Baltimore Activist Alert -- February 18 - 19, 2020

31] House Judiciary Committee hearing about prerelease unit for women – Feb. 18

32] Protest killer drone research at JHU – Feb. 18

33] Making Public Transportation More Equitable – Feb. 18

34] 2020 Bike Maryland Symposium – Feb. 19

35] A Strike Vote -- Feb. 19

36] Hearing on composting – Feb. 19

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31] – There is a hearing on Tues., Feb. 18 at 1 PM before the House Judiciary Committee on HB0608 - Correctional Services - Prerelease Unit for Women - Requirement to Operate - Delegate Crutchfield. The bill requires, instead of authorizes, the Commissioner of Correction to operate a prerelease unit for women.  

32] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" at 33^rd and N. Charles Sts. on Tues., Feb. 18 from 5 to 6 PM. Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607. 

33] – On Tues., Feb. 18 from 6 to 9 PM, get with Real Talk Tho: Making Public Transportation More Equitable, hosted by Baltimore Beat and The Real Baltimore at Ida B's Table, 231 Holliday St.,  Baltimore 21202. Real Talk Tho is an opportunity for people to discuss and debate real solutions to our city's intractable problems. What would effective policy look like and how do we get it implemented?  Search for solutions, develop the editorial work of The Real News Network and eat some great modern soul food.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/804064276777532/.

34] -- On Wed., Feb.  19 from 8 AM to 4 PM, get over to the 2020 Bike Maryland Symposium, hosted by Bike Maryland, 1415 Bush St., Baltimore 21230. Look at www.bikemaryland.org.  The Bike Maryland Symposium is a day in Annapolis where you can network with like-minded Maryland cyclists and advocates and your Maryland legislator to discuss Maryland cycling issues that matter to you.  This year, based on popular demand, the symposium is focusing heavily on bicycle advocacy. Go in-depth on the specific bills for in this legislative session, address all questions and concerns, train and organize on how to effectively lobby, and then lobby with pre-scheduled meetings with your legislator. Register at https://www.bikemaryland.org/events/6358/, and check out https://www.facebook.com/events/1025502014473561/.

35] – On Wed., Feb.  19 from 11 AM to noon, rally to Announce Strike Vote at Giant & Safeway, hosted by UFCW Local 400 at 1100 4th St, SW, WDC 20024-4449. Giant & Safeway workers have been in negotiations on a new union contract covering workers at all stores in the DMV area. After five months of talks, both companies are insisting on unacceptable proposals, including Freezing new workers in DC and Maryland at minimum wage for the next three years, Keeping part-timers hired after Oct. 30, 2013 at a maximum of 24 hours/week, making them ineligible for benefits and Immediate cuts to healthcare funding.  The date of the vote will be announced at the press conference. If workers vote to authorize a strike, more than 25,000 grocery workers at hundreds of stores in the region could go out on strike. Learn more at www.ufcw400.org and https://www.facebook.com/events/177898483537581/.

36] – On Wed., Feb.  19 from 1 to 5 PM, go to a public hearing in the House, 6 Bladen St., Annapolis 21401-1912, on composting. Clean Water Action Maryland tells us that food waste is an enormous problem, with over 25% of the overall food supply at the retail and consumer level going uneaten and thrown away. Throwing organic material away into landfills and incinerators is a waste; composting it is a climate mitigation and adaptation strategy, soil additive, and job creator. Composting turns this discarded organic material into a nutrient-rich product that helps sequester carbon while improving soil health and resiliency, and employs more Marylanders than landfilling or incinerating it. Composting is a growing industry in Maryland - but it needs a boost.  HB589 would help grow the composting industry in the state by phasing in a requirement that large food waste producers - cafeterias, schools, restaurants, etc. - keep those food scraps out of the trash incinerator or landfill, if there is a compost facility nearby that could take them instead. They could send it to that facility, they could send it to a farm, they could compost it themselves, they could even donate it - they just can't throw it away!

Arrive at noon for the hearing to allow time for finding the hearing room and to get a seat. There will be panels of testimony from the supporters of this bill, and then from the opposition. The bill might be called for a hearing at any point in the afternoon - so please plan to stay as long as you can! See https://www.facebook.com/events/390397118491540/.

To be continued

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs