From one KFTC Member to her friends and family:

Last weekend, I attended my first ever KFTC event - the Annual Membership Meeting in Jabez, KY.  At the risk of sounding melodramatic – it made my life finally make sense.

I went last weekend because in third grade I learned about endangered and extinct species, and I cried.  And then water conservation, and I demanded that my parents insulate the pipes so we wouldn’t run the water as long waiting for it to get hot.  I rode my bicycle up and down the alley behind my house near the middle of our small town, between the tree-lined train tracks and the cornfield with the rainbow-colored morning glories growing up the stalks.  And while I pedaled, I plotted how I would save the world.  I imagined myself giving grand speeches at the next school assembly after we all sang “Proud To Be An American” and then me and my classmates saving the environment.  But how, exactly?  It was too tall an order for a third grader, I felt too overwhelmed by the immensity of the task to save the planet and the people who called it home, and so I gave up.  Until last weekend.

I went last weekend, not because I still dreamed of being the planet’s champion, but because I wanted to meet people in Kentucky who cared about the same issues I care about, because I felt like my bumperstickers weren't really accomplishing as much as they might, because I was tired of feeling powerless to help the people and land I care about in real and meaningful ways.  What I witnessed and the people I met there shocked me.

And so, I have the following to report:

There were almost 200 KFTC members at this weekend meeting and there are over 7,000 KFTC members state-wide.  And they're really cool people.

I'm a member too, and I suspect many of you already are as well, so really I should say: WE'RE really cool people.  We come from all walks of life - all ages (babies to grannies were there!), all socioeconomic backgrounds, all different jobs, all different parts of the state (and country and world), all different religions, all ethnicities, all sexual orientations, all hair colors, all manner of life- and fashion-styles.  In other words, they weren't all tree-huggers or hippies or radicals (although you know my great affection for such folks).  Many of them looked like my mom and dad and grandma and grandpa.  Never before have I been in a room with such a diverse group of people who were getting along - sharing their differences and accepting those of others.

What we share as Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is a love of the people around us, the communities that support us, and a desire to make the world more awesome - to live somewhere surrounded by people and places who accept and support us and help us continue to be healthy and happy throughout our lives.
 
And what I learned this weekend is that that's actually not as overly-idealistic, or difficult, or overwhelming, or unrealistic as it may first seem.  That these inspirational KFTC members are able to sustain their  seemingly super-human energy and awareness and actions and vision for a healthier, more sustainable, more just Kentucky and world because they're not acting alone.  Because they have support.  That we have been and still are and can continue to be incredibly effective in creating positive changes for social, economic, and environmental justice.  And we don't even have to chain ourselves to buildings, or sit down in front of the White House and get arrested, or even carry a picket sign.  We don't have to get overwhelmed or burnt-out.  All we have to do is care and take small actions.  Because there are 7,000 of us taking small, medium, and big actions - and the cumulative results or our combined efforts make us super-powers as long as we are willing to make some action or effort.

And so, right now before the Nov. 2nd election, we have a chance to take a small step to make a big difference.  We can sign the New Power Pledge to let candidates and elected officials know we want them to work for policies that will create clean energy jobs, affordable renewable energy, and healthy communities and that will address the problems created by old power fossil fuels at www.newpowerky.org.  We can "be the change [we] wish to see in the world." Please take a few minutes to sign and ask your friends via email and Facebook to do the same because "each time [we] stand up for an ideal, or act to improve the lot of others, or strike out against injustice, [we] send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Help me keep believing - take a small step, make a big difference,

                                                                      - Jennifer Wurts

                                                                        "Bowling Green and Friends" KFTC Chapter

Election Day is here!

We're a little more than half-way through, with good ground work happening all over the state.

In Bowling Green, folks are making the last of their voter mobilization calls.

In Louisville, we just had a big voter mobilization motorcade, go through four neighborhoods, reminding people to vote.

Folks there are also still making voter mobilization calls and giving rides to the polls.  

In Eastern Kentucky, Perry County members are investigating a vote-buying scheme in the county from which several people say they've received $20 for a pledge to vote for particular candidates.  We've been notifying authorities to try to get them shut down.  The Lexington Herald-Leader is running a piece about vote-buying reports all over the state.  More on this soon.

In Lexington, two members are making calls to our member list, reminding them to get out and vote.

In Scott County, members passed out Voter Guides on Main St in the morning and are making a few of their last calls.

In Northern Kentucky, folks are passing out Voter Guides and getting ready for their big Chapter Formation meeting tonight at 7pm.

In Madison County, we've been passing out voter guides, and giving out the phone number to the local cab company who's giving out free rides to the polls. 

  

  

Yesterday, Saturday, May 15 was a pretty unremarkable day in most respects.  For us, collectively as Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, there wasn't anything singularly huge on the calendar, but we decided to try to compile quick stories about a lot of little things that happened throughout the day and present them as this - A Day in the Life of KFTC. 

At 7 a.m. KFTC members in northern Kentucky came together outside of Ockerman Middle School in Florence to start setting up tables for the big Relay for Life yard sale.  Alex Searles organized the KFTC table, but eight members participated in all, selling items that they donated to the  cause and passing out information about KFTC.  They also invited those interested to the big NKY KFTC Chapter Formation meeting on Tuesday.  By the end of the event at 4 p.m., they brought in $150 and made a lot of key contacts with new people.  Members also left with KFTC Voter Guides to hand out over the next few days.

At 10 a.m. the KFTC booth at the Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville got rolling.  Many of the candidates for mayor were there and most of them dropped by the KFTC table to say hello.  The event was in a neighborhood where KFTC does a lot of work, so many people at the festival  recognized us, and cheered for KFTC.  It gave a lot of our members who don't volunteer with us every month a chance to drop by and plug into our work.  A few people said they'd been meaning to join KFTC and took membership envelopes or joined on the spot.  Others asked about voting locations and we made lists of people to call back on Monday with that information.   Nine hours later, at 7 p.m., we packed up and headed home. 

At 10:30 a.m. a workshop started at the Pine Mountain Sustainability Symposium on "Steps Towards Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" the workshop was facilitated by KFTC leaders Carl Shoupe and Roy Silver, among others.  This was just one of many events our members participated in throughout the powerful three-day conference designed to bring together specialists, practitioners, educators, and organizers to share their experiences and learn about model projects throughout southeastern Kentucky.  The symposium included hands-on trainings, workshops, woodland hikes, and garden tours with local and regional experts working on food, energy, and forest issues.

At noon, Tyler Birdwhistell and Bethany Baxter met in downtown Georgetown to go door-to-door in the Scroggin Park Housing Authority neighborhood - passing out KFTC Voter Guides and letting people know where their voting location is.   After about two hours, they had covered half of the neighborhood, which was enough for a couple of us to come back the next day and finish it up in an hour and a half. 

"I ran into one woman who is a former felon - so she'd had her right to vote taken away from her when she was much younger.  She told me the she worked for years to get her right to vote back and that she almost gave up a few times.  But she got them back during the Patton administration and has voted ever since." - Tyler Birdwhistell

At 3 p.m. a small group of KFTC folks visited the Peace and Global Citizenship Fair at Bluegrass Community Technical College in Lexington.  It was a great event organized by BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice.  For our part, we canvassed the crowd with a big stack of KFTC Voter Guides, asking people to cast an informed vote on Tuesday.  Kudos to BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice for putting together a great event that is getting a bit bigger every year. 

At 4 p.m. the Madison County KFTC members kicked off their Spring Friendraiser, with more than 70 people enjoying a potluck, cornhole and games, a great silent auction, live music by Mudpi, a short program about the awesome work of KFTC, and apparently a game that involved more than a little rolling around in the mud.  Members brought in $700 in donations and had a lot of fun before winds picked up and a hailstorm heralded an early end to the event.  We'll likely have a separate blog entry on this exciting event in the next few days, so stay tuned.  

In addition to all of that, members ran voter mobilization phone banks throughout the day in Bowling Green, Louisville, and in at-large (non-chapter) areas of the state, to name a few places, and members passed out KFTC Voter Guides or handbills about the election at events and in their neighborhoods throughout the commonwealth.  

No doubt, our 6,000+ members across the state accomplished an awful lot in the name of social justice on Saturday that will never make it to this blog - conversations with neighbors, writing letters to elected officials, etc.

It's a lot of little things, but this was just one day.  And day after day in community after community, it adds up.  So keep at it folks. 

What can we do tomorrow?

    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.