During their monthly chapter meeting, KFTC members used their time to focus on the Kentucky Deserves Better campaign and mobilizing voters to the polls.

Eight members wrote letters about how Rep. Hal Roger's actions in congress are ruining any possibility of a bright future for Kentuckians. The focused on his actions to cut Pell Grants, access to Head Start Programs and to limit the EPA's authority in protecting our air and water.

During the second half of their meeting members divided into groups to plan for mobilizing voters to the polls. On group focused on distributing the KFTC voter guides out to the community, another on letters to the editor, and the third group actually called KFTC members to remind them to get out and vote on Nov. 8th.

The Northern Kentucky chapter of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth held a Singing For Democracy of their own Sunday at Madison Avenue Christian Church. The event, which was attended by over 40 people, featured Mike Barry and Tayna Fogle as masters of ceremony, discussed the issues of voting rights for former felons, and featured regional Gospel performers.

The event was a collaboration between People Advocating Recovery and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and featured speakers from recovery programs in Lexington, Louisville, Covington, and Florence. Their stories, which dealt with their own personal relationships with addiction in their lives and the lives around them, served as a reminder of the inequities and stereotypes people who suffer from the disease face.

Each of the speakers on the program spoke about what made them become an activist on voting rights and recovery. Charlotte Wethington recounted her loss of her son Casey, and how she was able to memorialize him through working to enact reforms in drug treatment laws; Tayna Fogle told her story of not only fighting to recover, but then having to fight to get her voting rights restored twice due to a clerical error; and Kim Moore of CHANGE Recovery House for Women spoke of the difficulty of dealing with reentry for one of your children after fighting for your own recovery so hard.

Members and attendees were hopeful that Northern Kentucky politicians would take notice of the movement in Northern Kentucky, and realize the resource that many people who are in long term recovery are for the community. The organizations hope to work together again soon to continue to highlight the need to expand and protect Kentucky's democracy.

You can also find more pictures of this event on KFTC's Flickr site. 

While the Northern Kentucky chapter has taken on hillside over development as a local issue in Northern Kentucky, due to the concerns in increased erosion and excess run-off, especially in older and low income neighborhoods, the chapter has not yet taken a position on the ballot initiative this Fall that could do away with the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission. However, many members have expressed concerns over the intentions of some of the organizations targeting the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission. 

Sean McDonald, a citizen who resides in Covington, wrote in yesterdays Cincinnati Enquirer,

"The home builders in Northern Kentucky see an opportunity to benefit their businesses at the expense of ordinary citizens (“Supporters rally behind NKAPC“). They want a weakened planning commission in Kenton County – or no planning commission at all – so they can build what they please, where they please, with whatever materials they choose, no matter how adversely these actions affect the environment or the needs of the general population.

Sixteen people gathered on Tuesday night in Shelbyville to get to know one another and to celebrate KFTC's 30th anniversary (some are shown, left). Several existing Shelby County members turned out for the gathering as well as a handful of folks new to KFTC. 

Participants expressed enthusiasm about meeting one another and feeling less alone locally right from the start.

After introducing herself, member Averie King said, "It's so refreshing to meet people that share these ideas because I did not think many of them existed in Kentucky let alone Shelby County." 

Member Jerry Scrogham added, "I have driven into Jefferson County for chapter meetings, but for as long as I have lived here, I have never thought of the idea that we could gather here (in Shelby County) and have this going on."

Shelby County member Carlen Pippin (shown above, far right), along with two others present, discussed efforts to improve the democracy and transparency in the Shelby County Electric Co-op. The Shelby County co-op is part of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, the reformation of which has been a part of KFTC's statewide work for more than two years. Jefferson County member Beth Bissmeyer gave a broad overview of KFTC as well.

Everyone was interested in the topics discussed and several people signed up to get involved in the electric co-op reform work. Several at the table immediately connected that making the co-op more transparent would also open the doors to increasing demand for efficiency and renewable energy from EKPC. Carlen Pippin, who has just become a New Power Leader, plans to form a New Power cluster of the people who signed up to engage more deeply in the co-op reform work.

After the gathering was over, two families committed to coming to KFTC's 30th birthday bash in Irvine on August 27th. Other folks discussed printing a local voter guide and forming a chapter at some point in the future as action steps to follow up to the meeting.

As the gathering came to a close, Bill Young, a teacher who has run twice for local offices in Shelby County, identified strongly with KFTC's vision and action around democracy-building and civic engagement.

"I cannot even believe it. Me and my friends were talking the other day about forming an organization just like KFTC. and THIS IS IT!I can't believe I never knew you all existed. I feel like i have come home," Bill said.

To learn more about this event or sustainable energy solutions, contact Nancy Reinhart at nancy@kftc.org.

This May 20 to 27th, the seventh annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp will take place in the beautiful mountains of Letcher County, Kentucky.

The week-long camp will feature workshops, guest speakers, discussions, and live music.Participants will learn about mining practices, community organizing, economic transition, and actions they can take to protect Appalachian ecosystems.

The camp will take place from May 20 to 27. For information and registration visit http://www.mountainjustice.org/.

When Workers Run Their Own Factories, Banks and Schools:
A Report on the Mondragon Coops
 
May 10, 7 p.m.
Lexington Central Library
140 East Main Street
Lexington, Kentucky

• Overview of Famous Mondragon Cooperative Movement– Centered in Spain’s Basque Country, but spreading across Europe and the Global South
• Examples of US Worker Cooperatives- California, Chicago, and Cleveland, OH
• Possibilities for Green Jobs, Green Manufacturing and Clean Energy Structural Reform beginning in Eastern Kentucky

For the past 50 years, something important has been growing in Spain’s Basque Country. It’s an organized network of over 120 factories, with their own bank, schools and research centers, involving more than 100,000 workers. They’re called the Mondragon Coops, and they are unique in that they are owned and controlled by the workers themselves—one worker, one share, one vote. They are also unique in they obtain credit from their own worker-owned bank and skills from their own university. They are thriving and growing , even in the midst of crisis, and have a lot to teach us on the possibilities of radical change in hard times.

Carl Davidson is a national co-chair of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, a national leader of the US Solidarity Economy Network, a member of Steelworker Associates, and writes for Beaver County Blue, a progressive website In the 1960s, he studied social and political philosophy at Penn State University and the University of Nebraska. He currently resides in Aliquippa, his hometown in Western PA.

We will also be joined by Sara Pennington, the new power campaign organizer for KFTC who will share the work being done to reform energy cooperatives in eastern Kentucky.

A short discussion will follow the presentation

Sponsored by:

Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
The central Kentucky chapter of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice

Contact Person: Janet Tucker, jlynjenks@qx.net

Join us this year for a whole week of events gearing up to I love mountains day. Here's the schedule:

Events:
Wednesday Feb 9 Tune in to 88.1 WRFL at 4 pm for "New Power Hour"

Thursday Feb 10 FREE screening of the award winning documentary "Deep Down: A story from the heart of coal country" 7 pm BCTCS in the Oswald building.

Friday Feb 11 I Love Mountains Oldtime Music Showcase at Al's Bar featuring Clack Mountain String Band, Rich and the Poor Folks, and Julie and Adrian Shepherd Powell. $10 All Ages 9 pm

Saturday Feb 12 Morris Book Shop is hosting a legislative letter writing party starting at 12 pm, featuring authors Jason Howard, Erik Reece, Maurice Manning, Eric Sutherland and Whitney Baker

Sunday Feb 13 from 12pm-3pm Third Street Coffee and Latitude Artist Community are hosting a sign and poster making party to gear up for the I Love Mountains Day Rally

Monday Feb 14 I Love Mountains Day March and Rally. March starts at 11 am in Frankfort at the Kentucky River

Monday Feb 14 Happy Hour For The Mountains 4-7 pm Al's Bar. After the march and rally come celebrate with good food, good music and good friends. Reel World String Band will play 2 sets.

For more information visit www.kftc.org/LexLove

Each year the central Kentucky chapter celebrates their hard work with a holiday party. Members came through out the evening to share stories, eat and be merry.

We also created a newsletter with chapter highlights from 2010 which you can check out here.

Now it's time to get back to work and we have several events scheduled as well as many opportunities to get involved:

Tuesday January 4th 10am-2pm join us in Frankfort for a tour of the capitol and a brief orientation of our lobby work. We will be carpooling from Lexington at 9:30am from the Versailles Rd. Save-A-Lot.

Tuesday January 11th 7pm - Our local economic justice work team is putting together a plan to go door to door and survey several Lexington neighborhoods about what kind of changes they'd like to see in town and how the economic recession has affected them. We will be meeting at Brittany Hunsaker's house at 186 Richmond Ave. 

Wednesday January 19th at 7:00pm is the UK KFTC student group's first meeting of the new year. All UK students are welcome to attend. They meet in room 111 in the basement of the student center, across from the center for student involvement (CSI). The will be meeting to discuss attending the upcoming lobby training and planning a events on campus related to KFTC's work.

Thursday January 20th 7pm-9pm we will have our first chapter meeting of the year where we'll update folks on different committee work and our lobbying goals during the general assembly. We meet at the Episcopal Mission house on the corner of 4th St. and Martin Luther King Ave.

Saturday January 22nd from 11am - 3pm we will be having our third annual lobby training for folks interested in learning more about how the Kentucky general assembly works and how we can influence change. We will discuss topics such as how a bill becomes a law, what is citizen lobbying and what kind of issues do we talk to legislators about. There will also be an opportunity for folks to get a more in depth analysis of a few of our campaigns. Location is still TBA but as soon as we've narrowed one down we will update the KFTC calendar (www.kftc.org/calendar).

Monday January 31st from 10am - 5pm the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance is hosting a conference in Lexington on clean energy in Kentucky. Early bird registration (before Jan. 14th) is $10 afterward is $15. KFTC can sponsor up to 20 folks who are interested in attending. For more information about the conference you can go here: http://www.kysea.org/2011-conference

As with anything, if you have any questions about any of these events or about ways to get involved with our work in the Lexington area, feel free to contact the central Kentucky organizer at ondine@kftc.org or (859) 368-4438.

The central Kentucky chapter of KFTC met last Thursday for their monthly chapter meeting. Their focus was to examine their role as concerned citizens and the opportunities to do meaningful organizing work around economic justice issues in Lexington.

Members began by sharing stories of how they have been affected by economic issues. Folks talked about times where they were unable to pay their bills, struggled to buy food, were living without health insurance or savings and about their family and friends dealing with the same problems.

Afterward everyone broke down into small groups to think through what kind of positive impact they could have in Lexington around these concerns. The discussions revolved a lot around what role they should play as Lexington residents in making the city a better place for everyone. The chapter agreed they should focus on encouraging people to share their stories about economic injustice, work to remove the stygma surrounding poverty, educate themselves about policies that affect the community and organize within Lexington neighborhoods to identify community needs. Each small group also discussed some possible opportunities for moving forward with this work. An economic justice work team was formed to look more closely at the recommendations and to develop some next steps.

The next CKY economic justice work team meeting will be held on Thursday December 9th at 7pm. If you'd like to be involved then contact the central Kentucky organizer at ondine@kftc.org

The Bluegrass GreenExpo will be held this weekend! It is the largest collection of Green Products, Exhibits & Resources ever assembled in Kentucky.

When: Saturday, October 30, 10am - 6pm
 and Sunday, October 31, 12pm - 6pm

Where: Heritage Hall at Lexington Center

Cost: FREE!

This expo aims to connect the people of Kentucky with information and resources that will help us create more healthy, sustainable and prosperous communities, to connect businesses and organizations with similar goals to work together for the benefit of our communities and to connect state and community leaders with information and resources that can help them in making decisions that benefit Kentucky's people, communities and environment.

WENDELL BERRY headlines a panel discussion on coal & KY's energy future on Saturday 10/30 at 10:30 AM.

This panel will be followed at 12:15 by a set of songs by multi award-winning singer-songwriter
Mitch Barrett. Mitch plays again Sunday 10/31 at 3 PM.

Other attractions include a trade show, workshops, activities for kids of all ages and renewable energy exhibitions and demos.