INCO Weekly Newsletter 1/7

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Indivisibles start INCO's third year of achievement and inspiration. Left: Kathleen, Steve, and Cheryl at the INCO table at Ales & Ideas at Fort George on January 3rd. Right: Warrenton Indivisibles show the posters for INCO's January 19 Speak Truth Regional Summit. They'll arrive at 7 a.m. to set up and decorate the showroom.  Left: Speak Truth Women's March organizers take a break.  Sharon, Joyce, Kathleen, Kerry, and Marty are part of INCO's Seaside Gearhart Community Group. Right: Astoria Community Group wants you to attend the January 19 Speak Truth Regional Summit. SPEAK TRUTH | 2019 INCO REGIONAL SUMMIT Saturday, January 19, 2019 Speak Truth Regional Summit  8:30 am - noon, Lovell Showroom, 426 14th Street, Astoria Featuring Bobby Michaels, Linai Vaz, and Margaret Frimoth Fresh perspectives on demanding truth from elected officials and speaking truth to power. Networking, dialogue, and inspiration for defending democracy. * INCO's Advocacy Team is fielding requests for your organization's literature to be available here.. Contact incoregon@gmail.com. Lunch, (optional), Lovell Showroom, 426 14th Street, Astoria An optional box lunch can be purchased in the morning, with sign-making and postcarding available during lunch in the showroom. Speak Truth Women's March Our march starts at 2 pm at Heritage Square, 12th & Exchange, Astoria This inclusive, nonviolent event is free and open to the public.  This march is posted on national sites, but INCO is not affiliated with the national organizing groups. Run For Something 4 - 5:30 pm, Lovell Showroom, 426 14th Street, Astoria Q&A with a panel of local elected leaders about why and how you could run for office. Panelists are Bruce Jones, Mayor of Astoria; Tita Montero, Seaside City Councilor; Kathleen Sullivan, Clatsop County Commissioner; Pam Wev, Clatsop County Commissioner. If you don't run, who will? All events are free and open to the public. More information at www.incoregon.org. GUIDE to the SPEAK TRUTH WOMEN'S MARCH "We were made for these times."  -- Clarissa Pinkola Estes   SAFETY: We will walk on the sidewalk for less than a mile, mainly on Commercial and Marine Drive. Obey traffic lights and stop signs. Use common sense and courtesy. Volunteer safety monitors in neon vests will assist for everyone's safety. BE PREPARED: Do not engage with hecklers. Ignore them. In the unlikely event of a physical threat, call 911. Should press or others ask to interview you, it's OK to decline to speak. If you choose to talk, be sure to ask who is interviewing and how the material will be used. PARKING & PETS:  Unlimited free street parking is widely available up the hill from Exchange Street. Two- and three-hour parking is available in many downtown locations. Pets must be on a leash. Public bathrooms are 1/2-block east of 12th on Exchange. SIGNS: We encourage you to make and carry a sign with your positive message about what you believe in and what you're working for. Organizations are invited to march with their sign/banner. PHOTOS: Please post your photos on the INCO Facebook page or email them to incoregon@gmail.com. FROM OUR SENATORS Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley released his new plan, "A Blueprint for Our 'We the People' Democracy."  It proposes supporting National Popular Vote, ending gerrymandering, restoring Voting Rights Act, a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and more. Read it here. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden just announced  the first bill he has introduced for the 116th Congress is legislation to require every president or presidential nominee to disclose their returns. "We have every right to know if any president has financial conflicts of interest, foreign entanglements, or stands to profit from the presidency," Wyden said. Indivisibles helped make it a SRO crowd at Senator Wyden's Town Hall on Sunday. Several Indivisibles got to ask questions about impeachment, healthcare, education, and immigration. Thanks to Bebe, Carmen, Kat, Kathleen, Laurie, and Wendela for passing out out INCO's Agree/Disagree signs and flyers about the summit. SPECIAL EVENTS  Thanks to Indivisibles Carolyn, David, Chris, Kathleen, Roger, and others for organizing these community events. Forest Management & the Climate Emergency Friday, January 11 at 7 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm Clatsop Community College, Columbia Hall 219, 16th & Lexington, Astoria Hosted by CREATE and Clatsop Community College Carbon, Water & Community Thursday, January 31 at 7 pm Doors open at 6 pm Lovell Showroom, 426 14th Street, Astoria Hosted by Oregon Brewshed Alliance, Oregon Wild, CREATE, and Alliance for Democracy "In the Executioner's Shadow" - A documentary film about the death penalty Saturday, February 16 at 2 pm Doors open at 1:30 Astoria Public Library Flag Room, 450 10th Street Hosted by Alliance for Democracy and Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty  HR -1: Putting the Blue Wave to Work to Strengthen Democracy Indivisible expects the very first bill in the Democratically-controlled House to be a democracy reform package, focusing on voter empowerment and access, getting big money out of politics, and cracking down on corruption. Read about HR-1 here.   INCO's Vote the Future team urges you to contact your Member of Congress to support this exciting bill.  Clatsop Housing Survey Economic inequality - including unaffordable housing - weakens democracy. Please take Clatsop County's housing survey to help our county and city officials move forward. Clean Energy Jobs Lobby Day in Salem  Wednesday, February 6 • Carpools  INCO's Eric Halperin is coordinating CEJ work on the north coast. Join him in Salem to convince legislators to support legislation to bring Oregon the economic and environmental benefits of clean energy jobs. Some 500 people lobbied legislators in 2018. This year's goal is the more people the better.   Here is the link for people to sign up.  Please sign up so that  Renew Oregon, the lead organization, knows how many people to expect, and so they can assign folks to their group that will visit their legislators.   Here is the link to the carpool site.  For more information, contact Eric at ehod1@yahoo.com. HAPPENINGS Details on our events page. Everyone is welcome to all these events. THIS WEEK Tuesday, January 8 - INCO Seaside-Gearhart Community Group,  6:30 pm, email incoregon@gmail.com for address UPCOMING Wednesday, January 16 - INCO on 'Talk of Our Towns' radio program, KMUN -91.9 FM, 9:30-10 am, with Donna Quinn, host; Kathleen MacDonald, Seaside-Gearhart Community Group co-leader; Carmen Hammersmith, Warrenton Community Group co-leader. Wednesday, January 16 - Vote the Future (VTF) monthly meeting,  6:30 pm, Seaside Library Board Room. Wednesday, January 16 - INCO Book Club, 6:30 pm, Astoria; discussing LAST CALL for LIBERTY: How America's Genius For Freedom Has Becomes Its Greatest Threat, Os Guinness, ivpress, 2018.   Email cebeady@outlook.com for address. Saturday, January 19 - Speak Truth | 2019 INCO Regional Summit, Women's March, and Run For Something; Astoria. Summit starts at 8:30 am, lunch and sign--making break, Speak Truth Women's March starts at 2 pm, Run For Something is 4 - 5:30 pm. Saturday, February 2 - Warrenton Community Group monthly meeting, 11:30, Dooger's Seafood & Grill, Highway 101, Warrenton. Saturday, February 2 - Astoria Community Group monthly meeting, 1 pm, Street 14 Cafe, 1410 Commercial Street, Astoria. Wednesday, February 6 - Clean Energy Jobs Lobby Day, Salem. See information above. Wednesday, February 6 - Advocacy Team monthly meeting, 6:30 - 8 pm, Seaside Library Board Room. People vs. Trump; Paygo An excellent NY Times article by David Leonhardt column lists the specific reasons why "The president must go." Paygo sounds like a new video game, but it's actually a complex budget rule that many say favors GOP legislative attempts to undercut progressive programs. Search online for more info. Thanks to David Delk for bringing this to the attention of INCO Astoria at Saturday's meeting. INSIGHTS "Let them remember that there is meaning beyond absurdity.  Let them be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power, and that we can - everyone - do our share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and all frustrations and all disappointments.  And above all, remember that the meaning of life is to build a life as if it were a work of art." --Abraham Heschel ACTION PRIORITIES   How will your Members of Congress know what you want if you don't tell them? •  Members of Congress (MoC) care about getting re-elected, so contact ONLY elected officials who represent you so you don't dilute the power of actual constituents. •  It's more effective to contact your MoC about one issue at a time.  •  Be sure to tell MoC when you agree with their positions and votes.   Contact YOUR elected officials here.   For current action items, visit www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Find other suggested actions in the Americans of Conscience Checklist.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS  Get active with INCO's Advocacy Team, Vote the Future Team,  Book Club and Community Groups. Contact Laurie at incoregon@gmail.com for more information.   Questions, suggestions, & photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  INCO has 3 websites: our main one; Vote the Future; and Really Do Care INCO Under 40s. Really Do Care also has a Facebook group.  Join INCO's closed Facebook group. Share this newsletter with other resisters. INCO is supported entirely by donations. Please donate online or mail a check to INCO c/o PO Box 536, Warrenton, OR 97146. Deb Vanasse and Laurie Caplan, INCO Co-chairs INCO Weekly Newsletter   January 7, 2019