This week I got news from an activist friend in Montana that the abortion and family services clinic in Kalispell, Montana has been brutally vandalized by anti-choice extremists. Susan Cahill, who runs the practice describes the vandalism as a total loss. Records were destroyed, equipment was destroyed, pictures, cards and personal effects - all purposely destroyed by extremists who want to intimidate people and force their anti-choice views on everyone in town.
Because freedom means everybody has to do what they say, by god.
The Montana Human Rights Network tweeted in support of a crowd funding effort to help the center raise money to get back up and running.
IN OTHER NEWS
This week the New Hampshire House voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to repeal the death penalty in the state. The bill is passing through the Senate now. The governor, Democrat Maggie Hassan, is prepared to sign the repeal should it pass in the senate. New Hampshire has one death row inmate that some lawmakers want to remove from death row if the repeal is successful. There are currently 19 states exercising a sane and rational approach to this issue. Washington state's governor just last week called for a moratorium on the death penalty saying there are "too many problems" with it".
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Speaking of death row, a 30-year inmate was exonerated this week in Louisiana. He was released on Tuesday after new evidence emerged exonerating him from the charge that placed him on death row - killing a white man in 1983. Glenn Ford is now free. He's also 64 years old. (more)
So here's a thing. A Democratic lawmaker in Brooklyn is challenging the legitimacy of five Senate Democrats. In his words: "You can't run and get elected on the Democratic line, work with the opposing party on an agenda that goes against what we put forward, and then run in the election as a Democrat...Let them run on the Republican line and see if they get re-elected." The lawmaker's name: Martin Dilan. He plans to contact the Democratic Committee in each of the counties where these five "Independent Democratic Conference" members are from. We'll see what happens and I'll let you know what I find out. I don't know about you, but...I like this guy. (more)
Isn't state and local politics fun? Here's another.
In Boise Idaho, the FBI is investigating a prison that is being run by Corrections Corporation of America. The reason? A LOT of violence. So much violence that inmates (and everyone else) call it "Gladiator School". Shit. Not surprisingly, after 10 years of having the "corrections contract", the CCA says they'd (woopsie!) understaffed the prison and, gosh darn it...turns out the state contract
does specify staffing requirements. Oops. And of course, without missing a beat Idaho
Republicans "officials" say the prison should be turned over to state control because who could have guessed that CCA would try to increase their profit margin by decreasing their staff, the single most expensive expenditure in any business operation? Hm. Who could have predicted?
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Welp....That's it for this week. Not because there's nothing else to tell. But because you don't want to be reading forever. But you can keep up with more state and local news where I scan and post stuff everyday. This one is a Facebook page for Bold Blue Media and this one is a Twitter for the same. And if you really want more in depth news and even more information (all while helping state and local Democrats run strong campaigns) consider subscribing to my monthly magazine.
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Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 12:32 PM PT: An arrest has been made in the Montana vandalism case. http://missoulian.com/...