From staff reports
The Oil Region Rising organization, a local affiliate of the national Indivisible Project, has scheduled a downtown Oil City march Friday in support of ending the partial federal government shutdown.
The nonprofit group is focusing its attention on Congressman Glenn Thompson, a Centre County Republican whose 15th District includes Venango County.
Billed as a “Welcome GT Thompson to Venango County” demonstration, the event is set for 3 p.m. Friday.
The focus of the demonstration, open to all interested persons, is “end the shutdown now – no wall,” noted Oil Region Rising chairman Mike Wilcox.
“We are stressing that all signs and actions must be respectful and issue-oriented,” said Wilcox.
In addition to the government shutdown issue, Oil Region Rising is also addressing a vote by Thompson to end the sanctions against a Russian oligarch accused of conspiring with former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to influence the 2016 election.
The group will also ask state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, whose office is near Thompson’s new quarters, to support an end to partisan gerrymandering with the formation of a new Pennsylvania independent commission.
In an earlier Oil Region Rising forum, Wilcox explained the chapter is part of the national Indivisible Project comprised of more than 6,000 local groups in the U.S.
It was formed to be a non-partisan organization, devoted to issues rather than political parties, said Wilcox, and membership comes from both major political parties and from independent voters.
