From Alternet:

Trip is to protest mountaintop removal mining
by Brittney Moore

Sam Evans wants the voices of Appalachian families near coal mining sites to be heard, so he’s cycling to Washington, D.C., to hand-deliver protest letters written by mining communities.

“The bike ride for me is just a way to take the voices of the people who aren’t being heard right now and take them to Washington, D.C.,” said Evans, a third-year law student at the University of Tennessee. He plans on leaving Tennessee Jan. 9 and arriving in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20.

Evans won’t be alone for the 750-mile trip. Missy Petty of Conservation Fisheries Inc., a nonprofit organization that rescues endangered fish species, will join him for the first half of the trip.

Evans and Petty plan to stay in homes close to coal mining sites to see for themselves the impact mining has on nearby communities, then gather letters protesting mountaintop removal mining. Evans will hand-deliver the letters to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which will give the letters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We just want people to be aware of what’s going on in their own backyards and want them to care,” Petty said.

Read the rest of the article

Courtest of Fossil Fool at Rock The Bike:

This was on the Albany Bicycle Coalition mailing list today:

I wanted to update you on the progress of the Friends of the Rail Trail group I’ve been helping to get organized. Jack Madden and I have been working with the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy (MHLC) to get a Friends Group started. So at least for the short term, the Friends group, which will most likely be called the Friends of the Hudson-Helderberg Rail Trail (FOHHRT is the acronym I like; calling it “fort” for short), has been created as a committee of the MHLC.

We can really use more volunteers who want to help with the friends group, especially folks who live in Albany and Voorheesville or New Scotland areas; most of our current volunteers are Bethlehem residents.

We are looking for a couple of people who would be willing to take on leadership roles, and lots of people who are willing to help out with less of a time committment. Even though the trail is about 2 years from being completed according to the county, we can use help starting soon.

We’re considering the following committees: Membership and Fundraising, Community Outreach and Publicity, Engineering and Maintenance, Safety and Security, and perhaps a Volunteer committee as well (though volunteers would serve on each committe really).

Here’s what volunteers would be helping with:

• Working with Albany County officials and members of the public to advise on the trail’s design and construction.
• Raising public awareness of the trail’s existence, and promoting it’s use.
• Calming concerns of local residents about trail safety, security, costs, etc.
• Helping establish proper signage for the trail (including visibility and directional signage, and related business oriented signage—such as bike shops, local eateries and cultural opportunities, and more), brochures, maps and other resources.
• Coordinating volunteer efforts for the trail such as garbage cleanup, planning events, etc.
• Encouraging bicycle awareness, safety, and maintenance among community members (as well as that of other non-motorized wheeled transit—i.e. rollerblades, skateboards, strollers, etc.)
• Working toward linking the trail with other rail trails, pedestrian paths, and community assets.
• Partnering with local community groups, businesses, or other entities.
• Working toward establishment of adequate and safe access to the trail, auto parking, and other infrastructure and services necessary for full use of the trail.
• Helping raise funds as needed for ongoing maintenance or security costs, signage, interpretive brochures for trail users, etc.
• Working with law enforcement officials and members of each of the communities along the trail to assure appropriate patrolling and safety of the trail for users, and prevention of motorized vehicle use along the trail

Anyone who can help with any of this or would like to join this group, please email me at raindan33@gmail.com.

Thanks very much!

Dan Rain, co-chair, Friends of the Hudson-Helderberg Rail Trail Committee, MHLC

Bruce Wilbur pointed out this post from No Impact Man:

AN OPEN LETTER TO NY STATE SENATOR JEFF KLEIN, WHO YESTERDAY CALLED ME A F—ING ASSH-LE AFTER NEARLY HITTING ME WITH HIS MERCEDES:

You’re never going to believe it folks, but today I had another close call on my bike, but this time the driver was New York State Senator Jeff Klein of the 34th Senate District in the Bronx. What follows is an open letter to the Senator which I will deliver to him today.

I am asking Senator Klein to meet with me and the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, the New York City organization that advocates for bikers and pedestrians. Since the Senator has now had first hand experience, we’d like to talk to him about policies that would help keep bikes and cars from tangling with each other.

Bloggers and journalists, please feel free to repost the letter in its entirety (being sure, of course, to attribute it to Colin Beavan at NoImpactMan.com).

Readers, please email this post to every New Yorker you know.

New York State citizens, please register your thoughts on the incident I will describe below with Senator Klein and the leader of the New York State Democrats. I will give contact details below. Please also ask Senator Klein to honor my request to meet with him.

The rest of the letter and all the relevant contact information is at Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man site.

If you’re in a hurry, you can reach Senator Klein at:

718-822-2049 or jdklein@senate.state.ny.us

Richard Gates is a heart transplant recipient. He’s also on a bicycle tour from Cleveland to Boston to promote organ donation. And tomorrow (Monday), he comes to Albany.

According to the Albany Times Union, Gates “plans to stop at Albany Medical Center Hospital at noon Monday and may meet there with staff and a support group.”

You can find out more about Richard Gates and his tour at tourdesecondchance.com. And if you’re free at noon, it might be nice to head down to Albany Med and welcome him to our fair city.

Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy talks about “zero tolerance” crime policy

Chuck and Gary sent me links to the following story:

Cop nearly right-hooks cyclists in Rochester (Channel 10)

Chuck also included these comments:

Check out the video from last night’s channel 10 news. The cyclist was nearly “hooked” by a police cruiser, and the officer decided that the cyclist was not following the “rules of the road”. The written story and commentary stated that the cyclist “darts out from the side”. Clearly, he was simply continuing to travel in his original direction. I think that the cyclist’s mistake was to not take the entire lane.

Dave Moulton wrote about this story on his blog today.

What do YOU think? And what should we do about it?