Kris Olsson joined the Huron River Watershed Council in 1992. She specializes in GIS analysis, landscape ecology, and local land use planning and ordinance development. Kris works with local governments and land protection organizations on promoting land use planning and policies that protect the watershed. She also trains local residents to become involved in their local government planning efforts. Kris earned two Masters of Science (resource ecology, natural resource policy) degrees at the University of Michigan.Janet Kahan has volunteered for the HRWC since the mid-90's.  Currently she coordinates a school outreach program to help students learn more about keeping our watershed healthy. Before retirement she was the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Math/Science Coordinator, and prior to that she was the science and environmental education consultant for Ann Arbor Public Schools.Diana Kern has extensive executive leadership background and a passion for nonprofit management, fundraising, and governance. Diana joined Legacy Land Conservancy at the beginning of 2019 and brings a conservation lens.  Diana has lived in Michigan for over 50 years and grew up in the country where farms, farming, rural heritage and natural spaces were part of her life. Diana has served on numerous nonprofit boards, committees and task forces over the years, including joining an all-volunteer group of community leaders in 2013 to raise over $1.6 million to fund the build and the opening of the Ann Arbor Skatepark at Veterans Memorial Park in west Ann Arbor.  Currently Diana serves as a board member for The Ark (Where Music Lives) in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is a member of the Ann Arbor Host Lions Club. When not working on land conservation issues, she can be found bird watching, enjoying friends and family, and listening to music.https://vppartnership.iescentral.com/  (Link shared by Kris Olsson)LWVMI statement against "Secure MI Vote" initiative: https://lwvmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PR-SecureMiVote10-11-21.pdfLWVMI statement in support of John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act: https://my.lwv.org/lwvus/action-alert/tell-your-senators-support-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-acthttps://bookshop.org/books/how-to-prepare-for-climate-change-a-practical-guide-to-surviving-the-chaos-9781982134518/9781982134518https://www.hrwc.orghttps://legacylandconservancy.orghttps://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021/03/ann-arbor-pfas-levels-rise-again-city-says-its-coming-from-wixom.htmlhttps://www.michigandaily.com/news/sewage-spills-gelman-plume-pfas-a-deep-dive-into-ann-arbors-ongoing-water-pollution-issues/https://www.hrwc.org/our-watershed/threats/pfas-and-the-huron-river/https://www.michigan.gov/pfasresponse/0,9038,7-365-86511_95792_95795---,00.htmlhttps://anthropocenealliance.org/residents-working-against-huron-river-flooding/https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/publications/pdfs/ForestsLandWater/LandscapeStewardshipPlans/HA_TSN_Final.pdfHigh costs, few customers: Benton Harbor water woes loom for Michigan cities | Bridge MichiganFilter 1st: Michigan legislature

A few of the problems with recycling as we’ve been practicing it include:Consumer products are packaged in half a dozen different types of confusingly-labeled “plastic,” most of which is not recyclable at all, or is made unrecyclable by hard-to-remove labels.Directions for consumers wishing to recycle are chaotic, with each community (or school, business, apartment, etc.) forced to devise its own messaging. As a result, a large majority of potentially recyclable material is contaminated by waste, and dumped in landfills.Consumption has continued to rise: In 1960, the average American generated 2.68 pounds of garbage per day; by 2017, that number had grown to 4.51 pounds.Add to these problems the fact that powerful corporations (who spend billions of dollars a year “greenwashing” their brands) profit from the failure of recycling, and we have a daunting challenge.Hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of employees and volunteers are working creatively to reduce consumer waste, greatly increase the use of recyclable materials, and conserve natural resources through a continual process of re-use. We’re joined by Mike Garfield, a nationally recognized leader in the field of waste reduction and recycling.Mike GarfieldMike Garfield is Director of the Ecology Center, which was founded in Ann Arbor just after the first Earth Day in 1970. Mr. Garfield has worked for health, environment, and justice in Michigan for over 30 years, serving as Director of the Ecology Center since 1993. Garfield has been one of Michigan’s leading voices on environmental issues, and an architect of some of the state’s most ambitious municipal initiatives in land use, transit, and solid waste. He is one of four founders of the new Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers (AMBR).Under his leadership, the Ecology Center has grown from a primarily local organization focused on Washtenaw County into a regional innovation center with a national reputation. Over the past two decades, the Ecology Center spearheaded a statewide campaign that closed all of Michigan’s medical waste incinerators, established the Midwest’s largest locally- funded land preservation program, created the country’s premier consumer product toxic testing service, and won the nation’s Top Community Recycler award. The Ecology Center has offices and facilities in Ann Arbor and Detroit, and is the parent organization of Recycle Ann Arbor.Garfield’s advocacy work has specialized in environmental health, climate, zero waste, and land use policy. He was one of the principal architects of Ann Arbor's nationally regarded recycling program, leading campaigns that funded major public investments in the program’s infrastructure. Between 1999 and 2005, he led or co-led six successful ballot campaigns that are preserving over 10,000 acres of land in southeast Michigan, including campaigns that created the Washtenaw County Natural Areas Program, and the Ann Arbor Parks and Greenbelt Program. He was one of the leaders of the 2014 ballot campaign to expand transit service in Washtenaw County. He’s testified before congressional, state legislative, and local committees, and served on numerous nonprofit and public boards and commissions. Mind the StoreBreak free from plastic

Dr. Edwards was born in South Wales, UK, and received his PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry from the University of Leicester, UK. He did postdoctoral research work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO and Purdue University in Indiana. Now an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Eastern Michigan University, he is part of a research group that measures both air quality, and the factors that influence it. His group is passionate about analyzing the quality of the air all citizens are exposed to, both in the Detroit urban corridor, and around the state of Michigan. They are engaged in ongoing efforts to build long term data-sets on how ozone and other gases are changing in concentration due to climate change, legislative policies and other factors Watch this program on YouTube: 48217https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/struggling-to-breathe-in-48217-michigans-most-toxic-zip-code/https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-airhttps://www.planning.org/planning/2020/oct/life-in-48217/Smogtown: The lung-burning history of pollution of Los Angeles by Chip JacobsSilent Spring by Rachel Carson

League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County & Theresa Reid host Kyle Whyte, PhDWhat can we learn from indigenous leaders as we try to find morally responsible and effective solutions to this man-made crisis? How do we ensure that proposed solutions do not further hurt the black, brown, indigenous, and poor communities that already suffer from severely unequal distribution of pollution and toxic waste? How do we ensure that indigenous voices are heard and respected in the search for equitable solutions? See the YouTube video of this live event: https://youtu.be/eGCbpvP6ia8Kyle Whyte, PhD,  is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and is the George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Sustainability, focus on Environmental Justice, at UM’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). Professor Whyte currently serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the Management Committee of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, the Board of Directors of the Pesticide Action Network North America, and many other national, regional, and state bodies addressing environmental inequity from the indigenous perspective.Links mentioned in the podcast::https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-report-president-biden-justice40-initiativehttps://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/07/20/the-path-to-achieving-justice40/https://www.science.org/content/article/native-tribes-have-lost-99-their-land-united-stateshttps://www.michiganej.orghttps://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/person/donald-fixico/https://anthropology.washington.edu/people/jean-m-dennisonhttps://turtletalk.blog/Book recommendation: David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon

Can agriculture and solar power exist in a mutually beneficial relationship? Yes, but for that to happen communities need to be deliberate in defining what agriculture looks like. Professor Gould introduces a new publication titled Planning & Zoning for Solar Energy Systems: A Guide for Michigan Local Governments (find the full pub here: http://extension.msu.edu/solarzoning) that can help communities develop a zoning ordinance that supports and encourages the type of ag solar projects they want. He will also focus on the land management concept of ‘dual use’. Dual use lies at the heart of making solar compatible with agriculture. Dual use is defined as a solar energy system that employs one or more of the following land management and conservation practices throughout the project site:• Pollinator Habitat: Solar sites designed to meet a score of 76 or more on the Michigan Pollinator Habitat Planning Scorecard for Solar Sites (https://bit.ly/3mJ04Vs).• Conservation Cover: Solar sites designed in consultation with conservation organizations that focus on restoring native plants, grasses, and prairie with the aim of protecting specific species (e.g., bird habitat) or providing specific ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil health).• Forage for Grazing: Solar sites that incorporate rotational livestock grazing and forage production as part of an overall vegetative maintenance plan.• Agrivoltaics: Solar sites that combine raising crops for food, fiber, or fuel, and generating electricity within the project area to maximize land use.Dr. Charles Gould is a MSU Extension Educator who provides relevant expertise in the areas of renewable energy and energy conservation to Michigan farmers and agribusiness that enable them to be sustainable now and in the future. He has particular expertise in agrivoltaics, bioenergy crop production, small anaerobic digesters, implementing on-farm energy conservation measures, and creating value-added products from manure and bioenergy crops. LINKS OF INTEREST:Planning & Zoning for Solar Energy Systems: A Guide for Michigan Local Governments http://extension.msu.edu/solarzoning Charles Gould’s MSU website includes many articles on ag solar   https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/merrill_gould Solar Panels Provide Cow Comfort https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/equipment/article/2020/02/10/solar-panels-can-provide-energy-cowsSolar energy, crops, and cattle work together https://www.agriculture.com/technology/livestock/energy-partnersSheep are grazing below Minnesota solar panels that invite pollinators to thrive https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/wild-flowers-and-sheep-create-a-biodiverse-pasture-under-minnesotas-solar-farmsBuilt solar assets are ‘chronically underperforming’ and modules degrading faster than expected, research finds https://www.pv-tech.org/built-solar-assets-are-chronically-underperforming-and-modules-degrading-faster-than-expected-research-finds/ Opinion: Community Solar – a rare opportunity for bipartisanship https://www.bridgemi.com/guest-commentary/opinion-community-solar-rare-opportunity-bipartisanship Planning & Zoning for Solar Energy Systems: A Guide for Michigan Local Governments http://extension.msu.edu/solarzoningMichigan Pollinator Habitat Planning Scorecard for Solar Sites https://bit.ly/3mJ04VsOpinion: Nevada views: no free lunch on green energy https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/nevada-views-no-free-lunch-on-green-energy-2382525/Solar deployed on rooftops could match annual U.S. electricity generation https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/10/11/solar-deployed-on-rooftops-could-match-annual-u-s-electricity-generation

Mary Garton is a nurse and educator, now retired. She is involved in climate action at the local, state, and national level, but focuses on at the national level. Mary has participated in 28 lobby meetings with 15 different members of Congress or their legislative aides, both on Capitol Hill and here in district. She has been active with Citizens Climate Lobby for 4 ½ years, and believes, like they do, that the best way to fight one’s own climate anxiety is to actively work towards a viable solution.Dr. Missy Stults is the Sustainability and Innovations Manager for the City of Ann Arbor. In this role, she works with all city operations, residents, businesses, the University of Michigan, nonprofits, and others to make Ann Arbor one of the most sustainable and equitable cities in America and to implement the A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan. Prior to joining the City, Missy worked with cities and tribal communities around the nation to advance their climate and sustainability goals, including during her time as the Climate Director at ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and as a consultant to philanthropic organizations. Missy has a PhD in urban resilience from the University of Michigan, a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and undergraduate degrees in Marine Biology and Environmental Science from the University of New England.Citizens' Climate Lobby is a grassroots, non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to create the political will for a livable world. Thousands of volunteers across the country build respectful relationships with their members of Congress to advocate for effective national policies to address climate change, believing that bipartisan support is essential for creating durable climate policy. CCL volunteers have been promoting a proposal called carbon fee and dividend since 2008. In January of 2019, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act was introduced with bipartisan support. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHEFChJq24ghttps://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/scenario.html?v=21.12.0https://citizensclimatelobby.org/white-house/

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall teaches classes in Constitutional Law; Race and the Law; Evidence; and Gender and Justice. She taught in the Africana Studies Program at Vassar College prior to joining the faculty of John Jay. She is a civil rights attorney who has litigated cases for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. Professor Browne-Marshall has spoken on issues of law and justice in Ghana, Rwanda, England, Wales, Canada, South Africa and before the United Nations in Geneva. In addition to She Took Justice, Professor Browne-Marshall is the author of The Voting Rights War (2017) and Race, Law, and American Society (2013), and scores of articles in the academic and popular press. Professor Browne-Marshall is also the author and producer of the short 2021 film, Dreams of Emmett Till. This special event is in commemoration of the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, in recognition of both the power and the limitations of that document, and in honor of the dramatically underappreciated contributions of Black women to the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S.

The U.S. incarcerates a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world: with 5% of the world’s population, we have nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners. The U.S. spends tens of billions of tax dollars annually to keep more than 2 million men and women in prison – a vast increase over the last 40 years. Prisoners of the United States are primarily poor and people of color, with policing practices like arbitrary traffic stops, “broken window” patrolling, and cash bail imprisoning people for trivial or non-existent offenses and further impoverishing them.  The human cost of mass incarceration in the U.S. is incalculable. The social cost – in terms of broken homes, crushed potential, lost workforce and creative contributions, and diversion of public funding for schools and other social goods – is staggering. Solutions to the complex problem of mass incarceration begin with local law enforcement practices. We are fortunate in Washtenaw County to have brilliant leaders devoted to ensuring that our “justice system” lives up to its name. This program presents two of these leaders.Victoria Burton-Harris serves as the Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Washtenaw County.  Passionate about the relationship between law, social justice and equality, she has devoted her career, in both her private firm and public office, to youth development and criminal justice reform, to spurring investment in community and divestment from the criminal justice system. Victoria takes a holistic approach to her work, helping people build stability in their lives that reaches beyond a courtroom by collaborating with community partners to assist her clients in maintaining stable housing and jobs and treatment for mental health and substance abuse. After years of witnessing over-charging, excessive bail, and prosecutorial vindictiveness, Ms. Burton-Harris realized that her efforts to end mass incarceration as a private "people's lawyer" would never be sufficient. Effective change would require a transformation of the gatekeeper to the criminal justice system: the county prosecutor. Ms. Burton-Harris believes a progressive prosecutor pursues fair and equal justice for all, promotes the goals of individualized justice, and is transparent and accountable to the people. Ms. Burton-Harris’s work has been highlighted by CNN, Democracy Now, The Guardian, Essence, The New York Times, The Appeal, The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News and local Detroit news stations FOX 2 Detroit, WDIV and WXYZ Detroit.Belinda Dulin is Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Center, serving Washtenaw and Livingston Counties.  As the executive director of the DRC, she and her team have implemented a variety of conflict resolution programs in district and circuit courts.  Additionally, services have been provided to schools serving students, families, and school staff in identifying and resolving barriers and issues that affect student relationships. The DRC partners with the Washtenaw County Peacemaking Court to provide peacemaking circles to families in the child protection and delinquency systems.

Washtenaw County’s Criminal Justice Collaborative Council (CJCC) works to develop collaborative plans, programs, and positions to reduce systemic stumbling blocks to the efficacy and fairness of our criminal legal system. The members of the CJCC include 20 elected and appointed leaders in criminal justice as well as four appointed members from the community. The main focus of the CJCC has been to develop interdisciplinary strategies to alleviate jail overcrowding, and to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners about how to implement and fund those strategies. Future efforts of the CJCC include a focus on reintegrating inmates into the community to reduce recidivism, and developing common technology solutions to enable criminal justice agencies to collaborate more effectively.

This podcast appeared originally as a video event.  To see the graphic displays , please visit https://www.citizensforracialequitywashtenaw.org/crew-s-reportTo view the animation created by UM Penny Stamps students, please see https://www.citizensforracialequitywashtenaw.org/community-toolkitIn August of 2020, Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw County (CREW) published its first formal report on racial disparities in the county's criminal legal system. CREW found glaring disparities in the experiences of white residents and residents of color in interactions with the county's police, prosecutors, and courts. We will be joined for a one-year update by Desirae Simmons, Co-Director, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, and Rev. Joe Summers, pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation. Both guests are CREW members.

https://www.miyouthjustice.org/The phrase school-to-prison pipeline describes the way strict discipline, in the form of suspensions and expulsions for simple infractions, falls disproportionately on Black and Brown students and pushes them out of school and into the growing system of mass incarceration.  The University of Texas School of Social Work says there are 4 things we need to know about the pipeline:1) Children of color are more likely to live in poverty than their peers;2) Children of color and all those growing up in poverty are less likely to receive quality education;3) Children of color face stricter discipline in schools;4) Children of color are more likely to end up in prison. A recent study from Harvard, Boston University, and the University of Colorado confirms this phenomenon. As the researchers wrote in Education Next:"Our findings show that early censure of school misbehavior causes increases in adult crime – that there is, in fact, a school-to-prison pipeline…Any effort to maintain safe and orderly school climates must take into account the clear and negative consequences of exclusionary discipline practices for young students, and especially young students of color, which last well into adulthood."The researchers also stated:"Misbehaving peers can have strong negative impacts on other students in the classroom, and all students need a safe, predictable, and peaceful environment to thrive…But our findings show that the school-to-prison pipeline is real and poses substantial risks for students in strict school environments."And outcomes such as higher likelihood of adult incarceration pose substantial problems for society as a whole. So let’s start with the schools. We can all recognize that all students need a safe environment to thrive. What can be done to ensure that students arrive in the classroom ready to learn rather than misbehave? And when misbehavior occurs, what can be done to mitigate its effect not only on others in the classroom, but on the student exhibiting the behavior?

Human societies go back thousands of years; policing as an institution for maintaining societal order is only 150 years old. Previous cultures had many ways of controlling behavior for the common good without the police. How did the institution as we know it arise? How might we move toward a system that holds police accountable and leads to more equitable and just application of the law? Dr. Karpiak (he/him/his) is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology at Eastern Michigan University. He is a founder of the discipline of anthropological study of police, Director of the Southeastern Michigan Criminal Justice Policy Research Project (SMART), co-editor of the Cornell University Press monograph series Police/Worlds: studies in security, crime and governance and General Editor of the blog Anthropoliteia: critical perspectives on police, security, crime and punishment around the world.  He received his PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley (2009), for which he conducted a multi-sited ethnography of French community policing reform.

Special guest, Lisa Jackson, PhD on the topic: How do we police the police? Dr. Lisa Jackson, current Chair of the Ann Arbor Police Oversight Commission, noted behavioral neuroscientist and professor of Psychology at Schoolcraft College, speaks on the commission's work.Resources cited in this podcast include:“Police oversight boards are proliferating, but do they work?” https://abcn.ws/3isoD6S  Coursera Police oversight “Teach-Out” with Dr. Lisa Jackson: https://bit.ly/3eEWuZb  Ann Arbor’s ICPOC website: https://bit.ly/3BqUrSm  NACOLE’s thirteen principles of effective police oversight:  https://bit.ly/3zj9oUA  Re-envisioning policing: takeaways from the ICPOC’s forum on the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder:  https://bit.ly/36KvJ14   MI Public Health Program: https://www.mitrainingcenter.org/courses/phapw0821noce “A Public Health Approach to Public Safety: Examples from the Field” enrollment linkSoutheast Michigan Criminal Justice Policy Research Project (SMART) https://www.emich.edu/smart-research-project/https://www.law.georgetown.edu/innovative-policing-program/active-bystandership-for-law-enforcement/In addition to ICPOC, CABLE, and the 21st Century Policing Commission, other oversight bodies include: Ypsilanti’s Police Advisory Commission; Eastern Michigan University’s Public Safety Oversight Commission; and U-M’s Police Department Oversight Committee.The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan,voter education organization encouraging informed, active participation in government. Webelieve that voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed. While the League doesnot support candidates or parties, we do take positions on issues we have studied.Our programs will not necessarily represent these positions but provide forums to increaseunderstanding of public policy issues.