Portal 31

Residents of Benham and Lynch in Harlan County are creating a new future of their communities. They are asking for support to help stop another proposal to strip away the communities' assets and their hopes for the future.

“Our little communities of Benham and Lynch have a lot of potential. The Portal 31 Exhibition Coal Mine, Lynch Depot, Benham Theater, the Schoolhouse Inn, and the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum are all part of our history and heritage. We are planning to rehab the Old Restaurant and Old Fire Station, near Portal 31. We can continue to build tourism if we protect these facilities and the beauty of our mountains” – Stanley Sturgill

This area also boasts the highest peak in the state (Black Mountain), great quality drinking water, and local development plans that can be a showcase for the rest of the state.

That is, if they can keep coal companies from destroying everything.

Residents are now challenging the fifth pending coal mining permit application that puts all their present and future plans at risk. The latest is a 500-acre strip mining proposal that would come very close to historic buildings in Lynch. The company, Nally & Hamilton, has caused KFTC members numerous problems over the years. The strip mining on the other side of the mountain from Benham and Lynch destroyed Elmer Lloyd’s pond three years ago and contributed to additional problems last week. Check out his story here.

Harlan chapter members recently filed, with the help of Kentucky Resources Council, that an area including these 500 acres be declared Unsuitable for Mining. But Benham and Lynch residents must also fight for this individual permit to be denied while the larger petition proceeds for the viewshed and watershed be declared unsuitable for mining.

Their future and their children and grandchildren’s future depend on the right decisions.

Click the "act now" button below to send an email to the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Carl Campbell, telling him that enough is enough. Respect the plans and concerns of local residents and give priority to protecting the communities' assets.

You are encouraged to submit comments by 4 p.m. on Thursday, September 2 (this is an extension from the original deadline).

Thanks for helping and making a difference.

(adapted from Rainforest Action Network news story)

Last month, Wells Fargo became the fourth top U.S. bank to adopt a position limiting financing of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. This shift is consistent with a national move away from support for the mining practice, which recently both scientists and the federal government have confirmed causes irrevocable harm to landscape, water quality and public health.

Within the last two years, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo along with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have passed policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal. These banks were the lead financiers of the practice prior to their policy shifts.

The move comes as a response to more than three years of national pressure from several regional and national groups, spearheaded by Rainforest Action Network (RAN). KFTC members have attended and spoken out at bank shareholder and board of director meetings during these years.

One of the major impacts of these mountaintop mining policies is that the banks are no longer financing Massey Energy, the leading MTR coal company in the country that also was involved in the April 5 Upper Big Branch underground mine explosion where 29 miners were killed. In particular, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships (underwriting bonds or providing loans) with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the controversial company.

With the nation’s leading banks moving away from MTR, coal operators are looking toward new banks for financing. Currently, PNC and UBS are the lead financiers of the practice. PNC finances mining companies responsible for almost half of all mountaintop removal coal mined in the U.S. PNC has numerous locations in Kentucky, including in counties that produce coal. UBS has operations in Louisville, Lexington and Paducah.

Read the anti-MTR policies of various banks:
·      Bank of America 
·      Citi Bank
·      Credit Suisse
·      Morgan Stanley
·      JPMorgan Chase (page 31)
·      Wells Fargo

Comment from Teri Blanton:

Most of the work that we do around mining and clean energy issues is with government agencies or elected officials in the case of mountaintop removal, KFTC has been supporting Rainforest Action Networks (RAN) efforts to convince banks to stop financing mountaintop removal.  This effort has gained enough traction that 4 major national banks have adopted policies that explicitly denies funding for mtr.

We want to thank the KFTC members who have attended shareholders meetings to educate corporate officers and other share holders of the effects that their decisions have on the lives of the Appalachian people.  Supported by the proxy votes of other shareholders we’ve told the stories of the people who, until then, were just numbers on a balance sheet. We especially thank RAN for dedication to this project.  This is a major victory and we should savor it.

A group of well-known local community activists, writers, academics and business leaders have contributed to the issue. including Wendell Berry, Vernon Haltom, Stephen George, John Todd, Adam Lewis, Sarah Forbes and many more. An article titled A Cooperative Approach to Renewing East Kentucky was written by KFTC member Randy Wilson and staff person Sara Pennington. Erik Reece contributed an interview with Joe Childers, a founding member of KFTC and current chair of the Kentucky Mine Safety Review Commission.

The premise for the special issue, according to Solutions editors, is a recognition of Appalachia as a special place and one of the most biologically diverse and culturally rich regions on the planet. Central Appalachia has the potential to become a national model of the positive transition to a clean energy future.

This July/August special Appalachia issue of Solutions is now available on newsstands and by subscribing. A year's subscription (6 issues) is $29.99 but if you identify yourself as a KFTC member by using Coupon Code APP2010 you will receive a $5 discount. If you want your subscription to start with the current special issue, please email julie.thorpe@thesolutionsjournal.com and make this request. Most of the content will also be available online, but KFTC encourages support of this nonprofit venture with a subscription or a donation.

Solutions is an online forum and print publication devoted exclusively to showcasing bold and innovative ideas for solving the world's integrated economic, social, and environmental problems.

KFTC is hiring 10-12 part time (20 hour/week) Electoral Organizers across the state to aid in our massive effort to have personal contact with 50,000 voters leading up to Election Day.

We will accept applications for people interested in working in Madison, Rowan, Floyd, Fayette, Jefferson, Warren, Scott, and/or Perry counties, and possibly other Eastern KY counties.

Most Electoral Organizers jobs will be tied to a particular geography with a wide range of activities (listed above), but specialized positions like Campus Electoral Organizers, Phone Bank Organizers, Data Entry Managers, or other specializations might be possible, if we find excellent applicants with skills that would lend themselves towards them. 

Visit Here to learn much more about the position and how to apply.

Note that KFTC will also be hiring data entry workers separately at the same rate ($12.79 / hr) based out of the Lexington KFTC office.  Hours per week will vary greatly and are flexible based on your availability.

It was a mere 29 years ago today that a group of 26 people from 12 counties meeting in Hazard agreed to officially form a new organization – KFTC, then known as the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition. 

"People, especially in eastern Kentucky, were getting to know each other. All around the region there was a loose network of people who had worked together with each other in various ways over the past 15 years or so. What we didn't have in those days was a structured connection between us. There was a no interlocking of these community-level efforts, until KFTC" — Herb E. Smith

According to the book Making History: The First Ten Years of KFTC:

"This Hazard meeting was not the first meeting of this group of people who were coming together from across eastern Kentucky. The group had met on several prior occasions to explore the possibilities of working together on common issues. Shared concerns included the quality of (or lack of) community services and public education in coal counties (which suffered from gross inequalities in the tax system) and the rights of landowners.

"Many of the people involved were organizing in their respective home counties around these and related issues. The decision to launch a new organization was based on the understanding that the issues were all related and shared a common underlying roots cause: "the inequality of life with a single dominant industry – coal – that was not contributing its fair share."

Thanks to everyone who is helping KFTC continue to make history! How about helping us celebrate with a $29 donation, which you can do securely here, as we work to make the next 29 years even more exciting!

Here is a link to MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann's program from last night, including a piece about coal mining in Kentucky

Our very own member Teri Blanton was interviewed as part of the piece and her segment begins at about the 3:20 mark.

The annual Fancy Farm Picnic is an odd Kentucky political tradition in which partisan political campaigns, barbecue enthusiasts, Bingo players, and thousands of political enthusiasts come together at St. Jerome's Parish in far, far Western Kentucky for a day of stump speeches, RC Cola, and Bingo, and way too much food. 

The event is largely about the candidates, who launch searing political attacks against each other in a hostile environment as supporters of the opposing candidate try to shout them down and boo them off of the stage.

If that doesn't sound like what Democracy should look like to you, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth members ardently agree with you, which is why we brought several dozen members out to the event from Louisville, Bowling Green, Northern Kentucky, Lexington, as well as some of our members far Western Kentucky.

Our plan was to challenge the partisan, zero-sum, and frankly mean dynamics at Fancy Farm and to instead try to have conversations with candidates and other political enthusiasts about real issues that we can work together on to make Kentucky a better place for all of us.

We passed out over 400 fans with KFTC's Vision Statement on the back and about 750 lapel stickers for our Voting Rights campaign, plus hundreds of copies of our newsletter balancing the scales.

With 43 KFTC members canvassing the crowd, we managed to have a lot of key conversations with candidates, elected officials, allies, media outlets, KFTC members in Western KY we don't usually get to see, and others.  Prominent Republican and Democratic Party leaders alike commented on the strong showing by KFTC, something we hope they both remember during the Legislative Session early next year. 

KFTC has brought smaller groups to Fancy Farm for the last few years, but never nearly this many.  It was the first trip to Fancy Farm for about 3/4 of our members, most of whom say they're looking forward to making next year's trip even bigger.

 _____________________________________________________________________

Fancy Farm, 2010 - By The Numbers

43 - KFTC members volunteering at some point during the event.  

130 - Years the Fancy Farm Picnic has been held.

400 - Fans with KFTC's Vision Statement passed out to the crowd.

720 - Total miles traveled by our crew from Northern Kentucky to get to Fancy Farm and back

750 - "I Voted, But 186,000 Kentuckians Could Not" stickers passed out to  people at the event.

15,000 - Total estimated attendance.

19,000 - Pounds of pork and mutton cooked up for the barbecue (that's very close to a metric ton)

  _____________________________________________________________________

We'll have more reports from Fancy Farm in the coming days, including reactions from members who came out with us. 

Scott County KFTC members had a tremendous Singing For Democracy Gospel Fest in Georgetown last night with about 150 people happily crammed into the Ed Davis Learning Center to listen to some great gospel music and to educate each other on how we can work to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their time.

The program included powerful singers like Chris Willis, Lonnie Cowan, Margaret Sweat, and Maria Houghton, local religious leaders like Rev Joseph Jackson and Rev Rodney Mason, and former felons from Georgetown and elsewhere taking the mic to tell their stories.  One act was even the local cheer leading group the Mud Turtles. 

Event participants also got to see a big preview of the voting rights digital stories film by Seed Lynn through the Highlander Center's Zilphia Horton Project. 

The Georgetown News-Graphic was also at the event and we're looking forward to seeing the story in the next few days.

We've had similar events in Louisville and Lexington over the last 9 months, but this Singing For Democracy was special because of where it was. Senator Damon Thayer, the Chair of the State and Local Government Committee is the individual most responsible for blocking a bill to restore voting rights to former felons in recent years - and Georgetown is his hometown. 

Scott County KFTC members used the process of organizing the event  to bring together churches and individuals in a key communities to raise awareness of felony disenfranchisement.  We had numerous planning meetings and outreach events for the event, including going door-to-door, visiting churches, tabling at basketball games, and posting flyers.   

“Forgiveness, loving your neighbor, compassion - If we truly believed all of that, then we wouldn’t have to have this discussion about whether former felons can vote or not.   God is always watching – and we’d better make this right.”

                       – Tayna Fogle, former felon, and key event organizer

Special Thanks To:
The Brighton Center, People Advocating Recovery, Connie Willis, Steppin To A New Beat participants, Ed Davis Learning Center, Never Alone, Scott County NAACP, Catholic Conference, ACLU, Key Conversations (1580 AM), King Cobras, Lexington Nightwhawks, Brothers Unite, Regulators, Recovery Voices Count, Highlander Center, Chronic Pain Support, and all of the members of the Boston Community in Georgetown!

Scott County KFTC members are going straight from this event to their first Annual Meeting Chapter Meeting this Thursday (August 5th) at 7pm at Saints Francis and John Catholic Parish on Main Street in Georgetown.  Chapter members are looking forward to having some new faces at the meeting on account of the big event.  If you're in the area, please consider joining them.

Even if you couldn't make it out to Singing For Democracy, you can still make an impact on this issue from home!

Call 1-800-372-7181 to leave a message for your legislators.  The Legislative Message Line is open 8am to 4:30pm Monday – Friday. 

Leave a message for Senator Damon Thayer.  At the same time, you can also leave a message for Senators David Williams and Robert Stivers, plus your own Senator and Representative.

A simple message like "I support voting rights for former felons" works.

We had a great planning meeting last night for in Scott County for their upcoming Singing For Democracy Gospel Fest, an event to rally the community together to restore voting rights to former felons.

Final acts and publicity plans are coming together and we have a strong set of outreach events over the next week leading up to Saturday (calendar below).  You can also download a copy of the Flyer or Handbill of the event by clicking the link - and then pass them out to friends or members of your church on Sunday. 

One big piece of news is that we've decided to premier our voting rights digital stories video at the Gospel Fest - a piece recently shot by Seed Lynn as part of a project with the Highlander Center.

Although the event is primarily for Scott County, some members from  Northern Kentucky, Lexington, Grant County, Owen County, Frankfort, and other nearby places are planning to come as well, so feel free to join us from out of town.  

Singing For Democracy Publicity Events:

- Sunday, July 25th – Whistle-stop tour of Georgetown Churches to invite them out to the Gospel Fest (contact Tayna Fogle at 859-699-8073 for more information)

- Tuesday, July 27th – Meet at the Ed Davis Learning Center at 5pm to canvass the Boston and neighborhood and leave door-hangers for Singing For Democracy.  Then, pass out handbills at the basketball game at the Ed Davis Learning Center at 6:30pm.
- Thursday, July 29th – Meet at the Ed Davis Learning Center at 5pm to canvass the Boston and neighborhood and leave door-hangers for Singing For Democracy.  Then, pass out handbills at the basketball game at the Ed Davis Learning Center at 6:30pm.

for more information about this event, contact Tayna Fogle at 859-699-8073 or Dave Newton at 859-420-8919 or Dave@kftc.org

Yesterday, Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear announced that nearly $1.7 million in unclaimed funds remain in the Kentucky Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program. During phase one of the program, residents could ‘reserve’ rebates. Nearly half of Kentuckians who reserved a rebate have not purchased an appliance, making those unclaimed funds now available. 

Rebates range from $50 for energy efficient appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers to $400 for solar water heaters.

Find out more here, or apply for a rebate here.