Lots going on in early January ... our Weekly Memo clues you in on coming events and has links to the most recent blog posts. BTW you can get it by email every week; check it out.

Welcome to the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Jan. 4 – Jan 8, 2017

Happy 2017 to all, including to the 300-plus now getting this weekly blog post as an email alert, generally late Monday or Tuesday morning. It is one of the little things that can help set up your week if you are a progressive activist at any level. As the General Assembly gets under way next week (Jan. 11), it’s the heads-ups like this that can make a difference between activist accomplishments and just being floored by what’s happened while you weren’t watching. Let us help; sign up for the Weekly Memo email here.

And don’t forget that this is a blog, designed as a large conversation for Maryland’s progressives, including you. Bring your concerns and your informed stance to the eyes of progressives around the state here on the PM BlogSpace: submit blog posts or ideas for blog posts to the moderator at [email protected].

COMING UP:

Wednesday, Jan. 11: Fight for $15 -- Let Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett know that his announced refusal to sign the minimum wage bill as it exists is not acceptable.  At 6:30 p.m. -- Fight For $15 at the Montgomery County Budget Forum, Eastern Montgomery Regional Services Center in Silver Spring, Md.

Wednesday, Jan. 11 – Opening of the Maryland General Assembly 2017 session in Annapolis.

Tuesday, Jan. 17 The Montgomery County Council has scheduled a final vote on the $15 minimum wage bill.

Friday, Jan. 20 -- The Trump Resistance: Join Progressive Maryland and allies from the Free State at Columbus Circle at noon to show Maryland will take no truck from Trump. RSVP here.

Monday, Jan. 23 Rally for Earned Sick Leave – Working Matters sets a rally at Lawyer’s Mall, Annapolis, 7 to 9 p.m. for the Healthy Working Families Act, to “Make 2017 the year when earned sick days become a reality for Maryland working families!” One of Progressive Maryland’s top legislative goals. More here.

Action with our allies:

Thursday, Jan. 5:  Progressive Cheverly:  A Wake-Up Call -- Activism in Defense of our Future.  Come together at a Progressive Cheverly Conversation. Recent events are presenting us with new challenges to our founding values.  Join and bring your energy and ideas for action.  7 p.m., Hoyer Education Center (cafeteria) 2300 Belleview Ave. Cheverly (Parking Available). Light refreshments will be served.

Thursday, Jan. 5 WMATA Public Town Hall Meeting: Prince George’s 7 – 8:30 p.m. UFCW Local 400 8400 Corporate Drive Landover, MD 20785 (map) The purpose of these meetings will be to develop the “Public Agenda for Metro’s Future” that will be presented to the WMATA Board at their 2017 public hearing for the new budget. Sponsored by Coalition of WMATA Labor Unions. More info here

Sunday, Jan. 8 -- Progressive Neighbors 10th Annual Legislative Forum -- 4 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Center, One Veterans Plaza, Ellsworth and Fenton Streets (Silver Spring Metro)
Discuss issues with state legislators as they prepare for the 2017 session. Free and open to the public. Info here.

Wednesday, Jan. 18  WMATA Public Town Hall Meeting: Montgomery County , 7 – 8:30 p.m. Montgomery County Executive Office Building 101 Monroe St. Rockville, MD 20850 (map) Another public meeting to develop the “Public Agenda for Metro’s Future” that will be presented to the WMATA Board at their 2017 public hearing for the new budget. Sponsored by Coalition of WMATA Labor Unions. More info here 

Sunday, Jan. 22, Prince George's Sierra Club Group annual potluck social and legislative agenda discussion at Watkins Regional Park Nature Center, 5 to 7 p.m. 

• Chapter Legislative Chair Mark Posner will highlight key environmental legislation before the General Assembly in 2017. 

• Matthew Perry on Belt Woods Environmental Area in Bowie, endangered by a DNR decision to allow hunting.

Cost is $5/person if you bring a dish, $10 if you don’t, to defray the cost of the venue. The Watkins Regional Park Nature Center is located at 301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro MD 20774. Please RSVP to Janis [email protected] or call 301-474-5358, for planning purposes

Thursday, Jan. 26 – 2017 Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit, many environmental groups meet 4 to 6 p.m. at the Miller Building, Annapolis.

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous week are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected].

We recently published these:

January 2, 2017 Blog Index for Prince George's and Montgomery counties -- since 2015

To get you started on 2017 activism: our blog posts since June 2015 relating specifically to Prince George's and Montgomery counties, places where Progressive Maryland activists are hard at work on very local issues. You can catch up with political and community doings in those counties here, with summaries and links to the posts.

December 27, 2016 Progressive Maryland's Weekly Memo for Dec. 26 2016 -- Jan. 1 2017

It’s the slack few days between holidays this week, but don’t let 2017 sneak up on you (2017?! What?! Wait, that’s too soon…). Whether your farewell to 2016 is fond or otherwise, the Maryland General Assembly gears up January 11 and a new state-level battle (or battles) begins. Plus early January events and links to this week’s blog posts.

December 22, 2016 "Governor Trump" -- Hogan's methods echo Trump's and media buy same flim-flam

Barry Rascovar unmasked Gov. Larry Hogan’s Trump-like taste for the spectacle as a cover for, um, prevarications (we re-published it Tuesday, Dec. 20). Just because it’s a hoax, though, doesn’t mean some won’t fall for it – and Adam Pagnucco outlines here how many of our august media did just that, swallowing the Guvnah’s “Roadkill Bill” flimflam. A few days later (after Pagnucco’s post was first published) the respected number-crunchers of the Department of Legislative Services put a fork in the Hogan nonsense. We'll be interested to see how many in the media will acknowledge they were had...

Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace since June 2015 are all available with descriptions and links here.