FARMERS MARKETS RESUME . . . The first Farmers Markets of the season have opened statewide. There are more than 90 local Farmers Markets in Nebraska this year. For a partial schedule of current Buy Fresh Buy Local Markets, click here.
KXL PIPELINE CORRIDOR PUBLIC MEETINGS . . . The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will conduct a series of information sessions in May to discuss the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route corridor with the public. The four meetings will be located along the proposed corridor area. Dates and locations are: O’Neill – May 9th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the O’Neill Community Center, 501 S. 4th Street; Neligh – May 10th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the Neligh-Oakdale High School Gym, 600 J Street; Albion – May 16th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the Boone County Fairgrounds, 11th and Fairview Avenue; Central City – May 17th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the Central City Community Room, 1515 17th Street.
The information sessions will be an opportunity to meet and talk with those involved in the review, in an “open house” format. To find out more about the process, review documents or submit comments, go to NDEQ’s website here. Lincoln Journal Star coverage, “Meetings planned for alternate Keystone XL pipeline route,” by Art Hovey, April, 27, 2012, including a map of the new proposed route, is here.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
MOVE TO AMEND/END CORPORATE PERSONHOOD . . . Nebraska Move to Amend is gathering signatures on a petition to End Corporate Personhood by a Resolution to be presented to the Lincoln City Council. To get involved with the local campaign, e-mail Carol Smith, smithcarol [dot] 49 [at] gmail [dot] com
VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. When weather is bad, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For more information about NADP, click here. “It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind.” –George Bernard Shaw
OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . The Monday Occupy Education Series continues with PLANET IN PERIL: HOW BUSINESS AS USUAL WILL TAKE US OVER THE CLIFF, weekly, 7:00 to 8:00pm, through May 21, 2012, at Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P Street #102. May 7th, “Part 2: Nebraska’s Role in Coal” will be presented by Tim Rinne.
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.
BEEKEEPING . . . Thursday, May 10, 2012, UN-L Entomology Professor Marion Ellis will present “The Joys of Beekeeping,” the the Wachiska Audubon May General Meeting, 7:00pm, at the Union College Dick Administration Building Auditorium, 3800 South 48th Streeet, Lincoln. An April 13, 2012 Lincoln Journal Star fro9nt page article about Ellis is here. There will be fresh bread, crackers, and honeycombs filled with honey to sample, plus cookies and coffee. EveryOne is Welcome at the free presentation.
HERBS FOR HEALTH AND JUSTICE . . . Led by Alex Svoboda, this Occupy Education Series is organized with the intention of fostering community and sharing knowledge about herbal healing and health justice. May 12th, Alex will present “Investigation of local plant communities – Infusions and decoctions.” Please bring a mug from home for Tea Tasting. Each Saturday class through June 2nd will be from 2:00 to 4:00pm, at the 4th floor auditorium at Bennett Martin Library, 136 South 14th Street, in downtown Lincoln.
SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market, on 8th Street in Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket District, is now open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, through October 13, 2012. More than 100 vendors bring farm-fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items to the local gathering place that also features a “Performance Showcase” for Nebraska folk, jazz, blues, classical, and dance talent, plus educational demonstrations and informational booths. Buy Fresh. Shop Local.
SUNDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Old Cheney Road Farmers Market offers local produce, baked goods and natural meats every Sunday, 10:00am to 2:00pm, at 55th Street and Old Cheney Road.
TEACH-IN SUNDAY . . . Each week a different member of the Occupy Lincoln community will host a short class on a topic of their choosing, Sundays, 7:00 to 8:00pm, through May 20th, at Meadowlark Café, 1624 South Street, in Lincoln. Sunday, May 13th, “Rocks on Fire: The Physics and Economics of Oil” will be presented by Quentin Dudley.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . In response to the City’s demand that the campsite be removed from Centennial Mall by May 1, 2012, Occupy Lincoln relocated on the public right of way on the north side of Capitol Parkway near A Street. Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the move is here. Occupy Lincoln’s letter to the city asking that “officials continue to respect our rights in this matter and work with us in finding a solution that is agreeable to all” is here.
Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the subsequent raid with “Forty-five police officers, K9 units and a helicopter swarming Nebraska’s Centennial Mall Wednesday morning, sweeping away the last Occupy Lincoln protesters and their encampment” is here.
There is a calendar of Occupy Lincoln events here. The Facebook page is here. The Twitter feed is @OccupyLincoln. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
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 a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.
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. Wednesday, May 9, 2012, the film will be “Magic Trip,” author Ken Kesey’s documentary of the Merry Band of Pranksters’ epic journey across America in a psychedelic school bus. From the Progressive Omaha website, “Veteran Oscar winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side, Client 9, etc) and Alison Ellwood have re-edited Kesey’s raw footage, giving the freewheeling material structure and context. They have added a number of interviews and incorporated some fascinating archival footage to provide insights into the era. They have also used original recordings made by Kesey himself during the journey…” View the official trailer here. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
PROGRESSIVE OMAHA MEETING . . . This month’s Progressive Omaha meeting will be Saturday, May 12, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at 1517 North Happy Hollow Blvd. (mapquest: http://mapq.st/o7rcsI). All are welcome. Professors Bob Ramaley and Beth Furlong will discuss “The Cuban Health Care System–A Model for the U.S.?” and their 10-day educational trip to Cuba in March of this year. Potluck supper will be from 6:00 to 7:00, discussion will continue until 8:00pm, followed by business and social time. For more information, e-mail Karen Abrams, kabrams123 [at] cox [dot] net
PETITION TO REVERSE DECISION CLOSING POLLING STATIONS IN DOUGLAS COUNTY . . . Open and accessible polls are essential to a representative democracy. Commissioner Phipp’s decision to close half of the county’s polls resulted in disproportionately closing more polling locations in low income areas of Omaha where citizens do not have their own personal transportation. Find more information here and here. Election Commissioner Phipp’s CAN reverse this course of action. His decision was made without ANY public input or notice until he stated it was “too late.” Demand Election Commissioner Phipps make our elections accessible by calling 402.444.8683, and sign the petition here.
OMAHA FARMERS MARKETS . . . click here for an Omaha Market schedule.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . The official Occupy Omaha website is here. The FaceBook page is here. The Twitter feed is #occupyomaha
ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.
Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . News broke Thursday, May 3, 2012, that TransCanada has secretly submitted its permit application for the Southern portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline to the Army Corps of Engineers. To evade a meaningful review, TransCanada applied for an expedited, insufficient permit. And the Army Corps, which has an abysmal environmental track record, could approve the project in 45 days – or sooner – unless the EPA steps in. Learn more and add your name to a petition telling EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson not to allow TransCanada’s project to get rubber stamped at the CredoAction petition here.
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will conduct a series of information sessions in May to discuss proposed Keystone XL pipeline route corridor information with the public. The four meetings will be located along the proposed corridor area. Dates and locations are: O’Neill – May 9th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the O’Neill Community Center, 501 S. 4th Street; Neligh – May 10th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the Neligh-Oakdale High School Gym, 600 J Street; Albion – May 16th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the Boone County Fairgrounds, 11th and Fairview Avenue; Central City – May 17th, 4:00 to 7:00pm, at the Central City Community Room, 1515 17th Street.
The information sessions will be an opportunity to meet and talk with those involved in the review, in an “open house” format. Topics will include NDEQ’s role in the review process, a large area featuring detailed map enlargements, an overview of the next steps in the review process, and an area to submit comments to be considered by the agency. NDEQ has also invited TransCanada to attend the information sessions, to respond to questions that are beyond the scope of the state’s review.
To find out more about the process, review documents or submit comments, go to NDEQ’s website here. Lincoln Journal Star coverage, “Meetings planned for alternate Keystone XL pipeline route,” by Art Hovey, April, 27, 2012, including a map of the new proposed route, is here.
Inside Climate News published Lisa Song’s April 26th article “New Keystone XL route: Out of the sandhills, but still in the aquifer.” Read page 1 of 3 here.
Click here to review the KXL pipeline timeline for a better sense of TransCanada constant change of message depending on the situation, and the many ways that LB 1161 sacrifices Nebraska’s landowners and waters for the interests of a foreign corporation. Tweet (or Facebook): Gov. Heineman goes back on his word to Nebraskans. Now says only concerned with Sand Hills, forgets Ogallala Aquifer.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
Reminder: “The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential candidate.
STOP FRACKING NOW . . . Quoting Bill McKibben in “Why Not Frack?” “The planet is running short of the easy stuff, where you stick a drill in the ground and crude comes bubbling to the surface. The great oil fields of Saudi Arabia and Mexico have begun to dwindle; one result has been a rising price for energy. We could, as a civilization, have taken that dwindling supply and rising price as a signal to convert to sun, wind, and other noncarbon forms of energy-it would have made eminent sense, most of all because it would have aided in the fight against global warming, the most difficult challenge the planet faces. Instead, we’ve taken it as a signal to scour the world for more hydrocarbons. And it turns out that they’re there-vast quantities of coal and oil and gas, buried deep or trapped in tight rock formations or mixed with other minerals. Getting at them requires ripping apart the earth: for instance, by heating up the ground so that the oil in the tar sands formation of Canada can flow to the surface. Or by tearing holes in the crust a mile beneath the surface of the sea, as BP was doing in the Gulf of Mexico when the Deepwater Horizon well exploded. Or by literally removing mountaintops to get at coal, as has become commonplace across the southern Appalachians.”
“Confirmed: Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquakes,” by Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress, in Reader Supported News March 10, 2012 reports “A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth, Ohio oil and gas regulators said Friday as they announced a series of tough new regulations for drillers.”
Petition Congress: “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.”
PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations. Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.
TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.
To help organize or coordinate a Millions Against Monsanto and Factory Farms Truth-in-Labeling campaign in your local community, sign up here. To pressure Whole Foods Market and the nation’s largest supermarket chains to voluntarily adopt truth-in-labeling practices, sign editable text here.
BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Farmers, gardeners, and craftspeople meet through The Nebraska Food Cooperative, an on-line, year-round farmers’ market and local food distribution service offering the best in local freshness. For ordering and pickup schedules, refer to the calendar here. Click here for products and prices from North Star Neighbors, a Cooperative member that doesn’t therapeutically medicate or unduly confine animals. Click here for Tomato Tomäto, Omaha’s year-round indoor Farmer’s Market at 156th & West Center. Shop for fresh foods grown in or very near your own community at Open Harvest, Lincoln’s member-owned natural foods retail cooperative at 1618 South Street. Buying local grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher.
HELP NEBRASKA GREENS WITH GOODSEARCH . . . Each time you search the Internet (or shop online at a participating store), a donation can be made to Nebraska Green Party at no cost to you! To help NGP in this way, enter Nebraska Green Party where it asks you to name your cause here. Bookmark the GoodSearch Homepage, or make it your own Home Page. Enter the url you want in the GoodSearch search box. Each time you do, one penny will be donated to Nebraska Greens. THANK YOU for your support!
Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“