Red State Ramblers: Groundhog from Kentuckians For The Commonwealth on Vimeo.

Performances for the evening were provided by The Wild Boogers, Rich and the Po Folks, Clack Mountain String Band, and the Red State Ramblers. Additionally, Kentucky author Erik Reece and Kentucky poet Eric Sutherland read from the stage. Central Kentucky member Tanya Turner spoke from the stage encouraging folks to attend I Love Mountains Day on February 11.

Long-time KFTC member and establishment owner Josh Miller mentioned how exciting the event is every year and how much he looks forward to opening up the Bar for such a good cause.

Numerous KFTC members volunteered their time and creative skill to make the event such a huge success and one that folks in Lexington look forward to every year. 

Thanks to Jordan Panning, Mason Colby, Erin Cutler, Josh Saxton, and everyone else who helped working the door and the merch table.  Special thanks to Brian and Sara Turner of Cricket Press (www.cricket-press.com) for producing yet another wonderful poster.  Posters are still available for $10 each. Email Tim@KFTC.org if you are interested in purchasing one.

The following is a press release sent to us by an anonymous group of students on UK's campus

LEXINGTON, Ky: Tuesday, an anonymous group of students from the University of Kentucky hung a banner from a parking structure near Rose Street to protest the university’s use of coal power on campus. The banner, reading “COAL: A Tradition of Oppression. STUDENTS: Let’s Change Our Legacy”, included a reproduction of the familiar UK symbol, with a burning smokestack between the letters instead of the usual Memorial Hall steeple.

Deemed the “midnight strike force” by local news sources, the students are fueling a campaign to move the university beyond the “outdated” technology of coal power and in the direction of cleaner energies. One of the students, an economics and environmental studies senior, said, “You can’t argue facts. Coal is a finite resource and the shift to alternative energies has to begin immediately. Kentucky must realize its potential to be progressive and enterprising in the country’s transition toward environmental awareness.”

The students’ use of the word “oppression” alludes to the detrimental effects of coal not only on the environment, but on the miners and communities in coal-mining regions of the state.  An estimated 12,000 coal miners have died from black lung in the past decade, and their families are equally affected.  The real tragedy, though, lies in mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, a practice that more and more coal companies have used to extract coal at a lower cost.  MTR employs explosives to decapitate mountains, and the leftover waste is deposited in surrounding valleys.  The chemicals and residue bury and contaminate freshwater streams, thus poisoning the water supply for surrounding communities and devastating local ecosystems.

While the university, directly, does not deal in MTR coal, Kentucky Utilities provides a significant portion of the campus’s power, and is a known distributor of energy derived from the controversial method.

“The University of Kentucky is the flagship university of the state, and as such, sets the example for the rest of Kentucky. Any change we can make toward cleaner energy and the diversification of jobs and economies will affect the entire Appalachian region drastically, and for the better. This change is one that can’t wait,” said an Appalachian Studies junior.

It seems momentum has not died from the announcement last semester that the new Wildcat Coal Lodge would be endorsed by the coal industry.  Tuesday’s banner was one of a series that has hung on campus since October, indicating that the students have not forgotten President Todd’s decision, and that they still worry for the future of their school’s energy and integrity.

Third Annual I Love Mountains Old Time Music Showcase!!!!

February 6, 2010, All Ages
$10 (sliding scale, no one will be turned away) to benefit the work of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Al's Bar, Sixth Street and North Limestone in Lexington

Music Starts at 9 p.m.
Clack Mountain String Band
Red State Ramblers
Rich and the Po Folks
The Wild Boogers

Special Guests, Kentucky Authors Erik Reece and Eric Sutherland

*** The beautiful poster designed and printed by Cricket Press will be available at the show for sale***

On Thursday, the Central Kentucky chapter spent its meeting reviewing legislation that KFTC endorses, and also learned from our allies at Lexington Fairness which bills they're lobbying for during the 2010 General Assembly.

Central Kentucky members Katie Meyer, Martin Mudd, Jenn Myatt, and Susan Williams each led a breakout session on one of KFTC's legislative priorities. Members then broke down into small groups and spent ten minutes at each "station."

In Katie's group members celebrated our work on Wednesday during the "Bake Sale for the Budget" big lobby day. They also learned about the progressive tax reform legislation proposed in House Bill 13.

Susan Williams led a group on sustainable energy policies. She shared information about the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA), and how the policies proposed by the alliance will

benefit all  Kentuckians by saving ratepayers money in the short and long-term, creating local jobs and businesses, improving our health and environment through cleaner electricity sources and by helping families struggling with rising energy bills.

In the voting rights break-out members had a chance to learn about where we are with the restoration of voting rights legislation (HB 70) and to prepare for our big voting rights lobby day on March 4.

The fourth break-out group, led by Marty Mudd, focused on the history of the Stream Saver Bill. There were several first-timers at the meeting who kept Marty on his toes by asking important questions like, "How do you make an issue like protecting streams in Appalachia important to someone who lives in Lexington or Louisville?"

KFTC also has a history of supporting ally organizations' work in Frankfort as well. The chapter invited Joey Rose from Lexington Fairness to share with them which bills they are working on right now. Lexington Fairness is a local LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) organization. There are four bills that they are lobbying for during this session;

1. Statewide Fairness Bill (House: HB 117): This bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout Kentucky in employment, housing, public accommodations, insurance coverage, and credit. The House bill also includes sexual orientation and gender identity provisions in the powers of state and local human rights commissions. Right now only residents of Metro Louisville, Lexington/Fayette County, and Covington are protected by city ordinance against discrimination.

2. Hospital Visitation Bill (House: HB 118): This initiative would allow any adult hospital patient to designate another individual to be treated as a member of the patient's family with regard to visitation.

3. Fair Marriage Bill (House: HB 17): This bill would repeal the 2004 anti-marriage amendment by returning the issue to Kentucky voters.

4. Dual Parent Adoption Bill (House: HB 95): Allows non-married couples to adopt.

There will be a fairness lobby day on Wednesday, February 24. Starting at 9 a.m folks can gather in room 131 of the capitol annex for training.

To learn more about these bills and how they're coming along, visit the Kentucky Fairness Alliance's Legislative Action Center at http://kentuckyfairness.org/getinformed/legislation.htm

The Central Kentucky KFTC Chapter meets the third Thursday of every month from 7-9 p.m. at the Episcopal Diocesan Mission House at the corner of 4th Street and Martin Luther King. If you're interested in helping to plan our chapter meetings, please contact the CKY Organizer Ondine Quinn at ondine@kftc.org

The Central Kentucky Chapter held a fundraiser for KFTC last Saturday at Al's Bar in Lexington. This wasn't just any old fundraiser though, it was a punk rock show! Organized by KFTC member Jack Cofer, the show featured three great bands from Lexington; the Butchers, J. Marinelli, and the Tense Kids. Also joining everyone was the all female punk trio from Chicago, 8" Betsy.

Over 60 people attended the show and raised $260 for KFTC. Jack Cofer and Katie Meyer spoke from the stage about the importance of grassroots organizing, and why people should be involved in making their communities a better place.

Don't forget to come out for the next Al's Bar KFTC fundraiser, our old-time music showcase on Saturday, February 6. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the cover is $10.

On Thursday November 5, KFTC members Vanessa Hall and Suzanne Tallichet participated in A Forum on Coal in Kentucky. The daylong event hosted by the University of Kentucky Department of Mining Engineering and the Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments sponsored the event as “a balanced discussion regarding the past, present and future impacts of coal on our state’s economy and environment.”

Set up as a debate between those supporting the coal industry and environmentalists against coal, the “discussion” was presented through four daytime sessions, Economics and Coal in Kentucky, People and Coal in Kentucky, Aspects of Coal in Kentucky, Environment and Coal in Kentucky and the evening session, Impact of Coal, Today and Tomorrow.

Along side the presentations of the experts in economic, science and research was the highly charged political views of coal, which often crept over as in the case of Kentucky Historian Ron Bryant, “Pollution, land destruction, that can be studied; I want you to think positively about coal and the future of Kentucky.” In presenting the history of coal in Kentucky, Bryant failed to mention the effects of the broadform deed or the citizen led movement residing in a constitutional amendment abolishing it.

Leading coal politicians such as former Governor Paul Patton, Pike Co. Judge Executive Wayne B. Rutherford and House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins played to the majority of the 300 attendees supporting the industry, painting the industry as the object of a vast conspiracy plotting its downfall. “Coal is not the villain, coal should be the hero of this country,” railed Rutherford, “We have to give coal the credit it deserves!” Governor Patton pronounced, “Coal is the favorite whipping boy of the media,” adding that Kentucky’s, “central location, hard-working people, and cheap electricity makes Kentucky attractive to economic activity”, alleging that the states in the northeast of the country want to destroy Kentucky and West Virginia’s economic edge.

Jason Bailey of MACED, Suzanne Tallichet and Vanessa Hall brought compelling and often unwelcome reasons to the audience for Kentucky to question many assumptions about coal and Kentucky’s economic future

The PowerPoint presentations of the various research and economic experts can be seen at www.coalinkentucky.com. The speeches of Patton, Rutherford and Adkins are unavailable.

Joseph W. Craft III, the president of Alliance Coal, and others donated $7 million to be given over a 10-year period for the construction of the new residence hall. The only three board members who dissented were faculty representative Ernie Yanarella, staff representative Robynn Pease and Student Government President Ryan Smith.

Students' and KFTC members Danny Cotton and Jordan Panning prepared a statement to be read to the board, but it was never read.

"What struck me was that, as students, we couldn't even get most of the board to read or hear a simple, half-page statement about how this name violates UK's standards for naming buildings. And that, when looking at the board's votes, the three who voted against this are three people tasked with representing students, faculty and staff" Cotton said.

It gets even more ridiculous. The new lodge will be a LEED certified building. LEED Certification stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Certification assures that a building project is environmentally responsible, profitable, and a healthy place to work.

Martin Mudd, a graduate student and also a KFTC member attended the board meeting as well.

"Naming a new LEED-certified campus building the "Wildcat Coal Lounge" is a bad move for this university. It is an egregious case of industrial product placement in a public institution. It is an insult to Kentucky basketball fans who remember Joe B. Hall as a great coach worthy of remembering. It is a step backward for a university whose goal is to move forward to Top 20 status. Finally this decision ignores the industry's history of exploitation that has enriched coal corporations and corrupt politicians and impoverished Appalachia's communities and devastated its ecosystems. This decision is unacceptable, but sadly it is just business as usual in Kentucky. We must raise our voices in opposition."

“UK shouldn't name buildings after corporations, much less entire industries and lobbying groups. The way I look at it is we have the W.T. Young Library, I’m okay with that, but we don’t have the Peanut Butter Library. We have Blazer Hall, but we don’t have Ashland Oil Hall”  Cotton said.

The UK KFTC student group is looking into some next steps, including investigating whether the naming procedure violated UK's own administrative regulations.

In the meantime, let the board know what you think about this decision! You can find all of their contact information on the board of trustees website at http://www.uky.edu/Trustees/members.htm

Tim Wise, a renowned anti-racism speaker visited Kentucky again yesterday, his first return to speak at UK since KFTC helped bring him here in 2003.

Wise recently wrote a book called "Between Barack and a Hard Place," which is a discussion of racism and white denial in the age of Obama.

"Individual accomplishment does not tell us a great deal about larger social systems," said Wise.

Towards the end of the event, KFTC member Danny Cotton asked Wise about the issue of felony disenfranchisement - something that takes away voting rights from 186,000 Kentuckians. 

"Some people are understandably disillusioned with voting and political participation - but I don't think they'd work so hard to disenfranchise so many voters if voting didn't matter,"  said Wise.

Four KFTC members worked to pass out a simple half-sheet to nearly all of the 300 people who attended the event, with information about our voting rights campaign and information about how to take action on it.

   

Our thanks to the Martin Luther King Cultural Center, Student Activities Board, and other groups who helped bring Tim with to Kentucky again.

The CKY chapter development work team met last night at the Lexington office to plan the agenda for their July chapter meeting. About the work team meeting itself, CKY member and, steering committee representative Susan Williams said, "Our chapter development meetings are crucial to making sure that our chapter meetings run smoothly and are on time. By getting together  in advance, we have time to really make sure that everything that needs to be addressed, will be"

That is exactly how it went, as the work team chose voter empowerment to be the theme of their July 16th chapter meeting.

The second half of the evening was devoted towards making posters to carry on the Lexington 4th of July parade.

The CKY chapter plans on both marching in the parade and having a booth at the festival. If you're interested in participating, please contact Ondine Quinn at  ondine@kftc.org.

At least 300 students and community members attended An Evening with the Mountainkeepers this past Thursday on UK's campus, an event that was part of Earth Days in the Bluegrass and sponsored by the University of Kentucky Writing Program Community Engagement Series.

There were lots of powerful speakers including coal field residents and authors. 

Here are some pictures by KFTC member Chuck Clenney.