Sat., April 19 - Medicine Collection Day by Sura, March 31

What can you do with old medicine, over-the-counter cough syrup, prescription drugs, inhalers, pet medicine?

Medicine Collection Day
Saturday, April 19
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Continue reading ‘Sat., April 19 - Medicine Collection Day’

31 Mar 2008 | 12:34 pm | Water, Health | No comments yet - Add your comments

Nik Kovac for Milwaukee Third District Alderman by Sura, March 30

I’m endorsing Nik Kovac for Milwaukee 3rd District Alderman, along with Jennifer Morales and many of my other supporters. Here are just some of the reasons why:

- Nik Kovac is a leader, challenging Mike D’Amato when he was expected to run for re-election. Conversely, Patrick Flaherty told me he last year that he would only run if D’Amato stepped down.
- Nik is progressive. He’s thoughtful on big issues and I’m excited about his ability to bring a new way of thinking to politics in Milwaukee. We’re not going to solve our problems with the same kind of thinking that got us into trouble. Nik will bring us new solutions.
- Nik doesn’t waste money on massive mailings, and he promises the same wise use of our tax dollars.
- Nik has run a clean, positive campaign.
- Nik’s campaign is fueled by the people, not big money or political insiders
- Nik Kovac is smart, honest and trustworthy.
- Nik is educated and involved on local issues. He’s the only candidate that I’ve seen at neighborhood meetings, city planning meetings, development hearings, student groups, environmental meetings. He’s involved in Urban Agriculture, Food Policy, Milwaukee River Preservation, Historic Preservation, Riverwest Neighborhood Association, etc.
- Nik is Local. He was born and raised on the East Side, and he lives in Riverwest. Unlike his opponent, he’s involved in his neighborhood association, his block club, his church and volunteers teaching chess to high school students.
- Nik cares about all of Milwaukee. He attends Community Brainstormers meetings at St. Matthew’s Church on 9th and Chambers because he cares about all the problems in the city, including segregation, economic development and public education.
- Nik has committed to local campaign finance reform, which we desperately need to ensure that aldermanic races can’t be bought by the highest bidder. Votes should come because a candidate is participating in a broad range of community concerns, not just because they can afford to pour tens of thousands of dollars into a mail-blitz campaign.
- Nik is endorsed by the people: environmentalists, artists, teachers, business owners, bicyclists, LGBT community members, and those who believe that local power should remain in the hands of the people.

Please join me in supporting Nik Kovac for Milwaukee’s East Side, Riverwest and Brady St. Alderman, and vote on Tuesday, April 1. Find out where you vote here

30 Mar 2008 | 8:05 pm | 3rd District | No comments yet - Add your comments

Vel Phillips on Nik Kovac - setting the record straight by Sura, March 28

“I know and respect Nik Kovac. He is a good friend and a true progressive.” –Vel Phillips

That’s what Vel Phillips says about Nik, who calls her one of his civic heroes. She said, “A few weeks ago, Nik asked me if he could refer to me as one of his heroes in his campaign literature. I was honored by the request. I have seen the brochure in which Nik uses my name and picture. I approve.”

I am writing this because Dominique Paul Noth, the editor of the Labor Press, got a few things wrong about Nik in a recent article. No surprise, since the Labor Council is endorsing Patrick.

But let’s get a few things straight.

Noth implies that Nik didn’t get Vel’s permission to use her name. This is untrue. As you can see from the quotes above and her hand-signed letter on Nik’s website it’s clear that Vel Phillips gave her permission, and that she is one of Nik’s supporters.

Continue reading ‘Vel Phillips on Nik Kovac - setting the record straight’

28 Mar 2008 | 11:06 am | 3rd District | No comments yet - Add your comments

Earth Hour - Milwaukee, join in! by Sura, March 27

From the Earth Hour website

On Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

27 Mar 2008 | 8:52 pm | Events, Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments

Seeing Green: Art, Ecology, and Activism: Digital Arts and Culture at UWM by Sura, March 25

Seeing Green: Art, Ecology, and Activism: Digital Arts and Culture at UWM

Seeing Green: Art, Ecology, and Activism opens Saturday, April 12, 5:00-9:00pm at Woodland Pattern Book Center, 720 E. Locust St., Milwaukee, WI.

Seeing Green encourages artists to leave the confines of the studio and take an active role with the community, to collaborate and address issues of the environment, and to open a dialog with the public. Guest curator Nicolas Lampert invited over 40 local artists to work on a project for the duration of eight months. During the month of April, 2008 the show will be exhibited at Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the gallery will serve as a hub space, informing the viewer and the public of the many environmental projects taking place throughout the city, exhibiting visual work and books, screening films and holding discussions and events based around the exhibition.

Calendar:
Saturday, April 12, 2008, 5:00-9:00pm
Seeing Green opens at Woodland Pattern Book Center (720 E. Locust St., Milwaukee, WI.)

Sunday, March 30th, 2:00pm
Reading by California author Rebecca Solnit

Wednesday, April 16th, 7:00-9:00pm
Curator talk by Nicolas Lampert 4:30-6:00 / Film Screening
(Screening of 5 minute films and videos on urban ecology issues by: Lane Hall, Lisa Moline, Lindsay Holden, Brandon Bauer, Ray Chi, Laura Klein, Eddee Daniel, Suzanne Rosenblatt, Spencer Tepper, Zachary Nesgoda).
Continue reading ‘Seeing Green: Art, Ecology, and Activism: Digital Arts and Culture at UWM’

25 Mar 2008 | 9:07 am | Art, Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments

March 22 is World Water Day by Sura, March 21

March 22 is “World Water Day,” designated in 1992 to draw international attention to the plight of more than 1 billion people worldwide that lack access to clean, safe drinking water.

I hope the Tap Project has a strong pollution prevention aspect, and they aren’t underwritten by wastewater management companies.

Some thoughts on water:

• We need to close the loopholes which allow cities, countries and corporations to empty the Great Lakes. We need a Strong Great Lakes Water Compact.
• Which approach to clean water do we take — preventing its contamination or cleaning it up afterward? Our long-term focus needs to be on prevention of water contamination rather than on water clean-up programs, which ultimately benefit corporate interests by continuing to allow pollution and creating an opportunity for corporate intervention through river/lake/ocean clean-up programs and purification/filtration systems.
• We must all fight to keep our city’s water and waste water systems from being privatized and susceptible to corporate interests. Unfortunately, Milwaukee’s wastewater operation has been privatized for years. Efforts to keep it public failed this past year and a new contract was signed (not sure for how long).
• We need better rainwater runoff management, so that raw, untreated sewage doesn’t get dumped into the river and the lake.
• There’s a lot we can do individually to reduce our own water usage. Check it out:

Below is from: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/waterconservation/tips.htm

How much water do you use?

Flushing the toilet 1.5-7 gallons per flush, depending on the design of the toilet
Taking a shower 3 gallons per minute, or 25-45 gallons for an average shower Continue reading ‘March 22 is World Water Day’

21 Mar 2008 | 5:56 pm | Water | No comments yet - Add your comments

Bike Rack designs in NYC by milo, March 20

Here’s a cool little piece about a design competition in NYC funded by the Cooper-Hewitt and the DOT. Maybe we can get something similar here in Milwaukee. I see a collaboration between MIAD and the city.

http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/03/five_better_bik.php

20 Mar 2008 | 10:03 am | Art, Streets, Bicycles, Pedestrians | No comments yet - Add your comments

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