"Rock Out For Justice!"

The Bowling Green Chapter has organized "Rock Out For Justice!" -- a benefit show starring some of Bowling Green and E-town's most beloved bands!  Only a $5 cover, and all the proceeds go to KFTC.

Friday, August 28 at 8:00pm at the Wesley Foundation at 1355 College Street.

A big thanks to our performers--Derbyandme, The Budget Band, Polytheon, Canago, and Austin 'Been Broox' Ashford--and the Wesley Foundation for letting us use the space!

(Come, by all means!  It's a guaranteed good time and we want to see you there.  But if you can't come, consider contributing $5 anyway!)

Voting Rights will be on Kentucky Tonight on KET tonight at 8pm EST (7pm Central).  If you have a chance to watch and call in, I think it would make a big impact.

Please pass the word along!

Guests:
- State Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, D-Lexington
- State Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Fort Thomas
- David Stengel, commonwealth's attorney for Jefferson County
- Chris Cohron, commonwealth's attorney for Warren County and president of the Kentucky Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys

Questions that focus on themes of Democracy and fairness would be great.  We have to challenge the notion that this is an issue that's just about "criminals" (something having two prosecutors as guests reinforces).  To the degree that this is a criminal justice issue, though, it's about crime prevention because voting is highly correlated with low recidivism rates.

For more information about this issue, visit www.kftc.org/votingrights

I think it'd be especially powerful to have people from Bowling Green (Cohron's area) or Fischer's district in Northern Kentucky to call in.

Lately, KFTC has broadly encouraged our fellow community members who have been involved in organizing work to consider running for public office in 2010, or at some other point in the future.

One of the most common questions people are asking is “What would that take?”

Some general answers include time, dedication, an idea of how to make things better, a solid connection to your community, friends, some money (raised from your community), and a lot of self-motivation and drive.

It depends a lot on what office you’re interested in running for, but we’ve found that a good way to illustrate the amount of effort it would take to win an election is to talk about how many (or few) votes it has taken to win different offices in past similar elections. 

Here are some examples to give you an idea. We use the 2002 results in most cases because it was the last year we had U.S. Senate race in a non-presidential year, similiar to what we'll have next year.

State Representative Races, 2002 – 7,115 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, only 33 of the state House races were contested.  The 67 other elections ran with no opposition.  Of those 33, the winner received 7,115 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 3,956 votes.  

State Senate Races, 2002 – 16,503 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, 12 of the state Senate races were contested.  The 7 other elections ran with no opposition.  Of those 12, the winner received 16,503 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 13,162 votes.  

KY US House of Representatives Races, 2002 – 116,664 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, the winner received 116,664 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 87,776 votes.  

Bowling Green City Commission, 2008 - 8,579 votes.  This was a 7-way race in which the top 4 vote-getter become the city council.  The four winners got between 8,579 votes and 11,530 votes.  Turnout would be expected to be lower in 2010 without the draw of a presidential election.  

Lexington City Council Races (District), 2002 – 3,497 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election to the one we’re about to have in 2010, 8 of the 12 seats were contested.  The winner in those eight district races received 3,497 votes on average and winning Lexington district City Council members received vote counts as low as 1,666 votes.

    Still one of our newest chapters, the Bowling Green chapter of KFTC is running strong, building campaigns and alliances while having a lot of fun doing it. 

   Whether it's a tour of the local coal-fired steam plant, a Haiku contest fundraiser, door-to-door campaigns around Housing work, running phone banks or coming out to ally events, Bowling Green KFTC members are full of energy and enthusiasm that's more than a little contagious.

   A mutli-tiered campaign around housing and tenant-landlord agreements is at the heart of the chapter's work, but supporting KFTC's statewide campaigns are increasingly a big piece of the work as well.

   Members have spent a lot of time lately building relationships with elected officials and are starting a process of intentional chapter development and strategic planning.

   Earlier today, many chapter members attended a city council meeting to weigh in on stimulus funds coming into the city to encourage them to be used for weatherizing low-income rental housing - where members have done a lot of door-to-door outreach and found that many tenants have outrageous electricity bills.

   If you live in Bowling Green, please consider coming out to one of our events.  We also welcome visitors from other chapters across the state like Joe Gallenstein (below) who visited from Lexington at our April Chapter Meeting.

    

- Housing Workteam meeting - Monday, May 11th at 7:30pm at Dana's House (1325 Indianola St.)
- Bowling Green Chapter Development Meeting - Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30pm at K-Scope
- Bowling Green Chapter Meeting - Tuesday, May 26th at 6:30pm
- Statewide Chapter Development Training - Saturday, June 20th, Lexington

   Bowling Green KFTC Members met with new Kentucky Senator Mike Reynolds earlier today, as part of a broader resolution by KFTC to spend more time building relationships with legislators outside of the annual General Assembly sessions near the start of each year.

   Apart from just teaching Senator Reynolds about KFTC's background, members talked about local issues including housing problems and our issues in the state legislature, including the Streamsaver bill.

Reynolds was very aware of the legal system in Bowling Green with respect to landlords and tenant law, said member Dana Beasley-Brown.  "It'll be really useful to keep that conversation going, including what kinds of legislation we can pass on a statewide level to make things safer for renters here."

   Members also thanked Reynold for his support of HB 70 to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. 

It was really important to have your vote on the Senate committee for that," said Greg Capillo.  "We hope to bring the bill back to you next year and get a hearing from the Chairman so we can pass it."

  

   

   This was the first time some of the nine KFTC members who made it out to the meeting had ever lobbied a legislator.

He was really frank and easy to relate to and it was great to work on building a relationship with him," said Kristen Houser.  "It was easy and we should do this kind of thing more often."

   Bowling Green KFTC members will have the opportunity to meet with another legislator quite soon, actually.  They have a meeting with Congressman Brett Guthrie tomorrow morning.

Fossil Fools Day pictures from Bowling Green KFTC members and allies from an event earlier this month.  We're showing that "clean coal" is every bit as real as magical fairies, wolf man and dragons and such... and having a lot of fun doing it.  Photos by Jacob Hill.  

It was a great opportunity to raise awareness in an unconventional way while passing out information about mountaintop removal mining. 

Late last week, 15 students and KFTC members in Bowling Green took a tour of the campus steam plant at WKU. Organized through Greentoppers, the campus environmental sustainability group, the tour allowed concerns students and KFTC members to get a first-hand look into how WKU is heated and cooled.

Members of the tour learned that over 95% of the campus heating comes from coal fire power, with natural gas contributing to the rest of the energy. Natural gas is used to heat the campus at the very beginning and very end of the heating season, but does not have the capabilities of carrying the campus demands for the entire season. The coal burned at WKU each heating season amounts to roughly 500 pounds of coal for each person on campus every year - this includes those who live on campus, commuters, all faculty and staff. However, according to WKU Sustainability Coordinator Christian Ryan-Downing, this is a relatively small amount, compared with most other campuses in the state and region.

The group also learned that none of the coal burned at WKU comes from mountaintop removal mines. "Deep mined coal burns better, longer and cleaner," said the tour guide and Facilities Management worker of over 20 years. KFTC member Ka'Seana Jones, however, was quick to remind the group that "Clean coal does not exist."

Christian Ryan-Downing stressed that most of our coal dependency lies in the electricity that we get from TVA, and not campus heating, and expressed that conservation education is the first step to alleviating the coal problem at Western. Our coal dependency, she said, cannot be replaced overnight, but in the meantime, we can take "no cost" steps to reduce our energy consumption on campus. "Entire computer labs are left running all night long," Ryan-Downing said. "And lab managers refuse to turn them off."

Ryan-Downing also commented on implementing green jobs for Facilities workers on campus - soon there will be training available that deals with green jobs and green energy for all Facilities employees.

Members of the group left the steam plant with many questions as to how to go about pressuring the administration to transition away from coal. KFTC member and WKU student Greg Capillo observed, "I think there's a lot to be said for energy conservation and education, as a short-term solution."

Bowling Green KFTC members have an event planned on WKU's campus in celebration of Fossil Fool's Day this coming Wednesday April 1st, including a "Clean Coal Monster Mash" at 11 am and a critical mass at noon. The events aim to spread awareness about the Clean Coal myth, and to encourage students to become less dependent on fossil fuels such as coal.

Photos courtesy of Emily Wilcox.

                                                - Meredith Wadlington, KFTC member from Bowling Green

Mike Reynolds (D) won the special senate election against J Marshall Hughes (R) in Warren and Butler counties yesterday 8,283 to 6,858 .  The election was to fill the vacancy left by Brett Guthrie (R) as he ascended to become a US Representative early this year. 

KFTC members mobilized to vote in the special election, including many hundreds of voters that we registered this past year.  

For the full election numbers, visit the Secretary of State's Office website Here.

Reynolds will be sworn in and will start in the Senate early next week, but now is a great time for him to hear from his constituents about issues they care about.

Republican J. Marshall Hughes and Democrat Mike Reynolds will be competing for the open 32nd District Senate Seat in Warren and Butler Counties on Tuesday.  Please learn about the candidates and vote, and also let them know where you stand on important issues.

Polls are open on Tuesday from 6am to 6pm.

If you won't be in the county on Election Day, you can vote in advance at your county clerk's office.  There are other allowances for voting early Here.

Mike Reynolds (D)

Campaign Website

WBKO Story

J. Marshall Hughes (R)

Campaign website

WBKO Story

Butler County Clerk
Shirley Givens
PO Box 449 (mailing address)
110 N. Main St. (location)
Morgantown, KY 42261-0449
Phone: (270) 526-5676

FAX: (270) 526-2658
Email: shirley.givens@ky.gov

Warren County Clerk
Dot Owens
PO Box 478
Bowling Green, KY 42101-0478

Phone: (270) 843-5306
FAX: (270) 843-5315
Email: dotowensclerk@yahoo.com
Web site: www.warrencounty.state.ky.us

As in so many other communities in the past few weeks, Bowling Green KFTC members gathered earlier today for a lobby training to talk about what it takes to have an impact in the Kentucky General Assembly, building support for progressive tax reform, the streamsaver bill, green power, and voting rights.

Members talked about our bills, lobbying experiences, a typical day in Frankfort, role-played conversations with legislators, and even planned a series of at-home events aimed at communicating with the General Assembly.

I care about this issue (HB 70) because I've tried to register so many people across the tracks and they haven't been able to because of something in their past... Our Democracy is important, but sometimes I feel like I'm asking people to buy into a really flawed and system when I try to get them to register (to vote).  We need to make the system better."  - Greg Capillo

I really feel prepared now to lobby in Frankfort.  I know what it's going to be like and it's not as mysterious," said Rebecca Katz.  "I'm ready.