AmeriCorps VISTA Position Open with OVEC
OVEC has been approved to host an AmeriCorps VISTA and we are recruiting applicants now.

The deadline to apply for this position is October 14. Applications must be made at this link. The position begins on November 14 and lasts one year.

This position requires leadership or participation in two OVEC projects that will promote sustainable economic development and renewable energy in West Virginia. If this sounds interesting to you, learn all the details here.

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Will You Volunteer for WV Streams?
Streams across the state are under risk from the development of fracked gas pipelines. For the West-Central part of the state, the proposed Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline threatens streams in Putnam, Wayne, Jackson, Cabell, Roane, and other counties.

That’s why, in partnership with WV Highlands Conservancy, we are bringing Trout Unlimited and WV Rivers Coalition’s WV-VA Water Quality Monitoring Program training to Charleston.

What: Fracked Gas Pipeline Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Training
When: Sunday, October 16, 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Where: Coonskin Park Tennis Center, Charleston, WV

If you are interested in attending the training, please fill out the application here. Please apply by Monday, October 10; applying takes just a few moments. Directions to the training session and an agenda will be provided the week of the training.

Do note that the initial focus of OVEC’s water testing program is on selected streams in Roane, Jackson, Putnam, Cabell and Wayne counties. 

Learn more by reading this blog.

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Vote Vote Vote
Are you registered to vote? Find out in just seconds here.

For the first time, as of this year, West Virginians can register to vote online here.

The last day to register to vote for the 2016 general election is October 18. Be sure to register by 4 p.m. that day.

For registered-to-vote West Virginians, early voting is possible for October 26 to November 5. Early Voting is open during regular business hours at each county courthouse or courthouse annex. Early Voting is also available each Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Contact your County Clerk to confirm Early Voting hours and locations.

Tuesday, November 8 is Election Day. In West Virginia, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m. Find your WV polling place here.

One more thing about voting… Did you know that “West Virginia is one of several states in which a convicted felon’s right to vote is restored once he or she is no longer under correctional control”? Learn more in this recent, thought-provoking Charleston Gazette op-ed by Rev. Matthew J. Watts: What if WV felons decided to vote? 

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Welcome Keena; Turnout For These Events
We hope you will join OVEC in welcoming our new outreach and membership coordinator, Keena Mullins. Opining on WV politicians’ failure to diversify the state’s economy in her debut blog post, Keena says, ” What we’re left with is a shared set of struggles and the opportunity to join together, empower each other, and prevent the second wave of boom/bust, extraction-based economics in Appalachia.”

Keena goes on to invite folks to contact her (keena@ohvec.org): “I’m really interested in getting to know each of you as individuals and working together one-on-one to come up with a way for you to be engaged in our efforts, while doing something that you find fulfilling and important.” 

October and November are jam-packed with ways to become engaged; we bet you’ll find more than one fulfilling, important activity here in which you can engage. Below are a few of the highlights, but do be sure to check our calendar page for many more. See you out there!

This weekend, October 7 – 8: Morgantown WV. Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: A Dialogue Leading to Action. Learn more here and register here.

October 8: 6 p.m. The Huntington-Cabell branch of the NAACP hosts its annual Freedom Fund banquet: Our Lives Matter, Our Votes Count, at Marshall University Student Union, BE5. Doors open 5:30 p.m.

October 10: Deadline to apply for Ocotber 16 water monitoring training. See above for details.

October 10: Deadline to register for the WVEC and WVHC Joint Biennial Fall Conference at Camp Virgil Tate, in Charleston, WV, held October 21-23. Register here. 

October 11: The  WV Supreme Court of Appeals, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Building One, Charleston hears Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC v. Brian and Doris McCurdy, EQT’s appeal regarding Monroe county’s Judge Iron’s ruling last year that upheld the right of landowners to refuse to allow surveys by Mountain Valley Pipeline. The Judge said that there was no evidence of public need for the pipeline.

We need support in the court! Be in the third floor courtroom by 10 a.m. on October 11. This case is the third one on the docket; We need to be there and ready. To get in, have photo ID to get in and be prepared for security searches. 

October 13: Proposed Sherwood Compressor Station public comment meeting. Comment in writing or come out. Details here. 

October 14 – 16: Annual Fall Gathering on Kayford Mountain at Stanley Heirs Park, Kayford Mountain, WV.

October 14 – 16: Seeds of Resistance Harvest Tour.

October 17: Rally to Save Coal River Mountain, at noon at the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection, 601 57th St SE, Charleston, WV.

October 17: Loving Appalachia: Celebrating WV Heritage on the Marshall University campus from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held on the field in front of the INTO Marshall University building (e-mail info@ohvec.org for a campus map) and will be moved to the Memorial Student Center in the event of inclement weather. 

October 30: Premier of Season 2 of Years of Living Dangerously on National Geographic Channel. This series on climate change highlights personal stories, and this season will have a stronger focus on the solutions to climate change, particularly a price on carbon through the series’ Put A Price On It campaign.

Help spread the word: Like the series’ Facebook page. Tweet about it: Check out @YEARSofLIVING’s updated website for info about Season 2 & why we need to #PutAPriceOnIt! http://yearsoflivingdangerously.com/ #YEARSproject

There really is so much more, near and far, so please do check the calendar.  

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