This is a quick report-back from just the first three hours of Operation Voter Madness in Lexington - part of a non-stop 72-hour local voter registration effort, feeding into a 4-day statewide focus on registering voters leading up to the registration deadline.

First, we had a fantastic Singing For Democracy Gospel Fest at Shiloh Baptist Church - focusing registering voters and also our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.  We had about 120 people from the community come out for great music and activism.  Most of the people who came out signed a postcard in support of voting rights for former felons and everyone at the event who had the right to vote pledged to vote in the General Election next month. 

We had our first TV news coverage of the weekend and used the opportunity to recruit volunteers for the remainder of our big weekend.

It was also a fantastic opportunity to partner with Operation Turnout, an effort to register and mobilize voters in African American churches in Lexington. 

Next, a big group of UK KFTC members set up a voter registration table in front of the W.T. Young Library on campus and sent out groups of canvassers across campus to register voters.

 

It's been a successful run so far, and we're just 5% of the way through our 72-hour voter registration marathon. 

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates throughout the weekend and if you have some extra time in Lexington or just about any other KFTC chapter community, please consider volunteering with us to be part of this energetic, key weekend. 

Monday, October 4th is the deadline to register to vote for the November 2nd, 2010 General Election.  Voter registration cards must be turned into your local County Clerk's office by that day, or postmarked and mailed to either the correct Clerk or the State Board of Elections.

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is capping off it's year-long voter registration drive with a bang, with simultaneous voter registration events all across the state.  In Lexington, for example, volunteers will be registering voters 24 hours a day for three days straight.

This is a non-partisan voter registration drive.  We are not interested in promoting any particular candidate or party.  We are interested in empowering Kentuckians to vote, especially those in populations that aren't well represented in the political world.  When everyone has an opportunity to register, it makes our democracy stronger.

We hope that our efforts over these four days will both directly register over a thousand voters, and will raise awareness of the approaching voter registration deadline.

Note that 17 year-olds can register to vote as long as they will turn 18 on or before November 2nd. 

To learn how to register to vote and to print off a mail-in version of the Kentucky Voter Registration card, visit Here.  To learn where you're currently registered to vote in Kentucky, call your local county clerk or visit Here.

We're also still looking for more volunteers, so if you're interested, please call our contact person in your area to become a part of all of this! 

Roster of Operation VOTER MADNESS Activities

Lexington

* Thursday, September 30th
6pm-8pm: Singing for Democracy Gospel Fest at Shiloh Baptist Church
8pm-10pm: UK Campus- William T. Young Library
10pm-2am: Campus bars (We’ll meet at Two Keys, and then head to the  Tin Roof, the Paddock,  and other places on the South Limestone strip)

* Friday, October 1st

2am-6am: Tolly Ho’s
6am-10am: Transit Center
10am-2pm: UK Campus
2pm-6pm: Hope Center
6-10pm: Kentucky Theatre
10pm-2am: Cosmic Charlie’s

* Saturday, October 2nd
2am-6am: Tolly Ho’s
6am-10am: Transit Center
10am-2pm: Farmer’s Market
2pm-6pm: Door-to-Door in the Ohio Walnut Precinct
6pm-10pm: Kentucky Theatre 
10pm-2am: Downtown Bars (Will meet outside of the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice office and travel all over downtown)

*Sunday, October 3rd
2am-6am: Tolly Ho’s
6am-10am: Transit Center
10am-2pm: North Lexington Churches
2pm-6pm: Door-to-door

Lexington Contacts
- Brittany Hunsaker, brittanyh@kftc.org, 859-333-0372
- Ondine Quinn, ondine@kftc.org, 859-368-4438

Louisville

*Thursday, September 30th
ALL DAY registration on buses
Early day--Assisted Living Center(s)
3-6pm Shawnee Library

*Friday, October 1st
ALL DAY registration on buses
Grocery store outreach (this is available at other times, too!)

*Saturday, October 2nd
12pm Immigration Rally-(registrations and Power to the People promotion)
Throughout the day St. James Art Fair.

*Sunday, October 3rd
Power To The People Jazz & Spoken Word Fest For Voter Madness
Noon to 7 p.m.
Baxter Square Park, 12th and Jefferson Streets

Louisville Contacts
- Tiffany Gonzales, tiffany@kftc.org, 832-496-8433
- Whit Forrester, whit@kftc.org, 502-592-7160

Harlan County

-October 1-2: Tabling at Swappin' Meetin' Festival in Cumberland, KY
-Class presentations at the two Harlan Co. KCTCS campuses

Harlan County Contacts
- Elizabeth Sanders, elizabeth@kftc.org, 606-633-5796
- Colleen Unroe, colleen@kftc.org, 606-233-2767

Northern Kentucky

- NKY Loves Mountains from 4pm to 2am.Friday- Saturday (Concert to raise awareness about the issues KFTC works on, as well as about the upcoming election. Will have voter registration signs and cards at events, as well as petitions surrounding our issues)
- Pepper Pod from 2am to 6am Saturday (24 hour Greasy Spoon on Monmouth in Newport, KY)
- Anchor Bar and Grill from 6am to 10am Saturday (24 hour Greasy Spoon on Pike in Covington, Kentucky)
- Covington public library from 10 am to 1 pm Saturday (we will be registering voters in the lobby of the Covington branch of the Kenton County Public Library from 10 am to 1 pm)
- Wee Fairy Festival from 12 pm to 7pm Saturday (we will be registering voters and circulating petitions at the Wee Fairy Festival, a festival celebrating mythical creatures located in Covington...)
- Mainstrausse (it's like NKY's Bardstown Road) from 7 pm to 2 am Saturday-Sunday (registering voters from bar to bar and street to street in downtown Covington)
- NKY Pride from 1pm - 2:30am Sunday-Monday. A festival in downtown Covington

promoting pride in the LGBT community and talking about LGBT issues in NKY)

Northern Kentucky Contact
- Joe Gallenstein, joe@kftc.org, 859-380-6103

Madison County

Tabling on Friday and Saturday at locations in Berea and Richmond.

Madison County Contacts
- Carissa Lenfert, carissa@kftc.org, 859-893-1147
- Greg Capillo, greg@kftc.org, 859-327-7348

Scott County

*Friday, October 1st
- Festival of The Horse - Day 1 - from 1pm to 3pm - canvassing the crowds with clipboards and signs on Main Street.

*Saturday, October 2nd
- NAACP/KFTC Voter Mobilization Day -  starting at 8:30am at the Meetinghouse, a house owned by Georgetown College on College Street just across from the Cralle Student Center.  We'll have donuts, coffee, juice, etc. and get ready to make voter mobilization phone calls from 9am to about 11am.  At 11am we'll head up to Main Street and call out for voter registration.  There are televised speeches from the DC rally starts around noon.  By 1pm we will be back at the Meetinghouse to watch some of them.  People are encouraged to come for some or all of the event.

Scott County Contacts
- Dave Newton, Dave@kftc.org, 859-420-8919
- Rev. Joseph Jackson, joseph@kftc.org, 414-236-1440

Bowling Green

* Wednesday, September 29th
7pm-midnight - WKU Campus DUC Southlawn
Shanty Town event

* Thursday, September, 30th
7pm-9pm Greener Groundz
10pm-12 midnight - Thirsty Thursday WKU Campus and Bowling Green area

* Friday October 1st
11am-2pm  Lunch shift WKU Campus DUC and Garrett

* Saturday October 2
11am-2pm Ellis Park Tri-State Aids Walk

4-7pm Stary Nights Music Festival

* Sunday, October 3rd
Sunday Service, Unitarian Universalist Church

* Monday, October 4th
6-9am Revolution WKU Radio Station

Bowling Green Contact
- Patty Tarquino, patty@kftc.org, 606-335-0806

Floyd County

Various events over the course of several days.

Floyd County Contact
- Waylon Nelson, waylon@kftc.org, 606-253-0089
- Brittany Combs, brittany@kftc.org, 606-422-0100

Letcher County

Various events over the course of several days.

Letcher County Contact
- Angela Armstrong, angela@kftc.org, 606-309-7743

- Willa Johnson, willa@kftc.org, (606) 632-0051

by KFTC member Sue Tallichet

Catherine Pancake, noted author of “As Strange As This Weather Has Been,” received Morehead State University’s esteemed Thomas and Lillian D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing last month.

Published in 2007, this novel focuses on a southern West Virginia family devastated by mountaintop removal mining. Pancake is a native West Virginian who grew up in Romney and Summersville. Based on both interviews and actual events, “As Strange As this Weather Hs Been” was her first novel.

Pancake earned her bachelor’s,  Master’s and doctoral degrees in English from West Virginia University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Washington, respectively. She currently teaches at Pacific Lutheran University.

The Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing was established in 1996 to recognize excellence in Appalachian writing in all genres. Past winners include Erik Reece, Silas House, and Denise Giardina.

 "We are here today to ask the EPA to create strong and vigorous regulations for coal ash. Kentucky families are at risk from coal ash and strong regulations are long overdue."

That was KFTC Chair K.A. Owens, one of several hundred citizens, including many KFTC members, who testified, rallied and marched Tuesday to demand that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency do its job and protect communities from toxic coal ash. These actions came in response to the EPA's request for comments on its proposed coal ash safety standards at a regional public hearing held in Louisville today.

KFTC, Sierra Club, Kentucky Alliance, Valley Watch and Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light organized a series of events around the hearing including a press conference, rally and march.

At the press conference, Patty Wallace made the connection between Monday's Appalachia Rising! day of action in Washington D.C. and the public actions around coal ash clear for all media present.

"I represent 7,000 members of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. I understand that several hundred of them are in Washington and 100 were arrested last night. They were just standing up for Appalachia ... that's why we're here today. We want to the EPA to join us in building New Power, creating clean energy. I want the EPA to help preserve my vision of Appalachia," she said.

Citizens – many who live near coal ash dumps – testified all day and evening before the EPA panel in support of the federal government strictly controlling coal ash as a hazardous waste. EPA and scientists have determined that exposure to coal ash toxins results in serious human health impacts including a higher risk of developing cancer.

"We are here today to ask the federal government, by means of the EPA ... to protect us from an internal threat.  The EPA knows that coal ash is a poison. We ask it only to believe its own findings on this issue, and to do its duty," said Wendell Berry.

In his testimony, Steve Wilkins asked EPA to not only pass strict coal ash safety standards, but also to enforce the standards in Kentucky rather than allow state agencies to have control.

"Kentucky has already demonstrated that it cannot be entrusted to oversee the handling of coal ash. Kentucky has been very protective of any potential threat to the coal industry and that protection follows coal throughout its life cycle. Coal – the industry – is coddled while miners, mountains, waterways, communities, whole regions are sacrificed in pursuit of profits."

Some of the testimony against strong regulation claimed that doing so would eliminate the possibility that coal ash could be used in many everyday products, as it is right now.

The Kentucky Coal Association organized a gathering to oppose the safety standards, which legislators Leslie Combs, Rocky Adkins, Brandon Smith, Jim Gooch and Fitz Steele attended. In his comments there, Smith noted that the EPA has the responsibility to protect people's health only if it doesn't interfere with economic opportunity.

Nearly 300 citizens rallied outside the hearing at 5 p.m. and marched through downtown to the corporate headquarters of Louisville Gas & Electric, chanting things like "What do we want?" "New Power" "When do we want it?" "Now!" The rally and march drew attention to the fact that Louisville residents are battling a proposed expansion of an ash dump at LG&E's Cane Run Road power plant right now.

In front of LG&E's headquarters, KFTC member Jes Deis, who lives near the Cane Run plant, spoke about her vision for something better for her children's future.

"I can't see why we would spend our resources, to expand [the coal ash dump] when we can do something else. The possibilities are endless. We can put that money and energy somewhere else and my kids can have a better place to grow up."  

KFTC will have an informal coffee meeting at the Douglass Loop Heine Brothers coffee shop on Wednesday, October 13 at 6 p.m. to discuss follow-up steps to the public hearing. EPA is not expected to release final standards until later this year and is accepting public comments through mid-November.

• WHAS-TV
  
• The Courier-Journal
• Associated Press in the Daily Comet
• WLKY-TV
• WDRB-TV
• AlterNet
• Business First
  

“We disobeyed. We were in the wrong.

But we were in the wrong for the right reasons.”

Making Their Voices Heard

The largest national protest ever against mountaintop removal mining took place in Washington, DC Monday as more than 2,500 people—including many coalfield residents and allies from across the country—gathered in front of the White House to make their voices heard.

“We disobeyed. We were in the wrong. But we were in the wrong for the right reasons," said Floyd County KFTC leader Bev May, reflecting on the arrests made yesterday as part of Appalachia Rising.

Appalachia Rising was organized and led by Appalachia residents from Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee.

While folks chanted “We are Appalachia,” nearly 120 people participated in nonviolent civil disobedience and were arrested at the event. Folks were arrested for refusing to move from an area near the White House when asked to do so by police. Arrestees included at least 12 KFTC folks, primarily from eastern Kentucky, including leaders Bev May and Rick Handshoe from Floyd County, Mickey McCoy from Martin County, Cari Moore from Knott County, and others.

KFTC member Megan Naseman of Madison County was arrested yet continued to chant, “What do we want? Clean water. When do we want it? Now!”

Other arrestees included renowned NASA climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, retired and former coal miners, religious leaders, and young folks. Four additional people were arrested at a sit in at PNC Bank in DC, protesting its role as a lead financier of MTR.

“It’s hard for me to break the law,” noted Rick Handshoe. “But this was different. I want it to get out to people globally about what’s happening in my community. It’s not just killing the environment; it’s killing people.”

“Being arrested? That’s such a small price to pay for being heard,” explained Mickey McCoy. “My home and people are paying the real price for mountaintop removal.”

Cari Moore added, “I got arrested because I wanted to call the president’s attention and the public’s attention to the greater crimes of mountaintop removal. I wanted to encourage my government to pass laws that will protect our mountains, our environment, our health and safety, our rights, and our cultural heritage.”

“I’d like for President Obama to pick up a pen, before he has dinner today, and, with a stroke of that pen, abolish MTR and strip mining,” said McCoy. “It’s now or never, I’m afraid.”

Demanding a Better Future

Appalachia Rising wasn’t only about demanding an end to mountaintop removal mining. Protesters also called attention to the need for a just transition for Appalachia.

“I got arrested because I want a new future for Appalachia,” explained May. “We targeted the Obama administration because he’s the only elected official who can stop MTR and announce a new economic plan for Appalachia.”

“We weren’t just marching against MTR. We were marching for a just transition,” noted KFTC’s Canary Fellow Teri Blanton. “Our people—who’ve created energy for this nation for the last 100 years—need to be a part of the new power, new energy revolution. If we are going to have any chance for this positive future, we’ve got to save the mountains that are left.”

“I want to see the end of the boom and bust, band-aid economy that the coal industry has given us,” reflected McCoy. “I know we’ll have coal around in the near future, but the transition has to be made today to establish a sustainable, diversified, vital, and thriving economy in Appalachia.”

“We know that jobs that come from destroying mountains don’t last,” explained May. “What we need for workers in the coal industry is the same sort of transitional help that tobacco farmers got to diversify their crops. Right now, coal only employs 2.6 percent of the eastern Kentucky workforce. We need help getting those miners into new jobs like reforestation, home weatherization, windmills, and more.”

“I want folks to have job opportunities where they don’t have to risk their lives,” said Moore. “I want people to feel a sense of control and options in their communities. And, on top of this, I also want to see us preserve our culture and maintain our unique identity. We can’t do that without our mountains. Our culture and our mountains are intrinsically linked.”

Moore continued, “Politicians have been telling Kentuckians that coal provides jobs. But we know that MTR mining eliminates jobs. And we’ve gained impoverished communities. We’re not even breaking even, let alone gaining prosperity. We see surface mining threatening Benham and Lynch, communities with very real potential for creating sustainable jobs, energy and money for the area. If politicians really cared about jobs, they’d help us stop that mining in those communities.”

“We’re sacrificing the long-term future of our region for the short-term profit of a few,” concluded Moore.

Speaking the Truth & Building the Movement

As much as anything, yesterday was about speaking truth to power and educating the public about what is happening in Appalachia. As KFTC members and allies tell their truths, they increase the number of folks who will join in the fight.

KFTC member Sarah Blanton noted that one police office said to her, “If I were not wearing this uniform, I’d be right there with you. I’m from Paintsville.”

Greg Capillo of Madison County said, “Out of this event there are more police and more folks in DC and beyond who know more about MTR. The police see protests every day. But I don’t think they see people like Bev and Rick every day—folks who take a stand and say, ‘Here’s what’s happening to me, my mountains, my family, our home.’ It’s really powerful.”

“It’s beyond cap and trade and climate change. Those can be abstract for people,” continued Capillo. “But folks losing their mountains and drinking poisoned water? That sticks with people.”

Moving Forward

The work to stop MTR and build a better future for Appalachia continues. A crew of KFTC members stayed in DC to lobby on Capitol Hill today. Harlan County leaders Carl Shoupe and Stanley Sturgill, joined by others, will be talking with lawmakers about their vision for the future of their homeland in Appalachia and the need to stop mountaintop removal in order to realize that vision.

While they walk the halls in the Capitol, today in Louisville there is a very important hearing with U.S. EPA officials about the need for strong rules to protect the public from toxic coal ash. Hundreds of folks will be there rallying in support of strong rules and drawing attention to the ways in which coal harms our water, air, land, and people from extraction to disposal of coal waste.

The coal ash hearing and rally are directly linked to the events yesterday in DC. Appalachia is rising; Kentuckians are rising; America is rising to demand new power—new energy and economic power that offers sustainability and opportunity.

“The whole nation is watching,” explained Blanton.

Pointing to the marks on his arms that were created by the arrest bands, Rick Handshoe told the bus driver bringing him back to Kentucky, “I got these stripes on my arms for your grandchildren and for my grandchildren.”

We need New Power. The time is now.

Take Action

You can be a part of this important work. Here are some simple things you can do:

1. Call President Obama at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414 and tell him that you support Appalachia Rising, demand that he take immediate action to abolish mountaintop removal and bring safe, clean jobs to Appalachia!

2. Go to this link and let EPA know that we need strong coal ash regulations!

3. Visit www.newpowerky.org and sign the New Power Pledge! Ask your friends and neighbors to sign, too.

Check out media coverage of Appalachia Rising:

The protest made the front page of the Washington Post’s print edition on Tuesday:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/fpImages/fp_front.jpg

The Washington Post has a photo gallery of the protest and arrests. Scroll through to the fourth photo to see KFTC member Teri Blanton in cuffs and a big smile (and wearing KFTC’s “Friends of Mountains and Miners” sticker):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/09/27/GA2010092705160.html

KFTC member Mickey McCoy is quoted in this CNN report:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/27/white.house.protest/

The Louisville Courier-Journal article that foregrounds KFTC and quotes several KFTC members:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100927/NEWS01/309270054/More+than+100+arrested+in+D.C.+mountaintop+mining+protest

The WYMT story on the group traveling from KY to DC, before the rally:

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/103761499.html

The rally and protest was WYMT’s top story yesterday:

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/103889689.html?ref=689

The Lexington Herald Leader article is accompanied with a photo from the AP of KFTC member Megan Naseman wearing her “I love mountains” KFTC shirt:

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/09/28/1453719/kentuckians-among-100-arrested.html

This piece in The Hill (which reports political news related to “Capitol Hill” in DC), reports on other protests in the area and leading up to Monday’s action at the White House:

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/121153-more-than-100-arrested-at-coal-mining-protest-in-front-of-the-white-house

Jeff Biggers’s blog report in the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/breaking-mass-arrests-in_b_740686.html

The Appalachia Rising website has more coverage including video of the protest and photos:

http://appalachiarising.org/

Grist: More than 100 arrested at mountaintop-mining protest [SLIDESHOW]

Democracy Now

Appalachians marched on the streets of Washington D.C. today, chanting and rallying to demand an end to mountaintop removal coal mining and the creation of a sustainable future for the region. Marchers chanted "Yes, you can!" to President Obama. Some participants chose to demonstrate outside the White House in peaceful protest and were arrested, including several Kentuckians. Visit www.appalachiarising.org to read more news and updates about the events today.

Media Coverage

• Story in The Courier-Journal here.
• Story on WYMT-TV here.
  

October 4 is the deadline to register to vote for the November 2, 2010 General Election.  Voter registration  cards must be turned into your local County Clerk's office by that day, or postmarked to either the Clerk or the State Board of Elections. 

To learn how to register to vote and to print off a mail-in version of the Kentucky Voter Registration card, click here.

KFTC is conducting a massive voter registration effort all across the state leading up to this date, which will be especially robust in this last week.  Please contact your local KFTC Organizer for more information and to get involved!

Visit www.appalachiarising.org for live coverage of today's events in Washington!

The Appalachia Rising Day of Action is today. Thousands have gathered to call for an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining. From the Appalachia Rising website:

"Mountaintop removal has already destroyed over 500 of the world's oldest mountains and more than 2,000 miles of streams, and has contaminated our nation's waters. Together, we will bring Appalachia's cry to our nation's capital: We must end mountaintop removal and transform the economies of Appalachia away from destructive mining practices and toward clean-energy jobs and a sustainable and healthy future."

The day of action follows a 2-day conference held in D.C. over the weekend.

KFTC does a good job of asking candidates where they stand on issues leading up to Election Day, compiling their answers and getting them out to our members through our printed Voter Guides (which will be in the mail later this week!) and www.KentuckyElection.org.(which will also become live soon).

But we haven't generally done a great job of encouraging our members to contact candidates and tell them where they stand on issues - and that's at least as important. 

Email or call the campaigns to let them know where you stand on one or more issues.

Here is contact information for the two candidates for the big US Senate race:

1-866-232-9747

1332 Andrea Street, Bowling Green, KY 42104

Jack Conway - www.jackconway.org

502-632-1820

Online contact form

PO Box 6168, Louisville Kentucky, 40206

Of course, there are hundreds of candidates for other races in the state too, and you can use the Secretary of State's website to find out who's running in your area, then look then up.  Click a link below, depending on if you're searching for someone running for a state races or a local county race.

Click here for Statewide Candidates

(state legislature, etc.)

(City commission, Mayors, County Judge Executives, etc.)

You can also go to where the candidates are and talk to them...

at meet and greets, campaign stump speeches, etc.  Candidates have to get out and meet a lot of people to run a good campaign and Democracy works best when those people tell the candidates what stances they ought to have on important issues.  Keep an eye on your local newspaper to find out when and where you can meet the candidates you're interested in talking to.

Organize a meeting between local candidates and KFTC leaders.

Contact your local KFTC Organizer to put together a meeting with candidates in your community.  Candidate meetings are good opportunities to inform candidates about issues that KFTC works on.  If we meet with one candidate for a given office, we need to do our best to schedule meetings with his or her opponent as well.

If many of us take some time to contact candidates about issues we care about, it can make a real difference in their respective campaigns - and it's much easier to convince a candidate to change their mind on an important issue that it is to change the mind of a sitting legislator.

This is some testimony from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's argument a few days ago, as part of a challenge to Washington State's felony disenfranchisement law. 

The Legal Defense fund won an earlier case in District Court and the public pressure from that victory also caused Washington State to improve its statutes on former felon voting rights.  The legal victory is being challenged in the 9th Circuit Court, which is the testimony you see in the video. 

"(You're saying that) the entire criminal justice system in the state of Washington is intentionally discriminatory against minorities?" - Judge

"That's not right, your honor.  What the evidence shows in this case, as the District Court found, is that the racial disparities in Washington's criminal justice system arise from and result in discrimination on account of race"                     - Ryan Higdon, NAACP Legal Defense Fund

KFTC is continuing to have conversations with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund about the possibility of litigation in Kentucky along a very different line of legal argument.