NO IMPACT WEEK . . . The No Impact Week Challenge begins Sunday, October 18, 2009. If you take part, you will learn about your environmental footprint and reduce what you use and buy. The week-long project, in partnership with the Huffington Post, starts Sunday with a focus on consumption, the focus is trash on Monday, transportation Tuesday, food on Wednesday, Thursday is energy, Friday is water, and on the weekend you will spend one day volunteering in your community and one day unpluged from everything. For a full set of instructions, click here.  To formalize your participation, sign up here.

COX PUBLIC HEARING . . . There will be a public hearing on Omaha’s future cable related needs Monday, October 19, 2009, at the Omaha/Douglas Civic Center, 1819 Farnam Street, Legislative Chamber. The public is invited to attend, to offer comments regarding telecommunications needs, Cox Cable, and Qwest. Persons may speak at either 5:00 or 6:30pm, but not at both hearings. Omaha is currently engaged in a cable franchise renewal process with Cox and Qwest. A detailed needs assessment study is being conducted to determine future cable related needs of the City and its residents. The public hearing is required by federal law. For more information about why this is an important public hearing, click here.

NORTHEAST GREEN TEAM ROUNDTABLE . . . Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 11:30am to 1:00pm, WasteCap Nebraska’s Northeast Green Team Roundtable will met at a new training facility across from the ADM plant entrance at 3000 East 8th Street, COLUMBUS, NE. The Roundtable provides businesses an opportunity to network, and share green ideas, successes, environmental challenges and solutions. The gathering will begin with open networking, followed by a presentation on Carbon Foot-printing. For more information, or to register, contact Rozz Beckman, 402.436.2383 or e-mail rbeckman [at] wastecapne [dot] org.

MULTICULTURAL CONFERENCE . . . Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 7:30am to 4:00pm, clinical psychologist and author Mary Pipher will keynote the Fifth Annual One Day Grand Island Muliticultural Coalition Conference, “The Road to Inclusive Communities” at College Park, 3180 West US Highway 34, GRAND ISLAND. Click here (pdf) for Conference brochure and schedule. Phone 308.385.5242 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 Patti Smith – Dream of Life.  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.

MARRIAGE EQUALITY . . . There will be a panel discussion on “Marriage Equality for Same Sex Couples,” Thursday, October 22, 2009, 1:00pm, at the College of Law, Rm 113, on UN-L’s East Campus. Panelists are ACLU Nebraska Board Member Dave Moshman, Nebraska Family First Executive Director Dave Bydalek, Episcopal Pastor Father Don Hanway from St. Mark’s on the Campus, and Nebraska Family Council Executive Director Al Riskowski.

HIV CO-DISCOVERER AT NWU . . . Robert C. Gallo, a biomedical researcher who co-discovered HIV in 1980, will give a free public lecture at Nebraska Wesleyan’s O’Donnell Auditorium, 50th & Huntington Avenue, Lincoln, Thursday, October 22, 2009, 7:00pm. The topic will be “Viruses, Epidemics and the Prospects for their Control with Emphasis on HIV/AIDS.”

PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT . . . Friday, October 23, 2009, 10:00am to 3:00pm, agencies and individuals will gather (by shift) at the Center for People in Need, 3901 North 27th Street, Lincoln, to connect with Lincoln’s homeless population. The event is being organized by Nebraska Wesleyan University and the Lincoln Homeless Coalition. All are welcome to join this outreach project.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION . . . Saturday, October 24, 2009, will be the most widespread day of climate action ever. In more than 140 countries, people are organizing thousands of actions highlighting the need to reduce carbon levels in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million–the upper limit of what scientists say is safe. Lincoln events planned for International Day of Climate Action include Critical Mass 350 Bikers riding through downtown streets calling for a more bike-friendly city and encouraging individuals to make more environmentally-conscious decisions in their every day lives; and Husker Recycling.  350 Volunteers will help clean up, recycling products, before and after the Nebraska football game. Meet at 2:45pm by the columns on the east side of the stadium. Click here for details and to sign-up as a volunteer.

NEBRASKANS FOR PEACE CONFERENCE . . . Saturday, October 24, 2009, 9:30am TO 5:00pm, the NFP Annual Conference will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 5th & Elm Streets in GRAND ISLAND. The Keynote Speaker will be author and analyst Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C. speaking on “What a Just U.S. Policy in the Muslim World Would Look Like.” For information on how to register, contact the NFP State Office by e-mail at nfpstate [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org or by phone at 402.475.4620.

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION . . . Saturday, October 24, 2009, 9:00am until 1:00pm, a household hazardous waste collection will take place at Woods Park, 31st and J streets, Lincoln. Items accepted include fluorescent bulbs and tubes, pesticides, paint thinners, stains, polishes and waxes, turpentine, oil-based paint, pool-cleaning chemicals, flea and tick powders, rodent poison, charcoal starter fluids, mixed or old gasoline, mercury-containing items including thermometers, upholstery cleaners, grease removers and brake and power steering fluids. Items that can be recycled or safely disposed of locally including latex paint, motor oil, gas grill cylinders, pharmaceutical waste, electronics and batteries will not be accepted.

HIKE THE WABASH TRACE . . . Saturday, October 24, 2009, there will be a 20 Mile Conditioning Hike along The Wabash Trace leaving from the trail head across from Iowa School for the Deaf at 8:00am. For more information, or to rsvp, contact Bob Goetschkes, bobbygoetschkes [at] hotmail [dot] com or by phone at 402.614.4788.

NORML NEBRASKA . . . The Nebraska Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws will host a Meet and Greet on Saturday, October 24, 2009, 3:00pm, at McFoster’s, 38th and Harney, OMAHA. Phone 1.888.632.4842 to join NORML Nebraska, or click here for a membership form.

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.
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.Click here for a map of local Community CROPS gardens.

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