INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE . . . Monday, September 21, 2009 is International Day of Peace, a global holiday when individuals, communities, nations and governments highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace. The Culture of Peace Initiative has advanced peace building activities around the world since 1983. Click here to learn more about the Initiative that encourages “Peace Day Every Day” throughout the world.

FUNDRAISER FOR HOSPITALS . . . Monday, September 21, 2009, 6:30pm, there will be a potluck fundraiser for al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem at Lord of Love Lutheran Church, 10405 Fort Street, OMAHA. Keynote speakers will be Bishop David deFreese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Nebraska Synod, and Arab American activist lawyer Huwaida Arraf, founder of the Free Gaza Movement, and the International Solidarity Movement.  Arraf and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia Mckinney were hijacked and imprisoned with the group that broke a seige against Gaza this summer. Bring your favorite casserole or special treat.

MISSION TO PROMOTE PEACE . . . “Three Cups of Tea”  co-author Greg Mortenson will speak in Lincoln on Tuesday, September 22, 2009, at College View Seventh-day Adventist Church,4801 Prescott Avenue. Doors open at 6:00pm. Program starts at 7:00pm. Promoting peace through building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mortenson was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in January this year. There is a fee for his Lincoln appearance. For questions or tickets via phone, call 402.486.2973 and leave a message.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SERIES . . . Tuesday, September 22, 2009, “Black-White Dialogues” will continue a series of Conversations meant to increase mutual understanding and respect between Black and White members of the OMAHA community. The Dialogues are from 7:00 to 9:00pm, at First Central Congregational Church, 421 South 36th Street. Dr. Patrick Jones will present “The Architecture of Race in Urban America” on September 22. For more information, and to register, click here.

BESS STREETER ALDRICH FOCUS . . . Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 3:30pm, the Fall 2009 Paul A. Olson Seminars in Great Plains Studies Series begins with Melissa Homestead speaking on “Plains Regional Fiction and the National Literary Market: The Case of Bess Streeter Aldrich’s A Lantern in Her Hand.” Free and open to the public, the lecture is at the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q Street, Lincoln.

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 Religulous.  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.

OMAHA GREEN DRINKS . . . Green Drinks will meet Wednesday, September 23, 2009, at Whole Foods Market Omaha, 10020 Regency Circle, in the education room across from the coffee bar. Starting time is 5:30pm. Green Drinks is an informal, self-organizing network, now in 604 cities worldwide.

GET INVOLVED . . . The Wachiska Audubon September Legislation Committee Meeting will be Thursday, September 24, 2009, 7:00pm at the Wachiska office, 4547 Calvert Street, Lincoln. You need not be an Audubon member to get involved with this Committee. For more information, e-mail wachiskaoffice [at] cornhusker [dot] net or phone 402.486.4846.

INNOCENT ON DEATH ROW? . . . Troy Davis was sentenced to death in 1991 with no physical evidence and no murder weapon. There will be a discussion about innocence and the death penalty Thursday, September 24, 2009, 7:00 to 8:00pm at Pius X O’Brien Parish Center, 70th & Blondo, OMAHA. For more information, e-mail jill [at] nadp [dot] net or call Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, 402.477.7787.

MALCOLM X TRIBUTE . . . Donor Bricks will be unveiled next to the Malcolm X Nebraska State Historical Marker at the Malcolm X Memorial, 34th & Evans Streets, Saturday, September 26, 2009, 2:00pm, in OMAHA. The event will pay tribute to Native Omahan Malcom X, and is open to the public. A reception will include refreshments, a silent auction and artistic presentations.

TWILIGHT ON THE TALLGRASS . . . Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center will hold its annual prairie festival Saturday, September 26, 2009, 5:00 to 10:00pm. Spring Creek Prairie is located 20 minutes southwest of Lincoln: Follow SW 98th Street south out of Denton for three miles. For a schedule of the evening’s events, click here.

OMAHA F.A.M. CONFERENCE . . . The 2009 Family Advocacy Movement Conference is at UN-O, Saturday, October 3, 2009, in the Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom. “Safe Haven Revisited: MENTAL HEALTH, CHILD PROTECTION, & CIVIL RIGHTS–A Call for Reform” will present a free Public Forum, 1:30 to 5:00pm. The evening Keynote Presentation by Speaker Karl Dennis, an international consultant on community-based programs, will be from 6:30 to 9:00pm. Register for the Conference online before Monday, September 28th for discounted admission here.  A follow-up event intended to continue expanding discussion on Sunday, October 4th, will be at Second Unitarian Church of Omaha, 3012 South 119th Street. For more information, phone 402.640.7480 and leave a message for return call.

CENTRAL NEBRASKA PEACE WORKERS . . .  Central Nebraska Peace Workers will meet Sunday, September 27, 2009, 3:00pm, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 511 North Elm Street, GRAND ISLAND.  (Use the northeast entrance.  Meet downstairs.)  Brianna Schweck, District 3 Community Organizer for Repower Nebraska–a grassroots campaign for switching to renewables, creating jobs, and helping resolve the climate crisis, and Tim Rinne, State Coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace, will be guest presenters.

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.
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