A chunk of the other 99% – all of us who aren't in the top 1% of income earners – are in downtown Lexington showing solidarity with the 12-days-and-running Occupy Wall Street action in New York. 

About 20 people are settling in for the night outside of Chase Tower.  Spirits are high.  Here's a quick photo from earlier this evening.

Our voter eduction website at www.KentuckyElection.org is now live and updated with information on all candidates running for the six statewide offices. 

Check it out - and share is with friends. - www.KentuckyElection.org

Also, we have a Facebook event for the election up, so if you use Facebook, check that out and share as well.

Election Day is just under 6 weeks from now and we have a lot of work to do to spread the word, do some good issue education, and get people out to the polls to vote on November 8th. 

The Associated Press ran a must-read story today exploring the sharply falling production of coal in central Appalachia and the causes of that decline. It was carried on the front page of the Lexington Herald Leader as well as other news outlets.

Below are a few compelling points from the article. But do go read the whole thing.

"The region's thick, easy-to-reach seams of coal are running out, forcing many operators to shift to cheaper and more destructive mining methods that draw heavier environmental regulation. Coal here is getting harder and costlier to dig — and the region, which includes southern West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, is headed for a huge collapse in coal production. The U.S. Department of Energy projects that in a little more than three years, the amount of coal mined here will be just half of what it was in 2008."

The data cited in the article has been public knowledge for some time. But this story has the potential to reach a broad audience and contribute to greater understanding about the real challenges facing the region.

KFTC members will continue to press for our public leaders to acknowledge that the decline of coal production in eastern Kentucky is rooted in laws of economics and geology, not government regulations. We will continue to support efforts by the US EPA to protect our health and the land and water resources we have left. And we will continue to call for everyone who cares about the future of the Appalachian region to focus our efforts on making a transition to a more sustainable and healthy economy.

Mountain Heritage 2011 in Letcher County was a great weekend filled with great music, delicious festival treats and of course some Voter Empowerment.  Despite some cool weather on Friday, the crowds were energized and friendly.  Helping out at the table that day was Celeste Johnson, she helped register 5 voters and gather 8 signatures on our petition for better taxes for Kentucky’s working class.

“Tabling at the festival is a nice way to talk to new people”, Johnson said.

The next day the weather was much better and the crowd was even larger, and we registered 7 more folks and collected even more signatures on the tax petition. 

There were many great conversations had at the KFTC table this year, and great folks to continue talking about the future of Kentucky.  Over all we registered 12 new voters and can’t wait for our next opportunity to register more. 

Are you or is someone you know homeless and interested in talking about voting rights?

As you may know, a handful of Kentucky politicians like Secretary of State candidate Bill Johnson have recently been questioning the right of homeless Kentuckians to fill out voter registration cards with a blank address, insisting that they should only be allowed to register if they include their "legal address."

KFTC doesn't think that we should prevent Kentuckians from voting just because they don't have a home. 

We're interested in launching a campaign in the coming weeks to defend voting rights of homeless people and others - and we're going to need your help.

Stories are some of our most powerful tools in connecting with people on this issue, so we're looking for more Kentuckians who are homeless who might like to tell their stories about voting and other challenges.

If you are or know someone who would like to tell their stories in an interview, please email Dave Newton, KFTC's Voter Empowerment Organizer, or call him at 859-420-8919.

The Northern Kentucky chapter took time on Wednesday to work with students to help make sure more people in their communities are engaged voters by teaming up with student groups at Thomas More College and Boone County High School.

On Wednesday, from 11 AM - 1 PM a couple of members visited Thomas More College to help the Thomas More College Political Science Club with a voter registration drive. During the time students took the time to ask their classmates if they are registered to vote, and learning more about what Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is working to achieve in Northern Kentucky.

That evening, from 3 - 6 students from the Boone County High School National Honor Society joined KFTC members at the Boone County Public Library in Florence to help register voters. Though they were unable to register to vote themselves, the NHS members were excited about the chance to make a difference in their community.

In addition to the voter registration table last week, the National Honor Society will be doing voter registration with members of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth every Wednesday through the voter registration deadline from 3-7 at the Florence Branch of the Boone County Public Library.

The Census just released data today that shines the light on a grim reality: Kentucky households are earning less and less.  The data show that median household income was $2427 *less* in 2010 than it was in 2006, and that almost one-third of Kentucky families earn less than $25,000 a year.

The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy released a statement on the report with a quote from Jason Bailey, the director of KCEP.  We suspect it will resonate with so many Kentuckians who are out of work, and so many Kentuckians who are dealing with traffic jams in Louisville, or thinking twice about driving across that bridge to Cincinnati: 

“The news in Kentucky highlights a big disconnect: a crumbling bridge and other inadequate infrastructure in the neighborhood of construction workers in need of a job,” said Bailey. “There is work to be done and people willing to do it. We are missing the public action needed to make that work happen.”

The data also highlights how racial disparities in wealth are impacting Kentuckians:  In 2010, Kentucky's poverty rate was 19%.  Among African Americans in Kentucky the poverty rate was 33.6%, and among Latinos it was 33.4%.

To read KCEP's statement go here.  

(Meanwhile, Senator Paul got it very wrong when he said in a hearing, "The rich are getting richer, but the poor are getting richer even faster.  That's clearly not true.  From a CBPP report about census data released last week: "the poverty rate in 2010 reached its second-highest point since 1965, median income declined, and the number and percentage of Americans without health insurance stood at record highs.  The share of Americans in "deep poverty" — with incomes below half of the poverty line — also hit the highest level on record, with data going back to 1975.")

Last Wednesday evening the chapter's local local economic justice committee met and it was incredibly productive. Two of the committee members who are also graduate students at the university of Kentucky wrote up an analysis of the surveys that members collected over the previous months. Of the three communities where they did the most work the responses were pretty varied. Members heard stories about police harassment, inability to afford basic upkeep on people's homes, lack of quality public transportation, lack of access to quality education, little support from local government, poor infrastructure etc. Committee members plan to dig a little deeper and conduct another round of surveys in the Ayelsford, Ohio-Walnut and Fairlawn precincts.

Thursday evening the chapter held their annual new member meeting. Over 25 folks came out and participation was great. Attendees turned in lists of the organizing skills/issue education they'd like to learn about and the chapter will be using them to determine what trainings and workshops to offer over the next months.

 To wrap up the week the chapter held a yardsale fundraiser at Third Street Stuff coffee shop. The weather was beautiful and folks had a really great time. In addition to raising over $100 they registered two folks to vote and gained a new KFTC member.

This weekend the Perry County Chapter set up a voter registration booth at the annual Black Gold Festival in downtown Hazard.  Cody Montgomery, while working the booth said, “The Black Gold Festival is a celebration of the coal economy in east Kentucky, but the cool weather, concessions, and atmosphere of the festival lures so many, it also offers a chance to engage community members and highlight KFTC’s voter campaign and register voters.”

Perry County’s new Steering Committee representation Cleveland Smith also registered voters that day, at a festival he has attended his whole life.  He said of the festival, “Black Gold is a festival centered around the coal industry, so it’s important for us to use this space to introduce new and alternative perspectives.”

Among the sites, smells, and sounds of Black Gold was the worlds largest pinball machine (located right in front of our booth), blooming onions, and a large number of ‘Coal for Kids’ balloons.  But the Perry Chapter registered nearly a dozen voters, sold three t-shirts, and gained 2 local members.  Not bad for a Friday afternoon. 

Pictured to the right: Steering Committee Rep. Cleveland Smith, Organizer Tanya Turner, and long standing member Russell Oliver.