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DistrictBuilder is web-based, open source software for collaborative redistricting. Related links and web conference info: https://www.azavea.com/blog/2017/07/31/districtbuilder-road-ahead-redistricting/ https://map.drawthelinespa.org/ Azavea – DistrictBuilder Demo Fri Jul 26, 2019 12pm – 1pm Joining info: meet.google.com/ewh-bvmf-cps On a spring Saturday, a gift sprung and was given to WV Rivers. The League of Women Voters of West Virginia (LWVWV) presented WV Rivers with an $800 check for our Science Fund to help support our water policy research. WV Rivers’ Executive Director Angie Rosser spoke at LWVWV’s biennial convention in Morgantown about current water policy issues. LWVWV live-streamed the event, you can watch it here.  Members of the LWVWV board present WV Rivers with Science Fund donation at their biennial statewide convention. “We are deeply grateful to partners like the League of Women Voters of WV who lift us up,” said Angie Rosser. “They stay informed, they get the word out, they raise money to make clean water advocacy possible in West Virginia. I’m totally inspired by the way they put their values in action.”  Angie Rosser and LWVWV Natural Resources Chair Helen Gibbins teaming up at the State Capitol. LWVWV’s Natural Resources Chair, Helen Gibbins, has been a long-time member of WV Rivers’ Water Policy Workgroup. The workgroup meets monthly to coordinate research and analysis of West Virginia’s most pressing water policy issues. When WV Rivers has a call to action, Helen is the key conduit for getting things done. “Helen is a force of nature for preserving our natural resources here in West Virginia,” shared Angie. “She identifies the important questions, creative strategies, and mobilization opportunities to elevate clean water policies at all levels.” The generous financial gift from LWVWV comes at a critical time. WV Rivers is in the middle of a fundraising drive to raise $25,000 to respond with an urgently needed in-depth study of our human health protections in our water quality standards – the rules that limit the amount of toxins allowed in our drinking water supplies. LWVWV’s donation helped us get closer to our goal, but we still have $10,000 left to go. Please join supporters, like LWVWV, in making your donation today. Together, we can do this! To learn more about LWVWV’s work, go to: lwvwv.org To learn more about WV Rivers’ Science Fund drive, go here. The League of Women Voters of West Virginia has adopted the following issues as its legislative priorities for the 2019 session of the West Virginia Legislature. We hope you will support measures that advance these goals LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2019 The League of Women Voters of West Virginia:
In keeping with its goal of encouraging participation by citizens in their government, the League will continue to monitor election laws and oppose measures which limit access to voting. Our members will be following action on these and other issues during the 2019 session. We appreciate your willingness to undertake public service and work toward our shared goal of creating a better West Virginia for all of its citizens. Sincerely, Jonathan Rosenbaum, President PRESS RELEASE The League of Women Voters of West Virginia urges voters to say NO to Constitutional Amendment 1 on November 6. If passed Amendment 1 would add the following language to the WV Constitution: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion.” Amendment 1 eliminates a woman’s right to privacy when making reproductive choices. The LWV believes a decision to terminate a pregnancy should be a private decision done in consultation between a woman and her doctor. The WV State constitution should protect this right of privacy. Amendment 1 provides no exceptions in the case of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger. The amendment denies the right of women to terminate any pregnancy under any circumstances. This amendment also denies poor women access to government funds for abortions, including instances of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. The full weight of Amendment 1 will be realized if federal safeguards (provided by Roe v Wade) protecting a women’s right to privacy when making decisions regarding abortion are removed. Laws approved in years past by the state legislature made abortion a felony. Court injunctions prevented their implementation but if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, they could easily resurface. If Roe is overturned, the passage of Amendment 1 would mean the state constitution would provide no protection for West Virginia women. Desperate women attempting to terminate their own pregnancies because medically safe procedures are unavailable would be subject to criminal prosecution. So would any medical personnel who assist in abortion procedures. The League of Women Voters believes public policy must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices. We urge voters to vote No on Amendment 1. ***END*** For further information contact 304-279-3201 JUDGE DOES NOT POSSESS FAIR AND UNBIASED JUDICIAL TEMPERAMENT “We urge the Senate to reject Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. “Judge Kavanaugh has shown the country that he does not possess fair and unbiased judicial temperament. Indeed, he engaged in unprovoked, partisan attacks, and treated United States Senators—the people conducting his job interview—with shocking disrespect. Senators have the right to ask questions of nominees. In fact, it is their responsibly to ask them on behalf of the American people. “In addition, troubling allegations about his past and misleading if not untruthful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee cast further doubt on his judicial credibility. Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers that “all judges who may be appointed by the United States are to hold their offices during good behavior.” That’s not what we saw from Judge Kavanaugh during the confirmation process. “We urge Senators to vote NO on Kavanaugh.” Contact: Sarah Courtney | 202-263-1332 | scourtney@lwv.org The League of Women Voters of West Virginia has adopted the following issues as its legislative priorities for the 2018 session of the West Virginia Legislature. We hope you will support measures that advance these goals. LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2018 The League of Women Voters of West Virginia:
In keeping with its goal of encouraging participation by citizens in their government, the League will continue to monitor election laws and oppose measures which limit access to voting. Our members will be following action on these and other issues during the 2018 session. We appreciate your willingness to undertake public service and work toward our shared goal of creating a better West Virginia for all of its citizens. Sincerely, Jonathan Rosenbaum, President The LWV-WV and other organizations sent the following letter urging our Senators to support the continuation of the 2017 appropriations for key EPA programs that help West Virginia’s rivers and streams. October 16, 2017 The Honorable Joe Manchin III The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito Dear Senators Manchin and Capito, West Virginia Rivers Coalition and the undersigned West Virginia organizations, are concerned about the federal appropriations that designate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s allocations for state programs that manage the protection of water quality. We urge you to support the continuation of the 2017 appropriations for key programs that help West Virginia’s rivers and streams. The U.S. House of Representatives appropriation for the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies bill reduced funding for EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program. The Bay Program is significant in its six-state cooperative effort that affects 180,000 miles of streams and rivers and 18 million people. We are pleased that West Virginia, which comprises the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, is part of that effort. We are also cognizant of the benefits of water clean-up programs in West Virginia supported by Bay Program funds. We believe the reduction of support for the Bay Program in the House appropriations bill will be detrimental to West Virginians in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We request that you maintain the 2017 funding level of $73 million in the 2018 appropriations, and support last year’s requirement that $6 million of this allocation go for Small Watershed Grants and $6 million for Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants. These grant programs alone have brought in approximately $5 million since 2010 for projects in West Virginia. We also are concerned about policy “riders” added to the bill in the House. Restricting efforts to clean up our waters is not a benefit for our citizens and may cause costly future clean ups for the public to bear. Here are a few examples that stand to place West Virginia’s waters at risk:
Thank you for considering these concerns. Please fully fund essential EPA programs and reject riders that put the future quality of our water supplies at risk. Angie Rosser, Executive Director George Santucci, Executive Director Cynthia Ellis, President Charles Marsh, President Gary Zuckett, Executive Director Sherry Evasic, President Julie Archer, Co-founder Natalie Thompson, Executive Director Judy Rodd, Executive Director John Bird, Conservation Chair Brent Walls Jonathan Rosenbaum, President League of Women Voters Condemns White Supremacists in Charlottesville Washington, DC - League of Women Voters president Chris Carson issued the following statement following the horrific acts by white supremacists in Virginia this weekend:
“Yesterday the world watched in horror as white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia. There is no place for hatred and violence in our democracy and all leaders must condemn these acts of domestic terrorism. We must send a strong message that while the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly are some of our most cherished rights and must be protected, those rights do not extend to what we witnessed yesterday. The League of Women Voters stands in solidarity with the victims of violence in Charlottesville and against white supremacism.” http://lwv.org/press-releases/lwv-statement-charlottesville Contact: Sarah Courtney | 202-263-1332 | scourtney@lwv.org Event is now postponed until the special session is over, and a replacement date can be determined. Please check back for a new event date announcement due to the special session of the legislature.
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