Greenstar Newsletter from GPPA
The Green Star is the official newsletter of the Green Party of Pennsylvania.
April 2023
PA Green News
By Chris Robinson
Green Party Candidate Announces Bid For PA House of Representatives District 113
Richard Maopolski of Scranton, PA, has officially declared himself a Green Party candidate in the 2024 electoral race for Pennsylvania State Representative District 113. The District is in Lackawanna County, and is composed of most of Scranton. Maopolski will run as a Green because he says, "The Republicans have forgotten fiscal responsibility, but it's the Democrats in power who have forgotten why we fight." He will caucus with neither party and looks to build a coalition of sharp-as-auditors fiscal representatives with a group of progressives who haven't forgotten to get into "good trouble."
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
PA Greens Elect Co-Chair
County delegates to the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) had a busy meeting on March 12. The 26 delegates and friends from 11 counties endorsed the National Peace March on the White House scheduled for March 18.
The delegates also elected by consensus a second GPPA co-chair. Jeremy R. Griffin (he/him), the new co-chair of GPPA, is a podcaster, public speaker, educator, researcher, geographer and Kutztown University alum. He played a paramount role in gathering petitions for two Green Party candidates: Paul Glover for PA Governor and Glenn C. Davis for PA House District 190 in 2014. Griffin also played an outreach role for Kearni Warren, who ran as a Green Party candidate for Chester City Council in 2021.
Allegheny Greens Picket on International Women’s Day
Members and friends of the Green Party of Allegheny County (GPOAC) joined a picket in front of a fake abortion center on March 8, International Women’s Day. The event was hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Demonstrators demanded funding for women’s and LGBTQ people’s healthcare, not fake abortion clinics. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Campaign Updates
Edited by Chris Robinson
GREEN STAR has heard that some Green Party members are considering a run for local office in November 2023. Well, folks, NOW is the time to make up your mind, organize your campaign committee, and request authorization from your county Green Party. The best way to get on the ballot will be to gather signatures on your nomination papers outside polling places during the May 18 Primary Election.
Below are the two candidates who have already contacted GREEN STAR at [email protected]
2023 Election
Tara Yaney for Re-Election to Edgewood Borough Council
Allegheny County
Tara tells GREEN STAR that she has a BS in physics from the University of Pennsylvania and directs the Pittsburgh Concert Orchestra Junior Wind Ensemble. Tara will run for re-election this year. You might donate to her campaign via her website, https://taraforedgewood.com/
2024 Election
Richard Maopolski for PA Representative District 113
Lackawanna County
Richard tells GREEN STAR that he plans to help rebuild the Green Party of Lackawanna County, and to then ask the Green Party of PA to authorize his candidacy. Richard is a life-long resident of Lackawanna County. He says he “has a proven track record of following his principles, volunteering in the community, and being able to accomplish some of the most difficult of things.” To volunteer for his campaign committee, please contact Richard at, [email protected]
Team Reports
Edited by Patrick O. McNally
The Green Party of Pennsylvania has four Action Teams. Here are reports from two of those teams:
Communication Team by Chris Robinson and David Ochmanowicz Jr.
This month, the ComTeam has published a fantastic April GREEN STAR, and we sure can use your help in getting out the May GREEN STAR. We are now working on several draft news releases for the media. If you find publicity and outreach exciting, please let us know at [email protected] Oh yeah, we really need jpg photos of Greens being Green. Thanks! Please join the Communication Team right here www.gpofpa.org/team_communications_join
Finance Team
The GPPA Finance Team’s goals for 2023 include the hosting of two in-person fundraisers and six phone banks to urge Greens to become dues-paying members. The Finance Team does not meet on a regular basis, but rather on an ad hoc basis. If you would like to participate on the Finance Team by fundraising, organizing a phonebanking drive, or assisting in duties such as managing Green Party merchandise, drafting our annual budget, bookkeeping, or compliance and reporting, please sign up at the following link.
National Green News
Edited by David Ochmanowicz Jr.
Thousands March in Washington, DC, to Launch New Movement Against U.S. Empire
Jill Stein of the Green Party warned about the nuclear threat posed by escalation between nuclear powers: “These are not like the Hiroshima bombs of decades ago. These are a thousand times stronger. It only takes a handful to basically create nuclear winter that will starve billions of people. Anyone who thinks that the nuclear war happens ‘over there, don’t worry about it,’ you’ve got another thing to learn. The nuclear war happens to all of us.” READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Green and Libertarian Parties Petition NY Supreme Court Over Restrictive Ballot Access
The third parties think the new ballot restrictions meet no legitimate state interest besides guaranteeing Democrat and Republican hold on government.
Left in New York Join the Green Transformation
Jack Baldwin has been a Green Party member and an activist since 2000. He has belonged to various antiwar groups as well as Occupy the Pipeline, and currently he is a member of The Manhattan Project, a New York-based anti-nuclear group, and Extinction Rebellion NYC, the New York branch of the worldwide environmental organization. He joins us from New York to discuss the March 25 meeting, Join the Green Transformation, a Green Party of NY County effort to mobilize left voter
Global Green News
Edited by Hal Brown
Zambia: Green Party President Faces Threats and Intimidation
The Green Party of Zambia expresses concern for the safety and security of its President. He accuses the outgoing UPND Kwacha deputy, Charles Abel Mulenga, of being among the instigators of these threats. According to the Green Party, Mulenga claimed that [Green Party] President [Peter] Sinkamba wanted his election nullified by the Constitutional Court. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Turkish Green Party Wins Case Against Interior Ministry
During the first week in March,] the court ruled in favor of the Turkish Green Party. A court in Ankara found the Interior Ministry guilty of trying to prevent the establishment of the Green Party by not providing the necessary documents. Ankara’s 8th Administrative Court ruled that the Interior Ministry had committed an “unfair act” against the Green Party on the grounds that the former had “actually prevented the establishment of the party by not issuing receipts for documents required for its establishment.”
Malta’s Green Party Presents Candidates for the European Parliament
European elections will take place in 2024...Malta’s Green Party ADPD is, for its part, already in battle order to take an active part in these elections...Ralph Cassar, Sandra Gauci and Mina Jack Tolu are therefore the three candidates who will represent the party in these elections. They have been validly approved by the executive of the Green Party ADPD...Malta’s Green Party ADPD is a progressive political party, born from the merger of Alternattiva Demokratika and Partit Demokratiku. Together, these two small parties won under 3% of the vote in the 2017 general election. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
GPPA Meeting Dates for 2023
All State Web Conferences will begin promptly at noon.
Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11, location to be announced.
Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and 10, location to be announced.
Sunday, November 12, via Zoom.
GPPA Communications Team
Issue Credits
Editors: Hal Brown, Patrick O. McNally, David Ochmanowicz Jr. and Chris Robinson
Contributors: Richard Maopolski, David Ochmanowicz Jr., Chris Robinson, and Tara Yaney
Layout: Hal Brown, Sherri Miller and David Ochmanowicz Jr.
Graphic Arts: Kevin Richardson
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The GREEN STAR is an official publication of the Green Party of Pennsylvania Communications Team * 2023.
