KFTC Blog

Last night, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes held a second town meeting, this one in Kenton County, to gather input from the public about election laws and processes in Kentucky. 

About 60 people attended in all, including representatives from local county clerk's offices, political party groups, and NKY KFTC members. 

At the beginning of the event, Grimes recognzed KFTC and said that without us and other civic groups like the League of Women Voters, it wouldn't be possible to have smooth representative elections in Kentucky.

The format was simple - a 60 minute discussion facilitated by Alison Lundergan Grimes. There's a little context at the beginning and some recognition of County Clerk's office representatives, then the audience is asked questions like "What are your thoughts about our current voter registration process?" "18 states offer online voter registration. Should we try to move in that direction?" "What is your election day experience like?" and "32 states allow early voting. Should we allow no-excuse early voting in Kentucky too?" People throughout the room raised hands if they had input and after a few people spoke in response to each question, we'd move on to the next. 

A few KFTC members were prepaired to bring up the issue of restoration of voting rights for former felons who have served their debt to society, but Grimes beat us to it. She expressed her support in no uncertain terms and many people throughout the room voiced their support as well.  This included Jim Cole, a representative of the AFL-CIO.

Last week’s Jefferson County Chapter meeting kicked off with a brief report from Mary Love about Alliance for Appalachia’s 8th Annual Week in Washington. Mary was a member of the KFTC delegation again this year. The Alliance focuses not only on ending mountaintop removal mining but is also working toward a just and sustainable transition in Appalachia.

Jared Zarantonello gave a presentation on WFOR Forward Radio, “a community-based, low power FM radio start-up and media project operating as an educational arm of the Louisville chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in pursuit of peace and social justice. WFOR seeks to create a network of community partners to aid in building a more diverse and relevant model of media. This will ensure that our diverse local voices that are ignored by the mainstream media are heard and that the public interest is served through media.”

During the presentation, members shared their ideas for radion programming: story on the mission of St. George’s Community Center, Strange Fruit Podcast on LGBTQ issues, stories from TARC users, biking issues in Louisville, info from AARP, helping folks figure out if they owe taxes, and energy efficiency and renewables. If you have ideas you would like to share or if you want to learn more about WFOR contact Jared at, 502-468-6519 or jaredzarantonello@gmail.com. 

We know that young Kentuckians care deeply about our mountains and mountain communities. This year, we wanted to make sure their voices were heard loud and clear at Kentuckians For The Commonwealth’s 5th Annual Louisville Loves Mountains Festival on Friday, May 17, 2013. We asked young people to share their written thoughts and ideas for a brighter future for our mountains. Dozens of youth from across Louisville wrote essays on the topic, “Why we need to protect our mountains and mountain communities." 

The three winning essays were displayed during Louisville Loves Mountains Festival. The young authors were also recognized during the festivities and presented with prizes by essay contest judge Carol Besse, co-owner of Carmichael's Bookstore. Heine Brother’s Coffee and Carmichael's Bookstore donated prizes and the winners also received a Louisville Loves Mountains Festival t-shirt. The winning essays are featured below.  

Continuing their campaign to make sure Kentucky's water is safe for everyone, KFTC and allies have challenged plans by the Beshear administration to let Frasure Creek Mining "off the hook" for repeated violations of the Clean Water Act.

Appalachian Voices, Waterkeeper Alliance, Kentucky Riverkeeper, KFTC and several individuals (the petitioners) asked the Franklin Circuit Court Thursday to vacate an Agreed Order signed in April by Environment and Energy Cabinet Secretary Len Peters that claims to resolve all recent water quality violations by the company.