the beautiful Whetstone Studio for the Arts building at 28 Williams Street in Brattleboro. The VWC’s Southern Vermont office will be based at The Root, along with other members of The Root collective: Alex Fischer of Open Bookkeeping, Mel Motel of the Just Schools Project, and Angela Berkfield of ACT for Social Justice.

From Bethany Thies:

http://www.mealtrain.com/train/invite/1.aspx?id=R7TKvTbHB6I%3d

“The meal train link benefiting the displaced families of the Elliot Street Fire is linked below. Please share, add people via e-mail on the link and also share of your time. We are still looking for donations of food for today, Saturday 10/19 and tomorrow, Sunday 10/20. Help how you can! if you can not make a
meal, we also need beverages (milk, juice and water), fresh sliced fruits and veggies and dessert items. Please give of your hands and heart.

The Root Social Justice Center is hosting an opening celebration on Friday, November 1 from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. during Gallery Walk. Located on the ground floor of the beautiful Whetstone Studio for the Arts building at 28 Williams Street in Brattleboro, The Root Social Justice Center provides a physically and financially accessible space to support and bring together communities working for social justice. The Root is a co-work office collective by day and a community space on evenings and weekends.

…a USDA (the currently shuttered agency that administers the )
memo obtained by the Crossroads Urban Center in Utah carries in it a
very disturbing warning for the 46+ million Americans currently on
foodstamps.

To all with eyes to see, it’s clear that climate change is here now and already having a profound effect on the places we live, the natural resources we depend on and the species that provide rich biodiversity around the planet.

Nature knows. The Maple Sugar industry is concerned that our forests are migrating northward. The timber industry is worried about dying trees and increased risk of forest fires. Populations of small animals are changing. Cottontails are seen with increasing frequency. Turkey Vultures are staying for the winter. Canada Geese can be seen at Christmas time. Southern species of fish are seen further north than ever.We need to take significant steps now to curb greenhouse gas pollution and avoid the worst effects of runaway global climate change.

We’re cleaning up Pliny Park and need your help!

When: Wednesday, October 2nd – 5:30 p.m.

We’ll be raking, sweeping, and picking up trash Bring gloves, rakes, brooms or wheelbarrows if you have them.

Feel free to share this email with a friend!

This message is from your friends at
Building a Better Brattleboro
P.O. Box 961 – Brattleboro, VT 05302
(802) 257-4886

We are desperately seeking a tent as well as a place to pitch it, we are willing to pay anyone that has a large quantity of land or at least a decent amount. … and we are willing to pay quiet a bit to stay there until we are able to find housing. please contact me via FB by private message if you can help and are interested. THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

About 50 people rallied in Brattleboro on Sunday for action on climate change and in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.  The latter, if built, would bring petroleum from Alberta, Canada to ports in New England for trans-Atlantic shipping, but at terrific cost to the environment in Alberta and the climate in general.  A contingent of students from Williams College made the trip to Brattleboro, a number came from down in the Pioneer Valley as well as from up valley.

Right now, there are children involved in the Windham County Family Court who need your help. They don’t need your money – just your time and attention. In some cases, these children have been abused, neglected or caught in the middle of a custody dispute – but they all have the same need: to have a judge-appointed advocate who will look out for their best interest. To be a Guardian ad Litem, you needn’t have any specialized experience – just a willingness to volunteer your free time, strong interpersonal and communication skills, a passion for helping vulnerable children and the ability to think critically, be assertive, work with others effectively, and use sound judgment. Training is provided, and the personal reward is immeasurable.

“We applaud Entergy’s decision to shut down an aging nuclear power plant, rather than to push it past its limits. We appreciate their commitment for planning for a safe and orderly shutdown. We will remain vigilant to ensure that the decommissioning is done responsibly and in the safest way possible. Today, we celebrate this milestone in our work to end nuclear power generation in the Northeast and to foster a renewable energy future. This is a win for the people. Their relentless work has made the closure of Vermont Yankee possible. We thank all who have worked to make this day happen, especially the state of Vermont for its perseverance on this issue.”

Petition language:

The undersigned petitioners call on the Government of the United States to govern and regulate the law enforcement and civilian use of Tasers as well as other stun guns in the exact same manner it governs and regulates the law enforcement and civilian use of firearms and other lethal weapons.

Read petition background and consider signing on, .

Press release– Presenting: TIPPING POINT: The Age of the Oil Sands a CBC documentary film

Wednesday, August 21 @ 6 pm
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church West Brattleboro
(West Village Meeting House)
Sponsored by All Souls Church and Vermont Interfaith Power and Light

The film showing will be followed by a discussion which will include information on the pipeline that passes through the Northeast Kingdom

Tar Sands Oil: How You Can STOP It!

“Tipping
Point: The Age of the Oil Sands” a  CBC documentary film about the environmental issue of the proposed pipeline through the Northeast Kingdom. Sponsored by All Souls Church and Vermont Interfaith Power and Light. To be shown at All Souls Church, West Brattleboro on Wednesday, August 21^st at 6pm. 

Discussion and light refreshments after the film. A free-will offering to benefit Vermont Interfaith Power and Light will be collected. 

For further information please contact: Betsy Hardy at 802-434-3397 or email: info@vtipl.org.

Drop off your non-perishable groceries ahead of time at BS&L! Leave them with me (Brandie Starr) and they will be some of the first to fill the seats of the Latchis Theater. BS&L will accept groceries today until 5pm, and Monday 9-5!! email or call me at 275.3985 for more details.

http://wkvt.com/load-the-latchis/

Brattleboro area students are sending an important message to their peers this summer – stay Above the Influence – with the launch of the. ATI 802 features the faces and voices of Brattleboro area youth and showcases each individual student’s choice to rise above the influences of negative pressures to drink, do drugs or anything that goes against who you are in order to fit in.

The launch of this positive message media campaign is timed to reach youth during the summer break, when more free time and less adult supervision can increase the likelihood of exposure to dangers and substance use. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more teens start drinking and smoking cigarettes and marijuana in June and July than any other months of the year.

Ledgewood Heights FREE summer meals program is looking for someone to serve meals twice a day, 5 days a week. This is a great opportunity for community service & includes the following duties: tracking meals in &
out, serving meals (all meals are delivered ready to go with minimal volunteer preparation needed), and clean up. Yes, that’s IT! Breakfast is served from 9-9:30am and lunch is from 12-1pm.

Join Flotilla 2013! Saturday, August 10^th, 11am (rain date: Sunday August 11^th, 11am). Prospect Street Boat Launch in Hindsdale, NH

The Entergy Corporation continues to pollute the Connecticut River by dumping hundreds of millions of gallons of heated water every day from the Vermont Yankee nuclear facility. This “thermal pollution” destroys aquatic life. Because of high water temperature and low river volume, Entergy was forced to use its cooling towers to cool its reactor last summer. In fact, Entergy has the ability to use those towers continually. Instead, Entergy chooses to pollute our river. This is not acceptable.

BRATTLEBORO – Brattleboro’s Continuum of Care group is conducting a Tent and Sleeping Bag Drive in response to anticipated increases in people experiencing homelessness. July 1st marks another round of budget cuts by the Vermont Legislature, reducing services for General Assistance emergency temporary housing statewide. The last-resort program, which provides limited emergency motel vouchers for elderly and disabled homeless individuals and homeless families with young children, continues to experience cuts. This year, it means many families and individuals who currently qualify will be ineligible for services starting July 1st, and those who do qualify will see the length of their motel stay drastically reduced.

Is secondhand smoke a concern to businesses in downtown Brattleboro?

Don’t miss your chance to share your opinion about secondhand smoke in the downtown Brattleboro business area by participating in a focus group on Wednesday, June 26th. This focus group is intended to gather feedback to determine if secondhand smoke is impacting the downtown business community.

Vermonters are building a resistance to extreme energy projects, and exploring how local struggles against extreme energy can support each other. On Tuesday June 25th, 7pm in the Parlor of the Centre Congregational Church, (193 Main Street, Brattleboro) Sara Mehalik of Rising Tide will make a brief presentation about pipeline projects and the Stop the Vermont Gas Pipeline campaign.

Vermont Gas Systems plans to expand a fracked gas pipeline through VT and under Lake Champlain. Landholders and community members are organizing to stop this dirty and dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure, to protect the water, the climate and to build community power and resilience.