A new grassroots organization met for the first time on May 18th to discuss many issues affecting the Greater Portsmouth community. This group is calling itself “The Portsmouth Progressives” and its purpose is to insure that Portsmouth becomes a model community for its citizens, the region, the state and the nation.

One of the issues discussed was the superficial, entertainment factor in mainstream news coverage. The need for community-wide support for the local community radio station, WCSA/106.1 was encouraged to insure that local news and an alternative source of news programming was accessible along with the ability for local citizens to create their own programming. There was also a discussion about how to create a Public Access TV channel along with the continuation of the current Government Access TV.

Healthcare, the environment, the separation of church and state as well as some current legislative issues were also discussed. All issues pertained to Portsmouth and how each impacted this area directly.

The next meeting of the Portsmouth Progressives is Thursday, June 2nd at 6:30 at the offices of Atlantic Media. Come ready to take action ­ for the good of everyone! For more information please contact Nancy Beach or Brian Vawter at 431-4565.