For a primary, yesterday and the weeks leading up to it were a pretty wild ride.  Here's the day "by the numbers

2,980,009 - Current registered Voters in Kentucky
411,685 - Ballots cast in the Primary*
13.81% - Voter Turnout*
5,394 - Ballots cast in excess of the maximum (10-12%) turnout predicted by the KY Secretary of State's office.*
56 - Candidates responding to our candidate survey including 13 of 18 Congressional candidates
32 - Calls to that Attorney General's election fraud hotline
196 - Voters registered by KFTC earlier this year while we were mostly focused on citizen lobbying in the General Assembly.
23,513 - Page views on KentuckyElection.org in the month leading to the primary - a record that surpasses our traffic during even the busiest general election from past years. 
17,162 - Voter Guides distributed through mail or at community events in recent weeks. 
1.7 million - Times our voter mobilization advertisement was shown on Facebook to Kentuckians
5,000 - estimated number of KFTC voter mobilization calls to members and friends conducted at phone banks across the state. 

* Based on Unofficial State Board Results

Of course these numbers are skewed towards things that are easy to count and quantify.   There have been so many intangible, powerful results to our work in this primary that aren't nearly so easy enumerate - like leadership development, conversations with neighbors, the power of a former felon telling their story for the first time or a student casting their first ballot. 

It was a tough primary to organize around - with low turnout and a maze of many hundreds of candidates and different election protocols across the state, but KFTC members did a great job!

This election we did an especially good job of integrating strategies and campaigns with our voter work - scheduling events to hit multiple kinds of goals, and leveraging our electoral work more directly to win campaigns.

For all of the results tangible and intangible, thank you to those who made it all possible!

Kentuckians deserve investments in good jobs, clean air and water, quality educations, and healthy, vibrant communities. This Kentucky is possible, but we need to reform our state tax system.

And this summer may well be our best opportunity in the last decade to push forward tax reforms that improve our quality of life. Right now, Kentucky's Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform is getting ready to hold Public Meetings across the state. Everyday Kentuckians are invited to share their best ideas about needed state tax reforms--ideas that will shape the Commission's recommendations for the 2013 General Assembly. The first of these meetings is in Paducah on May 29.

This is an chance that KFTC members won't pass up! Visit our Action Toolkit page to take action now, and to learn about upcoming opportunities, including:

• Webinars to help members prepare and workshop statements to deliver about what Kentucky deserves, and how we can best pay for it. We're offering webinars on May 23rd and June 14, and another in July, all at 7:30pm EDT. We'll work with you to develop and refine statements that you can submit through the commission's website, in your local paper, or at the public meeting nearest you. To participate in our first webinar just dial-in 1-866-740-1260 and enter access code 8931147#. Then log into the online portion of the seminar by going to www.readytalk.com and enter access code 8931147 into the box that says “Participant: Join a Conference.” Check out our Blue Ribbon page for more information.
• At-home actions that you can take right now, to tell the commission members what you think Kentucky deserves.
• A framework you can use to craft your message.

Three more important links:

1) Let the Commission know you're coming.

2) Let KFTC know that you're coming, so we can be sure to coordinate!

3) Whether you plan on coming to one of the public meetings or not, please do leave your comments on the Commission's website.

Thank you for taking action!

It's 6 a.m. and polls are now open in the Kentucky Primary.

So get out there and Vote!

As always, www.KentuckyElection.org has key information about candidate stances, voting locations, links to what your ballot will look like today, and other important information.  Use it to cast an informed vote today and share it with friends!

There are a lot of key races out there and whole elections that will be decided by primary votes prior to the General Election.

Other parts of the state don't have as many consequential elections in this particular primary, but it's still important to get out and vote because it's good to be in the habit of participating in our democracy and even minor races or shifts in margins can have big political consequences. 

There are also plenty of Kentuckians who don't presently have the right to vote and are fighting hard to get it.  We owe it to them to vote in their stead and take our responsibility to this Democracy seriously.

Also, we're going to tabulate an estimate after the election to see what percentage of KFTC members voted and we want to rightly tell elected officials a large number and that KFTC members like you Vote.

So get out there and vote!

  www.KentuckyElection.org

Key Contact Information:

- Your Local County Clerk's Office - Click For Full Listing

- State Board of Elections - 1-800-246-1399

- Attorney General’s Election Fraud Hotline - 1-800-328-VOTE (800-328-8683)

- KFTC's Voter Empowerment Organizer - Dave Newton - 859-420-8919

If you have questions or concerns, or if there are election irregularities, please don't keep them to yourself.  Pick up the phone and call.

Kentucky's Primary Election is tomorrow, Tuesday, May 22nd and polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Please take some time today to visit www.KentuckyElection.org to help make a plan to vote tomorrow. 

There, you can find information about your voting location, candidate stances on important issues, and links to external resources.  

And above and beyond simply voting, please take some time to spread the word to family members and friends to help them to cast an informed vote as well.

Sadly, turnout is not expected to be high, but KFTC members vote, even in primaries, which is one way we can make a big impact.

Please also, share www.KentuckyElection.org along with a reminder to vote to your personal email networks, Facebook pages, and other networks today.  There's still a little time left to raise awareness of the primary and get people in the habit of participating in our Democracy. 

www.KentuckyElection.org

      

Gov. Steve Beshear has been cozying up with big coal executives even more than usual in the last year.

A story this morning by Tom Loftus in The Courier-Journal revealed that Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy who was in charge when 29 miners were killed at the Upper Big Branch Mine in 2010, was was part of the governor’s Derby Day entourage this year.

Blankenship accompanied another Beshear guest, James Justice II, owner of the A&G coal company, that has a pending permit to strip mine in Harlan County and threaten the water source for the town of Lynch. They were on a list of people invited to Beshear’s Derby Eve Gala and accompanied the governor on a train that took the entourage from Frankfort to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby.

In previous stories, Loftus documented contributions from Justice and family members totaling $271,600 toward Beshear's re-election and inauguration. That breaks down as $50,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party, $121,600 to the Democratic National Committee (most of which came back to the state party) and $100,000 to Beshear's inaugural committee.

The governor also has gotten a lot of love from Kentucky coal operator James Booth who, along with his family and employees, spent $279,300 toward the governor's re-election and inauguration. Booth and Linda, his wife, were co-chairs of Beshear's inaugural committee, and he was recently named to the governor's blue ribbon commission on tax reform.

In late 2010, a Booth company, Cambrian Coal, received a water pollution permit from the Beshear administration, overruling an administrative law judge who had blocked the permit because it did not comply with the law.

Our friends at the Scott County/ Georgetown chapter of the NAACP held their annual banquet last night, bringing out many great friends of social justice organizing and local politicians including Charlie Hoffman and Congressman Ben Chandler.

Over 100 people participated overall and proceeds of the event went to the local NAACP scholarship fund.

Much of the focus of the program was on voting, aimed primarily at the November elections, but also on Tuesday's primary election. 

We passed out about 250 local voter guides to people at the event who pledged to get them in people's hands at church this morning or in other ways leading up to the primary.  

A couple of the speakers also mentioned our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their time - and other campaigns to overcome barriers to voting. 

Many thanks to our friends at NAACP for hosting a great event and inviting us.     

   

For more pictures of the event, click here. 

Louisville Loves Mountains has officially kicked off, welcome y'all!

We're here in Louisville, KY to spread the word that our state and our people deserve better (and know better) than to destroy our biodiversity and sell our quality of life away to King Coal! Our mountains are precious and so are the people who inhabit them. It's not just our history, heritage, and environment at stake; it's our health, jobs, legislation, resources, and future energy solutions that we need to work to protect and grow. Please join us in a city-style hootenanny to raise awareness of the fact that we all live downstream!

Its a beautiful sunny day with plenty of good folk, good food, and of course, good activism! Gather your family and your pals and head down to Longest Ave. and Bardstown Road for an evening of fun and education! Here's a look at the line-up:

4:00: Festival Start
4:30: Americana Community Center Drum & Dance Crew
5:00: Potluck Ramblers
5:45: Our Earth Now: Connect the Dots Presentation
6:00: KEYNOTE: Erik Reece, author of Lost Mountain
6:25: River City Drum Corps
6:40: Sugar Tree
7:15: Appalatin
8:00: Joan Shelley and the June Brides
9:00: The 23 String Band
10:00 Festival End

The Potluck Ramblers just took the stage! Looking forward to seeing lots of smiling, mountain loving faces today! Please come find my blogger booth and let me know why YOU love mountains! I'll be here all night...

More early views of the festival:

Coloring sheets are available for little mountain lovers, and right next to the coloring nook is a pile of sidewalk chalk just waiting for happy little fingers to draw mountain scenes up and down the street!

This year's t-shirts were designed by Cricket Press out of Lexington, KY... Aren't they awesome?! Belly up to the merch booth early if you'd like one -- they're sure to sell out quickly!

We are so fortunate this year to welcome WMMT FM Whitesburg to Louisville Loves Mountains! For all you Kentucky cityslickers, WMMT is broadcast from the Appalshop, a jewel and a beacon of Appalachian music, film, and theatre in Whitesburg.

5:30pm

The Americana Center Drum and Dance Crew was the perfect start to the festival! Their beats and dancing energized us all and reminded us that we all beat the drum of mountain love!

The Potluck Ramblers pickin' and grinnin' away as I type.. It's hard not to tap your toes to all these great old folk tunes! If you close your eyes and imagine yourself away from our urban environment they'll easily take you away to a breezy day in the mountains. 

The Potluck Ramblers are wrapping up their set up with a harmonica-laden version of "What a Wonderful World," and I can't help but feel overcome with gratitude to be part of a community that works to protect and support its land and its people. Taking a look at all the people engaged in activities and conversations with KFTC volunteers is a sweet sight to behold!

6:00pm

Between entertainment sets be sure to swing by the merch both to pick up a smattering of bumper stickers, books, and posters pertaining to the cause of ending mountaintop removal and finding new energy solutions! A bumper sticker or two ensures that you're spreading the word every time you hop in your car or on your bike!

Erik Reece, author of Lost Mountain, is about to take the stage! The book is such a powerful account of mountaintop removal, one that surely will convey to even to the most staunch skeptic the irreversibly destructive effect of this practice on Kentucky's biodiversity.

In an uplifting start to his address Reece affirmed for the audience that grassroots movements such as ours have a powerful voice in state and national politics as he relayed the statistic that 36 out of 48 applications for mountaintop removal permits were revoked by the EPA last year. That's 36 mountains saved, but the fight doesn't end there. Reece was also quick to point out that Kentucky's highest cancer rates occur in regions effected by mountaintop removal. In addition to being susceptible to health problems, the people of Appalachia are in danger of a crashing economy. Reece pointed out that natural gas is fast encroaching on the coal industry, and if coal were to become too expensive (or obsolete altogether) that region would be completely destitute. Drawing on an example of how solar energy has saved a Cleveland community, Reece emphasized the importance of transitioning Appalachia to a clean energy economy; not just for the environment, but for the stability of the people.

In that vein, Reece outlined three principles by which all economic structures should be measured; integrity, sustainability, and beauty. He furthered the discussion of these principles by using the metaphor of a coal mine vs. a natural watershed. While a mine is destructive and finite, a watershed is a natural source of energy and sustenance. If we follow the watershed principle when designing energy and economic policies, we are sure to meet sound ends.

6:45pm

The River City Drum Corp. is always a huge highlight of the festival! 

There's an overwhelming pulse taking over the streets, and it's not just our determination to raise awareness, it's the resounding talent these guys possess.

Following the River City Drum Corp. were the sweet melodies of Sugar Tree.

7:30pm

Can y'all hear the dinner bell?! There are so many good food options to indulge in before Appalatin takes the stage! The Grind food truck has delicious burger offerings, while Morels, the "Vegan Butcher," is serving up some animal friendly options!

On the subject of food, SPROUTS is here teaching children about the tragedy of "muffintop" removal. The realization that the savory of top a muffin can never be replaced is the only analogy kids need to understand how devastating mountaintop removal really is!

8:00pm

Appalatin, 4 year veterans of the Louisville Loves Mountains stage, are sharing their Latin infused Appalachian tunes with a packed street crowd!

There's no better testament to the human spirit than the dancing and laughter of little ones. These childrens' spirits are as pure as the mountain landscape!

8:45pm

The honey sweet voice of Joan Shelley is flowin' down Longest Ave. as the sun sets. Her music draws from and stays true to traditional ballad-style folk.

Take a look at this dynamic duo!

We should all feel a lil' like super men and women after a jam-packed day of revelry and activism!

10:00pm

Boy, oh boy! The 23 String Band is sending off in style! There's nothing more rewarding than wading through hundreds of enthusiastic festival goers, answering honest questions about the ins and outs of mountaintop removal, and encountering dozens of friends, grinning ear to ear. 

Thanks to everyone who made this year's festival such a success! It's our hope that as the festival grows, folk from across the region come to share their stories and knowledge in the festive spirit of this event! If you have a song, a voice, a story, or an affinity for the beautifully unique mountainous regions of Kentucky, please get in touch and join us for future events!

As for now, there's nothing left to do but enjoy some fine fiddlin' and hand clappin'! To the left of me is a group of folk having a last minute hoedown in a circle around their dog. Such good times... Goodnight, friends!

You can also view more pictures of the day on KFTC's Flickr album Here. 

Several KFTC members participated in a powerful program last week to draw attention to the connections between what is happening to the land and people in Central Appalachia and related conditions throughout the world.

They shared testimony with other women from the region about the health, economic, community and environmental impacts of coal at the Central Appalachian Women's Tribunal on Climate Justice. The event took place May 10 in Charleston, West Virginia.

KFTC Floyd County member Bev May drew attention to the growing number of medical studies linking elevated rates of a variety of health problems to strip mining.

Bev May

"All the research points to what mountain people have known since mountaintop removal began – it is not possible to destroy our mountains without destroying us," May said. "It's not possible to poison our streams without poisoning our children for untold generations to come. The research is not complete, but there's more than enough research to justify an immediate moratorium on mountaintop removal."

Ivy Brashear also referenced evidence of the negative health impacts resulting from mining experienced as she grew up in a area with coal in eastern Kentucky. That reality weighs on her, she testified, as she thinks of raising her own family in the mountains.

"I will have to make a lot of important choices in my life, but of all the major choices I will have to make, wondering whether or not it’s safe to birth my future children in my homeland of eastern Kentucky should not even have to register on that list," Brashear said." I, nor any other young woman who wishes to have children in the place of their own birth, should ever have to think about the ramifications our future children might have to endure simply from living where our families have lived for generations."

Ivy Brashear

The tribunal was sponsored by the Loretto Community at the United Nations, the Feminist Task Force of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, the Civil Society Institute and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. It is one of about 20 that have been held around the world, and the findings will be shared at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil in June.

Sharman Chapman-Crane

Sharman Chapman-Crane talked about how coal companies have used ongoing and proposed mining to threaten people and divide communities In Letcher County. That has included punishing people and organizations who were friends and associates because they associated with her.

"The fabric of our lives is being shredded. I call it the slicing and dicing at the company’s hands. The corporations are masters in these techniques."

The Rev. Donna Aros reflected on her life in Louisa, where the water is not safe to drink, the community is covered with coal dust and ash, and too many people have tumors, heart disease, cancer and breathing problems.

Rev. Donna Aros

"God created the land in all its beauty and glory – the water, pristine and necessary for life – providing for all our needs in abundance," Aros said. "But the greed of a few have desecrated the garden, and fouled the rivers, bringing death and scarcity to our region. We dishonor God, and desperately harm our people and all living things. This is sin."

VIDEO:  See some video from the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition here.

About 20 KFTC members from 10 counties met in Prestonsburg last week for a training about ways to use community organizing and community science to enforce the Clean Water Act and protect the health of their communities.

"Knowledge is power," noted one participant from Magoffin County. "Water testing is a good way to get other people involved. To be honest, lots of people don't pay much attention to so-called experts. But information they get from their neighbors holds more water."

At the end of the workshop each participant took home a wand they can use to take basic, important measurements of stream health. These particular meters measure three things: temperature, conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). As one participant explained, measuring the conductivity and TDS levels of a stream is a bit like taking a person's temperature. The results provide a good indication if the person, or in this case the stream, is sick. Then additional tests are needed to learn more about the cause and exact nature of the problem.

The US Environmental Protection Agency considers a stream to be severely impaired and unable to support aquatic life if the conductivity is above 500 (measured in units called microsiemens). Healthy Appalachian stream generally have conductivity levels between 200 and 300. In comparison, Floyd County KFTC member Rick Handshoe recently recorded a conductivity reading above 4,000 in a polluted creek behind his home.

Throughout the day, participants also learned about key principles and practices of community organizing. They discussed tips for having good conversations, developing strategy, and communicating publicly about water quality concerns. Before heading home, members developed plans for which streams they would test and ways to educate and involve other people. The full group plans to come back together again in August to share experiences and continue learning.

The training was the first of many that KFTC plans to offer to our members as part of a larger Community Science and Public Health project. Many thanks to our ally organizations Appalachian Voices and Sierra Club, who contributed valuable technical information and equipment.

There was an interesting Associated Press piece earlier this month about Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's push to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. 

Virginia, like Kentucky, is one of four states that takes the right to vote away from all former felons for the rest of their lives even after they've served their debt to society.  

The Associated Press
By Bob Lewis
RICHMOND

... Gov. Bob McDonnell is on pace to restore the civil rights of more people who've done their time than any governor in modern Virginia history.

At 27 months into the single, non-renewable four-year term Virginia allows him, McDonnell has restored rights for 2,888 felons. Democrat Tim Kaine restored 4,402 felons' rights in four years, more than 1,500 of them in his final year in office.

"I believe in second chances. I believe when you've paid your debt to society, our goal should be to generate productive citizens who don't come back to prison," McDonnell said in an Associated Press interview Friday. "We've all made mistakes in our lives."

His motive, in part, derives from his days as an attorney in private practice in Virginia Beach.

"Before I became attorney general, I represented a couple of people trying to get their rights back and it was the most agonizing process," McDonnell said.

"We'd never get answers. It would be a year, year and a half, and then the answer would usually be no, and that was under Democratic and Republican governors. I thought this system is not working well. It's just too slow and too cumbersome," the 57-year-old governor said.

To read the full A.P. Story, click Here

In other news, Kentucky has an important Primary Election on Tuesday of next more.  If you have the right to vote, please use it.  Visit www.KentuckyElection.org to learn more about candidate stances on issues like voting rights.