Youngstown Archives

Feb 4, 2019

21WFMJ: Environmentalists from Youngstown, six counties file federal lawsuit

Ohio officials have blocked citizen initiatives advancing communities and nature’s rights since 2015. In response, citizen have filed suit against Ohio’s Secretary of State and local Boards of Elections.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Feb 4, 2019

News Release: Ohio Community Members File Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit

Communities from across Ohio file a federal lawsuit against local Boards of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State for multiple rights violations – including the right to vote.

Sep 26, 2018

The Progressive: ‘Not Another Flint! Let Us Vote!’

Communities across Ohio are not only fighting to protect their water from corporate harms – they’re fighting for their right to vote on their own initiatives as corporate and state government encroach on fundamental human rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

May 9, 2018

Press Release: The Right to Water Shut Off in Unjust Youngstown Election

It was a questionable election at best for Youngstown, OH, where community members are fighting for their right to clean water in a city that is making it increasingly difficult to even vote on citizen initiatives.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Mar 19, 2018

Press Release: Mahoning Board of Elections Defies Supreme Court

The Mahoning County, OH, Board of Elections blocks a duly qualified Community Bill of Rights initiative from the ballot in Youngstown. CELDF assists residents to file a lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court.

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Circulating Petitions for Water Protection Law

Youngstown, OH, residents make their comeback, gathering signatures on election day for their Community Rights charter amendment protecting their water.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 18, 2017

Desmog: Fossil Fuel Misinformation Helps Quash Community Effort to Ban Fracking in Youngstown, Ohio

The oil and gas industry, Ohio legislators, and the Ohio Supreme Court strip Youngstown residents of their right to vote. Their response: “Onward!”

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 6, 2017

Press Release: Split Decision in Ohio Supreme Court for Youngstown Ballot Initiatives

In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court denies Youngstown residents the right to vote. Residents vow they are not surrendering their rights.

Desmog: Ohio Communities Face ‘Voter Suppression’ in Push to Rein in Oil and Gas Development

What’s going on in Ohio? Voter suppression in the form of blocking rights-based citizen initiatives from the ballot for a vote. Who’s behind it? The oil and gas industry and their allies.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 7, 2017

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Have More Right to Initiative than Youngstown Residents?

The Board of Elections denies Youngstown, OH, residents their inalienable right to vote on their own citizen initiatives. Residents are challenging the stripping of their rights.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Aug 18, 2017

Columbus Free Press: Corporate State Says Democracy is Too Expensive

While the oil and gas industry declares democracy is “too expensive,” CELDF’s Tish O’Dell looks at the bigger picture, including the cost of the corporate state.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 13, 2017

Vindy.com: LTE: Outside money suppresses voice of people in Y’town; the time has come to act

A Youngstown, OH, residents calls for support of the People’s Bill of Rights for Fair Elections and Access to Local Government. The initiative creates non-partisan elections, stops outside influence on elections, and other groundbreaking requirements.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 11, 2017

Vindy.com: Fracking issue in Youngstown could ignite fight in the courts

Gas industry allies in the Ohio legislature adopted a law authorizing BOEs and the Secretary of State to keep measures off the ballot based on content. The new law may be used in an attempt to keep 2 Youngstown community rights measures off the ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 8, 2017

In These Times Rural America: Youngstown Residents Push to Oust Corporations from Election Campaigns, Cap Contributions at $100

Youngstown, OH, residents work to ban corporations from elections and cap campaign spending to level the playing field.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 8, 2017

Vindy.com: Committee turns in petitions for elections charter amendment

Youngstown residents submit a petition for the November ballot that would remove corporations from elections, and cap campaign contributions.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 7, 2017

Press Release: Citizen Initiative Removes Corporations from Election Campaigns, Caps Campaign Contributions

Youngstown, OH, residents submit petitions to place a fair elections initiative on the November ballot. The measure includes removing corporations from campaigns.

Vindy.com: Support urged for new community bills of rights

Youngstown, OH, residents advance two rights-based measures to protect their water and their elections. Community members are gathering signatures for the November ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Apr 30, 2017

Press Release: “Free and Fair Elections” Initiative Would Ban Corporate Dollars in Local Elections

Youngstown, OH, residents launch a free and fair election bill of rights initiative for the November ballot. The measure would allow only city residents to make campaign contributions, and caps the contribution amount.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Dec 1, 2016

Harper’s Magazine: Class Takeover

It’s not just water that’s privatized and stripped from local control. Youngstown, OH’s education system has been seized from the public and put into private hands. What happens in Youngstown will happen to us. What are we going to do about it?

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Nov 8, 2016

PR: Youngstown Residents: Unshakable Determination as They Look Ahead to Next Community Bill of Rights

The might of the oil and gas industry and its allies were out in force, outspending residents enormously in today’s election to defeat the people’s Community Bill of Rights banning fracking. While the measure was defeated, the people are not.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 21, 2016

Truthout: Democracy Deferred: Ohio Removes Anti-Fracking Measures From County Ballots

In Ohio and elsewhere, when democracy threatens the oil and gas industry, those occupying our legal and governing structures take liberty in interpreting the law on industry’s behalf. The result: democratic suppression and an open door to frack.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 9, 2016

Vindy.com: Youngstown voters will consider 6 charter amendments on fall ballot

Youngstown, OH, voters will vote for a sixth time on a Community Bill of Rights banning fracking activities within the City. Residents promise to bring the measure forward again if it does not pass, because of the threat to local water sources and climate change.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 13, 2016

WFMJ.com: Leaders oppose sixth attempt to pass Youngstown ‘Community Bill of Rights’

Youngstown, OH, residents advance their Community Rights Charter Amendment banning fracking, determined to safeguard their community’s health, safety, and welfare. Local government and industry allies stand firm in fighting the amendment and placing profits before people.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 30, 2016

Press Release: Ohioans Determined to Stop Fracking through Asserting Rights

Last summer, the corporate state led efforts to keep Ohioans from voting on fracking bans. Ohio communities are back in action, refusing to be deterred, and committed to protecting their communities. Five ballot measures are submitted this week for November.

Jun 28, 2016

$The Vindicator: An anti-fracking charter-amendment proposal could be in front of Youngstown voters for a sixth time$

The Vindicator: An anti-fracking charter-amendment proposal could be in front of Youngstown voters for a sixth time

Youngstown, OH, residents show their grit and commitment as they advance their Community Bill of Rights banning fracking to the ballot for a vote by the people.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 27, 2016

$WKBN 27: Frackfree group to put fracking ban on Youngstown ballot again$

WKBN 27: Frackfree group to put fracking ban on Youngstown ballot again

Youngstown, OH, residents assert their right to initiative as they advance a rights-based initiative to ban fracking as a violation of their right to clean water and a healthy environment. Residents gathered double the required number of signatures.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 27, 2016

Akron Beacon Journal: Youngstown group to submit community bill of rights petitions

Determined to protect their community and safeguard their water from fracking, Youngstown, OH, residents submit well-over the required number of signatures for a Community Bill of Rights fracking ban initiative. Voters will cast their ballots in November.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 24, 2016

The Business Journal: Group to Place Anti-Fracking Amendment on Ballot

Youngstown, OH, residents turn in signatures to place their charter amendment on the ballot in November. The measure establishes the rights of residents to clean air and water, the right to local community self-government, and bans fracking as a violation of those rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

May 25, 2016

The Jambar: Activists Ask President Obama to End Fracking in Film

A screening of Dear President Obama at Youngstown State Univ. provokes discussion on how to address fracking. It is not, says CELDF’s Tish O’Dell, about pleading with elected officials. It’s about the right to make governing decisions in the places we live.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Nov 9, 2015

November Elections Update

Learn the latest news from election day in Grant Township and West Chester, PA; Youngstown, OH; and Spokane, WA. And check out the launch of our new website!

Nov 4, 2015

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Just Shy of Codifying Community Rights

Youngstown, OH, community rights supporters came within 345 votes of adopting their rights-based charter amendment banning fracking, and are ready to press forward.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 3, 2015

The Vindicator: Community Bill of Rights supporters gather at lounge

Youngstown, OH, residents supporting a Community Bill of Rights charter amendment banning fracking, recognize that regardless of election results, their advancing of rights is building towards a movement.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 17, 2015

$Eye on Ohio: Ohio Supreme Court rules against anti-fracking ballot measures$

Eye on Ohio: Ohio Supreme Court rules against anti-fracking ballot measures

Reporter Simon Davis-Cohen provides in-depth reporting on state and industry efforts to keep fracking and pipeline initiatives off the ballot in Ohio – including the state’s use of oil and gas industry law firms.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 15, 2015

NCRN Press Release: National Community Rights Network Endorses the Youngstown Community Bill of Rights Charter Amendment

NCRN endorses Youngstown, OH’s Community Bill of Rights Charter Amendment. The initiative advances the rights of residents and prohibits fracking activities that would violate community rights to clean water, air, the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, and their right to be free from chemical trespass.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 24, 2015

$WKBN First News 27: Youngstown fracking amendment makes another run, group supports passage$

WKBN First News 27: Youngstown fracking amendment makes another run, group supports passage

Frack Free Mahoning Valley members urge support in Youngstown for a Community Bill of Rights banning fracking, which is on the November ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 21, 2015

Earth Island Journal: Government and Gas Industry Team Up Against Local Fracking Ban Initiatives in Ohio

Reporter Simon Davis-Cohen reveals how Ohio state government used tax payers’ money, hiring private oil and gas industry law firms to keep the people’s community rights initiatives off the November ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 19, 2015

Press Release: Ohio Supreme Court Upholds the Right of the People of Youngstown to Vote on a Citizens’ Initiative

The people of Youngstown’s constitutional right to vote on a local Bill of Rights charter amendment initiative was upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Sep 17, 2015

$WFMJ: Court overrules election board on Youngstown anti-fracking amendment$

WFMJ: Court overrules election board on Youngstown anti-fracking amendment

Youngstown, OH, residents’ Community Bill of Rights charter amendment banning fracking has been ordered back on the ballot by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Sep 16, 2015

Government and Corporations Collude Against the People: Ohio Is a Corporate State

Ohio government officials, both locally and at the state level, use oil and gas industry law firms in an attempt to keep the people’s ballot initiatives impacting banning fracking off the November ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Aug 27, 2015

Press Release: Ohio Government Officials Again Deny Citizens the Right to Vote on Fracking

YOUNGSTOWN, OH: A week following Ohio Secretary of State John Husted’s ruling which stripped residents in three counties of their right to vote on Home Rule Charter initiatives, the Mahoning County Board of Elections voted to do the same to Youngstown residents. The Board refused to place a proposed Charter Amendment on the November ballot, even though all requirements for qualifying the amendment to the ballot were met, and the Board’s own attorney advised placing the amendment onto the ballot.

Vindy.com: Mahoning elections board votes to keep Youngstown anti-fracking proposal off ballot

With the Mahoning County Board of Elections unanimously voting to keep a Youngstown anti-fracking charter amendment proposal off the Nov. 3 ballot, backers of the initiative are unsure of their next step.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 24, 2015

$The Vindicator: Youngstown council puts anti-fracking amendment on November ballot$

The Vindicator: Youngstown council puts anti-fracking amendment on November ballot

YOUNGSTOWN — City council voted today to put an anti-fracking charter amendment proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot, and the Mahoning County Board of Elections could do the same as early as Wednesday.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 23, 2015

$Vindy.com: Youngstown council to vote Monday to put an anti-fracking charter amendment proposal on ballot$

Vindy.com: Youngstown council to vote Monday to put an anti-fracking charter amendment proposal on ballot

City council will vote Monday to put an anti-fracking charter amendment proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot, and it appears the Mahoning County Board of Elections will do the same in a couple of weeks.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 16, 2015

$Anti-frackers hope to make Youngstown’s November ballot$

Anti-frackers hope to make Youngstown’s November ballot

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – In Athens, Fulton and Medina Counties Ohio’s Secretary of State, Jon Husted, declared anti-fracking ballot initiatives will not be put before voters on the November ballot, even though there were enough signatures to place them on the ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Nov 7, 2013

Ohio and Colorado Voters Adopt Community Bills of Rights

On Election Day, voters in an Ohio and a Colorado community enacted Community Bills of Rights to
secure the right to local self-government and to protect the right to clean air, pure water, and the rights
of ecosystems to exist and flourish. By a margin of 70.56%, voters in Oberlin, OH, approved their
citizen-initiated ordinance. In Lafayette, CO, where citizens petitioned to amend their city home rule
charter, the winning margin was 60.16%.

Frack-Backers Launch Preemptive Strikes against Democracy Attempt to Kill the Initiative Process

“It’s Already Been Decided? Who Decided That?”

Ohio Town’s Lonely Campaign Against Fracking Now Slightly Less Lonely

The new year arrived in Youngstown, Ohio, with earthquakes that appear to be tied fracking to wastewater wells and activists standing in the cold protesting. By some lights the poorest community in America, Youngstown had been taking in wastewater from fracking wells in Pennsylvania, which companies then injected back into the ground.

Announcing CELDF's Proposed Rights of Nature Principles

Sneak Peek! -- End of Year Newsletter 2022: We are Nature

Book: ‘Death by Democracy’

21WFMJ: Environmentalists from Youngstown, six counties file federal lawsuit

News Release: Ohio Community Members File Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit

The Progressive: ‘Not Another Flint! Let Us Vote!’

Press Release: The Right to Water Shut Off in Unjust Youngstown Election

Press Release: Mahoning Board of Elections Defies Supreme Court

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Circulating Petitions for Water Protection Law

Desmog: Fossil Fuel Misinformation Helps Quash Community Effort to Ban Fracking in Youngstown, Ohio

Press Release: Split Decision in Ohio Supreme Court for Youngstown Ballot Initiatives

Desmog: Ohio Communities Face ‘Voter Suppression’ in Push to Rein in Oil and Gas Development

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Have More Right to Initiative than Youngstown Residents?

Columbus Free Press: Corporate State Says Democracy is Too Expensive

Vindy.com: LTE: Outside money suppresses voice of people in Y’town; the time has come to act

Vindy.com: Fracking issue in Youngstown could ignite fight in the courts

In These Times Rural America: Youngstown Residents Push to Oust Corporations from Election Campaigns, Cap Contributions at $100

Vindy.com: Committee turns in petitions for elections charter amendment

Press Release: Citizen Initiative Removes Corporations from Election Campaigns, Caps Campaign Contributions

Vindy.com: Support urged for new community bills of rights

Press Release: “Free and Fair Elections” Initiative Would Ban Corporate Dollars in Local Elections

Harper’s Magazine: Class Takeover

PR: Youngstown Residents: Unshakable Determination as They Look Ahead to Next Community Bill of Rights

Truthout: Democracy Deferred: Ohio Removes Anti-Fracking Measures From County Ballots

Vindy.com: Youngstown voters will consider 6 charter amendments on fall ballot

WFMJ.com: Leaders oppose sixth attempt to pass Youngstown ‘Community Bill of Rights’

Press Release: Ohioans Determined to Stop Fracking through Asserting Rights

The Vindicator: An anti-fracking charter-amendment proposal could be in front of Youngstown voters for a sixth time

WKBN 27: Frackfree group to put fracking ban on Youngstown ballot again

Akron Beacon Journal: Youngstown group to submit community bill of rights petitions

The Business Journal: Group to Place Anti-Fracking Amendment on Ballot

The Jambar: Activists Ask President Obama to End Fracking in Film

November Elections Update

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Just Shy of Codifying Community Rights

The Vindicator: Community Bill of Rights supporters gather at lounge

Eye on Ohio: Ohio Supreme Court rules against anti-fracking ballot measures

NCRN Press Release: National Community Rights Network Endorses the Youngstown Community Bill of Rights Charter Amendment

WKBN First News 27: Youngstown fracking amendment makes another run, group supports passage

Earth Island Journal: Government and Gas Industry Team Up Against Local Fracking Ban Initiatives in Ohio

Press Release: Ohio Supreme Court Upholds the Right of the People of Youngstown to Vote on a Citizens’ Initiative

WFMJ: Court overrules election board on Youngstown anti-fracking amendment

Government and Corporations Collude Against the People: Ohio Is a Corporate State

Press Release: Ohio Government Officials Again Deny Citizens the Right to Vote on Fracking

Vindy.com: Mahoning elections board votes to keep Youngstown anti-fracking proposal off ballot

The Vindicator: Youngstown council puts anti-fracking amendment on November ballot

Vindy.com: Youngstown council to vote Monday to put an anti-fracking charter amendment proposal on ballot

Anti-frackers hope to make Youngstown’s November ballot

Ohio and Colorado Voters Adopt Community Bills of Rights

Frack-Backers Launch Preemptive Strikes against Democracy Attempt to Kill the Initiative Process

Ohio Town’s Lonely Campaign Against Fracking Now Slightly Less Lonely

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