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2011 Archive


DECEMBER

State Adoption Regulations Hearing

On Dec. 14th APV President Stephanie Rodriguez and Public Policy Director Scott Price attended public hearings on the state's adoption regulations. Mr. Price testified before the State Social Services Board in favor of broader non discrimination regulations for private adoption agencies in Virginia that would have protected the rights of citizens to adopt regardless of age, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation and sexual orientation. Sadly, the board later voted 5 - 1 against the broader regulations and instead accepted the McDonnell administration's watered down language.


APV December Salon at Helen's

In December we took a break from our usual guest speaker format in order to celebrate the holiday season and look back at what APV has done in 2011 and what we plan on doing in the year to come. APV board members and officers were there to discuss our progress, plans for the future and take any questions and suggestions. It was a fantastic event filled with great food, friends and music by the Tim Harding Jazz Quartet. The salon reinforced what is so special about APV. We are lucky to have such a wonderful group of talented and informed members and lucky to share such camaraderie.


Updates on the restart of North Anna

On Dec. 9th, Scott Price and Erica Gray from the APV Public Policy team testified before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on behalf of an emergency petition to delay the restart of the reactors at the aging North Anna site, 40 miles northwest of Richmond. The site was near the epicenter of the August earthquake that forced the shutdown. APV was a cosignatory to the petition along with a dozen other state and national organizations.


On December 5th, 2011 APV's Public Policy Director Scott Price spoke to students at James River High School about civics in general and how government works, and doesn't. APV would like to thank Mr. Robert Gifford and his Government class for their warm welcome and thoughtful questions.


NOVEMBER

Rally for Renewables

APV members were in attendance at Sierra Club's Rally for Renewables on Nov. 30th, 2011. A gathering took place outside the Dominion Tower in downtown Richmond. Protesters then marched to the State Corporation Commission to deliver 2,500 public comments urging them to require renewable energy in Dominion Virginia Power's 15 year plan for powering our future.


APV's November Salon came off very well despite a scheduling mistake on our part that kept our original guest, Pedestrian, Bicycle and Trails Coordinator for the City of Richmond, Jakob Helmboldt from speaking. Instead Co-Chairman of the Mayor’s Bicycling, Pedestrian and Trails Commission, Champe Burnley, spoke and took questions from our audience. APV wishes to thank Mr. Burnley for stepping in and for his informative and thought-provoking presentation. We hope to re-schedule Mr. Helmbolt to speak at a salon in the coming year.

(photo:Champe Burnley and Ann Hardy)


Schindler Gallery open house benefit for APV

On Sunday, November 12th, Richmond's own Eric Schindler Gallery, hosted an open house closing for "Quiet Monkeys - memory objects" new work by Tracy St.Peter. Part of the proceeds went to benefit the Alliance for Progressive Values. APV's Board of Directors wishes to thank Ms. St. Peter and gallery owner Kirsten Gray for their generosity and kindness. The art work was thought provoking and deeply compelling and the gallery, as always, provided a lovely and welcoming environment in which to view it.

The Eric Schindler Gallery is located at
2305 East Broad St.
Richmond Virginia 23223
Gallery Hours
Wednesday – Friday, 12-3 & 4-6
Saturday, 11-4 and by appointment
For more information: http://ericschindlergallery.com/index.htm


Screening of Fresh, the movie

On Sunday, November 6th, APV held a DVD screening and public forum at the Friends Meeting house of Richmond. We showed the film "Fresh" which deals with alternative agriculture and sustainable farming. During the film our guests munched on organic popcorn and drank remarkably tasty natural soda. Afterwards guests stayed on to discuss the film and the safe food movement in general. I, for one, thought the discussion afterwards was as good as the film. I want to single out our event team headed by Courtney Cranor for doing such a great job organizing this event. Also, the society of friends for the use of the hall and Renee Stramel for the projection system. Expect more of these events in the future.

Scott Price, Public Policy Director


OCTOBER

Occupy Richmond Raid

The Alliance for Progress Values deplores the decision taken last night and this morning, October 30-31st to evict the Occupy Richmond community from Kanawha Plaza. The Mayor and City Council have spent the last two weeks passing the buck instead of taking a stand. They’ve missed their chance to do the right thing and shown us in no uncertain terms which side they are on.

Many of our members have participated or been active in supporting the occupiers and APV will continue to find common cause with those who stand against unacceptable economic inequalities, a political system awash in corporate money and often unresponsive to the will of the people and a centralized, corporate-owned media that largely acts as stenographer to the moneyed and the powerful.

For more updates check http://occupyrva.org


Our friends at Not On Our Fault Line have been working very hard to convince the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not to allow Virginia Electric Power to restart the reactors at its aging North Anna facility, damaged during the August 2011 earthquake that hit the East Coast. The Alliance for Progressive Values agrees that the reactors should remain shut down until more extensive tests can be made to gage how safe the plant really is. APV has signed on in support for NOOFL's Emergency Enforcement Petition (EEP) asking the NRC to wait. The ruling could come as soon as Friday, October 21st. APV strongly opposes restarting the plant now. There are serious questions that we believe have not been fully answered. We are deeply concerned that economic rather than safety issues may be driving the rush to reopen. Below is a list of NOOFL's three (3) demands:

  1. Virginia Electric Power Company submit a formal license amendment request application to the NRC to reanalyze and re-evaluate the North Anna nuclear power station’s the design basis for earthquakes;
  2. Virginia Electric Power Company Prior to NRC shall require both North Anna Units 1 and 2 to be subject to the same level and rigor of inspection and safety analyses prior to restart that includes the full reactor core offload inspections to reasonably assure the same level of deterministic oversight;
  3. Virginia Electric Power Company be required to re-analyze and re-qualify the Lake Anna dam to provide reasonably assure of the one mile long earthen dam’s reliability given its reactor safety function and the exceedence of the Design Basis Earthquake criteria for North Anna safety-related systems, structures and components by the August 23, 2011 earthquake;
  4.  

    For more information contact Not On Our Fault Line here. To read APV's initial take on the reactor shut down following the quake go here.


Richmond Area Community Candidate Forum

APV was represented prominently at the Richmond Area Community Candidate's Forum on October 17th. APV's Public Policy Director, Scott Price, acted as moderator for the evening and APV President, Stephanie Rodriguez, manned the table and took video of the event which will be up soon.

Well over a dozen candidates participated, answering questions posed by the sponsoring organizations. APV wishes to thank the candidates and the other local and state organizations for making the evening a success. Also, thanks to the members who came out to hear the forum. Your participation makes all the difference. Look for more events like this in the future.


Rally to Protest VA TRAP Laws

The Alliance for Progressive Values has consistently stood up for the rights of woman in Virginia and across the nation. On October 15th, APV was on hand for the large rally at Richmond's Monroe Park, in protest of the new, highly restrictive laws that make it much harder for women in Virginia to access women's health clinics for abortions and for other services.

Click here to read more about the Virginia Coalition to Protect Women's Health.


Occupy Richmond

Also on October 15th members of the Alliance for Progressive Values participated in Occupy Richmond, an ongoing rally in support of the Wall Street protests in New York. A group of several hundred people met in Monroe Park and later marched to Kanawha Plaza where the occupation continues. APV board member Claire Tuite has been our liaison at the protests and she reports that a rotating group of between 50 and 75 people have been on site since Saturday. Spirits are high and organization and logistics are coming together. Here's a link to Occupy Richmond's website (be careful, there are fishing and false flag sites out there that are not connected with the actual rally.)


Take Back the American Dream Conference

On October 3-5, 2011 Alliance for Progressive Values Public Policy Director Scott Price journeyed to Washington D.C. to take part in the Take Back the American Dream Conference, sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future. Against the background of the growing Occupy Wall Street movement (and not long after APV members were among those arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge), activists from across the country met to make plans for fighting the growing corporate control of government, the media and our political system. Scott spoke personally with progressive members of Congress like Jan Schakowsky, Keith Ellison, Conference organizer Van Jones and many, many firefighters, teachers, nurses and law enforcement officers from great states like Ohio and Wisconsin, where they are manning the front lines to defend the rights of workers against the attacks of the radical right wing and their corporate allies.

Scott also marched in the "Jobs Not Cuts" rally on Capitol Hill that marked the end of the conference on Wednesday, October 5th. It a was great experience and a great chance to network with progressives from across America. The road ahead may be a hard one, but we can rest assured we are not alone on it. As Martin Luther King said "we may not get everything we work for, but we surely will work for everything we get." The time has come to work!

(Caption for picture: APV Public Policy Director Scott price with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D.- IL.))

For more information: http://www.ourfuture.org/conference/2011/virtual


NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE U.S.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1ST

On October 1st, APV members here in Richmond joined thousands of Americans across the country in national protests against nuclear energy. In the aftermath of the August earthquake that knocked out the aging North Anna facility, Virginians have become more aware of the real potential for harm posed by generating electricity via nuclear fission. APV members also attended the NRC's hearings at Mineral, Virginia to voice our concerns.

Our decision to oppose nuclear power is based on the long term problems inherent in the technology. Simply stated, nuclear power is very expensive, very elaborate and sometimes a very dangerous way to boil water to create steam to drive electric turbines. Nuclear's only saving grace has been its relatively low carbon foot print in terms of green-house gas emissions. Sadly this is more than compensated for by the dangers posed by the waste products the reactors generate and the devastating potential for radioactive contamination if an accident or terrorist attack should cause a breach or meltdown. Today, nuclear energy makes up a small, but significant part of our national power grid. We believe that with concerted effort at the state and federal levels, this can be replaced by better, safer alternatives. APV calls for a swift move towards safe, clean, renewable, green-house gas neutral forms of energy and the phasing out of this costly and dangerous dead end.

Here's a link to our statement following the August 2011 East Coast earthquake that put the aging North Anna nuclear power facility off line indefinitely.


SEPTEMBER

APV D.C. Lobby Trip

On September 22nd and 23rd members of APV's lobby team met with staff of over a dozen Representatives and Senators. We talked about a wide range of issues including protecting Social Security, preventing off shore oil drilling on the outer Atlantic coastal shelf and ending the disastrous Bush era Tax bailouts for the rich. We also presented the APV White Paper "Foxes Guarding the Hen House" which covers the issue of Genetically Modified Organisms in the Food Supply.
(In this picture from left to right: APV Board Member Claire Tuite, APV President Stephanie Rodriguez, APV Intern Aleks Schmidt, APV Events Chair Courtney Cranor, APV Member Lora Toothman, APV Public Policy Director Scott Price.)

Foxes Guarding the Hen House:
Big Business, Lax Regulation and the Case Against GMOs
An APV white paper

During the Alliance for Progressive Values' lobbying event in Washington, September 22-23, members of our legislative team presented select members of Congress with copies of "Foxes Guarding the Hen House" the APV White Paper on the issue of Genetically Modified Organisms, prepared by our Public Policy department. Here is a link to an electronic copy of the paper. SP


The Wall Street protests that began last week and are planned to continue for months to come, are an important and positive sign that people are waking up and taking action. That said, the lack of coverage in the mainstream press is a prime example of the failure of corporate media to address issues outside the prime interests of their stockholders and boards. Linked here is an open letter from the protests to the liberal media asking for them to step in and fill the gap in coverage of these important events. Also you may help support Occupy Wall Street by visiting their website: https://occupywallst.org/


On September 15th the Virginia Board of Health voted to approve new, highly questionable TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) rules governing Women's Health Clinics. The regulations were passed and Virginia is subsequently one of the most restrictive and inaccessible states for women seeking reproductive services in the nation. Click here to read APV's letter to the Board in opposition to these new rules.


APV joins the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces in celebrating the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". As long as there has been an American Military, GLBT Americans have stepped forward to serve with honor and distinction, yet always under a shadow. Today, finally, these brave men and women can serve their country with renewed pride. Pride in the uniform they wear and pride in themselves as patriotic GLBT Americans. (read NYT article here)


AUGUST

Click here for The Alliance for Progressive Values' statement on the August 23rd, 2011 East Coast Earthquake and its significance in the debate over Nuclear Power.


APV in the news: Style Weekly interviewed APV President/Treasurer, Stephanie Rodriguez and APV Public Policy Director, Scott Price in their August 17th issue. You can read the article here. (Image by Ash Daniel)


Virginia Board Of Social Services Reopens Public Comment Period On New Rules Governing Private Adoption Agencies.

August 18th, 2011

On Wednesday, August 17th Alliance for Progressive Values Public Policy Director Scott Price testified before the Virginia State Board of Social Services in support of reopening the thirty (30) day public comment period on new rules governing private adoption agencies and foster-care.

In April the Board voted behind closed doors to end the comment period and roll back the rules adopted during the Kaine administration that prohibited private adoption agencies and foster-care providers from discriminating on the basis of age, disability, religious preference, political affiliation, marital status and sexual orientation. At that time the vote was 7-2 in favor of replacing the Kaine rules with new ones that only mentioned race, color and national origin. Subsequently, at least twenty five (25) individuals and organizations petitioned the Board to reopen the comments period which led to Wednesday's hearing and vote. APV spoke in favor of the petition and in favor of the rights of the many different Virginia stakeholders, covered in the Kaine rules, to seek to adopt and/or provide foster-care without fear of discrimination.

“Thousands of children stand in need of loving, caring homes and many otherwise deserving Virginians are ready to provide those homes. We believe that individual merit, not arbitrary preferences, should be the guiding principle in determining who is fit to adopt or provide foster-care.” Scott Price.

APV joined the ACLU, PFLAG, Colage, Equality Virginia, Mothers and Others of Virginia, People of Faith for Equality, Virginia New Majority and Virginia Organizing in testifying. Representatives of the Family Foundation and Catholic Charities also spoke in opposition. After the hearing, the Board voted unanimously to reopen comments. The period will run from September 12th to October 12th. APV will submit comments and we will have talking points for our members who wish to comment. While this is certainly a victory, it was somewhat unexpected and it should not be seen as a sign that the Board now supports the former Kaine era rules. Still, this gives us time to make our case to the Board and to the public at large. Special thanks go to Lora Toothman who did the driving for Mr. Price on Wednesday.


APV's August Salon was another rousing success. Our guest speakers, Women's health lobbyist Becky Bowers and nurse-midwife Jessica Jordan lead an insightful and lively discussion of women's health issues including access to care, licensing for nurse practitioners and midwives and birth control.

(Caption: from left to right, Claire Tuite, Jesica Jordan, Becky Bowers & Stephanie Rodriguez.)


On August 3rd, 2011 The Alliance for Progressive Values responded to the legislation to raise the national debt ceiling passed out of Congress. Read the letter here: APV Debt ceiling letter.


JULY

APV speaks out in favor of important legislation further criminalizing animal fighting. Read the draft copy of APV's open letter asking Congress to pass H.R. 2492 the "Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act of 2011" introduced by Rep. Marino (PA) and Rep. Sutton (OH).


Members of APV's leadership team attended the Virginia Democratic Party Summit at Virginia Commonwealth University, July 15-16, to network with lawmakers and staff and spread our progressive message. In this picture Congressman Robert "Bobby" Scott, APV President Stephanie Rodriguez and APV Public Policy Director Scott Price. Read APV's letter to Congressman Scott encouraging him to continue to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

"Demolishing our hard won social safety net to satisfy the ideologues and the radicals is simply unacceptable." Stephanie Rodriguez



APV's July Salon event was a big success. Despite the sweltering heat and humidity outside, a large group of members and guests met at Helen's on Main St. and enjoyed complimentary wine and light appetizers while our guest speaker, Delegate Jennifer McClellan spoke and took questions for over an hour on topics ranging from redistricting and energy policy to women's health and gun laws. On behalf of the board of directors of the Alliance for Progressive Values, I'd like to thank Delegate McClellan and all of the members and guests who braved the heat for making this another entertaining and thought provoking evening. I'd also like to thank the Tuite family and the staff at Helen's for making us feel so at home.

Stephanie Rodriguez, President, APV


Clarence Thomas must go
There is growing evidence that Justice Thomas has abused his position on the court, lied in federal documents, violated ethics rules, failed to excuse himself in cases where he had an interest and now there is new evidence that he may have perjured himself before Congress in 1991. Here is APV’s draft letter to Attorney General Holder, formally requesting an investigation into the activities of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.Thomas Letter



JUNE

City of Richmond's proposed Sound Ordinance
At the behest of our members, APV Public Policy Director Scott Price testifies before Richmond City Council in opposition to the proposed, overly broad, needlessly restrictive city noise ordinance.

Part 4/5 - Citizen Comments on Proposed Noise Ordinance - June 20, 2011 - Richmond, Virginia from Silver Persinger on Vimeo.

Read the text of our opposition brief- APV Sound Ordinance Brief



MAY

Clean Air Act
In May 2011 Alliance Public Policy team members meet with representatives of Virginia Senator Jim Webb to discuss APV's concerns over his support for a two year moratorium on EPA regulation of CO2 emissions from coal fired power plants.

Who's My Representative?

Who's My Senator?

In Virginia, Who's My Legislator?

       
   

Paid for by RVA Alliance Inc.. RVA Alliance Inc. DBA, APV, is a 501(c)(4) organization. APV primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important local, state and national issues.


 
   
 
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