Tired of chalking yet? Too bad. The war continues. We break down the madness from every angle • Rebels or Empire? • Keene city budget public hearing • Pumpkin fest lobbyists • What the hell is tax increment financing? • Doom movie review • James and Garret join • Show notes at: BlackSheepRising.org
Here’s a press release I’m sending this morning to NH media:
As of Thursday morning, nationally syndicated talk show host Ian Freeman has thrown his hat into the ring for governor of NH in a primary challenge to incumbent Maggie Hassan. In addition to being a registered democrat, Freeman is a co-chair of the New Hampshire Liberty Party. Freeman openly challenges Hassan on her inhumane continuation of the insane “War on Drugs”, especially the war on cannabis users. On Freeman’s campaign info page, he states,
If Maggie were a true democrat, she’d care about the little guy, but yet her state police continue to put the little guy behind bars for victimless crimes like cannabis possession. As governor, I’ll pardon all victimless criminals as one of my first acts.
Freeman also supports NH seceding from the United States as well as equal ballot access for all candidates. Regarding Freeman’s positions on other issues, please see the NH Liberty Party platform. Or, contact the candidate directly with any questions or media requests at 603-513-2449 or ian at freetalklive.com
Do you love to watch the activist videos you see at FreeKeene.com? Did you know that there are two “raw” channels where you can find all the uncut versions of the footage–before they hit the editing room floor? Garret Ean and I upload all of our footage to YouTube daily, whether it gets used or not. If you’re a skeptic, this is a great way to call out the activists for what you believe they’ve edited out. Dig in! Here’s just a taste of what you’ve been missing:
Videos from June 7, 2014
Videos from June 6, 2014
More…
Shire Free Church Tax Hearing (Angle 1)
Shire Free Church Tax Hearing (Angle 2)
Shire Free Church Tax Hearing (Angle 3)
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Matthew Oldershaw is a 30 year old father of one. On June 3rd, 2014, at about 6:30pm he was writing with sidewalk chalk on the ground by the fountain in downtown Keene, NH when a man came up and pushed him in the fountain, injuring his neck, ribs, and legs. He was rushed to the hospital where it was determined that some of his injuries are so severe that they may never heal correctly. The man who did this to him has been identified by eye witnesses and on camera, but one week later, the Keene Police have yet to arrest the assailant. Here is the story in Matthew’s own words.
It’s budget time and of course it’s going up again. Just like last year. And the year before. Surprisingly, the Parking Fund is going down $200,000 even though the city collected $80,000 less than it had planned on (no doubt thanks to Robin Hood and his merry misfits). Some have been quick to applaud the city bureaucrats in this reduction, but wait. The TIF tax portion went up $200,000. What the hell is a TIF tax? If all you saw was “tax” and you already knew it was something bad, then you would be correct. Here is a brief explanation in my LTE to the Keene Sentinel:
Tax Increment Financing is not “free money”
Who pays for Keene’s downtown parking?
If you were to ask city management, they would tell you it’s paid for through rentals, fees and fines. If you then asked them if the taxpayers paid into the parking fund as well, they would most likely tell you “no.”
This is a flat-out mistruth. Let me explain. This year, $1 million (47 percent) of the $2.2 million proposed parking budget will come from the city’s Tax Increment Finance (TIF) tax pool. This is a huge increase from $840,000 (34 percent) last year.
The TIF tax pool is generated from Keene’s two developmental districts and the revenue collected can only be spent in those districts. It cannot be spent elsewhere. The idea is the money will be put aside and used to improve the assessed value of these properties and therefore increase the potential tax revenue over time because, according to social engineer Mayor Lane, development in these areas would never happen unless they had a little help from the taxpayers. This is a ridiculous notion.
One of the biggest problems with TIF is how the money is spent. Right now, almost half of Keene’s TIF revenue goes to the parking fund. The other half is spent mostly on principal and interest. We’re talking about $2.4 million that could be going directly to the general fund to pay for city services, which would ultimately help lower the already unsustainable tax rate.
But instead it gets spent on snow removal.
Keene city councilor Randy Filiault is proposing a prohibition on all chalking downtown at tonight’s 6pm committee meeting at city hall. He actually says he wants to stop kids from playing hopscotch downtown, at about five minutes into his interview with WKBK’s Dan Mitchell this morning,
“What about the kids that want to play hopscotch?… If they want to play hopscotch, they’re more than welcome to in their own yards and their own neighborhoods, just not, they’re not going to chalk up city streets downtown.”
If the city council is foolish enough to pass such an ordinance, they better get ready to pay thousands more taxpayer dollars to defend their attack on the freedom of speech in court! I bet the NH ACLU and the Hopscotch Keene Preservation Society will be very interested in bringing a case.
Matthew “Yankee” Oldershaw
Matthew “Yankee” Oldershaw, hospitalized last week after being shoved into the Central Square fountain (allegedly by James Michael Phillips), has spoken out to give his side of the story. In an interview with the Keene Sentinel, Yankee says he did NOT grab local businesswoman Dorrie O’Meara’s arm. His claim is backed up by multiple witnesses.
Interestingly, he admits that he was the one who chalked the war monument and says that when police asked him to remove it, he did.
Finally, he clarifies that he’s not with Free Keene, but instead part of the Occupy movement.
The Sentinel interview was conducted from Yankee’s hospital bed, where he has been diagnosed with a broken shoulder blade, fractured collarbone, several other hairline fractures and a concussion. He has since checked himself out of the hospital, rejecting their recommendation of surgery. He can barely walk.
This week on Wednesday at 6pm a city committee will hear a proposal for a new graffiti ordinance with “teeth”, because chalking must be stopped! Looks like the War on Chalk continues to escalate as the peaceful chalkers continue to occupy the square with happy, positive artwork. Indeed, a new community group has been formed, the Hopscotch Preservation Society.
The Union Leader has also published a story about the War on Chalk, though author Megan Pierce unfortunately did not appear to contact anyone from Free Keene for comment.
Plus, local activist David Crawford submitted this Letter to the Editor of the Sentinel: (more…)
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