Green Party of Ohio Newsletter, Vol. I, No. 9, June 30, 2001

Green Party of Ohio Main Page
Newsletter Archive Index

--------------------------------------------------
Weekly Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. I, No. 9 -- June 30, 2001
(This newsletter distributed to 2,974)
--------------------------------------------------
***************************************************
F E A T U R E D I N T H I S I S S U E
***************************************************
1) GREENS IN KENT OPPOSE MALL DEVELOPMENT
2) MAHONING VALLEY GREEN PARTY SUPPORTS NURSES
3) SUMMIT COUNTY GREENS OPPOSE DEATH PENALTY
4) REALITY BURNS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
5) IOWA AND ILLINOIS JOIN ASGP
6) GREEN PARTY STATE FAIR BOOTH
7) OIL DEPLETION: TURNING POINT FOR HUMANKIND
8) GENETICALLY MODIFIED CANOLA BECOMING A WEED
--------------------------------------------------

***************************************************
1) GREENS IN KENT OPPOSE MALL DEVELOPMENT
***************************************************
Greens in Kent, led by Green city council candidate
Patricia Fridrich, are working with a local coali-
tion to prevent the City of Kent from aiding the
developer, Tara Group, from constructing a shopping
center adjacent to the Kent Bog, an extremely sensi-
tive environment on the south end of the city. The
coalition contends that the mall will also take busi-
ness away from downtown merchants.

At issue is whether the city of Kent will approve a
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program that would pay
for the infrastructure development that the Tara Group
has demanded. Tax abatements are not allowed on the
property because of a 1990 ballot initiative in Kent.
While TIFs are not technically tax abatements, they
in effect do the same thing as tax abatements because
they push costs that the developer would otherwise in-
cur, in this case for road and water infrastructure,
onto the tax payers. The TIF is corporate welfare in
the amount of $4,000,000.

The city of Kent is using a TIF because the Tara Group
asked the city for infrastructure improvements and the
city could not offer an outright tax abatement. Cur-
rently, only one member of Kent City Council is clearly
against the TIF, though there is growing opposition to
it among city residents.

A march on City Hall to protest funding for the pro-
posed 55-acre shopping complex is scheduled July 5th.

***************************************************
2) MAHONING VALLEY GREEN PARTY SUPPORTS NURSES
***************************************************
More than 770 nurses of the Youngstown General Duty
Nurses Association (YGDNA) of the Ohio Nurses Associ-
ation (ONA) have been on strike at Forum Health/
Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown since May 1.
The Mahoning Valley Green Party is supporting the
strike. For more information see:
http://www.ygdna.org/letters_&_fyi.htm

***************************************************
3) SUMMIT COUNTY GREENS OPPOSE DEATH PENALTY
***************************************************
The Coordinating Committee of the Green Party of
Summit County published a letter in the Akron Beacon-
Journal on June 27. The letter, "Green Party opposes
'failed' death penalty," can be found (scroll down) at: http://www.ohio.com/bj/editorial_pages/vop/docs/013131.htm

***************************************************
4) REALITY BURNS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
***************************************************
Environmental Defense brings the burning reality of
global warming home to southern California in its
latest report, Hot Prospects, detailing real scena-
rios for the future with the onset of dramatic cli-
mate change. For LA, instead of experiencing 90+
degree weather for a handful of days each year, by
the 2080's there could be anywhere from 15-37 days
every year exceeding 90 degrees. The report clearly
points out that low-income groups and communities
of color have additional vulnerability to global
warming.

Download a copy of the report from Environmental
Defense's web site at:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/HotLA

***************************************************
5) IOWA AND ILLINOIS JOIN ASGP
***************************************************
The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) this
week voted to accept the membership applications of
the state Green Parties in Iowa and Illinois.

Visit the ASGP Web site at:
http://www.green-party.org

***************************************************
6) GREEN PARTY STATE FAIR BOOTH
***************************************************
The Green Party of Ohio still needs a few volunteers
for its booth at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus
Aug. 3-19 for the following shifts:

Sat., Aug. 4: 5:30--9:30
Sun., Aug. 5: 9:30--1:30
Mon., Aug. 6: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30
Thu., Aug. 9: 5:30--9:30
Fri., Aug. 10: 9:30--1:30, 5:30--9:30
Sat., Aug. 11: 9:30--1:30, 5:30--9:30
Sun., Aug. 12: 9:30--1:30
Mon., Aug. 13: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30, 5:30--9:30
Tue., Aug. 14: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30
Wed., Aug. 15: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30, 5:30--9:30
Thu., Aug. 16: 5:30--9:30
Fri., Aug. 17: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30, 5:30--9:30
Sat., Aug. 18: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30, 5:30--9:30
Sun., Aug. 19: 9:30--1:30, 1:30--5:30, 5:30--9:30

Contact Bill Kerwin at wkerwin@hotmail.com or
614-267-5777 to volunteer a specific time.

***************************************************
7) OIL DEPLETION: TURNING POINT FOR HUMANKIND
***************************************************
For a truly excellent and sobering lecture --
"Peak Oil: A Turning Point for Mankind," by world
renowned petroleum geologist C. J. Campbell -- watch
streaming video recorded in Dec. 2000 at
http://www.rz.tu-clausthal.de/realvideo/event/peak-oil.ram.

You will need RealPlayer to view the above clip. If
you don't already have it, you can download a free
copy of "RealPlayer 8 Basic" by following the link in
the middle of the page at http://www.real.com/player.

A text version of the lecture with charts is also
available at http://energycrisis.org/de/lecture.html.

***************************************************
8) GENETICALLY MODIFIED CANOLA BECOMING A WEED
***************************************************
What Monsanto and the rest promised was not a concern
is now becoming a reality. Genetically modified
canola is growing as a weed uncontrollably.

http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/06/21/gm_canola010621

***************************************************
Miss an issue of our newsletter? You can now read
past newsletters of the Green Party of Ohio by
visiting the newsletter archives at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/newsletters/

Also, you can view the latest weekly segment of the
Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) News
Circulator by visiting the ASGP Web site
at http://www.green-party.org and selecting "ASGP
News Circulator" from the menu at the top of the
left column. Or, sign up to get it by email by
sending a blank email to ohiogreens-asgp@yahoogroups.com.

***************************************************
We publish this newsletter weekly (with some
exceptions) to keep you informed about events,
activities, and news of interest to the Green Party
of Ohio -- http://www.ohiogreens.org.

We invite you to review our party Web site
after you've read this newsletter. We welcome your
comments or suggestions about our site or party.
Send comments: secretary@ohiogreens.org.

We value our relationship with you. If at any time
you wish to leave our mailing list and not receive
future newsletter mailings, reply to this message
with "unsubscribe" in the subject field.

We also encourage you to help us spread the word
about our newsletter and the Green Party. Please
feel welcome to forward a copy of it to your friends.
They can be added to our mailing list by submitting
the form at: http://www.ohiogreens.org/newsletter/register.html.

***************************************************
Green Party of Ohio
PO Box 851, Kent OH 44240
Email: secretary@ohiogreens.org
Web: http://www.ohiogreens.org