Director fired after McConnell encounter

(Paducah Sun, The (KY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 22--Heather Ryan said she was fired Monday as the executive director of the Maiden Alley Cinema and blames it on fallout from an incident she had last week involving U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Jason Coltharp, secretary and spokesman for Paducah Film Society Board of Directors -- which operates the cinema -- confirmed that Ryan was dismissed but would not comment on the reason. He also declined to respond to other comments from Ryan.

McConnell on Jan. 15 was in Paducah for several events, including a fundraising reception at the River Heritage Museum that shares a city-owned building on Front Street with the Maiden Alley Cinema.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/01/22/3222669.htm

More:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/17/12825/2861/28/438317

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/22/03134/0017/466/440906

What you can do to help Heather:
http://bluegrassroots.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=912

And let the person or persons that fired her know that she will be doing more to make their lives miserable.

:kick:

:applause:

Oh and fuck McConnell. MKJ

speaks about how McConnell lead the efforts to smear young Graeme Frost, when he spoke about how S-Chip had saved his sister's life.

This guy is scum. This story deserves to be spread everywhere.

Senator McConnell deserves to lose his.

the political ladder. I think she should speak out loud and clear about her treatment. Mitch needs to go in Nov 08.

They bully and threaten and coerce companies and individuals with the loss of money or funding....

Mitch needs to be investigated...

This woman and her daughter are the reason we need to cut the bullshit fighting here and accross the country among the Democratic party and defeat the bastards...

I hope that she finds a job to her liking and tells her former employer to kiss her ass...

K & R for Heather and her daughter.

PADUCAH, Ky. --A self-described Democratic political activist from western Kentucky is blaming her firing on fallout from an incident involving Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Heather Ryan says she waited outside her workplace - Maiden Alley Cinema - with her 12-year-old daughter last week to ask the Republican senator about the Iraq war and videotape his answer.

Ryan says when McConnell came out, he ignored the questions.

She sent an e-mail to friends and used expletives to describe her efforts to confront McConnell at the Paducah cinema.

Paducah Film Society Board of Directors spokesman Jason Coltharp confirmed Ryan's dismissal, but wouldn't comment on the reason. The film society operates the cinema.


http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/294024.html

"Friends and Family, It is with complete shock and utter dismay that I come to you this afternoon of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 21, 2008. As you may have guessed, a dramatic turn of events happened less than an hour ago while I was at my office in Downtown Paducah, KY. I was fired from my position as the Executive Director of the Maiden Alley Cinema for the incident in which Heaven and I asked Mitch McConnell about the war in Iraq.

It is absolutely unbelievable to me that such a powerful Senator would target a low income family simply to flex his political muscle. But believe it folks, I am now jobless, on the day in which we use to remember the great Civil Rights Leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., because I dared to speak out.

Is this what President Bush meant when he said he would wage a "Shock and Awe" campaign? Because that is where I am right now. I would write more, but to be perfectly honest friends, I don't know what to say."

Heather Ryan

http://www.ditchmitchky.com/1258/mitch-mcconnell-has-heather-ryan-fired/

http://www.wpsdtv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=e616d922-5b42-4246-bce9-a1db868239a3

Maiden Alley Cinema Director Questions Firing

The director of Paducah's Maiden Alley Cinema is fired after a public confrontation with Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.

A tape is at the heart of a controversy which raises questions not only about the woman who made the tape, but about the power of a U.S. Senator as well.

Heather Ryan was the Executive Director of Paducah's Film Society and Maiden Alley Cinema last week. Using a hand held video camera, she and her daughter confronted Senator McConnell outside the cinema.

Ryan's ex-husband is in the Navy and Ryan felt it was her first amendment right to question him about the war in Iraq. Since then, the tape has hit YouTube and taken on a life of its own.

One question at the heart of the controversy is whether the film society was pressured into firing Ryan. That's what Ryan claims and now she blames Senator McConnell for losing her job.

"What are you hiding Senator McConnell?" (screaming) we'd like to talk to you..." said Ryan.

It's this brief encounter that Ryan says cost her job after board members told her that the Senator demanded it.

"I was told there was pressure from Mitch McConnell and his staff on the city of Paducah, the Film Society, the River Heritage Museum, and the Seaman's Church to have me fired," said Ryan.

That's an allegation the film society isn't commenting on but one the River Heritage Museum flatly denies.

"The Paducah Film Society that handled it, yes, it was handled appropriately," insists Julie Harris, the museum's director.

We met up with Ryan on first day without a job and despite criticism for involving her daughter she says she doesn't regret it.

"I might tone down my daughter's voice so that she wasn't screaming but I couldn't say I would ask him a different question," admits Ryan.

Right now, the River Heritage Museum is looking for thirty to thirty-five million dollars for their restoration project. Some of that will be federal money and that's why Heather says she was fired at the risk of losing those dollars.

"Finally we're in the green, we have a great program in store for the entire year, they've never had any of these programs before," said Ryan.

Ironically Senator McConnell is running campaign ads right now highlighting his work to bring federal dollars into the state, dollars the River Heritage Museum says it doesn't necessarily need.

"We already get a lot of support from the river industry and intend to do so with our fundraising," said Harris.

Ryan is considering legal action but for now she's simply left with questions and the camera that started it all.

"That's the camera, it's pretty unassuming, but you'd think it wouldn't have caused such a firestorm," Ryan says holding the mini-cam.