Roanoke County, VA Focus

Roanoke Area Activists Send a Message to Wall St.

Last week, union activists around Virginia took part in the AFL-CIO's "Good Jobs Now, Make Wall Street Pay" week of action. In Roanoke, members from CWA, IBEW, and SMWIA locals educated the public about Wall Street's continued shenanigans.



Members handed out leaflets describing the bailout money Bank of America received in TARP funds as well as the millions in bonuses they're handing out to their highest execs.

Jody Moore and Chuck Simpson, both out of CWA Local 2204, explained that the TARP money wasn’t supposed to simply “go into CEOs’ pockets as bonuses, but was intended to create jobs.”

Tommy Miller (IBEW Local 26) noted, "they've been bailed out of the situation, now we need them to invest back into the system to create jobs for people. Lots of jobs."

They're now spending millions to lobby against financial reform and against basic ground rules that will help prevent the type of financial disaster that brought the US economy to its knees. These regulations include the creation of a strong independent consumer protection agency. We call on the banks to stop fighting against sensible reform.

Wall Street still doesn't get the message. Their mindset is that they can keep doing the same practices- the same ones that got us into this hole.

We spoke with one gentleman who owns a small photography business and whose brother has an automotive shop.

We actually could use the help in our shops but without loans we're not able to expand our business and hire. We're not in a position to be hiring really qualified, top employees.

At our Norfolk action, Warren Kilgore, IBEW Local 80, added, "It's time to give money back to Main Street, not Wall Street, and have some justice for the working class folks who are trying to pay their mortgages and scraping along in an economy with high unemployment."


An upcoming event:

Cool Cities' Annual Affiliates Conference and Cool Citizen Awards Ceremony
March 24, 2011
Claude Moore Education Complex, Henry St., Roanoke
7:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Continental breakfast buffet will be followed by presentations and award ceremony


Roanoke Sierra Club
http://virginia.sierraclub.org/roanoke/

The Roanoke Group is a unit of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club, founded in 1892 by the legendary John Muir, is the largest grass-roots environmental organization in the world. We work on local, state, national, and global environmental issues. We sponsor programs, social, educational and recreational activities for our members and the public (see CALENDAR of EVENTS for details). For information about our officers and other leaders, click the "contact us" link.


A movie about the Roanoke area's environment from RIDE Solutions:




Here are some local resources in the Roanoke area of Virginia:

NAACP in Roanoke, VA:
http://roanokenaacp.org/index.html
Post Office Box 12362
Roanoke, Virginia 24025
Office Phone (540) 344-2424

The Roanoke Branch was originally established 87 years ago to follow through on the promise of equal rights for all minority communities in Roanoke, Virginia and the surrounding areas. The branch has been actively fighting civil rights issues ever since. Today, our branch is proud to carry on the goals and objectives of the National Office for all citizens of Roanoke, Virginia.

Check out NAACP's Our Voices on Television:
Our Voices television broadcast each Sunday (12:30 PM and 6:30 PM on WDRL 24)
Our Voices radio broadcast each Saturday (9:00 AM on WTOY 1480 radio)


Roanoke County Democrats
P.O. Box 20061
Roanoke, VA 24018-0007
(540)774-1905
info@roanokecountydemocrats.com



(540) 343-5652
1319 Grandin Rd
Roanoke, VA 24015

General Store Hours
Mon. - Sat., 8am - 8pm
Sunday, 9am - 7pm

Happy Belly Deli Hours
Now Open Everyday
11am - 2pm

Incorporated in 1975, Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op...provides our community with nutritious food choices and earth-friendly products. Operating from cooperative principles, we support sustainable environmental practices, local organic farmers, local businesses, and our community.

We are the largest cooperatively owned natural foods grocery store in Virginia, and though we’re member owned, ownership is not required to shop. Our products are many, our selection diverse, and our promise unwavering – that you will find quality items for sale in our store with no artificial colorants, preservatives, or additives.


LGBT Roanoke, Virginia is on Facebook
An open group for Roanoke, VA that support LGBT members, and the friends, family, and supporters of the LGBT community! Serving Roanoke, VA and surrounding cities!

Check them out here.

Also check out: Outright Roanoke Book Club
outrightroanokebooks@yahoo.com
We are a new book club for LGBT youth!
Each month we read a book that has an
LGBT theme or main character.
We meet on the first Thursday of each
month from 7-8pm.


SOME GREEN RESOURCES IN THE ROANOKE AREA:
From Roanoke's Clean and Green website

RIDE Solutions
This initiative of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission advocates and provides information and referral for alternatives to single-vehicle transportation, such as carpool matching, bike route mapping, and telecommuting. Works with groups such as ShareBike, which supports the availability of a fleet of bicycles for short-term use by anyone in the community.

Roanoke Community Garden Association
RCGA’s mission is to create sustainable community gardens throughout the Roanoke Valley. Its flagship is the Frank Roupas Community Garden in Southeast, dedicated in December 2009. (website not up and running yet??)

Roanoke Permaculture Education Guild
Promotes an integrated approach to sustainability through such practices as planting edible landscapes, expanding the urban forest, and composting, with an eye toward healing the earth and encouraging self-sufficiency.

Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition
Cool Cities uses education, outreach, and community action to work toward policy-level solutions to the problem of global warming.

Roanoke Valley Greenways Commission
The Roanoke Valley Greenways Commission is an umbrella organization for the development of the valleywide greenways network by the City of Roanoke, Roanoke County, the City of Salem and the Town of Vinton. Pathfinders for Greenways is a partner group that provides an outlet for volunteers who want to work on greenways projects.


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