The August meeting of BACP/BLUE was held Monday, August 5, 2024, at 7 p.m., 2024 in Gregory Park.

Discussion of past events
Doug shared a picture in the WAMM newsletter of one of our members  (Dean Borgeson) at the recent peace vigil in Little Falls.
Four or five people have been attending the monthly vigils in support of Palestine. They will continue.

4th of July Parade
The 4th of July Parade was nearly rained out but completed. The refurbished float looked great and will be good for several years. 
The booth at the county fair yielded some discussions. $154.00 was donated. Those who were at the booth felt there wasn't as much traffic through the building as in previous years. 

Treasurer’s Report
$748.89 in the treasury at this time. 

MN Anti-war Committee
The committee is encouraging the state of MN to divest from Israeli businesses. They held a rally at the capitol on August 10 and met with the state committee that determines investments. 

Where Olive Trees Weep
Where Olive Trees Weep is a one hour and 40 minute documentary filmed in 2022 that tells the story of life in Palestine. Trish feels it is an excellent documentary and should be shown at the Brainerd Library and CLC. Discussion followed and there was support for the activity. Doug suggested we work with DSA member, Julius Kapushinski who will be a CLC student this fall. 

Brainerd City Council Homeless Ordinance
Trish attended the meeting and reported on it. She felt the meeting was cordial but the ordinance was passed and includes $1000 fine and/or jail time for homeless persons. The Chief of Police stated the first contact with the homeless person is to explain all services available and stated the ordinance would not be enforced across the board. He knows that many of the homeless have mental illness. A concern of the group is that the ordinance will be applied differently by different officers. 

Pride in the Park
Saturday, September 14, from 10 to 4. Fee for table has been paid and suggestion was made for volunteers to take 2 hour shifts. We can discuss further at our September meeting. 

Venezuela
Gayle and Larry reported on their trip to Nicaragua and Venezuela. Their observation was that elections in Venezuela were fair and legitimate, and the process was transparent and resistant to fraud. The mainstream media has been reporting untrue messaging, as directed by the US state department. As a response, BACP/BLUE is holding a demonstration supporting Venezuela's sovereignty on Saturday, August 17th from 1 to 2 p.m. The demonstration will be at the intersection of 210 and 371.

Because of Labor Day, the next meeting of BACP/BLUE will be held on Tuesday, September 10th. Time is moved up to 6 p.m. because of daylight hours being shorter.