TOWN HALL MEETINGS AT UN-O AND UN-L . . . Town Hall Discussions about Creating Opportunity for Nebraska Families and Workers will include a presentation on workforce issues and a panel with business leaders, state senators and community members. Issues include access to education and training for working people, quality jobs and such work support as health care. The 6:30 to 8:30pm events are Tuesday, July 7, 2009, at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Collaborating Commons, College of Public Affairs and Community Service; and Thursday, July 9th at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, City Campus Student Union Auditorium. Reservations are requested but not required. To rsvp, click here. The discussions are free and open to the public.

LINCOLN BIONEERS MEET . . . Lincoln’s Bioneers will meet Tuesday July 7, 2009, 6:00pm, at the home of Amy Rose, 2411 South 8th Street, in Lincoln. There will be a finger food potluck, and all are welcome. The group will plant an oak tree and buckeyes. Phone 402.617.2550 for more information.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402-499-6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the Un-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is an Anti-War and Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story.  Food and drink is available. A lively discussion follows each showing. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

NEBRASKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK CONFERENCE . . . Anyone interested in local food production or consumption is invited to a Nebraska Food Cooperative Conference on Thursday, July 9, 2009, 9:00am to 3:30pm, at the UN-L East Campus Union, Lincoln. Speakers and panels include pioneers in local foods sustainability. For online registration, click here.  For more information, contact Kayla Churchill by phone at 402.472.2935, or e-mail kchurchill4 [at] unl [dot] edu.

SUMMER PICNIC WITH TED KOOSER . . . The Wachiska Audubon annual summer potluck picnic will be Thursday, July 9, 2009, 6:15pm, on the prairie east of Lincoln along the MoPac Trail at 1900 South 105th Street–the home of Larry and Peg Fletcher. Ted Kooser, Presiential Professor of English at UN-L and US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006, will read poems from his anthology “The Poets Guide to the Birds.” All are welcome.

COMMUNITY FORUM: HEALTH CARE FOR ALL . . . A moderated forum with health care leaders to discuss development of a health care system with access to all will be Thursday, July 9, 2009, 6:30 to 8:00pm, OMAHA, at Metropolitan Community College, South Campus, 27th & Q Streets, in the Industrial Training Conference Center. For more information, contact A’Jamal-Rashad Byndon at 402.578.6729, or abyndon [at] mmcneb [dot] edu.

“THE GARDEN” AT ROSS . . . Community CROPS and Mary Riepma Ross Theater are co-sponsoring a one-week run of an Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Garden” beginning Friday, July 10, 2009. A reception featuring local food begins at 6:00pm on opening night. Sunday, July 12, following the 1:00 showing, there will be a 2:30pm conversation with community stakeholders about issues raised in the documentary such as land use, community food systems, political action and decision making, community green space, and the convergence of social justice with each of these topics. This discussion is open to the public. For questions about either of the special events phone 474.9802 or e-mail CROPS Garden Program Manager Amy Brt, amy [at] communitycrops [dot] org.

BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL. . . . Join the local food revolution by shopping farmer’s markets and eating fresh foods grown in or very near your own community. Eating locally grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher. Click here for Nebraska Buy Fresh. Buy Local. information. Lincoln’s eight Markets are as follows:

Old Cheney Farmers Market, 55th Street and Old Cheney Road, 10:00am to 2:00pm, Sundays through November 1.
Historic Haymarket Farmers Market, North Seventh between P and Q streets, 8:00am to noon, Saturdays through October 10. During peak season, mid-June through mid-August, there are about 215 vendors.
Havelock Farmers Market, north parking lot behind businesses between 62nd and 63rd streets and Havelock Avenue, 3:00 to 6:30pm, Wednesdays through October 28.
Piedmont Farmers Market, 1265 South Cotner Blvd., parking lot of Piedmont Shopping Center, 8:00am to noon, Saturdays through September/October.
Jazz in June Market, 12th & Q streets, Tuesday evenings in June, in conjunction with Jazz in June concerts.
St. Paul United Church of Christ Farmers Market, 1144 M Streets, 4:30 to 7:30pm, Tuesdays through September 8.
Community CROPS Farmers Market, Pentzer Park, North 27th & Potter Streets, 4:30 to 7:30pm, Thursdays, June through September. Click here for a map of local Community CROPS gardens.
Centennial Mall Garden Market, 14th & M Streets, noon to 4:00pm, Wednesdays, July 1 through September 30.

We are no longer the alternative; we are the imperative. –Rosa Clemente