KFTC Blog | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

KFTC Blog

Prisons won't unlock prosperity in E. Ky.

Posted by: Sylvia Ryerson on May 6, 2013

U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers recently announced major progress for efforts to bring a new maximum-security federal prison to Letcher County, one of the many Eastern Kentucky counties hard hit by the declining coal industry.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons awarded a contract to conduct an environmental impact study on two selected sites. But even as that process moves forward, no funding has yet been allocated for construction of the proposed $250 million to $350 million project.

If built, this will be the fourth new federal prison to come to Eastern Kentucky, and the sixth federal prison built in Central Appalachia, since 1992 — in addition to new state and private prisons. Indeed, in the last quarter-century of skyrocketing incarceration, Central Appalachia has become one of the most concentrated areas of prison growth in the country.

Each prison came with the promise of hundreds of jobs and broad-scale economic growth. So as Letcher County waits, we should ask, what happened in these other prison-host communities. Did the promises come true?

McCreary County, where a federal prison opened in 2004, provides one example.

Northern Kentucky members pull double duty

Members Jesse Byelry, Pamela Dickson, Truman Harris, Emily Spinks, Lauren Gabbard, and Jeff Hampton at the Great American Cleanup
Posted by: Joe Gallenstein on April 30, 2013

On April 27, members of the Northern Kentucky KFTC Chapter split time at two separate tables to help raise awareness about our work across the state.

Homer White's speech at today's Georgetown Non-Discrimination Rally

Posted by: Homer White on April 26, 2013

100_1303Georgetown College has changed for the better in a lot of ways, in the last few years.
- We have a thriving diversity initiative.
- For the past five years we have had written policies in place that prevent discrimination against gay students, and anti-harassment policies that protect people of all sorts.
- Recently we hired our first openly gay faculty members.

So we honestly believed it was a matter of mere housekeeping to extend the College’s nondiscrimination policies for faculty and staff to include such things as sexual orientation.  In April 2012 the faculty approved such a policy for faculty.  This proposal passed with 90% of the vote and a big round of applause.

But last year the Board of Trustees voted down the new policy.  We are here today to ask, in public, that the Board reconsider its decision, and to make the case for our proposal.

Powerful LGBT rights organizing in Georgetown

Posted by: Dave Newton on April 26, 2013

100_1354This afternoon, over 100 Georgetown College students, faculty, staff, alumni, and allies came out to a powerful rally in support of a non-discrimination policy protecting members of their community who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans-gender.

100_1305At a college of just 1,200 students on a Friday just before finals, that's a pretty big deal. 

Throughout the semester, there has been a growing campaign to put pressure on the Georgetown College Board of Trustees since they declined to vote on the policy after the faculty overwhelmingly passed it last year. 

The work has been spearheaded by the Non-Discrimination Work Group on campus, but is supported by many organizations including Kentuckians For the Commonwealth members in Scott County. 

A number of media outlets came today generating stories like this piece from the Herald-Leader. 

You can also find a gallery of other pictures of the rally online here. 

And although the semester is almost over, there's more work to do to pressure the Georgetown College Board of Trustees, including prior to their meeting tomorrow morning. 

Please join us at 8am at East Campus (at the edge of Georgetown College farthest away from downtown or main street - near the Georgetown College football field. ) to hold some signs at Board of Trustees members arrive for their monthly meeting.

Some students are camping out in tents and sleeping bags there over night, but other supporters are invited to join them in the morning.  Can you make it out in solidarity with them?

Also, over 300 people have signed the petition in support of a non-discrimination policy.  If you haven't already, please take two minutes to do it!

Georgetown College Rally 19

Central Kentucky chapter remembers Danny Cotton and envisions what Kentucky deserves at chapter meeting

Posted by: Beth Howard on April 26, 2013

DSCN0018

The chapter held its monthly chapter meeting on Thursday, April 18th at 7 p.m. at The Episcopal Mission House. Chapter members used this space to remember fellow KFTC member Danny Cotton and reflect on the spirit and energy that he brought to the chapter and everyone around him. “The Commonwealth did not have enough time with Danny. He had a deeply rooted sense of place here and he devoted the time he had to fighting for and loving this place,” KFTC member Greg Capillo said.

In honor of Danny, KFTC chapter members thought of what they each believed Kentucky deserves and wrote Tumbler messages expressing their vision for Kentucky and their disappointment about how the sequester that Mitch McConnell demanded might adversely affect that vision.

Reflection on Appalachia's Bright Future conference

Posted by: Meta Mendel-Reyes on April 26, 2013

Meta Mendel - Reyes is a member of KFTC's Steering Committee and former organizer with the United Farmworkers Union. She teaches at Berea College and is a mentor to students and community members alike. She shared this reflection on the Appalachia's Bright Future conference, held April 19-21, 2013 in Harlan, Kentucky.

"In times of transition, process really matters." - Brendan Smith, ocean farmer

A spirited plenary session is a long way from a coal miner's pitch, but they are connected. The people at the conference believe, against heavy odds, that there is a bright future for Appalachia and for that coal miner putting his faith in a dying industry. The conference on Appalachia's Bright Future envisions a transition to an economy beyond coal that can lift up the region and create a brighter future for the coal miner and environmental activist alike.

Remembering Bob Sloan

Posted by: KFTC on April 24, 2013

Appalachian author Bob Sloan – a passionate voice for protecting the land and culture from the destruction of mountaintop removal – died on April 17. He was 65 years old.

“He was a fine ally and fine company, so it’s a double loss,” said Wendell Berry, whose invitation to a Kentucky Authors mountaintop removal tour with KFTC in 2005 provided Bob with the experience that fueled his commitment to stopping the destruction.

“This has been a life-changing experience for me. I keep going back and forth between rage and wanting to cry,” Bob said after listening to the stories of eastern Kentucky residents and flying over Perry County.

Review of research adds support for moratorium on mountaintop removal

Posted by: KFTC on April 24, 2013

Two media events Tuesday helped focus attention on the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act, legislation in Congress that would place an immediate moratorium on new permits while the health impacts of mountaintop removal mining are studied.

Known as the ACHE Act, H.R. 526 was introduced earlier this year by Reps. John Yarmuth of Kentucky and Louise Slaughter of New York, who was born in Harlan County, Kentucky.

“I’ve talked to citizens in the area – towns were 25 percent of the people suffer from some kind of disease, way beyond the national average,” said Yarmuth in an afternoon Congressional briefing. “I’ve talked with teachers whose students color creeks orange.

Bev May visits Berea College, receives Service Award

Posted by: Cory Lowery on April 22, 2013

This past Thursday, long-time KFTC member and community advocate Beverly May visited Berea College to receive the Berea College Service Award, an honor conferred to those deemed by the college to b

Appeals Court agrees: permit used to bury streams with mining wastes not valid

Posted by: KFTC on April 22, 2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today invalidated the 2007 version of the nationwide permit used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize the dumping of coal mining wastes into hundreds of miles of Appalachian headwater streams.

The Corps had justified the using the National Permit (NWP 21) based on the "irrational" claim that burying streams with toxic mining wastes had no significant environmental impact.

“I’m thrilled they overturned this decision; it’s a victory for people in eastern Kentucky," said KFTC member Rick Handshoe, a party in the case whose family land in Floyd County is surrounded by mining. "People who live in eastern Kentucky deal with both the immediate and long-term cumulative impacts of mining everyday. Even when the mining is stopped and the coal company is long gone, we deal with the poisoned water and devastated land for decades afterwards.”

Page

Subscribe to KFTC Blog