Trader Joe’s and The Coalition of Immokalee Workers Sign Fair Food Agreement
Monrovia, CA/Immokalee, FL -- Trader Joe’s and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) announced today that they have signed an agreement that formalizes the ways in which Trader Joe’s will work with the CIW and Florida tomato growers to support the CIW’s Fair Food Program.
The Fair Food Program is a groundbreaking approach to social responsibility in the US produce industry that combines the Fair Food Code of Conduct – a set of labor standards developed in a unique collaboration among farmworkers, tomato growers, and the food industry leaders who purchase Florida tomatoes – with a small price premium to help improve harvesters’ wages. The goal of the Fair Food Program is to promote the development of a sustainable Florida tomato industry that advances both the human rights of farmworkers and the long-term interests of Florida tomato growers.
The Fair Food Program is a groundbreaking approach to social responsibility in the US produce industry that combines the Fair Food Code of Conduct – a set of labor standards developed in a unique collaboration among farmworkers, tomato growers, and the food industry leaders who purchase Florida tomatoes – with a small price premium to help improve harvesters’ wages. The goal of the Fair Food Program is to promote the development of a sustainable Florida tomato industry that advances both the human rights of farmworkers and the long-term interests of Florida tomato growers.
Open Letter to Sherrod Brown
Concerning Fracking and other matters
Dear Senator Brown: I am writing you about the technology of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (often referred to as “fracking”), a mining method for extracting gas from deep in the earth, first drilling down for a mile or more and then angling the drillbore horizontally into shale gas rock.
This method is much more complex than the older method of vertical drilling. Fracking just one well, with perhaps six or more bore holes, requires millions of gallons of clean water, sand, propellants, and chemicals, many of which are consider proprietary information and not available to the public or even to elected officials.
Dear Senator Brown: I am writing you about the technology of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (often referred to as “fracking”), a mining method for extracting gas from deep in the earth, first drilling down for a mile or more and then angling the drillbore horizontally into shale gas rock.
This method is much more complex than the older method of vertical drilling. Fracking just one well, with perhaps six or more bore holes, requires millions of gallons of clean water, sand, propellants, and chemicals, many of which are consider proprietary information and not available to the public or even to elected officials.
Repeal voter suppression bill HB 194, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted says
Traditional conservative and Midwest moderate Republicans are finally standing up to the reactionary Buckeye State GOP’ers whose anthem is “Gimme that ol’ time repression.” On January 25, 2012, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted addressed the Ohio Association of Election Officials and recommended that the state’s legislators should repeal the draconian House Bill 194. In this November’s presidential election, voters in Ohio will literally get to vote on who should vote in the state.
Husted urged lawmakers and election officials to start over after the 2012 election with a new bill on voting reform. HB 194 has been denounced by voting rights and civil rights organizations as it, among other things, eliminates some opportunities for early voting and doesn’t allow pollworkers to guide voters to the correct precinct.
Husted urged lawmakers and election officials to start over after the 2012 election with a new bill on voting reform. HB 194 has been denounced by voting rights and civil rights organizations as it, among other things, eliminates some opportunities for early voting and doesn’t allow pollworkers to guide voters to the correct precinct.
Roe turns 30: Columbus protests
Monday marked the 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade. While most local anti-abortion big shots were doing their annual March for Life in Washington with accompanying photo ops, Greater Columbus Right to Life held down the fort here with a 45 minute rally on the steps of the Statehouse with few photo ops.
Except for me, Channel l0 appeared to be the only local media covering the event, but there's nothing on the station's news site. With Occupy Columbus camped out on the corner of S. High and E State, I was imagining interesting possibilities, but the occupiers, unlike their Washington DC counterparts who disrupted a “youth event “held by anti-abortion moguls Brian Kemper, Patrick Mahoney , Lila Rose and friends, decided to sit this one out..
Except for me, Channel l0 appeared to be the only local media covering the event, but there's nothing on the station's news site. With Occupy Columbus camped out on the corner of S. High and E State, I was imagining interesting possibilities, but the occupiers, unlike their Washington DC counterparts who disrupted a “youth event “held by anti-abortion moguls Brian Kemper, Patrick Mahoney , Lila Rose and friends, decided to sit this one out..
Tell Governor Kasich - Time Out on Executions in Ohio!
Joe D’Ambrosio has just become the 140th death row exoneree, and the sixth man exonerated from Ohio’s death row. Joe was wrongfully convicted of murdering 19-year old Anthony Klann in Cuyahoga County in 1989. Following a 2006 ruling that overturned his conviction, Joe was eventually freed in March 2010 and all charges were dismissed.
Since March 2010, prosecutors and the attorney general’s office have been appealing the dismissal but appeals courts have upheld the ruling. The exoneration is made official because today (January 23, 2012) the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal by prosecutors.
Ohioans to Stop Executions and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty welcome Joe to freedom, and congratulate everyone on the legal team and everyone else who has stood by Joe and advocated for him all of these years.
Now it is time to Take Action!
Since March 2010, prosecutors and the attorney general’s office have been appealing the dismissal but appeals courts have upheld the ruling. The exoneration is made official because today (January 23, 2012) the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal by prosecutors.
Ohioans to Stop Executions and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty welcome Joe to freedom, and congratulate everyone on the legal team and everyone else who has stood by Joe and advocated for him all of these years.
Now it is time to Take Action!
Medical Cannabis Amendment certified by Ohio Attorney General
The OMCA2012 team is proud to announce that, on January 20, 2012, the Ohio Attorney General certified the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2012. On January 12, 2012, the OMCA2012 proposed ballot language and summary were submitted to the OAG's office along with 212 petitions containing the signatures of almost 3,000 purported registered Ohio voters, 1,727 of which were deemed valid.
Certification by the OAG represents the first step in a process that will place this proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution on the statewide ballot in the fall of 2012. After the OAG certified that the measure's summary is an accurate reflection of its full text, the OMCA2012 proposed ballot language was referred to the Ohio Secretary of State for determination by the Ohio Ballot Board that the amendment contains only a single issue. We are confident that our language will meets this requirement.
Certification by the OAG represents the first step in a process that will place this proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution on the statewide ballot in the fall of 2012. After the OAG certified that the measure's summary is an accurate reflection of its full text, the OMCA2012 proposed ballot language was referred to the Ohio Secretary of State for determination by the Ohio Ballot Board that the amendment contains only a single issue. We are confident that our language will meets this requirement.
Ohioans Call for Moratorium on Fracking
Cheryl Johncox said she and fellow activists with Buckeye Forest Council are not being perfectionists about the environment at the expense of society’s need for energy. She said they want better regulations.
“I can’t believe they can put a pit with radioactive fluid a hundred feet from my house and not even have to fence it in.”
Johncox said that as of 2010, companies no longer have been required to submit a radioactivity log, and that fracking fluid from Marcellus shale and Utica shale contain radioactive particles at a thousand times the recommended limit
Don’t Log Our Parks! Tell OSP and DOF to Halt Plans for Commercial Timber Harvests in Ohio’s State Parks
The Ohio Division of Forestry (DOF) and Ohio State Parks (OSP) are asking for comments on their proposed plans to log state parks. We suggest that you submit comments by December 3rd; however, OSP has stated that it will take comments beyond that date.
The budget bill recently passed by the General Assembly gives OSP the ability, for the first time ever, to commercially log state park lands under the guise of “implement[ing] sustainable forestry practices.” As a result of this new grant of authority, DOF has unveiled 5-year management plans for four state parks. Links to the plans are provided below. Two of the parks, Forked Run and Tar Hollow, have timbering scheduled to occur this fiscal year.
Talking Points:
· The offered plans fail to disclose how much timber will be cut – neither board feet nor acreage figures are provided to the public. This is the most basic and important aspect of a public logging plan – the agencies need to disclose to the public just how much timber they intend to log on a yearly basis.
The budget bill recently passed by the General Assembly gives OSP the ability, for the first time ever, to commercially log state park lands under the guise of “implement[ing] sustainable forestry practices.” As a result of this new grant of authority, DOF has unveiled 5-year management plans for four state parks. Links to the plans are provided below. Two of the parks, Forked Run and Tar Hollow, have timbering scheduled to occur this fiscal year.
Talking Points:
· The offered plans fail to disclose how much timber will be cut – neither board feet nor acreage figures are provided to the public. This is the most basic and important aspect of a public logging plan – the agencies need to disclose to the public just how much timber they intend to log on a yearly basis.
A fracking dilemma?
For the pro-frackers in Athens county and probably many who are undecided, the lure of jobs and other "benefits" from shale gas mining are significant considerations in favor of letting the gas companies commence the mining process. Those who favor this position contend that there will be jobs directly created in the mining operations themselves, along with a ripple effect generating jobs in other local businesses and regional industries. This is the job creation argument. The response from our side, the opposition, has largely been that these operations won't create as many jobs, especially jobs for local people, as the industry maintains. Among other studies and reports, Food and Water Watch recently released a report that contests the inflated job claims of the shale gas industry.