The Huddler group in Maryville, Tenn. is one of many groups of Huddlers sparked by the 2017 Women's March in Washington, DC.

Blount schools director, New private schools voucher bill, TWRA efforts to clearcut protected sanctuary in Sparta, Tenn.

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Please save the Date: February 10th, 6PM a Special Forum for BC Director of Schools Search is scheduled at the BC Schools Central Office at 831 Grandview Dr., Maryville. Anti-public school activists plan to be there, so please consider attending to offer a different perspective. Also spread the word.Actions for Week of February 6, 2022

  1. Another TN Voucher Bill – SB1674/HB1671 would provide parents vouchers that can be applied to private schools if their public school does not over 180 days of in-person learning each year for a 3-year period ending September 1, 2025. This penalizes any school that closes due to COVID, even if the reason is the inability to staff the school due to COVID-related illness. SB1674 has passed in the Senate and the House bill has been assigned to the House Education Instruction Committee. You can email the committee members through this link. Click on their photo to reach their email page. Also consider contacting our State Legislators with your feedback.

Rep. Jerome Moon: 615-741-5481, rep.jerome.moon@capitol.tn.gov

Rep. Bob Ramsey: 615-741-3560, rep.bob.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov

  1. Support Statues for Female Justices – Rep. Lois Frankel has introduced a bill (HR 4814) that would pave the wave for statues honoring SCOTUS Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the US Capitol or on Capitol Grounds. Please ask Rep. Burchett to support and cosponsor this bill. So far it has only 6 cosponsors.  See contact information below.

Good News!

    1. After bipartisan opposition from the TN General Assembly, TWRA is postponing its plan to clearcut forested land in the Bridgestone Firestone Wilderness Area.
    2. Hawaii legislators request $600 million to help Native Hawaiians with housing.
    3. A lease approved by the prior administration for a nickel-copper mine in northeastern MN has been cancelled.
    4. Pres. Biden signed an executive order strengthening the military justice system’s response to gender-based violence.
    5. An appeals court in Wisconsin reinstated ballot drop boxes for primary election on Feb. 15th.

Educate Yourself

    1. To learn how many Biden nominees have been approved by the Senate, see this tracking website.
    2. More voter suppression bills continue to be filed around the country, including one that would do away with all absentee and early voting in Arizona.
    3. Read about the rate of unionization in the USA over the last several years and how many American workers would like to unionize at their workplace.
    4. Read about the corporations that made donations to Republicans in TX after they passed the restrictive abortion ban. They include PepsiCo, CVS, ATT, Walmart, Zillow, Allstate, UPS, and others.
    5. Gov. Lee has approved $28.5million in block grants to 62 community projects in TN. Details are provided here. Unfortunately, Blount County is not a recipient.

Members of Congress (MoC) Contact InformationA good way to fax these folks is to use ResistBot. Text “resist” to 50409 and follow the instructions. When contacting them in any form, always ask for a response. Rep. Tim Burchett: 800 Market St. Suite 110 Knoxville TN 37902, phone: 202-225-5435 (DC), 865-523-3772 (Knoxville), 865-984-5464 (Maryville), email = https://burchett.house.gov/zip-code-lookup?form=/contact/email-me , Twitter = @timburchett Sen. Bill Hagerty:  phone:  202-224-4944 (DC), 865-545-4253 (Knoxville), 423-752-5337 (Chattanooga) or 615-736-5129 (Nashville), email: https://www.hagerty.senate.gov/ , Twitter = @BillHagertyTN

Sen. Marsha Blackburn: 357 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510 or 800 Market St. Suite 121 Knoxville TN 37902; phone: 202-224-3344 (DC), 865-540-3781 (Knoxville), 423-541-2939 (Chattanooga), 629-800-6600 (Nashville); email = https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/email-me , Twitter = @MarshaBlackburnUpcoming EventsSee & bookmark this calendar:  https://sites.google.com/view/wmcethuddle/calendar?authuser=0

BC Director of Schools Search Special Forum, Feb 10th, 6PM. Location: BC Schools Central Office at 831 Grandview Dr., Maryville. Anti-public school activists plan to be there, so please consider attending to offer a different perspective. Also spread the word.

Invasive Plant Clean-up at Maryville College Woods, Feb 19th, Sat 9AM-1PM: Rain dates are a week later. Meet at McArthur Pavilion, 825 Morningside Lane, Maryville, on the Maryville College campus. For more information visit https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/about/inside/woods/.

Feb 22nd, 11:30AM-1PM: BCEAC Luncheon Meeting. For agenda and Zoom link contact bcecumenicalactioncouncil@gmail.com  or visit https://bceac.org/. Dues are $20 per year and can be paid online via the website. Monthly Huddle Meeting. Feb 24th, Thur 7PM: Speaker: Mr. Dennis Clark, the Regional Organizing Director of East TN for The Equity Alliance, a nonprofit organization based in TN that advocates for equitable opportunities and systems that improve the quality of life for Black people.  Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89545888666?pwd=ZlMyQ2pBYVQwMG5pblNVdGt5RTdwUT09

Blount County NAACP Meeting. Feb 26th, Sat 11:45AM: To obtain Zoom link contact ramaloha@hotmail.com. This meeting is followed by the BC United Meeting at 1PM. To obtain Zoom link contact we41602@aol.com.

Future Huddle Meeting Dates: We will continue to meet via Zoom on the last Thursday of the month. 2022 Meeting Dates: Feb 24th (Equity Alliance), Mar 31st (TN General Assembly Update), Apr 28th (Better Nature Solutions), May 26th (open), June 30 (panel discussion on homelessness in BC, tentative), July 28 (Local Candidate Forum), etc.

For more information visit Maryville Huddle Women’s March Coalition of East Tennessee; and Facebook.

 

ABOUT:  The Women’s March Coalition Huddles are community- and issue-based groups born of the women’s rights movement that ignited on January 21st, 2017, which was the first day of the 45th presidency. On that day, millions of women from across the country converged on Washington D.C. for the first Women’s March. From there, the Women’s March Coalition was organized and has branched out to include a united front of Huddles/Huddlers across the United States on shared national goals and concerns of local Huddlers. To find or establish a Huddle near you, go to womensmarch.com.

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