DRAFT 7/29

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WORKERS
Erie Labor Day Parade 2021 will be held September 6. This year IBEW 56 will be hosting the 2021 Erie Labor Day Parade! Also poster for Mercer Co. parade More details coming.
Battle of Blair Mountain, 1921 ... Significance for Working People Today Aug 19 7:30pm Host: Battle of Homestead Foundation "Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Celebration" occurring Sept. 3-6 in Charleston, WV.   "Join us for a Labor Day Weekend that is packed with activities across the southern coalfields of West Virginia!" List of all centennial events 

Worker-owned cooperatives and the future of Rust Belt labor Belt Magazine (5/13/2021) Amid declining union power and attacks on organized labor, some Rust Belt workers are turning to worker-owned cooperatives. 

SCHOOLS

St. Benedict Education Center officially home to Erie Co. Community College (Erie Benedictines 7/15/2021) 
Right-wing PENNCREST board members aggressively pushed a ban on critical race theory in July. Two reports from the Meadville Tribune covered the events in detail: Aggressively pushing the ban on 7/6  and creating chaos at the board meeting. 

Who's behind the astroturfed critical race theory push in PA? (PA Spotlight 7/22/2021)  
QAnon's new 'plan'? Run for school board (NBC News 7/7/2021) 

These 25 Pennsylvania school districts are most underfunded in a formula backed by lawmakers, Gov. Tom Wolf (Morning Call 7/1/2021) 

INDIGENOUS

Carlisle children buried in emotional ceremony (Indian Country Today 7/2021) 
The Seneca Nation Is Building Food Sovereignty, One Bison at a Time (Civil Eats 1/14/2021) 

This Penobscot Baseball Player Inspired The Cleveland Indians Name ‘For All The Wrong Reasons’ (Maine Public 7/25/2021)

ELECTIONS
Demstock 2021 Aug. 20-21, Elk County PA. Celebrating rural PA Dems www.actblue.com/donate/Demstock21. 
ECU Block Party Aug 21 noon-4pm Roger Young Park, 1750 Buffalo Rd, Erie "meet your Erie County United candidates, enjoy BBQ food, and check out our school supply giveaway." Registration info at event page. 

Oil Region Rising rallies outside Toomey's office protesting opposition to "For the People" Act (YourErie 7/1/2021) 

CNN ranks Pennsylvania Senate seat as most likely to flip in 2022 (Pgh City Paper 7/6/2021) 

Wolf clarifies voter ID position (AP 7/22/2021) Check out Canada voter ID requirements for comparison 

Buffalo common council researching form of governance that replaces the mayor (Buffalo News 7/27/2021)

ANIMAL LAW

Humane PA has compiled a very informative and easy-to-read listing of Legislation Affecting Animals 2021/22 a  for those who want to encourage PA legislators to support animal welfare. Fortunately this is no longer considered a fringe issue, and enjoys broad support. 

Erie Puppy Mill Awareness is "a 501(c)3 with a mission to make Erie Co. more humane by raising awareness & igniting activism against puppy mills & their outlets." 

LGBT+
Madeine Davis' Queer History of Buffalo (Belt Magazine 5/1/2021) Remembrance of the trailblazing activist and historian who passed away in April. 

Archives & Special Collections: Dr. Madeline Davis LGBTQ Archive of Western New York [ca. 1920-2018] 

Erie Pride Picnic 2021 Aug. 14, 1-6pm/food 2-4pm Rotary Pavilion, Presque Isle  Pride Day at Waldameer is Aug 15. Be sure to check details at link.  Host: NWPA Pride Alliance

Ohio Allows Doctors to Deny LGBTQ Health Care on Moral Grounds (Rolling Stone 7/7/2021)

ARTS & WORDS
Off the Beaten Path Bookstore Independent bookstore located in the Chautauqua County village of Lakewood NY."With a focus on fostering empathy, Off the Beaten Path curates titles for the community that promote understanding, diversity, and creativity." Be sure to check out their video conversations with authors. 
Béatrice Lebreton - Living Her Truth: Transcending Boundaries exhibit will be at Erie Art Museum starting Aug. 6 
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" virtual presentation by ALl An Act Theatre thru Sept 19 
Chautauqua Theater Company presents Thurgood Chautauqua Institution August 13 @ 4:00pm "compelling portrait of the first African-American to serve as a justice on the United States Supreme Court" 
The "Summer of Protest: 2020” exhibition at Prama Art Space examines the 2020 Cleveland George Floyd Protests Multiple contributors.
Belt Publishing & Belt Magazine Belt Magazine publishes independent journalism about the Rust Belt. Online only Belt Publishing publishes anthologies by and for residents of often misrepresented cities. 

THE BIG LIE IN PA
PA audit proponent Sen. Doug Mastriano, who bused Trump supporters to the US Capitol Jan. 6,  was photographed at least four times with insurrectionist Samuel Lazar, who is facing federal charges for allegedly assaulting police in the Capitol that day. Media Matters found that Mastriano promoted QAnon on Twitter over 50 times: check the article for other Mastriano wingnuttery. 

York Co. Trump supporters going door to door demanding to know which candidate they backed (York Dispatch 7/29/2021)
Sen. Dan Laughlin denounces audit in op-ed (Reuters 7/29/2021) 

Video: Attorney General Josh Shapiro talked to Vice News about “sham audits.”  
Experts warn against ‘sham election audits’ movement (Penn Capital-Star 7/20/2021) 

OTHER
New law requires public meeting agendas be posted online, if possible (TribLive 7/2/2021)
FirstEnergy to pay $230M in agreement in Ohio bribery case (AP 7/23/2021) "The energy giant at the center of a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio admitted Thursday to using dark money groups to fund the effort"