Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace met on Monday, February 5, 2024, 7:00 pm, via Zoom.
Gayle, Larry, Trish, Pat, Dean, Holden, and Doug joined the meeting.  

Meeting participants discussed and unanimously approved Larry and Gayle's proposal for BACP-BLUE to possibly support strongly pro-peace and pro-environment political candidates.   BACP-BLUE would remain unaffiliated with any political party.   We approved amendments stating BACP-BLUE could support more than one candidate running for the same office (i.e. two strongly pro-peace and pro-environment candidates running for U.S. Senate) and individual BACP-BLUE members do not have to support the candidates the group supports.   In order for a candidate to receive BACP-BLUE support, he or she would have to be approved by at least 60% of BACP-BLUE members, first at a meeting, then on the BACP and BLUE listservs.
The candidate support proposal isn't official until it is approved by BACP-BLUE members on the listservs.   Doug will send out the proposal in the next week to the BACP and BLUE listservs.   The proposal will be accepted or rejected based on the majority of the responses it receives.

Meeting participants unanimously approved renewal of BACP-BLUE's Adopt a Highway section for two years.   Many meeting participants expressed enthusiasm for continuing the cleanups.  Holden said he planned to join cleanups in the future.   Doug mailed the form to MN DOT on Tuesday, February 6 so it should be received before the Friday, February 16 deadline.   Doug also informed MN DOT District 3A Adopt a Highway district contact Mary Nieken of our decision to renew.

Meeting participants agreed to hold a peace vigil on Saturday, March 2.   The vigil would demand an end to Israel's brutal war on Gaza, the termination of U.S. support for Israel, and oppose the U.S. bombing of Yemen, Iraq, and Syria and a possible war against Iran.   The vigil would call for a ceasefire and peace settlement in Ukraine.
Meeting participants didn't set a time or location for the vigil.   Meeting participants are discussing our preferred times and locations.   

The meeting ended before we finished our vigil discussion.   We restarted the meeting.   Larry, Gayle, Dean, and Doug joined the restarted meeting.   We finished our vigil discussion before discussing the ongoing Brainerd area union grocery store workers' struggle for a just contract.   Doug informed Dean, Gayle, and Larry most of Doug and his co-workers are determined to continue fighting for a good contract.   We greatly appreciate the public's support.   Negotiations between United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Local 663 and management resume on Thursday, February 8.   If the negotiations don't go well, a second strike is a real possibility.