Friday, October 17, 2008

LWV hosts candidate forums


LWV member Joe Gershtenson welcomes Circuit Judge candidates Judge Bill Clouse and Judge Jeffrey Walson to the Oct. 21 forum.
CIRCUIT JUDGE FORUM

Running for the circuit judge position vacated by Julia Adams are District Court Judge William T. Clouse Jr. and Family Court Judge Jeffrey M. Walson. Both candidates appeared Oct. 21 for the forum sponsored by LWV and the Institute for Politic Governance and Civic Engagement at EKU. The forum was moderated by the Institute's director, Joe Gershtenson.

One difference in the two campaigns is the acceptance of campaign donations from local attorneys. You can view the campaign expense reports that the two candidates have filed with the Registry of Election Finance Searchable Database. Find Search by name in left column to get a search window. Enter the last name of the candidate and locate 11/04/2008 in the pop up window for this election. In the next screen, you can open the summary or detailed view of the campaign report, which lists contributions by name and occupation.

LInk to Bill Robinson's story in Richmond Register.


RICHMOND CITY COMMISSION FORUM
All eight candidates for Richmond City Commission participated in the Oct. 20 candidate forum sponsored by LWV and produced by EKU Media.

Candidates for Richmond City Commission in order of the November ballot are Michael F. Bryant, Mike Brewer, Richard M. Thomas, Kay Cosby Jones, Robert R. Blythe, William H. "Bill" Strong, Rita H. Smart, and Ian Ward . LWV moderator was Lynnette Noblitt, who also is head of EKU's paralegal department.

Link to Ronica Shannon's story in the Richmond Register.

BEREA CITY COUNCIL

Candidates answered questions submitted to LWV Web site by citizens at the Oct. 14 forum. Photo by Jeanne Hibberd.
The 16 candidates for Berea City Council participated in a LWV forum in Berea Oct. 14. The candidates for the eight positions include incumbents Glenn Jennings, Chester Powell, Violet “Vi” Farmer, Greg Lakes, Denise Hagan, Howard Baker, Virgil Burnside and Truman Fields. Challengers are J. Donald “Don” Graham, Troy VanWinkle, Hubert Chasteen Jr., Ronnie Terrill, Billy Wagers, Jerry Little, Robert “Peanuts” Johnson and Glenn David Johnson.

Read Register story by Bill Robinson.

To contact the League, e-mail LWV at lwvbmc@yahoo.com.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Climate Change Workshop Oct. 15 in Berea




LWV unites groups pursuing energy efficiency in Berea community

Despite growing concerns about climate change and global warming, every one of the speakers at the LWV's forum Oct. 15 in Berea found reasons to be optimistic about the future, assuming communities and individuals change their ways.

The program began with a list of several different groups and individuals working together in Berea to become more energy efficient and sustainable.

Megan Naseman, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer working with Energy and Empowerment at Berea College, described work in Madison County on energy issues that engages a wide variety of citizen and governmental endeavors. They ranged from groups working on the accessibility of locally grown food to the poor to Transition Town Berea, a project of the Interdisciplianary programs Collaboration at Berea College and Sustainable Berea.

Energy and Empowerment Grants are funded by a Learn and Serve America Community-Based Research Innovation Grant. Projects funded by the CBR Energy and Empowerment Grants will be part of a larger three-year CBR project, focusing on energy and empowerment issues in Madison County.

Participants can connect with other community-based research teams through the Energy and Empowerment listserv and through community gatherings and resource sharing. 

The workshop was anchored by a presentation by Amy Malick, Midwest Regional director of an organization whose acronym ICLEI stands for the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability is a membership association of local governments committed to advancing climate protection and sustainable development. ICLEI includes nearly 1,000 cities in the world. Malick presented a PowerPoint presentation which described the phases by whcih a local government might change its energy use. The presentation can be viewed in PDF format.
 
ICLEI’s mission is to build, serve, and drive a movement of local governments to advance deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and achieve tangible improvements in local sustainability.