Agriculture Study: Charles Allott  to Speak on Farmland Preservation.

Charles Allott, Executive Director of the Aquidneck Land Trust, will speak about the importance of preserving farmland on Aquidneck Island on March 12 at

6:00 pm at the Middletown Police Station.  The League of Women Voters of Newport County is sponsoring Mr. Allott’s talk, in conjunction with the National League’s initiative to update its Agriculture position.   Local Leagues, as part of their research on agriculture, are sponsoring forums to educate members and the general public about issues critical to local farmers.   The state of Rhode Island leads the nation in  the percentage of farmland lost to development.  Since it was founded in 1990, The Aquidneck Land Trust has conserved over 2000 acres of land on Aquidneck Island.

This talk is free and open to the public.  The Middletown Police Department ‘s address is 123 Valley Road, Middletown.  For more information call 378-7595.

There was a great story on RIPR this morning about designing better ballots. It explains a lot about why ballots look the way they do and why they are often poorly designed. Check it out. RIPR Ballot Design Story

The League Advocacy committee will post new bills we are following that have been introduced in the legislature on this blog on a weekly basis.  The spreadsheet is organized to correspond with our advocacy subcommittees.  The last column initials indicate which subcommittee (see earlier blog) the bills fall under.  ed=education; env= environment; gov= good government, selection of magistrates; gun+ gun safety and control; open/eth=open records/open meetings & ethics; rj=reproductive justice; vot=voting reforms

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The LWVRI is cosponsoring with Common Cause RI, Hassenfeld Institute at Bryant University and Roger Williams School of Law an event on the question of holding a constitutional convention in Rhode Island. The registration deadline is March 9.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-constitutional-convention-for-rhode-island-tickets-10676185759

Are you ready for the Agriculture Study? An  information meeting presenting the topics in the study will be held on March 31 at the Jamestown Philomenian Library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Check www.lwvri.org for more information or visit the LWVUS Ag Study site (www.lwv.org/member-resources/agriculture-update)

Here are some other good sources of information to help you prepare for the meeting and consensus.
Mark Bittman's article from the New York Times,“How to Feed the World” (www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/opinion/how-to-feed-the-world.html?ref=markbittman)

NPR’s blog page “The Salt,” which includes two broadcasts about chicken farming and “integrated” farming (www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/19/276981085/is-tyson-foods-chicken-empire-a-meat-racket and www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/20/279040721/the-system-that-supplies-our-chickens-pits-farmer-against-farmer).

Also check out an earlier article from the RI Voter