GREENING LINCOLN . . . Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 7:00pm, Milo Mumgaard will speak on “Sustainability Lincoln: Insuring a Growing and Dynamic City Today and Tomorrow,” at Hardin Hall, 33rd and Holdrege Streets, home of the UN-L School of Natural Resources, sponsor of the fall outreach lecture.

NADP ANNUAL DINNER . . . Friday, September 18, 2009, Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty and the Nebraska Innocence Project will co-host the 2009 Annual Dinner and Art Auction at the Georgetowne Club, 2440 South 141st Circle, OMAHA. Social Hour & Silent Auction begin at 6:30; Dinner & Program at 7:30pm. Keynote Speaker Randy Steidl spent more than 17 years wrongfully imprisoned, 12 of which were on death row. E-mail jill [at] nadp [dot] net to make reservations. E-mail jill [at] nadp [dot] net to make reservations by Tuesday, September 8th.

DINE OUT . . . The twentieth annual Dine Out to Help Out in Lincoln will be Wednesday, September 9, 2009. More than sixty community restaurants will donate ten percent of their day’s receipts to the Food Bank of Lincoln as part of September’s Hunger Action Month awareness. Click here for a list of participating restaurants.

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 Lake of Fire.  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.

COLEMAN MCCARTHY IN HASTINGS . . . Colman McCarthy, a syndicated columnist and editorial page writer for The Washington Post, adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and founder of The Center for Teaching Peace, will speak on “How To Be An Effective Peacemaker” at Hastings College Chapel, Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 7:00pm. McCarthy is a sought-after speaker on US campuses because he convincingly calls on students to defy the conventional by becoming citizens who are other-centered, not self-centered, teaching that each of us is called on to be a peacemaker in our personal and political lives.

WICHISKA AUDUBON GENERAL MEETING . . . Prairie Ecologist Chris Helzer will speak on “Managing Prairies for Biological Diversity,” Thursday, September 10, 2009, 7:00pm, for the Wachiska Audubon monthly meeting in Union College Dick Administration Building, 3800 South 48th Street, lower level room 03, Lincoln.

“FUEL” AT UN-L . . . Biodiesel Pioneer Josh Tickell will hold a screening of his soon to be released movie “Fuel” at the City Campus Nebraska Union Colonial Room, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, Friday, September 11, 2009, 6:00pm. “Fuel” is an insightful personal portrait of the consequences of addiction to oil and the surprisingly hopeful future of sustainable energy. Josh and his group will be staying in Lincoln en route to Washington DC with his ‘Veggie Van’ that runs on algae biodiesel. Admission to “Fuel” is free, but a donation is appreciated to help fund the cross country tour. For more information contact Robert Byrnes at waterdog [at] nerenew [dot] com.

2009 FARM WALK AND SOUP SUPPER . . . Friday, September 11, 2009, 5:00 to 7:30pm, Community CROPS and Sunset Community Farm will host a Farm Walk and Soup Supper celebrating local food at Southwest 40th and West F Streets, Lincoln. Click here for the All You Can Eat Supper menu and Farm Walk activities. To reserve meal tickets, call the CROPS office at 474.9802 or e-mail ingrid [at] communitycrops [dot] org.

WATERWAY LITTER CLEAN UP DAY . . . A community-wide OMAHA litter clean up event, Saturday, September 12, 2009, 10:00am to noon, will be held in concert with a worldwide effort, International Coastal Clean Up, focused on streams, ponds, park lagoons, and damsites. To volunteer, click here (pdf) and register. For more information, phone Kendra Sullivan at Keep Omaha Beautiful, or e-mail kendra [dot] sullivan [at] cox [dot] net.

WORLD O! WATER FESTIVAL . . . World O! Water is a free water education festival for families and adults from noon to 4:00pm, Sunday, September 13, 2009 at Lake Wehrspann, Chalco Hills Recreation Area, 154th Street and Giles Road in OMAHA. Activities include games, booths, animal presentations, music, and canoe rides hosted by members of the Papillion Creek Watershed Partnership and Keep Omaha Beautiful, Inc.

FEATURE 2009 . . . The second annual Film Streams’ FEATURE 2009 Celebration will be Sunday, September 13, 2009 at the Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas Streets, OMAHA. Film Streams is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the cultural environment through presentation and discussion of film as an art form. Beginning at 6:30pm, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne and three-time Oscar nominee Debra Winger will share the Peter Kiewit Concert Hall stage for a conversation about the actress’ career, with clips from her movies interspersed throughout the talk. Tickets for Feature 2009 can be purchased by phone at 402.345.0606, or in person at the box office inside Holland Center. Click here to purchase tickets online. Call Film Streams directly at 402.933.0259 for more information and to purchase tickets for the post-party celebration immediately following FEATURE 2009.

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 current 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.
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